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Imposter
Perfect for fans of Veronica Mars, this Hollywood thriller explores the blurred lines between Hollywood glamour and reality.
Seth Crane has hit rock bottom. His mom recently died, his dad had a stroke and is out of work, and he just lost out on a commercial role. So when a producer shows up at his community theater production and offers him the lead role in an Indie film with major Hollywood buzz, it seems like the answer to all Seth’s problems. Seth gets swept up in the Hollywood glamour right away, staying in a fancy hotel, going to the best parties, doing press conferences, and falling for the beautiful starlet Sabrina Layton and then his costar Annaleigh. But things suddenly start popping up in the tabloids—things Sabrina and Annaleigh told him in confidence and that no one else could know—and the line between the film and reality starts to blur. Nothing in Hollywood is what it seems, and Seth has to decide just how far he’s willing to go for fame, money, and to protect the people he loves.
Seth Crane has hit rock bottom. His mom recently died, his dad had a stroke and is out of work, and he just lost out on a commercial role. So when a producer shows up at his community theater production and offers him the lead role in an Indie film with major Hollywood buzz, it seems like the answer to all Seth’s problems. Seth gets swept up in the Hollywood glamour right away, staying in a fancy hotel, going to the best parties, doing press conferences, and falling for the beautiful starlet Sabrina Layton and then his costar Annaleigh. But things suddenly start popping up in the tabloids—things Sabrina and Annaleigh told him in confidence and that no one else could know—and the line between the film and reality starts to blur. Nothing in Hollywood is what it seems, and Seth has to decide just how far he’s willing to go for fame, money, and to protect the people he loves.
- GenresMysteryYoung Adult
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2015
4 people are currently reading
685 people want to read
About the author
Antony John
17 books429 followersAntony John was born in England and raised on a balanced diet of fish and chips, obscure British comedies, and ABBA's Greatest Hits. In a fit of teenage rebellion, he decided to pursue a career in classical music, culminating in a BA from Oxford University and a PhD from Duke University. Along the way, he worked as an ice cream seller on a freezing English beach, a tour guide in the Netherlands, a chauffeur in Switzerland, a barista in Seattle, and a university professor. Writing by night, he spends his days as a stay-at-home dad—the only job that allows him to wear his favorite pair of sweatpants all the time. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 7, 2017
The first time I tried reading it, I put it down after 50 pages and read something else but after the second time I got past the 50 page mark, it was hard to put this book down.
April 29, 2017
I have to say at least this:
I hate love triangles.
However, I have to admit that this one was well-executed. Mostly.
Let me go over some aspects of this book.
•The reviews on the back
I have a hunch that none of the people who put their reviews on the back of the book actually read this long love triangle. It is not "pure adrenaline". Sure, it has twists, but it's not exciting.
•Characters
Seth is relatable, and ambitious about his film career. Annaleigh and Sabrina are well-developed as love interests, with some twists that really flesh them out. Brian and Ryder make effective villains, and Gant and his dad are characters that just make this book a little more heartfelt, if that's how you'd want to put it. I don't know.
•The Twist
The twist in this book is that everything that happened over the course of the book had been filmed and was going to be made into a movie. I figured this out way too early on, but it did raise some good moral questions about privacy and also make the book less boring.
•This is my conclusion
I will write a better back-of-cover review for this book.
"What seems like an ordinary rags-to-riches teenage love triangle quickly raises moral questions about privacy, and it has more twists than a rope made from Twizzlers. A quite well-executed novel, but not quite a thriller"
-Me, OpPoSiTiOn Press
I hate love triangles.
However, I have to admit that this one was well-executed. Mostly.
Let me go over some aspects of this book.
•The reviews on the back
I have a hunch that none of the people who put their reviews on the back of the book actually read this long love triangle. It is not "pure adrenaline". Sure, it has twists, but it's not exciting.
•Characters
Seth is relatable, and ambitious about his film career. Annaleigh and Sabrina are well-developed as love interests, with some twists that really flesh them out. Brian and Ryder make effective villains, and Gant and his dad are characters that just make this book a little more heartfelt, if that's how you'd want to put it. I don't know.
