The twist at the end of this book left me shocked.

A teen wakes up bruised and beat up on the side of the road, she can't remember anything about herself. A seemingly nice man who claims to be her father takes her home and tells her that her name is Mary, but something doesn't seem quite right. At the same time, teenage Lola has gone missing. Local authorities presume she we murdered, but her friends believe she is out there somewhere and are determined to find her.

I loved how the book alternated between two separate stories. I was waiting on the edge of my seat for them to clash.

Mary's story is so unsettling. As the days go on, she keeps noticing little things about the life she is told she's lived and her father that just don't add up. The author did a fantastic job not necessarily making her blind to all of the red flags, but instead reacting how you would expect a teenager would.

The story of Lola's friends and the search also keeps you engaged because her boyfriend is the main suspect in her disappearance and things feel tense because they are running out of time.

Although this is a YA book, be warned that the ending gets pretty dark. I can't say enough about the plot twist at the end. I thought I knew exactly what it was, but it caught me so off guard that I actually gasped, and then felt for all of the characters.

This was an easy 5 star read, and I thought the author was so talented in taking a YA book, where authors can be looser with the plot holes, and creating a brilliant storyline.

This was better than I thought it was going to be and it was not predictable, most of the time. My main issue was that many of the characters were so unlikeable, it was hard to feel empathy for them. The feeling I had for this book made it, " just ok." It was not even the fact the book was supposedly YA suspense/fiction. I just did not like the characterization.

IMO, cannot recommend it. But I have no issue with other readers enjoying this book. It was just not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, Megan Lally and Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 1/2/2024

There truly is nothing better than a YA thriller to get you out if a reading slump. This action-packed wild ride of a book is short, crazy, and totally bingeable.

A missing girl leads to uncovering secrets so gruesome that it’ll have your hair standing on edge. I totally thought I knew where this book was going and then 50 pages from the end I realized I was very wrong and didn’t care because it was so good.

I think if you’re looking for a good thriller that is short, easy to read. and isn’t too gory this is the one for you. I couldn’t put it down it is literally 1am while I’m writing this so if I’m staying up to read it, you should 100% give it a try.

Starting with a young woman waking in a ditch with no memory of who she is or how she got there who then gets picked up by the police. Not long after a distraught man arrives at the police station looking for his teenage daughter. He has pictures of the girl on his phone, a plausible story, and all the right paperwork. Mystery solved? Not even close! This one hooked me immediately and I blew through the entire book overnight. This is a tense, wonderfully twisting and twisted thriller that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. This is the first book I’ve read by Megan Lally but I’ll definitely be checking out her next one. I’d like to thank SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of That’s Not My Name.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3T7HI1VWW3USH/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Wow! What a ride! I could not put this book down! Please don’t let the YA label keep you from reading That’s Not My Name! It doesn’t have the typical YA feel.

Lally’s debut is a twisty crime novel for young adults and adult readers. The novel follows a girl found without her memory and called Mary by Wayne. Wayne poses as her loving father, but Mary begins to doubt his stories. The second story line follows Drew who is looking for his missing girlfriend. Drew goes on a long twisty trip looking for clues to Lola’s disappearance. Although the reader believes Mary is actually Lola, Lally throws in another twist that completely changes the story!

This was the best thriller I have read in a long time. It was gripping and kept me on the edge of my seat. I consumed it in one day because I simply could not put it down.

Thanks so much Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley.

Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on a dirt road. She can't remember her name. The police send her home with someone who has a birth certificate and family photos.

Drew and his girlfriend, Lola, have a fight. Then she goes missing. The police are accusing him of murder so he's determined to prove his innocence.

This is a YA thriller that had me anxiously waiting to find out what happened. I didn't anticipate the twist at the end. The writing will definitely keep you engrossed until the end!

NetGalley Review — my rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“That’s Not My Name” by Megan Lally is a debut thriller that isn’t quite what you’d expect.

A teenage girl wakes up on the side of a country road, bruised and bloodied, with no memory of who she is and how she got there.

A teenage boy has spent the last five weeks tirelessly searching for his girlfriend who has gone missing and clear his own name.

This was a great debut read by Megan Lally. Easy to follow, a little twisty, likable main characters.

Can’t say much else without giving it away so make sure you snag it this Tuesday, January 2, 2024!

Big thanks to @sourcebooksfire for the ARC!

#netgalley #thatsnotmyname #meganlally

A teenage girl wakes up in a ditch on the side of the road with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Luckily for her, a police officer passing by sees her and takes her back to the station to try and figure out what happened to her. Not long after they get there, a man shows up saying he is looking for his missing daughter, and he has the documents to prove the girl that was found is his lost girl, Mary. Together, they return back to their cabin in the woods, where Mary tries to put her memory back together.

Drew’s girlfriend, Lola, is missing, and the whole town, including the sheriff, believes he had something to do with it. After all, Drew was the last to see Lola alive. When it seems the sheriff is no longer exploring new possibilities, Drew takes things into his own hands to prove his innocence and does everything he can to find Lola and bring her back home.

WOW! This book had me hooked from the beginning. It was a super fast-paced read and a great YA thriller! I liked that the author included different POVs and timelines, flipping back and forth between Mary and Drew. I could not put this book down due to the building suspense, and I found myself always having to read just one more chapter. That’s Not My Name is Megan Lally’s debut book and I can’t wait to read what she writes next. I easily gave this book five stars on Goodreads and would highly recommend adding it to your TBR shelf!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #SourceBooksFire for the ARC #ThatsNotMyName by #MeganLally. This book shook me to the core. It is evil, wrong, disturbing and horrible and I could not put it down. I never would have guessed the ending and I highly recommend it to readers.

