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La beauté sans vertu
"La beauté sans vertu" by Genevieve Valentine is a vicious little swipe at the fashion industry as certain disturbing trends are amplified in the future and a famous fashion House prepares for an important show.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2016
1 person is currently reading
273 people want to read
About the author
Genevieve Valentine
204 books319 followersGenevieve Valentine has sold more than three dozen short stories; her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Journal of Mythic Arts, Fantasy Magazine, Lightspeed, and Apex, and in the anthologies Federations, The Living Dead 2, The Way of the Wizard, Running with the Pack, Teeth, and more.
Her nonfiction has appeared in Lightspeed, Tor.com, and Fantasy Magazine, and she is the co-author of Geek Wisdom (out in Summer 2011 from Quirk Books).
Her first novel, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, is forthcoming from Prime Books in May 2011. You can learn more about it at the Circus Tresualti website.
Her appetite for bad movies is insatiable, a tragedy she tracks on her blog.
Her nonfiction has appeared in Lightspeed, Tor.com, and Fantasy Magazine, and she is the co-author of Geek Wisdom (out in Summer 2011 from Quirk Books).
Her first novel, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, is forthcoming from Prime Books in May 2011. You can learn more about it at the Circus Tresualti website.
Her appetite for bad movies is insatiable, a tragedy she tracks on her blog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
September 1, 2017
All short stories and novellas I've come across recently have been horrific, but also so good. This was absolutely gorgeous! Set in a dystopian society, the story shows us a fashion industry that takes everything to extremes, to the extend of surgically enhancing its young models with the body parts of dead children. While we see fashion as a form of art - choreography, visuals, and music coming together to create a magnificent spectacle - the tale is also a strong criticism of the industry and, surprisingly, also of those who protest against it without putting much thought into what they are fighting for. Haunting, tragic, with a fairy-tale like feel.
January 16, 2022
The only reason why I read this was because of the cover and now I am disappointed..🙄
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February 3, 2024
We often romanticize the tortured artist, those who go to great lengths for beauty, but where does the pursuit of perfection and the glorification of art pass ethical boundaries and into the sinister? La Beauté Sans Vertu by Genevieve Valentine dives into the already murky morality of the fashion industry and elevates the unease in a dystopian setting where we find abuse and horror silently shivering the cracks of perfection. Centered around a high-profile fashion show, Valentine infuses her tale with a chilling coldness and a fairy tale aura from frequent references to Charles Perrault’s tale Diamonds and Toads, sending us down the runway with models who have their arms replaced with the limbs of teenage cadavers in a quest for perfect beauty from body modifications, into the maelstrom of a press ready to mythologize anything to redirect our gaze from the abuse out in the open, and into the struggles of a model who rejects it all. A quick and unsettling read with the beauty of a rose but thorns poised to puncture the false realities constructed by the beauty industry.
‘it’s a precision business,’ we are told, a marketing pitch that seems to turn our attention away from the terrible abuse of models, the underpaid, grueling labor of seamstresses and crew, as if being ground out by your labor is the price you should pay. Valentine focuses on the dehumanization when people become objects for an artist, the models are no longer young girls they are ‘investments’ and anyone is disposable in order to achieve the right effect. I enjoyed the way the press perpetuates it all, choosing to believe any error is a brilliant artistic expression to write essays about and proudly upholding the corporate world as a bastion of democracy with phrases like ‘this collection is going to be such an amazing statement about the cultural position of the industry.’
This becomes a great dig at marketing—I tend to refer to my marketing degree as the marketable way to say “propaganda”—creating narratives to give the illusion of ethics/social positioning/accountability/etc without actually doing so. A company can generate excessive waste but if offer “green” options and nobody bats an eye, the oil industry can invent the “carbon footprint” to make people look at their own environmental choices instead of the oil industry’s, companies profit off Pride merch to posture as “allies” while still donating money to anti-lgbtq groups and politicians, and this fashion show can “celebrate” democracy and young women while exploiting and being psychologically traumatic to them.
We see the fairy tale threaded through the story as a cautionary tale, though inverse of the socially implied message. Rhea, who is a sort of evil Queen figure here, has recognized the truth, but it is Maria who lives it. In the tale (a take on Perrault), the girl who is kind is rewarded with royalty and creates wealth, the girl who rejects a princess is made to vomit poisonous vipers and toads, but we can see it as a message: uphold the system and the marketing and be rewarded, reject it and be a pariah. But when the system itself is corrupt…
I enjoyed the element of the well-intentioned but ultimately directionless protest group that isn’t entirely sure what it is exactly they are protesting. They opportunistically change slogans and core beliefs being foggy about what they are against but knowing that there is indeed something wrong to protest against.
