Review Detail

IMPOSTERS by Scott Westerfeld is a YA dystopian novel, set in the future after many different and unique time periods have passed. Frey is the daughter of the first family of Shreve, a strong military town with a terrifying leader, her father. Usually this would mean she’d have quite a luxurious life, but instead, she’s been raised a secret. Frey was born about twenty minutes after her older sister and twin, Rafia. As such, Frey was raised to be Rafia’s body double, or in other words, Frey was born to die for her sister. After an unexpected turn of events, Frey finds herself in a position to free them both, but true to fashion, her father is quite the indomitable opponent and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

This novel is rich in backstory. It’s clear that Westerfeld spent a lot of time crafting this world. Because of that, there are so many possibilities for other spinoff books about the time metal reigned supreme and even just different regions and their customs. I’m also excited to read his other series, UGLIES, set right before this one, about the people who had cosmetic surgery to be beautiful or one of the Specials. It’s all fascinating and provides commentary on the cyclical nature of time as many things we deem important change with the years. I love how expansive this world is because it feels like there was life before the first word on the first page.

That being said, the pacing of this book is slow. Even though there are some tense moments and plot points I was waiting to develop, I was only able to read chapters at a time. The second half does pick up a bit, but it’s still a more measured read. Part of that has to do with the fact that I observed the emotional beats, rather than felt them. For instance, while I was worried about the characters’ safety throughout, I didn’t feel the cost of the deaths that happen. Some are almost thrown away to the point that I’m not sure they serve the story.

Overall, though, IMPOSTERS is a very unique dystopia in that it isn’t focused on scarcity of resources, but rather power and political intrigue— two societal elements that have always been present and will always be present among the human race. Because of that, I’m curious to see what happens in the sequels and whether or not Frey can save the day.