Title: Pretending to be Erica
Author: Michelle Painchaud
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 7/21/2015
Seventeen-year-old Violet’s entire life has revolved around one thing: becoming Erica Silverman, an heiress kidnapped at age five and never seen again.
Violet’s father, the best con man in Las Vegas, has a plan, chilling in its very specific precision. Violet shares a blood type with Erica; soon, thanks to surgery and blackmail, she has the same face, body, and DNA. She knows every detail of the Silvermans’ lives, as well as the PTSD she will have to fake around them. And then, when the time is right, she “reappears”—Erica Silverman, brought home by some kind of miracle.
But she is also Violet, and she has a job: Stay long enough to steal the Silverman Painting, an Old Master legendary in the Vegas crime world. Walking a razor’s edge, calculating every decision, not sure sometimes who she is or what she is doing it for, Violet is an unforgettable heroine, andPretending to be Erica is a killer debut.
Michelle Painchaud is the author of the young adult thriller PRETENDING TO BE ERICA, (Viking Children's, 2014).
She likes anime and you and has a twitter if you want to chat or say hi!!
Violet spent her whole life being groomed to become the wealthy, privileged kidnapped girl, Erica Silverman. All in order to steal a painting hidden on the property of Erica's parents' house worth 60 million. A life of conning with her adopted father, Sal, is the only thing Violet knows, and after becoming Erica through plastic surgery and careful research, Violet leaves her shabby conning life behind to become Erica, newly returned.
It isn't easy. Her old friends welcome her home. Her "mother" won't let her out of her sight. People don't believe she's the real Erica, and one girl in particular, Taylor, isn't going to let up. But eventually they become friends and Violet learns to really love Erica's life. Until she reminds herself that its all just another con- the biggest one yet - and she can't stay despite James, (the boy she loves) and Her sweet friends, and the loving mom she never had.
I loved this book. It has one of the most original and well planned concepts in a YA that I've ever read. The author weaves snippets of memories of Violet's life before becoming Erica, so you're able to get a sense of who she is and why she's going what she's doing. The author did her research, and she it well. The amount of psychological and criminal knowledge Violet posses is extraordinary. The writing is beautiful, and although I hated the ending, I also loved it.
Definitely a new favorite. I will be watching this author for her next work.
5 out of 5 Stars
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