A compelling psychological thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. With its well-crafted plot and nuanced characters, it delves into the complexities of human nature and the consequences of unmasking the truth.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the advance copy of this book.

Wait a minute wait a minute. I’d usually be all judgmental and negative about the situation the characters find themselves in (before the murder), but oh no, the writer, with her knack for creating sympathetic characters, tricked me into accepting—hell, into liking—what’s going on here. When a book challenges my morality, I know it’s a good one. But it’s the superb mystery that is the star here, not morality.

Note: clearing old books from before 2019

Did not have time to read this book - still on my TBR. Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not getting to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This mystery thriller was a solid 4 stars for me. The classic story of a good girl who was up to no good. Lots of red herrings to make you second guess your guilty characters. It was exciting and hard to put down.
Recommended for all fans of mystery thrillers.

This book was NOT what I expected. I knew it would be a thriller, but it told a great story and kept me guessing until the end. Each chapter is told by a different narrator, and depending on the narrator could jump back and forth in time. Usually books like this give me anxiety or frustration, but this one did not. It was easy to follow and helped the story to keep it's mystery. I also listened to some of the book while driving last weekend, and there are 3 different audio narrators to go along with the 3 narrators in the book. Nice touch!

I reviewed this in 2016 on Goodreads and gave it 4 stars. This is a great who done it about a high school girl’s last year of life. The author smoothly transition between the different voices and kept me engaged throughout the novel

Just when I thought I had the mystery figured out? Last minute twist...Nope!

I absolutely devoured this and regret waiting so long to do so.

Everything You Want Me to Be
⭐⭐⭐

This thriller follows Hattie's story and works to uncover who murdered the talented high school senior, with hopes of acting in New York City after graduation. This fell a bit short for me and didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but it would work for someone looking for a lighter, slower paced murder mystery or even a good beach read.

What I liked:
-Multiple point of views between Hattie (our main character who is murdered), Peter (her teacher with whom she has a romantic relationship with), and Del (the sheriff of their small town)
-The characters were well-developed and Hattie's storyline of acting the part was unique and interesting

What I didn't like:
-This wasn't a very thrilling thriller. There were a few smaller twists here, but nothing that really surprised me.
-Hattie is borderline a sociopath and I had a hard time getting invested in who murdered her
- I was also left a little confused about Hattie trying to escape to Boston, which we learn at the beginning of the book but didn't get tied back into the story as the timeline progressed
-Not a fault of the book (just my own struggles with it), but I'm personally getting tired of all of illicit student/teacher forbidden relationships in books.

Told from 3 points of view, the story is very intriguing and tells of the last year of Hattie’s life. Who was she really? There are many twists and turns in this Murder mystery. It was an enjoyable read.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I highly, highly recommend this book. It's hard to discuss in detail because you DO NOT want to be spoiled. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and really did not put this down until I was finished.

I love mysteries, thrillers, and oplice procedurals, and this blended all three of those together very nicely. I have heard this compared to Twin Peaks. I did not particularly enjoy that show, but I can see why the comparison would be made.

If you are looking for an edge-of-your-seat murder mystery, this is one you do not want to miss.

Who is Hattie Hoffman? Does anyone really know? Does she even know herself? Before anyone can try to find out she is murdered. Now everyone wants to know who killed her.

Hattie is a chameleon, an actress, and she changes her personality to fulfill the roles that her friends and family need her to play.. The questions is, what role did she play to the person that killed her?

Uhmmm.. I wouldn’t really call this YA, more a new adult or adult mystery.

I’m not really huge on books like this - I don’t like student/lecturer affairs. I find it over done and maybe book is in the wrong category? Maybe not.

Unfortunately, it just didn’t not hit I’m afraid!

I want to thank Mindy Mejia and her publishing team for the chance to try her book via netgalley.

The writing was good and so were the characters I’m just not a big fan of the genre so it was hard to fully immerse my self in the world

This book was so good! From the very beginning you're pulled into this story. Each point of view has it's own special look into the story. Hattie Hoffman is one of those characters that messes with your head because you never really know WHO she is. She's an actress, fooling everyone around her, including the reader at times. It's hard to get a handle on her and her personality and that's great because it makes the supporting characters that much more relatable. If we can't figure her out, it makes it easier to understand why the other people in the story have the same issue, therefore, why they do some of the things they do.

