The Imposter
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Title (3.5/5)
There really isn't any other title holding more correlation than "The Imposter", especially when the story is told in the imposter's point of view. I would have encouraged, however, a more mysterious title, all the more to match the thousands of secrets embedded into this fanfiction. Albeit my words state otherwise, you shouldn't look into altering the title at this point as you are very close to its finish, as well as the fact it would affect your story's current graphics and trailer. Aesthetically, and I hope that you understand this can only be judged subjectively, the title may rake some interest, but I wouldn't say it would stand out in a list of fanfictions. On the other hand, this does depend on the appeal of other fanfictions' titles.
Graphics (5/5)
I always prefer posters to be landscape rather than portrait. As touched on in Title, your story definitely gives off mysterious vibes, so the lack of colour in your poster is very suitable. I'm probably going to be one of the pickiest person you'll ever meet when it comes to graphics, because setting aside the appeals of a poster, I focus on every little detail sketched into it, as well as how appropriate the background is. First off, I am loving the expressions of the main characters, the two male leads looking frustrated and fed up - definitely how they appear to be in most if not every moment of the story so far. The lady with her body figure visible seems to not be the imposter, and I would have loved your graphic even more if the two women were switched around so that the real imposter (man this is so ironic I cannot handle it), the woman with amnesia, was the one standing directly behind the title. It's also very effective that the women are facing opposite directions. The bouquet of flowers and especially the mask, are definitely related to the story. I can't even begin to decipher what's in the background, I see some windows and some ghost-looking figure... yeah I'll just leave that maybe. Loving the sharp flashes of white, could represent the endless lights of the paparazzi.
There is an obvious fire in the background separate from the poster, and it's unclear but I do see glimpses of fire under the heavy white flashes. This can easily correlate with the fire of the orphanage. Beautiful work.
The only thing I'd point out here is, of course, the username plastered on the poster which people can take it the wrong way if they are like me, analysing the poster and notices this, but I know for a fact that when you first requested The Imposter in, you were littlemisshappify back then, so I know you didn't just steal this from someone else. Always a peeve from changing usernames.
Description and Foreword: (7/10)
The shortest description I've seen in quite a while, each sentence occupying a sheer two words, but definitely impactful. I would frown at anyone who would not be pulled in from this description. I think the mask layout should have occupied the Description area more than the Foreword, just so it encompasses the enigmatic insight of the story. The characters' quotes are fine, but with the two trailers, both of them depicted really different views of the story. Before starting on The Imposter, I noticed all scenes of the first trailer were taken from a drama, so I was pondering whether The Imposter was based on a Korean drama. I wanted to finish a few things here on AFF before I start on any Korean dramas, especially these reviews, so I went against researching this, however upon writing this review, I found a summary of the plot Good Doctor, and the correlation between The Imposter and Good Doctor will be introduced and discussed during Plot. The second trailer was of worse quality, and had a text line-up, something the first trailer did not have, so it told a lot more about the story. The feeling I got from what was described in the trailer, was that something was going to be taken into court because of some accusation... and whether this accusation will appear in this story will depend on how the imposter in your story claims back Shi Hoo so I can't really say anything at this point.
Story Layout: (2.5/5)
The Imposter's story layout is very appealing - it's not the standard pick a font and that's it. The use of the mask border makes The Imposter very distinctive. However, when using a particular layout, it's quite difficult to keep it consistent when you plan for the story to have an abundant amount of chapters. At Chapter Twenty-seven, the mask layout drops off suddenly, and for a reader like me who is new and has forty-eight chapters to read, the change is very noticeable. The mask layout comes back up at Chapter Forty-four. Personally, I do quite like the layout so my reading experience was much better with it in sight. Also, in chapters Thirty-one and Forty-two, the font size is increased. The font size is consistently higher than the one you have been originally using during the whole of Chapter Thirty-one, and in many random places in Chapter Forty-two. One last thing, is that from Chapter Forty-five and onwards, the font changes completely (that actually took me three chapters later to realise since I was so into the story lol). If my guess is right, it looks like it went from Georgia to Droid Serif.
Maintaining a consistent layout is particularly hard when you play to have almost sixty chapters in your story, isn't it?
