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Slide #2
Impostor
What if a killer took control of you?
Vee Bell’s gift (or curse) of “sliding”—slipping into the mind of another person and experiencing life, briefly, through his or her eyes—has been somewhat under control since she unwillingly witnessed the horrific deaths of her classmates six months ago.
But just as things are getting back to normal, Vee has a very bizarre experience: she loses consciousness and finds herself in a deserted area, at the edge of a cliff, with the broken body of the boy who took advantage of her on the rocks below.
As Vee finds herself in stranger and stranger situations with no memory of getting there, she begins to suspect that someone she knows has the ability to slide—and that this “slider” is using Vee to exact revenge on his or her enemies.
Vee Bell’s gift (or curse) of “sliding”—slipping into the mind of another person and experiencing life, briefly, through his or her eyes—has been somewhat under control since she unwillingly witnessed the horrific deaths of her classmates six months ago.
But just as things are getting back to normal, Vee has a very bizarre experience: she loses consciousness and finds herself in a deserted area, at the edge of a cliff, with the broken body of the boy who took advantage of her on the rocks below.
As Vee finds herself in stranger and stranger situations with no memory of getting there, she begins to suspect that someone she knows has the ability to slide—and that this “slider” is using Vee to exact revenge on his or her enemies.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2013
19 people are currently reading
3210 people want to read
About the author
Jill Hathaway
4 books503 followersJill Hathaway lives in the Des Moines area with her husband and young children. Having earned her BA in English Education from the University of Northern Iowa and her MA in Literature from Iowa State University, she teaches high school English and dual credit courses for Des Moines Area Community College.
SLIDE, her debut, was released from Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in March 2012. The sequel, IMPOSTOR, was released in March 2013.
SLIDE, her debut, was released from Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in March 2012. The sequel, IMPOSTOR, was released in March 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 218 reviews
February 2, 2016
Втората част беше даже по-добра и от 1-вата. Много интересна поредица - сядаш и четеш супер бързо. Жалко, че беше от 2 части - много добре беше написана. :)
April 28, 2013
Spoilers
-Meh. The plot was dull and predictable, the characters were boring and the romance was lame. The writing wasn't bad though.
-Sylvia can 'slide' into other people and take over their bodies. When she wakes up driving in the middle of the road, she suspects that someone is er… 'sliding' into her. Naturally, she wants to know who's fucking with her. And when Sylvia's long lost aunt comes to visit… She puts on her detective knickers and deduces that all the WTFery around her is down to her mysterious aunt. What does Sylvia do to catch out her aunt? Nothing, except act like a stroppy cow. Why she thought acting like a stroppy cow would helps things, I don't know.
Sylvia also decides to get revenge on Scotch, a guy that almost raped her… Unfortunately, Sylvia's revenge backfires and he dies, and everyone's like WTF.
-Sylvia was boring, all she did was whine and feel sorry for herself and keep secrets from all her friends and family. I didn't hate her but I certainly didn't like her.
-What really pissed me off was Sylvia and her friends coming up with a plan to teach Scotch (the date rapist) a lesson. It was the most stupidest and most ridiculous plan ever. Instead of reporting him to an adult or warning other girls… They decided to throw a naive girl at him so she could get him alone and strip him naked. WTF? How would that teach him a lesson? Why put another girl in danger? How would him walking home naked be a suitable punishment for his rapeyness? How would that have made him less rapey? How would that have stopped him from raping other girls? If anything it would have just made his naked drama some sort of funny story he could tell his friends or even more likely it would have humiliated him and made him hate girls more. The whole thing was dumb… It would have been better if Sylvia/Samantha had gotten help from someone else.
-I didn't like the relationship between Sylvia and Rollins. I usually like romances with best friends dating but the whole Anna/Rollins thing ruined the relationship. It was obvious that Rollins was flirting with Anna even though he was supposed to be in love with Sylvia… Also, he didn't stop flirting and rubbing up against Anna when Sylvia made it clear that she was jealous - Rollins just liked the attention from Anna and it felt like he enjoyed hurting Sylvia. Hated Rollins.
-Samantha was a rubbish friend… I loathed her. Sam and Sylvia used to be BFF's until Sylvia went to a dance with Sam's crush (Scotch). That pissed Sam off. I mean, who wouldn't be pissed? But Sam was so pissed that when she saw Scotch taking a very drunk Sylvia somewhere alone to be potentially raped she did nothing because she thought Sylvia deserved it… WTF?! Who the fuck does that? It's unforgivable that she thought Sylvia being raped was appropriate punishment for her dating someone she liked.
It gets worse, after knowing what happened between Scotch and Sylvia, the thick cow still hung out with Scotch. Why would Sam even like someone that tried to rape her best friend or any girl for that matter? Why didn't she realise that he could do the same to her? Why did she think it was all cool that he tried to rape her BFF?
Anyway, Sylvia forgives Sam all her WTFery and helps her when Scotch rapes her. I honestly didn't think Sam deserved forgiveness when the cow was happy to let her BFF get raped. Sam being raped herself didn't erase that fact. So, how did Sam repay her friend's forgiveness? She killed Scotch and made Sylvia believe she did it. What a cow… Sam was vile.
-One thing I thought was done well was Sylvia's relationship with her sister.
-I hated Sylvia's dad. He acted like some sort of grieving widow that loved and respected his wife… But he didn't, not only did he cheat on his wife when she was pregnant, he also impregnated someone else. Ugh. And on top of that he used to date his wife's sister. He was scum but he went around acting like a good guy who was all broken up about his wife's death. He couldn't have loved his wife that much if he was fucking some other woman whilst she was carrying his child. I hated his character so much - I would have preferred he acted like scum instead of like some sort of wounded martyr. Ugh.
All in all, I was unimpressed.
-Meh. The plot was dull and predictable, the characters were boring and the romance was lame. The writing wasn't bad though.
-Sylvia can 'slide' into other people and take over their bodies. When she wakes up driving in the middle of the road, she suspects that someone is er… 'sliding' into her. Naturally, she wants to know who's fucking with her. And when Sylvia's long lost aunt comes to visit… She puts on her detective knickers and deduces that all the WTFery around her is down to her mysterious aunt. What does Sylvia do to catch out her aunt? Nothing, except act like a stroppy cow. Why she thought acting like a stroppy cow would helps things, I don't know.
Sylvia also decides to get revenge on Scotch, a guy that almost raped her… Unfortunately, Sylvia's revenge backfires and he dies, and everyone's like WTF.
-Sylvia was boring, all she did was whine and feel sorry for herself and keep secrets from all her friends and family. I didn't hate her but I certainly didn't like her.
-What really pissed me off was Sylvia and her friends coming up with a plan to teach Scotch (the date rapist) a lesson. It was the most stupidest and most ridiculous plan ever. Instead of reporting him to an adult or warning other girls… They decided to throw a naive girl at him so she could get him alone and strip him naked. WTF? How would that teach him a lesson? Why put another girl in danger? How would him walking home naked be a suitable punishment for his rapeyness? How would that have made him less rapey? How would that have stopped him from raping other girls? If anything it would have just made his naked drama some sort of funny story he could tell his friends or even more likely it would have humiliated him and made him hate girls more. The whole thing was dumb… It would have been better if Sylvia/Samantha had gotten help from someone else.
-I didn't like the relationship between Sylvia and Rollins. I usually like romances with best friends dating but the whole Anna/Rollins thing ruined the relationship. It was obvious that Rollins was flirting with Anna even though he was supposed to be in love with Sylvia… Also, he didn't stop flirting and rubbing up against Anna when Sylvia made it clear that she was jealous - Rollins just liked the attention from Anna and it felt like he enjoyed hurting Sylvia. Hated Rollins.
-Samantha was a rubbish friend… I loathed her. Sam and Sylvia used to be BFF's until Sylvia went to a dance with Sam's crush (Scotch). That pissed Sam off. I mean, who wouldn't be pissed? But Sam was so pissed that when she saw Scotch taking a very drunk Sylvia somewhere alone to be potentially raped she did nothing because she thought Sylvia deserved it… WTF?! Who the fuck does that? It's unforgivable that she thought Sylvia being raped was appropriate punishment for her dating someone she liked.
