Alice Lee arrived in NYC with $600.00 in her pocket on her 18th birthday. She had a stolen camera, a few articles of clothing and a whole lot of hope for a fresh start. Big dreams in a big city which were unfortunately dashed when she became an unidentified murder victim.

Ruby Jones is also looking for a fresh start. She has been in a relationship with a man who is engaged to another. She has come to NYC from Australia hoping get perspective but finds she is so very lonely. She unfortunately finds Alice's dead body while out for a run.

Now Alice and Ruby are connected. Alice wants the truth of her life told and Ruby finds she can't let Alice go. Imagine finding a dead body, especially the body of someone who has been murdered. How does that affect you? Everyone is different, some may be able to shake it off, while others may find discovering a dead body to be very traumatic. Plus, poor Alice, all she wanted was to begin again, to have a fresh start, so young and full of promise.

This was a well written book about two women and their connection. This book evokes emotion while exploring Alice and Ruby's thoughts. While all you want to do is move on, yet there is something holding you in place.

Both Alice and Ruby are likeable characters. I felt for both before and after the murder. I appreciated how the focus was on them and not so much on the killer. So often, we hear a lot about murderers but not their victims. I applaud the author for showing us Alice, and for showing how Ruby was affected by finding Alice's body.

Well written, evoking emotion and gripping.

From beyond the grave, Alice tells us this touching story about herself, a young girl who’s had a rough life that ended much too soon. It’s about Ruby, who found Alice’s body. Ruby’s curiosity about whom the police are calling Jane Doe grows daily. She wants to know more about her and figure out who she is because Jane’s face appears in Ruby’s dreams, and she needs closure. Both were new to New York for vastly different reasons. Both were starting to find their place when the unthinkable happened.

This story took an inordinately long time to get into. I didn’t much care for Ruby, the other woman, pining after a man thousands of miles away. She was her affair and little else. I also had a few problems with this. In one chapter, it had been 4 days since Ruby had found Alice, and she was declaring herself a PTSD sufferer. But then it turned out it had been a week. The timeline was confusing, and the DSM would vehemently disagree with Ruby’s assertions. And thankfully, it seems Ruby finally came to that conclusion, sort of. But the inclusion of it wasn’t necessary, in the slightest, because it’s a chapter of text and then referred to once. Why bother including it when she doesn’t even have PTSD? Mental health is not a buzzword to throw in a book because it makes the book “feel” inclusive.

It’s not a bad story, but it doesn’t stand out. The characters aren’t all that in depth, so you don’t really get to know them. It would have been nice for them to exclude the PTSD angle because I almost bailed on the book because of it. But I’m glad I stuck with it because the storyline picked up a bit, and it turned out well. Thank you, Atria Books, for sending this along.

Have you ever read about a body found by a jogger? Well, this is the story of both the jogger-Ruby- and the young woman- Alice- whose body she found. These two women would never have intersected but for Alice's murder. Alice, an 18 year old orphan, fled to NY with $600 and a stolen Leica and was just getting on her feet, living with Noah, walking dogs, and applying for a photography course. Ruby, in her 30s, also fled to NY but from Melbourne and she's less settled. Who killed Alice? That's less important in many ways than the stories these two women have to tell. Ruby's decision to attend a PTSD support group leads her to the Death Club, a group of three friends who become her friends as well. This is about more than the hunt first for Alice's name and then for her killer, it's also about the impact of a death and the ripples to people we don't often think about. It's gorgeously written indeed and the two women meticulously crafted. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A great read.

"A lonely woman an a lonely dead girl together in New York. Ruby Jones and Alice Lee. Stuck in our tug-of-war between the living and the dead."

Ruby and Alice arrive in NYC on the same day. They explore the city without meeting. Their paths cross a month later when Ruby is jogging and discovers Alice's dead body in the Hudson River. It is not difficult to imagine the trauma that results from discovering a dead body. Ruby seeks help through a group called the Death Club. Alice is there with her, unseen. Throughout the narrative, we view the present timeline from both perspectives. Who took Alice's life on that rainy morning? What did she miss out on by having her life cut so short? What did her friends and family lose? Ruby is also forever changed by the experience and is determined to find out what happened. This reminded me of "The Lovely Bones" and also "Please See Us."

