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Pretending to Be Erica
by
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 kno ...more
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 kno ...more
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Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
July 21st 2015
by Viking Books for Young Readers
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Amanda Monte
No, a heist does not actually occur.
Community Reviews
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Start your review of Pretending to Be Erica
May 22, 2013
Erica
marked it as to-read
Um hello? Why wouldn't I want to read a book about someone pretending to be me? ;)
...more
"Over time we all become our own doppelganger, we look the same but we're completely different people."
----Ted, How I Met Your Mother
Michelle Painchaud, an American author, pens her debut novel, Pretending to be Erica that traces the journey of a con artist who pretends to be a dead and rich princess to steal a million dollars painting, but it is not an easy road to try to have the best of the both worlds, because in reality she is just a regular teenager who has a normal lifestyle.
Synopsis: ...more
----Ted, How I Met Your Mother
Michelle Painchaud, an American author, pens her debut novel, Pretending to be Erica that traces the journey of a con artist who pretends to be a dead and rich princess to steal a million dollars painting, but it is not an easy road to try to have the best of the both worlds, because in reality she is just a regular teenager who has a normal lifestyle.
Synopsis: ...more
DNF 58%
I'm just incredibly bored with this one. It started out intriguing enough but far-fetched, too. And the whole priceless painting bit was just not convincing. Her being this perfect teenage con artist was not convincing either. I was kept mildly curious due to the tagline on the cover - does that mean she's the real Erica somehow? Or decides to play the con forever? But I just have no interest in these characters at all :( ...more
I'm just incredibly bored with this one. It started out intriguing enough but far-fetched, too. And the whole priceless painting bit was just not convincing. Her being this perfect teenage con artist was not convincing either. I was kept mildly curious due to the tagline on the cover - does that mean she's the real Erica somehow? Or decides to play the con forever? But I just have no interest in these characters at all :( ...more
3.5 stars
At a Glance:
Pretending to be Erica was an intriguing thriller, full of moral complexity. It got a little bit slow in the middle, with a lot of repeating internal dialogue, but for the most part it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.
Cover:
I adore this cover! The typography is fantastic, giving the book a slightly eery feeling. It's so well done!
First Sentence:
"I still haven't gotten used to writing my new name."
The Characters:
The characters in Pretending to be Erica were all pret ...more
At a Glance:
Pretending to be Erica was an intriguing thriller, full of moral complexity. It got a little bit slow in the middle, with a lot of repeating internal dialogue, but for the most part it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.
Cover:
I adore this cover! The typography is fantastic, giving the book a slightly eery feeling. It's so well done!
First Sentence:
"I still haven't gotten used to writing my new name."
The Characters:
The characters in Pretending to be Erica were all pret ...more
So good! Nice balance of flash backs and current day. I wouldn't change a thing!
...more
Real rating 2.5
The number-one rule of a con artist: even if you have no confidence, act like you do.
Pretending to be Erica is a pretender book. If you expect this book to be funny and witty and want to learn a con world from the inside - you are for a big disappointment. This book is sheer melodrama. It seems author took her own advice and pretended to write a solid book but it was only an act - the deeper you look, the lesser you see. This book wasn't bad, but mostly I was tired of MC's crying
The microwave clock spills into midnight, and the marionette girl walks up the stairs to sleep in her puppet bed in the puppet house, filled with not-puppet people.I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked Pretending to be Erica up, but it certainly delivered in both the premise and the execution. This is an eloquently written and thought-provoking novel.
They are made of flesh and blood, and she is made of lies and wood.
More than a decade ago, Erica Silverman, the young da ...more
This book trapped me, I liked it from the very beginning even if I knew it wasn't going to be a happy book.
In fact it is a novel about loss , the inability to cope with it and the will not to give up hope no matter what. The loss of a daughter because of a kidnapping and the loss of a husband due to mental illness.
It is also a book about wanting to have a normal life with loving parents, a family and friends. Things that other people take for granted but Violet , the main character, needs more t ...more
In fact it is a novel about loss , the inability to cope with it and the will not to give up hope no matter what. The loss of a daughter because of a kidnapping and the loss of a husband due to mental illness.
It is also a book about wanting to have a normal life with loving parents, a family and friends. Things that other people take for granted but Violet , the main character, needs more t ...more
Whoa. I did not expect to like this one as much as I did. The main character and the writing are both superb. I really enjoyed the conning aspect and secondary characters too. I'd definitely rec this one! Review to come.
...more
I want to read this because of the title.
This was quite an interesting idea and the execution was clever.
Loved Violet. Her inner monologue was captivating. I enjoyed reading her struggle with being Violet and Erica. Taylor and James were the best part of the book and I definitely wanted more scenes with the 3 of them together.
There was a pretty good twist and the ending was definitely wasn't what I was expecting.
