Monday, August 5, 2013

Audiobook Review: Imposter (A Variants Novel, Book #1) by Susanne Winnacker

Imposter (A Variants Novel, Book #1)
Author:  Susanne Winnacker
Narrator:  Emily Rankin
Listening Length:  8 hours, 4 minutes
Book Publisher:  Razorbill, 274 pages
Audiobook Publisher:  Listening Library
Publication Date:  May 28, 2013

From Goodreads:
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.


Review:
I liked this book.  It was an interesting, fast-paced read.  There's an X-men feel to it since Tessa is only one of many variants working for the FEA and they all have some sort of power.  There's Alec, who is really strong, Holly, who can become invisible, and Kate, who can read minds (but only females for some strange reason).  Tessa's been training and living there for the last two years.  Apparently her mother abandoned her.  She and Alec are close friends and have bonded over the last two years.  His family also abandoned him.  And Tessa is majorly crushing on Alec, but Alec has been dating Kate for the last couple of months, after they got back from their first mission.  Which is really suspicious for some reason.  Why are they dating?  Alec acts like he cares about Tessa, and Kate is a complete bitch, but for some reason they are together.  

Tessa ends up going undercover, pretending to be Madison, a girl who is murdered by a serial killer on the loose in this small town (they don't even tell her family that she dies).  Madison is a senior in high school with a twin brother, Devon, and a loving mother and father.  Everything that Tessa has never had.  Alec is also there for this mission.

The mystery portion of this book was interesting.  A lot of suspects.  Apparently Madison was keeping a lot of secrets.  Old boyfriend, stalker-type want to be boyfriend, secret lover, you name it.  The special abilities part of the book was decent, but Tessa was woefully underprepared for this mission.  She really didn't get enough training and she's thrown into this situation with just basic self-defense skills (I'm not sure what she's been doing the last two years) and she hasn't practiced much at changing shapes in stressful situations.  Needless to say, that causes a lot of problems.  

Then there's the romance part of the book.  What is up with Alec?  He really doesn't seem to know what he wants.  Again, why is he with Kate if he has these feelings for Tessa?  It's not made clear at all.

As far as the audiobook portion, the narrator did a good job, keeping the voices fairly distinctive between the different characters.  

Even though this is the first book of a new series, it doesn't end in a cliffhanger.  The mission is completed, we find out who the killer is, and we know that this group at the FEA will have more missions in the future.  There is one story that doesn't resolve, but it's more like a tv show where the individual episode resolves the main story, but the regular characters on the show have back stories and personal dramas going on that keep going from episode to episode.

I recommend this book.  It's a fast, fun read.


Posted by:  Pam

12 comments:

  1. I liked this book too. It was an interesting story. I'm kind of excited about the next book. I'd be interested in the differences between hearing the story and reading the story. I'm really weary about audiobooks though.

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    1. I'm not a big audiobook fan, I definitely prefer reading the book. If I'm exercising or in the car, it's fine, but if I'm just sitting at home, it feels weird to me to just sit there and listen to a book. ~Pam

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  2. Great review! I really want to read this book, it sounds awesome:) I just read another review which said the same about Kate and Alec's relationship, that storyline was badly written apparently.

    Eveline's Books

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    1. I definitely think there's more to that relationship, so I'm interested to see what happens in future books. ~Pam

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  3. I've been wanting to get my hands on a copy of this, but my library doesn't have it in its system. Which is weird since they are usually pretty good at having everything I want. I may have to break down and buy it...when it comes out in PB. I love X-Men type powers and I love that it's not cliff-hanger-y even though it's a series. Great review!

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    1. I definitely liked that the main mystery was resolved. I'm assuming that future books will be similar, with some sort of mission, which will be finished in the book, and then all of the back stories with the characters continuing. That's the way a series should be done, I think. Enough of one story being told in three books! :)
      ~Pam

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  4. How gorgeous is the cover! I am always looking for new audiobooks to read/listen too but I'm very picky. This one sounds good. I like the sound of the story and loved your review. Imposter is definitely one for the to-read list.

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    1. I enjoyed it, although I'm not a huge audiobook fan. I would love to get a recommendation of a particular audiobook that had a fantastic narrator! ~Pam

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  5. I have this on audio! And your review has me excited to listen to it. Even though it sounds like there are a few annoyances, I am thinking I will still enjoy this one, like you did. Thanks for sharing!!

    Nicole @ The Quiet Concert

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    1. It was a fun read. Let me know what you think after you've listened to it! ~Pam

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  6. I love that cover. I rarely read audiobooks but it sounds like this narrator did a nice job so I'll try and look for it on audio! The mystery also sounds unpredictable, I love when it's hard to guess who did it!

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    1. I don't do audiobooks very often either. I definitely enjoyed the book. ~Pam

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