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this one! Very well written. Great story, and characters. Loved that I was thinking about this book when I would set it down. It was captivating and haunting.

This a story that makes you think. You hate to reach the end, and when you do, you want to give it a hug. There are two main characters: Alice and Ruby. You will love them both and probably not equally. They travel from different continents to fly into New York’s airport, but they end up hailing cabs just minutes apart. They have a few similarities: loving someone they shouldn’t, wanting to start over, nervous but excited for a second chance. One just turned 18, is broke and has no family to speak of. The other is 36, has a supportive family, and is financially comfortable.
Their taxis take them in different directions, but they’re destined to cross paths again soon.
The supporting characters are just as relatable. You hate certain ones from both their pasts (some more so than others), and you’ll love some of the new ones they meet. Except for one. You’ll hate him, and wonder why monsters like him have to walk this earth. You’ll detest him, and you won’t be ashamed of it.
I can’t say enough to recommend this book. It’s not for the “sunshine and lollipops” crowd, but it’s very realistic; full of love and lessons to be learned.
Sincere thanks to Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is November 1, 2022.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


Ruby has fled Australia for New York City, leaving behind everything. She had to flee. New York City felt like the safest and most remote place to try to get over Ash, the man she’d been having an affair with. Ash is engaged, and there is no chance he’s going to end that engagement for Ruby.

Alice lost her mom at a young age. She’s been raised by a friend of her mom’s, who really doesn’t keep tabs on her. So when the chance comes up to go to her friend Tammy’s cabin, she agrees. Only she doesn’t end up there. And where she does end up might be worse than anything she could have imagined. When she runs again, it is to New York City.

Both women have pasts they’d like to forget. But how their paths will cross in New York City could never be imagined.

I enjoyed this suspense novel. There was a lot of backstory for both Alice and Ruby. A lot of time spent getting to the crux of the mystery. While I felt the book was slow paced for the first half, it does pick up and keep you more riveted in the second half. It is an emotional story that is not easy to absorb. But it’s also something that happens in our country far too often.

It’s a good novel. Enjoyed.

This was not my favorite. Sometimes things just don't feel right with my soul as a I read it, and I think it's probably just her style of writing. The story itself was good however.

In Bublitz's capable hands, what could have been a disastrous novel - the story of a young woman's murder and the woman who found her body - is a haunting tale of what it means to find oneself, to live among others who, as all people, also have their struggles and their longings. Although the reader knows from the start that this is a murder mystery, and that the identification of the murderer will not come until near the end of the novel, Bublitz reveals her story slowly, literally taking us into the minds and souls of the two female protagonists. Before You Knew My Name is gorgeously written and worth the time to read it slowly, savoring every word and thought rather than racing to the end to figure out "who dunnit." Readers who appreciate good literary fiction will appreciate this book.

Jacqueline Bublitz’s debut novel, Before You Knew My Name , is heartbreaking and thought-provoking. At 36, Ruby Jones decides to move to NYC for six months from Australia. She needs to be shaken out of her current state of aloneness and get a fresh start on life. Alice Lee turns eighteen on the day she arrived in New York City (NYC) with $600, a few clothes, and a stolen camera. One month later, Alice is dead, but her story continues. When Ruby finds a woman’s body by the Hudson River, she and Alice are connected. While Ruby wants to forget what she saw, she can’t. Can she solve Alice’s death and give her closure?

The complex characterization is first-rate for Alice and Ruby as well as many of the secondary characters. Their hope, sadness, and loneliness are palpable. Both characters change and grow as they respond to events. I cared about them and they were easy to like.

This novel is unique with it’s narration by Alice after her death. For the majority of the book, others know her only as Jane Doe or Riverside Jane. The story goes beyond who murdered “Jane” to who was “Jane”. Readers learn from Alice about her life before her death, including her month in NYC. They also gain insight into Ruby’s desire for a change in her life.

This book has a solid premise and a mystery, but it’s much more than that. There’s a focus on the victim and the one who found her more than the murder itself. It’s about the ability for all to walk safely on streets. Taking control of your life and the effects of trauma on those who encounter it are explored, including flashbacks, paranoia, and hypervigilance. It’s about finding a murder victim and having a young life full of opportunity cut short. News coverage bias and remembering the victims is explored. Other themes include starting over, safety, freedom, hope, grief, surviving, friendship, trust issues, assault, murder, and deaths. My biggest quibble is the pacing felt slow at times. The story switches between characters frequently.