It gets worse, after knowing what happened between Scotch and Sylvia, the thick cow still hung out with Scotch. Why would Sam even like someone that tried to rape her best friend or any girl for that matter? Why didn't she realise that he could do the same to her? Why did she think it was all cool that he tried to rape her BFF?
Anyway, Sylvia forgives Sam all her WTFery and helps her when Scotch rapes her. I honestly didn't think Sam deserved forgiveness when the cow was happy to let her BFF get raped. Sam being raped herself didn't erase that fact. So, how did Sam repay her friend's forgiveness? She killed Scotch and made Sylvia believe she did it. What a cow… Sam was vile.
-One thing I thought was done well was Sylvia's relationship with her sister.
-I hated Sylvia's dad. He acted like some sort of grieving widow that loved and respected his wife… But he didn't, not only did he cheat on his wife when she was pregnant, he also impregnated someone else. Ugh. And on top of that he used to date his wife's sister. He was scum but he went around acting like a good guy who was all broken up about his wife's death. He couldn't have loved his wife that much if he was fucking some other woman whilst she was carrying his child. I hated his character so much - I would have preferred he acted like scum instead of like some sort of wounded martyr. Ugh.
All in all, I was unimpressed.
July 1, 2016
Even though these books are nothing special, i still like them and i even thought this one was a little bit better than the first one - Slide. I found it easy and quick to read and it was perfect for when you need something to get your mind off things. I even found some of the plot twists in this one interesting and i must admit that they did surprised me.
April 11, 2013
This review contains minor spoilers for book one, Slide.
Impostor is an electrifying sequel to an excellently crafted murder mystery. While I had some problems with this sequel, I still caught myself enjoying the story.
I'll go ahead and dive straight into some parts I had issues with in Impostor. The storyline wasn't as intriguing as the sequel, Slide, and I caught myself wondering why some bits of the book were thrown in. The beginning was confusing, but luckily, the problem of another "slider" in town saved the novel for me. I loved getting to see another side of Vee and the issues she faces, and in Impostor, she grew stronger and better.
And the characters were overall great. I thought that there were quite a few annoying characters in Slide, but that's not the case in Impostor. They all grew a backbone and became fiercer, which I appreciated a lot. And the writing style felt like I was emerged into this world. Jill Hathaway put a spin on the words that made me flip through these pages so quickly.
And, with any murder mystery, I read this so fast. I was dying to know what would happen to Vee and the gang, and when a shocking secret was revealed at the end, my mouth fell open. And it was superb!
Overall, Impostor didn't match my feelings as Slide did, but that doesn't mean it's not a good book. Jill Hathaway has created another gripping and stunning murder mystery!
Impostor is an electrifying sequel to an excellently crafted murder mystery. While I had some problems with this sequel, I still caught myself enjoying the story.
I'll go ahead and dive straight into some parts I had issues with in Impostor. The storyline wasn't as intriguing as the sequel, Slide, and I caught myself wondering why some bits of the book were thrown in. The beginning was confusing, but luckily, the problem of another "slider" in town saved the novel for me. I loved getting to see another side of Vee and the issues she faces, and in Impostor, she grew stronger and better.
And the characters were overall great. I thought that there were quite a few annoying characters in Slide, but that's not the case in Impostor. They all grew a backbone and became fiercer, which I appreciated a lot. And the writing style felt like I was emerged into this world. Jill Hathaway put a spin on the words that made me flip through these pages so quickly.
And, with any murder mystery, I read this so fast. I was dying to know what would happen to Vee and the gang, and when a shocking secret was revealed at the end, my mouth fell open. And it was superb!
Overall, Impostor didn't match my feelings as Slide did, but that doesn't mean it's not a good book. Jill Hathaway has created another gripping and stunning murder mystery!
April 28, 2017
В началото ми беше съвсем леко по-скучна от първата книга, но това бързо се промени. Тук историята няма нищо общо с предишната, което си е добре защото се избягва повторението. Имах чувството, че в тази част е обърнато по-голямо внимание на връзката на Вий и Ролинс. Финала на книгата беше просто уникален. Лично аз не очаквах да ми хареса толкова. Бих казал, че беше няколко идеи по-шокиращ от този в първата книга. Докато четях, постоянно ми изникваха въпроси и с всяка страница си мислех, че те ще останат без отговор, но грешах защото в последните няколко глави историята беше напълно завършена. Много се радвам, че реших да прочета двулогията и я препоръчвам на всеки (и 2те книги не са дълги, но за сметка на това са много хубави).
September 15, 2015
Impostor is a step up in the Slide series, but only slightly. I still feel that the writing is, well, a little basic; it gets the job done, but that's about it. The main plot is an interesting idea that entertained, yet wasn't used to its full potential. I expected it to be darker and for there to be more peril involved, what with an "impostor" involved (impostor is a bit of a misnomer, it's not quite the term I'd use), but it never got close to that point. If there had been more grit and danger, the book could have been a killer sequel instead of disappointing. However, on the plus side, the mystery is tighter and better constructed, and I couldn't say for certain that I had figured it out, but I did have an idea (I so smart. Not.). The other plots are fine, somewhat predictable or didn't go as deep as they could have, but they were alright. All the plots are tied up just a little too neatly at the end, not that there isn't enough of the sliding power to be utilized for future books, but everything ends a little too rosy for the circumstances. Oh well.
In Slide (the first book), I found Vee to be a rather shallow characterization and dim as far as picking up on clues. I'm happy to say that changed in this book. Sure, she said/did stupid things, not because she was dumb, but because people do say and do stupid things, no matter their intelligence. It's a fact (okay, my fact, but it still counts). For most of the book Vee spent a lot of time having a snotty, self-absorbed, "woe is me" attitude, which might annoy some people, but made me believe her as a teenage character. Face it, most teenagers can act like that to some degree or another (I sure know I could be!). I'm not quite sure where the sliding power is going, if I like where it's gone, or if there's even going to be more books in the series, but it is an idea that has many possibilities. I'm just not positive that it'll ever get to them. Overall, a decent book that passes the time, but nothing spectacular that'll blow your mind (maybe, I could just be assuming things again).
Random notes:
This series sure has many awesome covers.
What is with YA books featuring a female protagonist "borrowing" some of Veronica Mars' back story? This is the second one I've come across. O__o
In Slide (the first book), I found Vee to be a rather shallow characterization and dim as far as picking up on clues. I'm happy to say that changed in this book. Sure, she said/did stupid things, not because she was dumb, but because people do say and do stupid things, no matter their intelligence. It's a fact (okay, my fact, but it still counts). For most of the book Vee spent a lot of time having a snotty, self-absorbed, "woe is me" attitude, which might annoy some people, but made me believe her as a teenage character. Face it, most teenagers can act like that to some degree or another (I sure know I could be!). I'm not quite sure where the sliding power is going, if I like where it's gone, or if there's even going to be more books in the series, but it is an idea that has many possibilities. I'm just not positive that it'll ever get to them. Overall, a decent book that passes the time, but nothing spectacular that'll blow your mind (maybe, I could just be assuming things again).
Random notes:
This series sure has many awesome covers.
What is with YA books featuring a female protagonist "borrowing" some of Veronica Mars' back story? This is the second one I've come across. O__o
February 23, 2018
Супер! Много хубава книга, в нея имаше всичко - любов, омраза, гняв, мистерия. Дълбоко препоръчвам!
January 30, 2016
Vee se už nějak smířila s tím, že dokáže vidět svět očima ostatním lidí. A to doslova. Dokáže se totiž dostat do jejich těla. Svou schopnost už dokáže poměrně ovládat, ale jak se říká, neštěstí nechodí po horách, ale po lidech, takže se nevyhne ani Vee.
Zatímco se vzpamatovává ze smrti svého přítele Zanea, objeví se na prahu jejich domu zmizelá sestra jejich matky a tvrdí, že je zpátky a chce znovu dát rodinu dohromady. Všemu nepomáhá ani fakt, že se Vee snaží vyrovnat se svými city k nejlepšímu kamarádovi Rollinsovi, který kdoví proč dělá vše pro to, aby na něj žárlila.
