Review: Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand

Imitation 

by Heather Hildenbrand

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia
Publisher: Accendo Press
Publication Date: March 2013
Page Count: 272
Format: e-book
Source: Netgalley/Mark My Words Book Publicity

Synopsis:

Everyone is exactly like me. There is no one like me.

Ven wrestles with these contradicting truths every day. A clone of wealthy eighteen-year-old Raven Rogen, Ven knows everything about the girl she was created to serve: the clothes she wears, the boys she loves, the friends she loves to hate. Yet she’s never met the Authentic Raven face-to-face. Imitations like Ven only get to leave the lab when they’re needed—to replace a dead Authentic, donate an organ, or complete a specific mission. And Raven has never needed Ven . . . until now.

When there is an attack on Raven’s life, Ven is thrust into the real world, posing as Raven to draw-out the people who tried to harm her. But as Ven dives deeper into Raven’s world, she begins to question everything she was ever told. She exists for Raven, but is she prepared to sacrifice herself for a girl she’s never met?

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Review: When I first read the synopsis of this book and read the information on Goodreads, I knew that this book was going to be right up my alley! A YA dystopian? Yes please! Honestly, no matter how many books I read in however many genres, I always want to go back to dystopia. It is just what I enjoy, and this book was no different for me. I had already read one book by Heather Hildenbrand, but it was a contemporary so naturally it was quite different. However, I did already know that I enjoy her writing, so I was eager to read something else by her. Turns out, she's good at writing in different genres as well. 

I was very intrigued by the concept of this book, and it's certainly not something that I have read before. I think that says a lot with dystopia when a lot of things can start to seem or sound the same. That was not the case here. In this series, there is a separate town full of clones or "imitations." Now, not everyone has a clone, only the wealthy and those who have been deemed important enough to need one. These clones live in their own town until they are needed. Now, why do they have clones? Well, that's simple. They are there for anything their authentic might need. Perhaps they lose a limb, they will just take that part from their clone, easy fix. They are ultimately there to protect and serve their authentic, and they are certainly not treated like real people. 

In the book we meet Ven, who is the imitation of Raven Rogen, a wealthy teen who is a bit full of herself. Ven is required to know everything about Raven, though she has not actually met her. The interesting thing about the book is that we never get to meet Raven ourselves, but we get to know her through Ven as well. It's different, and I liked that as well. All this information comes to help Ven when she gets a letter saying she needs to step into the place of Raven. 

You see, Raven's father has hidden his real daughter for her safety, as there are people after her. Because of this, he wants to put Ven in danger and act as Raven in order to draw the enemy to a different town. It is quite clear that Mr. Rogen does not care for his daughter's clone. Nor does he have any problem threatening to terminate her if she messes everything up. Needless to say, he is not a nice guy.

There is a lot of action and danger in this book, which is always exciting to read in a book like this. However, there was also some romance. We are introduced to Linc, Raven's body guard. He knows that something is different with "Raven" and spends a lot of time questioning Ven about it. The chemistry between the two is undeniable, and I do love the relationship that developed between them. Sure, it was a bit fast, but I do love having the sweet romance, so I am not going to complain! 

I was quite thrilled with this book. I believe that it was a wonderful start to a series, and it certainly had me eager to see what happens next. I do believe that the second book was released in March, so I am going to try to get my hands on it very soon. I would highly recommend this book to other dystopian fans.

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0