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arantzazureads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was good but not amazing. It was thought-provoking and well-written; I definitely highlighted a lot of quotable passages! The sedate tone and style matched the protagonist’s personality which was also well-tied in with the plot and setting. It all hung together very skillfully. I really liked the ending. But the pace felt slow and reflective in a way that never got very exciting or emotionally personal for me so it took me a couple weeks to come back to it and finish it. Wasn’t a binging book for me (but that’s okay). I’d say read it if you’re interested in a story about the *aftermath* of what usually is the hot, exciting traditional dystopian tale (aka this author’s famous Divergent series). This is obviously a more mature writer and story which has its own pros and cons depending on the reader. But the setting and the way she handled the complexity and nuance of what happens to the poster child of a fascist regime after it toppled was well-done in my opinion. Definitely check content warnings though. I teach about these topics (fascism, propaganda, surveillance, censorship), and I’d recommend it if I worked with older high school or college kids.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
annamorgan27's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Sexual content
americandropout's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I know this is technically a scifi mystery, but if I take a moment to really analyze the themes here, I would almost consider this horror. Not the slasher kind, or the kind with monsters and supernatural creatures, but a type of psychological horror born from living in a surveillance state. Of course this book paints an extreme picture where every choice you make has positive or negative consequences, and the government monitors you constantly, but I think the surveillance part especially probably happens far more than we think it does. Which is a scary thought.
"It seems to me," she says, "that if your every choice is in defiance of a system, you are as much a servant of that system as someone who obeys it."
I'd consider this book more of a character-driven story than a solid mystery. It's about Sonya learning to let go of all the rules she has lived by her entire life, and about how the Delegation isn't the utopian society she still considers it to be. The mystery of the missing child is what forces her to confront some of her convictions, but it ultimately feels more like the driver for Sonya's character development than the core of the story. That said, I enjoyed seeing Sonya come to terms with what she thought to be true. She comes across initially as someone who is a stickler for the rules. She keeps a constant tally in her head of all the things she does, and how many points they would get her in the old system. However, there are also moments where she exhibits an unexpected fierceness and unwillingness to let others walk over her, and I think we got more of those moments as the story progresses.
I do feel like there are some plot holes here. For example, Sonya has an Insight in her eye, which allows the current government to access footage of where she has been and what she's been doing. I just keep wondering, why didn't she cover it with an eye patch to stop them from tracking her? She even mentions how uncomfortable she used to find the thought that they could watch her undressing, and how she had to let go of doing everything in the dark because it just wasn't possible. An eye patch seems like a pretty decent solution to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Violence
Moderate: Murder
marareading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved this look into a dystopian regime being overthrown by another government. Such an interesting thought process. The original corrupt government rewards citizens by paying/removing rewards via monitoring eye implants and reporting behaviors by citizens. When overthrown all citizens who supported the government are held in a secluded and guarded community for life. Including MC Sonya, who was the literal poster child for the deligation government. Now the new government is offering her her freedom in exchange for finding a missing person displaced my the deligation. She will find that the government she knew as a child wasn't as she thought it wasn't uncovering secrets and very uncomfortable information she didn't know she'd rather leave buried.
This is a slow burn and I couldn't put it down. Perfect for a dystopian weekend read. Highly recommend, and eerily relevant to the times.
This is a slow burn and I couldn't put it down. Perfect for a dystopian weekend read. Highly recommend, and eerily relevant to the times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
starrysteph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Poster Girl is an uncomfortable portrait of guilt and identity.
We follow Sonya, the former teenage poster girl for an oppressive dystopian regime. She’s been living in a prison for the past 10 years alongside fellow members of the Delegation. But now, an old enemy visits her with an enticing offer: if she finds a missing child who was stolen by the old regime, she can earn her freedom.
Roth has great skill at building dystopian worlds; the society felt very adjacent to our current reality. The invasive tech & government surveillance aspect felt very believable.
The characterization was excellent. Sonya is a compelling morally gray protagonist - you’re angry with her and hopeful for her and yet a little hesitant to root for her. We don’t usually get dystopian lit from the point of view of a character with privilege & that benefited from the regime.
I also enjoyed that we’re dropping into this story 10 years after the revolution. The world has settled (although there are of course complications with the new leadership), and Sonya is an adult who has essentially been living in limbo - with space from her personal trauma and plenty of time to allow for reflection. She was fully indoctrinated and still lives in that bubble at the start of the story; it’s intriguing to watch her discover the ethical horrors of what she once accepted as truth.