Part of their confusion is likely that the message of the fashion show is relatively abstruse, which nudges at a larger idea that our social systems are so labyrinthine and systemic that it is hard to pinpoint a direct social ill. It eludes isolation. The above passage is also fairly informative of the story itself which seems to not entirely work at first glance but gives the impression of being too complex to fully process. It is then up to the audience to decide it is perfect in spite of its imperfections, we the reader are the press in this case.
A bit clunky but successfully haunting and ambiguously intriguing, Valentine’s La beauté sans vertu is a fun little read with a lot of big ideas in small packages. Plus the artwork from Trang Nguyen. You can read the story in its entirety here.
3.5/5
‘it’s a precision business,’ we are told, a marketing pitch that seems to turn our attention away from the terrible abuse of models, the underpaid, grueling labor of seamstresses and crew, as if being ground out by your labor is the price you should pay. Valentine focuses on the dehumanization when people become objects for an artist, the models are no longer young girls they are ‘investments’ and anyone is disposable in order to achieve the right effect. I enjoyed the way the press perpetuates it all, choosing to believe any error is a brilliant artistic expression to write essays about and proudly upholding the corporate world as a bastion of democracy with phrases like ‘this collection is going to be such an amazing statement about the cultural position of the industry.’
This becomes a great dig at marketing—I tend to refer to my marketing degree as the marketable way to say “propaganda”—creating narratives to give the illusion of ethics/social positioning/accountability/etc without actually doing so. A company can generate excessive waste but if offer “green” options and nobody bats an eye, the oil industry can invent the “carbon footprint” to make people look at their own environmental choices instead of the oil industry’s, companies profit off Pride merch to posture as “allies” while still donating money to anti-lgbtq groups and politicians, and this fashion show can “celebrate” democracy and young women while exploiting and being psychologically traumatic to them.
We see the fairy tale threaded through the story as a cautionary tale, though inverse of the socially implied message. Rhea, who is a sort of evil Queen figure here, has recognized the truth, but it is Maria who lives it. In the tale (a take on Perrault), the girl who is kind is rewarded with royalty and creates wealth, the girl who rejects a princess is made to vomit poisonous vipers and toads, but we can see it as a message: uphold the system and the marketing and be rewarded, reject it and be a pariah. But when the system itself is corrupt…
I enjoyed the element of the well-intentioned but ultimately directionless protest group that isn’t entirely sure what it is exactly they are protesting. They opportunistically change slogans and core beliefs being foggy about what they are against but knowing that there is indeed something wrong to protest against.
‘There should always be more to look at than anyone can catch, that sense of being doomed to miss something wonderful; that’s how a presentation becomes a show.’
Part of their confusion is likely that the message of the fashion show is relatively abstruse, which nudges at a larger idea that our social systems are so labyrinthine and systemic that it is hard to pinpoint a direct social ill. It eludes isolation. The above passage is also fairly informative of the story itself which seems to not entirely work at first glance but gives the impression of being too complex to fully process. It is then up to the audience to decide it is perfect in spite of its imperfections, we the reader are the press in this case.
A bit clunky but successfully haunting and ambiguously intriguing, Valentine’s La beauté sans vertu is a fun little read with a lot of big ideas in small packages. Plus the artwork from Trang Nguyen. You can read the story in its entirety here.
3.5/5
January 29, 2020
There should always be more to look at than anyone can catch, that sense of being doomed to miss something wonderful; that’s how a presentation becomes a show.
i had really high hopes for this one. when its summary promised a vicious little swipe at the fashion industry, and it opens with this intriguing passage about how models in this story's world are surgically altered to make them more appealing, i figured i was in for a dark journey about unrealistic standards of beauty and the lengths people will go to achieve perfection:
These days they use arms from corpses—age fourteen, oldest, at time of death. The couture houses pay for them, of course (the days of grave-robbing are over, this is a business), but anything over fourteen isn’t worth having. At fourteen, the bones have most of the length you need for a model, with a child’s slender ulna, the knob of the wrist still standing out enough to cast a shadow.
The graft scars are just at the shoulder, like a doll’s arm. The surgeons are artists, and the seams are no wider than a silk thread. The procedure’s nearly perfect by now, and the commitment of the doctors is respected. Models’ fingertips always go a little black, tending to the purple; no one points it out.
and while the story does certain things really well, i think as a piece it's unsuccessful - it doesn't make its point clearly enough. it goes back to what i was saying about The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder - that is a story. this one is more like a trinket - it's a craft project where a bunch of things are collaged but nothing's really lying flat.
because there are a number of storylines here: there's the story of the fashion show; covering the treatment of the models, the protesters, the preparation, and the vision of the enigmatic coordinator rhea, but then there's also the fairy tale of The Princess of Roses and Diamonds (which i think is actually perrault's Diamonds and Toads) that keeps popping up throughout the story.
the fashion parts are excellent - she really captures the silliness and oddness of the fashion industry and its emphasis upon spectacle
The idea is the ringing of a bell, which starts with a single tone being struck and builds in its echoes until every strike becomes a symphony. One girl will walk out first, then two closer behind one another, then four. It should build until every outfit can be seen perfectly and in full only at the first turn. The reveal is precious and fleeting, and isn’t meant to last.
and the self-important gushing of the fashion press
“This collection is going to be such an amazing statement about the cultural position of the industry.”
and the darker, uglier side of the business, where the cruelty of silk production is juxtaposed against the treatment of the models.
