[Review] Impostor by Susanne Winnacker

Susanne Winnacker
Impostor
1st Variants
[YA paranormal]

You can buy it here:
Impostor (Amazon hardcover)
Impostor (Amazon paperback)
Impostor (Amazon eBook)

FTC: I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary: (via Netgalley)
X-Men meets Veronica Mars in this thrilling first book in the VARIANTS series

Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she's spent the last two years with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. There she trains with other Variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability.

When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. Tessa hates everything about being an impostor - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she'd do anything to keep.

Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.

'Fun and suspenseful' Marissa Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of CINDER

My thoughts:
X-Men meets Veronica Mars? I'm not so sure about that. I did not see much of Veronica Mars' character or abilities in Tessa, to be honest. The X-Men part though, that one I agree with. I have a proposition for a better match of a second show, but we'll come to that at the end.

Tessa does not have her ability completely in check, when she is thrust into her first investigation in order to find a serial killer, so some things go wrong and she does things she knows she should not do even before her assignment - like impersonate a fellow variant in order to get a kiss from a certain hot guy. In some ways, Tessa is still very much a teenager, yet, she is tasked with a job for an adult. In fact, I think even adults might have problems with her task.

Her pining for her colleague, Alec, who has a girlfriend, even though she is portrayed as an evil hag, and Alec's confusing behavior towards Tessa (come hither, stay away) was what annoyed me quite some times. I wanted to tell her "Girl, you will find a better guy, one who does not have a girlfriend, no matter how hot you think he is right now!" multiple times throughout the book.

Now, my first problem was the end. I'm not sure it was the best end the book could have and the way the mystery was resolved was a bit off. While the main idea behind it reminds me of the counterorganization of X-Men, and I believe it would be very likely, if variants existed, something simply felt off to me. Also, in the end I feel incredibly sorry for Madison's family, as they have to deal with the loss of their daughter now.

Secondly, Tessa often seemed unable to really do anything despite two years of training. Granted, two years is not much when it comes to the art of spying and crime solving (want to check how long it takes for people to join any federal crime solving agency?), however, I believe she should have been more capable, whether she has fully mastered her variant or not.

I believe this series has lots of room to grow into something amazing! Like I said before, it really reminds me in X-Men meets Get Smart. You have the heroes with the supernatural abilities, and looking at Tessa, you have the clumsy spy on top of that. Since I love both shows, this worked well for me, despite the issues I had.

Rating:
3.5/5