A když k tomu ještě připočteme opravdu otravnou mladší sestru a podivné výpadky paměti a nebezpečná dobrodružství, musí se Vee dát rychle dohromady, jinak jí hrozí, že přijde o daleko víc než o vlastní rozum…
Tuhle recenzi mám v konceptech rozepsanou už rok, tak by asi bylo fajn ji konečně dokončit. Abych pravdu řekla, celá tahle série pro mě byla docela zklamáním, nějak jsem od toho čekala víc.
Druhý díl byl o chloupek horší než ten předešlý. Osobně si totiž nedokážu představit, že by za tak šíleně krátkou dobu mohla jedna holka prožít tak strašně moc zvratů. Možná i proto se mi ta kniha četla špatně už od prvních stránek, hlavní hrdinka mi dost pila krev a já si místy říkala, jak může být někdo tak moc stupidní.
Jako by nestačilo, že se musí vzpamatovat ze smrti svého přítele, ještě se do toho zkouší popasovat s nově objevenou sestrou své matky. Ta mi pila krev snad ještě víc než Vee, dokonce i její sestra byla občas na facku a v kontextu toho, co se vlastně dozvíme na samotném konci knihy si říkám, že je zázrak, že celá rodina už dávno neskončila na psychiatrii. Já s nimi bydlet jenom týden, jela bych tam možná i dobrovolně.
Není to zase tak příšerná kniha, na odpočinkové čtení ideální. Ale pokud hledáte něco tajuplnějšího, co vás nebude štvát a u čeho si po dočtení řeknete „páááni“, tohle rozhodně není ono.
-------------Reakce po dočtení knihy-----------
Chvílemi to vypadalo dost nadějně, dokonce se mi i některé lehce romantické chvilky líbily, ale pak to ten zbytek naprosto celé zabil a celý konec mě naštval, nehledě toho, že doteď nevím, jak to proboha dopadlo s tou otravnou Annou.
Zatímco se vzpamatovává ze smrti svého přítele Zanea, objeví se na prahu jejich domu zmizelá sestra jejich matky a tvrdí, že je zpátky a chce znovu dát rodinu dohromady. Všemu nepomáhá ani fakt, že se Vee snaží vyrovnat se svými city k nejlepšímu kamarádovi Rollinsovi, který kdoví proč dělá vše pro to, aby na něj žárlila.
A když k tomu ještě připočteme opravdu otravnou mladší sestru a podivné výpadky paměti a nebezpečná dobrodružství, musí se Vee dát rychle dohromady, jinak jí hrozí, že přijde o daleko víc než o vlastní rozum…
Tuhle recenzi mám v konceptech rozepsanou už rok, tak by asi bylo fajn ji konečně dokončit. Abych pravdu řekla, celá tahle série pro mě byla docela zklamáním, nějak jsem od toho čekala víc.
Druhý díl byl o chloupek horší než ten předešlý. Osobně si totiž nedokážu představit, že by za tak šíleně krátkou dobu mohla jedna holka prožít tak strašně moc zvratů. Možná i proto se mi ta kniha četla špatně už od prvních stránek, hlavní hrdinka mi dost pila krev a já si místy říkala, jak může být někdo tak moc stupidní.
Jako by nestačilo, že se musí vzpamatovat ze smrti svého přítele, ještě se do toho zkouší popasovat s nově objevenou sestrou své matky. Ta mi pila krev snad ještě víc než Vee, dokonce i její sestra byla občas na facku a v kontextu toho, co se vlastně dozvíme na samotném konci knihy si říkám, že je zázrak, že celá rodina už dávno neskončila na psychiatrii. Já s nimi bydlet jenom týden, jela bych tam možná i dobrovolně.
Není to zase tak příšerná kniha, na odpočinkové čtení ideální. Ale pokud hledáte něco tajuplnějšího, co vás nebude štvát a u čeho si po dočtení řeknete „páááni“, tohle rozhodně není ono.
-------------Reakce po dočtení knihy-----------
Chvílemi to vypadalo dost nadějně, dokonce se mi i některé lehce romantické chvilky líbily, ale pak to ten zbytek naprosto celé zabil a celý konec mě naštval, nehledě toho, že doteď nevím, jak to proboha dopadlo s tou otravnou Annou.
Want to read
March 31, 2012After feeling a little mixed on "Slide", I wondered if I was going to read this. But the premise sounds so interesting...
April 19, 2016
WOW ! Само това мога да кажа ! Страхотен край на страхотна поредица.Най-хубавото е,че всеки въпрос получи своя отговор и краят беше щастлив !
July 10, 2016
Já tu sérii prostě miluju ❤
Proč nemá víc dílu? :'(
Proč nemá víc dílu? :'(
July 17, 2013
I was just a little worried starting this book, I thought Slide was a standalone. I really truly only picked up Slide because I thought it was a standalone and had a great concept. I am glad I can say that this exceeded my expectations more than I thought it would.
I started reading this last night and I couldn't stop. In one sitting, I finished the book around midnight. I am so glad I picked it up, and I think that this is the last book of this series. If not, I will be picking up the next.
It is a great read, I can't really discuss it without a bunch of spoilers because when I read the description, I was picturing a totally different story, which is why I was even more pleasantly surprised...
I started reading this last night and I couldn't stop. In one sitting, I finished the book around midnight. I am so glad I picked it up, and I think that this is the last book of this series. If not, I will be picking up the next.
It is a great read, I can't really discuss it without a bunch of spoilers because when I read the description, I was picturing a totally different story, which is why I was even more pleasantly surprised...
April 28, 2013
Goodreads synopsis: Be afraid of your shadow…Vee Bell has witnessed murder. She nearly died trying to track down the killer, all because of her secret condition. She’d tell her best friend Rollins but lately he seems more interested in his colleague Anna than her. Maybe she should confide in her long-lost aunt who’s turned up out of the blue? All of a sudden life is happening in reverse: Vee is waking up in weird places not knowing what she’s done. The only thing she’s sure of is that someone is messing with her. And when a prank goes horribly wrong, this time the hands with blood on them might be hers.
My review: After really enjoying Slide, I couldn’t wait to start this sequel! I had no idea what could happen in this book, as all of the loose ends from the murders in Slide had been wrapped up at its ending. However, Imposter went down an entirely new, unexpected route, and I really loved it. Vee’s never-met-before Aunt, who betrayed Vee’s mum and ran away, not even coming back for her funeral, turns up at her doorstep. Whilst Vee thinks that she is experiencing somebody taking over her body (what she usually does to other people), she begins to suspect her aunt Lydia, as maybe the Sliding is a family thing. I really enjoyed that element of suspicion, because it made me think that the new Slider was Lydia, too, but then all was revealed with a very unexpected plot twist!
I also really enjoyed the growing relationship between Vee and Rollins (her best friend). In the first book, I was practically yelling “YOU TWO ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!” And I was so happy that they formed a relationship in this book. Rollins is a really great supporting character, but I would have liked him to have some more involvement in Vee’s secret plan with Mattie, Samantha and Regina (not saying what it is, I’ll spoil it )!
Vee developed a lot more confidence, and investigated under even more pressure than in the previous installment. Through the first person narrative, I got a real understanding of her emotions towards all of the other characters in the story- especially I understood her hatred towards her aunt Lydia. I was rooting for her throughout, even when she was suspected of murder by her friends (I’m not saying whose murder!). As I’ve already mentioned, I loved her growing relationship with Rollins.
Overall, Imposter was a seriously awesome read. It was around the same meagre amount of pages as the previous title, Slide, but I still loved it anyway. It had such a clever plot, which kept me guessing at who-dunnit? the whole way through. I’ve grown to love the main characters even more, and really enjoyed reading their second psychological adventure. I really hope there’s a third book, or something, because I want to read more about Vee Bell’s life!
My review: After really enjoying Slide, I couldn’t wait to start this sequel! I had no idea what could happen in this book, as all of the loose ends from the murders in Slide had been wrapped up at its ending. However, Imposter went down an entirely new, unexpected route, and I really loved it. Vee’s never-met-before Aunt, who betrayed Vee’s mum and ran away, not even coming back for her funeral, turns up at her doorstep. Whilst Vee thinks that she is experiencing somebody taking over her body (what she usually does to other people), she begins to suspect her aunt Lydia, as maybe the Sliding is a family thing. I really enjoyed that element of suspicion, because it made me think that the new Slider was Lydia, too, but then all was revealed with a very unexpected plot twist!
