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more like a 3.6 stars. i was hesitant at first when i read some reviews saying it was like a "re-telling of beauty and the beast". i would say it uses elements of this, and probably a few other fairy-tales, but rouge has it's own unique story. a tale about race and beauty standards, whatever the complex is called when there's jealousy between family members about youth, the complexities of being in a mixed-race child being raised by a white parent, and, to my surprise, a glimpse of good old Quebec religion x politics. the ending made me cry, but any story about mother-daughter relationships usually does. i didn't feel the ending was too rushed, and maybe everything the author had to say about how belle really feels had already been said in sub-text, but i do wish there was a little bit more of an acceptance about how she feels about how she looks, something like a "yes, i do like how i look. the 'wild' hair and dark skin that my father gave me is not that bad after all. everything my mother loved about me, i will learn to love myself". something like that, given she had this whole journey about wanting to be more beautiful (but i guess it's a metaphor?)(but then it's also kind of true because of the sub-plot about how she always compared herself to her mum? anyway) i also thought the writing and inner monologues were pretty cheesy with the forced french inclusions and whatnot, like we get it, they're french speaking. but anyway, i still enjoyed the story, i think it will leave a lasting impression on me.

Merged review:

more like a 3.6 stars. i was hesitant at first when i read some reviews saying it was like a "re-telling of beauty and the beast". i would say it uses elements of this, and probably a few other fairy-tales, but rouge has it's own unique story. a tale about race and beauty standards, whatever the complex is called when there's jealousy between family members about youth, the complexities of being in a mixed-race child being raised by a white parent, and, to my surprise, a glimpse of good old Quebec religion x politics. the ending made me cry, but any story about mother-daughter relationships usually does. i didn't feel the ending was too rushed, and maybe everything the author had to say about how belle really feels had already been said in sub-text, but i do wish there was a little bit more of an acceptance about how she feels about how she looks, something like a "yes, i do like how i look. the 'wild' hair and dark skin that my father gave me is not that bad after all. everything my mother loved about me, i will learn to love myself". something like that, given she had this whole journey about wanting to be more beautiful (but i guess it's a metaphor?)(but then it's also kind of true because of the sub-plot about how she always compared herself to her mum? anyway) i also thought the writing and inner monologues were pretty cheesy with the forced french inclusions and whatnot, like we get it, they're french speaking. but anyway, i still enjoyed the story, i think it will leave a lasting impression on me.

Merged review:

more like a 3.6 stars. i was hesitant at first when i read some reviews saying it was like a "re-telling of beauty and the beast". i would say it uses elements of this, and probably a few other fairy-tales, but rouge has it's own unique story. a tale about race and beauty standards, whatever the complex is called when there's jealousy between family members about youth, the complexities of being in a mixed-race child being raised by a white parent, and, to my surprise, a glimpse of good old Quebec religion x politics. the ending made me cry, but any story about mother-daughter relationships usually does. i didn't feel the ending was too rushed, and maybe everything the author had to say about how belle really feels had already been said in sub-text, but i do wish there was a little bit more of an acceptance about how she feels about how she looks, something like a "yes, i do like how i look. the 'wild' hair and dark skin that my father gave me is not that bad after all. everything my mother loved about me, i will learn to love myself". something like that, given she had this whole journey about wanting to be more beautiful (but i guess it's a metaphor?)(but then it's also kind of true because of the sub-plot about how she always compared herself to her mum? anyway) i also thought the writing and inner monologues were pretty cheesy with the forced french inclusions and whatnot, like we get it, they're french speaking. but anyway, i still enjoyed the story, i think it will leave a lasting impression on me.

Merged review:

more like a 3.6 stars. i was hesitant at first when i read some reviews saying it was like a "re-telling of beauty and the beast". i would say it uses elements of this, and probably a few other fairy-tales, but rouge has it's own unique story. a tale about race and beauty standards, whatever the complex is called when there's jealousy between family members about youth, the complexities of being in a mixed-race child being raised by a white parent, and, to my surprise, a glimpse of good old Quebec religion x politics. the ending made me cry, but any story about mother-daughter relationships usually does. i didn't feel the ending was too rushed, and maybe everything the author had to say about how belle really feels had already been said in sub-text, but i do wish there was a little bit more of an acceptance about how she feels about how she looks, something like a "yes, i do like how i look. the 'wild' hair and dark skin that my father gave me is not that bad after all. everything my mother loved about me, i will learn to love myself". something like that, given she had this whole journey about wanting to be more beautiful (but i guess it's a metaphor?)(but then it's also kind of true because of the sub-plot about how she always compared herself to her mum? anyway) i also thought the writing and inner monologues were pretty cheesy with the forced french inclusions and whatnot, like we get it, they're french speaking. but anyway, i still enjoyed the story, i think it will leave a lasting impression on me.

really good, really thrilling, really fun book. haven't been truly thrilled and creeped out by a horror story in a while and this hit the spot. the start was a bit slow, almost boring, but once you get into it, whew, i couldn't put this book down. jackson had an intense way of writing scenes and interactions and sequences - very bizarre but not difficult to follow; it's jarring in the way that it reflects the setting of the book. and following the character's thought processes as well was fascinating and gripping.

i also thought it was interesting that this book was set in the 60s - it was one of those transitional eras, i think - times were changing, the way characters were interacting with each other was a bit unusual to me; like, okay it was formal-ish, the way they talked was still "old"-ish but not like anything you'd read from the 20s and for me not TOOOO difficult to understand. all this to say that the writing style reflected the era the book was written, and i appreciated that.

this could maybe be one of the OGs of psych horrors, and im not like, IN LOVE with it, but i highly recommend it.