Overall, this book is great and I really think it could make a cool movie or tv show, ala, Sharp Objects.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

This story caught me from the first few paragraphs. We meet Hattie Hoffman, a high school senior, as she's attempting to run away. She's got two months left of high school - prom, graduation, she's the star of the spring play - but she's done. She wants out of Minnesota and the sooner the better. The next time we meet up with Hattie she has been stabbed and left dead in an abandoned barn in her home town. What happened?

Mejia takes us back to a year before Hattie's death and through various voices, one of them Hattie's, tells the story that leads to Hattie's death. Hattie is perfect, she fits in with everyone...or so everyone thinks. What Hattie actually is is a great actress. She can figure out who needs what from her - who expects what from her - and adjust to it and play the part for that person. She's doing it for everyone - her parents, her teachers, her best friend, her employer. But she's exhausted. It's just all too much. As Hattie attempts to extricate herself from all these roles she's been performing all these years she discovers someone she can be real with. This is enticing. Finally someone she can just be who she is with. (Although one might argue that by this point in her life she might actually know who she is - those lines can get blurred pretty quick when we aren't true to ourselves.) The discovery of this person, however, is what ultimately leads to Hattie's last moments alive.

I really liked reading this story through the various voices Mejia chose. It adds a lot of detail to the story, it adds perspective the reader wouldn't otherwise get. I can tell that I'm at an age where I'm able to look back and see the bigger picture so when stories like this come along I feel slightly impatient. Hattie, for all her big plans, didn't see the bigger picture - she didn't understand she could quit acting at any point in time and the waves that would be caused would be minimal because there's so much more to life than what she was seeing or experiencing. My impatience comes in wanting to take the character, in this instance Hattie, out for coffee and remind them there's so much more and this season of life is a blip that most hardly remember. But we all have to learn that for ourselves don't we? We can't learn it for other people. And in the case of Hattie Hoffman she would never be able to learn that lesson for herself.

Perfect whodunit mystery! I really enjoyed the perspective of the characters as their own chapters in the book. I feel like it gives better insight when you can read what is in each of their heads. I did, however, reach a part of the book that I didn't like so I did skim through his chapters. In the end, I wasn't totally surprised but a little shocked at the reveal. I was definitely not expecting that the way it was lead up to. Good job Ms. Mejia!!!

I LOVE Psych-Thrillers and this was an actual print book that I read, and I devoured it in 2 days!
I kept guessing right to the every end… and I was wrong!! 😀 I gave it 4 stars

P.S. I reviewed this one on my blog (see link below) for full review..

I enjoyed this one. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I honestly don't really have much to say about it. It was just "okay" for me.

There are two questions this story will demand you find an answer to - who is the real Hattie Hoffman and why would anyone want her dead? To her best friend, parents, boyfriend and fellow-classmates; Hattie is a great listener, a wholesome girl, a top-notch student and an aspiring actress. So how did she end up brutally stabbed in an abandoned old barn?

Henrietta 'Hattie' Hoffman is starting her senior year in high school. She lives in a small farming town and Minnesota and knows this is not the place for her. She has big hopes and dreams and she will stop at nothing to achieve them, even if it means deceiving others. But when Hattie turns up dead after opening night of Macbeth, there are all kinds of speculations as to why this could have happened and who could have done it. Told from the perspective of Hattie; Dell, the Chief of Police and; Peter the new English teacher. We are taken on a journey from the months leading up to Hattie's death to the months following it. Who killed Hattie and why?

From the very beginning of the book you can see that there is going to be a twist to this case. Everything is not going to be so easily spelled out for you. Just when you think you know who did it, you will find that you are wrong. I was wrong from the beginning. When it got down to the confession part I was jumping for joy because I had nailed the killer, but later I found out it was not so.

This is the first book I have read by Mindy Mejia. If her other books are similar to this, I will be reading them all.

To put it lightly, Hattie is a sociopath. Just at the title suggests she is everything everyone else wants her to be, but no one really knows her at all. She lies to her parents and her friends, being the good student, the good daughter, the loyal girlfriend, but Hattie has secrets. The first thing that shocked me about this book was not that Hattie had an affair with her high school teacher, it was how she laid out her plans to fool the whole town into believing she was the perfect girl next door. No one could have imagined what she had in store in her own mind.

I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a twisty tale.