Cover Image: You Are Not You

You Are Not You

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Member Reviews

This book had a wonderful start. You see your psychotherapist and you think that all the therapist is trying to do is break you up with your new love Nina. Are you crazy? It kept me on edge, until the end. I was disappointed and there is nothing worse than an ending that just leaves you feeling kind of betrayed. I would revisit this author at another time but not in the near future.

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Oh, this book was so CREEPY!!! Great psychological thriller that really kept me guessing. You know who the bad guy is (or at least one of them) but the motivation behind the evil remains a mystery for some time. The characters are interesting (although not always likeable) and the plot is unique and bizarre - like nothing I have ever encountered in the hundreds of thriller I have read. I actually had to walk away from this one for a couple of days because I was starting to have awful dreams based on themes in the book.

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Sam has been having psychotherapy with Roberta for years. He is in a relationship with Nina, an attorney, and decides that Roberta is trying to break them up. He starts to find evidence to support his theory. But who is the reader to believe? And is the 'evidence' real or only existing in Sam's mind? This was an interesting read but weighed down by unnecessary incredibly detailed exposition. For instance when Nina is hit by a car it is described as if the reader is seeing it and feeling it in slow motion. Every possible physical and mental reaction is described in excruciating detail. 90% of the book is like this and instead of drawing this reader in, as perhaps was the aim, it alienated me. The intense detail is relentless without light and shade. However the mystery of discovering what is real kept me reading to the end.

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Thanks for the early review copy!

I recommend this novel to fans of mystery novels. It was well-written and interesting novel.

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There is so much to love about this novel. In a market saturated with unreliable narrators with memory issues, the plot and protagonist are unique and fascinating in a way that elevates this novel above the rest of the psychological thrillers deploying this device. The author is very gifted in explaining how people process emotions, and I found myself having that sensation of "finally someone explained exactly how I feel" often. This novel also had a stellar ending.

So why only three stars? I felt that this novel could have lost 50-100 pages in favor of economy of plot and to keep the pace engaging. I found my eyes skimming over some great exposition because it was weighing down the plot. The plot is so compelling that even the articulate and poignant descriptions slowed the pace down to a halt. Intense editing could have made this into the next blockbuster novel.

(Unrelated to the star rating, but I have to mention that the cover art aggravated my trypophobia.)

*I received a copy of this novel from the publishers in exchange for a fair review.

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Shifting POV's, creepy and psychological twists. I can normally guess whats going to happen but I loved that this book kept me guessing.

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I tried so hard to get into this book. The premise of the plot sounded great - a horrible therapist that makes you question reality. However it lacked that oomph to keep me interested, the characters weren’t relatable or likeable and there were some plot holes within the story. I’m sure that for the right person, this book might be what they are looking for but it just wasn’t for me.

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One of those books that drew me in immediately and I was immersed the whole time. Really well written original story

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Sam is in a new relationship with Nina and is also in therapy. He starts to believe that his therapist wants to sabotage his relationship and then begins to uncover evidence that she has control over many parts of his life. I don't know what to say about this book. At first I really did not like it and couldn't get into it at all. I kept thinking I was going to give up on it, but at the same time I did want to know what happened. Was Roberta actually evil and manipulative or was Sam just crazy? I kept reading, and in the end, I was disappointed. I would only give this one 2 stars.

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Sam, who has been in therapy for years, is looking to forge a new relationship and a new life. His ex-wife died of cancer and his life fell apart. Roberta, his psychologist, helped him to find a new grasp on life.
But now he has met Nina and Roberta doesn’t seem happy for him.
Sam recognises absences, parts of his days and nights that slip from his consciousness. He starts to wonder if Roberta isn’t helping him heal but is instead using their sessions to implant onto him, gaining control of his mind and his body. Just how dangerous is she? And will Nina believe him?
His concept of Roberta is certainly a frightening one. The stuffed crow that sits above her client’s chair in the therapy room suggests satanic ritual. The imagined ring of sleeping followers wandering uninvited into people’s homes and lives, forging a life for others that is entirely manufactured and outside of their control, is creepy in the extreme. Still, things felt too loose, too ethereal to restrict my breathing and send me into a state of fear, to truly challenge my believe in the certainty of my world.
There is a lot to admire in You Are Not You. It navigates the difficult territory between the inside and outside of the mind, between dream and reality; how the mind constantly interprets reality to suit its own beliefs and desires. These are some pleasing and enticing concepts and it was the contemplation of the slippage between real and surreal that held me to the story and kept me pushing on to the narrative conclusion. However, regardless of this drive to uncover a resolution, something didn’t quite work for me.
This won’t be the case for everyone. There will be loads of readers who will love this book. There is sex, violence, psychological suggestion, and a whole heap of uncertainty about the things in life that we take for granted as being real and solid. If this sounds like your kind of book, You Are Not You won’t disappoint.

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Usually, I don’t mind a book that leaves some cliffhangers, but this was not one of those books. You Are Not Alone left too many holes and no answers to satisfy me. The premise of the book sounded great as it was dubbed an intense, psychological thriller, but I didn’t feel that was what I was reading. The psychotherapist was creepy, but Sam and Nina were not very relatable or likable and rather flat. The book just wasn’t for me in being able to immerse myself in the storyline and setting, and I really began not to care what happened to the characters.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

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A relationship begins between Sam and Nina. Sam is quite unhinged. His believes that his therapist ( Roberta) is giving him subliminal messages through hypnosis and perhaps, LSD. His first date with Nina ends up with him appearing to want to jump from his 6th floor apartment. Nina is indeed needy and lonely.

The story is of a different ilk and reads rather quickly. Does Sam have weird thoughts and severe paranoia or is his therapist trying to undermine help him? Are there really people SAM has dealt with - or are they only fabricated in his mind?

I was surprised that by the end of this book we had no answers to a number of questions that may be sought by the reader. Although thought-provoking and different type of novel, I was disappointed at how it all ended. Some things that were elicited to in the body of the book were not tied in by the conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an interesting read.

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I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I had like this book more – I love the concept of an evil psychotherapist. But no one in this book is likable, and none of their motivations makes sense. It requires too much of a mental leap, even for a e-book psychological thriller. Not worth it

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