Decent YA mystery with some surprises.

I listened to this as an audiobook and once I got started I had difficulty stopping. It's very intriguing and I really wanted to know what was really going on. Both narrators are engaging and kept me invested.

A girl wakes up in a ditch. She is picked up by a police officer and has no memory of who she is or even of her name. A man comes into the police station frantically looking for his missing daughter Mary. He produces all of the proper photos and identification showing that this girl is indeed his daughter, and he is able to take her home. In another city, Drew is a suspect in his girlfriend Lola's disappearance. He was the last person to see her, and enough time has passed that everyone believes he killed her. Drew won't give up looking. Are these two situations connected?

I thought I knew what was going on, but it turned out to be much more twisty than I imagined. If you've read any of my reviews, you know I dislike the "wrongly accused" trope but in this case it's handled well and I didn't mind it as much as usual.

This is a very fast paced story with relatable characters and a real sense of foreboding. The mystery unfolds deliberately in both cases, and I really liked the ending epilogue, it put a very satisfying cap on the tale. There are a couple of things I had some slight quibbles about, but I'm picky about details (Like there's no way Wayne, being the guy he was, would have let Mary watch Schitt's Creek). Overall though, if you like YA mysteries this is an excellent example of a uniquely written one and I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

This was exactly what I was in the mood for: a totally bingeable thriller that didn’t require my brain to work overtime. I rarely pick up YA on my own, but That’s Not My Name has been getting great reviews by friends I trust and I’m really glad I gave it a go!

I enjoyed the mystery but I really liked the characters. The friend group was great and this felt pretty authentic for high schoolers without feeling like an adult trying to write a teenager. The author did a fabulous job bringing her characters to life and I’m shocked this was a debut.

The audiobook was perfect! Great narration and I struggled to put it down! Highly recommend.

3.75 stars rounded up - seriously, Goodreads, get on the fractional rating bandwagon!!
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this YA mystery/thriller. Usually YA reads are a hit or miss for me. This landed more firmly in the hit column.
This is the story of missing girls, a relentless search, and the power of friendship and perseverance. We have a dual POV between "Mary" - a teenaged girl who has temporary amnesia after waking up in a ditch on the side of the road covered in bruises. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. Luckily her father comes to report his daughter missing and they are able to reconnect pretty quickly. We follow her through the first 5-6 days of her "new normal" as she tries to remember pieces of her past. When her memory does come back, as the title suggests, she realizes that not everything is what it appears to be.
The second POV is from Drew - a teenaged boy searching desperately for his missing girlfriend. She went missing months ago and Drew is the prime suspect. If he is to be believed, he has nothing to do with her disappearance.
Here are my thoughts:
PROS: I liked the pacing. Every time I was getting a bit bored with the storyline (more on that later) or I thought it was dragging a bit, Lally would switch it up and pop us into the other POV. This kept the book moving and provided some added tension and suspense. Although I guessed the main part of the ending fairly early on (this is YA after all), there was one aspect that defied most in this genre and I appreciated that. I listened to this all in one day and found it a fast-paced, easy listen. I enjoyed the narrators (two narrators - a female for Mary's POV and a male for Drew's). They were delightful to listen to. The quality of the recording was good too.
CONS: Drew was extremely whiney and the "poor me" introspection got a little bit much for me. I know he's a teen, but there was a LOT of, in my opinion, unnecessary introspection and asking himself rhetorical or what if questions. Still, like I said earlier, this was counteracted with the switch in POVs every time I found myself ready to roll my eyes at him. I enjoyed Mary's POV much more. She had a lot of introspection too, but it made more sense given she was trying to piece together her memories. This book follows the typical YA mystery trope of bumbling, blinders-on, small town cop who doesn't listen to "just kids" and ignores compelling evidence because it doesn't fit his suspect. Therefore a bunch of teenagers are able to "solve" the case before the police - I am just not buying some of the antics they get up to, but it's fiction, so... entertainment value?
The ending seemed a bit drawn out. There was the actual ending, which went on for much longer than I thought it should. Then there was a follow-up newspaper article. Then there was an epilogue. It was a lot. The reveal/twist, although not unexpected for me, was good. I found it plausible and not heavy-handed in terms of the reasons behind the villain's actions.
OVERALL - this was an enjoyable YA read for me. A few cuss words but no sexy times, so I wouldn't hesitate handing it to my own teen daughter. Definitely pick this one up if you enjoy the YA mystery genre.
Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Lally, and the publisher for allowing me to honestly review this ARC copy of the audiobook.

This was one of the best crime thrillers I've read in a long time. It gave me "Lovely Bones" vibes with the complete gut wrenching suspense and character development of a seemingly normal murderer. I pride myself on guessing the end of such books but this one definitely did not disappoint with the complete plot twist at the end. I would love to read more from this author in the future. I will review on Goodreads, IG & TT and make sure to tag accordingly.

