One of the first dystopia type books I've read. I wouldn't say it's my favourite genre but the writing was good and I enjoyed the story line.

Poster Girl was so good!
It was the first Dystopian book I've read in the past couple years and it really made me want to read more!
I found it really interesting that instead of the story being about dealing with an oppressive regime the story was actually set after the regime had already fallen.
I highly recommend you check this book out!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked Divergent... at first... Especially the concept but after too many absurd plots, I disliked it. But, I still want to read Veroncia Roth's Book, because like I said, this author has many good concepts. And Poster Girl is the same. But, I suffered reading this one. It's hard to understand the worldbuilding. But, I like the ending

I'm so interested in the evolution of Veronica Roth's writing, from dystopian YA to these fascinating stories about what comes after the end of those stories, first Chosen Ones and now Poster Girl, which the whole concept of was so intriguing to me.

Sonya grew up under a dystopian regime, in fact she was famously on a propaganda poster, and she never saw the issues with the system until the uprising came and her whole family died. Now, 10 years later, she's been tasked with finding a missing girl in exchange for her freedom from the prison she's been trapped in.

This was a fascinating exploration of what comes after a dystopian regime is toppled, often the people who rise up aren't necessarily any better, or they overcorrect in their attempts to put things to rights. I've seen some critique that this book didn't go far enough in this direction, and I can see that perspective but for me this was more nuanced than that. At times the Delegation almost seemed reasonable, and at others it was deeply horrifying, and that is the point. There isn't any right and easy answer, every regime believes in itself, and righteousness can be dangerous in its own way. At the end of the day, the message of this book felt bleak in some ways, there isn't a solution to any of these issues. But at the same time it highlights the one thing we should all really hang onto, which is that we can only ever be responsible for our own actions, and we should all take that responsibility seriously.

All in all this was a clever and intriguing story, and like all Veronica Roth's books, it was easy to devour quickly but stayed with me long after I finished.

Poster Girl was brilliant. I really, really enjoyed this. I was a bit nervous delving back into the work of Veronica Roth, having had very strong & mixed opinions on her previous work, but I'm glad I did. I definitely think Roth has a voice for dystopian fiction.

Poster Girl was an intriguing, thought provoking read. How should we behave? What is correct behaviour? What method of surveillance is too much? Who decides what punishments fit the crime? Of course, the novel makes the point that there are some things most of us agree on as being bad (like murder), this is not the issue - the novel takes interest in exploring how some people are published more extremely for certain behaviours - and why is that? Is it to shape someone into a certain gender stereotype? To keep someone in their class? These were all interesting and thought-provoking questions, and while we do not have the exact same technology as in this book, many of the questions and explorations of freedom, freewill, government, and societal expectations can be mapped back on our modern-day reality.

I was - and still am - conflicted about this book being a standalone. In many ways I could see how it could've been expanded upon, stretched out a little more, and be made into a duology. I just felt that while there was a lot of depth explored, there was still room for more. But on the other hand, I did enjoy that this was a standalone. So, you see my confliction!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review

No doubt that Roth is a storyteller but I can't take my thought out of the redundant concept of a dystopian world especially since she wrote the acclaimed Divergent series.

Poster Girl is suitable for a standalone.

It is like Katniss Everdeen from Hunger Games but in District 1 then finally she breaks out of the illusionary image of a perfect government and then becomes a spark of a revolution.

Reading poster girl was such a nostalgic experience, it took me back to the dystopian books era when the genre was first blowing up. Because of the sheer volume of dystopian series that have been released since then it’s difficult to find one that is completely unique. Whilst poster girl does have a lot of similarities to other books in the genre, I still felt the concept was different and interesting.

In the first 50 or so pages I did struggle to connect with Sonya as a main character, she felt a little dry and robotic to me. But once the story got moving and we discovered more of her past I felt like we got to know her better and understand why her personality has been shaped the way that it is. I really enjoyed seeing her grow and develop as a person as she came to understand the politics of the world around her.

The mystery of the plot kept me intrigued in the story and I loved the twists and turns that it went through as we discovered the secrets of the world. I really enjoyed the ending and I think it works perfectly as a stand-alone.