All in all, a quick read with an authentic voice. ...more
Loved Violet. Her inner monologue was captivating. I enjoyed reading her struggle with being Violet and Erica. Taylor and James were the best part of the book and I definitely wanted more scenes with the 3 of them together.
There was a pretty good twist and the ending was definitely wasn't what I was expecting.
All in all, a quick read with an authentic voice. ...more
I have been trying to write a review, but I keep erasing it. I'm just not sure what to say. This wasn't an easy book to get into.
Violet was raised to become a dead girl. She learned how to read people, to lie, to con, and she learned everything there was to know about Erica (the girl she was selected to become). But being Erica is harder than she thought it would be. Things aren't black or white anymore. Violet is starting to see grey, and that scares her more than anything else ever could. Sou ...more
Violet was raised to become a dead girl. She learned how to read people, to lie, to con, and she learned everything there was to know about Erica (the girl she was selected to become). But being Erica is harder than she thought it would be. Things aren't black or white anymore. Violet is starting to see grey, and that scares her more than anything else ever could. Sou ...more
Probably 3.5 stars
Finally! A book about thieves/con artists that doesn't suck!
I enjoyed reading this book.
There's kind of not as much conning as I would like though. However, unlike most teen con characters Violet is ACTUALLY skilled. She is plausible. And also practical. She can read people like nobody's business, but everything she does makes sense.
So while this book is based around a con, it feel more like a coming of age novel. Violet is split between being herself and being Erica. She's nev ...more
Finally! A book about thieves/con artists that doesn't suck!
I enjoyed reading this book.
There's kind of not as much conning as I would like though. However, unlike most teen con characters Violet is ACTUALLY skilled. She is plausible. And also practical. She can read people like nobody's business, but everything she does makes sense.
So while this book is based around a con, it feel more like a coming of age novel. Violet is split between being herself and being Erica. She's nev ...more
Originally reviewed on Hey Teen Books Hey
I picked up this book after spending too much time researching a real and nearly equally fantastical case of Frédéric Bourdin, a French conman pretending to be a missing American teenager.
Violet has been getting groomed to become Erica for years. This included plastic surgery and having a bone broken because Erica had that bone broken too. Despite a faked positive DNA test lots of the characters still doubt that Violet is Erica and a PI is investigating ...more
I picked up this book after spending too much time researching a real and nearly equally fantastical case of Frédéric Bourdin, a French conman pretending to be a missing American teenager.
Violet has been getting groomed to become Erica for years. This included plastic surgery and having a bone broken because Erica had that bone broken too. Despite a faked positive DNA test lots of the characters still doubt that Violet is Erica and a PI is investigating ...more
4.5 STARS
For Violet, a teenage con artist raises as a con artist, PRETENDING TO BE ERICA, the missing presumed dead of a wealthy Las Vegas family, is her biggest scam yet. All she has to do is steal a famous painting and she and her dad Sal will be set for life. Violet doesn’t count on becoming attached to Erica’s mother and her life. She doesn’t count on making friends for the first time in her life. She doesn’t count on meeting a guy, for the first time in her life.
While PRETENDING TO BE VIOLE ...more
For Violet, a teenage con artist raises as a con artist, PRETENDING TO BE ERICA, the missing presumed dead of a wealthy Las Vegas family, is her biggest scam yet. All she has to do is steal a famous painting and she and her dad Sal will be set for life. Violet doesn’t count on becoming attached to Erica’s mother and her life. She doesn’t count on making friends for the first time in her life. She doesn’t count on meeting a guy, for the first time in her life.
While PRETENDING TO BE VIOLE ...more
3.5 stars Great premise, and surprisingly engaging and plausible execution.
Review to come.
Review to come.
A Con Artist with a Heart! Love it!!
Ohhh sounds soo good!!!
Pretending To Be Erica is one of the most interesting books I’ve read this summer. Even though Violet was really doing something pretty terrible to this grieving family, I felt deeply sorry for her. She was clearly wanting to be a part of something, of a family that loved her, and her childhood with a conman was the only love she’d ever really known. There were times that I felt more sorry for Violet than I did for her grieving mother, which I think is a testament to Violet’s development as a ch
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Definitely a young adult book. I think they did a fairly good job at portraying the difficulty of attempting to subsume another life, but didn’t go as in-depth as they could have. The way the teenagers acted and talked at the beginning was extremely unrealistic, but got slightly better throughout the book. Almost too clean of an ending— didn’t really resolve the Violet-Erica distinction which was what I expected to be the focus of the whole book. Would recommend for anyone who enjoys books about
...more
I’m giving this one a 3.5. I loved the storyline: teenage con artist torn between two very different lives. In fact, it almost felt like the main character suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder sometimes. The character development was great and I enjoyed the coming-of-age aspects of the book as well. I think the only negative thing was that it was slightly repetitive in some parts. Overall, an easy and fast-paced read!
