Ana’s Take:In Genevieve Valentine’s near-future political thriller Persona, celebrity ambassadors are the public Faces of each nation (or confederation) parroting political decisions that are made behind closed doors by more important people. Diplomacy is only a matter of life of death when/if the Faces don’t conform.Enter Suyana Sapaki, the Face of the struggling United Amazonia Rainforest Confederation, whose precarious position as its Face is about to suffer another hit: when she is getting r...

I didn't like the writing in this, it feelt likte it lacked something and the overall story and characters didn't intressed me one bit.

I really didn’t like the sample, which presented a protagonist who didn’t appeal to me in a situation that appealed to me even less. But various bloggers persisted in commenting about their love for this book, so when it appeared at a sale price, I picked it up and eventually (with some trepidation) went on with it just to get it off my TBR pile.Then I wound up really enjoying Persona — and admiring the writing a great deal. I admire the adroit way Genevieve Valentine moves back and forth in tim...

Persona by Genevieve Valentine is an excellent novel. This probably will come as no surprise to those of you who have read the author’s two previous, critically acclaimed novels, Mechanique and The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, but as a newcomer to Valentine’s works I was quite blown away. (I should probably add that, based on feedback from friends and on those two books’ blurbs, Persona appears to be very different from her earlier work.)Persona starts off in near future Paris, where Suyana Sap...

2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/09/08/a...In the not-too-far future, the International Assembly (sort of like a version of the UN) is about to meet, and ambassadors from different countries are preparing to cast their votes. However, these individuals have no actual power and serve as nothing more than a mouthpiece for their handlers, the people who are in charge in truth. Suyana Sapaki is one of these “celebrity figureheads” who represents the public face of her

Received a galley through S&S!Very different from my usual fare, but then my resolution this year was to extend my genre boundaries even more and I've been doing a decent job so far."Persona" is a near-futuristic, character-driven techno-political-thriller(ish) and yes it is awesome. Suyana and Daniel are each flawed and sympathetic and kick-ass in their own ways, as is the varied supporting cast. The action is brisk, the setting is engaging, and DAMN this would make a great movie. Ecoterrorism,...

Fascinating work that builds to a poignant and beautiful conclusion.The start was rough, for this reader—the book jumps straight into a Big Inciting Incident before we know the central players well enough to care about them. Our Heroine and Our Hero are running from assassins as of page 20, and I'm all for people not getting assassinated, but I wanted more personal investment. Gradual backfill over the first hundred pages gave me enough information about Suyana's and Daniel's histories, goals, a...

Loved it. My only complaint about this book is that there isn't more of it. (But I'm pleased to note that there will be.) It's so sharp, it's so effortless in the way that the blade of the plot keeps moving in one fast slice and leaves behind layers of world and nuance and commentary and character. I love that Suyana is both impossibly capable and amazingly human, and that Daniel is such an interesting mess. The buffet of amazing diversity in the main cast is gravy, but wonderful gravy. (Oh Grac...

I picked this up on a whim after noticing the cover art on a library table - ended up really enjoying it.There's a special place in my heart for spec fic that doesn't neatly fit into any particular sci-fi or fantasy or alternate history category: think The Handmaid's Tale or Into the Forest or more recently, Station Eleven. Like those books, Persona sets one firm thing in the near future and then just runs with "What if?"In this particular case, it's celebrity culture and the United Nations. In

The book "Persona" is a political eco-thriller concerning the Brazilian jungle, the politics involved in it's preservation utilizing a terrorist group, and the politicians from the region.There are two POV characters, one is a Korean photographer, the other is Suyana Sapaki the representative of the United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation.When an assignation attempt is made on Suyana, the attempt is foiled by Daniel Park a photographer hidden in an alley near the attempted murder.The book conc...

Fast-moving plot of political shenanigans and assassinations. I really liked Suyana and just how analytical and cold she was at assessing her situation and resources. Understood Daniel's conflicted feelings and actions.

Genevieve Valentine's Persona is a great near future political thriller, full of interesting tech and realistic detail. I look forward to reading the sequel.

The story began solidly, but fizzled out for me halfway through. Once it became a Whodunnit—or rather a Who Tried to Dun It—I quickly lost interest. As a political thriller, the novel is only partly successful, as all the political machinations feel very superficial, due to the nature of the Faces roles in the government; they are puppets, for the most part, with little influence over how things shake out on the national stage. Suyana is something of the exception, given (view spoiler)[her affil...

I still don't fully understand the world, but it was an enjoyable yarn. Because Dan asked for a recap:(view spoiler)[Characters:Suyana: Our hero.  Face of United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation.  UARC is a "small" influence country and they have almost no power.  Suyana is secretly working with Chordata, an ecoterrorist group.  Daniel: Self employed snap who wants to get pulled into a snap organization.  Formerly a staff photographer for the Korean face, but he didn't like being stifled and s...

There's a lot of action that keeps the characters moving and the wheels spinning, but when it comes down to it, all the busy-ness is just a cover for the fact that the whole thing is pretty shallow, and not a lot actually happens. The whole idea of an all-powerful United Nations (here called the IA), with teenaged supermodel ambassadors ("Faces") running the world (while their handlers pull the strings behind the scenes) doesn't pass the suspension-of-disbelief test. This is supposed to take pla...

My first thought after finishing this book was that it's thin; there's not a lot of "there" there. The book is set on a basically modern Earth where "Celebutante" culture has been institutionalized; people chosen for their looks and personality represent major governments publicly, and "snaps" (read: paparazzi) constantly follow them around trying to get the scoop on the lives of the "Faces" outside what their official behavior and look are. When the Face of the United Rainforest Republics is th...

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.My Summary: Suyana is a representative of the United Amazonia Rainforest Confederation - known as a Face. Each country has their own Face - like a representative in the UN - and each Face is tasked with the representation and diplomatic responsibilities of their country. Anyone can be a Face ... as long as they look and act a certain way.When an attempt is made on Suyana's life, she only

I don't know how to mark this a spoiler on my tablet so SPOILERS AHEAD.i really wanted to like this book because so much of it screams 'me' (trying and often failing to breach the divide between performed and internal identity) but something about the book was distant and felt false and it wasn't until the very end that I realized why. there's a lot of gesturing towards culture - suyana is indigenous Brazilian whose involved herself in an ecoterrosim plot. presumably she's motivated by her indig...

Valentine is the friend of a friend, and I've been reading her blog for some time. I really loved her first two books, but what I particularly enjoy about her blog is her hilarious-yet-on-point analysis of awards shows and beauty pageant costumes. So I was really excited about this book--the scenario is we've gone ahead and made the UN representatives celebrities, with all the craziness that comes with evaluating celebrities on things that have nothing to do with their jobs. The thing is, an eve...

Actual rating would be 3.5 stars. Persona was intriguing, with intriguing characters, and a fast-paced mystery that left me (and the protagonist) wondering whom to trust. I thought the book could have benefited from more world building, however. I understand there's an International Assembly attended by Faces, who act as diplomats but are more like media representatives for their countries. Specs are like paparazzi-journalists, in a world that no longer seems to have freedom of the press due to