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for giving me access to the arc!

there's a story that better off as a book, and there's also a story that better off as a movie. this story fell into the second category.

there's something tricky about futuristic dystopian book. underexplaining and it won't make sense, overexplaining and it might get boring. SOMEHOW, for me this book is both of it. i didn't understand the setting and system yet i was bored reading it. for the record, I haven't read Roth's book before, even the well-known Divergent series. so I don't know is this book's setting somehow related to those series or...?

anyway, the pace was too slow to my liking, the setting was hard to imagine and i couldn't care about the story. i couldn't keep up with the characters, there's too many of them, especially in the beginning. but i kept pushing forward until finally i hooked with the mystery. did it worth it? yes. the climax were clever. the conclusion snapped something in me.

maybe I'll reread this book in the future to make more sense of it but for now I'd settle for 3 stars.

Sonya Kantor has spent the last 10 years in the Aperture, an isolated enclosure where Delegation “criminals” are locked away after the uprising. children of the Delegation are being released, but since sonya was over 16 when she was imprisoned, she can only earn freedom through solving the case of missing child, Grace Ward.

This book was equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking. i went in expecting an adult version of Divergent, and that’s sort-of what it was. We have a corrupt government, an uprising, a missing child and, bonus, enemies-to-lovers!!!!! (kind of… you’ll understand when you read it)

I was rooting for Sonya the entire time, and found myself growing really attached to her character. She has the most insane character arc, and you can tell she has completely changed as a person over the 10 years during which this book is set.

I’d advise checking the trigger warnings if your triggers include things like murder, blood, body parts etc.

This book was a wild ride, I definitely recommend it!!! It’s out now, so go and grab a copy✨✨✨

Thank you to the publisher Hodder & Stoughton and to NetGalley for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: prison, abuse, suicide, body horror, death

I loved "Poster Girl" from the very first page. This is a tightly written, tense stand alone set in the future where a long standing regime has fallen and their "poster girl" has been a prisoner for 10 years. The story follows Sonya Kantor, the daughter of a prominent figure, who as a child was the face of the Delegation; this regime decided what was right through a ranking system, limiting people's lives in exchange for coins that you could spend on desirable things (such as a second child, losing your virginity or taking a trip). It seemed perfect until a group of rebels destroyed the Delegation for good and everyone who worked in support of it was placed inside one of four buildings and all but abandoned. Sonya is now alone, her family dead, with little purpose in life except for growing tomatoes and trying to fix a radio. Everyone knows what she used to represent, which is why it's such a surprise when a figure from her old life offers her a deal: find an illegal, second child that went missing and be granted your freedom for good.

What Veronica Roth has written here is so well done, Sonya is a brilliantly conflicted main character and I loved the flashbacks we got into her life before prison. Her relationships with the other characters, and her impact on one particular family, are some of the highlights and I really enjoyed the process of her learning about the world outside. I could never have predicted the ending but I found myself to be content with how it ended, because after all the death and violence and hurt, Sonya deserved it.

The dystopian novel I’ve been waiting for! A genuine page-turner and an excellent concept, I loved the Divergent series but this book is a triumph for Veronica Roth. It’s HUNGER GAMES world-building mixed with thriller and mystery, and a twist I did not see coming. Would highly recommend.

I was really surprised by just how much I loved this book, often dystopians can feel a bit ‘samey’ but Poster Girl manages to feel fresh. It kept me gripped all the way through with twists and reveals along with some strong social commentary.

The main protagonist is Sonya Kantor, the literal poster girl and face of the Delegation, a fallen regime. Sonya has been imprisoned ever since the Delegation was overthrown ten years ago but has finally been offered a chance of freedom, but only if she is able to locate a missing girl taken by the old regime.

Instead of being set during an oppressive, authoritarian government it focuses on the aftermath, which makes it feel a bit different to every other dystopian story. For such a relatively short book, the history of this world is very well established and throws up some thought provoking questions around morality, technology and surveillance.

Sonya is a complex character, she doesn’t fit the typical hero mould but is very morally grey instead. Her past is checkered but she was a child while the Delegation was in power and clearly indoctrinated. It was so interesting to follow her as she questions what she knows and attempts to unlearn the behaviour that has been drilled into her. There’s a lot for Sonya to grapple with and consider, especially as it becomes clear that even with the new government not everything is as it seems.

4 stars

ARC provided by publisher on NetGalley for an honest review

“He called them criminals… but all I could see was desperation.”