I also really enjoyed the growing relationship between Vee and Rollins (her best friend). In the first book, I was practically yelling “YOU TWO ARE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER!” And I was so happy that they formed a relationship in this book. Rollins is a really great supporting character, but I would have liked him to have some more involvement in Vee’s secret plan with Mattie, Samantha and Regina (not saying what it is, I’ll spoil it )!
Vee developed a lot more confidence, and investigated under even more pressure than in the previous installment. Through the first person narrative, I got a real understanding of her emotions towards all of the other characters in the story- especially I understood her hatred towards her aunt Lydia. I was rooting for her throughout, even when she was suspected of murder by her friends (I’m not saying whose murder!). As I’ve already mentioned, I loved her growing relationship with Rollins.
Overall, Imposter was a seriously awesome read. It was around the same meagre amount of pages as the previous title, Slide, but I still loved it anyway. It had such a clever plot, which kept me guessing at who-dunnit? the whole way through. I’ve grown to love the main characters even more, and really enjoyed reading their second psychological adventure. I really hope there’s a third book, or something, because I want to read more about Vee Bell’s life!
February 9, 2017
Actual rating 3.5 stars.
I was hoping that ‘Impostor’ would build on the premise set up in ‘Slide,’ however, it turned out to be another episodic mystery and failed to address a lot of the world building and aftermath from the first novel. Sylvia and her sister Mattie have survived a sociopathic murderer, and I felt this fact had been conveniently dismissed in the structure of the plot. Even though the nightmares showed that both her and Mattie hadn't gotten through their ordeal scot free, I feel there would be more emotional issues to deal with. It was glossed over too much.
The girl’s father and the school don't seem to have taken any action for the kids safety or mental wellbeing since the death of the two students in the first novel. Where's the talks on depression and suicide? Professional counselling? Safety talks or metal detectors? Added security guards, Or even Sylvia’s father keeping an eye on his daughter? The school was conveniently absent from the equation again.
Hasn't Sylvia learnt her lesson about keeping secrets from the first novel? People died? She nearly died, her sister was nearly murdered - I can't express my frustration at the idiocy of Sylvia... it's really making me dislike this book. So annoyed that Sylvia does not seem to have more self-preservation, she saw people killed and still chose to keep secrets in ‘Impostor,’ even when it looked like the same thing was happening all over again.
Sylvia and her love interest, Rollins, looked all set for a heavy romance having found a connection together in 'Slide,' and now it's been rolled back to how it was at the start of the series - seriously I'm beginning to wonder if Hathaway is smoking crack. In the first few chapters she repeated herself a number of times on the backstory and it felt like this book hadn't even been edited properly.
I was even alarmed when all of a sudden we get a tidbit that Sylvia's mother could have been a slider? Where the hell did that come from? Why wasn't it mentioned in 'Slide?' But this meant that we got some mythology explained. So I was happy.
Another aspect to the plot which had me raising an eyebrow was the introduction of Sylvia’s Aunt, which felt like she was only there as a character to muddy the water of suspects. A little too convenient.
I actually liked this more than the first novel. The pacing was better, the mystery was planned out and revealed in a logical fashion. And I certainly did not predict what happened. I love surprises. So while there was so much wrong with this contextually, it was still entertaining and kept me guessing. Though I don’t think I would recommend this duology to my friends. There are far more gripping paranormal mysteries out there than this one.
I was hoping that ‘Impostor’ would build on the premise set up in ‘Slide,’ however, it turned out to be another episodic mystery and failed to address a lot of the world building and aftermath from the first novel. Sylvia and her sister Mattie have survived a sociopathic murderer, and I felt this fact had been conveniently dismissed in the structure of the plot. Even though the nightmares showed that both her and Mattie hadn't gotten through their ordeal scot free, I feel there would be more emotional issues to deal with. It was glossed over too much.
The girl’s father and the school don't seem to have taken any action for the kids safety or mental wellbeing since the death of the two students in the first novel. Where's the talks on depression and suicide? Professional counselling? Safety talks or metal detectors? Added security guards, Or even Sylvia’s father keeping an eye on his daughter? The school was conveniently absent from the equation again.
Hasn't Sylvia learnt her lesson about keeping secrets from the first novel? People died? She nearly died, her sister was nearly murdered - I can't express my frustration at the idiocy of Sylvia... it's really making me dislike this book. So annoyed that Sylvia does not seem to have more self-preservation, she saw people killed and still chose to keep secrets in ‘Impostor,’ even when it looked like the same thing was happening all over again.
Sylvia and her love interest, Rollins, looked all set for a heavy romance having found a connection together in 'Slide,' and now it's been rolled back to how it was at the start of the series - seriously I'm beginning to wonder if Hathaway is smoking crack. In the first few chapters she repeated herself a number of times on the backstory and it felt like this book hadn't even been edited properly.
I was even alarmed when all of a sudden we get a tidbit that Sylvia's mother could have been a slider? Where the hell did that come from? Why wasn't it mentioned in 'Slide?' But this meant that we got some mythology explained. So I was happy.
Another aspect to the plot which had me raising an eyebrow was the introduction of Sylvia’s Aunt, which felt like she was only there as a character to muddy the water of suspects. A little too convenient.
I actually liked this more than the first novel. The pacing was better, the mystery was planned out and revealed in a logical fashion. And I certainly did not predict what happened. I love surprises. So while there was so much wrong with this contextually, it was still entertaining and kept me guessing. Though I don’t think I would recommend this duology to my friends. There are far more gripping paranormal mysteries out there than this one.
May 20, 2013
Oh I really love this series. There's just something about both Slide and this sequel, Imposter by Jill Hathaway that just gets to me. I love the premise of it which is has strong elements of the creepy. But I also love the mysteries that come up, the secrets that need to be unearthed. And oh, especially the relationships between the characters! Not just Vee and Rollins but Vee and her sister and her dad and also Vee with her ex-best friend Samantha.
I really love Vee Bell as a main character with all the mistakes she makes and how she feels so isolated and out of control in Imposter. She's been having these dreams in which she experiences her first love dying again and again. And that would be pretty bad all on its own, only Vee wakes up and she's not in her bed anymore and she doesn't know what just happened or how she got there. Instead of Vee sliding into someone else's body ... somebody is sliding into Vee's. But who and for what purpose?
It had been awhile since I read the first book, Slide, and I did worry that too much time had passed and I would feel lost reading Imposter but it wasn't so. I picked up the story really quickly and quite easily fell back into Vee's head. A lot is going on for her and my heart really went out to her. Not only does she have to figure out what is going on with her sliding abilities and who might be causing the strange things around her but she's also had to confront her growing feelings for her best friend and she's got an estranged aunt who is back on the scene. Vee is not entirely sure that Rollins still feels the same way about her as he did several months ago, especially after spending a great deal of time with his beautiful and cool co-worker, Anna. And she has her doubts as to why suddenly Aunt Lydia has shown up on her doorstep.
Imposter was a really quick read for me. The fast-pace of the book together with the ramped-up tension (both romantic and otherwise) made it impossible for me to not read the book in as few sittings as I could. This book has such an amazing cast of characters, a terrifying premise, great relationships and mystery and suspence all crammed into a fairly small amount of space. I absolutely adore this series and I cannot wait to see what will happen next.
I really love Vee Bell as a main character with all the mistakes she makes and how she feels so isolated and out of control in Imposter. She's been having these dreams in which she experiences her first love dying again and again. And that would be pretty bad all on its own, only Vee wakes up and she's not in her bed anymore and she doesn't know what just happened or how she got there. Instead of Vee sliding into someone else's body ... somebody is sliding into Vee's. But who and for what purpose?
It had been awhile since I read the first book, Slide, and I did worry that too much time had passed and I would feel lost reading Imposter but it wasn't so. I picked up the story really quickly and quite easily fell back into Vee's head. A lot is going on for her and my heart really went out to her. Not only does she have to figure out what is going on with her sliding abilities and who might be causing the strange things around her but she's also had to confront her growing feelings for her best friend and she's got an estranged aunt who is back on the scene. Vee is not entirely sure that Rollins still feels the same way about her as he did several months ago, especially after spending a great deal of time with his beautiful and cool co-worker, Anna. And she has her doubts as to why suddenly Aunt Lydia has shown up on her doorstep.
