I wasn’t sure about this book when I first started. Everything felt very rushed and I didn’t know how I felt about the writing. But as I got into it a little more, I really started to enjoy it and I started to zoom through it so I could find out what was going to happen next!

The story goes from a mysterious murder to focusing more on a stalker situation. I think the stalker storyline was what really saved it for me. Give me all the creepy villains, please and thank you.

I also really loved the ending! It showed a very different side of the main character, and I thought it was a great wrap-up to a story full of unsettling characters.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy. This review is posted on my Goodreads and my Instagram account.

Thank you so much to @harpercollinsca for the complimentary digital review copy of Are You Sara? so I could read and review it. Are You Sara? published on August 2, 2022 - AVAILABLE NOW!

Sara Bhaduri works in a campus bar at the university she is attending Law School. One night, as they are closing, she is tasked with dealing with the passed out girl in the bathroom - Sarah Ellis. The two Sara(h)'s get along great, but quickly head off in their respective rides to go home for the evening but somehow end up in the wrong vehicles. Sara eventually makes her way home, only to find a massive presence of emergency vehicles, and a crumpled body on her doorstep.

I was really intrigued by the premise and synopsis of this book. Two people with the same name getting confused and one immediately murdered? Count me in!

There is a lot going on in this book, we have Sara's present as well as references to her past. We see Sarah's history in flashback scenes. While some of the story lines slowly work together, I felt like there were still some loose ends and some unnecessary plot points.

It was easy to know whose sections I was reading at what time because the two perspectives are written in two distinct voices. Sarah is clearly younger, but I'm not sure Sara was acting as old as she was written to be. I have trouble believing everything that Sara has experienced could have happened while she was in law school.

Having said that, this was a fun read, and it was quick. I recommend it if you can suspend reality a little bit while reading thrillers.

Are you Sara? is mystery thriller told from alternating timelines, the first being the POV of Sara, who is convinced that she was meant to be the target of the murder due to the things she became involved in to earn money to pay for tuition, and the second being Sarah's journal entries beginning three years ago until the night of her murder.

From the synopsis I sincerely thought I was going to love this book, but unfortunately it fell a bit short for me.

In the first few chapters of the book I sincerely enjoyed the story and both of the main characters, however after a few chapters the story slows down and I never really got that spark back. The two Sara(h)s are interesting characters, but unfortunately I thought they were both very unlikeable and that factor mixed with the slow plot had me putting the book down constantly and almost forcing myself to pick it back up to continue reading. It felt like there were a lot of plot points that felt very irrelevant to the story, there was very little action/suspense to keep me interested and there was no "big twist" that the reader doesn't see coming.

Overall, it was a good book but it wasn't anything amazing.

This story began very strong with the eerie premise of a deadly ride share mix-up and two women whose identities become entangled.

The story is told from two POVs. The main POV is Sara, a law student who is convinced, based on her past actions, that she was the intended murder target. The second POV is the murder victim, also named Sarah, who describes her backstory for the reader.

After the initial crime, the tension seemed to dissipate, and the story became more confusing than suspenseful with extraneous details that made the story feel disjointed and lacking direction. I wish there was more attention given to the ride-share mix-up, which was a great premise, but instead we focus on Sara's life - her poor decisions and immaturity.

The premise and the inclusion of social themes of sexism, class and expectations were the strongest elements of this book for me. This was the author's debut suspense novel (she has previously written lighter fare under her real name Sonya Lalli) and it was a good first foray into a new genre. But although it has a dark plot with a few red herrings, it never felt suspenseful to me and wasn't a story that compelled me to pick it up.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to HarperCollins Canada for my complimentary advanced digital copy that was provided in exchange for my honest review.

Although I really liked the premise of this book, it just didn’t deliver for me. Both main characters were unlikeable and one of them just came off very immature which totally turned me off. It was a struggle to finish this one.

This one had so much potential based on the overall story concept - 2 women, both named Sara/h who get into the wrong rideshare, and one ends up dead ! But it was very slow and repetitive until about TBR last 25% or so. The whole Jason storyline was so slow on the uptake that by the time I found out what was going on, I was already a bit tuned out

S.C. Lalli takes a break from writing romance and women's fiction (as Sonya Lalli), to bring us a suspense novel in Are You Sara?
I thought Lalli's premise was great, opening the door for any number of paths...

Two women each call for a rideshare home. The hook? They're both named Sara and they each get into the wrong vehicle. The leading character Sara ends up in a rich neighborhood and has to walk back home. When she finally makes it to her own home, there are flashing blue lights everywhere - and a dead girl named Sarah. Which one of them was the intended victim?

Sara sets out to answer that question for herself and Sarah. Each of the women have a voice. Sarah's starts almost three years ago as a series of journal entries. Her tone is younger and focuses on her relationships. Sara is an older law student, who also works two part time jobs - as a bartender and baby sitter. She's also held a job in the past that really stretched incredulity for this reader. Yes, I'm being a bit obtuse, but I don't want to provide spoilers. As the details of the side gig are revealed, I found it difficult to reconcile that skill set with the student who pulls pints. This was probably the biggest hurdle for me. I didn't like Sara and never became invested in her. There's a fairly larger number of supporting characters that were easy to dislike as well.

That initial premise got lost in a myriad of sub plots. Too many in my opinion. That being said, the book did hold my attention to the final pages as I wanted to know how things ended. Lalli gives us a few gotchas in the end that were appreciated.

was fortunate to receive an advance copy of the book and am quite sure that most will enjoy it as much as I did once it is out.

