October 10, 2018

Review: Impostors by Scott Westerfeld

Impostors (Uglies #5) 
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
Pages: 407
Format: Hardcover/Own

Frey and Rafi are inseparable . . . two edges of the same knife. But Frey's very existence is a secret.

Frey is Rafi’s twin sister?and her body double. Their powerful father has many enemies, and the world has grown dangerous as the old order falls apart. So while Rafi was raised to be the perfect daughter, Frey has been taught to kill. Her only purpose is to protect her sister, to sacrifice herself for Rafi if she must.

When her father sends Frey in Rafi’s place as collateral in a precarious deal, she becomes the perfect impostor?as poised and charming as her sister. But Col, the son of a rival leader, is getting close enough to spot the killer inside her. As the deal starts to crumble, Frey must decide if she can trust him with the truth . . . and if she can risk becoming her own person.

With Impostors, master storyteller Scott Westerfeld returns with a new series set in the world of his mega-bestselling Uglies! A world full of twist and turns, rebellion and intrigue, where any wrong step could be Frey’s last.

Review: Guys. I'm so happy over here. The Uglies series is seriously one of my all time favorite reads like ever. I was so thrilled learning there were more books coming out in this world! And Impostors did not disappoint!! Honestly, this is one of my favorite reads of the year. This book brought back so much for me while introducing a whole new story and world within everything Uglies created. 

This book really felt like you were thrown back into the Uglies world, just 15 years after Tally. And my how things have changed but yet stayed the same. First, I have to point out all the things that make you reminiscent of the original Uglies books. We get back our hoverboards with their solar panels, our rebels hiding out in the ruins, talk of the whole pretty regime, even Specials. So much to bring back memories. Even small things, like Frey and Col eating Spagbol, PadThai, and Swedeballs brought me back to when Tally herself was eating those same things on her journey to the smoke. But I also love how Westerfeld stayed true to the idea of Uglies. The whole idea behind Uglies was taking down the Pretty regime and stopping the forced operations. And while Impostors has a whole different plot, we still get the same feelings of taking down an oppressive regime. I just loved how this stayed true to the original books while making a whole new incredibly excited story. 

So Impostors has a lot of focus on the cities that sprouted up after the Pretty regime was brought down and how now all the metal from the rusty ruins is pretty much up for grabs to build and expand these new cities. And our rebels now, 15 years later have a new fight in the aftermath of Tally's revolution. To protect the rusty ruins and prevent the new leaders from taking all the metal and potentially open up the idea of mining again. The rebels are fighting to protect the planet from the ideas of the rusties that brought society down originally. They don't want all the metal scavenged to build new huge cities. They don't want mining to become a thing again. They don't want things to go back to the way of the rusties, which could destroy things again. So while its for a whole different issue, we still got our lovable rebels fighting to protect the world! 

I really loved Frey as a character and really felt for her. She literally grew up to be hidden away, only to be used to protect Rafi and to be disposable. I can't imagine being forced to grow up like that. Honestly. She finally gets her chance to be free while Rafi has to hide when she is sent to the city of Victoria in Rafi's place as a hostage to try and ensure her father wont attack their city while working their rusty ruins. He ends up attacking anyways and Frey and Victoria's first son, Col, barely get away with their life. But since the attack makes her dad think she's dead, she's now free to join with Col and the rebels to stop her dad. I loved this. We see Frey get to go from a hidden, sheltered life where her only bit of getting out is when she gets to take Rafi's place, to being completely free to make choices of her own and work against her father. She gets to meet new people and make some actual friends, she gets the chance to actually like someone, and she gets the chance to actually work with people that care about her and her well being. We get to see Frey grow so much. She initially is so sheltered, that she doesn't even know basic customs, what simple gestures could mean. She doesn't even really know just how different most cities are compared to Shreve. But we get to see her grow from just being Rafi's double, to being her own individual unique person. It was so fun seeing her go from mimicking everything Rafi to being "MY NAME IS FREY" and showing everyone how she is completely different from the sister raised to take over. 

As for other characters. I thought Col was good. He initially didn't believe that Frey wasn't Rafi until the news feeds literally made him see her twin doing stuff on live TV while he was with Frey. Then he was all about having Frey on his side and wanting to help her take down her dad and grow into her own person. Rafi herself didn't seem overly bad. She doesn't exactly like their father either and wants to change things when she inherits the power. She really does care about Frey and wants to protect her, but still looks down at her. She wasn't raised knowing simple things like taking hints or reading between the lines (like in the instance of the red or white jacket being a sign). Yet she puts her down for it. And she acts incredibly condescending in the end with her repeatedly being like "Oh Frey, you didn't think that..." or "Poor Frey..." when Frey is questioning certain happening during their rescue of Rafi. Rafi isn't bad, but because of how she was raised with a much superior upbringing than Frey, she looks down at her sister like she's stupid. Frey is gonna knock that attitude right out of her with her actions in the next books. I know it. 

The ending of this book is such a shocker. I was definitely not expecting Frey to stay behind after rescuing Rafi just for Col. I mean, I know she likes him, but she just sacrificed a lot. However, she literally just showed how much of a bad ass B she is going to be. Showing just how good she is at impersonating Rafi that their father believes she's her. And is falling for her plan about how to secure an alliance and avoid the wrath of the rebels and the Victorians. Hahaha. Oh man, the next book is going to be absolutely fire! I can't wait!!!! :D