Imposter was a really quick read for me. The fast-pace of the book together with the ramped-up tension (both romantic and otherwise) made it impossible for me to not read the book in as few sittings as I could. This book has such an amazing cast of characters, a terrifying premise, great relationships and mystery and suspence all crammed into a fairly small amount of space. I absolutely adore this series and I cannot wait to see what will happen next.
July 31, 2013
I was very disappointed with this book. Perhaps teens who like romance would like it, but I felt the paranormal storyline was handled in a rather jumbled way. Throughout the story, I felt as if elements were introduced in an effort to plug a hole created by a little detail, or to wrap something up neatly instead of truly.
Vee's ability to take over another's body for a period of time meets with any number of mishaps, many predicated on the fact that teens don't think all that well. A mysterious stranger and a long lost aunt appear in her life, and their presence has to be explained. Hathaway tries to create suspense around them, and then when you find out why they are there, it's kind of a big let down.
I never could understand why Hathaway brought in Vee's father"s infidelity, with just a couple of sentences, in an effort to explain Vee's mistrust of him. Typical teen attitudes would do that all by themselves, and it really wasn't necessary. I was also very offended by the child-out-of-wedlock-secretly-adopted storyline; to me, it just continued to normalize the negative connotations some people hold about adoption, and I felt that was narrow-minded short-sighted.
I also didn't like that Hathaway had such little respect for her readers that she found it necessary to recap the entire story that led to the incident at Lookout Point - I think teens would remember it perfectly, especially female teens who know all too well the issues involving macho males on the HS scene.
None, yes, none of the female characters appealed to me at all. They were silly girls controlled by drama. The only character I liked was Rollins, who was far more mature than anyone else in the landscape.
For a novel exploring an ability to inhabit another's body, I much preferred David Leviathan's elegant Every Day.
Vee's ability to take over another's body for a period of time meets with any number of mishaps, many predicated on the fact that teens don't think all that well. A mysterious stranger and a long lost aunt appear in her life, and their presence has to be explained. Hathaway tries to create suspense around them, and then when you find out why they are there, it's kind of a big let down.
I never could understand why Hathaway brought in Vee's father"s infidelity, with just a couple of sentences, in an effort to explain Vee's mistrust of him. Typical teen attitudes would do that all by themselves, and it really wasn't necessary. I was also very offended by the child-out-of-wedlock-secretly-adopted storyline; to me, it just continued to normalize the negative connotations some people hold about adoption, and I felt that was narrow-minded short-sighted.
I also didn't like that Hathaway had such little respect for her readers that she found it necessary to recap the entire story that led to the incident at Lookout Point - I think teens would remember it perfectly, especially female teens who know all too well the issues involving macho males on the HS scene.
None, yes, none of the female characters appealed to me at all. They were silly girls controlled by drama. The only character I liked was Rollins, who was far more mature than anyone else in the landscape.
For a novel exploring an ability to inhabit another's body, I much preferred David Leviathan's elegant Every Day.
June 14, 2016
I seriously couldn't put this book down. Jill Hathaway is an amazing author and I really felt like I was part of this book, like I was part of the main character.
Unfortunately I read this book first, not knowing this was book two of the series. Blonde moment I'm sure. But even through this book I would've never thought it was book two as it had its own story. I may have to go back and read the first one now. LOL.
But man, this book starts off so well. I loved the fact that the girls were going to get even with the high school jock. The guy that all the girls want but they have no idea what he's capable of.
Vee - the main character, has an incredible gift. She can slide into anyone as long as she has something in her hands that someone has left an imprint on. The can take control of their body and she can make people do things without even remembering doing it. Slightly jealous but hey ho.
Vee and her friends, Michelle and Regina come up with an amazing plan to get back at high school jock - Scotch - and plan to leave him naked and lost. The perfect way to get back at someone, or so they thought.
When the night goes terribly wrong, the girls are whisked into a never ending whirlwind of secrets and lies and when Vee's mysterious aunt shows up out of the middle of nowhere, and now someone with the same gift is now taking over Vee's body too, what will happen next?
This book is a wonderful read, the main characters and the plot line are both just wonderful and I couldn't recommend this book more.
Off to read the first one now.
Unfortunately I read this book first, not knowing this was book two of the series. Blonde moment I'm sure. But even through this book I would've never thought it was book two as it had its own story. I may have to go back and read the first one now. LOL.
But man, this book starts off so well. I loved the fact that the girls were going to get even with the high school jock. The guy that all the girls want but they have no idea what he's capable of.
Vee - the main character, has an incredible gift. She can slide into anyone as long as she has something in her hands that someone has left an imprint on. The can take control of their body and she can make people do things without even remembering doing it. Slightly jealous but hey ho.
Vee and her friends, Michelle and Regina come up with an amazing plan to get back at high school jock - Scotch - and plan to leave him naked and lost. The perfect way to get back at someone, or so they thought.
When the night goes terribly wrong, the girls are whisked into a never ending whirlwind of secrets and lies and when Vee's mysterious aunt shows up out of the middle of nowhere, and now someone with the same gift is now taking over Vee's body too, what will happen next?
This book is a wonderful read, the main characters and the plot line are both just wonderful and I couldn't recommend this book more.
Off to read the first one now.
March 5, 2013
I have to say I really liked this book more than I liked the first one is series "Slide". I enjoyed Slide but this book has so much more to it. I started Impostor and finished it all in one day. In this novel the author introduces you to a few new characters. They become a good part in this story. She also mends broken friendships, start new relationships and reveal major secrets.
At some point when the author introduces you to a certain new character, she had me confused as to believing the obvious or giving her the benefits of the doubt. That was what made this story interesting. And with all the odd things happening with Vee made it even more intriguing. Everything was fast paced. So you are not left with words just filling in the space. As the story progresses, revelations come into play and left me wondering what the next book in series would be about. I personally think it's going to be about Vee and her sister. This should make an interesting book.
I like the ending though I feel bad that some things happened in the story and some people had to suffer really bad consequences. But this book revealed secrets that made them all a bit stronger. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in series. Looking forward to see what Vee and her new beau is up and looking forward to read about the rest of the family. I give "Impostor" a 4 stars and a definite Good Choice for Reading.
September 13, 2020
2019
In this book, Vee starts off by trying to deal with the trauma of watching Zane die in the previous story. She keeps having reoccurring nightmares about him and his mother crashing on the highway. One night, she's not just dreaming about being in the car, she realizes that she actually is driving the car but she doesn't remember how she got there.
Then Vee realizes that sometimes she may not be in control of her own self.
She gradually starts to understand that maybe she isn't the only person with the slide power. And someone keeps hijacking her.
This isn't the only thing she's worried about lately, though. Rollins, her best friend/guy she might want to date, seems to be ditching her for his coworker. And her estranged aunt shows up and starts meddling in her life. Then one of her classmates (one that she has a past uncomfortable history with) falls off of a cliff. Then mysteriously gets murdered while in the hospital. So, yeah, Vee's got a lot going on.
I did like this book, but Vee didn't seem to be the main focus of this one. I was a little disappointed at how little she used her slide ability. Last time, she kept sliding into people trying to figure out who the murderer was, but this time she seemed content to just sit back and let other people slide into her.
In this book, Vee starts off by trying to deal with the trauma of watching Zane die in the previous story. She keeps having reoccurring nightmares about him and his mother crashing on the highway. One night, she's not just dreaming about being in the car, she realizes that she actually is driving the car but she doesn't remember how she got there.
Then Vee realizes that sometimes she may not be in control of her own self.
She gradually starts to understand that maybe she isn't the only person with the slide power. And someone keeps hijacking her.
This isn't the only thing she's worried about lately, though. Rollins, her best friend/guy she might want to date, seems to be ditching her for his coworker. And her estranged aunt shows up and starts meddling in her life. Then one of her classmates (one that she has a past uncomfortable history with) falls off of a cliff. Then mysteriously gets murdered while in the hospital. So, yeah, Vee's got a lot going on.
I did like this book, but Vee didn't seem to be the main focus of this one. I was a little disappointed at how little she used her slide ability. Last time, she kept sliding into people trying to figure out who the murderer was, but this time she seemed content to just sit back and let other people slide into her.
