Persona

Genevieve Valentine doesn't care what we expect of her, she'll do something totally different with every book. Her steampunk circus novel Mechanique is vastly different from last year's "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling set in the Roaring Twenties, The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. And yet again, this time with shiny new Saga Press, Valentine publishes something I wouldn't have expected. A futuristic thriller about diplomats. Sort of.

Suyana is the Face for the United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation (UARC), which means she is a cross between embassador and beauty pageant contestant. Governments choose Faces to represent them, and much like celebrities, these Faces are hounded by paparazzi, their outfits analysed to shit by the tabloids, and their private life inspected in every minute detail. When wannabe-paparazzo Daniel witnesses an assassination attempt on Suyana, his decency kicks in and he helps her get away, rather than taking snapshots of her being killed.

From there, we dive deeper into the rabbit hole of politics, conspiracies and wearing a mask foryour entire life. I wasn't a big fan of the plot (not much there, really) but I loved, loved, loved Suyana's quiet character. You can just feel the anger bubbling underneath the surface but you'd never know from looking at her perfectly composed face. Trained to never be themselves, the Faces reminded me a lot of beauty pageants where everybody wears that same fake smile, says only what makes them look good, and wears ridiculous outfits to "represent" their cultural heritage. It's little details like Suyana's dress with palm leaf print that gives this book depth.

Valentine's language is more mainstream than in her other novels. Her use of parentheses to hit her readers straight in the guts is still there, but much less frequent and less effective. Suyana being distant by default, it was hard to connect with her. I watched her, intrigued but from afar. Daniel on the other hand was easy to like but ultimately forgettable. I got glimpses of his past, but not enough to really get hooked. However, some of the side characters really stood out, even if they were only in one or two scenes. Valentine is still a master of characterisation and I will continue to eat up her books.

This was an excellently-written book with too little plot for my taste. It makes up for that with brilliant characters, effortless diversity, and fantastic world-building.

RATING: 7,5/10 - Very good