BookenDeX — Better Discovery eXperience
Cover of Face value
Book details

Face value

a novel

by Kathleen Baird-Murray

Published 2008323 pagesISBN 978-0-4252-2145-7

Small-town reporter Kate Miller has never been a fashion do––until now.Kate Miller is no beauty expert. The rookie reporter from small-town England can't walk properly in a pair of heels and doesn't know the first thing about waxing. But then she receives an incredible phone call. Darling magazine in New York wantsher to be their new beauty editor! So what if she has no idea whether gray eyeshadow is the new black kohl? Suddenly Kate—along with her deep-discount clothes and hopelessly dated hair—is in the Big Apple, being swept away by the world of fashion. But she better find a way to put a positive spin on plastic surgery for the big yearly supplement or she'll lose everything––including the hotshot plastic surgeon-to-the-stars who thinks Kate's beauty is way more than skin deep.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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Full BookenDeX details

What the reading experience may hold

A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.

Themes to notice

Fiction

Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.

Content notes

No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Balanced tone · Steady pace

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.

ToneBalanced
LuminousDark

This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.

No plot details

Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.

Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
Face valueKathleen Baird-Murray
Powerful4.6/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA standard-length read323 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 2008
Primary categoryFictionExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-4252-2145-7
Language
English
Edition record
OL16884950M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
  2. Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
  3. What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.