Cover Image: Say My Name

Say My Name

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Taylor Jenson is ready to leave her small town and her cheating ex behind. With a job on the horizon, she leaves to start the life she has always wanted. Enter potential love interest, Isaiah Butler, who she is immediately attracted to. There were some questionable decisions made my Isaiah that have Taylor questioning things and if things could actually work out.

This was short, but good read.

Was this review helpful?

I was drawn to this book by both the description and the cover. I found Say my name, Tricia’s debut novel, very well written, the story was full of twists and turns. Just a bit hard to review, just of the cheating part, but well worth the read. I was given this copy for an honest review by net galley, thank you.

Was this review helpful?

Tricia Best tackled some taboo topics in this story and did a fabulous job. Addictions of any kind are tough to discuss as it can reach different people in different ways and I feel that Best did a tremendous job with this book!

Was this review helpful?

I did not get a chance for finish this novel. Based on the description, I was very intrigued but upon reading the story my expectations just fell kind of flat. I wish that the story had more to it. This was not one of my favorites and I hate to mark it on my DNF shelf. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley for proving an ARC copy of this book.

This book is a hard book to read to the highly sensitive triggers that could be an issue for certain readers. The book is very well written and help my attention from start to finish. It is a quick read and you learn to understand the characters a little more with each page. I look forward to other books by this author. However, I am not sure I would reread this one again as I do so many other books.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. It took me awhile to get into this book and once I did, it lost me again somewhere in the middle. I wish it had been written in first person for starters, because then I think it would have been easier to understand the main characters, Taylor and Isaiah much better than they were portrayed in third person (of course that is just my opinion). I think this is the first New Adult Romance that I have ever read, so in that respect it was a good introduction. Taylor is really innocent/naive almost and Isaiah has just overcome a porn addiction which was a big struggle for him (as I'm sure it would be for anyone). I liked Isaiah because he was a strong character and had overcome a lot in his life but Taylor didn't seem like the brightest bulb to me at all. She annoyed me in her indecisiveness. I did like the happy ending though. I don't think I would have picked this up off the shelf at the library but I appreciate the chance I had to read it from NG. Could have been a lot worse, I guess. A good pick for people who like this genre, but it's not for me....

Was this review helpful?

Unfortunately this third person story just didn't do it for me. I read lots of great reviews I just couldn't get into the main character. Very descriptive and I did like the Native American parts of the story

Was this review helpful?

Say My Name was a New Adult romance with too much (forgive the irony) tragedy porn for my tastes. The adult themes were well-developed. The characters were believable (and so so Canadian). But there were way too many big emotional events for one story. I think Tricia Best has a good future as an NA writer ahead of her, but it'll take an editing eye.

Was this review helpful?

Say My Name by Tricia Best is a love story in which two people are deeply flawed and together they find healing and a future. Taylor Jenson is reeling from her breakup with her boyfriend, Ryan. He cheated on her with numerous women including her best friend. She is also conflicted about her choice of career. She chooses business to please her father but her real passion is music. She spends the summer before university with her half-sister, Kimi where she heals from her heartbreak and tries to find the motivation for her chosen career. There she meets Isaiah Butler, who works at the local market. Instantly there is a connection with the two but there is also a barrier. As Taylor tries to understand and come to terms with why her boyfriend would cheat, Isaiah can’t seem to stay away from Taylor despite not telling her his deepest, darkest secret. When he finally reveals his secret, Taylor runs and attends university having no contact with Isaiah for months. When they see each other again, will the connection still be there? Will they be able to understand the past pain in each other which effects their present? Will they be able to help each deal with their personal demons?
The book opens with this dedication “To those who had their sexuality hijacked and are fighting to get it back.” When I read the description of this book and this dedication, I wasn’t sure what kind of story it would be. The story was not what I expected in a good way. By the story’s end, I understood Ms. Best meant and applaud her for a great story. Say My Name is filled with drama and emotional, heart wrenching scenes. The sex scenes with instantly beautiful and, to me, can only be between two truly in love. I loved the flaws of Taylor and Isaiah. They were real and dealt with realistically. I love how Ms. Best presents their demons as never really going away, we just learn how to deal with them when they chose to rear their ugly heads. I highly recommend Say My Name!