Eventually the choreographer gives up on trying to explain the vision to a bunch of girls who can’t even walk on the right beat, and he resorts to a cap gun, fired twice at each model as she passes the first turn to give her the metronome ticks of her stride. The shape of things visibly improves, but they spend another hour after that on quiet faces, because for a bunch of girls who claim they’re professional, they flinch like you wouldn’t believe.
but she also romanticizes some of the process - making a model into a star by fabricating mystique, a tragic and triumphant backstory worthy of an olympic athlete for the press to lap up, and despite the surgical procedures, the girls are treated as well as any thoroughbred:
But it’s a precision business. The models don’t even suffer phantom aches from their old arms. The doctors clean up anything else that’s wrong while they’re in there, as a special service—faltering thyroids and kidney troubles and moles that are suspicious or unsightly. These girls are an investment; they’re meant to live.
the silliness of the protesters is also done well - outrage for the sake of outrage without clear and consistent goals and so easily caving to the very spectacle they rail against.
the problem is this fairytale component; what it's meant to signify and what rhea's role in all of this is. because the tale is presented as a sort of subversion of expectations - the "good" girl who seems to have been granted a wonderful reward for her kindness is actually suffering for it, while there's a freedom to being the unkind girl, left alone in the woods, unbloodied and powerful.
i just don't get how that story applies to the fashion parts, and what rhea's vision actually was. because it seems that she was trying to make a more personal statement underneath the obvious one about impermanence she was broadcasting, but it's unclear to me whether the end of the fashion show was planned by her or not. she's built as an ambiguous character - is she benevolent or self-serving, and what does her nod to the fairy tale mean here?
i just wish it had been tighter and clearer. it's a bunch of pretty parts that don't look great all sewn together.
oh, wait...
3.5
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/la-beau...
come to my blog!
i had really high hopes for this one. when its summary promised a vicious little swipe at the fashion industry, and it opens with this intriguing passage about how models in this story's world are surgically altered to make them more appealing, i figured i was in for a dark journey about unrealistic standards of beauty and the lengths people will go to achieve perfection:
These days they use arms from corpses—age fourteen, oldest, at time of death. The couture houses pay for them, of course (the days of grave-robbing are over, this is a business), but anything over fourteen isn’t worth having. At fourteen, the bones have most of the length you need for a model, with a child’s slender ulna, the knob of the wrist still standing out enough to cast a shadow.
The graft scars are just at the shoulder, like a doll’s arm. The surgeons are artists, and the seams are no wider than a silk thread. The procedure’s nearly perfect by now, and the commitment of the doctors is respected. Models’ fingertips always go a little black, tending to the purple; no one points it out.
and while the story does certain things really well, i think as a piece it's unsuccessful - it doesn't make its point clearly enough. it goes back to what i was saying about The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder - that is a story. this one is more like a trinket - it's a craft project where a bunch of things are collaged but nothing's really lying flat.
because there are a number of storylines here: there's the story of the fashion show; covering the treatment of the models, the protesters, the preparation, and the vision of the enigmatic coordinator rhea, but then there's also the fairy tale of The Princess of Roses and Diamonds (which i think is actually perrault's Diamonds and Toads) that keeps popping up throughout the story.
the fashion parts are excellent - she really captures the silliness and oddness of the fashion industry and its emphasis upon spectacle
The idea is the ringing of a bell, which starts with a single tone being struck and builds in its echoes until every strike becomes a symphony. One girl will walk out first, then two closer behind one another, then four. It should build until every outfit can be seen perfectly and in full only at the first turn. The reveal is precious and fleeting, and isn’t meant to last.
and the self-important gushing of the fashion press
“This collection is going to be such an amazing statement about the cultural position of the industry.”
and the darker, uglier side of the business, where the cruelty of silk production is juxtaposed against the treatment of the models.
