I think this is a really good thriller! The beginning was a little on the slower side, but I really enjoyed the twist and turns towards the end. Definitely kept me guessing! Definitely getting this book to share when it comes out!

This book was just ok for me. It was told by 2 different point of views - from Deborah and Sibley. I found myself skimming through parts of the book because it was just moving way too slow for me. I kept going until the end and there were a few twists thrown in that I did not see coming. Will definitely look for more books by Marin Montgomery in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a slow burning, unreliable narrator type story. In this case, we have two questionable narrators - Deborah, a middle aged woman, whose perspective is told in the third person, and Sibley, her estranged daughter, told in the first person. I've never seen two different perspective voices used like this before, but it worked just fine for me.

Deborah seems to be of ailing health, both physically and mentally. Sibley is both a successful lawyer and a raging alcoholic. The first half of the book is pretty much setting up the two characters. When Sibley decides to skip rehab and go confront her past demons by visiting her estranged mother instead, their stories collide and intertwine. They both have secrets and unreliable perspectives, and we're left guessing and reguessing quite often as to what is reality and what isn't.

I rather enjoy the unreliable narrator plot device and a story that keeps you guessing, so I did quite enjoy this read for the most part. Though the pace is fairly slow, it kept me interested and wanting to know more. I liked the uncertainty of what was real and who to believe.

The problem I have - and I think I've realised I'm quite hard to impress in this area - is that I was really underwhelmed by the climax, reveal and resolution. It seemed a bit rushed compared to the slow pace of the story, and involved pretty much just a lot of expository dialogue. Like, now this person is explaining things somewhat unnecessarily? And now another person is explaining more things. It felt a bit too much like being told what happened instead of shown. Not to mention, the "bad guy" was kind of hard to believe and their expository dialogue a little too "villain-y".

An intriguing tale that was let down by the execution of the ending - which ultimately, is pretty much the crucial element of a story like this.

I found this book to be well written. It captivates you within the first chapter and gets you to just keep going. Both the main characters are deeply flawed and right away you understand something terrible has been covered up in their past. The ending however was a complete surprise. Which I love! I definitely see this as movie in the future. Very well done. Thank you to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

I was lucky to read an ARC of this book provided by the author, and obtained through NetGalley.

The story follows Deborah who lives in a desolate area on a farm and has an estranged relationship with her daughter Sibley. The main of the story is that a tragedy occurred within this community and Sibley left. As the story begins to unfold, Sibley finds herself back in her hometown, on the same farm she grew up on, but in her absence, many changes have materialized.

The book is full of twists, as you would expect of a psychological thriller, and as the story unfolds you begin second-guessing the characters that one seemed reliable. It took a little time for me to get into the storyline, but by the end, I was staying up at ungodly hours trying to finish it off. The characterization of two characters that are unreliable in narrating the story interested me a lot and kept me on edge the entire time!

If you enjoy reading an entire book full of characters who are totally gorked out of their heads and completely unreliable, this is the book for you.

The Imposter was chapter, after chapter, after chapter of confused ramblings...chapters which frequently made no sense. I personally hate this type of story. It's lazy misdirection...who needs a plot when you can just make the characters seem totally off the wall? Further, the threads of the story simply didn't tie together well. It felt choppy.

The conclusion? I had that figured out very early on, despite all the crazy.

Unfortunately, I simply can't recommend this book. I dreaded picking it up, and couldn't find many redeeming qualities.

1.5 stars (simply because I've read One-Star Review, and know what happens to reviewers who dare to give 1-star). 😂

Available March 9, 2021

Despite my lackluster review of this novel, I still extend my heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy.

"The Imposter" tells the mysterious past, present, and future of mother and daughter, Deborah and Sibley. Sibley seems to have it all, she is married and has a successful career as a lawyer at a big law firm. However, in reality her marriage is struggling, she has a severe addiction to alcohol, and has been estranged from her mother for years. Sibley realizes that before she can go to rehab and work on herself, she has to reunite with her mother and make peace with her past. The chapters alternate between Sibley's and Deborah's point of views, a literally device that I always enjoy and that definitely enriches this story. This novel starts off a bit slow, but once Deborah and Sibley were reunited I could not put it down. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming! I also found it extremely captivating that I often didn't know whether to believe Sibley or Deborah or even if certain events were happening at all. Read "The Imposter" if you enjoy psychological thrillers with twists and turns, strong and flawed characters, and unique family dynamics.

