This is a story of estrangement, twists and turns, and preconceived notions. It kept me on my toes trying to figure out what the truth was. And I didn’t want to stop reading until my questions were answered. Marin Montgomery, author of What We Forgot to Bury, delivered a page-turning psychological book.

When Sibley Bradford, a lawyer, is forced by her law firm to get her drinking under control, they give her time off to enter a rehab program. Sibley acts like she is heading to the rehab program, but instead drives to her hometown to see if reconciling with her mother might not be the start to fixing her problems.

But what Sibley discovers in her hometown causes her to question everything. Including the reason she raced away in the first place. But with her drinking, and her mother Deborah’s apparent health problems, it becomes hard to know what is factual and what is fiction.

This fast-moving story is told in different chapters by both Deborah and Sibley. Each shares their memories and truths. And the whole time I kept wondering who was the most credible. Sibley wasn’t making any attempt to slow down on her alcohol consumption, and Deborah was mentally unstable.

Concerns
Though the characters almost worked for me, some of their decisions felt ridiculous. That, or they just existed in such dysfunctional families that they didn’t know how or care to make things better. No doubt this seems vague, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

Though I’ve said the booked moved quickly, I believe that to be so because I was searching for answers, which felt very slow in coming.

Conclusion
While I had no trouble being interested and wanting to know more, it did feel somewhat slow and unclear at times. And for me, the ending was pretty out there which didn’t do anything to bolster my feelings for the book as a whole..

However, Montgomery did a good job of bringing the setting in this story to life, and I could easily imagine what things looked like.

I think this is one of those books that you love or you just think it’s okay. If you haven’t read What We Forgot to Bury, Montgomery’s last book, I highly recommend it!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC and the ability to freely post my opinion.

3 🌟 The imposter by Marin Montgomery started well and ended well but I found it a bit slow and a bit confusing at times in the middle. Sibley is a divorce lawyer with an alcohol problem whose job and marriage are on the rocks. She reunites with her estranged mum to try and uncover the truth about her fathers death. Unfortunately neither of the main characters are terrible likeable which is always a challenge for me. Overall I did I enjoy it and it came together well at the end. As always thanks to for the advance copy and my first read of Marin Montgomery

I am afraid I struggled with this book. I found the pace to be very slow, and I didn't like the characters. I have found that I don't have to like the characters to still be able to enjoy the book. But it didn't work for me in this case. .

A very dark, shocking read.

I felt like from the very beginning to the end I was tense and anxious. It was overall very suspenseful. The pacing was just right and the story keeps sucking you back in.

I don't feel like this was very unique or something I've never read before, therefore, I can't give it 5 stars.

This book started out slow for me, but with each new chapter, I was sucked into the chaos that surrounds this mother & daughter. Combining flawed humans, drug abuse (both consciously and unconsciously), and the inability to trust one's choices, this book creates a perfect situation for manipulation, revenge, and murderous tendencies to fester. What lengths will people go to when they feel they haven't gotten what they deserve in life? Lives are lost & lives are ruined in this book, but I couldn't put it down because I just wanted to know what happens next.

Sibley has a husband and a great job as an attorney but life around her begins to break down as her life is being taken over by her need of alcohol.

In order to save her job and marriage she agrees to go to a rehabilation spa, however she believes that delving into her past for answers of her dark past is where her rehabilitation needs to begin.

The start of her journey begins at her mothers house, a place she hasn’t been since the death of her father when she was in high school.

The story of her past is the stuff of nightmares and old lies truly begin to haunt not just sibley but her mother too.
When will the lies end, who can be trusted and who will pay the price in the end.

A riveting read and an ending that will leave you shocked beyond words.

The aspects I liked about this book was that the plot and story were full of suspense, and no parts of this book dropped or ever felt boring. Montgomery does a wonderful job keeping the story going from start to finish. Yet the pacing reminded me of watching a TV drama or something similar. The writing, for being super cheesy, was communicated well. And the plot was carried through the main two character’s inner struggles. The author I can best compare her to is Shari Lapena. But the aspects I was not a fan of was that the characters felt unreliable, and frankly I was tired of some of the side characters pretty quick. Without giving too much away, the main two characters were not trustworthy to the reader at any point in the book. Maybe that was partially the point, but there was hardly any direction toward the truth besides of course how the book rounded out in the end. The ending seemed to fall together without much of a clever set-up, and relied completely on the suspense. Plus I found a few parts of the plot and character’s engagements with each other to be far stretched and choppy. But for how messy it all seemed at times, this book had an interesting dialogue about relationships and second chances.

Regardless, this book was definitely entertaining and engaging. The story was, quite literally, entirely growing suspense from start to finish. Why should you read this book? If you enjoy suspense thrillers centering on estranged familial relationships and reading about two women seemingly going insane under the same roof, this is the book for you. This is a book I will not be forgetting any time soon.

3 for neutral. Unfortunately, I had to sit this one down, after trying to get through it on a few occasions. It just was too slow paced for me. Will update if able to finish at a later date.

The premise sounded great and the story while quite well told dragged,it took a lomg time to get anywhere and I did skim quite a bit as felt nothing was happening in some chapters
Told in alternate chapters by mum n daughter it ultimately was quite a good ending but took a lot to get there

I remember reading Marin Montgomery's "What We Forgot to Bury" and I didn't like it much, but it wasn't because of the writing it was the story that didn't grab me. I also remember thinking I would give her another go if the opportunity came up. Well am I ever glad I did!

