Poster Girl. Veronica Roth. 2022 [October] 288 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: When she thinks of the time before, she thinks of the photo shoot. The woman who applied Sonya's makeup smelled of lilies of the valley and hair spray. When she leaned close to dust Sonya's cheeks with blush, or to cover up a blemish with a fingertip dotted beige, Sonya stared at the freckles on her collarbone. When she finished, the woman slicked her hands with oil and ran them through Sonya's hair to make it sleek.
Premise/plot: Poster Girl is dystopian fiction [for adults, I make this distinction because Veronica Roth has written books for both young adults and adults, and some adult readers are very opinionated when it comes to NOT wanting to 'accidentally' read YA].
Sonya Kantor, our heroine, was literally the poster girl for the now-overturned government. She's spent years--a decade? a little over a decade???--imprisoned in the Aperture paying for her "sins" and her family's sins. And by sins I mean political beliefs and views. Of course personal blends with political and political blends with personal. She was a teenager following in the steps of her parents. Other kids--younger kids--whose parents were involved in this now-overturned government--have been released from the Aperture and returned to society (often with new names, new identities). But not Sonya.
Sonya is given the opportunity for release, for freedom, or so-called "freedom," if she'll help find a missing person, a child--an illegal second child. But tracking down this mystery will raise more questions than it may answers, and the truth may just SHOCK Sonya and disrupt her life forever...
My thoughts: There is world-building. I didn't include many details of the world-building because it is easier to understand while reading than to try to summarize succinctly and explain to someone else. I would not do justice to the two governments, the revolution, the warring ideas and beliefs, in just a few sentences. This one has a LOT to say about technology, about policing ideas, morals, values, behavior, etc.
I enjoyed this one. It was a fast-paced read with some action, plenty of mystery. There's an attempt at light romance that just didn't make sense to me (at all). The romance was the weakest element, but there were plenty of stronger ones. I do almost wish that a little more time had been spent on personal relationships--just another fifty or so pages might have helped me like it (even) more.
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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