Visage, Book 1
Synopsis:
Condom dresses and space helmets have debuted on fashion runways. A dead body becomes the trend when a coat made of human skin saunters down fashion’s biggest stage. The body is identified as Annabelle Leigh, the teenager who famously disappeared over a decade ago from her boyfriend’s New York City mansion.
This new evidence casts suspicion back on the former boyfriend, Cecil LeClaire. Now a monk, he is forced to return to his dark and absurd childhood home to clear his name. He teams up with Ava Germaine, a renegade ex-model. And together, they investigate the depraved and lawless modeling industry behind Cecil’s family fortune.
They find erotic canes, pet rats living in crystal castles, and dresses made of crushed butterfly wings. But Cecil finds more truth in the luxury goods than in the people themselves. Everyone he meets seems to be wearing a person-suit. Terrified of showing their true selves, the glitterati put on flamboyant public personas to make money and friends. Can Cecil find truth in a world built on lies?
In high fashion modeling, selling bodies is organized crime.
Edition:
E-ARC
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary e-ARC of Size Zero from Net Galley in exchange for a review. This does not at all impact the contents of the review.
Triggers:
- obviously some pretty fucked up murders
- eating disorders
- physical abuse
- mental abuse
- sexual abuse
- trafficking
My Thoughts:
This is a tough one. Size Zero is spectacularly fucked up. Did I like it? Absolutely. Did I think it was good? Uhhhhh…kinda? It’s like watching a lot of older exploitation movies. Like, maybe you recognize that it is not the most skillful thing you’ve ever seen. Because it sort of slaps you in the face with story rather than allowing you to really get yourself into it, you know? But it’s so absolutely god damned whackadoo that you don’t really care because it’s a bunch of fun, and there’s probably blood squirting all over the place and nothing really makes sense. But it doesn’t really need to.
That’s basically how I felt about Size Zero.
Since it took me so unbelievably long to get around to reviewing it, I’ve come across a few reviews from other readers, and they have been overall pretty scathing. I don’t feel any of that animosity. Is the subject matter wild? Sure. Is it unbelievable? I don’t think it is nearly so much so as some readers seemed to believe. For example, I fully believe that there are segments of the high fashion world that front for human trafficking, for example. I believe that human beings are treated like commodities. That they’re forced to starve themselves. That in many cases they are willing participants because it means a chance at a better life, or at least an escape from their current one.
I believe these things because we’ve seen numerous examples of them over the years:
- CNN’s Runway Injustice series
- Harper’s Bazaar article about sexual assault in the industry
- The New York Times spoke to several models about various industry issues
- Stop the Traffik specifically discusses the modelling industry’s ties to human trafficking
I mean, the subject matter of this book is disturbing specifically because it is both completely insane and also not all that far removed from stuff we know with absolute certainty actually happens.
The other major complaint I have seen levied at Size Zero is that people didn’t like any of the characters. And I think that was the point… They’re all pretty awful. And incredibly strange. Many of them (I’m looking specifically at Margaux and Perdonna here), are basically caricatures. And I think that was the point. Again, this doesn’t really veer all that far from high-fashion reality. I mean…Roberto Cavalli is known to compare himself to Marilyn Monroe, and Karl Lagerfeld hired a team of staff…for his cat. And how many times have you heard about fashion designers/models throwing massive tantrums and hurting people around them with their antics? Naomi Campbell comes to mind. High fashion people are fucking weird, man.
One thing I will give this book’s detractors: in places the writing is a bit clunky.
“A gas mask, a condom dress, and even an animatronic T. rex had debuted at prior Fashion Weeks. But never before had a dead body.”
“But never before had a dead body,” is not my favorite sentence ever. It feels spectacularly awkward to say. And this definitely wasn’t the only instance where I felt that way. But overall, I think the exploitation-style story is entertaining enough that it mostly kept me from dwelling on the occasional weirdly phrased sentences.
Also, the cover is absolutely gorgeous. And the cover for book two is even better (you can find that on the author’s website).
About the Author:
Originally from Harrisburg, PA. BFA from NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing, 2018 NYU Outstanding Writing for Television Award.
Rating:
It’s both fun and supremely uncomfortable. A good mix, in my opinion.
Size Zero Visage #1 By Abigail Mangin Visage Media LLC Published: July 12, 2020 ISBN: 9781734553413 Hardcover, Paperback, E-book, Audio 412 Pages Book Website