•The Twist
The twist in this book is that everything that happened over the course of the book had been filmed and was going to be made into a movie. I figured this out way too early on, but it did raise some good moral questions about privacy and also make the book less boring.
•This is my conclusion
I will write a better back-of-cover review for this book.
"What seems like an ordinary rags-to-riches teenage love triangle quickly raises moral questions about privacy, and it has more twists than a rope made from Twizzlers. A quite well-executed novel, but not quite a thriller"
-Me, OpPoSiTiOn Press
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2015
I've been actively following Antony John's career since I read his wonderful Five Flavors of Dumb, and waited in anticipation year after year for each Elemental trilogy book to come out. What I love about his writing is other than his terrific talent of fleshing out three dimensional characters and eloquent prose, is the fact that he takes risks.
Imposter is yet another example of this. He started with YA contemporaries, moved to YA dystopian, and now he maneuvers through a YA thriller with style and grit. Seth, the protagonist, is an 18 year old guy who is trying to make it big as an actor like so many other teens. But Seth lands the opportunity of a lifetime-- to star in an indie film that two big name Hollywood stars dropped out of after much speculation and drama. Seth knows this will make his career. But nothing is as it seems, and as he wades deeper into the Hollywood scene, and falls for a famous movie star, he realizes that he may have bit off more than he can chew.
The plotting of this book is deliberate and well paced. I was sucked in from the first page and read the whole book from cover to cover in an evening. John has shown skillfully again how he can make you believe his characters, and even when they bridge into typical teen territory, there's just something about them that makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out more about them since they are deeper than they first may seem. I loved the hook of the book-- the set up of the show is so fascinating. Not to mention it's hard to know who to trust (if anyone at all).
I'm glad I took a while to think about this book, because to be honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about it initially. This is a huge departure from John's previous books, and I think there is something safe and happy-making about status quo. But John didn't want to play it safe, and I think he really succeeds here in pushing his comfort zone. Second, I think I was so wrapped into the characters that when it didn't end up the way I wanted to, I was disappointed. But that's the whole point of a thriller-- to turn your expectations on its head and surprise you. It definitely did that in spades.
Overall, a well plotted and intense thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish-- while it wasn't my favorite of his books, it is a worthwhile read, and like any great thriller, will keep you guessing until the bitter end.
Imposter is yet another example of this. He started with YA contemporaries, moved to YA dystopian, and now he maneuvers through a YA thriller with style and grit. Seth, the protagonist, is an 18 year old guy who is trying to make it big as an actor like so many other teens. But Seth lands the opportunity of a lifetime-- to star in an indie film that two big name Hollywood stars dropped out of after much speculation and drama. Seth knows this will make his career. But nothing is as it seems, and as he wades deeper into the Hollywood scene, and falls for a famous movie star, he realizes that he may have bit off more than he can chew.
The plotting of this book is deliberate and well paced. I was sucked in from the first page and read the whole book from cover to cover in an evening. John has shown skillfully again how he can make you believe his characters, and even when they bridge into typical teen territory, there's just something about them that makes you want to keep turning the pages to find out more about them since they are deeper than they first may seem. I loved the hook of the book-- the set up of the show is so fascinating. Not to mention it's hard to know who to trust (if anyone at all).
I'm glad I took a while to think about this book, because to be honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about it initially. This is a huge departure from John's previous books, and I think there is something safe and happy-making about status quo. But John didn't want to play it safe, and I think he really succeeds here in pushing his comfort zone. Second, I think I was so wrapped into the characters that when it didn't end up the way I wanted to, I was disappointed. But that's the whole point of a thriller-- to turn your expectations on its head and surprise you. It definitely did that in spades.
Overall, a well plotted and intense thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish-- while it wasn't my favorite of his books, it is a worthwhile read, and like any great thriller, will keep you guessing until the bitter end.