Pretending to be Erica was definitely an interesting read. This was my first YA con book and I have to say I think I will be craving more of these!
Violet has been groomed to become Erica Silverman. This will be her until con and solidify her place besides the man who rescued her from foster care and taught her everything she knows. All she has to do is pretend to be Erica for a few months, steal a painting, and disappear into the night. Easy right? Well the whole stealing the painting thing woul ...more
Violet has been groomed to become Erica Silverman. This will be her until con and solidify her place besides the man who rescued her from foster care and taught her everything she knows. All she has to do is pretend to be Erica for a few months, steal a painting, and disappear into the night. Easy right? Well the whole stealing the painting thing woul ...more
ARC received for honest review.
This is one of those that is so hard for me to review. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as gripping as one might hope. Con artistry seems to be a hot little niche topic in YA lately, and this book cashes in on that. To its credit, it kept me reading to the end. I could never predict the ending well enough that I wanted to stop reading, even when I had a guess as to how it would all play out. That guess also kept changing. It is a mystery that you want to solve.
That sai ...more
This is one of those that is so hard for me to review. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as gripping as one might hope. Con artistry seems to be a hot little niche topic in YA lately, and this book cashes in on that. To its credit, it kept me reading to the end. I could never predict the ending well enough that I wanted to stop reading, even when I had a guess as to how it would all play out. That guess also kept changing. It is a mystery that you want to solve.
That sai ...more
This is great writing. Pretending To Be Erica has everything; ambitious plot, surprisingly complex characters, compelling themes, suspense and surprises.
Ambitious plot? Because the story could have been cliched, con girl turns good, but for the journey. The themes of grief, parental love, identity and integrity are cleverly explored.
I cannot think of the main character as either Violet or Erica. This con is the catalyst for Violet/Erica to grow and develop away from the controlling influence of ...more
Ambitious plot? Because the story could have been cliched, con girl turns good, but for the journey. The themes of grief, parental love, identity and integrity are cleverly explored.
I cannot think of the main character as either Violet or Erica. This con is the catalyst for Violet/Erica to grow and develop away from the controlling influence of ...more
Erica is Violet and Violet is Erica. I must say I really loved this story. If nothing, at least the good always wins. Violet's entire life has revolved around becoming Erica Silverman, a girl who disappeared a long time ago. Her parents are very rich, and there's the catch. Violet has Erica's DNA, her looks and everything, but returning "home" is not always a good idea. I really recommend this book, it's really different from the others I've read in the past month.
...more
Overall I enjoyed this book. The subject interested me the entire way through, but the ending let me down; it failed to tie up any ends with Violet's 'dad' and 'brother.' Rating: 3/5 stars; a fast-paced read for sure!
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I don't usually read YA books. I don't know what made me pick this up. Maybe it was the thriller element. Or the synopsis. Whatever it was, it piqued my interest. And in the end I wasn't disappointed.
I must say though that the beginning of the book fried my brain cells. Erica is 17 yrs old. She attends high school with all its drama. And to top it all off, we all know what's going on from the second page. She's not Erica. Okay. So there is absolutely no mistery. Nothing to solve. Nothing to be ...more
I must say though that the beginning of the book fried my brain cells. Erica is 17 yrs old. She attends high school with all its drama. And to top it all off, we all know what's going on from the second page. She's not Erica. Okay. So there is absolutely no mistery. Nothing to solve. Nothing to be ...more
This book is about a con artist, possibly pulling off one of the greatest cons of the decade. I got my hopes up, I desperately wanted this whole book to be one large con. That was unfortunately not the case and I got my hopes up with all these ideas and little things meaning one thing. I got hung up on strawberries. STRAWBERRIES! Could I have chosen a less significant detail? Highly disappointed as I expected this to be as dark and unexpected as ‘We Were Liars’. Unfortunately it is unworthy of y
...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crazy for Young A...: Pretending to Be Erica by Michelle Painchaud → Start Date: July 19th, 2015 | 10 | 22 | Aug 01, 2015 07:56AM |
Readers also enjoyed
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!!
https://twitter.com/Michelleiswordy ...more
She likes anime and you and has a twitter if you want to chat or say hi!!
https://twitter.com/Michelleiswordy ...more
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“He laughs and switches lanes. "All right. So, favorite song?"
"Ever?"
He nods. I bite my lip and watch the just-budding trees flash by outside.
"I don't think I've found it yet."
His mouth twists with a smile I've never seen before. And I've seen every smile.
"That's the right answer.”
—
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"Ever?"
He nods. I bite my lip and watch the just-budding trees flash by outside.
"I don't think I've found it yet."
His mouth twists with a smile I've never seen before. And I've seen every smile.
"That's the right answer.”
“The microwave clock spills over into midnight, and the marionette girl walks up the stairs to sleep in her puppet bed in the puppet house, filled with not-puppet people. They are made of flesh and blood, and she is made of wood and lies.”
—
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