I am speechless and have been on the edge of my seat… for this entire book. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for any character in a thriller as much as I’ve rooted for Drew and ‘Mary’. My anxiety was a level 10 the last 30% of the book (in the best way possible). I think this is my first thriller I’ve ever read to make me ball my eyes out of these characters at the end. This entire story was brilliantly written and I only have two words. No notes. Go in blind and enjoy every minute! I promise it will be hard to stop once you start this book.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I could not stop reading this one!! You would think a story that is lead by 17 year olds would not appeal to a grown woman., but wow. This had me on the edge waiting for connections and confirmations in the hunt to find Lola. It was all so perfectly presented. I am looking forward to more from Megan Lally.

This book was such a a fast read. Like read in a little over 4 hrs fast! It flew by and was entertaining the entire time. I was easily able to listen at 2.5x speed and the narrators were fantastic and made the story easy to follow. For once I was truly shocked at the twist…WHICH IS HARD FOR ME BECAUSSE I USUALLY SEE THAT COMING FOR A MILE AWAY…BUT NOT THIS TIME SO BRAVO TO THE AUTHOR!!!

The dual perspective of both main characters was done fantastically and never bored with one part of the story which is also rare for me in thrillers like this. My only negative (which was hard to even find one because this was such a solid book) was that the ending kind of wrapped up relatively fast and wanted a little more in that section of the book. But other than that this was a solid mystery thriller that was entertaining from start to finish that i would most definitely recommend to friends.

4.25⭐️

Special thanks to NetGalley, RB Media, and Recorded Books for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

FREE COPY FROM NETGALLEY (Thanks!)

Spoiler free part of the review:

If you're looking for a well-rounded, well-written thriller that'll leave you heartbroken, teary-eyed, bittersweet and shocked at the end, this is very much for you. It's a short read that keeps you captivated until the very end. It's great for a short journey or a plane ride. Absolutely would recommend if you liked Don't Look Back by JLA, Good Girls Guide To Murder and the movie Secret Obsession on Netflix.

****SPOILER ALERT****

OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD.

I spent 4.5 hours reading this. Has to be one of the best thrillers I've ever read. And I've read a lot.

I can't believe I miss a character I've never met. I felt so sad for Lola. I was NOT expecting THAT twist.

Here's some of the theories I came up with while reading:

1. Lola and Madison are twins who found each other and pulled a switcheroo and/or killed each other accidently.

2. The Sheriff/Lola's dad were I on it or were Wayne living double lives.

3. Lola and Madison are the same person who were kidnapped.

NONE OF THESE WERE TRUE.

You think you know whats going to happen. But you don't.

I felt so sad that Drew, Autumn and Max will never see Lola again. I felt so sad that Lola will never get to live and that her and Drew will never have a future together. I was heartbroken when Drew blamed himself for what happened to Lola.

Here's what I liked :

1. Very fast paced thriller. Read it in one sitting. You never get bored.

2. The pacing was great/good and the alternate povs keep you guessing until the end.

3. An extra star just for the Falling Inn Love and Ever After references. They're some of my favorite movies ever.

4. Autumn, Drew and Max made such a nice team. It was cute.

What I felt couldve used some improvement(s):

1. Autumn and Max ending up together felt cliche. But it wasn't even a major part of the side story so it wasn't that bothersome.

2. Breaking into the police station and Autumn being the Sheriff's daughter and having access to so much information was too convenient.

3. I would've loved it if the kidnappings were explained better. The prologue and ending felt too abrupt. I wanted to know how Wayne kidnapped all those girls and how he operated and his MO.

4. The timing felt off. It's improbable that Wayne managed to stalk, kidnap, kill Lola, then stalk kidnap and nearly kill Madison all in the span of a few (5) weeks.

But overall, it was a GREAT read. Thankyou Ms. Lally, I wish you all the luck in your literary journey. You've just got a new fan!

I SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS BOOK THOUGH AND WILL BE LOOKING OUT FOR A SEQUEL.

PS. Please write a sequel. Pretty Please.

☆

Veronica Mars meets Criminal Minds- I’m super excited to read more from this author!!! The perfect balance of teen detective drama but still creepy as hell. Followed a Criminal Minds-esc structure where you got both the victim’s perspective and the investigator’s perspective, but had the Veronica Mars type of incompetent law enforcement and teens taking the case into their own hands. Kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

This was a fun read. Well, as fun as any murdery, kidnappy, crappy cop book can be. I was a tad disappointed while reading it thinking it was really just going to be THAT straight forward of a story but the ending had my head whipping around like EXCUSE ME this man did what to how many people? Well, damn.

4 1/2 stars. This book was really good. I needed a suspense book and this was it! Can’t wait to read more by this author!

It has been a couple of days since I finished this book, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

Not only was the ending great (like WHOA), but all of the clues threaded through the narrative along the way were so perfectly woven that I have found myself revisiting many key moments with a “wow” factor. In hindsight, they make perfect sense.

The characters were also believable. “Mary’s” internal dialogue and consistent justification were on par for what I would believe a person would feel in her situation. Additionally, I found myself being consistently frustrated along with Drew and his interactions with law enforcement. The characters were completely believable - including Wayne.

NetGalley provided me with an audio ARC.