January 25, 2016
Seth Crane is an LA boy, a prominent actor in his high school and community theater. He’s pretty bummed that he just lost a big commercial gig, but things look up when a Hollywood big wig comes to see him on his closing night as Romeo. He offers Seth the starring role in what is sure to be a huge film. Seth’s dreams come true instantly - money, fame, success, girls (including Sabrina, Hollywood’s hottest teen star). But what will it cost him? Being the star of this movie comes with lots of strings. And danger. Big surprise ending in this one. Loved the Epilogue. I can’t remember ever reading a YA Hollywood thriller, so Imposter felt really original. And I love this cover! It’s kind of a typical cover for an adult thriller, but it stands out for YA.
April 9, 2016
Imposter was a decent book for me. It started off alright but once the plot twists and revelations started coming in, things went a little absurd. There were some redeeming points in terms of some of the character development in this book but overall it was just a bit too much.
Imposter is a story about Seth, an 18 year old community theater actor who gets scouted after his performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet for a huge film named Whirlwind. Originally, a celebrity couple (Sabrina Layton and Kris Ellis) were attached to the film but due to their recent break-up, Seth and another novice actress Annaleigh take up the lead roles of the star-crossed couple instead. Whirlwind is a unique film in the way that the actors and actresses are given cameras to film and record their actions on the go, making the film a sort of "scripted reality" where they are given a basic plot and script to follow but ultimately much of the creative input is up to them. As the story progresses, Seth starts to experience the trials of being in Hollywood and realises that there are dark secrets he does not know about the film and its crew.
First, I'll talk about what I liked about this book. There are some interesting characters in this book, Sabrina for instance. Initially, I figured Sabrina was the usual cut-throat bitchy star actress who talks shit about others behind their backs, continually wears a mask to fool others into a sense of trust, etc etc. Her repeated flip-flopping of joining and leaving the cast of the film along with her erratic and destructive behaviour convinced me that she was antagonist of this book and it led me to hate her character. It is revealed later on that Sabrina was struggling with drug addiction which subsequently led to her breakup with Kris. Her struggles on her road to recovery and her support for Seth's cause at the end of the book was a remarkable turnaround for her and it made me do a 180 on how I felt about her character. Similarly, Kris started out looking like a standard entitled jerk, a famous actor who is so full of himself, complete with a posse of supportive jerk bros. When he first apologised for his rude comments about the appearance of an intern, it made me realise I might have made some assumptions too soon. While Kris might have come off brash and intense, he is actually a decent person who tried to get Sabrina off her drug problem and was determined to seek justice for what had happened during the course of filming for Whirlwind. I figured the author was going to play on the standard stereotypes of famous actors and actresses early on in the book so it was refreshing to see these characters become more developed and complicated than simple caricatures of Hollywood.
The pace of the book was good too. I was committed to discovering how the story would end and how everything would be resolved when I started on the second half of the book and it kept me interested all the way till the end.
The main problem I had with this book was its plot. The premise of having an entire movie filmed via headcams of the main actors and actresses was believable. It was billed as an adventurous experiment and it was an indie film after all. What was difficult to believe was the actual plot of the movie that the director and producers had in mind, which was to use the real lives of all the actors and actresses as content for the film. Basically, the whole plot of the movie was revealed to the paparazzi stage by stage, including intimate photographs and whatever content that was taken in private so how did the crew intend to make money on releasing such a film when most of its content is already out there? At various points of the book, various characters mention that celebrity gossip and news will always blow over as the media enter another news cycle and move on to the next story so it doesn't make much sense that a film based on yesterday's gossip news would do well in the box office, especially when all the paparazzi seem to have lost interest in Seth towards the end of the book. To film the cast members in secret and to record all of their actions was entering We Live in Public territory. Seth, Sabrina and Annaleigh signed their contracts agreeing to such recordings but I found it hard to believe that Seth, after reading every page of the contract, did not pick up anything about non-consensual filming or the like and just signed away his right to privacy in that agreement. Also, the content that was being recorded was crazy. It included Annaleigh and Seth having sex in Annaleigh's hotel room and since Annaleigh is only 17, this is pretty much pornography involving a minor that the production crew have on their hands and yet, Annaleigh and her parents were totally fine with that and the film crew threatened Seth with PUBLISHING it as well. That is just insane. Wire-tapping the private phones given to the actors was believable though I am not sure how legal that was. Wire-tapping Annaleigh's personal handphone was a little too convenient to me for the production crew to discover Seth's actions towards the end of the book.
