Awesome book by an author who has never disappointed! It may take a few chapters to get into the story and piece together all of the characters, but once you’re in, you’re sucked in....leave a day empty to read this book because you won’t want to put it down!

I didn’t think I was going to like this read but was quite pleasantly surprised. I loved this book. Really good read

Thank you for an advanced copy, I ended up purchasing this as an e-book. The first half of the book is very interesting.

I have only read a couple books by this author, but really enjoy the writing style and story lines. This book hooked me from the beginning. It was a super quick read and had a eerie creepy vibe to it. Great thriller. Can’t wait to read her next one. Thanks for the early release copy for honest review.

So many ups and downs, twist and turns and so many possibilities. This one just kept me guessing and reading. Characters that were well developed, one to love and one very creepy. I quick read because I needed to know how it would end. Perfect book to take the mind elsewhere. Highly recommend

This story is told from two different perspectives and centres on Brienne who discovers her identity has been stolen. It’s a bit of a page turner and keeps you guessing. At times you do wonder why she wouldn’t have gone to the police and question the believability of it but I don’t think this detracts from the story and I really enjoyed reading this book!

I like the author's other novels. This one however...not so much. The story started off weird. Information overload, no action. I DNF this book.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was chilling thriller with a plot twist I did not see coming. Brienne has isolated herself in her home after a violent robbery. She takes in a renter and passes her day watching people from her window. she then notices that someone has moved in complex using her identity. This causes a ripple effect that forces her to overcome her fears in order to uncover the truth. Nothing is as it seems in this riveting novel that brings to question who can you really trust.

This crime story is about Brienne who is still haunted since being brutally attacked. She retreats into her house, cut off her old friends and completely changed her life. The only contact is her housemate who helps her at times. However, nothing is as it seems and there is psychological games, gaslighting and twists . While it begins slow the pace picks up and it becomes gripping till the end. I enjoyed reading this novel.

*Thanks to Thomas & Mercer + NetGalley for the ARC!*

What a wackadoodle story - holy cow. If you can suspend disbelief, this is a good story. If you get bogged down in details or expecting things to be accurate to real life, this isn't the one for you. It's got a lot of twists!

Well written thriller. Captivating from the start. Interesting storyline and characters.
You get into the story from page one and don't want to let go.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Six months ago Brienne suffered a brutal attack that left her for dead and alone in her grandparent's home. Now she is recovering but her friends left her and she would have been all by herself if it hadn't been for her roommate Niall. What happens though when one day Brienne receives a key in the mail to an apartment? This leads her down the track of someone stealing her identity and when she follows the person, she is faced with someone who is a double of herself down to the clothes, perfume, and favorite food/drinks. Brienne starts to spiral and soon her roommate Niall convinces her that she is not Brienne - that she is, in fact, his wife Kate and that she has DID and that she has fabricated Brienne. What follows next is the reveal of a long history of dark secrets and soon Brienne doesn't know what is real and what is fantasy? Is she Niall's wife Kate or is he playing the long con with her? The first part of When I Was You is fast-paced, then the middle gets a bit slower but near the ending, it picks up the pace and all is revealed. In a way When I Was You by Minka Kent reminded me a bit of the Netflix movie Secret Obsession. Looking for a good mystery read, then check out today When I Was You by Minka Kent.

4.5/ 5 stars

When I Was You is a psychological suspense thriller. This is my fifth book by this author. I have previously read: The Thinnest Air, The Memory Watcher, The Stillwater Girls, and The Perfect Roommate.

This book is divided into three parts. There are two narrators (1st person POVs). The first narrator is Brienne (30 years old).

Brienne was attacked a few months before the book begins. And she now gets migraines and is scared to leave her home. She has a tenant, a doctor named Niall, who looks out for her.

The main premise of the book is that it seems like there is another woman going by the name Brienne (same last name). And Brienne (the narrator) is confused and trying to figure out what is going on.

I liked the idea of the book being divided into parts with each part ending with a big reveal.

I had so many questions and predictions while reading this book. Some of my guesses were right. But I just really enjoyed speculating and trying to make sense of what was happening.

This book had really good twists. It was a quick, fast-paced suspenseful read. I really enjoyed it.

This is my second read from Minka Kent and she does not disappoint!! I enjoyed every second of this twisty thriller and even found myself exclaiming, "No way!" multiple times out loud. What a rush!

Thank you Netgalley for my copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.

This was my first Minka Kent book and I really enjoyed it. I really liked the main character. I do wish we could have seen more of Sam. There were definitely some good plot twists and shocking moments.

