This was a great YA thriller. Very quick read and it kept me engaged right from the start. I understand why it has so many glowing reviews!

While this book was twisty and genuinely chilling, there were also light hearted moments. It was a pleasure to read. I look forward to reading Megan Lally's next works. A big thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC.

★ ★ ★ ★ .5

check TWs

Note: I try my hardest to not include spoilers in my reviews. However, spoilers and how you define a spoiler is subjective. Proceed with caution.

*A special thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

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If you’re looking for a quick thriller or aren’t used to reading thrillers, this is a great option for you. You’re constantly immersed in the story, so much so, you don’t realize how fast the book is going. Before I knew it, I was finished. And I had a great time.

I believe this is this author’s debut, and if that’s the case, I’m so impressed. It was an interesting story, but not so complicated that the plot got lost. I thought I knew how the story was going to go, so I didn’t see the plot twist coming— which has all the markings of a good thriller.

I really look forward to reading future works from this author.

This is a fast-paced thriller. The title fits with the ending. It’s very creepy all the way through and the ending is a horror nightmare!

A teen girl awakes, cold and shivering in a ditch at the side of the road. She has no memory of how she got there, no memory of her name, or who she is. After a police officer finds her and takes her back to the station, her father arrives, so glad to have found his daughter safe. At least, she thinks it's her father, he has pictures of her, he has her old school ID and her birth certificate, he says her name is Mary. She wouldn't know if he wasn't her father...she can't remember anything.
Meanwhile, Drew has become prime suspect number one in his hometown. After Lola left his car in anger five weeks prior, she disappeared, and now the town would rather believe that Drew murdered her than keep looking for her. Drew needs to find her, not just to prove to the people who have watched him grow up, and that he's grown up with, that he's not a cold-blooded killer, but because the longer Lola is missing, the less likely they are to find her at all. The longer it takes to find her, the more danger they both face.

This story is told through alternating POVs between Drew and Mary. It opens with and unknown teenage girl waking up in a ditch, that's when we first meet Mary. The feeling of suffocation and isolation was so prevalent with Mary's character, throughout the entire story to be honest. The thought of waking up not knowing who you are, where you are, what's happened or where you've come from instils a different sense of fear and dread than one I've previously experienced before in other books. The not knowing anything about yourself, and how dangerous that can actually be is, quite frankly, terrifying. This point is illustrated on a couple of different occasions that Mary herself even mentions being terrifying, in the simpleness of an allergic reaction to a food she's eaten, purely because she does not remember that she has an allergy to it. Something so simple, that is just base knowledge about yourself, gone, now given the ability to potentially cause dire consequences, even as dire as death - if that's not a fear inducing thought, I don't know what is. Not knowing if you're safe, what you like, what you don't like, not recognising your own face in the mirror. Essentially being a stranger in your own body *shudders*. Lally did an absolutely amazing job of portraying the confusion and the emotional turmoil that this would cause. Creating a stifling atmosphere filled with anxiety and a growing sense of dread about what is going to happen, will Mary eat something she's allergic too and die? Or is her father a crazed kidnapper with the potential to murder her in her sleep? You just never know.

Drew's portion of the story was filled with a blooming feeling of immense anxiety and hopelessness, the town thinks he's a pariah, that he's a cold blooded murdered who murdered his girlfriend and is trying to cover it up and pretend she's missing. The only people willing to still love and care for him being his family. Even the people that watched him grow up and the people that he grew up with, that he's known his whole life, think that he's a killer. The isolation and hopelessness were palpable. A rich atmosphere that, paired with Mary's chapters, had me feeling like I was gasping for air, slowly suffocating while no one could hear me screaming for help. Initially I preferred Mary's chapters, as the mystery that rode her side of the story was beyond intriguing, as the book progressed, Drew's chapters became just as enthralling as we get a glimpse into the boy he really is, the boy who is just trying to find out the truth, who just wants to bring his girlfriend home. You never knew what he was going to uncover or find out next, and while the pacing overall was initially a bit slower, I feel that it worked for the story as it really helped to build that slow sense of dread that permeated the story. It felt like a slow slug through thigh high mud, each step sucking at your legs until you're so tired you feel like it'd be better to just give up and let the quagmire pull you down and steal your breath, allowing you to finally sleep in peace. After finishing the book, I could see that the pacing helped the story, it helped build that atmosphere, even if it wasn't a deliberate choice on Lally's part, it worked.