I wouldn't really call this book a thriller although there is a bit of mystery to it. It's more of a family psychological drama yet I really loved the writing and the tension the author managed to create. I always enjoy books with different points of view and this also includes a bit of before via memories of our two main characters. It was really interesting reading the backstories of each woman.

This book starts off as a slow burn and I originally thought I wasn't going to enjoy it but then I realized I was suddenly halfway thorough the book, it was like the pages turned themselves. I was also taken aback by the big reveal and that impressed me as much as the lovely writing. If you like a good literary whodunit I recommend that this book is for you.

This book was a little slow to start with however as the book progressed the story built up to a brilliant ending! As it progressed I thought I knew where the story was going and had some suspicions however I wasn’t close which I was relieved about.

I really enjoyed the character development and felt I got to know Sibley and her mum Deborah and gained understanding as to why they behaved the way they did.

This book had so much twists and turns in it and although I found it a bit slow to start with I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to others when released!

Thank you to Marin and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!

.I found The Imposter a little slow and drawn out for my taste. I didn't particularly like the characters and struggled to really get into the story.
The premise of the book sounded really interesting but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

A thank you to NetGalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

And, since I've promised to be honest and despite my guilt, I must say that I did not like this at all. When I have so many ARC's to read and tempting books in my pile, this felt like an utter waste of time. There was no leading into the story (what story?) and no character development. Who are these people? Why should we care? There may be potential here, but this one needs some serious work.

Twisty and fabulous! The way the author tells this story from multiple POVs while weaving in alcohol and mental instability to create a web of lies was so well done. It kept me guessing until the very end!

Do you like the unreliable narrator troupe?! If so, The Imposter is the book for you! Both main characters appear drunk or drugged up at all times. The chapters are full of rambling confusion that made zero sense.

Deborah and Sibley are a mother/daughter duo with a troubled background who haven’t seen each other is sixteen years. After Sibley’s life falls apart, she travels home to the farm where she grew up.

The Imposter is very twisty… I didn’t know who to trust and what to think. Deborah and Sibley’s suspicions of each other were very creepy and there was a decent amount of tension built up…

Overall, it was clever, but not my favorite. It was too confusing and at times the writing was jarring. I’m going to give it three stars. It was just fine.

Thank you, Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Marin Montgomery for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. All opinions included in this review are mine. This one publishes on March 9, 2021.

Interesting story about a mother and daughter and the effects of events of the past. Were we dealing with unreliable narrators, mental illness, a ghost story, it takes awhile to become clear. While I figured out one of the twists, it didn't take away from the story

This book was a 3.5 rating for me.

This book is about a mother, Deborah, and daughter, Sibley, and the death of their husband/father, Johnathon. Shortly after her father's death, Sibley, decides to leave the farm where they lived as a family. With many questions surrounding her father's death still unanswered, Sibley returns to the farm, after a 15 plus year estrangement from her mother, to figure out what really happened that night. In the search for answers, she uncovers more than she could even imagine.

I loved how the book has varying perspective between Deborah (a mother) and Sibley (her estranged daughter). I always love the insights that you get when reading a book with dual perspectives. Deborah was also the perfect unreliable narrator, which is a favorite of mine. I honestly did not know what to believe when it came to Deborah. I absolutely did not see the ending coming at all, which as an avid thriller reader, makes for a good read in my opinion. This was a slow burn of a book in the beginning, but the last quarter of the book, I could not put down!

The reason for the 3.5 rating is the beginning was a very slow burn for me, which is not my favorite when it comes to a thriller. Frequent jumps between big events would take place in the beginning, leaving me a bit confused and wondering what was happening. I did not find this to be apparent in the second half of the book, and really enjoyed how it ended.

Overall, this was an entertaining read with twists and turns that I did not see coming in the end. I would recommend this book.

Thank you Marin Montgomery & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading more of Montgomery's work in the future.
@chills_up_the_spine

This was a did not finish for me. I got about halfway through and was just not enjoying it. I really wanted to because the plot sounded so interesting, but I could not get into it at all.

I am always excited to dive into a thriller. This was a disappointment. From the very first page I was thrown off by the writing style, then by the extremely unlikable characters, and lastly by the improbable plot points. They were the final nail in the coffin for me. Life is too short to read books you are not enjoying. Unfortunately, this was a no go for me.

That said, the plot had promise. I just wish I was not put off by everything else.

Mini Book Review!
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Thank you @marinmont18 for sending me an advanced readers copy of The Imposter expected to hit shelves early March!
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Summary: From the outside looking in, Sibley Sawyer has a perfect life. As a successful attorney, she’s worked hard to get to the top of her game—but when her personal and professional lives implode, Sibley looks for a way to turn the page.

Unable to shake the tragic circumstances that caused her to flee her rural Midwestern hometown, Sibley wants nothing more than to reunite with her estranged mother, Deborah, and bury their past tensions.

But as she reenters the life she left behind, she realizes her mother isn’t the same person she remembers, and she’s not the same daughter either.

As both women struggle to piece together a tangled web of deceit and lies, and the shocking circumstances that caused Sibley to leave in the first place, it becomes clear there are secrets rooted deeper than either mother or daughter could ever have imagined.
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My thoughts: this book was a great dive into addiction and memory loss. It had strong themes of forgiveness and atonement. I enjoyed the characters and seeing how they intertwined. A fabulous read if you’re in the mood for a thriller !

The premise of this book sounded great, but the writing didn’t quite live up to what I had hoped. The story dragged in parts and the two POV made it difficult to follow at times.