Review: Imposter by Suzanne Winnacker

obtained copy from: library
number of pages: 274
rating: 5/5 stars


"Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she’s spent the last two years training with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. 

Tessa hates everything about being an impostor—the stress, the danger, the deceit—but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she’d do anything to keep. Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself. "

Holy. Crap. This book was phenomenal. It went at a breakneck pace the whole book, and it was one hell of a ride. The protagonist, Tessa, is one of those characters who you just can't help but love. She has many attributes, but I think my favorite is that you can feel every emotion she is thinking. While some protagonists are smooth and quick thinking, witty and never nervous, you can feel the fear and the nervousness that Tessa feels going into her first mission. It is easy to say that most characters you read in novels like this are more like Alec- quick thinking, smooth, with a fast response time and makes the decisions in a split second. 

I like Tessa mainly because she is the quintessential girl next door. She has flaws, she worries, she doesn't have the best hair or skin, and she makes mistakes. And that makes her story believable. And she has kick ass abilities. 

As you are drawn into the story, I found it is very much like Jennifer Lynn Barnes' Naturals.    But what I liked is that while the story lines are similar, this story is a whole lot better. It is so worth the read, it is one that I will definitely keep in my library, and the second one I am almost finished! 

5/5 for sure.