August 24, 2015
Хареса ми повече от "Чужди очи". Развръзката се оказа интересна и (поне за мен) трудно предвидима. Обстановката си остава типично американска - т.е. "необикновения-обикновен-живот-на-американски-тинейджъри" - не особено дълбок и затрогващ, но... Все пак беше интересна книжка. Хареса ми по-силното усещане за семейство, от това в първа книга, изобразяването на силните и слаби черти у героите, подчертаването, че често не всичко е такова, каквото изглежда (за каквото и да било). Хареса ми и че всичко е последователно и авторката се старае да го обясни (хубав навик още от първа книга).
Все пак, имайки предвид на какви книги давам 4 и 5 звезди, оставям оценката на тази 3,5 от 5, но хайде де, рейтинг за изкуство - блях, всеки си има вкус ;) Приятно четене!
Все пак, имайки предвид на какви книги давам 4 и 5 звезди, оставям оценката на тази 3,5 от 5, но хайде де, рейтинг за изкуство - блях, всеки си има вкус ;) Приятно четене!
August 30, 2015
Na začiatku ( cca 50 strán ) som si naozaj myslela že tu knihu odložím a zoberiem si inú pretože sa to nedalo čítať. Narovinu ktorej 18 (?) ročnej babe sa stane toľko vecí za tak krátky čas? A samozrejme nesmieme zabudnúť na bff love problems. Síce sa aj počas zbytku knihy našla scénka kde som prevracala očami, kniha sa mi vcelku páčila. Musím povedať že postava Rollinsa sa mi naozaj páčila. Milý, zlatý, obetavý chalan so super štýlom a vkusom na hudbu. No tie žiarlivé momenty Anna-Rollins-Sisa mi liezli na nervy. Ešte sa mi moc páčilo ako autorka do knihy zakomponovala *super* veci ako Stephen King, Myth Busters, Johny Depp, Alicu v krajine zázrakov,.. ♡
Kniha je taká priemerná YA, dobrá oddychovka na jedno posedenie.
Kniha je taká priemerná YA, dobrá oddychovka na jedno posedenie.
April 11, 2013
When I found out that Slide had a sequel, I was so excited - I really wanted to see more of Vee and Rollins and all the other characters. Impostor did not disappoint me. As gripping as Slide was, Impostor was even more so. While I was able to figure out the mystery in Slide this one was a mystery for me up until the reveal! Overall, I really enjoyed this book with all it's twists and turns and mystery, and I look forward to reading more work from this author.
November 5, 2013
První čtvrtina knihy byla nezáživná, ale potom se to rozjelo a u konce jsem se nestačila divit, co všechno se stalo a na co Vee přišla. O proti prvnímu dílu je vidět, že se autorka značně zlepšila ve psaní. Za mě 4 hvězdičky a doufám, že si od autorky ještě něco přečtu :))
December 14, 2013
4,5*
Moje recenze: http://wolfdraven.eu/desive-splynuti-...
Moje recenze: http://wolfdraven.eu/desive-splynuti-...
May 10, 2013
This one was a bit disappointing. Because I really, really liked Slide, but I thought it made a perfectly fine standalone; any sequel would be completely unnecessary. To be fair, this is more of a companion than a sequel; it takes place in the same continuity and focuses on the same characters, but it in no way continues Slide's plot. Even so, after the phenomenal Slide, this was a bit of a disappointment.
But the biggest thing I didn't like about Slide, the writing, is much better now. I'll blame the awkwardness back there on the fact that the book was Hathaway's debut, because everything's much, much better here. The writing was engaging, believable, and sometimes surprisingly lyrical; I'll get a quote later when I have more energy.
In terms of plotting, though, this book was... interesting. In the beginning, it's going to seem extremely, unbelievably, shockingly predictable. I thought it was - just look at my numerous status updates. I thought that I knew who the Slider was - I was certain it was . But actually, I was surprised; as it turns out, I was wrong, and (I think) Hathaway was intentionally misleading me. It was really clever: she gave just enough foreshadowing to make me think the Slider was this person, then pulled the rug out from under me. This would be too risky for most writers to attempt, but Hathaway really pulled it off; I'm impressed.
The side effect of this is that other parts of the book were predictable; while I didn't guess that , I did guess that and that . Predictably was a problem I also had in Slide, and although it was different here, it was still a problem.
The plotting was also hurt, oddly enough by a problem I had with Vee, our protagonist. Throughout the book, she was annoying me in a way that she never did in Slide. It took me until the book was almost complete to realize, but here's the problem: Vee is completely passive. I got a good idea of her personality on a micro level; I know that she's always going to think with her heart instead of her head and take everything a bit too seriously. But on a macro level? Not at all. She very rarely did anything on a large scale; instead, the plot just threw itself in her path. This meant that the pacing, which was done so well in Slide, was artificially fast here to prevent Vee from having to do anything in any situation. The biggest example of this came when Vee found out that Lydia was going by a different name back in California. What will she do about this? Will she tell her father? Will she confront Lydia? Will she call the police? Hell if I know; the plot moves on without a large-scale reaction from her. Passive characters are boring, underdeveloped, and annoying; this is the first time I've been aware of that, but now that I notice, it makes perfect sense.
Other than this, the plot was alright. I thought that the eventual came a bit too late to get any real tension, but other than that, the pacing was good, and everything was engaging. And of course, there was the ultimate surprise, which worked really well. It wasn't as engaging as Slide (which was one of the best plotted YA books I've ever read), but it worked, nonetheless.
As with Slide, there were numerous relationships that Hathaway explored. But unlike Slide, not all of them worked. I've already explained why I didn't like Vee very much. I gotta say, I didn't like her relationship with Rollins, either. In Slide, the two obviously liked each other, in spite of Zane. I was looking forward to a straight relationship between them here, but for some reason, Hathaway seems to be afraid to offer it. Instead, we got a love triangle, this time with Vee in a corner instead of the center; Rollins takes some interesting in Ana.
It might surprise you to learn that I think Hathaway handled having her protagonist in the center of a love triangle far better than in the corner.
To understand why I didn't like this one, I'm going to bring up a book that I thought handled it better: The Way We Fall. (Here's a fun game: find a review of mine where I don't plug that book. Just read it now so you can ignore them from now on.) In The Way We Fall, Kaelyn had a lingering crush on Leo, who has a girlfriend, Tessa. It would've been so easy for Crewe to paint Tessa as a villain, but instead, the opposite happens; Kaelyn moves in with Tessa and finds that she's not actually that bad. If anything, she's the most interesting character in the book.
Here, Ana was a villain. Vee resents her, despite the fact that all she's done is be friendly with Rollins. We never see them do anything love-interest-like together, and Ana is nothing but nice, yet we're still expected to hate her. And we never get to know Ana at all, meaning her only role was to give us someone to hate and delay the straight romance between Rollins and Vee. That's... a bit of a problem. It's not realistic, it's not interesting, and it serves no real purpose.
Much better handled was Vee's relationship with Mattie. It's much like the one in Slide: the two are nothing alike, and they fight like siblings do, but at the end of the day, they care about each other, and they help each other out. Now that is the touching, realistic thing that we could've seen between Rollins and Vee. It's so rare to see more than a passing relationship between siblings in YA that I really appreciated this one.
Other than that, the characters were functional. They didn't all do interesting things, but Samantha, Regina, Vee's father, and Lydia were all accurately and sympathetically rendered. A special shout-out goes to Samantha, who had a surprisingly interesting character arc. I'm also glad that we got to see Vee make up with her after their rivalry in Slide; there were a lot of complaints about their rivalry in book 1, but this one remedies it effectively and, at times, touchingly.
But probably the worst element of the book, the one that fills me with the most anger, is Hathaway's handling of sexual assault. Samantha is (probably) sexually assaulted by Scotch in this book, and we get to see what Samantha and her friends do about it. Do they call the cops? Do they tell the teacher? Do we see any accurate effects of it? Nope. All that happens is that they play a prank on Scotch. A FUCKING PRANK! I mean, from a plot perspective, I see why it had to happen, and we see a little of Samantha's reaction to the assault later, but SAMANTHA GOT FUCKING RAPED AND ALL SHE DID ABOUT IT WAS THAT SHE PLAYED A PRANK ON THE ATTACKER! Hathaway clearly doesn't understand what a big deal a rape is for a victim, how much their world is affected. I didn't see that happen to Samantha at all, and that's almost rage-worthy. This is a huge misrepresentation of a major issue, and that is not okay.