Eventually the choreographer gives up on trying to explain the vision to a bunch of girls who can’t even walk on the right beat, and he resorts to a cap gun, fired twice at each model as she passes the first turn to give her the metronome ticks of her stride. The shape of things visibly improves, but they spend another hour after that on quiet faces, because for a bunch of girls who claim they’re professional, they flinch like you wouldn’t believe.
but she also romanticizes some of the process - making a model into a star by fabricating mystique, a tragic and triumphant backstory worthy of an olympic athlete for the press to lap up, and despite the surgical procedures, the girls are treated as well as any thoroughbred:
But it’s a precision business. The models don’t even suffer phantom aches from their old arms. The doctors clean up anything else that’s wrong while they’re in there, as a special service—faltering thyroids and kidney troubles and moles that are suspicious or unsightly. These girls are an investment; they’re meant to live.
the silliness of the protesters is also done well - outrage for the sake of outrage without clear and consistent goals and so easily caving to the very spectacle they rail against.
the problem is this fairytale component; what it's meant to signify and what rhea's role in all of this is. because the tale is presented as a sort of subversion of expectations - the "good" girl who seems to have been granted a wonderful reward for her kindness is actually suffering for it, while there's a freedom to being the unkind girl, left alone in the woods, unbloodied and powerful.
i just don't get how that story applies to the fashion parts, and what rhea's vision actually was. because it seems that she was trying to make a more personal statement underneath the obvious one about impermanence she was broadcasting, but it's unclear to me whether the end of the fashion show was planned by her or not. she's built as an ambiguous character - is she benevolent or self-serving, and what does her nod to the fairy tale mean here?
i just wish it had been tighter and clearer. it's a bunch of pretty parts that don't look great all sewn together.
oh, wait...
3.5
read it for yourself here:
http://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/la-beau...
come to my blog!
September 21, 2024
This read was a 3am choice based solely on the fact that it was a short story with the most beautiful cover I’ve ever seen. I looked at it for a solid twenty minutes before I could move on.
The illustration was made by Tran Nguyen, and I think it goes without mentioning that I spent hours looking at their previous works... what is sleep??
La beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine is a vicious little swipe at the fashion industry as certain disturbing trends are amplified in the future and a famous fashion House prepares for an important show.
This wasn't exactly the perfect “bedtime” story, but it was effective in capturing my complete attention. I forgot for a minute there that I was supposed to wake up in a couple of hours. And it made me feel a little less frustrated over said fact.
“There were two girls—there are always two, so one can be made an example of.
The one who was kind to an old beggar woman was gifted with the roses and diamonds that dropped from her mouth with every word; the one who refused to get water for a princess to drink spent the rest of her life vomiting vipers and toads.
As a girl, Rhea listened and understood what she wasn’t being told. (It’s how she climbed to the top of a couture house. Rhea hears.)
The one who was kind married a prince, and spent the rest of her life granting audiences and coughing up bouquets and necklaces for the guests. The one who refused was driven into the forest, where there was no one who wanted anything fetched, and she could spit out a viper any time she needed venom, and she never had to speak again.”
Objectification and the cultural position of the industry are some of the issues (I remember) being tackled in here, which I found to be quite interesting to explore in such a short medium.
But in the end, I found the premise of this to be a perfect fit for twenty pages. And if some things were a bit confusing when they weren't fully delved into, I didn't even mind because it was a midnight read. It also helped that I was starting to feel sleepy towards the end... so it didn't creep me out just that badly!
If nothing else, La beauté sans vertu left me intrigued to find more short tales on Tor.com, maybe for another sleepless night. And I'm more than invested in reading more of Genevieve Valentine's writing.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying La beauté sans vertu, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with http://Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
The illustration was made by Tran Nguyen, and I think it goes without mentioning that I spent hours looking at their previous works... what is sleep??
La beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine is a vicious little swipe at the fashion industry as certain disturbing trends are amplified in the future and a famous fashion House prepares for an important show.
This wasn't exactly the perfect “bedtime” story, but it was effective in capturing my complete attention. I forgot for a minute there that I was supposed to wake up in a couple of hours. And it made me feel a little less frustrated over said fact.
“There were two girls—there are always two, so one can be made an example of.
The one who was kind to an old beggar woman was gifted with the roses and diamonds that dropped from her mouth with every word; the one who refused to get water for a princess to drink spent the rest of her life vomiting vipers and toads.
As a girl, Rhea listened and understood what she wasn’t being told. (It’s how she climbed to the top of a couture house. Rhea hears.)
The one who was kind married a prince, and spent the rest of her life granting audiences and coughing up bouquets and necklaces for the guests. The one who refused was driven into the forest, where there was no one who wanted anything fetched, and she could spit out a viper any time she needed venom, and she never had to speak again.”
Objectification and the cultural position of the industry are some of the issues (I remember) being tackled in here, which I found to be quite interesting to explore in such a short medium.
But in the end, I found the premise of this to be a perfect fit for twenty pages. And if some things were a bit confusing when they weren't fully delved into, I didn't even mind because it was a midnight read. It also helped that I was starting to feel sleepy towards the end... so it didn't creep me out just that badly!
If nothing else, La beauté sans vertu left me intrigued to find more short tales on Tor.com, maybe for another sleepless night. And I'm more than invested in reading more of Genevieve Valentine's writing.