Overall, this story is gripping, thought-provoking, and emotional, with wonderful characterization and many scenes of heartache and hope. While this is fictional, violence and murder against women is an occurrence that is all too frequent in today’s world. This was a new author for me and I can’t wait to dive into another one of her stories. This incredible novel will be remembered for a long time.

Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Jacqueline Bublitz provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for November 1, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Haunting Yet Preachy. This is a book in the vein of if i stay, though here we know up front that our narrator is dead - and she knows it. Still, when searching through my memories trying to find a comparison point, that is what comes up and I think the comparison works. This tale has a similar haunting effect, not from the haunting itself (though the narrator is, if anything, a benevolent ghost just trying to be helpful), but more from the style of the story being told. There is a lot of trauma here in terms of child molestation/ exploitation (though within the last few months pre-18th birthday, at least on screen). adultery, abuse, and safety generally. It is on this last point - safety generally - that this book veers too far into the "preachy" side, hammering the reader over the head several times with its own metaphorical version of the murder weapon used here, and this is the reason for the star deduction. Still, overall the tale is solid if a touch slow, but interesting enough to want to find out what is going on and to keep reading through the end. Very much recommended.

Thank you NetGalley & Atria Books.

Throughout the book it does seem a bit difficult to follow the characters and know who is doing what and who we are talking about. This book required quite a bit of backtracking.

I will say the second half of this book is unbelievably better then the first half. Books like this are a good example as to why I do not DNF.

Trigger Warnings:
- Mention of Suicide
- Sexualization of a Student
- Sexual Content

Heartbreaking and beautiful read! Two women coming to NYC to start over become connected in a tragic manner. The author takes the common topic of young woman murdered and asks Who else does tragedy affect?

When I read the synopsis I was a little confused and as I'm reading trying to work out the connection between the two female characters. I enjoyed Alice's backstory and found Ruby's reason to relocate very believable. I love how in NYC people meet and connect, that you can easily meet people of different backgrounds. I imagined this story frequently as a movie and would love to see the Death Club come to life!

I enjoyed the suspense of the book and that the murderer was not revealed to be Noah! The ending did feel a little dragged out once the murder was solved but I can see how the author was not making that the main story.

TW: sexual abuse,sexual grooming, alcoholism

When i requested to read this story i saw that this was a diifferent kind of dead girl story and i was hoping this wasnt going to be another lovely bones type book and i wasnt disappointed. I also read it in one sitting.

I truly felt like i was apart of the 2 main characters lives. I felt like i was an invisible friend too them. I felt every emotion with them and i was in the story with them.

I will tell you this wasnt an easy read but Jacqueline Bublitz writes a heartfelt, beautifully written story.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time, and I will be recommending this book to everyone in the hopes that others will feel the same way as I did..

Many thanks to NetGalley and AtriaBooks for an early copy to review.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone else

4.8 stars
#JacquelineBublitz introduces us to Alice Lee and Ruby Jones, 2 women drawn together by the death and life of Alice. It is a beautifully written book that captures you with the poignancy of a short life, of choices made, and the connection between people (dead and alive).

A now wise Alice, slowly tells her story to the reader and to Ruby. From beyond the grave she brings her murderer and her survivors to an understanding that life is about trust and love. With prose that is so haunting that you feel the loss of unwanted love.

'No one lives just one life. We start and finish our worlds many times over. And no matter how long or short a time we are here, I'm beginning to realize we all want more than we get.'

There are many other touching characters, lending a reminder of the heart wrenching catasrophes that can come our way but also that connection, friendship and love will always prevail.

'Sharing his good fortune and sound mind twice a month is his penance for making a living out of people's misery.'

This is a book not to be missed, it will break your heart but also give you hope that your deeds and intentions live long past your demise.

'Only silence is large enough to hold her sorrow'...' Sometimes is is surrender, not struggle, that saves a life."'

Well done #JacquelineBublitz, thank you for your well-considered words. You have a new fan!

Many thanks to #NetGalley and #AtriaBooks for an early copy to review.

