A review by alexandriareads123
Impersonation by Heidi Pitlor

2.0

This book was a hot mess, for me at least. The last paragraph of the dust jacket promises “a satirical, incisive snapshot of how so many of us now live, Impersonation tells a timely, insightful, and bitingly funny story of ambition, motherhood, and class.” First of all, the book isn’t funny, it’s depressing. Could the scene of 4 year old dumping a jaw into a fish tank at the dentist’s office be funny? Yes, but it wasn’t. The scene was more about the shame that Allie felt about her son’s behavior, and about how the dentist was trying to take advantage of her. It had a completely gross and somber overtone. I’m also missing the satire. The first half of the book talks about Lana as an amazing feminist, while completely missing the point of feminism… but that never gets addressed… at some point about halfway through the book the man hating is kind of just… dropped. Our main character finally has a bit of agency by the end of the book, but it’s too little, too late, as far as I’m concerned for all of the suffering the reader has to endure to get there. The politics are jammed down your throat rather than being a natural, cohesive part of the story. The writing is all over the place and rambling (much like this review, I’m aware).