I don't usually read this kind of books, but I kept hearing about it and I had to check it out. It was okay, I guess, but I wasn't crazy about it at all.

The book was too slow for my taste (things started to happen around 50% in) and I didn't like the devices used to inform us about the things from the past. It is ALWAYS zoning out and recalling. Too much so that I lost myself from time to time.

We have two points of view here, but I didn't like that one wast told from the first person, and the other from the third.

Also, the characters were pretty annoying to me.

I also came across various comments that the ending was spectacular and that they couldn't figure out who was what they were not supposed to be, but I figured that out pretty easily. And the very ending was just too convenient. I mean, the resolution was just too fortunate and fake for my liking.

I love a good psychological thriller so I jumped into "The Imposter" with big expectations. While the book was a slow burn thriller, it came together really well in the end. Mother and daughter have an estrangement that provides twists and turns throughout the entire novel. Character development is big for me and Montgomery nailed it with this book.

When a thriller wraps up all loose ends, allowing me to guess who the imposter (guilty party) is, I find myself excited about that author's work. I always feel like they've written a good novel if the reader is satisfied with the rollercoaster they take you on.

Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Marin Montegomery for providing me with the ARC of The Imposter in exchange for my honest review.

When I read the synopsis, it sounded like something right up my alley. I love a good psychological thriller. The book started a bit slow for me, in fact, the entire book was a bit of a slow burn, but it did all come together in the end. The characters were developed really well and it was easy to picture them all. At it's core, it's a story about a mother and daughter and their estrangement, but with plenty of twists and turns.

I will say, I guessed who the imposter was well before it was revealed, but I couldn't guess why. It was a pretty startling twist and I certainly felt like the book wrapped up well with all loose ends tied up.

I only had one issue. I like knowing where my books are taking place, and unless I missed it, we didn't learn Sybil was in Arizona until a little bit into the book and I'm still not entirely sure where in the Midwest her hometown was - I assumed Iowa because of the mention of soybean farming. Again, I very well could have just missed it.

Overall, a solid thriller. This was the first book I've read from Marin and I look forward to reading more from her.
3.5/5 stars

This was an enjoyable mystery novel full of twists and turns. It did take me a little while to get into it because it starts off a little slow but then it builds and builds to an exciting, fast paced and eventful ending. Throughout the story, the building suspense and mystery is fantastic. So many little things are happening and there is an air of creepiness about it that keeps the book completely enthralling. I thought I had worked out what was going on but my assumption was far from the truth, the twisy and surprising ending was great!!
This is a great psychological thriller novel and the perfect book to curl up on a rainy day with. The ending was like a suspenseful, fast paced movie and I recommend this exciting read.
Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review 😊

One thing I want to get across in this review is how dark and twisted this story is. I feel like this plot was well executed and I loved all the plot twists. Just when I thought I had the story all figured out, I soon learned that I was wrong and it kept me guessing the whole time.

I do wish the last 20% wasn’t so drawn out but overall a great twisted story that will keep you on your toes. I would highly recommend if you looking for something completely original and you don’t mind a few triggers warnings.

I’ve read this authors work before and I look forward to her books in the future.

This fast-paced, psychological thriller gets 5 stars from me. I loved the two different points of views this book was told from and it had me hooked from beginning to end. I look forward to reading more from this author!

The plot of The Imposter looked very intriguing: a mother and daughter once estranged, a reuniting, lies, deceit. Who doesn’t love a book with that in the description. I am usually interested in a family drama but I found myself struggling through this book, from start to long awaited finish. Both main characters, Deborah and her daughter Sibley, were unlikable and untrustworthy. Sometimes an unreliable narrator, if done well, keeps me on the edge of my seat, filled with a sense of dread, however; Sibley was so irritating that I found myself disliking her more than caring about what happened to her. I also found the plot to be very confusing, as it jumped around a bit and sometimes didn’t fill in the blanks about what happened during that time missed.