I have listened to Sophie Amoss narrate before in KC Jones’s “Black Tide.” She was great then, she’s great now. Rob Moeriera also did a stellar job. At first, I thought he was MacLeod Andrews, who did the Brandon Sander’s the Reckoners series. They are very similar, but both talented narrators.

Overall, I inhaled this book. Highly recommend

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.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to listen to this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

That’s Not My Name is YA thriller that grabbed my attention from the very beginning and I loved it! There was so much anticipation. I truly thought I had it all figured out!

Who is Mary Boone? No one knows..not even Mary Boone herself. A teenage girl found on the side of the road cold and bruised with no memory of what happened, how she got there, or even who she is!
An officer spots her and picks her up and tries to piece together any detail. Thankfully soon after her father comes to the police station and finds her!

He has photos, birth certificate, and everything to show that this is his Daughter Mary Boone.

Then we have Drew. His girlfriend Lola has been missing for some time now and the whole town is looking at him to blame for her disappearance.
Even the local police think he murdered his girlfriend.

Drew is trying everything he can to find Lola. Are the two girls connected? Will Drew find her in time? Will Mary be able to recover her memories.

I highly recommend this. Is hard to put down thriller with a great twist!

I absolutely loved this!

A battered teen wakes up on the side of the road with no memories of how she got there or how she got hurt. Actually, she can’t remember anything, not even who she is. Luckily a man shows up at the police station with proof that she is his daughter. The cop on duty feels confident in his story, but maybe he shouldn’t have been.

This book grabbed my attention from page one, and didn’t let go until I finished. The pacing was perfect and it never felt like things were moving too slowly. I was sure I had the whole plot figured out but boy was I wrong!

I actually loved this so much I ordered a copy for the bookstore I work in!

If you pick up one YA Thriller, let it be this one! I’m sure I’ll be raving about this one forever.

Big thanks to Netgalley, Rb Media and the author, Megan Lally for allowing me to listen to an audio arc of this novel.

Fun and enjoyable read, this was one of my last reads of 2023 and I'm not disappointed!

That's Not My Name comes out of the gate with an interesting mystery where you think you know all the twists and turns. What could have been a standard run of the mill missing person thriller is turned into something that stopped me with surprise a few times due to Megan Lally's creative mind.

The characters feel real and are not always the smartest or make what you (as the reader) would assume is the best decisions in every case. Because of this, they feel like true teens who are suffering growing pains and making mistakes and trying their best in situations that most people can only empathize with. It makes it easier to cheer them on when something good happens or feel stressed out when they are in impossible situations.

Switching perspectives between a teenaged girl with memory loss and a boy who has lost his girlfriend and holds himself accountable for her missing keeps the narrative fresh and helps weave together the story in a way that would fall flat without seeing it from different perspectives. You can slowly feel the creeping nerves in Mary's story as she tries to reconcile facts she has been given about her life with what she feels inside and whenever you are in her shoes you just want to shake and shout at her because you become so invested in her plight. Drew is equally frustrating and fun to go along with as he tries his best and oftentimes bungles things before getting them right, making it easy to feel for him because its hard to be perfect when dozens of angry eyes are watching your every move.

Overall the story is super engaging and is a very quick read that flows well and makes you want to finish "just a bit more" before stopping. You stay interested the whole way through and just when you think you've got a grasp on what's going on, or what may happen next, the author manages to pull the rug out from under you and surprise you. Its the best kind of read for a thriller book!

I'd 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a quick thriller that keeps up the tension. Its a fun and fast read.

Special thanks to NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Fire, and RB Media for an advanced copy to sink my teeth into.

I enjoyed this book! Every chapter kept me wanting more and second guessing things.
This is YA but it didn’t feel too young.
It definitely has some unexpected plot twists!
Overall, I recommend it!
Huge thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

3.5 rounded up

Excuse me but this had no right be as good as it is. Highly exceeded my expectations. YA can be tricky - especially when it deals with heavier themes of missing teenagers, kidnapping, and such. But I feel like the stake of this book felt so real.

I loved how everything unfolded. I loved the two POVs and trying to put together the clues and figure out what the ~thing~ was going to be for a fairly straightforward seeming story.

And the payoff???!! Incredible. Shocking. I did not see it coming at all. What a thrill of a read. Great narrators as well.

Wow! This book was really good.

We are told two intertwined stories from first person perspective. Mary doesn't remember anything when she wakes up in the woods. Her father collects her from the police station, and while nothing feels right, nothing feels, wrong, does it?

Meanwhile a few hours away, Drew is the last person who saw Lola alive, and is therefore the only target of an incompetent officer's investigation into her disappearance and alleged murder. Desperate to save her and himself, Drew takes the search into his own hands.

While perhaps a tad unrealistic, the entire book was gripping and I couldn't stop listening. Dark, creepy, and full of danger, this young adult thriller is better than a lot of adult thrillers I've read. If you enjoy suspenseful, atmospheric, plot driven books, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book! Every chapter kept me wanting more. I listened to the audiobook in less than a day! It definitely has some unexpected plot twists! Overall, I definitely recommend it!!