Note: I'm an Amazon Affiliate. If you're interested in buying La beauté sans vertu, just click on the image below to go through my link. I'll make a small commission!
Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for nat (bookspoils) with http://Ko-fi.com/bookspoils
May 17, 2016
3.5 stars, rounding up. Final review, first posted on www.FantasyLiterature.com in our Short Fiction Monday (SFM) feature:
In a near-future science fiction tale, high-fashion models for couture fashion houses routinely get their arm bones replaced with those from corpses of young teenagers, just for the slenderness of the bones, despite the fact that it leaves the tips of their fingers blackened. And that’s just one of the often torturous treatments that models are subjected to in the highly artificial fashion industry.
Maria, a 19 year old girl called the “Princess of Roses and Diamonds,” is a premier model of the House of Centifolia, and the key runway model for an upcoming fashion show. Centifolia owns her body ― she is basically a glamorous lifetime indentured servant ― but her mind harbors rebellious thoughts. Echoes of the "Toads and Diamonds" fairy tale appear, sink away in the glamorous muck of Maria’s world, and then resurface.
Free online at Tor.com.
*ETA: Another take on the "Toads and Diamonds" fairy tale, and how maybe the sister who spits up reptiles got a better deal than the one who does jewels, is T. Kingfisher's Toad Words. The title story is free online at http://tkingfisher.com/?page_id=242.
In a near-future science fiction tale, high-fashion models for couture fashion houses routinely get their arm bones replaced with those from corpses of young teenagers, just for the slenderness of the bones, despite the fact that it leaves the tips of their fingers blackened. And that’s just one of the often torturous treatments that models are subjected to in the highly artificial fashion industry.
Maria, a 19 year old girl called the “Princess of Roses and Diamonds,” is a premier model of the House of Centifolia, and the key runway model for an upcoming fashion show. Centifolia owns her body ― she is basically a glamorous lifetime indentured servant ― but her mind harbors rebellious thoughts. Echoes of the "Toads and Diamonds" fairy tale appear, sink away in the glamorous muck of Maria’s world, and then resurface.
The one who was kind married a prince, and spent the rest of her life granting audiences and coughing up bouquets and necklaces for the guests. The one who refused was driven into the forest, where there was no one who wanted anything fetched, and she could spit out a viper any time she needed venom, and she never had to speak again.*This short story skewers the fashion industry and the inhumane way models are sometimes treated, extrapolating from some disturbing trends in the current industry and taking them to their extremes to highlight both the cruelty and the nonsensical and illusory nature of many aspects of this business. “La beauté sans vertu” is rather light on the speculative elements, but it is a haunting tale with lovely writing and some very pointed humor. The title, which translates as “Beauty without Virtue,” evokes John Keats’ memorable Romantic era poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci, but here it is the models who have the death-pale faces and starved lips.
Free online at Tor.com.
*ETA: Another take on the "Toads and Diamonds" fairy tale, and how maybe the sister who spits up reptiles got a better deal than the one who does jewels, is T. Kingfisher's Toad Words. The title story is free online at http://tkingfisher.com/?page_id=242.
December 2, 2023
1.5/5
I don't know, it was honestly really weird. Looking at the cover, I expected something different.
I don't know, it was honestly really weird. Looking at the cover, I expected something different.
March 23, 2025
For only 20 pages, the author sure knows how to make a point. A stunning cover and inside is a fairytale-esque critique of how the fashion industry is run and who cares about what within that industry. Well done. A round of applause! 7.25/10
May 16, 2016
Thanks to a few friends here, I now know that there are lots of (great) short stories on tor.com - and they are for free!
This particular story is a wonderful futuristic take on the beauty industry. For everyone not knowing, the title when translated means "Beauty without Virtue" and that is exactly what this story is about. It was good that the author made it out to be futuristic because that offered more possibilities than a contemporary setting probably would have and drove the point home even more strongly.
I myself am highly critical of the fashion industry and how models are being treated. However, I'm equally critical about why a woman or man would do that to themselves voluntarily (we all know what the life of a model is like and that it's not all sunshine and roses so why would anyone want to become a model in the first place?).
Anyway, this is a very good short story with a beautiful cover.
This particular story is a wonderful futuristic take on the beauty industry. For everyone not knowing, the title when translated means "Beauty without Virtue" and that is exactly what this story is about. It was good that the author made it out to be futuristic because that offered more possibilities than a contemporary setting probably would have and drove the point home even more strongly.
I myself am highly critical of the fashion industry and how models are being treated. However, I'm equally critical about why a woman or man would do that to themselves voluntarily (we all know what the life of a model is like and that it's not all sunshine and roses so why would anyone want to become a model in the first place?).
Anyway, this is a very good short story with a beautiful cover.
