I really enjoyed this one, domestic sci-fi seems to be extremely underrated. Thank you for a copy of this book, and will be looking forward to more from the author in the future.

I really wanted to like this one. It is such a cool concept, very "Black Mirror"/Jordan-Peele-movie kind of vibe. But the execution just wasn't there for me. I think the author had a cool short story idea but went wrong in trying to make it a novel, or just needs an editor and maybe a good rewrite before calling this a novel. Many scenes are told from multiple perspectives, but like, actually are just cut and paste of the exact same dialogue with little to no change to the narration that would add to the story. Also, too many sub-plots are introduced with no resolution. Cut the cut/paste scenes, add a hundred or more pages clarifying and fleshing out some of the concepts and this would be great. As is, I can't really recommend it.
Thank you to @netgalley for the digital ARC. Pub date: 8/1/22

I was initially drawn to this book because the synopsis was giving black mirror vibes. But while the premise was interesting i found myself getting tired as the book went along. Honestly, it wasn’t even the repetition of certain scenes that was exhausting, instead it was the fact that I felt like I couldn’t become invested in any of the characters. I would’ve preferred if the story wasn’t constantly shifting perspectives. I think the way it was styled felt more of a way to explore the world through different lenses but i think it just made the book weaker in some ways. Though this book ultimately wasn’t for me I would give this author another go because I liked the writing style.

I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I'd hoped and expected. For the first 1/3 of the book or so, I found myself wanting more information about this world so I could picture it more clearly, and I almost stopped reading because I just didn't feel engaged. I am glad I read to the end, but there were some aspects (like the repetition of the same scene ostensibly from different points of view but without significant differences) that I didn't feel worked really well.

The concept was really interesting, but for me the execution was lacking.

The beginning of this book was written in such detail that the character made me feel queasy knowing his inner thoughts. Whilst that may be the aim and could be seen as a positive aspect of the writing style, it made me feel a bit too uneasy. However, the story did pick up and had some interesting moments. I did feel some of the riskier moves by the author did not come across as expected, e.g. There was a scene described 3 times which could have been more effective if the characters perspectives were written differently however, it felt repetitive.

Okay. So I really loved this book. When I started I didn't know that I would, but about halfway through I realized I was completely smitten.

In the world of Face people are defined by their social presence and the face they present to the world. These faces are facades and constructions, games played, and secrets kept. Society is hyper hierarchical. Touch is almost unheard of for the upper tiers.

The rigid hierarchy, and physical and emotional distance, create a culture where slavery has once again become the norm. Menials are bred and trained to do nothing but serve. Owning a menial is a sign of power, a set up the ladder.

The author explores the world through a story told via multiple points of view. Each chapter has a different narrator, and events are examined and re-examined throughout the novel, with each iteration giving more context and emotional depth.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Highly recommended.

This was absolutely incredible!! Loved the themes, the writing. The atmosphere!!! I would absolutely read this again and recommend to everyone!

I would like to thank Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC.

Dystopian Societies were always my Kryptonite, having grown up in the golden age of YA Dystopian (Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent). I haven't found one in a long time that caught my eye and Face did just that.

The sentence I saw was "All the best babies are designed now" and instantly I was drawn in. The cover with its colorful abstractness made it even more appealing as a cover reader. It gave me that 'Uglies' by Scott Westerfield vibe with its premise and I was excited to dive right in.

I found myself enjoying the story and writing of this book, but did find the world building to be a little lacking. As I loved it so much I would have been excited to see it explored more, but throughout I was engaged and lost track of time as I moved through. An additional note is that I would have loved to see the multiple POV's handled a little differently instead of a verbatim repetition. I that if information was developed with each subsequent point of view it would have moved the story along rather than dragged in some areas and could be disorienting with the timeline switches.

Overall the concept was fascinating and I had a great time reading the story. Dystopian will always be a favorite, and would recommend to others, but not necessarily a reread for me! The authors writing is beautiful and I would pick up more of their work in the future!

3⭐️

Face is a dystopian about a society where “saving face” is the only thing that matters. Everyone spends lots of time in essentially a virtual reality environment, and no one is ever genuine. Skin to skin contact is taboo, and many people have “menials” which are humans bred to be servants - who are seen as subhuman.

I love dystopian, and at first I was really excited about this. However, the author took some risky creative liberties with the organization of the story, and i’m not quite sure they paid off. For example, the same scenes were retold up to 3 times by each character involved. Instead of giving us a glimpse into each characters perception of the event, it just became overly repetitive. Not only was the dialogue the same, but sometimes the narration didn’t even change either. This also meant we were constantly going forward in time.. then we’d go backwards to replay the same scene from another characters POV. It was disorienting.

I think the author is a skilled writer, and I was SO interested in many of these characters. However, we would get to know one character, finally something interesting would happen with them, then we’d never hear about them again. I felt so frustrated. I think this would’ve been an easy 4 or 5 stars for me had the book focused on a longer timeline of the lives of only a few characters - rather than replaying the same events of so many.

One of the things I love about dystopian is the social commentary. There were so many aspects of our world touched on in this book (race, class, sexuality, etc.), but they were a bit too heavy handed for my liking. I finished the book and wasn’t left with anything other than some obvious parallels having been pointed out - but not much meaningful commentary.

