Gorgeous Gruesome Faces
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A cutthroat K-pop competition leads to a dark obsession in this twisty horror-romance, perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting
"A perfect blend of folk horror and dazzling showbiz that will grip you from page one." ―Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times-bestselling author of She is a Haunting
"The sweetest spot between horror and romance." ―Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of These Violent Delights
You’ll love them to death . . .
THEN:
Sunny Lee is on the top of the world. She’s one third of Sweet Cadence, the hottest up-and-coming teen pop group, alongside her new BFFs, Candie and Mina. The three are inseparable as they ride their way to the top of the charts, even as Candie and Sunny fight to resist the growing spark between them. But when a shocking scandal breaks, the group is suddenly torn apart. Then the unthinkable – Mina dies tragically right before Sunny and Candie’s eyes. And Sunny suspects the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping may have had something to do with it . . .
NOW:
For the past two years, Sunny has spent her days longing for her former life and her nights wondering just what caused Mina's death. So when she discovers that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop right in her hometown, Sunny has no choice but to follow her there. Candie might be chasing stardom again, but Sunny is only after one thing: answers.
At the workshop, the lines between nightmare and reality start to blur as Sunny is haunted by ghostly visions and her competitors' bodies turn up bizarrely maimed and mutilated. To survive the twisted carnage, Sunny will have to expose the ugly truth behind the workshop’s spotlights and the sinister forces swirling around Candie. Stitched with cutting commentary on the ugly side of stardom and impossible beauty standards, Linda Cheng’s mind-bending thriller will have readers screaming and swooning for more.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The mysterious circumstances behind an Asian American pop star's death spell disaster for the group's remaining members in Cheng's debut, a thrilling psychological horror. Two years ago, Sunday Lee, who is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent; Chinese American Candice Tsai; and Korean American Mina Park made up the all-girl musical group Sweet Cadence. But when nude photos of Mina are leaked online, Mina supposedly dies by suicide, and the group disbands. Now 18 and living in Atlanta, Sunny learns that Candie—from whom she's estranged—is arriving from Los Angeles to participate in a prestigious workshop from which a few candidates will be chosen to become K-pop trainees in Korea. As Sunny inserts herself into the workshop, she determines to unravel the mystery of Mina's death and reckons with the increasing instances of injury among her competitors, all while grappling with her ever-shifting relationship with Candie, who still seems to yield an inexplicable power over her. Alternating chapters titled "Then" and "Now" weave flashbacks from the height of Sweet Cadence's fame with harrowing behind-the-scenes looks into the world of K-pop and fascinating, eeriely rendered supernatural horror elements . Ages 14–up.
Customer Reviews
Gorgeous gruesome debut!
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng is an absolutely stunning debut! The story follows Sunny, who has been struggling to put herself back together after a fall from teen pop-star fame and a falling out with her ex-groupmate Candie, who Sunny has developed a bit of an obsession with. What’s more is Sunny is having hallucinations of her dead group mate while at a K-pop workshop at which her competitors begin to suffer eerie injuries and accidents. Sunny’s grim, desperate, and angsty world gripped me from the very start. The story is paced at breakneck speed with all the cut-throat competition, vicious cattiness, alliances, secrets, and shocking twists you expect in a horror set against the glittering backdrop of teen beauty and fame. Through it all, Linda Cheng maintains a gritty and grim atmosphere that strikes an unsettling yet alluring tone as she depicts every flawless dance routine, flashback scene, or tense interaction. This book was impossible to put down and I ended up reading it in a single day!