Plot: (23/30)
Talking about the female protagonist would be difficult. I have a strong feeling the "imposter" is actually Moon Chae Won, so in this category (and probably throughout the whole review) I will refer 'Moon Chae Won' to the one who creates all the scandals, and simply 'the imposter' to the one who suffers from amnesia. The Imposter has a very dramatic storyline, with the characters being a heavy influence on this. The story is introduced to the readers in a very vague and confusing manner, but as the story progresses on, pieces of the puzzle become more clear, though at many stages of the story, more secrets are hidden than revealed. I particularly like the background story to everything, where the imposter and Gyuri attended the same orphanage, and how the Gyuri stole the imposter's necklace before the orphanage burnt down.
In terms of originality, this is probably one of the most calculating fanfictions I've read, since there are so many cunning plans throughout the story it really takes a head to keep up. As I have said before, I'm not sure if I should start a drama soon (though I really want to) but judging from the brief summary, it seems that you have taken some components from Good Doctor such as the engagement and its rivalry, as well as Joongki and his medical profession. Romance being a dominant genre in The Imposter, the relationship between Shin Hoo and the imposter is clearly developing into something very special and genuine, and the tiny glimpse of fluff here and there is quite surprising in comparison to the dark and heavy side of romance as seen in most of the chapters. Subjectively, I was almost always on the side of Shin Hoo when it came to splitting the two male leads since the imposter went searching for Joongki only to interrupt him from other matters concerning a woman. I feel like Joongki was too neglected to be paraded for an ideal lover of our female protagonist. Whenever he did appear in the story, it was all about his medical problems and his hatred for himself, his confusion, things like that. And whenever he was around the imposter he was always so neutral towards her. Given the circumstances of which Shin Hoo has treated the imposter cruelly in so many ways, it was a bit hard to see the imposter ending up with Joongki.
A few questions pinpointing little details that circled around my head:
- whether you can realistically remove a face from another and exchange. Science is my worst subject so I have no idea if the cells dry up or whatever idk. I'm a total noob here.
- what made the imposter to have amnesia after her surgery.
- whether Joongki can take that many medical degrees when he's still quite young.
- whether Joongki can take that many medical degrees when he's still quite young.
- whether Joongki could still be thinking of Chae Won coincidentally at that exact cafe in the exact moment, not to mention eight years later. That's a bit far-fetched in my opinion.
- you made it really clear to us that 'Moon Chae Won' had undergone numerous of plastic surgeries, so even though Shi Hoo has finally fallen for her inside, can he still look at her face and body, and call her beautiful? idk, not sure if I would.
- WHO THE HECK IS BORN WITH GRAY EYES WTF I WANT SOME.
- you were quite descriptive in how the imposter was severly injured from that last car crash, but all we read of now is just the fact that she has changed faces, nothing on her injuries.
I'm sure these questions can be answered in the last ten or so chapters of The Imposter, but if you were surprised at any of these questions you may want to think about it in depth.
Characterization: (10/10)
The characters, to say the least, all have their own individual uniqueness. No two personalities can be said to be similar nor do they clash. The imposter is evidently very forgiving despite certain situations that pose against her, and because of her amnesic state, she puts her trust in the first people to reat her with any form of kindess and concern. Dr. Song's hospitalised care for the imposter at the start greatly contrasts with the abrupt and impolite ways of her father and fiancee, which is why she chose to seek help fro Joongki. Slowly grasping her surroundings, she eventually succumbs to the reputation Chae Won had left behind and becomes very unprotective of herself because of it. This character of the imposter mixes well with that of Shi Hoo's as his character, after many times of rejecting the imposter, turns out to be a very caring and considerate man. Given the situations and her nature, the imposter can't resist him. Shi Hoo seems to see the good in people despite the outer mask he shows to the public. Joongki's personality is hard to pinpoint but he's a type of person to keep his thoughts to himself. He's very driven by passion from his love interest, namely Moon Chae Won, and is still attached to her despite the enormous change of personality and attitude over the years.
Not much to say about Chae Won since we've only seen her in about five scenes, but 'moral' doesn't seem to exist in her world and she's a very cunning woman, right from when she was a child. Generally speaking, nothing about your characters raise a question.
Content Description (8/10)
Your description habits are in the long run quite superb. The scenes that pose significance are effectively explained so that images are easier to form in the readers' head. Albeit some parts are relatively descriptive, there are times in your story where details are missing, for example, in Chapter 43 (Forty-two) where the imposter had fallen asleep in Shin Hoo's arms, a few questions are raised here. The imposter's body isn't exactly long, and in cars there is a division between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat where the gearstick will sit and perhaps a compartment with one or two coffee-holders. Assuming that she had a seatbelt in place, not particularly sure how the imposter can reach over and be in Shin Hoo's arms.