Overall I had fun reading this book (I will always love the genre!!) but it’s not a new favorite. The author displays great potential though and I’d love to read more of their work in the future!!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Joma West's sharp and satirical Face has strong echoes of Glass Mirror's episode Nosedive. Sharing the same premise, a world where your online presence, or face, is everything. Like the tv show, this book is full of razor sharp wit and gave me a growing sense of unease as the story unfolded.

I found some aspects of the book a little difficult to follow and struggled with some of the content.

However on the whole, I enjoyed Face.

I think a lot of my discomfort comes from how fiercely accurate this novel seems, blending dystopia with current day concepts to create a future that seems all too expected.

3.5 stars

So we’ve all heard the terms “saving face“, “losing face“, “facing the world“, etc. And how about “climbing the ladder”? Well, this book has taken all of these idioms to the next level, and they are how these characters live their lives.

Everything in life is about your face, the face you present to the world, both literally and figuratively. On the literal side, those who are lower on the ladder are conceived as “beaker babies“, but those higher on the ladder have the means to use “stud farms“ for their babies. They can medically choose just about anything with regards to the babies’ appearance, and it is all done to enhance the standing of the parents (frankly the children don’t really matter all that much). On the figurative side, it’s about the faces you put forth on the In (internet); they might be even more important than the Out (real world).

This book is basically one set timeline, that is told repeatedly from each characters point of view. This was an interesting exercise, to see the different viewpoints, but with the exception of Jake the menial (servant, seen as a thing & not a real person) there wasn’t enough of a difference to warrant this style. Pretty much every character is at best anxious and unsure, and at worst a sociopath. I would’ve been curious to see this book told as one continuous timeline and follow it through after the ending, to see if that shakes anything up. But it is an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan-Tor/Forge for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Amazing, amazing book. The whole setting was intriguing and the characters were all very interesting. I was invested in every single one and am crossing fingers for a second book set in this world, fresh with social commentary and creativity. Even though this dystopia feels so different from our daily lives, I felt like I was part of it, I could relate and most importantly I could understand this society like it's my own. Absolutely adored it.

3/5 stars.
I struggled with summarizing this one, because I felt that the setting had a lot of promise for the themes to explore, but ultimately felt let down by the delivery. I looked around for other's analysis, certain that I'm missing the key piece that makes it more clear. It was like sitting at a restaurant counter, watching a meal being prepared for someone else. I recognized the ingredients going, could imagine what the meal would taste like, but based on where I was sitting, couldn't taste the final dish.
I am hopeful that others' insight will come after this book is released and more can read it.

Overview:
This world is a future where your social presence means everything - Everyone maintains their "Face" - their embodied image and personality, where every look or word can get you shunned or unlock doors to higher status.

We follow a cast of characters, mainly centered around the high elite family with head patriarch Schuyler Burroughs. Schuyler is the cream of the crop - genetically perfected and handsome from a prestigious background - he is fluent in cultivating his social image. The perfect celebrity, where the man and the symbol are intertwined.

I really enjoyed hearing from Jake, the menial. Despite society's classification, he was the most human as he explored his real emotions and tried to understand himself. The opening chapters bought a raw, realistic tone that I was hopeful portended the direction of the story. These sections punched through as fresh, fantastic writing, like horseradish on the nose. Ok, enough food analogies.
However, even when in the story the role of menials is questioned, there is no resolution.

As we moved into the eyes of the Burrough's family and those higher on the social ladder flattened out. It felt as though everyone was on Xanax, struggling to be human in these isolating social expectations.

This was the point, I know. But these expectations were never questioned in the book. During some initial introductions, we meet a doctor who repeatedly cuts with "talk to me straight - don't play games". This is supposed to be a sharp contrast from everyone else stuck in their roles, but because this was an *introduction*, the pattern had not yet been made clear that this is wildly out of the norm. Additionally, every other character responded positively to this upturning, and there were zero repercussions from this change of tact. It immediately lessened the stakes when they were developed later - we already saw there wasn't a ramifications from abandoning your Face. Perhaps that's the meta-lesson we're to get - that even in the real world, people's presentation matter much less than our self-centered selves would think. But I don't think that was the intent.

Themes:
This book certainly touches on the themes of classism (an overt caste system where "menials" are considered subhuman), racism, privilege, how social media impact your sense of self and the weight from family obligations. Unfortunately, while the story points at these systemic things, I don't know if any lessons or resonant commentary are imparted.

To the racism part - this story is an future where babies are all genetically designed, and are modeled as a reflection of their parents. Instead of the Punnett square of the parent's genes, babies are deliberately chosen to have skin color and personalities that differ, yet pair aesthetically to signify the parents' status. This is really the only commentary about race - in this world, it's a choice of aesthetics and that's it. Parents sit with a doctor, scrolling through a color swatches like paint shopping. Except for it being nice that this trait not bringing any baggage, I didn't feel that much was said about it.

Prose:
Narratively, there is a lot of repetition. Each discussion is played out from the vantage of every participant, which is a bold choice that should payoff with a lot of additional insight on these characters. However, most inner thoughts are shown by their external behavior (they roll their eyes, slouch, etc.), so we already knew what they were thinking the first time around. This was also an important place to deepen these purposefully-shallowed people, to see that still waters run deep. Unfortunately, many of my first impressions matched their final characterizations.

Again, there were flashes of great writing that made me sit up straight. So often, these stories about numbed people living numb lives sounds... numb. But this one added the necessary viewpoint from Jake that made the contrast so sharp. While the broader message felt flat for me, the writing style and confidence shown in choosing the narrative structure gives me great hope for this authors' future.