I had a problem with Annaleigh's character as well. One minute she was shy and struggling in the spotlight to hold her own against Sabrina in a press conference, the next she's angry at Seth for knowing about the level of voyeurism the production was operating at while she had known from the very beginning about it. She exploited her father's criminal situation for the media but still played the victim in the whole fiasco. I liked Annaleigh in the beginning, thinking she was a good person struggling in the evil and hypocrisy of Hollywood but in the end, it turns out she fits right in.
This book was intriguing at first and got frustrating towards the end. This book could have taken a couple more steps towards having a more realistic plot. The ambiguous ending might be something some appreciate but I felt that readers deserved to know more about how it all ended in Seth's fight against Whirlwind and not be left hanging at the end. 3/5
Imposter is a story about Seth, an 18 year old community theater actor who gets scouted after his performance as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet for a huge film named Whirlwind. Originally, a celebrity couple (Sabrina Layton and Kris Ellis) were attached to the film but due to their recent break-up, Seth and another novice actress Annaleigh take up the lead roles of the star-crossed couple instead. Whirlwind is a unique film in the way that the actors and actresses are given cameras to film and record their actions on the go, making the film a sort of "scripted reality" where they are given a basic plot and script to follow but ultimately much of the creative input is up to them. As the story progresses, Seth starts to experience the trials of being in Hollywood and realises that there are dark secrets he does not know about the film and its crew.
First, I'll talk about what I liked about this book. There are some interesting characters in this book, Sabrina for instance. Initially, I figured Sabrina was the usual cut-throat bitchy star actress who talks shit about others behind their backs, continually wears a mask to fool others into a sense of trust, etc etc. Her repeated flip-flopping of joining and leaving the cast of the film along with her erratic and destructive behaviour convinced me that she was antagonist of this book and it led me to hate her character. It is revealed later on that Sabrina was struggling with drug addiction which subsequently led to her breakup with Kris. Her struggles on her road to recovery and her support for Seth's cause at the end of the book was a remarkable turnaround for her and it made me do a 180 on how I felt about her character. Similarly, Kris started out looking like a standard entitled jerk, a famous actor who is so full of himself, complete with a posse of supportive jerk bros. When he first apologised for his rude comments about the appearance of an intern, it made me realise I might have made some assumptions too soon. While Kris might have come off brash and intense, he is actually a decent person who tried to get Sabrina off her drug problem and was determined to seek justice for what had happened during the course of filming for Whirlwind. I figured the author was going to play on the standard stereotypes of famous actors and actresses early on in the book so it was refreshing to see these characters become more developed and complicated than simple caricatures of Hollywood.
The pace of the book was good too. I was committed to discovering how the story would end and how everything would be resolved when I started on the second half of the book and it kept me interested all the way till the end.
The main problem I had with this book was its plot. The premise of having an entire movie filmed via headcams of the main actors and actresses was believable. It was billed as an adventurous experiment and it was an indie film after all. What was difficult to believe was the actual plot of the movie that the director and producers had in mind, which was to use the real lives of all the actors and actresses as content for the film. Basically, the whole plot of the movie was revealed to the paparazzi stage by stage, including intimate photographs and whatever content that was taken in private so how did the crew intend to make money on releasing such a film when most of its content is already out there? At various points of the book, various characters mention that celebrity gossip and news will always blow over as the media enter another news cycle and move on to the next story so it doesn't make much sense that a film based on yesterday's gossip news would do well in the box office, especially when all the paparazzi seem to have lost interest in Seth towards the end of the book. To film the cast members in secret and to record all of their actions was entering We Live in Public territory. Seth, Sabrina and Annaleigh signed their contracts agreeing to such recordings but I found it hard to believe that Seth, after reading every page of the contract, did not pick up anything about non-consensual filming or the like and just signed away his right to privacy in that agreement. Also, the content that was being recorded was crazy. It included Annaleigh and Seth having sex in Annaleigh's hotel room and since Annaleigh is only 17, this is pretty much pornography involving a minor that the production crew have on their hands and yet, Annaleigh and her parents were totally fine with that and the film crew threatened Seth with PUBLISHING it as well. That is just insane. Wire-tapping the private phones given to the actors was believable though I am not sure how legal that was. Wire-tapping Annaleigh's personal handphone was a little too convenient to me for the production crew to discover Seth's actions towards the end of the book.