Also, you should be very careful when it comes to describing scenes through a character's perspective. If you started with the imposter's point of view, thoughts and feelings of any other character should not be known to the readers unless it is inferenced by her. Mostly, you have kept this up, but there are a few slip-ups.
Flow: (5/5)
The pacing of The Imposter is very controlled, a day in the story seems to be stretched over multiple chapters. Flashbacks are placed appropriately in between scenes. Nothing was rushed nor unreasonably slow. It's great to see that Shin Hoo has slowly reigned in his love for the imposter; his progressive hatred to love is very well-reasoned and controlled.
The pacing of The Imposter is very controlled, a day in the story seems to be stretched over multiple chapters. Flashbacks are placed appropriately in between scenes. Nothing was rushed nor unreasonably slow. It's great to see that Shin Hoo has slowly reigned in his love for the imposter; his progressive hatred to love is very well-reasoned and controlled.
Grammar: (8/10)
Considering that your English isn't your first, second, but third language, your grammar is exceptional, especially the use of vocabulary. Almost all of your forty-eight chapters contained a lot more than one sophisticated word, which really improves yourself as a writer in the English language, and can open up the eyes of those who are less familiar with a more advanced level of vocabulary.
Considering that your English isn't your first, second, but third language, your grammar is exceptional, especially the use of vocabulary. Almost all of your forty-eight chapters contained a lot more than one sophisticated word, which really improves yourself as a writer in the English language, and can open up the eyes of those who are less familiar with a more advanced level of vocabulary.
Throughout the chapters of The Imposter, some sentences are phrased awkwardly, which is mainly the use of the acting verb. Here is an example from Chapter Thirty One:
He was momentarily distracted by the glint on her eyes and the touch of the light of the chandeliers above highlighting her dark hair, as few strands lay carelessly against her cheek. His hand itched to bury intself on the dark strands.
Here is the correction:
He was momentarily distracted by the glint in her eyes and the touch of the light of the chandeliers above highlighting her dark hair, as few strands lay carelessly against her cheek. His hand itched to bury intself in the dark strands.
You would want to bury your hands in someone's hair, not on.
Another awkward phrase, is where you always seem to use "stiffened". A number of times I have seen you write "she felt him stiffened". If you are going to put "felt him", or any other action verb, you change 'stiffened' to 'stiffen', so that it becomes: "she felt him stiffen". If there is no action verb, then 'stiffen' is going to become your action verb, therefore: "she stiffened" or "he stiffened".
There are a few misspelled words present, which is something very difficult to avoid.
Taste of the Story: (8/10)
On the Foreword of this shop I put down on my staff information that I refused to review . However, I decided to take this request nonetheless because of four things: one, being that many of my reviewers are on busy schedules, two, I wasn't sure if they would oblige to a forty-eight chaptered request if they were to have the time, three, me being super excited to start a new batch, and lastly four, you did specifically request for me on the form. Thankfully, although I initially did plan to skip the rated descriptions (and your warnings definitely helped), your description isn't as explicit as what makes me refuse to review in the first place. Forty-eight chapters to go through is a turn-off, but thanks to the relative briefness of your chapters and how much I enjoyed your story, reviewing it is still fun :).
On the Foreword of this shop I put down on my staff information that I refused to review . However, I decided to take this request nonetheless because of four things: one, being that many of my reviewers are on busy schedules, two, I wasn't sure if they would oblige to a forty-eight chaptered request if they were to have the time, three, me being super excited to start a new batch, and lastly four, you did specifically request for me on the form. Thankfully, although I initially did plan to skip the rated descriptions (and your warnings definitely helped), your description isn't as explicit as what makes me refuse to review in the first place. Forty-eight chapters to go through is a turn-off, but thanks to the relative briefness of your chapters and how much I enjoyed your story, reviewing it is still fun :).
I really like how things are created and set out, especially the dramatic and secretive vibe The Imposter exposes. Sensing the nearing end of your story is enough to make me stay subscribed, aside the fact that Shin Hoo and Joongki are described to be pretty attractive. Hard to resist. To improve the reading experience I suggest not dragging the story out for so many chapters... I'm not sure if you understand my viewpoint when I say this, but basically if you're driven into the plot and want to know what happens, and you look to the sidebar to see you have thirty-five more chapters to read... Lengthy reads are a big turn-off for me. I hope you don't take this personally.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to read and review The Imposter. Despite my preferences, I really enjoyed reading it :).
TOTAL: (80/100)
Thank you for requesting at LUST review shop.
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