Say My Name
is available on Amazon on the Kindle

Was this review helpful?

You can say my name! Loved this book. 5 Stars! Now I have to read more by Tricia Best.

Was this review helpful?

In fairness I did not get very far with this book. However, right off the bat I did not care for the writing style. It was in 3rd person, which I could have lived with, but the style itself was info overload. It was all telling, with emotion and I found that I couldn't stand either one of the 2 girl characters.

I could have kept reading, but I find that when something annoys me I won't rate it well, and I didn't feel like forcing myself to keep going.

Check out the other reviews, maybe this book will work for you, it was not a match for me though.

Was this review helpful?

Say My Name is a difficult story to read. Taylor is a shallow 18 year old who has just dumped her cheating boyfriend and is spending the summer working for her older sister. She meets Isaiah and is immediately flustered by him. They strike up a friendship of sorts, but it's not easy going for them. He has a huge secret that he isn't sharing, and Taylor is just trying to figure where she fits into life, and what she wants to do with her life. Her parents are difficult at best, and Taylor just doesn't know what to do with herself sometimes.

I love Isaiah, he is a fighter and admirably had pulled himself out of a really horrible addiction. Taylor was a little harder to connect to at first, but as she matured as the story progressed, I started to see in her what Isaiah saw, a good person with a beautiful soul. Say My Name has much more depth than most NA fiction I have read, and for that I give Tricia Best a lot of credit. I can't say I love Say My Name, but I really like that it tackled a difficult subject with grace. I am looking forward to more from Tricia.

Was this review helpful?

Wow. This is a tough one. If it were not for the excellent writing, I may not have made it through the entire book. However, because it is so well written, I was pretty much glued to it.

Please, future possible reader, be aware that there are some awful things in this book that happen to good people. The story is full of possible triggers for sensitive readers. To say this is a story that is an emotional rollercoaster is putting it mildly.

I wasn't even sure some of the time if I liked either Taylor or Isaiah, the two leading characters, By the end, I was rooting for them 100% though.

This is a story that literally smacks you in the face with some harsh realities. Bad things happen. People can be creeps. Parents can be awful The list goes on. However, the story also points out the healing power of love and understanding, and it illustrates that people can change when they try hard enough for the right reasons. Goals can be altered without the world spinning off its axis too.

My recommendation is to square your shoulders and read this book if you want to learn some things you've never probably considered, and keep an open mind throughout it.

Kudos to the author for taking a giant leap into unknown waters.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book through Net galley in return for an honest review. As a warning I will say this book may trigger people on many levels, so read with caution.
The first half of the book really irritated me and I almost did not finish it because of it. I did not like the female main character at all. I understand she is a teen but she was very immature and they way she voiced her thoughts about how she should and shouldn't be treated by others really did not set well with me. I feel that there were a lot of undertones that pointed to emotional abuse as well as sexual abuse. It was not fun to read. However, about half way through the book we learn more about Isaiah and again, his situation is one that is a huge trigger. I do think that it is important to hear and read about it because it is a real problem that is seldom addressed in books. I think Tricia Best did a great job of revealing the damage that can come from this without too much info dropping which is never fun to read. I also liked the way both characters matured over the course of this book. I appreciated seeing how hardships in life can push and pull us either toward others or completely away from others. There were many aspects to this that I felt were good for others to read. It had a strong voice of getting professional help and not just "being strong" to get through things on your own.
I would like to say at the end that I felt more connected to Taylor but in honesty, I liked her better but still did not care for her character. I did, however, like Isaiah from beginning to end. I liked the side characters that played a vital role in shaping the way these two interacted with each other and others around them. Overall, it got better as it went along but still would advise reading with caution.

