Due to the fact that Uglies is my favorite book series, I was ecstatic to get my hands on Impostors after discovering that it is the first of a new series following Uglies. Let me point out that while there are several references to the Uglies series, you don’t need to read them prior to this (although I highly recommend that you do) and Impostors is several years following the completion of that series. Being one who typically forgets details of a book right after reading it, Scott Westerfeld’s books don’t fall in that category for me. He has the ability to pull you into his worlds like no other with descriptions and details second to none. Westerfeld also leaves a lasting impression so you will continue to think about his books years down the road. 

As suspected, my excitement to begin this series was justified. There is an excellent cast of characters, from the evil father to the strong protagonists who aren’t willing to go down without a fight not to mention all the supporting characters who fill their parts perfectly. The gorgeous and fantastic cities with their architecture, technology, and diversity will keep your imagination running to keep up. This is the type of book you’d love to see made into a movie but also hope they never do because there’s no way they could ever get the details quite right. Expect to be surprised and anticipate suspense as the story is full of both. Anyone who enjoys a dystopian novel will love and must read Impostors.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  3 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore:  Many (35) brief incidents including an alarm sounds like birds being strangled; character hopes she hit her dad; a character doesn’t want to get shot; a weapon is ready to tear the world apart; verbal threats; character makes references to another character eventually dying; character may have to kill someone; planning war; character has a bomb attached to body; reference to character’s scar; doctor gives a character a scar; reference to soldiers getting killed; second-hand report of child getting kidnapped and mother getting shot; reference to character’s broken bones and wounds from training; second-hand report of a camp being destroyed; reference to a house getting bombed, killing many; character getting finger broken during training; character pointing gun at another and punching; character having a violent dream; characters getting attacked and shooting; punching and fighting; hunting animals for food; character attacking and knock another out; character badly hurt; rooms damaged and bombed; a few incidents of characters getting shot and killed.

Sex/Nudity:  Many (22) brief incidents involving teenagers including holding hands; kissed hand and wondered if he would kiss her; hugging; hand on shoulder; arm around and cuddling; hands around waist; character only wearing underwear so clothing can be used as shelter; skinny dipping (non-sexual); male and female character sleep beside each other; character wants to “breath him in.”

Mature Subject Matter:

War; murder.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Reference to characters drinking wine at a party.