My conclusion at the end of this book is the same as the one I had at the beginning: Slide should've been a standalone. Slide had its issues, but it was marvelously plotted, its character actions consistently worked, and most importantly, it stood alone. This didn't at all work on the same level. I am still excited for what Hathaway does next, but for now, I'm disappointed.
But the biggest thing I didn't like about Slide, the writing, is much better now. I'll blame the awkwardness back there on the fact that the book was Hathaway's debut, because everything's much, much better here. The writing was engaging, believable, and sometimes surprisingly lyrical; I'll get a quote later when I have more energy.
In terms of plotting, though, this book was... interesting. In the beginning, it's going to seem extremely, unbelievably, shockingly predictable. I thought it was - just look at my numerous status updates. I thought that I knew who the Slider was - I was certain it was . But actually, I was surprised; as it turns out, I was wrong, and (I think) Hathaway was intentionally misleading me. It was really clever: she gave just enough foreshadowing to make me think the Slider was this person, then pulled the rug out from under me. This would be too risky for most writers to attempt, but Hathaway really pulled it off; I'm impressed.
The side effect of this is that other parts of the book were predictable; while I didn't guess that , I did guess that and that . Predictably was a problem I also had in Slide, and although it was different here, it was still a problem.
The plotting was also hurt, oddly enough by a problem I had with Vee, our protagonist. Throughout the book, she was annoying me in a way that she never did in Slide. It took me until the book was almost complete to realize, but here's the problem: Vee is completely passive. I got a good idea of her personality on a micro level; I know that she's always going to think with her heart instead of her head and take everything a bit too seriously. But on a macro level? Not at all. She very rarely did anything on a large scale; instead, the plot just threw itself in her path. This meant that the pacing, which was done so well in Slide, was artificially fast here to prevent Vee from having to do anything in any situation. The biggest example of this came when Vee found out that Lydia was going by a different name back in California. What will she do about this? Will she tell her father? Will she confront Lydia? Will she call the police? Hell if I know; the plot moves on without a large-scale reaction from her. Passive characters are boring, underdeveloped, and annoying; this is the first time I've been aware of that, but now that I notice, it makes perfect sense.
Other than this, the plot was alright. I thought that the eventual came a bit too late to get any real tension, but other than that, the pacing was good, and everything was engaging. And of course, there was the ultimate surprise, which worked really well. It wasn't as engaging as Slide (which was one of the best plotted YA books I've ever read), but it worked, nonetheless.
As with Slide, there were numerous relationships that Hathaway explored. But unlike Slide, not all of them worked. I've already explained why I didn't like Vee very much. I gotta say, I didn't like her relationship with Rollins, either. In Slide, the two obviously liked each other, in spite of Zane. I was looking forward to a straight relationship between them here, but for some reason, Hathaway seems to be afraid to offer it. Instead, we got a love triangle, this time with Vee in a corner instead of the center; Rollins takes some interesting in Ana.
It might surprise you to learn that I think Hathaway handled having her protagonist in the center of a love triangle far better than in the corner.
To understand why I didn't like this one, I'm going to bring up a book that I thought handled it better: The Way We Fall. (Here's a fun game: find a review of mine where I don't plug that book. Just read it now so you can ignore them from now on.) In The Way We Fall, Kaelyn had a lingering crush on Leo, who has a girlfriend, Tessa. It would've been so easy for Crewe to paint Tessa as a villain, but instead, the opposite happens; Kaelyn moves in with Tessa and finds that she's not actually that bad. If anything, she's the most interesting character in the book.
Here, Ana was a villain. Vee resents her, despite the fact that all she's done is be friendly with Rollins. We never see them do anything love-interest-like together, and Ana is nothing but nice, yet we're still expected to hate her. And we never get to know Ana at all, meaning her only role was to give us someone to hate and delay the straight romance between Rollins and Vee. That's... a bit of a problem. It's not realistic, it's not interesting, and it serves no real purpose.
Much better handled was Vee's relationship with Mattie. It's much like the one in Slide: the two are nothing alike, and they fight like siblings do, but at the end of the day, they care about each other, and they help each other out. Now that is the touching, realistic thing that we could've seen between Rollins and Vee. It's so rare to see more than a passing relationship between siblings in YA that I really appreciated this one.
Other than that, the characters were functional. They didn't all do interesting things, but Samantha, Regina, Vee's father, and Lydia were all accurately and sympathetically rendered. A special shout-out goes to Samantha, who had a surprisingly interesting character arc. I'm also glad that we got to see Vee make up with her after their rivalry in Slide; there were a lot of complaints about their rivalry in book 1, but this one remedies it effectively and, at times, touchingly.
But probably the worst element of the book, the one that fills me with the most anger, is Hathaway's handling of sexual assault. Samantha is (probably) sexually assaulted by Scotch in this book, and we get to see what Samantha and her friends do about it. Do they call the cops? Do they tell the teacher? Do we see any accurate effects of it? Nope. All that happens is that they play a prank on Scotch. A FUCKING PRANK! I mean, from a plot perspective, I see why it had to happen, and we see a little of Samantha's reaction to the assault later, but SAMANTHA GOT FUCKING RAPED AND ALL SHE DID ABOUT IT WAS THAT SHE PLAYED A PRANK ON THE ATTACKER! Hathaway clearly doesn't understand what a big deal a rape is for a victim, how much their world is affected. I didn't see that happen to Samantha at all, and that's almost rage-worthy. This is a huge misrepresentation of a major issue, and that is not okay.
My conclusion at the end of this book is the same as the one I had at the beginning: Slide should've been a standalone. Slide had its issues, but it was marvelously plotted, its character actions consistently worked, and most importantly, it stood alone. This didn't at all work on the same level. I am still excited for what Hathaway does next, but for now, I'm disappointed.
April 5, 2013
3.5 stars, that is.
WHOO. Yet another book read all in one go! Save the first 10 pages or so I mean; I may have been not as enthusiastic to read this sequel in the beginning as I was back when I read Slide last year, but hey, that was inevitable with a year's long wait though, wasn't it?
Anywho, I'd like to start off by saying that I'm thoroughly disappointed in not having figured out the mystery long ahead the way I had with the the first book (funny, since that should've ruined the suspense part of it for me except it didn't. Not really. Still quite the thrill) until JUST the last moment. I mean, all the fingers were pointing at Lydia so that judt had to mean it couldn't be the obvious suspect (as she portrayed in Slide) but the author managed to convinced me so that I actually started to believe there could possibly be mo one else. So good on you Jill! Marvelous work with misleading my speculations this time! ...Although to be honest, I can't believe I hadn't seen that coming. Seeing as how the suspenseful aura should make me like Imposter better than Slide, I, on the other hand, don't apply to that fact.
Ya see, despite the incessant urge to finally uncover the secrets of it all (probably the only reason I finished this book so fast), the plot holes were far too... cliche for my liking. The kind where you go 'WHAT-no-bloody-way-are-you-kidding-me-how-typical.' I don't know, at least that's how I felt. And not just the twists too, but bits and pieces of the storyline in general:
~~~
The first half was a rather slow and sort of uninteresting build-up, but the book soon began to pick up it's pace and proved to be the edge-of-the-seat thriller I was expecting. Doesn't QUITE reach my expectations though, since after such a fabulous debut, mine were pretttty high, but satisfying nonetheless.
Now as far as THE FEELS, OH THE PRECIOUS FEELS are concerned, I'm glad there only had to be one or two moments where I felt the tears prick my eyes, but thank god that's where it ends. I've had enough emotional trauma due to fictional characters to last for a last time!
