This one was juicy right up until the very last sentence! I didn't read the blurb, so ten percent in was a plot twist, but then halfway through came another one that I suspected that brought so much more mystery to the book. Lovely. ( )

YA novel about a runaway who lies. The runaway is in a shelter, and is being turned in by them, so he takes on the ID of Daniel Tate, a boy kidnapped 6 years earlier who never returned. However, something doesn't seem quite right. Why doesn't Daniel's mother realize this young man isn't her son? Why are the family members so careful about protecting Daniel? What secrets are they hiding?
This book had several surprises and twists. There were clues throughout the book, but still the end held a good twist. ( )

This book f*cked me up in a way that I can’t even begin to describe. My heart broke constantly for both the real Daniel Tate and the narrator who’s name that will never be known. Every page was haunted by the mystery of what really happened to ten year old Daniel those six long years ago. This book shows just how far people will go for those they love and how far they will go to be loved. The ending just completely decimated me and left me stunned. I literally had to sit here for a good ten minutes to process what had happened. The entire book was gripping from start to finish and I was constantly second guessing myself, after all, how can you know what is true when even the narrator is a self proclaimed liar? ( )

Inspired by the famous real-life case of Frédéric Bourdin who impersonated missing teenager Nicholas Barclay, the story in this novel takes different turns and takes the form of a YA thriller.

The core of the story is just as captivating as the real case: what does it take for a family to accept a stranger into their home and shower him with love, attention, and luxury? What lengths will humans go to, when pushed, to protect themselves and those they love the most?

This is a real page-turner, equally captivating if you are and if you aren’t familiar with the real case. It is a well-adapted story that has a life of its own, full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing (I solved it quickly, but still had fun until the very last page). The characters are interesting and well fleshed out, and moving from one suspect to the next on the list gives it the air of a classic whodunit. Of course, it doesn’t always manage to steer clear of cliches, and I would have liked to see the protagonist act a little less like a teenager at times, but the way it’s all written makes it so engrossing that I didn’t even mind that much. And there are many clever bits to make up for that that I don’t want to go into because of spoilers.

All in all, it’s an exciting and successful transposition of a true crime story into a YA thriller.

In order to get acquainted with the actual case and meet the real Daniel Tate and the guy who pretended to be and infiltrated his family, I recommend the chilling documentary The Imposter (2012) as a companion to this book. ( )

This is a really good book. And I will NEVER read it again. Let me explain.
The beginning was a little too convenient for me. The protagonist's version of events that led him to Hidden Hills was way too far fetched. But once he got there I just kept reading. And the more I read, the more interested I was. Drawing conclusions based on suspicions was fun. Even when they were dashed later on.
What made me hate this? The end. That m*****f*****' end. How dare you?! The audacity!! ( )