This story was one that was so shrouded in mystery, even as I thought I had it all worked out, I didn't. It kept surprising me, and I was so surprised to find out that this is Lally's debut novel. I would love to pick her brain and find out her process for building such a twisty turny story, one that left me turning in circles not knowing I was lost until it told me. I think I instantly clicked with Mary, I'm not sure why, I just did. I don't know if it was in a sympathetic way, or if I just really liked her character. The inner turmoil she had as she tried so hard to remember who she was, and what was right and real and true. I didn't like Drew initially, but he did grow on me, and by the end I was really rooting for him and the couple of people who ended up sticking by him and being his biggest allies. His cousin really bugged me, but I get the feeling that he was supposed to. So even that worked.

All in all, I don't want to say too much about this one as I don't want to risk giving anything away. If you feel like it's a bit of a slow mover, stick with it because its pacing has a purpose. If you think you have it figured out, I look forward to hearing if you're right. And let me tell you, those last few chapters had me furiously flipping pages because the build to the climax was happening so fast, I couldn't put it down if I wanted to. And that epilogue. Originally, I had this pegged at a 4-star read, I actually put it as a 4.5, halfway through typing this review up, I realised that no, it's a 5. The emotions that it drew out of me, the way that Lally weaved this story, it's honestly brilliant. I am still gobsmacked that this is her debut novel, but I'm looking forward to following her on her journey as an author and seeing what she does next! Definitely an author to watch.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing to read this ARC. This story was intriguing and a very fast read….and it gave me allllll the feels! Definitely worth a read - give it a try!

I enjoyed this book!
Lola and Drew are high school seniors doing what most teenagers do at some time. They are driving around and talking. Lola envisions their life together with getting married and the whole American Dream deal. However, Drew freaks out at this revelation because he is a senior in high school and wants to keep his options open because everything that Lola is imagining is final and he still wants to live. This led to an argument between the two and Lola got out of Drew's car and slammed the door, while Drew thought she just needed time to cool off. He was proved wrong when Lola didn't return home and Drew realized he made a huge mistake when she didn't turn on her phone. No one knows what happened to Lola and the sheriff thinks he murdered her.
Then, you have this teen that wakes up in the ditch and she is hurting everywhere. Although she does not know her name and cannot remember anything. So after refusing to go get checked out with EMS, she is taken to the Sheriff's station then soon a frantic man arrives with pictures, a birth certificate, and things like that for a girl named Mary. This girl looked like the girl in the pictures, so who was the Sheriff's officer to not allow the girl to go with this man? But, who is he really?
I loved this book, a fast-paced read that kept you on your toes and that twist at the ending was really the salvation of this book making it a 5-star read for me!
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcefirebooks for the extraordinary opportunity to read and review this one!

I anxiously swarmed NetGalley in search of this book.

I found it
I requested
I prayed
I received….

it was fate
the book fairies are finally falling in love with me

I finally had my most sought after book and I was so ready to dive in.

What a naive little soul I was. I actually thought I’d be getting some sleep.

That’s Not My Name

This book right here is one you need to push all plans aside for. Once you start you will not be able to stop. The flipping of the page became a compulsion.

That’s Not My Name, exceeds all expectations and then some. I knew I would love it but this surpasses love, I’m obsessed and I know you will be too. You MUST check this one out.

Teaser :

She thought she had her life back. She was wrong. A gripping debut thriller perfect for fans of Natalie D. Richards and Vincent Ralph.

It was a mistake to trust him.

Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there―or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos.

He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.

When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it's too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow…and the more danger they both are in.