Wow what can I say? This book is a roller coaster. It starts one way and then goes completely the opposite. It's definitely one that makes you think you got it right and then goes ha guess again. I really enjoyed reading this. I really escaped into the characters life and I think that is the goal of a book. I would say it's a 4.5 star for me. I'd recommend to those that like psychological thrillers. And I would love to read more from the author!

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on this book before I started it. For me, I wasn't a big fan of this thriller but I did enjoy bits and pieces of it. The twist of the story towards the second part is what made the book, largely because I just wasn't expecting it and the first half is a bit dry and redundant otherwise. It was separated into two parts between Briennne’s POV and Naill’s.


If you believe someone is stealing your identity your initial reaction would be to call the police but that's not what Brienne does. Instead, she reaches out to a private investigator for help and he tells her that there isn't anything he can do without proof, laughs at her, and then hangs up. She then ultimately decides that she's on her own to figure out who this other woman is using her name because surely there can't be too Brienne Dougrey’s. She’s positive whomever this other ’Brienne Dougrey’ is, she wants to be her because she: 1) Has the same name 2) Iives in the same city 3) Has the same haircut 3) Owns the same rose gold earrings 4) Has the same purse 5) Likes the same music and 5) Has the same car. Brienne hasn't left her house much since her assault that happened about three years ago where she was attacked in an alley while leaving her attorney office late at night. The person who attacked her ran off with her driver's license among her other personal belongings and she has become paranoid that they will come back for her now that they know where she lives. Given a large fortune and home from her grandparents she takes in Dr. Naill Emberlin as a roommate for security and loneliness after her friends suggest it.

Thirty-year-old Brienne Dougray has been looking over her shoulder, living in fear and unable to resume her normal lifestyle, ever since she was stabbed, beaten and robbed. Now she is confined to her home, afraid to venture out. She watches the neighbours, speculating about the nature of their lives for want of something to do.
Her only friend is her tenant, Dr Niall Emberlin, who rooms at her vast home. Niall is an oncologist, and is separated/divorced from his wife, Kate. Brienne has no close friends or family. Her grandparents are dead, and her mother abandoned her when she was a little child.
She receives a key to an apartment at the Harcourt, a luxury residential building, and thinks it is a scam. When she calls for information, she is told that she has paid for six months for a one-bedroom unit in the building. Brienne believes that it may be a clue to discovering the identity of her attacker, and thus get closure. She also suspects that he may have sold her identity.
Logging on to FB with a dummy account, she discovers Brienne Dougray, even though she herself has never been on FB. This Brienne Dougray is someone who is eerily like her, but not her. Later, she visits the apartment at the Harcourt, and finds there a woman who looks, dresses and acts like her, and drives the same car. Who is she? And why is she living as Brienne?
The question of the impersonation and stolen identity is not the only one that plagues Brienne. She also suffers jealousy at the thought of Niall reconciling with his estranged wife, Kate. Brienne furtively reads Kate’s diary, which she finds in Niall’s room, to find out more about their marriage.
But there is more to the truth than what’s inside Brienne’s head? Is the other woman stealing Brienne’s life? Or is she the real Brienne, whose life our narrator is obsessed with?

Having suffered trauma, Brienne is the classic example of an unreliable narrator. I rooted for her, even though it was hard to trust her, and I hated the antagonist (no spoilers here).
The story is written in the first person present tense PoV of Brienne in Part I. In Part II, it shifts to the first person PoV of Niall, and in Part III, we get alternate chapters in Brienne’s and Niall’s PoVs.
The first part I found a little slow. The author seemed to take her own sweet time, getting to the point of why Brienne deserved our attention, but by the end of it, our patience was well rewarded. The pace soon became fast and relentless.
I liked how Brienne and Niall fit so well together, in Brienne’s account. At that point, I had no idea which way the story would go. But by the time I got to the end of Brienne’s account, I found that it had jumped several hoops at once. By the time, we got to Niall’s account, the story had shot through the roof.
One grouse, the author should have thought of different names for the few characters. The main character is Brienne, and then there are two Brians in the story, one of them inconsequential, the other minor, but still part of the story. It doesn’t really confuse the reader, but why in a world teeming with names, did the author have to give us variations of Brian?
There were very few characters in this story, but they were all sharply drawn. All of them ready to take charge of their own lives. Their motivations were so clear, particularly that of the antagonist, who stood out as real, though flawed.
The best thing about this story was that I got caught up in the pace, and kept furiously turning the pages. I couldn’t wait to see how Brienne would re-claim her life.

Fun, if you are able to overlook the desperately silly characters (I am, basically...mostly...ish, but I don't think I'll be running out to pick up her back catalogue).

This one definitely takes a surprising turn about halfway through. A delightfully twisted story of stolen identity, When I Was You became a page-turning thriller once the truth started to reveal itself.