If you love the idea of secrets that scream and deals with demons, then you’ll have to read Such Lovely Skin. It’s a story which will make your skin crawl and remind you of all the secrets you’d rather not tell. Keep reading this book review of Such Lovely Skin for my full thoughts.
Summary
After spending the summer wracked with guilt about causing the accident that killed her little sister, ambitious gamer and chronic liar Viv returns to Twitch streaming. She never told her parents the truth about the accident, but she hopes that maybe making it big in streaming and giving the money to them is penance enough for her mistakes.
The weekend before school starts, Viv finds the perfect horror game to make her Twitch comeback, and during an offline practice run, an NPC asks Viv for a secret. She decides to tell them the truth about her sister’s death since a game could never share her secret―in doing so, she accidentally welcomes a demonic mimic into her life.
No one believes Viv when she tells them about her evil doppelganger. Viv has lied to get her best friend’s sympathy and has spread rumors for attention, so why should anyone trust her now? The only person who believes her is Ash, a cute social outcast whom Viv once bullied. In trying to clear her name and kill the mimic, Viv discovers that her lies have hurt people who never deserved it, herself included.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Such Lovely Skin begins with the heavy fog of grief. The pain of loss which leaves holes in conversations and nights in making up excuses. With this tension of what exactly happened in the past, Such Lovely Skin manages to balance horror and mystery. What exactly is this secret haunting Viv? What could have been so bad to have it hanging over our days and nights? And why can’t she tell the truth? Such Lovely Skin feels relatable – maybe not in scale – but in the secrets we hold close to our chest and what we would to prevent them from getting out.
Such Lovely Skin had so many relatable aspects like the racism of the online community, the sexism of the gaming viewship, and the burdens of grief. While Viv is thinking about her future, whether she can be a gamer or not, she is forced to reconcile the past which will not let go of her. Such Lovely Skin examines the versions of ourselves we want people to see versus the ones they perceive. We can want them to see a side of us, an illusion, but what happens when what they see is more than we intend?
Such Lovely Skin is an action packed horror which is committed to secrets and the power we give to them. Find Such Lovely Skin on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.
Tour Schedule
| Tour Date | Tour Hosts | Type of Post |
| September 15th | @thereadingchemist | Bookstagram only |
| @themedschoolbookfairy | Bookstagram feed post + Reel | |
| Dana Loves Books | Instagram + Tiktok | |
| September 16th | Taylaareads | Instagram + Tiktok |
| Bingereader | Bookstagram only | |
| September 17th | Bookstagram.hann | Bookstagram only |
| @whenreadingattacks | Bookstagram only | |
| September 18th | @noelles.magical.library | Bookstagram feed post + Reel |
| @chibichapters | Bookstagram only | |
| Lokiisreading | Bookstagram only | |
| September 19th | @Roxyiana_ | Bookstagram only |
| @yournexttbr_ | Bookstagram only | |
| September 20th | Thelavenderkettle | Bookstagram only |
| Utopia State of Mind | Blog + Instagram | |
| September 21st | ameliaveganreader | Bookstagram only |
| Lit_Vibrations | Bookstagram only | |
| @lexijava | Bookstagram only |