I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kyuri, Miho, Wonna, Ara - four women living in Seoul, South Korea, and all in their own way affected by the current culture's obsession with what face looks like a good, acceptable face, and how young women should act and look like. Kyuri has a face that she's spent thousands on to look perfect but she is horrid debt and under control of her madam and the room salon, Miho is a carefree artist that is naturally beautiful but she's too poor for her rich boyfriend to ever be allowed to marry her, Ara is plain and happy that way, mute due to a childhood accident and obsessed with a K-Pop star. And Wonna is older, and more damaged than the rest, and starting out a pregnancy she is terrified to reveal, revel in or lose.

I ended up really enjoying this book for a myriad of reasons. The writing itself was very pleasant to read, was clear in its intentions and the timeline/pace of the story was fast and immersive. I really felt at times that I was in the rooms with the girls and hanging out with them and listening to their conversations. There was something attractive about them all and I genuinely liked them, faults and all. I wanted to protect them yet at the same time, enjoy life with them.

I feel this book gives a really interesting glimpse at the toxic beauty standards that is so rife in South Korea and Asian culture. I had been aware of some of it before - the skin bleaching, extreme diets and exercise from K-Pop stars (or factories) - but seeing how it affects ordinary girls and how the desire to look a certain way can lead them to an almost 'acceptable' version of prostitution was almost hard to believe. The book also did a good job at really showing the class divide in South Korea too - the difference between growing up rich or being one of the chaebol, and growing up with little to no money - the lack of opportunity people got and how young women had to look at a future where they would never be able to afford their own homes.

I wish we got a bit more - I wonder if we need Wonna at all considering the rest of the book was focused on younger characters in a different stage of life. I liked the female friendship and how they came together near the end but I'm not sure if Wonna's POV gave anything particularly new or striking to the story in comparison to the others. The ending was slightly abrupt but left off with a nice image of women supporting women.