September 17, 2016
19-year-old Maria is a model in an industry where model's arms are replaced with looser, younger arms. She's known as the Princess of Roses and Diamonds, and hints of the fairy tale Diamonds and Toads interplay with the hottest fashion show of the season. It's an interesting read, and can be read for free here: http://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/la-beau... 3.5/5
August 8, 2018
“It will fall apart,” Rhea explains to her in a voice like a church, as the six assistants ease Maria into the gown and weave the entry panel closed. “It’s supposed to. This is the chrysalis from which the moth emerges and takes flight. Help it.”
Maria looks at the mirror, where the last two assistants are looping the final threads. Rhea’s looking at the mirror too, her eyes brimming with tears, and Maria realizes this must be a masterpiece, that she must be wearing something that will be important later. It’s important that this fragility turn into a pile of thread and reed hoops, because nothing beautiful lasts."
First of all, I just read this because of that beautiful cover. I mean just LOOK AT THAT! I've been staring at it far too long before actually reading the story. I now declare Tran Nguyen as one of my favorite artists! HUHUHUH I really love her works; yes, I looked at her other works too and YOU SHOULD AS WELL. Here's the link to it http://www.mynameistran.com/mural/
However, as much as I loved that cover and the premise of the story, there were just too many loose threads and ambiguous characters here. Although I have to admit that I like how the author had narrated the scenes behind the glamorous fashion world in short details, as well as how even the minor clusters of characters held personality. (i.e. the protestors, fashion media, and the models themselves). The models were surgically modeled to have arms of 14-year-old cadavers almost having that black tinge near the fingers. (You could actually see it in the cover) I was expecting more of this element manipulated or have a bigger role in the story but there wasn't. Every narrative was kind of meshed together but hadn't reached through me. I ended this story more confused than ever. I don't know what the author wants to convey and that's just pretty sad for my part. This was supposed to be a 1-star rating for the premise and had only added another one for that amazing cover.
September 12, 2019
One of the shorts made available for free through Tor.com, this offering from Genevieve Valentine is an unsettling, satirical swipe at beauty standards, and the hidden cruelties of the fashion world. Speculative sci-fi that flirts with body horror, the story explores a concept more than it tells a narrative, as we see the build-up to and aftermath of a catwalk show. With the pursuit of eternal youth having reached horrifying heights, its is now common practice for models to undergo disturbing surgeries, including full limb transplants courtesy of deceased, adolescent donors.
Though Valentine’s critique of the beauty world is clear from this setup, and there is indeed a feeling of unease of pathos throughout, I felt it could have ended with a little more punch. Visually striking and well written, however, I would certainly read more from this author.
Though Valentine’s critique of the beauty world is clear from this setup, and there is indeed a feeling of unease of pathos throughout, I felt it could have ended with a little more punch. Visually striking and well written, however, I would certainly read more from this author.
February 7, 2024
What would we be able to do just to pursue beauty? To what extent are we ready to go?
This short dystopian story is incredibly well-written. I really enjoyed reading it, though I'm usually not a big fan of horrific stuff.
Some things were rather triggering in my opinion, like the fashion models' body parts being replaced to make them “perfect”, but that's what this story is about.
I liked how the Mothers Against Objectification, the movement protesting during the fashion show, were represented, too.
I also enjoyed the fact that parallels were made between this short story and the tale “Diamonds and Toads”.
This short dystopian story is incredibly well-written. I really enjoyed reading it, though I'm usually not a big fan of horrific stuff.
Some things were rather triggering in my opinion, like the fashion models' body parts being replaced to make them “perfect”, but that's what this story is about.
I liked how the Mothers Against Objectification, the movement protesting during the fashion show, were represented, too.
I also enjoyed the fact that parallels were made between this short story and the tale “Diamonds and Toads”.
May 27, 2021
2.8/5
The writing was good, but it is not that which I remember. It was interesting, in the way that an animal in a zoo is interesting: it catches the eye, but then is soon forgotten.
The only common thing we had with the protagonist was that we share the same first name. Maria! Nothing else. There were lots of interesting ideas and something ought to be done with them. But it wasn't in there. They sat there, docile in the paragraphs, and even when the tragedy came—the tragedy that I knew would come from the first, that I expected and wished would make me feel something—there was no sadness or outrage.
The writing was good, but it is not that which I remember. It was interesting, in the way that an animal in a zoo is interesting: it catches the eye, but then is soon forgotten.
The only common thing we had with the protagonist was that we share the same first name. Maria! Nothing else. There were lots of interesting ideas and something ought to be done with them. But it wasn't in there. They sat there, docile in the paragraphs, and even when the tragedy came—the tragedy that I knew would come from the first, that I expected and wished would make me feel something—there was no sadness or outrage.
July 16, 2020
this honestly was so much better than i thought it would be when i began reading it. it's dark, divine, and mysterious.
March 8, 2017
A beautifully told but haunting story of the fashion/beauty industry that didn't quite fully form.