Poster Girl, Veronica Roth’s new dystopian novel, is very reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 with its overarching themes of government surveillance, and even a morality system echoing ideas of Thoughtcrime. After the collapse of the Delegation dictatorship, Sonya Kantor and the other sweethearts of the Delegation are locked in the Aperture, facing a life sentence for their political crimes. Roth questions what happens after the collapse of a dystopian government, what happens to the loyalists, what happens to the children of the dictatorship.

“You can’t be both the pretty Delegation princess and the hardened prisoner of the Aperture at the same time.”

Sonya Kantor, the poster girl and face of the Delegation, narrowly misses the cutoff of the mercies of the Children of the Delegation Act - held responsible for the crimes of her family, and the loyalty she was indoctrinated to hold. However, Sonya is offered a chance of freedom by the Triumvirate - find Grace Ward, the second child of the Ward’s taken by the Delegation, and earn her freedom. However, in her investigation into Grace Ward, Sonya uncovers the unsavoury truth about her family and the regime she was told was right, and is forced to question her upbringing and the world she thought she knew.

“It’s all been downplayed by government officials, but those who know, know… And I always know.”

Whilst being an entertaining read in itself, Roth’s Poster Girl also offers a commentary on contemporary issues of technology, genetic engineering and morality. Technology is a fundamental part of the Delegation, and Roth questions how far can we take technology, highlighting the privacy sacrificed for the sake of convenience. It’s very easy to notice the similarities between the Insights of the Delegation, monitoring every purchase, movement, interaction and thought, and the technology that dominates modern society - phones, laptops, Alexa etcetera. Roth also comments on the interaction between technology and human development, echoing body architect Lucy McRae in the exploration of fusing the synthetic with the organic, and questioning what this means for the development and evolution of humanity.

“All of life, an endless series of columns, this versus that, action versus inaction. It’s all subjective. It’s all math.”

What really stood out for me, was the capitalisation of morality, and the construction of the morality system within the Delegation. Morality under the Delegation is dictated by human choice, the government decide what is right, and what is wrong. Roth uses Poster Girl to question what is morality, exploring a system reminiscent of Emotivism. Roth takes a non-cognitivist stance on ethics and morality, highlighting the subjectivity of morality dependent on culture. It was this commentary on ethics which really drew me into Poster Girl, morality is dependent on behaviour rather than intention under the Delegation, and this distinct divide between the law and what is right, highlights the questions still being asked in contemporary political climates; is the law always right?

Poster Girl is a dark novel which comments on human desperation, hopelessness, technology, and government and politics. It is both a captivating novel which I’m sure many will enjoy reading, and an artistic political allegory which focuses on contemporary issues. I only wish it were longer; the 280 pages feels insufficient to truly analyse and discuss the political issues raised within the novel, there are really thought provoking ideas raised, but these aren’t really expanded upon sufficiently. However, this doesn’t take away from the fact that Poster Girl is a highly enjoyable, and considered dystopian novel.

Quotes taken from e-ARC provided through NetGalley and may change in final published work

This book starts quite slow and like Sonya, the main character, it grows on you more and more with every page. Veronica Roth always writes peculiar stories. As in the Chosen Ones it seems as if all the action has already happened, the tyranny has already been defeated, but our “heroine” was on the wrong side (Btw I’d love to have a prequel). She is the good girl, the one that follows every rule, the one that has been taught to be good and quite and to become a good wife. But then the dictatorship collapses and all those rules are just wrong and she is completely lost. But, alone, in a village that is actually a big prison for enemies of the new government, she starts finding herself, by gardening and by repairing things, all things she would have never done under the old government that make her grow. And then an impossible task to find a missing girl to gain her freedom will bring to life terrible truths, both about herself and about her family. The greatest thing is that she is far from perfect, but she understands how to forgive and how to live with the errors and the horrors of her past. The love story is very sweet, but the most important relationship this books lights up is the one we must have with ourselves to be happy.

