It falls into one of my favorite sub genres, which imagines the lengths people are willing to go for youth and beauty. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t find it to expand on the theme in a meaningful way, and the follow through was lackluster.

Initially I was enrapt and caught up by the writing style. It’s Sophie’s first day at legendary beauty company HEBE, where the culture is filled with every trendy, hipster methodology towards wellness and anti-aging — everything from a solid skincare routine and avoiding sunlight to vaping turmeric. The cult of personality surrounding the CEO is easy to get swept up in; the glory from her attention is as addictive as the experimental beauty products she gives favored employees a taste of.

This is until things begin to fall flat — with 10% or so left, Sophie still had a lot of plates spinning and not a lot of ways out. I was curious if the ending was going to be a tragedy based on how little time was left, but instead everything suddenly neatly tied itself into an uninteresting, beige corporate bow.

As such while I feel there was a lot of potential in this story and its characters, I also feel it was done a real disservice by way of the exposition-laden ending they were given. Not sure I’d recommend it unless this is a theme you’re generally curious about.