I would certainly look for more work by Valentine to get a complete picture of her writing talents. it looks like she has quite a bit to choose from!
I would certainly look for more work by Valentine to get a complete picture of her writing talents. it looks like she has quite a bit to choose from!
November 8, 2020
I read this because the cover was super beautiful and I was interested in the commentary on a futuristic fashion industry, but overall nothing from this story really stood out to me and it was pretty confusing even tho it was so short.
December 31, 2022
Beautiful and haunting short story about the fashion industry. The story teases interesting ideas but they were left too vague for my taste, hence 2/5 stars.
July 13, 2017
Very beautifully written, but with large gaps and ambiguity that proves detrimental to the story. As much as I'm all for a writer not making everything overtly obvious, I wanted to have more context to the arm replacement that opens up the story, as well as some more weight to the fairytale that is referenced, about two girls that have very different fates. There are some things this short story did well - creating an atmosphere, poking fun at some of the ridiculous details and situations, making the story feel relevant and allegorical in relation to our society. Yet it fails to wrap all of these things together, to really make Maria and Rhea feel like fleshed-out characters, or to deliver the full terror that is the fashion industry and its consumerist nature.
August 7, 2020
Actual rate: 4.50 stars
This was a very short but intense story. As the premise promised, it's the story of a girl having to deal with the absurb world of the fashion industry, and all the pain girls like her go through. It's a very metaphorical story, with incredible symbolism, and the hyperbolic tones of a few details aren't even that much exaggerated compared to reality. The writing style was very pretty but also easy to follow, and the only thing I can complain about is a particular metaphor that I didn't understand, but I guess this is the kind of story you have to read several times before you'll fully capture its deepest meaning.
This was a very short but intense story. As the premise promised, it's the story of a girl having to deal with the absurb world of the fashion industry, and all the pain girls like her go through. It's a very metaphorical story, with incredible symbolism, and the hyperbolic tones of a few details aren't even that much exaggerated compared to reality. The writing style was very pretty but also easy to follow, and the only thing I can complain about is a particular metaphor that I didn't understand, but I guess this is the kind of story you have to read several times before you'll fully capture its deepest meaning.
September 4, 2018
Read via the Worlds Seen in Passing anthology.
Valentine’s story takes place in a world where models are horribly disfigured for the sake of “beauty”, and the parallels run chillingly deep to how our own society treats young women. What I found most profound was the presence of a “feminist” protest group, who ultimately doesn’t care about any girl’s well-being nearly as much as they care about the length of her skirt.
Valentine’s story takes place in a world where models are horribly disfigured for the sake of “beauty”, and the parallels run chillingly deep to how our own society treats young women. What I found most profound was the presence of a “feminist” protest group, who ultimately doesn’t care about any girl’s well-being nearly as much as they care about the length of her skirt.
May 15, 2017
Beautiful writing but very underwhelming story, at least for me. There was too many threads left unfinished and what I thought to be the main message at the beginning, didn't have much importance in the end, which made me wonder what was the point of this story after all.
November 30, 2017
Well I expected more from it judging by the look of that gorgeous cover but not when the story ends like this. It's disappointing...
1. There’s the occasional complaint, of course (from outside, always, those inside a couture house wouldn’t dream of it). But it’s a precision business. The models don’t even suffer phantom aches from their old arms. The doctors clean up anything else that’s wrong while they’re in there, as a special service—faltering thyroids and kidney troubles and moles that are suspicious or unsightly. These girls are an investment; they’re meant to live...
2. Maria looks at the mirror, where the last two assistants are looping the final threads. Rhea’s looking at the mirror too, her eyes brimming with tears, and Maria realizes this must be a masterpiece, that she must be wearing something that will be important later. It’s important that this fragility turn into a pile of thread and reed hoops, because nothing beautiful lasts...
The future and the cruel business of a fashion industry where the female models get replaced their with dead bodies corpses, well this read made me uneasy at the first point. I can barely agree with the fact that it's a science fiction well I don't know if I can be responsible for that. What I wanna say is this short story from my point of view should have more materials on it. There's that incomplete sentence or say moment that should've been need more details. I of course in some point felt more distracted about what the sentence exactly means to say!...
Maria the most beautiful model that industry have and they like every other model from there industry tried there best to bring out the best of her. But by doing these the industry almost destroying there life too. Well there's that girl call Rhea. I don't know whether or what I should I write about her character but well she was with Maria to help her about fit her dress perfectly...
Decent short story but speaking honestly I expected more. Anyway better luck next time...
September 30, 2024
"The one who was kind married a prince, and spent the rest of her life granting audiences and coughing up bouquets and necklaces for the guests. The one who refused was driven into the forest, where there was no one who wanted anything fetched, and she could spit out a viper any time she needed venom, and she never had to speak again."
