Ravishing
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A brilliant and compelling debut, Ravishing shines a light on the dark enticements of the beauty industry and how it capitalizes on our desire to be someone we are not
A provocative, darkly surreal novel of two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a beauty tech company, Ravishing is a searing portrait of the beauty industry’s dangerous ability to change people’s relationship to their bodies and the cult-like grip it has on youth.
For teenage Kashmira, it’s painful to look in the mirror; she has her father’s face, and every feature is a reminder of his abandonment. When a friend introduces her to Evolvoir, a beauty product that changes users’ features, Kashmira is quickly hooked on how it allows her to erase the triggers of her grief. Meanwhile, at Evolvoir’s corporate offices, Kashmira’s estranged brother Nikhil first sees the product as an opportunity to make a difference and a name for himself, but is quickly mired in corporate complicity as reports surface of the product causing severe pain and persistent symptoms in some users. As chaos ensues, Kashmira is hospitalized and must negotiate the constraints of her new reality, while Nikhil uncovers a vicious truth that will force him to decide where his loyalties lie.
Perfect for readers of Gold Diggers and You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, Ravishing is a visceral, yet immensely tender, coming-of-age story of two Indian American siblings caught in the clutches of a predatory beauty tech company, providing an illuminating portrait of the complexities of growing up brown, chronic illness, and our relationship to ourselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Surya debuts with an incendiary chronicle of two Indian American siblings who go to drastic lengths to improve their lives. Kashmira, a teen girl growing up in a South Jersey suburb, can't stand looking in the mirror because of her resemblance to her verbally abusive father. At a house party, she runs into her friend Roshni, who's now stunningly beautiful after using NuLook cream, with lighter skin, higher cheekbones, and a sharper nose. Unbeknownst to Kashmira, her estranged older brother, Nikhil, works for the cream's maker, Evolvoir. In a parallel narrative, Nikhil, a recent college graduate, takes the job out of a misguided sense of altruism, hoping to help people conform to America's seemingly unattainable beauty standards. Meanwhile, Roshni helps Kashmira get a supply of a new product called ReNuLook. The treatment works—so well that even as Roshni experiences troubling gastrointestinal side effects, Kashmira denies her own similar issues. Back at Evolvoir, Nikhil is unsettled by health concerns raised to him by a prominent influencer who's using ReNuLook, prompting him to take action. Surya blends her stirring whistleblower plot with a heartrending depiction of Kashmira's self-delusion, as when she forces herself, despite a severe stomachache, to leave the house and get her crush to notice her "second face" ("She wants to know how his pupils, dark and observant, will track the changes in her"). This one hits hard. Agents: Stephanie Delman and Dana Murphy, Trellis Literary Management.