Was this review helpful?

I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Taylor goes to stay with and work for her sister, Kimi over the summer, after splitting up from her cheating boyfriend.

She meets Isaiah, who works at Kimi’s local shop.

Taylor and Isaiah have an instant attraction but will they end up together.

Taylor has to work through several things concerning her family and childhood, then there's the ex boyfriend as well but Isaiah has his own issues and past to work out too.

I was drawn to this book by both the description and the cover. I found Say my name, Tricia’s debut novel, very well written. The author helped to set the scene well but she wasn't overly descriptive, which is good, as I don't get along with unnecessary description.

I felt that I got to know Taylor quite well, quite early on in the book but Isaiah was a bit mysterious. This added to the build of the story.

I found the characters very likable, especially Taylor, a young women trying to work out, where her life should lead her, and to follow her heart and dreams, and not be lead by her father.

The story was full of twists and turns. I was unsure as to how the book would end, and as to how I wanted the book to end.

This is a very good debut. I shall look out for more by Tricia Best in the future.

Was this review helpful?

This book had an all too rare quality for a book in this genre: a fresh, unique plot told in a well thought, out, well paced and well executed way. It dealt with some difficult subjects in a realistic but engrossing way. And I thank the author for writing outside the box.
The story addresses a type of addiction I don't know too much about, so I trust the author has done her research, and that the details she presents about the struggles of the main character are accurate. This tale is populated with characters that are both realistic and interesting, which is apparently a difficult task since doesn't happen frequently. I was especially moved by the nuanced relationship between Emerson and her older sister.
There were a few things that seemed a little off. The book featured one of my pet peeves - the villainous parents, All the parents in this book were fairly one dimensional. Though their roles were not large they were pivotal to the story. Honestly, I'm sure there are parents in the world who are totally uninterested in their children's happiness, but in reading NA or YA books they all seem to be either saints or sinners, and mostly the latter. Especially if they are rich. If they are rich or successful they are almost always self-centered, morally depraved, and often just nasty. While this makes a useful plot device, the stories would be richer, I think, if they could be drawn a little more realistically.
My only other issue was the ages of the characters. Maybe it's because I'm not a NA/YA and haven't been for a while. I don't doubt that issues like these happen to people of this tender age, I just had trouble envisioning it based on the people in this age group I'm around, I appreciated the story more by making them a little older in my head.
This is s book worth reading, especially if you are looking for a well written book in this genre that has a little more meat to it than the usual angsty drama or cutesy Cinderella stories. Yes, it has a happy ending, but also a lot of unexpected turns and difficult dips in getting there.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely hate writing bad reviews and it pains me to write this but whenever an author adds OM or OW into the romance plot, it absolutely ruins the story for me and its the end. That is what happened here. Ms Best had me hooked up until the point when heroine leaves Hero and immediately hooks up with OM (even giving him her virginity) while Hero remains faithful, loving and hopeful for heroine to return to him. The callous way she left him when he most needed her and ended up still having sex with OM when she returned and ran into Hero just did not work for me. That is when I stopped reading all together. I know the underline message in this book is lessons learned about the who, how, when & why in terms of sex, but at the end of the day this was suppose to be a love story and I feel that Ms. Best could have gotten her point across without involving OM/OW drama. I think it is time that authors realize that 75% of readers don't like OM/OW triangles in romance stories. At least that is the consensus in Goodreads and my book clubs.

Was this review helpful?

This book started out ok for me, but totally jumped the shark around the halfway point. I just felt unconnected to the characters, and I didn't understand the point of the Kimi plotline. It wasn't for me, but I can understand the appeal to other readers.

Was this review helpful?

This writing was awful. Really, this was one of the worst books I have 'started' - I could not push myself very far in this one.

Was this review helpful?

loved this book

Was this review helpful?