Lucy and Jack have been friends since uni, where they studied acting and had dreams of success and stardom. A decade later they’re still in London, slogging away with auditions, rejections and odd jobs here and there. Lucy’s always felt in jacks shadow. From a humble upbringing with a taxi driver dad, she envied Jack for his disposable income and freedom of choice, but as firm friends they’ve got each others backs.

When they decide to start an agency of actors for hire, even they can’t predict the success it’s going to have.

Soon they become involved in providing plus ones for parties, setting up honey traps, and their most risky of all: posing as a businessman’s love child, come out of the woodwork 30 years later.

While the cliches of Lucy counting her calories in order to stay slim and Jack’s unawareness of the realities of the world got a little annoyingly repetitive, I enjoyed the book and it took some satisfying turns I wasn’t expecting.

DNF. I feel as though there's something in the water and I am just being really turned off by books because the writing isn't particularly good. I feel I should preface this by saying I've read a book by this author before and enjoyed it (I think, it was a while ago), but I found something lacking in this book. Might I be a little bit biased because it was a real pain trying to download this book and it took weeks before the publisher fixed the problem? Maybe. But had the book been of better quality, I might not have let it influence me so much. I think there were topics discussed in this that I felt weren't handled correctly - and it wasn't even written well. Pretending to be someone else with vulnerable dementia patients? Fuck right off. The characters are one-dimensional and difficult to even begin to root for, let alone empathise with. And I say that as someone in the arts industry who is depressed, much like one of the main characters here. I think there's a cynicism to this book that I couldn't get over and that's why I put it down.

I found this book concept fascinating, it was a book that I requested as soon as I read the synopsis. The Impersonators follows Lucy and Jack, who are failed actors, open the Impersonation Agency where they can be hired to be whoever the clients need them to be. But when Zelda hires them, they start to question what it means to be an actor.

Despite my excitement, I struggled to get into this book and connect with the characters. I find it difficult to read books where I don't like the main characters, and that was a challenge here. In particular, I found Jack to be frustrating. I understand his desperation to become a successful actor, but he often came across as narcissistic. It took me a while to warm up to Lucy, but as the story progressed and I learnt more about her, she grew on me. The storyline carried this book for me, I wanted to learn how the story played out and whether things would get resolved. There was also a mini plot twist at the end, whilst it didn’t shock me, I also didn't predict it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I’m unsure whether I’d recommend it. The premise was intriguing, and the plot was enjoyable, but something about it didn’t fully click for me. That said, I think some people might have a different experience, so I probably would recommend this book.