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A review by eveningstar_reader
Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor
3.0
REVIEW. Book 79 of 2020. 3/5 stars.
Thank you Algonquin and Heidi Pitlor for the ARC of this book!
Unfortunately this ARC had 47 pages missing! There were 47 pages that were printed twice, so I don't know what happened between pages 182-231. I was able to piece together a few things but otherwise I am probably missing some important parts!
With that said - I still enjoyed the book. It is set in 2016-2017, US, with the backdrop of the election. Hillary Clinton is mentioned by name often, and Trump is discussed but never named. I found the story interesting as a character study of the main character Allie, and the subject of her ghostwriting - Lana. They were very realistic and nuanced characters. Allie is a single mom, freelance ghostwriter who is generally broke between books. Lana is a high profile attorney who speaks at NARAL events, fights trolls on Twitter, and writes op-eds in the New York Times about policies and laws that affect women.
Allie is trying to ghostwrite a book for Lana about being a feminist mother and raising a feminist son (Lana's son is 12). Allie has a son who is 4, and she finds herself putting in stories from her own life since Lana basically refuses to provide personal information and keeps asking her to write about studies and data showing that women suffer disproportionately from the medical system, etc, etc.
Allie also had a brief gig ghostwriting for a very famous man who ended up getting his book deal cancelled because of allegations of sexual harassment. Allie reflects on being "one of the guys" at an old job, and how she got along with the famous man but definitely could see him sexually harassing someone. There is another theme of men overcoming a #metoo scandal in politics, towards the end of the book that basically just made me sad!
I liked Allie's character and I was interested in the logistics of the ghostwriting. It was pretty clear from the beginning that Lana was not exactly the warm mom everyone wanted her to be in her book. The missing pages were right before the final third of the book, so I may have missed something important, but the feeling I got from the ending was one of disappointment. A lot happened to Allie that I felt wasn't fair and I felt that she didn't stand up for herself as much as she should have. On the other hand, the book really delved into politics and the need for compromise in order to get ahead, ESPECIALLY for women - but I still just felt kind of icky about all the compromise going on. Without spoiling it, I will have to stop here and say this was entertaining, realistic (maybe too realistic - i.e. depressing - about the state of US politics!) and a quick read. It comes out on August 18th!
Thank you Algonquin and Heidi Pitlor for the ARC of this book!
Unfortunately this ARC had 47 pages missing! There were 47 pages that were printed twice, so I don't know what happened between pages 182-231. I was able to piece together a few things but otherwise I am probably missing some important parts!
With that said - I still enjoyed the book. It is set in 2016-2017, US, with the backdrop of the election. Hillary Clinton is mentioned by name often, and Trump is discussed but never named. I found the story interesting as a character study of the main character Allie, and the subject of her ghostwriting - Lana. They were very realistic and nuanced characters. Allie is a single mom, freelance ghostwriter who is generally broke between books. Lana is a high profile attorney who speaks at NARAL events, fights trolls on Twitter, and writes op-eds in the New York Times about policies and laws that affect women.
Allie is trying to ghostwrite a book for Lana about being a feminist mother and raising a feminist son (Lana's son is 12). Allie has a son who is 4, and she finds herself putting in stories from her own life since Lana basically refuses to provide personal information and keeps asking her to write about studies and data showing that women suffer disproportionately from the medical system, etc, etc.
Allie also had a brief gig ghostwriting for a very famous man who ended up getting his book deal cancelled because of allegations of sexual harassment. Allie reflects on being "one of the guys" at an old job, and how she got along with the famous man but definitely could see him sexually harassing someone. There is another theme of men overcoming a #metoo scandal in politics, towards the end of the book that basically just made me sad!
I liked Allie's character and I was interested in the logistics of the ghostwriting. It was pretty clear from the beginning that Lana was not exactly the warm mom everyone wanted her to be in her book. The missing pages were right before the final third of the book, so I may have missed something important, but the feeling I got from the ending was one of disappointment. A lot happened to Allie that I felt wasn't fair and I felt that she didn't stand up for herself as much as she should have. On the other hand, the book really delved into politics and the need for compromise in order to get ahead, ESPECIALLY for women - but I still just felt kind of icky about all the compromise going on. Without spoiling it, I will have to stop here and say this was entertaining, realistic (maybe too realistic - i.e. depressing - about the state of US politics!) and a quick read. It comes out on August 18th!