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.

The synopsis of The Imposter really got my attention and I was thrilled to receive an ARC (e-copy) in exchange for my review.
This was also a first for me from this author and having read reviews of her work I was looking forward to this opportunity!
Sadly, this one falls short for me. I found it slow and confusing. Both narrators, Mother Deborah & Daughter Sibley, are completely unreliable. Which I think may have been the point given the dysfunctional relationship and family's past history.
By the time things were getting interesting it all felt so rushed and a little unbelievable. Interesting twists but overall this one was just OK for me. However I’m interested in reading more from the author.

The Imposter tells the story of Sibley and her estranged mom Deborah. Sibley moved away long ago from the farm where she grew up, but her mom still lives there. It was here that a tragic event occurred when Sibley was younger. This tragedy caused her to leave town & her mom to be judged by the community.
After Sibley experiences some very low lows in her life as a result of her alcoholism, she decides to head back to her old home on the farm to find out some more information from her mom about what happened to her dad years before.
We are told the story through the alternating views of Sibley and her mom. Because of Sibley's issues with alcohol, and her mom's seeming paranoia, we wonder whose truths we can trust! The twists kept me reading and interested in the outcome. It was a story with dark truths, but intriguing to say the least.

The Imposter, by Marin Montgomery, is an intense psychological thriller. Part murder mystery, part family drama, it begins slowly and builds to a dramatic, breath-holding conclusion.

The story is told from the points of view of its two main characters: Deborah and Sibley.
Part One introduces Deborah, a widow living in a small town in the Midwest, who struggles with a lonely life trying to manage a small farm. Her quiet existence is upended when she receives a letter from a long-estranged daughter and experiences a violent attack at her home.
Part Two introduces Sibley, a lawyer in her mid-thirties living in the desert Southwest, who has a drinking problem and trouble with co-workers and clients at her law firm. Her marriage is rocky and her husband is characterized as cool and remote in the relationship.

After the introduction of these two characters, the story really takes off in Part Three, as Sibley goes back to her hometown to confront her troubled past there, including her father’s suspicious death and her relationship with her mother. A few more local characters flesh out the plot nicely and add to the suspense. There are some flashbacks to Sibley's high school days that add details to the mysterious goings on, past and present. The ending is exciting and revelatory of the truth behind these complicated characters’ actions.
This story has enough twists to be interesting and demand the attention of the reader. All the threads of the character’s actions and motives are brought together nicely at the end.

The author’s bio reveals that she grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Arizona, hence her ability to draw believable descriptions of the two locales in which this book’s action takes place.
This is a very readable suspense novel and will be satisfying for those who enjoy a twisty story with the added element of complex family relationships.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this eARC. This is my honest review.

Unreadable, sadly. According to the dedication of this book it was written during the entirety of the early-pandemic lockdown, so about 3 months. It shows every second of that rushed writing. It was so cluttered and hard to follow that I got a headache.

Despite some predictable moments, I enjoyed this book. Told in dual POV, The Imposter focuses on Deborah and Sibley - an estranged mother and daughter. Both have their demons and secrets. As the story unfolds and the two are reunited, the two start to question each other and themselves.

The story started off a bit slow and at times having the dual POVs was a bit confusing but the book is a solid suspenseful thriller. Definitely recommend.

* I received this book as an ARC for an honest review.

The Imposter by Marin Montgomery was such a good read! I would say it was hard to put down, but it gave me the creeps a couple times and I had to stop and catch my breath!

The characters are plagued by serious issues, but something seems off throughout and keeps you guessing as to what is real and what is imagined. In addition, you have a small town drama that happened years ago, but as the story goes on, you begin to realize it's impact is far reaching and potentially deadly! One of my favorite things was that the story is told little by little through both the daughter and mothers' POV. It is interesting to see how two people, living together, can have a completely different perspective and understanding of events that occurred during their lives.

3.5 out of 5

Sibley Sawyer has not been home since she left upon high school graduation, she left without looking back. A big time divorce lawyer in Arizona, who happens to be an on again/off again alcoholic. It all begins to crash down around her when she is again drinking. After the law firm gives her an ultimatum, along with her husband, go to rehab or you are out of the firm.

Deborah has a very tainted past, one that holds more rumors than truth. She avoids people in her town and stays to herself. Deborah lives alone, on a midwestern farm, that was in her family for generations. One night she is brutally attacked outside her home, left badly beaten she is encouraged by a neighbor to seek a therapist, one on his recommendation. She begins to think she is being watched and is shocked when her estranged daughter, Sibley shows up out of the blue.

There are so many unspoken truths between the two. Deborah recognizes Sibley's alcoholism and Sibley begins to think her mother is gradually losing her mind. The two are both unreliable people and their navigation of things is very bumpy. Sibley came home to ask questions about what happened one night that changed their lives forever. Deborah isn't so sure Sibley is who she says she is.

The story is told from Deborah's POV and Sibley's POV. At times it was confusing with it jumping between the 2 women's POV in different situations and as to who was really being truthful but I think that's what made the story so enticing. It does all come together in the end.

I'd like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

The Imposter by Marin Montgomery A family drama with two unlikeable characters, Sibley and Deborah, and a multitude of secrets. A slow beginning and confusing narrative made it difficult to get interested in the story.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.