Pretending To Be Erica.

☆☆☆☆☆

pretending to be erica.

Michelle painchaud.

Publisher  Viking Books.

Publication Date:July 21,2015

Genre: YA Contemporary Mystery.

Format|Pages:Hardcover|254.

 Source:Goodreads|Library.

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, and Pretending to be Erica is a killer debut.








What an incredible, breathtaking debut. I had a feeling that PRETENDING TO BE ERICA was going to be a kickass story, I could tell just from reading the summary of the novel. It sounded just a type of book that I would love. A girl pretending to be a girl who is dead? I couldn’t help but wonder if she would be able to pull that off and for long. I loved how original the story I was, I heard of twins doing someone like that, expect that they weren’t twins. I got hooked from moment I read the summary and once I picked up book, I had trouble setting it back down. PRETENDING TO BE ERICA is one of those novels that once you pick it up you will find yourself reading it till you reach the end. That’s what I would end up doing if it wasn’t for work. I found myself reading it at break, before bed, at metro; I read every chance that I got. You will find yourself getting attached to most of characters from the first paragraph to the last. Vivid descriptions within the novel that will make you feel like you there, along with Violet.



Violet was a character that you want to dislike, because of what she was doing. How she was leading on for everyone to believe to be Erica, who in fact is dead. At same time you can’t help but love the character, because of her personality. I couldn’t get myself to hate her. Actually as book progressed I grew to like her more, each single day. Violet was one character that had the most change through the book. By the end of the book, she was not the person she was at beginning. She stood up to Sal. She found Erica’s body, to give them closure. I know that what she done was wrong to begin with; to me it feels that she didn’t have choice in that. Being Erica is what she was prepared to be all these years. I don’t think that the life she had was a life at all, she would be better off in foster care. At least that is feeling that I got from reading the book. I had a feeling that Violet wasn’t a person that Sal wanted her to be, and I am glad she finally came to that realization.



PRETENDING TO BE ERICA was action filled in pretty much every page, every chapter. If Violet wasn’t trying to blend in, it was something else happening. Every chapter had you wondering, will she pull this off? Or will she be discovered? Pretty much every page has reader on the edge of the seat, I was till the ending. However once I reached the end, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. I was thinking about book, about Violet long after I finished the book, I was curious about what would happen to her next? What about her and James. A type of book that has you wondering what’s in store for the character next. To me, Violet became real and I was attached to her and her story. I can already tell that this will be an author that I will be looking forward too. A engaging debut thrilled that will stay with you.