What Pretty Girls Are Made Of breaks the lipstick seal of silence in this thinly veiled tell-all about what it’s like working in the cosmetic trenches. Roth’s roman-a-clef centers around the indefatigable Alison Kraft, who lands a new career in the cutthroat world of high-end makeup, ensnared under a new boss who could give even Miranda Priestly a run for her money. A boss who secretly wires the office halls, requires coffee in the shade of Beyoncé, and locks misbehaving employees in her red Mercedes for drive-by-ambush scoldings. While this cosmetics company doesn’t test on animals, it certainly isn’t cruelty free.

But beyond the circumstances of Alison’s job, What Pretty Girls Are Made Of brings a new, hopeful spin to the woes of late twentysomething life; it isn’t fluff—it isn’t a miracle story. It’s about how this winning modern heroine invents herself; about covering up and wiping away. An act of desperation to achieve inner satisfaction.

What Pretty Girls Are Made Of is honest about its character’s flaws, while also maintaining a fresh-faced outlook at what happens when life doesn’t go your way. For what really is makeup? You’ll find out.