One weakness for me was the romance aspect. It felt a bit tacked on & that thread didn’t seem to lead anywhere or add to the plot outside of a device for Sonya to yet again recognize her manipulation and recalibrate her sense of self.
Additionally, there was so much distance from the overthrowing incident that the mystery plot & tension didn’t feel as urgent or engaging as I wanted it to be.
Overall, Poster Girl was fascinating, but I wished for a little more depth and higher stakes.
CW: murder, death, child death, suicide, suicidal thoughts, violence, alcoholism, drug use, confinement, gun violence, addiction, grief, mental illness, panic attacks, police brutality, war, kidnapping, child abuse
(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War
keepcalmblogon's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Veronica Roth is an autobuy author for me, so when the chance to win a signed ARC of Poster Girl popped up from William Morrow Books, I took it! I cannot describe how excited I was when I found out I won (there was lots of dancing and screaming)!
Poster Girl feels like Divergent all grown up. I don’t mean that in any kind of negative way, but it explores the sins of a child through her grown-up eyes in a dystopian world that exists after an uprising. So, if you’ve read Divergent and have since grown up (like myself), you’ll know what I mean if you read this.
I found this story to be the perfect standalone and discovered a number of insightful kernels that I promptly page-marked. Despite outwardly dealing with problems only imaginable in our world, Poster Girl speaks to underlying universalities of the human experience.
Poster Girl is absolutely five stars for me and I highly recommend it to any dystopian lovers. I’d also recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adult or NA fiction that deals with internal conflict and a bit of mystery.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
**Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
When I saw that one of the "classic" dystopian authors was releasing a new dystopian, I was excited to check it out - and very excited to get an advanced copy! I know that some people still hold Allegiant against Roth, but while it definitely wasn't my favourite series ending, I don't hold any grudges about it. I was excited for an adult dystopian!
This book was kind of a dystopian crossed with a mystery, with a lot of social and political commentary. It had a really good combination of these things, and I did really like the commentary. There were some really interesting things said and discussed between characters, or just commented on by the main character.
The one thing I was kind of excited about, even though it was so small, is that this book is set in the Pacific North West - or I guess what would have been it? - and it mentions places like Portland, Seattle, and even Vancouver! It was kind of exciting to see a Canadian city included - oh the small things that make us happy! I did also really like the writing of the book, and how short it was. Roth was able to pack so much into a shorter novel without missing anything integral to the story.
I did really enjoy the story, but I admit there were just a couple things that made me not give it a higher rating. Even though I loved how short the story was, there were a couple parts that felt almost like filler. We got a lot of background information, or more details on the way the new dystopia works - as one has taken over after a different one - but some of those sections made things drag just a little. I almost wish the pace had been kept up a bit more, especially through certain sections.
I also guessed a couple of the twists. Don't get me wrong! There are some absolutely fantastic twists and reveals throughout the book that I did NOT see coming - two that I could name right away as being fantastic twists in the book! But there were a couple others that felt a little predictable. And the ending, well, I have very mixed feelings on it. While it was the type of ending that I wanted for so many other dystopians I read during the height of that genre, it felt a little lackluster for this story.
But perhaps my biggest reason I couldn't rate this higher is that the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked them to be. I couldn't ever fully get a grasp on Sonya. She didn't feel developed enough for me to really have feelings about her through the story. The same went for Alexander, even the other side characters. I think somehow the ones that were developed were characters who were integral to the story but had such short little moments. It was a strange combination.
Overall though, if you are looking for a plot-focused dystopian that has some great twists and brings you back to the dystopian novels that we used to read - it will deliver on those fronts, in a short novel even!!
When I saw that one of the "classic" dystopian authors was releasing a new dystopian, I was excited to check it out - and very excited to get an advanced copy! I know that some people still hold Allegiant against Roth, but while it definitely wasn't my favourite series ending, I don't hold any grudges about it. I was excited for an adult dystopian!
This book was kind of a dystopian crossed with a mystery, with a lot of social and political commentary. It had a really good combination of these things, and I did really like the commentary. There were some really interesting things said and discussed between characters, or just commented on by the main character.
The one thing I was kind of excited about, even though it was so small, is that this book is set in the Pacific North West - or I guess what would have been it? - and it mentions places like Portland, Seattle, and even Vancouver! It was kind of exciting to see a Canadian city included - oh the small things that make us happy! I did also really like the writing of the book, and how short it was. Roth was able to pack so much into a shorter novel without missing anything integral to the story.
I did really enjoy the story, but I admit there were just a couple things that made me not give it a higher rating. Even though I loved how short the story was, there were a couple parts that felt almost like filler. We got a lot of background information, or more details on the way the new dystopia works - as one has taken over after a different one - but some of those sections made things drag just a little. I almost wish the pace had been kept up a bit more, especially through certain sections.