I remember how, even as a girl, that fairy tale freaked me out. When you read enough of them, you can look past gruesome endings like spitting vipers and slimy amphibians for villains; it's nothing out of the ordinary in that world for their wrongs, however big or small, to be repaid in a less than kindly fashion. But that the kind, good, beautiful girl who did right by everyone and ended up marrying the prince might be condemned to vomit precious stones and thorny plants for the rest of her life, effectively rendered mute by her benevolence, that I never manage to swallow down and internalize as I had done so many other disquieting messages. How could it be that the reward for her cleverness was its erasure ? That the repayment for her services was wealth others could enjoy while she suffered for it ? This single line is, to me, the most valuable aspect of the whole short story, but it was still fine overall.
I remember how, even as a girl, that fairy tale freaked me out. When you read enough of them, you can look past gruesome endings like spitting vipers and slimy amphibians for villains; it's nothing out of the ordinary in that world for their wrongs, however big or small, to be repaid in a less than kindly fashion. But that the kind, good, beautiful girl who did right by everyone and ended up marrying the prince might be condemned to vomit precious stones and thorny plants for the rest of her life, effectively rendered mute by her benevolence, that I never manage to swallow down and internalize as I had done so many other disquieting messages. How could it be that the reward for her cleverness was its erasure ? That the repayment for her services was wealth others could enjoy while she suffered for it ? This single line is, to me, the most valuable aspect of the whole short story, but it was still fine overall.
February 18, 2024
2 out of 5 stars.
The cover and the blurb caught my attention of this story. I typically don’t read about the fashion industry, but I was curious to see what this was about, considering how short it was.
I loved the message the author conveyed in the story. The standards that are set in the industry on women and the standards society sets on women. It’s important to continue to talk about the issues of society’s treatment of women since we still have some ways to go.
However, I feel like this was a miss. I had to reread it a few times to see the full picture; there’s no getting it on the first read. I understand what happened to the protagonist, but my question is: okay…now what? The fashion industry is still the same as we started. What was the point of telling this story?
I really wanted to like this more, but am utterly disappointed. Maybe this would’ve worked better for me as a novel, or even a novella, rather than a short story.
The cover and the blurb caught my attention of this story. I typically don’t read about the fashion industry, but I was curious to see what this was about, considering how short it was.
I loved the message the author conveyed in the story. The standards that are set in the industry on women and the standards society sets on women. It’s important to continue to talk about the issues of society’s treatment of women since we still have some ways to go.
However, I feel like this was a miss. I had to reread it a few times to see the full picture; there’s no getting it on the first read. I understand what happened to the protagonist, but my question is: okay…now what? The fashion industry is still the same as we started. What was the point of telling this story?
I really wanted to like this more, but am utterly disappointed. Maybe this would’ve worked better for me as a novel, or even a novella, rather than a short story.
November 8, 2020
A free short story available on Tor.com here.
A elegant and elegiac take on the demanding world of high fashion and runway shows, with beautiful and haunting imagery. Also a fairytale retelling! As someone who reads fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle for the sheer fantasy of it, this was an especially affecting critique of the industry's many absurdities while still celebrating the beauty of creative expression.
A elegant and elegiac take on the demanding world of high fashion and runway shows, with beautiful and haunting imagery. Also a fairytale retelling! As someone who reads fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle for the sheer fantasy of it, this was an especially affecting critique of the industry's many absurdities while still celebrating the beauty of creative expression.
June 8, 2019
Beautiful.
June 14, 2016
I've come to a realisation that Valentine is a very poetic writer, everything that she writes has this sort of "mystical mist" quality to it, so the words just kind of float by and I find that it can be confusing?? I'm not even sure if any of that made sense, but this short was in no way confusing. It was relatively easy to grasp the plot despite how short it was and kept me interested all the way through! Which is so important for short stories. I'd like to see this maybe developed a bit more one day, but not into a full length novel. It feels like it would devolve into some kind of Hunger Games type story. Which we really don't need.
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress....
https://hercommonplaceblog.wordpress....
July 2, 2017
I honest have no idea wether I understood this story or not. I'm leaning more towards the not end of the scale.
La beauté sans vertu, is beautifully written and leaning towards being haunting. However, I found that some of the sentence were difficult to understand due to the structure of them. I also feel that the story needed more. It seemed like it wasn't finished, missing details that would make it feel more whole.
La beauté sans vertu, is beautifully written and leaning towards being haunting. However, I found that some of the sentence were difficult to understand due to the structure of them. I also feel that the story needed more. It seemed like it wasn't finished, missing details that would make it feel more whole.
May 2, 2016
The writing is hauntingly gorgeous and that alone would have been worth the read but the story told is even more haunting. It's the story of one girl modeling in a fashion industry that sees models as no more than breathing mannequins (with interchangeable parts). I especially loved the image created of the models with their blackened fingers- beauty and decay.
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