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A review by looseleafellie
Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand
2.0
Actual rating: 2.5 stars.
This book frustrated me, because it had the potential to be really good. The concept sounded cool, and I'm a sucker for cool YA dystopian (also, that cover ... *drools*).
In practice, though, the whole idea of Imitations wasn't set up very well. We're supposed to believe that Ven has been engineered as a carbon copy of Raven Rogen. If that's true, then Ven should behave at least a little like Raven, right? But Ven's personality is the complete opposite of Raven's. She doesn't care for fashion, she doesn't like flirting, and she doesn't have Raven's sarcastic bite. This just doesn't make sense -- if she's Raven's clone, then she should be, well, Raven's clone.
Furthermore, the "training" that the Imitations go through is way too slapdash. They're training to be able to take their Authentic's place, if necessary. That means they should know everything about their Authentic, learn about the place where their Authentic lives, and develop social skills which match their Authentic's. But ... they don't. They just watch a few videos, and occasionally experience things from the outside world. That's it. Ven even says at one point that she only rode in a car once during her entire training. It's no wonder she doesn't do a very good job of impersonating Raven. But if her entire purpose is to impersonate Raven, shouldn't the scientists in Twig City have trained her to slot into Raven's place with ease? That just made no sense, and that's the main reason this book frustrated me.
I also have to mention Ven's romance with Linc, since instalove is one of my pet peeves. It's pretty much the boilerplate "really hot guy with a nondescript dark past falls in love with girl he's only known for two days because reasons." I found it annoying, but I've read so many YA dystopias with this exact romantic subplot that it really didn't surprise me.
All that being said, this book did have its good points. Like I've mentioned, the concept is really cool. I also liked the political intrigue sprinkled throughout, even if it wasn't the main focus. I liked the Obadiah/Ida thing. I liked the prose itself -- Ms Hildenbrand is clearly a very good writer. And the book obviously wasn't terrible, because I read it in two days.
Overall, this book was pretty much your typical YA dystopia with some cloning thrown in. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. If you're looking for a quick, dystopian read with a bit of a twist, Imitation isn't a bad choice.
This book frustrated me, because it had the potential to be really good. The concept sounded cool, and I'm a sucker for cool YA dystopian (also, that cover ... *drools*).
In practice, though, the whole idea of Imitations wasn't set up very well. We're supposed to believe that Ven has been engineered as a carbon copy of Raven Rogen. If that's true, then Ven should behave at least a little like Raven, right? But Ven's personality is the complete opposite of Raven's. She doesn't care for fashion, she doesn't like flirting, and she doesn't have Raven's sarcastic bite. This just doesn't make sense -- if she's Raven's clone, then she should be, well, Raven's clone.
Furthermore, the "training" that the Imitations go through is way too slapdash. They're training to be able to take their Authentic's place, if necessary. That means they should know everything about their Authentic, learn about the place where their Authentic lives, and develop social skills which match their Authentic's. But ... they don't. They just watch a few videos, and occasionally experience things from the outside world. That's it. Ven even says at one point that she only rode in a car once during her entire training. It's no wonder she doesn't do a very good job of impersonating Raven. But if her entire purpose is to impersonate Raven, shouldn't the scientists in Twig City have trained her to slot into Raven's place with ease? That just made no sense, and that's the main reason this book frustrated me.
I also have to mention Ven's romance with Linc, since instalove is one of my pet peeves. It's pretty much the boilerplate "really hot guy with a nondescript dark past falls in love with girl he's only known for two days because reasons." I found it annoying, but I've read so many YA dystopias with this exact romantic subplot that it really didn't surprise me.
All that being said, this book did have its good points. Like I've mentioned, the concept is really cool. I also liked the political intrigue sprinkled throughout, even if it wasn't the main focus. I liked the Obadiah/Ida thing. I liked the prose itself -- Ms Hildenbrand is clearly a very good writer. And the book obviously wasn't terrible, because I read it in two days.
Overall, this book was pretty much your typical YA dystopia with some cloning thrown in. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. If you're looking for a quick, dystopian read with a bit of a twist, Imitation isn't a bad choice.