Overall, I liked That's Not My Name. The mystery was well done and I felt for the characters. The only major issues I had was the first third was a little rough in Drew's point of view because of how helpless he was feeling and how the town and sheriff treated him.

The ending felt really well down and I stayed up too late finishing it because I had to know what happened next. I would recommend it.

Wow. Just wow. This book kept me up way too late, wanting to call out of work the next day to finish and leaving me with a reading hangover.

The story left me holding my breath and wanting to cry at the same time. I feel emotionally exhausted. So pretty much, I loved it.

The story is told from two different perspectives- “Mary” a teenage girl who comes to on the side of the road with no memory of who she is or how she got there; and Drew, a teenage boy who’s girlfriend, Lola vanished with out a trace 5 week ago. The story progresses with Mary learning more about her past, and Drew doing everything in his power to find the girl he loves.

The problem is, Drew is the main suspect in Lola’s disappearance and has become a pariah in their home town. Mary has been found at a police station and returned to the man claiming to be her father.

There were so many twists and turns and ups and downs. This is a book that will stick with me for a while.

Thank you to NerGalley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story starts with a young woman found injured but unable to remember how she was injured, how she got to the road where she was found and oh yes, who she is. In a storyline that has two distinct characters with two distinct mysteries, this young woman, Mary.....maybe.....is the center of the first piece of the mystery and one half of the chapter povs. Then there's Drew. a young man who's worried about his girlfriend. They had a fight, she stormed out of the house, and now law enforcement suspects she is dead and he's the number one suspect. As he looks for his girlfriend, Lola, he tells his side of the story in alternating chapters. How Mary and Drew struggle to connect their stories, readers must watch for clues to tell us what is going on......
While the storyline is a twist on a few oldie but goodies, Megan Lally builds her characters to react strongly to the circumstances. Their stories will combine at some point but you'll still have some missing pieces. A great mystery/ thriller that will keep you guessing right up to the end.

This book includes the following: a missing young girl, the police who are convinced that her boyfriend killed her, and the boyfriend and his loyal friends, who go all vigilante and take actions that the police refuse to take to try to find and save the girl and prove the boy's innocence in the process. These are all pretty standard elements in YA thrillers of this type. As far as that goes this book is a rather standard representative of its category. It is well written with a plot that holds your attention and interesting characters that you care about. However, what sets this book apart from the rest and takes it from a decent read to an extremely enjoyable one is the amazing twist at the end that you will never see coming. It is a twist so shocking that you will not be able to get it out of your head long after you have finished reading. It takes this book from just a decent book typical of its genre to a must-read.

What a way to start the new year! That's Not My Name by Megan Lally is an excellent YA thriller that will keep you enthralled. This novel follows Mary who wakes up on a deserted road in the middle of the night with no memory of who she is or how she got there. She is soon reunited with her father Wayne but something feels off. Drew is a teenage boy and prime suspect in the disappearance of his girlfriend. Lally does an fantastic job of telling 2 different stories and weaving them together at the very last moment. I did not see the twist coming and I loved it!. This is an excellent debut novel and I'm excited to see what Lally puts out next. Thank you to Sourcebooks and Megan Lally for this advanced copy.

Would recommend for fans of…
🪪 The Quiet Tenant
🪪 A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
🪪 Criminal Minds

Based on the summary, I fully expected That’s Not My Name to be your run-of-the-mill YA thriller. An interesting, if not very memorable, read. I was completely wrong.

I’ll be purposely vague to avoid any spoilers, but this is a dual POV story: one POV is from a girl who wakes up with no idea of who she is, and the other is from a high school senior looking for his girlfriend. I read a lot of crime thrillers, which means I’m pretty good at picking up on the “twist” early in the book (or at least I think I am). I thought I had this book figured out three chapters in only to be blown away by some later chapter reveals. It was was truly shocking!