I also guessed a couple of the twists. Don't get me wrong! There are some absolutely fantastic twists and reveals throughout the book that I did NOT see coming - two that I could name right away as being fantastic twists in the book! But there were a couple others that felt a little predictable. And the ending, well, I have very mixed feelings on it. While it was the type of ending that I wanted for so many other dystopians I read during the height of that genre, it felt a little lackluster for this story.
But perhaps my biggest reason I couldn't rate this higher is that the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked them to be. I couldn't ever fully get a grasp on Sonya. She didn't feel developed enough for me to really have feelings about her through the story. The same went for Alexander, even the other side characters. I think somehow the ones that were developed were characters who were integral to the story but had such short little moments. It was a strange combination.
Overall though, if you are looking for a plot-focused dystopian that has some great twists and brings you back to the dystopian novels that we used to read - it will deliver on those fronts, in a short novel even!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
The suicides are referenced back to, and they are drug overdose related.parchmentdreams's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Veronica Roth's Poster Girl is the first book I've read by the author, and what a book! Roth's adult dystopian novel is set in a post-surveillance society, featuring the literal "poster girl" of the previous regime - Sonya Kantor.
We follow Sonya as she lives in the Aperture, a specially designed prison for the remnants of the Delegation. Poster Girl is the story of one young woman as she struggles to find herself - her identity and her role in life - in a society that has moved on without her. The novel cleverly and gently discusses topics such as surveillance and digital identities, suicide, societal and economic disparities, and how it feels to live in a world which no longer makes sense.
Roth's writing lends itself very well to film adaptation, in the way the author build us a world and almost places us inside it right alongside the main character. The lead herself, Sonya, had the potential to be an incredible unlikeable character, and while she was certainly a naive teen, as a woman her character is strong yet sensitive. I loved that Sonya was able to look back on the mistakes she had made as a child (and even as an adult) and recognise and make an effort to grow from those errors. She wasn't whiny or self-absorbed as a lot of characters in this sort of setting end up coming across, and I really enjoyed the chemistry between her and Alexander.
Overall, this was a very well written and engaging novel, about a young woman struggling to find and accept who she is in a post-surveillance world that has moved on without her. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian or speculative fiction, with sci-fi elements and in depth characters.
"She's a speck of dust here, unobserved and unremarked upon. Everywhere, in every direction, is emptiness. Everywhere, in every direction, is freedom."
We follow Sonya as she lives in the Aperture, a specially designed prison for the remnants of the Delegation. Poster Girl is the story of one young woman as she struggles to find herself - her identity and her role in life - in a society that has moved on without her. The novel cleverly and gently discusses topics such as surveillance and digital identities, suicide, societal and economic disparities, and how it feels to live in a world which no longer makes sense.
Roth's writing lends itself very well to film adaptation, in the way the author build us a world and almost places us inside it right alongside the main character. The lead herself, Sonya, had the potential to be an incredible unlikeable character, and while she was certainly a naive teen, as a woman her character is strong yet sensitive. I loved that Sonya was able to look back on the mistakes she had made as a child (and even as an adult) and recognise and make an effort to grow from those errors. She wasn't whiny or self-absorbed as a lot of characters in this sort of setting end up coming across, and I really enjoyed the chemistry between her and Alexander.
Overall, this was a very well written and engaging novel, about a young woman struggling to find and accept who she is in a post-surveillance world that has moved on without her. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian or speculative fiction, with sci-fi elements and in depth characters.
"She's a speck of dust here, unobserved and unremarked upon. Everywhere, in every direction, is emptiness. Everywhere, in every direction, is freedom."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and War
leahjanespeare's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Why even bother with the word dystopian these days? This book takes place in the near future. One tyrannical regime has collapsed, and another is rising to take its place, promising that, don’t worry, they’re the good guys. Poster Girl shows the inevitable fallout when citizens lack privacy from their government; unchecked power, and the allure of an ‘easy’ life with all information at the tips of our fingers - and yet the importance of questioning the cost of that information. It's a speculative thriller; straightforward, slowly unfolding. Old school, like a noir. We also have very complicated, morally grey characters, which I often think of as Roth's signature style. Sonya is liked by absolutely no one, not really even her fellow political prisoners. She plays dirty, still has long-time habits from living a life of surveillance; ultimately not a great person - and yet I was fascinated by her and how she chose to respond to situations in the new world she doesn't fit into but now 'chooses' to be a part of.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Death