I enjoyed the story, S.C. Lalli kept me guessing with the possibilities. The story flips between past and present and as we do more is revealed.

It's worth a read

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙-𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅. 𝑨 𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑰𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”

Are You Sara? has a super interesting premise: two girls, both named Sara/Sarah with similar appearances, get into Rideshares meant for the other; one ends up dead, but is it a case of mistaken identity?

From the opening line of “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎,” the story takes off and doesn’t really let up - it is a roller coaster of not-always-connected events, as Sara tries to figure out what happened to Ellis (the other Sarah). As a woman of colour in law school, Sara deals with many different issues, such as class (her sister Tina should be a shoo-in for Yale med school, but struggles due to her low-income background), code-switching, discrimination, and familial expectations/traditions (especially with Ajay). Much of what Sara questions is mixed with the feeling of being paranoid, confused or overtired, and how much is the truth. There is one descriptive scene in the law library basement that reminded me of my undergrad library basement (they all seem to be deserted and creepy!). Sara sometimes is frustrating; she acts rashly without always thinking things through, can be immature, yet quite manipulative. She is ruthless however and works hard to get what she wants, even if it means not being likeable. The story also touches on the shadier side of the legal system, and the misogyny women face.

Are You Sara? is an overall easy to read mystery about doing what we have to do for the life we want, and taking control. It was a good first suspense novel from S.C. Lalli. Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and NetGalley for the ARC!

I’d recommend adding ARE YOU SARA? by S.C. Lalli to your list! This thriller hooked me in right from the start and all the way to the end. It’s about Sara, who takes the wrong rideshare home and then finds out the other Sarah who took her ride was murdered. I liked so many elements in this book:
.
- dual POV - the two narrators had very distinctive voices, each very different from the other so Sara and Sarah contrasted nicely
- dual timelines - we learn about their pasts in a nice flow
- short chapters! I read this book in two days!
- flawed characters
- good twist!
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Definitely interested to read more from this author now! Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for my uncorrected proof!

I admired the strength and resiliency of both main characters. The intricate nature of the story and the numerous twists kept me on the edge of my seat. S.C. Lalli has found the perfect formula to keep her reader's eyes glued to the page.

When Sara/Sarah get their car ride mixed up, is it a case of mistaken identity or not? Such is the premise of Are You Sara?

This was a dual story line plot, going back in time between the 2 of them. Starting out really strong I was intrigued about the mixup, the mystery and who these 2 vastly different women were. The story progressed at a slower past and didn't have that unputdown feature I crave in a thriller but curiosity won out with that 'I gotta know what happened here vibe. It definitely went in a direction I didn't anticipate.

Lots of red herrings kept me guessing. Though I wasn't a fan of most of the characters, one was given more time than the other and ultimately the ending worked even if I wasn't a huge fan of it.

All in all a solid debut. My thanks to Harper Collins Ca for a digital arc in exchange for a honest review.

Well-plotted novel told from two POVs, both women named Sara, whose lives become intertwined when they accidentally get into each other’s ride shares one night and one of them ends up dead. Good mystery that deals with themes of sexism, power, corruption, wealth and poverty, and struggling with family and social expectations. Well-written, generally well-paced and a satisfying ending. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for my review copy of this debut novel! The premise of this story started out really strong. However, after the first few chapters, the story slowed significantly and I never experienced the "can't put it down" moment that I usually expect from a thriller.

I think my main disconnect with the book was the main character Sara. She felt very immature for her age. I loved how she got it all figured out at the end -- knowing who she was and what she wanted -- but I didn't feel that character growth throughout the story, and so, even that felt abrupt.

Still, the mystery was intriguing. I wish the car ride aspect played into it a bit more, but I enjoyed the dual perspectives from the two Sarahs. I was also surprised by the final reveal, which always leaves me feeling satisfied after a mystery novel.

Format is extremely messed up, which disrupts from the flow of the book. NetGalley was unable to help. Giving 5 stars for fairness.

Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli is a gripping tale of possible mistaken identity resulting in a murder, that is fascinating right up to the very end.
The change of point of view and timelines for both women, who are both students at a nearby university and both are named Sara, albeit with different spellings, makes for an intriguing mystery as the reader is slowly meted out the clues as to who could have killed one of the women, and why. The novel touches on themes of expectations heaped upon the women by society and family, the dichotomy between rich and poor, and the danger of making assumptions about the people around you.
I feel fortunate to have received an ARC of #AreYouSara from #NetGalley.

Two women, each named Sara, get into separate rideshares . . . but only one makes it home alive. Which Sara was the real target?
This is a twisty novel about wealth, ambition and two women's need to break free.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Two Sara’s both take a Ride to get home late at night, they are each delivered to the others home! One ends up dead.

While this was a quick read and overall a good read the plot could have been tighter and delved into more. Sara E.’s story is hard to follow at times while we learn so much more about Sara B’s situation.

While I have to say that I did think it was one character and was totally blindsided in the last couple of chapters when a character (talked about occasionally) was revealed.

This book would be a good weekend read and/or book club read as there are times of opportunity to discuss deeper.

My rating 4/5 stars.

#killercrimeclub #netgalleyreads #lovemysteries #sclalli

Thank you Killer Crime Club and NetGalley for this arc. It was really good, i just find that the one Sara's story was getting sidetracked and sometimes forgotten. That ending though, did not see that coming.

#AreYoySara by Canadian author S.C. Kalli is a dark psychological thriller that centers around 2 women both named Sara/Sarah.
This novel will have you guessing until the very end. 🤓📚❤️