As an old-school (gosh I feel old!) fan of Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy, I was really excited about her new adult dystopian. She just knows how to write a tense dystopian society.
Unfortunately, the further I read into Poster Girl, the more disappointed I became. I felt no relatability to the characters or plot.
Sonya, a twenty-something woman has been locked in the Aperature - a prison-like society following the revolution of the government. Her life appears lonely and survival takes precedence over anything else. We get flashbacks about the deaths of her family and close friends and how she copes in this new life.
The plot begins when Alexander Price, the brother of her previous fiance shows up in her apartment looking to make a deal for her freedom. Sonya narrowly missed out on freedom with the 'Freedom for the Children of the Delegation Act' which the new government recently passed. Hence, she accepted that the remainder of her life would be spent in the Aperature. Alexander offers her a deal: find a missing second child (which was illegal unless allowed by the government), Grace Ward in exchange for freedom outside her daily prison.
At first, she turns this down but slowly she figures out this deal could provide more than just freedom for her.
From this point, the plot is slow and dull. It's lots of very similar chapters of Sonya leaving the Aperature, finding people to question and then returning.
I won't spoil the plot but I think the governmental system and futuristic technology discussed throughout the book held promise. It provided an opportunity for an interesting plot and characters but I felt this novel fell flat. By the end, I felt relieved just finishing it.

A strong and provocative reading!

I'm talking about Poster Girl, Veronica Roth's brand new and highly anticipated new book!
An action-packed dystopian thriller / mystery with a really strong and brave protagonist in a very dark, dystopian and brutal setting but much closer to our reality than we can imagine!

I loved it, a very smooth book, with the fantastic prose of Veronica Roth, well-characterized characters and a really interesting dystopian world that really scared me and that made me think about our future!

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Poster Girl is out everywhere tomorrow, October 18th! Don't miss it!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I hadn't read any books by Veronica Roth since the Divergent series and I really need to go back and catch up on what I've missed!

Veronica just knows how to create a dystopian world so well without it being overcomplicated. The world in Poster Girl was so easy to understand and almost believable.

I took me a little while to work out if I liked Sonya, our main protagonist, but after getting to know her better I decided that I loved her and her approach to everything. I loved the characters she would encounter in the Aperture.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to go back and read The Chosen Ones and the Carve the Mark series!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is FANTASTIC.

Did you ever read The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent or any other popular dystopia and think to yourself, "Well - what happens once the totalitarian regime is overthrown?" Then this book is absolutely for you!

It explores what happens to the 'other side', the sympathisers, the enablers, the family members of those in charge, and how society might deal with them and view them after the fall of the old government. And it does this in such an interesting, multifaceted way. The characters are sympathetic and you find yourself understanding their motives, even when you know their actions were wrong.

The protagonist herself is flawed - she has a lot of guilt and self doubt tied to what she did as a teenager under the Delegation, and although its been ten years it's still very raw for her.

This was a highly anticipated read for me as I adored the Divergent series when it came out. It really delivered all that I hoped for, and more. The whole set up is just SO good, I implore you to read it immediately if you're in the mood for a top tier and really original dystopian book.

An easy 5 stars. If I could rate it higher, I would.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodderbooks for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Poster Girl by Veronica Roth caught my eye purely due to the author. I had read Roth’s Divergent series before and enjoyed the early books. I hadn’t followed her career since then and was interested in this as it was directed towards Adults.

I don’t routinely pick up dystopian novels, (having read my share of them following the Hunger Games phase of my youth!) however I was pleasantly surprised by this.

This is very much grown up in comparison to what I’ve read of Roth before with a lot of adult themes involved, but I would say it sits more in the New Adult area than purely Adult - or that’s the vibe I certainly took from it.

The story follows Sonya Kantor who is the face of the previous regime and who’s family were head of it. It explores Sonya’s life and society 10 years after the downfall.

Generally I liked the other plot - to find a missing child - but I have to admit it seemed unlikely and strange that the government would give her this task in the first place considering the implications that resulted from it.

I liked the main character Sonya and thought her narrative seemed suitably traumatised after what she’d been through.

However I felt the romance in the novel was rushed, out of character for Sonya and generally unlikely. The story and plot also wouldn’t have been affected by its removal.

The world I liked a lot and would have liked the book to be longer to explore more of the setting.

Generally this was a good book, enjoyable read that I wanted to continue and for that I give it 4 stars.

I think it's an interesting book as it deals with some very serious topics like surveillance, privacy, free will, and how our choices can be affected by someone.
It's a gripping read and an interesting dystopia even if a bit too YA at times.
The author is a talented storyteller and I think this first adultnovel worked well
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine