I thought the blurb had given away so much that it would spoil this one but there’s way more to this story. Of course that makes it a bit more difficult to write a spoiler free review. I thought the use of the two narrators Anna and Rosie worked well, although on balance I preferred the Anna chapters. Like other readers I realised pretty early on where this was headed but that in no way prepared me for what was coming. Be advised there are some sections that make uncomfortable reading. This one earned an extra star just for being so different to what I expected and to other similar books I’ve read.

I enjoyed this book, Although the storyline is obvious it was still an enjoyable read seeing it all unfold with the stories from both sides emerging. I will admit that I was slightly disappointed with the ending but then again it was different than expected so in that way it was good.

This book was quite interesting, although it was fairly obvious what the conclusion would be.
If you like crime/mystery/thrillers then you will probably like this, although there is not much mystery in it. I felt it was quite sad, despite the ending. I also found the ending to be a bit of a let-down - it would have been nice to have followed the story a little further, I thought.

A gripping book told from the perspective of a girl living isolated with her mother, and a girl whose sisters disappearance as a child has impacted her life....an interesting plot and a great read! Thanks !

There was a sense of menace throughout this book, but you do not really know where the threat is coming from. This is an easy book to read and you just want to carry on reading to see what happens. A more sophisticated thriller than usual. Very enjoyable.

Anna lives in a strictly religious household and loves her mamma, but after her 18th birthday she starts to have some memories she can’t quite place – is everything really as it seems?

I found My Name is Anna to be a very frustrating read, it’s an interesting concept and actually a quite a good story but the entire progression of the plot could be guessed before you even pick up the book! The blurb gives enough away that when the reveal comes at 60% of the way through you have no reaction, I then sat there waiting for another, better twist to come along later in the book and completely blow me away but it never did. I don’t think this is entirely the fault of the blurb however, having the chapters change perspectives between Rosie and Anna meant you could guess who they were and the link between them two chapters in as well. I think perhaps had the first half of the book just been about Anna and then Rosie was introduced later on, it would have kept up the suspense and tension a lot more.

The writing style was very engaging and I finished it in two sittings. There were some things that irritated me throughout though. Do we really need to patronise the reader by writing out the dictionary definition of ‘false memories’ (basically amounting to ‘a memory that is false’) twice? Would a teenager be talking about putting a photo up on Instagram one minute and then worrying they haven’t written down a number for a taxi the next (Uber and Google are also on phones I hear). The last chapter also randomly changes perspective at the last moment which is out of keeping with the rest of the book.

Overall if you’ve read the blurb of My Name is Anna then you already know the plot and there isn’t much else the book has to offer besides. It’s a good concept and an engaging, quick read but let down by revealing its twists before you even pick it up. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK – Cornerstone and Century for allowing me to read a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I am only partway through this book due to life getting in the way.
However I am thouroghly enjoying what I am reading and cannot wait to finish it to see how it pans out.
This is the 1st book I have read by this author but I will definitely be looking for more.

My Name Is Anna by Lizzy Barber is a fabulous compulsive psychological read that drew me in from the start. The book is written in the first person from the point of view of two sisters. Each chapter alternates the voice as we intimately get to know the girls.
The novel deals with the pain of loss. A loss that occurred when you were too young to remember but has defined your every waking moment for fifteen years. Your whole family is frozen in time, unable to move forwards as their focus is one day fifteen years earlier.
The other side of the coin is stifling obsessive love. It feels like something is missing. Your memory has filed a traumatic event away, just out of reach.
Obsessive compulsive behaviour rules a character. Brain washed as a teen, struggling to come to terms with a devastating loss, a character battles to face reality, with denial being the order of the day.
There are some incredibly hard to read scenes concerning abuse and infanticide. No matter which way you look at it, it is both shocking and horrific. No graphic details are given but the reader's mind fills in the gaps.
The tale concerns a search - both literally and mentally. A search to discover one's true self,
I thought My Name Is Anna was brilliantly written. The plotline was every parent's worst nightmare, sympathetically and realistically executed. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with both sisters whom I liked immensely.
A totally gripping and disturbing psychological read.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

Anna has grown up in the southern states with her Mamma, a strict religious woman obsessed with cleanliness who structures Anna's every move, and yet we are given glimpses that this woman loves her daughter and wants to protect her in what limited ways she can. But Anna's 18th birthday has arrived and lately she has begun to sense things are a bit off, and as she defies her Mamma for the first time and secretly visits a Florida theme park with her boyfriend - somewhere she has never been permitted to go - things come to a head when she is convinced she has been there before. On her return home, she then receives a mysterious note addressing her by a different name - and it's a name she recognises. She dare not speak to her Mamma, her boyfriend is sceptical of her discoveries, and Anna finds herself utterly alone as she searches for answers.

Rosie has grown up in in London in a family fractured by the disappearance of their first daughter 15 years ago, trying to move forward and yet in the shadow of the missing daughter and sister who is always 'there'. Tired of the constant pretence that things are normal, desperate for her parents' grief and yet struggling to be her own person against the ideal picture of her missing and possibly dead sister, Rosie decides that she is going to try to find the truth of what happened all those years ago.

On these two young girls on different continents, the author builds her story, which is utterly gripping from the start. The skill of the author comes over in the way that whilst we are able to guess the connection between the two girls almost from the beginning and in some ways have 'the answer', the author keeps us riveted on every page, wondering about the hows and whys and what will become of it all.

The complexity of the people in the story and the relationships between them are dealt with sensitively and with great skill and sympathy. Apart from the 'ulimate baddy' in the story, who is represented as someone of great evil and who is probably psychopathic, even Anna's strict and apparently loveless Mamma at times softens and we see her struggling with Anna and with herself from the beginning. We don't know why she is the way she is until nearer the end of the story, but I found myself feeling pity for her rather than despising her and this again is, I think, a tribute to the author and the way she dealt sensitively with such a complex character.

I was enthralled by this novel. It's fair to say that in a few places our credulity was stretched a bit - but I don't feel this is a big criticism. After all, novels and stories are not bound to represent 'real life' to the absolute limit and in the cleverly and subtly-painted picture of the closeted small-town environs of Anna's upbringing, we can easily be made to believe that these things could happen.

I understand the author was the recent winner of the Penguin Random House First Novel Competition and I can see why. This was a superb novel, insightful and thought-provoking, and an edge-of-your-seat thriller to boot. I look forward very much to future contributions from Lizzie Barber and have no hesitation in saying, "Get it and read it!" ... and perhaps have a box of tissues around when you get near the end.

This is an easy book to read, it grips the reader from the start and is one of those books you just want to carry on reading to see what happens. The story is told by 2 people, Anna, who lives in the USA with a strict, God fearing mother, and who when we meet her is just about to disobey her mother for the first time and Rosie, living in the UK with a loving family who were struck by tragedy when Rosie's elder sister was taken from an American theme park 15 years earlier. Anna's visit to a theme park is the catalyst for memories to resurface which cause her to question who she really is, whilst Rosie starts searching for answers because of the effects, even after 15 years that the kidnapping of her sister has caused her family.
Although initially I was a little confused by some events happening in the USA and the references to the UK it didn't really detract from the enjoyment of the story. If you're looking for a thriller that isn't all blood and gore but keeps the reader engaged in the book all the way through I recommend it

Well this was a little different. Told from the perspective of the two main characters; Anna and Rosie, we hear about the story of a little girl being snatched from a theme park nearly 15 years ago.
Rosie is the sister of the missing Emily and, through her story we see exactly how her family has coped (or not coped to be honest) since that fateful day. With another anniversary looming and the money running out, Rosie is determined to get to the bottom of what happened once and for all. But will she like what she finds?
Anna is just a girl with an overbearing mother and absent father. She doesn't really have much freedom and her mother has instilled some strange religious behaviours and rituals into her life. With a big birthday looming, Anna wants to rebel, to be a normal child, to have a normal visit to a theme park. She's never been allowed to visit this park before so why is it so familiar?
Most of what you think you need to know about this book is pretty obvious. But that's not the point of the story. It's not really a whodunit, it's more of a why and how... But then is it? There are definitely a lot of layers to this book. And it's emotional - very emotional - especially towards the end. Spoilers prevent me from expanding on this but you'll just have to believe me when I say that this made me think long and hard about the situation that Anna was in and what was happening to her through the book, how it affected her at the end and what was next for her future. Boy she got under my skin. Rosie also intrigued me as a character, how her identity was mostly defined by her sister rather than herself. How she was forever in her shadow, always wondering where she fitted in. She came across as rather confused at times which was not a surprise given what she was going through herself. What really interested me with this book was the way that both these young lives were affected in completely different ways, their attitudes towards the truth when it came out, and what they did to cope going forward.
The book has dual setting - with Anna in the States and Rosie the UK. This did confuse me a little initially but, once I had it sorted in my head, the story flowed well.
It's a slow burner of a book, well until it all starts to kick off at the end, but this pace does make the whole thing feel claustrophobic and adds to the feeling of frustration that the two main characters are obviously also feeling.
All in all a good solid read that I think has affected me more than I realise just now. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I loved My Name is Anna!! I wanted to devour it in one sitting but my eyes had other ideas. Whilst at work I was thinking about what was going to happen next and how the 2 girls were feeling. Another tough story for a parent to read but I just had to know how it ended. It was emotional and had an ending that I didn't see coming. I would have liked it to keep going a few more chapters from where it ended but I just loved it.

Told from the point of view of 2 girls in 2 different countries. Anna is about to o turn 18 and is living in the US with her over protective and church going mother. She has led a very sheltered life but on her 18th birthday she sneaks away with her boyfriend to the local theme park where she has never been allowed to go before. But when they get there it feels really familiar to her and she has no idea why. Then she receives a letter that has her questioning everything in her life. Then there is Rosie who live so in the U.K with her family. 15 years ago her sister went missing, never to be seen again. It is breaking her family apart and she is determined to find out what happened.

Thank you to Random House Cornerstone and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

Is she really Anna?

Two girls in different countries want to know the truth. Rosie in England wants to know what happened to her sister 15 years ago when she was abducted from Astroland. Anna wants to know why she has these flashbacks of Astroland, a place she has never been, and who is the strange man who seems to have the answers to all her questions.

The two girls have grown up in very different environments; Anna with her Mamma a strict religious lady with too many secrets and Rosie growing up in the shadow of her missing sister.

Rosie sets out to find the answers once and for all, and Anna discovers her dreams aren’t just a figment of her imagination and is determined to find out the truth of why she knows so little about her childhood and why her Mamma will not discuss her early life.

A heart-wrenching story of two sisters torn apart but still with a bond neither of them understands.

This book is well written but a little rambling at times, which made it a little boring Instead of adding to the suspense it just made me skip pages and still able to follow the story.

I could not help thinking of Maddie McCann if something like that happened to her and if her parents and siblings went through the same agony. The author has an empathy which made you think what if it was my child?

With a little tweaking, this book would have been a very good story, but it is still worth reading as it will draw you in.

Shesat.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

The story is told from both Anna and Rosie’s viewpoints. Two teenage girls who have been bought up and lived very different lives, however, their pasts are interlinked in more ways than they could possibly imagine.

This book is slightly different in that very early on you figure out how these two girls are linked but what keeps the suspense flowing and kept me turning pages is the mystery about why and how it all happened in the first place.

The book deals with some difficult topics and the sub-plot of the ‘Church’ led by Father Paul introduces concepts of brain-washing and cult mentality. I personally would have liked this aspect to play a larger part in the book and found myself racing through the pages quicker when this side of the story was getting explained.

Overall this is an exciting read for fans of the psychological/mystery thriller genres with a satisfying ending and interesting characters that had me shouting at the pages at times.

My Name Is Anna # Netgallery.
Wow this novel as really given me a good insight about how people cope with a missing child, I genuinely can not comprehend how anyone can cope with such situations. It really goes in-depth to not only the family of the missing child but also little memories of the child realising she had been taken yet no one believes her. Although she only has little bits of a memory. Eventually she questions the women who brought her up as her mum, only to be kept prisoner. Wow it really as so much power and such a emotional book. I at some points I found I had the odd tear in my eye, just wanting for things to come right. Yet how does one adjust back to being home after 15 years of being missing. You can only imagine how the poor missing girl or whoever went missing can actually feel at home again I am sure they wouldn’t feel as if they belong anywhere really.. I genuinely think this books brings emotions to the forefront of our minds. Yet never could any of us begin to imagine until you had been in that situation. Brilliant read excellent research it a thriller but also a tear jerker. Brilliant brilliant book.

I had to think carefully about the rating for this book. It is very well written, has an excellent story-line and keeps you gripped throughout. After the first chapter you presume you know the relationship between Anna and Rosie but not the events leading up to the abduction and the following 15 years. I can see a lot of thought has gone into the book and the theme is certainly not one I have come across before. This is definitely worth reading. I'm not trying to give anything away from how the story develops but I have the following negative comments that stop me giving a 5 star rating:
a) the section covering the first Anna, for me, is far too long and could have been covered in a page or so
b) if is very difficult to 'end' a book such as this but I would have preferred a 'they opened the door to where Emily was and went in' leaving feelings and emotions for the reader to decide
c) although a crucial component I would have preferred the fanatical church background to have been omitted - with the explanation of how and why the abduction happened to remain about the same

Anna is a good girl. Her mother has made sure she is a good clean, church-going young lady. In their house cleanliness is next to Godliness. No speck of dirt, no germ is allowed ! On her eighteenth birthday she finally decides to break out a bit & agrees to go with her boyfriend (the pastor's son!) to the biggest most famous fun park in Florida. She has never been allowed to go there - why does she keep getting this feeling she has been there before? When she receives a mysterious gift she decides there are secrets she must uncover.

Rosie has grown up with the shadow of her older sister's disappearance. She was just a year old when they lost Emily & all her life has been tied up with appeals, TV & other things to get her back. When Rosie discovers that the Trust set up for her sister is due to wind down she decides she needs to try & find the truth for herself.

The story is told by both of them. The reader soon makes the connection but that is only part of the story. It was well written & it was interesting to see the different worlds they lives in. Anna's mother is a character you won't forget in a hurry!

This was a great read.

I really enjoyed this book The story is pursued from 2 angles, which makes it more interesting and creates differing perspectives of the impact of an abducted child. It is well written and the characters are rounded and believable.. It was a relatively quick read and I would recommend it to others.

Mmmmmmmm, an interesting but at times uncomfortable story of a girl kidnapped from a Florida Theme Park 15 years ago...
The story is told in 2 halves, one chapter from ‘Anna’s’ narrative the other from the Sister, Rosie’s.
Anna is in America and Rosie in London so the differences in narrative style keeps you on your toes as you swop continents
The story is there for you from the beginning and then you work backwards from the present day to the day of the kidnapping ( and before )
Mamma ( the American one ) is portrayed wonderfully, if scarily, as a ‘Carrie’ type Mum whilst the UK Mum is just about coping 15 years on
The use of the internet and forums in the story is fascinating as people ‘air their ideas’....but someone knows more than they are saying....
The outcome of why Anna was taken is scary and even more so as its believable and the conclusion of the book moving and a little sad tbh
A darkly intense story that kept me involved and wanting to know how, why, what for and what will happen now
8/10 4 stars

When Emily disappears as a toddler from a Florida theme park, it leaves a family desperately craving answers. On the fifteenth anniversary of her disappearance, it seems they are no nearer to discovering the truth - until younger sister Rosie starts to delve into the murky depths of the internet.
In America, Anna is starting to question who she is. When she receives a mysterious letter from a man in a white suit, her life begins to unravel.
This is an excellent read told from the two viewpoints of Emily and Rosie. Full of suspense it kept me turning the pages as I followed the girls' journeys. In any story involving missing children, there is unlikely to be a happy ending - lives have been changed and when so many years have gone by it is impossible to fill in the gaps especially when nobody is who they seem. Nevertheless, there is at least a sense of closure and new beginnings in this story. Thoroughly engrossing.