And while I love action and intrigue and plot twists (three things this book delivers on), I found the emotional throughline to be the best part of the story. The last 10% of the book gets very emotional, touching on themes of guilt and loss in an incredibly moving way that I wasn’t expecting to find in a YA novel. If you’re looking for a book that explores the aftermath of a crime and the human impact, this is the book for you.

That’s Not My Name is out now and will undoubtedly be one of my go-to recommendations this year. Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Teenage girl wakes up bloodied and bruised in a ditch with no memory of who she is or what happened. When Wayne Boone frantically rushes into the station in search of his missing daughter, he has a convincing story and all the evidence to support that the girl is his daughter, incl birth & school records & dozens of photos spanning her childhood. Satisfied the girl has been identified, she is released into Wayne's custody. He looks at her with genuine love and concern & takes care of her the way a father should, but when she starts to have flashes of what feel like memories, they don't match up to the story Wayne has told her. 

In nearby Washington City, seventeen year old Lola has been missing for 5 weeks & the Sheriff is convinced her boyfriend is the only suspect worth investigating. Drew might be public enemy number one, but he will never give up on searching for Lola. Fed up with the Sheriff's inaction, Drew, his cousin Max and Lola's best friend (and Sheriff's daughter) Autumn decide it's time to start digging for the evidence needed to force the case along and bring Lola home, but will they be too late...

💭 Thoughts:
The setup of this book was so clever and dark that it could almost pass as adult fiction. Dual POV and packed with pulse-racing moments that will keep you flipping the pages, I honestly felt so many emotions reading this. Anger towards the Sheriff for being a lazy SOB, heartbreak for Drew as he navigated the weight of displaced guilt & that eerie overwhelming sensation that something wasn't quite right.

As everything comes together in what seems like an obvious conclusion, the tables turn and you're delivered a massive gut punch instead. I had literal tears rolling down my cheeks by the end. I've not experienced that kind of rollercoaster in a book for a while and to have it while reading a debut YA thriller makes my dark little heart gleeful in how far this genre has come.

This one will live rent-free in my head for a while yet.

Rating: 4.5 ★



*ARC gifted by @netgalley & @sourcebooksfire

The title of this intrigued me so much that I actually read some of the synopsis. And y’all know that’s not normal for me lol But the title and the way the synopsis doesn’t give you any info, I went into this knowing it was going to be amazing. And I was correct.

Ok so boom, a girl wakes up from with no memory of anything. She is found by a police officer and she is taken to get help right away. While there a guy sees her and says he is her dad. In a nearby town there’s a guy who is being accused of his girlfriend’s disappearance although he said he had nothing to do with it… He thinks its her too. But who is she?

Normally in a teen thriller/mystery I get annoyed because they find some dumb easy ass way to get the clues they need about the case. Don’t get me wrong, it happened in this one too, but there are things that happen so I wasn’t too mad. The people I was actually mad at this whole book was the grown ass adults that didn’t know what was going on. They let all of this happen in the first place. I’m not gon lie, this made me want to fight every adult in this book. Stop acting like they don’t know anything when they were smart enough to trick you. That’s how people get hurt. *steps off soapbox* Jerks.

The writing style in this sucked me in immediately. I loved that it was told in dual POV because we were able to see the entire story as it unfolded. And it was pretty cool that it was told in a weird chronological order as well. It was so good! I will say that because of that tho the book did stall a bit tho. And I also want to point out that I knew all the twists and turns this book took, but I was still in shock for all of them. I think I was mostly hoping that it wasn’t going to happen. That there was going to be a different outcome.

The ending of this book is what did it for me. I loved the way the two stories came together. I DO wish we had more of the fight scene. Because the mo fo who caused all this needed some more to happen to them. I was annoyed that they let it end like that because after all that, what that person went through was too easy.

I just gotta say, Sourcebooks Fire has been eating lately! I have read several books from them that I LOVED, and this one was no different. They have definitely had some bangers come out lately. If you haven’t read any, pick one up. I promise you’ll get lost in them just like I did.