I had a problem with Annaleigh's character as well. One minute she was shy and struggling in the spotlight to hold her own against Sabrina in a press conference, the next she's angry at Seth for knowing about the level of voyeurism the production was operating at while she had known from the very beginning about it. She exploited her father's criminal situation for the media but still played the victim in the whole fiasco. I liked Annaleigh in the beginning, thinking she was a good person struggling in the evil and hypocrisy of Hollywood but in the end, it turns out she fits right in.
This book was intriguing at first and got frustrating towards the end. This book could have taken a couple more steps towards having a more realistic plot. The ambiguous ending might be something some appreciate but I felt that readers deserved to know more about how it all ended in Seth's fight against Whirlwind and not be left hanging at the end. 3/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2023
What a great classification of the horrors of Hollywood. The constant pressure and demise of young actors that really does take over their lives is on fully effect in this book. There were several times I was in full suspense and imagined myself in their scenarios but there was really no way out. I loved this book and mostly because it relates even to today, the internet world is scary and this shows signs of occurrences that might seem a little out of this world definitely belong in the conversation. A must read for any drama, romance, suspense and action lover. Would give it a 4.5 if I could but the ending was a little disappointing to be frank.
August 1, 2017
The publisher promotes this book as "The Firm meets The Truman Show." I wish it were as exciting as either of those. The book was a real slow-starter for me, and I almost put it aside when it took me over a week to get through the first 50 pages. Thankfully my life slowed down, the book picked up, and I read the second half of the book in a day. I can see why many high-school teens would enjoy John's tale of a young, rather innocent local actor who is enamored, then disillusioned by the reality of Hollywood. I would not, however, recommend it for middle school libraries.
December 16, 2023
I found this novel to be a little predictable. It did have some good twists that I was waiting for but it definitely took awhile to get there. I enjoyed the set and scenery, but most of the characters were despicable especially to Hollywood's "imposter". There were a lot of imposters in this novel...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2019
Nice lil' story. Will be good for a TV series and not a movie.
Finely woven adventure of a naive young man into untested waters of lies, hypocrisy, cover-ups, money, treachery, and land mines.
Finely woven adventure of a naive young man into untested waters of lies, hypocrisy, cover-ups, money, treachery, and land mines.
May 6, 2021
Very exhilarating book. It was hard for me to put down, I felt the action bouncing off the pages, like i was in scenes with the characters. Also there weren't an inordinate amount of big words so the book was easy to read. I'd like to read sequel to this. Thumbs up all the way
January 3, 2017
Seth was once just an actor performing in local plays in his town but his whole world is flipped on it's side when Seth acquires the lead role of an upcoming Hollywood movie. The movie in question is no normal film as Seth finds out, as it involves actual interaction (utilizing head-cams) with other cast members, which translates to little to no script. The whole focus on the novel focuses on these interactions with these cast members and the mysterious ways the press seems to obtain extremely personal photographs of Seth. The book has an intense way of unraveling the plot and each character seems unique in their own ways. Due to most of the main characters being involved in acting it is hard to tell if some are being truthful or putting up a facade which adds on to the thrill Antony John successfully builds up. The story is generally an exciting one at times though I felt like it could of been shorter due to some events that were repetitive. Additionally, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a thriller-type story or anyone who has an interest in film/acting, as most of the plot surrounds this topic.
October 30, 2015
I was lucky enough to read a couple early versions of this story and I really enjoyed it. Imposter isn't a huge flashy murder mystery with a trail of mutilated corpses, but instead more of a cerebral mystery where nothing ever seems to add up and as a reader you have to struggle to put the pieces together.
