Thumbs up for Poster Girl by Veronica Roth. Science fiction.
I subscribed to the FairyLoot Adult Fantasy box out of curiosity, but when I saw that the theme for November was “Dystopian” I sighed. The last dystopian story I read and enjoyed was Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy when I was in my twenties. I’m over it. And then I opened the box, and saw Roth’s name, and I liked the premise: the literal poster girl for the last, defunct dystopia is given a chance to get out of prison by solving a missing person case. So I read it. Let me start with: this book worked because it was fast. I read it in two sittings, and with great enjoyment. It doesn’t pass the “would this story actually happen to this person” plausibility test (the author made a pass at lampshading the issue, but no). But I liked the main character, Sonya – Roth does a great job of writing subtle depression without simply writing a flat character – and I like the way Sonya’s fallen utopia, and the world as it now is, are rendered with economy through a series of telling details. And I do just generally like Roth’s writing. Ground-breaking? No. An enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours? Definitely.
“You’re like…a piece of paper,” Knox says, shrugging. “Looks blank and pale and boring, but if you handle it wrong, it’ll cut the shit out of you. It’ll make them suspicious if they notice it–so don’t let them.”
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