HOLY WOW. This was one of the most engaging reading experiences I’ve ever had! I blasted through this book in two days, which is about as fast as I can possibly consume a novel. Please believe me when I tell you that I had PHYSICAL reactions to this book. I was kicking, screaming, and throwing my hands up in astonishment. I dunno how many times I said “THIS BOOK IS CRAZY” to everyone and no one as I read, but the translation of all that is “I loved it!”

The experience reminded me of reading the adult thriller The Quiet Tenant recently, but this one was such a better experience! The tension and pacing are perfect, and it pays off. The ending had me literally gasping.

This story is told in two teenage perspectives: Mary’s and Drew’s. The characters are raw and imperfect and almost entirely believable. There are a handful of things that were a little too over-the-top to be believed, particularly in Drew’s storyline, but damn it if I didn’t eat it up. In the end, there are few questions I had that are left unanswered, but I see what the author was doing and why she made the choices she did. Lally’s storycrafting is smart, and you’ll think you’re smart, too. YOU’LL THINK.

I can’t wait to read whatever Megan Lally writes next.

Full review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5844230702

I've now got my sights set on the next book Megan Lally pens after becoming completely transfixed by her debut: That's Not My Name!

This fast-paced dark thriller starts out when a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no previous memory of how she arrived there, or who she is. This creepy plot is constantly in motion, unfolding as it leads the reader up a winding road. I honestly thought I had this one figured out and was shocked to discover I really didn't!

However, it will be the themes that stand out the most to me, as odd as that sounds when describing a thriller. These themes are bigger than the pages they are written on, while simultaneously not being overbearing. Reading this book as an adult helped my heart, so I know someone reading it in their teens would garner even more than I did. I am so happy there are YA books like this one out in the world! Lally's heart truly comes across within these themes; her past experiences clearly enrich her work.

Audiobook notes: Sophie Amoss is one of my favourite narrators! She adds such depth and drama to the stories she tells; her voice is breathy and really portrays the fear and anguish felt by the character. This is the first book I've read that Robb Moreira narrated, and he really brought Drew's character to life; there was a level of loss and regret to his voice that made his roll believable. While both narrators are adults, not once did I feel that their voices didn't belong to these YA characters! This thriller is an awesome choice to read via audio!

Killer title, dual points of view, remote setting, clever unraveling, with protagonists to root for - this is an amazing debut YA thriller!

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire, RB Media and Recorded Books for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Really solid story with an excellent ending. A missing girl and her boyfriend-turned-prime-suspect pull the mystery along with enough gripping suspense to keep you up at night. Lola just disappeared from her home town, and because of the ways small towns work, no one is really looking for her in the right places. But, Drew refuses to give up, and he will stop at nothing to find her. His story is told side-by-side with the story of Mary Boone, a girl who lost her memory, but is found by her father at the police station. It all checks out, but something feels off. The way these two stories come together is masterful, and I really enjoyed reading it. Highly recommend for mystery and thriller fans. Mild horror elements, and minor romance.

Let me start by saying I've never read anything by this author, but I am looking forward to her next book. It can't come soon enough!

This story grabs you right from the beginning. A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch covered in blood. She can't remember how she got there and soon finds out she can't even remember her own name. A police officer finds her and takes her to the police station. Her father shows up at the police station to report his daughter is missing and finds her there and says her name is Mary Boone. Is this really her father and is her name Mary? However, over the next couple of days, Mary's memory starts to return.

The story is told from two viewpoints, Mary and Drew. Drew is trying to find his girlfriend, Lola, who disappeared five weeks earlier. He and his friends, Max and Autumn, follow leads and search for Lola, because the sheriff of their town only wants to concentrate on one suspect, Drew.

I don't want to go into too much detail and give away the ending. Let me tell you, it wasn't what I expected. I thought I had it all figured out! The ending was surprising and actually made me cry. The conversations between the three friends were funny and honest, just like friends should be with each other.

If you like thrillers/mysteries, you will definitely like this book. It's a very quick read because you can't wait to find out what happens next. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Megan Lally.