I like that the main character is a believable guy who has a good heart but sometimes lets his emotions dictate his actions. We all make bad choices and Seth is far from perfect, but I found myself rooting for him throughout the story because he learned from his mistakes. Considering that he's just a regular guy caught up in a Hollywood conspiracy, he does pretty good with what he's got.
I also really liked the family dynamics in play here. There are great scenes between Seth and his dad and Seth and his brother and you can tell what really matters to these characters. My favorite thing about this book is the prose. It's been polished to perfection and there are lots of clever metaphors and quotable lines without ever feeling over-the top.
I like that the main character is a believable guy who has a good heart but sometimes lets his emotions dictate his actions. We all make bad choices and Seth is far from perfect, but I found myself rooting for him throughout the story because he learned from his mistakes. Considering that he's just a regular guy caught up in a Hollywood conspiracy, he does pretty good with what he's got.
I also really liked the family dynamics in play here. There are great scenes between Seth and his dad and Seth and his brother and you can tell what really matters to these characters. My favorite thing about this book is the prose. It's been polished to perfection and there are lots of clever metaphors and quotable lines without ever feeling over-the top.
January 18, 2016
The thing I liked about this book was the relationship between Seth and his brother and father. My dad had a stroke when he was young and it was truly sad to see how much a man loses when he can no longer work and support his family. I wasn't half as understanding as Seth is. I think Anthony John's portrayal of that relationship sets a good example for teens who may have stroke victims in their families. Compassion is something you have to learn.
I didn't really like the ending of this book but I have to say the twists and turns through out the story kept me guessing. What is real and what is pretend in the movie world? This book explores that.
It also deals with some issues surrounding drug addiction. There is some teen sex but it is handled fairly well. Not a great book for a tween.
The fact that Seth seems fairly genuine makes we wonder how he could actually be a good actor. But he is likable enough.
I didn't really like the ending of this book but I have to say the twists and turns through out the story kept me guessing. What is real and what is pretend in the movie world? This book explores that.
It also deals with some issues surrounding drug addiction. There is some teen sex but it is handled fairly well. Not a great book for a tween.
The fact that Seth seems fairly genuine makes we wonder how he could actually be a good actor. But he is likable enough.
September 13, 2016
I really like Antony John's books and his writing style, and Imposter was no different. I was hooked the entire time. As Seth makes his way through the ups and downs of Hollywood, I was brought along for the ride. John does such a good job of keeping the reader intrigued. There are tons of completely unexpected twists throughout the book. And each one prevents you from putting it down. I was quite surprised by a few of them. I'm glad John could really bring this one to life. It totally met my expectations!
Read
September 22, 2015Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: The Shadow Knows
Drinking Buddy: Come In Here, Dear Boy, Have a Cigar
Testosterone Level: I'm Ready for My Close-up
Talky Talk: That's Entertainment
Bonus Factor: Stroke
Bromance Status: The Coworker I'm Afraid Is Plotting Against Me
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: The Shadow Knows
Drinking Buddy: Come In Here, Dear Boy, Have a Cigar
Testosterone Level: I'm Ready for My Close-up
Talky Talk: That's Entertainment
Bonus Factor: Stroke
Bromance Status: The Coworker I'm Afraid Is Plotting Against Me
Read the full book report here.
February 29, 2016
This book had so many twists and turns I didn't know if I was coming or going, making it difficult to put down. I found it fascinating, and would have rated it higher without the sexual content. I'd recommend this to older teens, for that reason.
December 5, 2015
Received a free copy via goodreads giveaway I didn't really like it but it wasn't terrible.
December 8, 2015
Chose this randomly and it was pretty good. Not that good, but pretty good. Enough to sustain my interest but it felt so absurd and ridiculous, not to mention how daft the narrator is lol.
July 28, 2016
There is nothing wrong with this book, but it just wasn't for me. I figured out the plot by chapter 2, but hung on hoping that there would be a huge twist at the end (there wasn't).
May 23, 2016
Average in pretty much all aspects, but with the classic thriller plot.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews