Rytual

by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson

Marnie Sellick is adrift when she lands a job at the coveted, mysterious beauty brand rytuał cosmetica.

The enigmatic founder and CEO, Luna Peters, takes a liking to Marnie, and as the two grow closer Marnie becomes intoxicated by the life that Luna, and rytuał, can offer her.

But all is not what it seems at rytuał. Luna has a cult-like hold over the all-female staff, and that’s not to mention what happens at their weekly Friday Night Drinks.

As Marnie edges closer to the darkness at the centre of rytuał’s millennial-pink facade, cracks begin to show. Luna is hiding something, but will Marnie uncover the truth – and the role Luna has cast her in – before it’s too late?

Both a darkly funny deconstruction of the beauty industry and a gripping examination of identity, beauty and desire, Rytual asks the what if your favourite cult beauty brand … was actually a cult?

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Book Club, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, Adult, Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2025

Reviews

[Rachel Catherine]

HUHH

[chloe siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

if the girls from bunny worked at mecca

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do feel like the wheels fell off a little at the end.. but I still ate it up. Culty & delish !!

[Emily Conaghan 🐛 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book of the year (so far)!!!

Essential reading if you:

💄Are a beauty looper (level 2 and above only)

💄Have been to a Glossier store

💄Go wild for a 50% off cosmetics sale at Priceline

💄 Could pick the scent of Sol De Janeiro out of a line up

💄Happen to be named Laura

[Greta Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this!! It’s giving if Mecca was a cult. Really fun read that didn’t go the way I expected. Caught myself thinking about this whilst I was at work which is a great sign. Lost one star because I would have liked a little more from the ending

[Amy Foott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential to be really good but missed the mark. I must be missing something from all the high ratings. I didn’t find it overly humorous, so was surprised to see so many did. I understand the satire but didn’t actually find it funny.

I flew through it thinking there would be a plot twist - to liven it up but no - it just fell flat on its head. Quite repetitive, it was dark and frankly just strange with lots of loose ends not tied up. Had lots of q’s throughout trying to make sense of what the author was trying to get across.
I feel I’m being harsh because it did have potential.
First time reading that kind of genre - so, maybe it’s me.

[Inesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the fuck

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

and i've been saying this for a long time - there should be more female cults!!!!!

[alice]

i spent $300 at mecca reading this

[Seb J · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this was a very easy and fun read, it rarely strayed into believable plot writing.

I think there are a lot of fun things to do with the beauty cult premise and there were signs here of that. I think this book should have taken one of two paths: (1) you can go gritty and go with a cult of obsession, crazy hours, psychosocial behaviour, bullying etc. for a gritty real take; or (2) lean into the camp horror aspects and make this a horror story to justify the fanciful elements.

Unfortunately for me this book tried to straddle a middle ground that was incredibly unbelievable. A further flaw is that I feel like Marnie is not very well fleshed out. I thought Rose would be an interesting character but was also sad that her motives and actions were also very surface level. Luna was obviously psycho but it was left to the reader to do those mental gymnastics.

I enjoyed how easy it was to read and how vivid the imagery was but would not race to read something like that again.

4/10

[TaylorJade · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 ⭐️⭐️

Me and this book did not vibe at all. I hated the characters (Marnie is insufferable and Luna is insane), found the plot meandering at best, the twists were ‘eh’ but surprisingly grotesque, the “smut” felt performative, and the ending does just that, end with no explanation or catharsis. I can see why some might describe this is as a feminist girlboss tale if Mecca was a cult/MLM, but it crossed so far past feminism it came out as misandrist and left a bad taste in my mouth. The only good thing is like a horrid train wreck, you couldn’t look away to see what would happen next. Bookclub should be interesting.

[Jordan Rolfe-Vyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

holy shit

culty, crazy and c*nty !

this is so good omg

[Rachel Baillie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wild ride start to finish - couldn’t put it down!! Loved the Melbourne setting, loved the faux feminism, corporate jokes and an important life lesson - never work for a trendy small business.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

✅ Crazy women
✅ Pacy plot
✅ Based in Aus
✅ A little steamy

Chloe Elizabeth Wilson, I’ll read whatever you write next!

[Sara Garrity · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ Was trying to be Bunny by Mona Awad but missed the mark a bit. I still enjoyed reading it :)

[Sim ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

devoured 🍒💋💅🏼💄💕

ended up supporting women’s wrongs (or rights? you tell me) indeed, mine being that I haven’t watched Fight Club 🫢

[Bert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fight Club, but make it good and set it at Aesop. So damn cool. I’m gonna eat up everything Chloe writes after this.

Only for the coolest girls and gays!!

[biblioceraptor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off strong — but then: it was not as unhinged or psychotic as I’d been led to believe. The ending felt a little premature, in that the story didn’t deliver the “deconstruction of the beauty industry” I’d been sold from the blurb nor the “gripping examination of identity, beauty and desire”.

Quite an accessible, easy read — not too deep. But also I wanna know more about the cult/cult leader aspect & her rise to power — that was lacking.

It’s giving Creamerie (girlboss feminism) and Promising Young Woman (good for her!) but without the full circle conclusion that those shows provided.

A wild ride, just not as wild as I’d hoped — I girded my loins too much.

[Lily Sawtell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well that was fucked

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 rounded down

[Darka · Rating 3 out of 5]

авторка відкусила більше, ніж змогла прожувати, але дебюту можна пробачити

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rytual explores what hides under the shiny veneer of a beloved beauty brand and the price some are willing to pay to be influential, as well as the obsession (and lust) that comes with idolising someone so much. I picked this up on a whim and ended up really enjoying it - in a world of girl boss influencers and MLM cults, this book feels extremely timely. The subtle way things slowly started to get weirder and weirder kept me hooked until the end.

Edit: after talking with Laura about this book, I do feel like they could’ve been better decisions made regarding the ending. The ending is decent and I’m not mad about it but after chatting about it I do feel like there was some other pretty interesting directions that the author could’ve gone in that I think would’ve given a much more satisfying conclusion.

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I read the advanced reader copy*

The idea is insane and has a lot of potential, but the execution didn’t do it for me. I found it hard to care much for characters and felt I was being told about relationships more than shown, which contributes to a hollow and two dimensional reading experience. I didn’t feel the pull that Marnie felt when getting swept up in this cult. Could be a personal preference but it needs more whimsy. The ending felt disjointed, and overall I felt there are points left unfinished. Perhaps this may change before publication, but unlikely?

[Amy Lee Corr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This takes “cult beauty product” to the extreme and will make me afraid of picking up my next Mecca Beauty Loop Box (I dropped down to level 2 this year so maybe I’ve always been a little afraid deep down).

This is a more digestible version of Rouge x Bunny by Mona Awad or Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang - I recommend this if you loved their vibes but found their plots a bit too intangible

[Pia · Rating 3 out of 5]

that book felt like one entire trip….

it reminded me a lot like bunny just more messed up and with an equally ambiguous ending

[Heather Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insane. Loved it

[Ellie Nunan · Rating 5 out of 5]

bitch what the fuck!!!! This spun inward with perfect momentum like a stylish A24 horror set in my actual neighbourhood with women I actually know and understand but also, bitch what the fuck!!!!!

[Abigail dv · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Awe and horror had the same aftertaste” !!!!!!! Delightful

[Chanel Chapters]

I support women’s rights, but more importantly, I support women’s morally questionable skincare routines.

3.25⭐️

[Annie Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it frustrating when the main character is meant to be funny because other characters keep saying how funny they are and yet they are never actually saying anything funny. It’s funny.