Before You Knew My Name
Jacqueline Bublitz
November 1, 2022

Two women move to New York City. Never knowing one another, Alice Lee decides to start anew in a different environment where she begins alone. She finds an ad for a rental in the city. She’d be sharing the bathroom but would have ,a room all to herself. She responds, he accepts, the bus ticket purchased and she uploads her small parcel of belonging. Ruby Jones has saved her money and after a less than perfect love affair she decides it’s time to leave Australia and job for a while. After renting an efficiency apartment she boards the plane for her new adventure. These women will connect yet not in the pleasantry either one expected.
Before You Knew My Name will be published by Sphere of Simon and Schuster on November 1, 2022. I appreciate them allowing me to read and review via NetGalley. Jacqueline Bublitz’ latest writing is excellent, powerful. Word to the reader - not an entertaining, amusing book. It’s a tough read, very well written but not one I could read again. I did however appreciate the talented script. It could easily become a film. Do not skip this one because of its darkside, it is well worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of Before You Knew My Name!

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking. Something that will surely stick with you for a long time.

With that being said, it is a very intricately written book that does ramble at times, so if this is something doesn't keep your attention this isn't for you!

Before You Knew My Name caught my attention because it makes big promises – two women, one mystery, and a feminist thriller. Um, yes, please! Also, gotta say that I like the cover. Not sure what it is I like, maybe the colors?

Alice Lee and Ruby Jones are very different women, but both have turned to New York City for their second chance. For Alice, she arrived with only the items she could carry, only to meet a dark fate.

As for Ruby...she's hoping this will be a chance to reinvent herself. Or rather, that is what she had been hoping. But finding a body has a way of changing one's perspective, wouldn't you say? Now she is integrally tied to Alice's story.

"The story," she says, "always belonged to Alice."

Wow. Having just finished Before You Knew My Name, I'm still processing everything that happened. This was one hell of a debut, and it packs quite the emotional punch. It also makes you think and is delightfully poignant. In other words, it is very much worth the read.

Before diving into Before You Knew My Name, I knew that one of the two leading characters would die. This is no secret. I was interested but also hesitant. Sometimes books of this style can be depressing, you know? But something about Before You Knew My Name worked for me.

Bublitz's writing does a brilliant job of capturing complex and complicated themes. Grief, loss, death, consent, the nature of attachment, it's all there – and so much more. It made for a heavy read, but it was also a deeply powerful experience.

If you're looking for a book that will burrow under your skin and make you stop and think, please take the time to pick up and read Before You Knew My Name. It's worth it.

Before You Knew My Name will oh so slowly draw you in to the world of Ruby and Alice .

They both want a fresh start choosing New York City and as we soon find out Ruby finds Alice's corpse and to the police she is Jane Doe.

Alice's spirt attaches herself to Ruby and thus begins Alice's journey on finding out who Jane Doe is and was.

I can only say from that point on I was hooked.

The story is powerful and moving and at the same heart wrenching.

Before You Knew My Name will be a Book Club Choice of that I have no doubt and it is a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

Remarkable debut and I cant wait to see what else Jacqueline Bublitz has in store for her readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an outstanding read.

A stunning debut. Simply gorgeous - heartbreaking and hopeful. I always include the publisher's synopsis, because I hate typing my own, but this is one that just does not do the book justice. Yes, it's about two women - Alice and Ruby - who both arrive in NYC on the same evening, fleeing their uhappy lives. And yes, one is murdered. But this novel is SO MUCH MORE than that. It's a murder story, but about the dead woman and the jogger who finds her. It's about their lives, and what was and what could have been. It's about the shared experiences of women everywhere. And the supporting characters are great as well. It's an amazing debut - just read it!

"This is not just another novel about a dead girl. Two women—one alive, one dead—are brought together in the dark underbelly of New York City to solve a tragic murder.

When she arrived in New York on her eighteenth birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice Lee was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city’s latest Jane Doe. She may be dead but that doesn’t mean her story is over.

Meanwhile, Ruby Jones is also trying to reinvent herself. After travelling halfway around the world, she’s lonelier than ever in the Big Apple. Until she stumbles upon a woman’s body by the Hudson River, and suddenly finds herself unbreakably tied to the unknown dead woman.

Alice is sure Ruby is the key to solving the mystery of her short life and tragic death. Ruby just wants to forget what she saw…but she can’t seem to stop thinking about the young woman she found. If she keeps looking, can she give this unidentified Jane Doe the ending and closure she deserves?"

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.