The ending wasn’t what I was anticipating, so that did bump up the star level half a point for me. It had a few more twists than I saw coming, but overall, this book was just not the greatest thriller. I wouldn’t stray away from Marin Montgomery’s books altogether though. I will probably try one of her more popular books in the future.

Overall this book landed at a 2.5 stars for me, rounded up to a 3.

This review is also posted on my blog at: https://www.fullywell.net/blog/theimposterbookreview

I got about a quarter through this book and had to stop. The story started in the middle of things and you had no idea what had happened to get you there. I understand having things come to light as you go ahead with the story, but there was not enough solid ground to get things started before that happened. There were too many holes and confusing situations.

The premise is that successful divorce lawyer Sibley must return to her hometown after her life goes off the rails. When she arrives home she realizes her estranged mother has been battling mental illness while she herself has been battling her own demons. As the two mend their relationship, lies and secrets are unearthed about what caused Sibley to leave in the first place.

The description sounded good but when you get a quarter through and what you’ve read doesn’t align well with the blurb and is utterly boring and confusing, there’s a problem.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer to review.

I received an ARC from Net Gallery and Marin Montgomery for my honest review.

Deborah lives on a rural farm alone after the mysterious death of her husband 16 years ago. Her daughter Sibley left home and never came back. Now Sibley decides to return home to confront her mother and her past but dark secrets loom in every corner.

This book is told by Sibley as a narrator and also an omniscient narrator telling Deborah’s point of view. The story really picks up when Sibley gets home and I couldn’t put the book down until I got to the end.

It’s a true psychological thriller with twists and turns that kept me guessing.

I highly recommend this book!

Deborah lives alone on her remote farmhouse where tragedy once struck. Late one night she is assaulted and left for dead outside her home. She begins to experience unusual events and episodes of anxiety. Is she experiencing residual trauma from her attack or is someone from her past sending her a message?
Sibley is a successful divorce attorney until an incident that could end both her personal and professional life comes to light. Needing to get away, Sibley heads home to try and reunite with her estranged mother Deborah so they can put the past to rest. As both women try to untangle the events of their past, they discover a tangled web of lies that might just put them both in danger.

The imposter is a mystery/thriller in which past events have torn a mother and daughter apart. As the story unfolds we quickly realize that both women are "unreliable witnesses" making the reader question both past and present events. Although the plot for this novel intrigued me, I had a really hard time getting through this one. The novel kicks off, six months prior, with Deborah being attacked and left for dead late one night on her farm. This should have immediately drawn me into the story but the narrative was a bit slow and I couldn't seem to connect with either Deborah or Sibley. As the story continues we have not one but two unreliable witnesses combined with events that leave the reader uncertain if the event did in fact happen or if they are part of the characters (psychosis, medication, alcohol abuse, etc.)… A good concept that maybe didn't feel like it was executed successfully. Although this novel wasn't a good fit for me, it was still an interesting read with lots of deceit, secrets, and misdirection.

The Imposter is a psychological thriller about the relationship between a mother and daughter. They both have secrets and they both lie. There was a lot of twists and turns and I never knew where this story was going because both the mother and daughter seem so unstable. I enjoyed this book and it was well written even though it was a little slow at the beginning. Thank you Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book definitely kept me on my toes at times with its many twists and turns especially in the beginning. I also liked how the book used an unreliable narrator because it made the reader think about who to trust in the book. Although the two main characters had interesting, detailed backgrounds, I thought that the wording and phrasing at times made the story long and confusing where parts seemed unnecessary and repetitive. I also thought the story seemed rushed at the end where more details could have been added. Overall, I enjoyed the read with 3.5 stars / 5.

This was all over the place. None of the dialogue or actions resembled things that actual people say or do. And it felt like each chapter picked up somewhere randomly without continuing from where the story picked up.

I know there was supposed to be an element of instability and questionable narration. But a lot of it just wasn’t even following any kind of trajectory. It was just random things happening.