I really loved how 'Everlong' by Foo Fighters was Vee and Rollins' theme song, so to say. Awh shucks. Gotta love their moments ~insert fangirl shipping~ But as for dear fucking Anna- crikey, that chick really hit a nerve. And it's not even her fault. I have to say, Vee's jealous ranting over the slightest of things might be understandable -slightly- but Jesus, it had me feeling so distraught! Annoyed me beyong measure! Nearly three quarters of the book wherever Rollins comes into the picture just has to has a reference over his developing friendship with Anna. Hated every single moment of it. Really Jill, do ya have to torture us Rollins/Vee lovers like this? It honestly wasn't necessary. I just didn't get it. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DARN FOCUS SO MUCH ON HIM AND ANNA AND SEND ME TO THE BRINK OF ABSOLUTE FRUSTRATION? IT'S SO CLEAR THAT ROLLINS AND VEE ARE BLOODY MEANT TO BE AND ALL THAT JAZZ.
Alright, alright, I'm calm now. And yes, I'm aware of the fact that I suck at writing useful reviews, but who gives a damn hey? At last, I can safely say that if you enjoyed Slide, you'll definitely want to join in on the rollercoasterish ride (a cliche, mediocre yet immensely worthwhile ride ::thankyou happy endings::) that is Imposter.
SIDE NOTE: is it just me or is anyone else secretly expecting (ok, more like hoping but I still infinitely love you Rollins) Zane to miraculously be alive somehow and make a big appearance back into Vee's life in the next book? IDEK WHY THIS IDEA STRUCK ME AND IM SURE IT'S 88% IMPLAUSIBLE BUT A GIRL CAN DREAM, YES? :3
WHOO. Yet another book read all in one go! Save the first 10 pages or so I mean; I may have been not as enthusiastic to read this sequel in the beginning as I was back when I read Slide last year, but hey, that was inevitable with a year's long wait though, wasn't it?
Anywho, I'd like to start off by saying that I'm thoroughly disappointed in not having figured out the mystery long ahead the way I had with the the first book (funny, since that should've ruined the suspense part of it for me except it didn't. Not really. Still quite the thrill) until JUST the last moment. I mean, all the fingers were pointing at Lydia so that judt had to mean it couldn't be the obvious suspect (as she portrayed in Slide) but the author managed to convinced me so that I actually started to believe there could possibly be mo one else. So good on you Jill! Marvelous work with misleading my speculations this time! ...Although to be honest, I can't believe I hadn't seen that coming. Seeing as how the suspenseful aura should make me like Imposter better than Slide, I, on the other hand, don't apply to that fact.
Ya see, despite the incessant urge to finally uncover the secrets of it all (probably the only reason I finished this book so fast), the plot holes were far too... cliche for my liking. The kind where you go 'WHAT-no-bloody-way-are-you-kidding-me-how-typical.' I don't know, at least that's how I felt. And not just the twists too, but bits and pieces of the storyline in general:
~~~
The first half was a rather slow and sort of uninteresting build-up, but the book soon began to pick up it's pace and proved to be the edge-of-the-seat thriller I was expecting. Doesn't QUITE reach my expectations though, since after such a fabulous debut, mine were pretttty high, but satisfying nonetheless.
Now as far as THE FEELS, OH THE PRECIOUS FEELS are concerned, I'm glad there only had to be one or two moments where I felt the tears prick my eyes, but thank god that's where it ends. I've had enough emotional trauma due to fictional characters to last for a last time!
I really loved how 'Everlong' by Foo Fighters was Vee and Rollins' theme song, so to say. Awh shucks. Gotta love their moments ~insert fangirl shipping~ But as for dear fucking Anna- crikey, that chick really hit a nerve. And it's not even her fault. I have to say, Vee's jealous ranting over the slightest of things might be understandable -slightly- but Jesus, it had me feeling so distraught! Annoyed me beyong measure! Nearly three quarters of the book wherever Rollins comes into the picture just has to has a reference over his developing friendship with Anna. Hated every single moment of it. Really Jill, do ya have to torture us Rollins/Vee lovers like this? It honestly wasn't necessary. I just didn't get it. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DARN FOCUS SO MUCH ON HIM AND ANNA AND SEND ME TO THE BRINK OF ABSOLUTE FRUSTRATION? IT'S SO CLEAR THAT ROLLINS AND VEE ARE BLOODY MEANT TO BE AND ALL THAT JAZZ.
Alright, alright, I'm calm now. And yes, I'm aware of the fact that I suck at writing useful reviews, but who gives a damn hey? At last, I can safely say that if you enjoyed Slide, you'll definitely want to join in on the rollercoasterish ride (a cliche, mediocre yet immensely worthwhile ride ::thankyou happy endings::) that is Imposter.
SIDE NOTE: is it just me or is anyone else secretly expecting (ok, more like hoping but I still infinitely love you Rollins) Zane to miraculously be alive somehow and make a big appearance back into Vee's life in the next book? IDEK WHY THIS IDEA STRUCK ME AND IM SURE IT'S 88% IMPLAUSIBLE BUT A GIRL CAN DREAM, YES? :3
August 12, 2025
4 stars
I read the first book of this series many years ago and forgot about the sequel. Finally bought it last year and just now finished it. Imposter is the continuation of Slide, where we follow Sylvia “Vee” Bell after the death of her friend Zane. I really like the writing style of Jill Hathaway, it’s an easy book to ready. It has suspense, likeable characters and some kind of it-factor that makes you want to turn the pages faster. However, this is a double-edged sword. I found the writing to be too fast-paced, sometimes details didn’t make sense or were written hastily. Very suddenly, Rollins and Vee are in love, we find out her sister can also slide, her aunt Lydia is back after 20 years and apparently has dated their father and has a daughter, the father is very absent, and some random woman called Diane is following them around. Many details that are rushed but somehow make sense anyway. It’s a good book to read to get out of a reading slump. I’m now considering reading Slide again as I cannot remember anything from that book.
I read the first book of this series many years ago and forgot about the sequel. Finally bought it last year and just now finished it. Imposter is the continuation of Slide, where we follow Sylvia “Vee” Bell after the death of her friend Zane. I really like the writing style of Jill Hathaway, it’s an easy book to ready. It has suspense, likeable characters and some kind of it-factor that makes you want to turn the pages faster. However, this is a double-edged sword. I found the writing to be too fast-paced, sometimes details didn’t make sense or were written hastily. Very suddenly, Rollins and Vee are in love, we find out her sister can also slide, her aunt Lydia is back after 20 years and apparently has dated their father and has a daughter, the father is very absent, and some random woman called Diane is following them around. Many details that are rushed but somehow make sense anyway. It’s a good book to read to get out of a reading slump. I’m now considering reading Slide again as I cannot remember anything from that book.
June 12, 2017
I thought it was just as good as the first one. The only thing I don’t get is why they didn’t say anything about what happened to Samantha. Like it was almost making it okay?? But I guess it helps play into the plot but still it was wrong. Also about what they did to Scotch. Geez, talk about one bad thing after another.
Anyway, this was a quick read. I like the mystery of who this impostor is and what they caused. Honestly I didn’t see who it was, I was thinking it was somebody else. So that was cool. I like that Vee can control sliding better and that she’s not alone. The thing with Rollins I liked and didn’t. The insecurities and aloofness I could do without but when they were together being them, it was cute.
Overall, I think both books are good and they’re a nice quick and easy reads.
Anyway, this was a quick read. I like the mystery of who this impostor is and what they caused. Honestly I didn’t see who it was, I was thinking it was somebody else. So that was cool. I like that Vee can control sliding better and that she’s not alone. The thing with Rollins I liked and didn’t. The insecurities and aloofness I could do without but when they were together being them, it was cute.
Overall, I think both books are good and they’re a nice quick and easy reads.
February 1, 2019
This book was the epitome of "brain candy". It was compulsively readable, but not terribly deep. I read the first book in this series absolute ages ago and gave it four stars; my guess is, were I to read it today, I wouldn't have rated it quite that high. I enjoyed Imposter for what it was - a couple hours of entertainment - but wouldn't call this series amazing by any means. It's an interesting premise, and had a lot of drama and intrigue, but I was never truly gripped by the plot or my curiosity of what was happening. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend a very cold, blustery, unexpected day off work, so I'll call it a worthwhile read in that respect.
July 14, 2017
I enjoyed this book just as much as the first. It was a quick, easy read. There were several twists that kept the story moving and added to the mystery. The one thing I would have liked to know more about was what caused someone to be able to slide and a better exploration of the ability itself. Of course, as Vee's character is just learning a lot of this as well this would probably be better suited in a sequel or companion novel to the series.
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