This dual POV story starts off with a bang with a teen girl waking up on the side of the road with no memory of who she is. Then a man shows up at the police station saying he's her father and her name is Mary Boone. There's also Drew who's searching for his missing girlfriend, Lola, but he's the primary suspect. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and thought I could see where the story was going but great twist at the end. Highly recommend to YA thriller fans! I can't believe this is a debut.

Megan Lally's That's Not My Name is her debut novel. The story alternates between Andrew (Drew) Carter-Diaz and a mysterious teenaged girl. Over the course of 5 days, both Drew and our mystery girl will try to put the pieces together of a mystery that may have dark implications. On Day one, an unknown girl is found on the side of the road pretty beaten up by Officer Bowman of the Alton Police Department. She doesn't know her name, she has a concussion, broken nose, and is covered in blood. Was she in a car accident? What really happened?

Shortly after she is brought to the police station, a man named Wayne claims that Girl is actually Mary, his daughter who was in a car accident. He even claims to have all of her identification to prove who she is. Meanwhile, Drew's girlfriend Lola Scott went missing months ago, and he has become the ire of everyone's wrath, including the Chief of Police who thinks he had something to do with her disappearance and is willing to destroy his life in order to get a confession whether it is the truth or not.

While "Mary" is trying to regain her memories and find out what exactly happened, Drew finds surprising help from his cousin Max, and Autumn who was Lola's best friend, and truly believes that Drew did something to hurt Lola. In an attempt to clear his name and find his girlfriend, Drew discovers that a girl 50 miles away may be exactly who he is looking for.

The whole town is convinced Drew is a horrible person and killed his girlfriend, but Drew is relentless when it comes to finding Lola. He works tirelessly, infuriated by the fact that nobody else seems to be looking, especially not the sheriff who is eager to put Drew behind bars. Can Drew find Lola and clear his name? Can Mary unravel the mystery of her lost memories before she falls into a deep, dark web without any escape? The ending is not as predictable as one might think.

*Thoughts* For a debut novel, this was pretty intense. I felt for Drew for what happened previously to this story. I felt for "Mary" because she will have to face a lifetime of help to get over what happened to her. I have to give props to Drew's "parents" who tried hard to show they were with him, even when the town was willing to sacrifice Drew to find the truth. And, I'm thankful that the ending was not as predictable as one might think. When the reveal actually happens, it steam rolls right to the final page.

*Actual Rating* 3.5

If this was a mystery/thriller aimed at adult readers, I would rate it as 3*. But as a YA book, I think it is strong enough for a 4*. For a seasoned mystery/thriller reader, the “surprises” are not all that surprising, and the clues are broadcast heavily and early in the book. But for a reader possibly just starting to read the genre, the pacing is good, the characters are (mainly) compelling, and there are enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

What a wild ride! This book was absolute perfection! It hits every pitch for a thriller… every step of the way I’m engaged in the mystery. Drew is someone who is impossible to ignore.

I loved That’s Not My Name! I was hooked from the first chapter. While I hesitate to call this one a YA thriller because I know some people would bypass it because of the YA label, I will say this is an excellent thriller that happens to be appropriate for a YA audience. There’s no gory scenes, no romance, and no “spicy” scenes. There is some swearing, but not an excessive amount. The expletives are appropriate to the situation, if that makes sense. As soon as I finished reading it, I immediately recommended it to my thirteen year old daughter.

The story is obvious, I mean the hints are dropped like heavy bricks and way too often, but this is not an issue here (surprisingly). What normally would be a big no-no, now seems to be more like a minor issue. It's probably because somehow this story, however naive at times, is engaging and fast-paced. It´s impossible not to cheer for Drew, the main character. This novel, despite its dark theme, is fun to read.
P.S. Why does Drew have to have two dads? Do we need to put this into every, EVERY! novel?

Lola has been missing for weeks and her boyfriend Drew is the only suspect. He spends his days avoiding the sheriff, being harassed by his former friends and classmates, and hanging missing person flyers around town.

She wakes up in a ditch, unable to remember anything. Picked up by the sheriff's department, Mary is relieved when her father comes to find her and she finally feels safe. But as more pieces of her memory return, Mary gets more confused about her father Wayne and what she still doesn't remember.

This dual perspective mystery will keep readers guessing until the very end. A fast read for reluctant readers, perfect for fans of April Henry and Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams.

No, you’re not seeing things. I am actually giving a YA book 5 stars! Other than the main characters being teenagers, this read like an adult thriller to me. It avoided all of the major pitfalls that usually make me dislike the YA genre. I was hooked and could not stop reading from very early on. The characters are all well-developed and the slow burn as “Mary” starts to recover her memories was perfection. This is hands-down the best debut I have read all year! I think all thriller fans should pick this one up. I cannot wait to see what this author does next!

That’s Not My Name was fully engrossing and finished in a day. Megan Lally is definitely going to be on my watch list. I enjoyed the plot and how it went in exactly the way the author was setting it up to go. I saw the other reviews that talked about a twist. I didn’t see it that way. I read it as a story that could have more than one possible outcome. But the author didn’t pull the ending out of nowhere. The reader could see how the story logically turned out the way it did. The clues were there.

I found some of the characters a little flat and hard to read at times. Still, I felt for them. I find that true in a lot of YA novels. The kid detectives and the reaction of some characters, without giving anything away, was a little out there at times. The motivations were never in doubt.