This book is smart and creepy...but insanely slow. It's so slow that I found myself bored and would have to re-read because my mind would wander off. The idea was good, the climax is good, but the overall execution was a bit lackluster for me. I would possibly pick up more from this author in the future.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really get into this one, which is surprising because I really enjoyed "The Girl With All The Gifts". Will still check out future works from this author!

I really liked this author and this book did not disappoint, it was an appropriately paced, page turner that will have me hooked throughout the story.

I loved M.R. Carey's The Girl with All the Gifts, so looked forward to reading this one. Someone Like Me is a very different type of book from "The Girl", yet it's still fascinating. And disturbing. And a bit confusing. But it's all of those things in a good way. It's one of those books that makes you wonder "What am I reading? Is this a psychological thriller? Is this an alternate universe? How literally should I be taking this?" In the end, I know where I came out - but I'm not sure it's where everyone else will come out. There were bits that were a bit jarring, British terms that wouldn't be used in the US, times where observations became a little too repetitive. That annoys me when the writing overall is bad - but that's not the case here. Overall I very much enjoyed this crazy, dark, disturbing book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Another superb novel from M.R. Carey.
I've been reading Carey's work for a long time -- first in comics, before being introduced to his prose work through the truly excellent THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS. I've eagerly read each of the author's new novels ever since, and they have always been engrossing, well-written, original and gripping reads.

SOMEONE LIKE ME is no exception. It's an interesting, well-written take on multiple personalities and psychological suspense. It's also rather difficult to review without spoiling...

Needless to say, SOMEONE like me is a gripping read, and very highly recommended.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ahh. This was a great story, from the very beginning I was hooked! This author is great and really knows how to put you in the moment.

It had taken Liz Kendall, a sweet, gentle woman and mother of two, years to get up the courage to divorce her violent ex. One night, when he brings their kids home late and then wants to keep them longer, her objection leads to another attack only this time she knows he will kill her. With his hands around her neck, she somehow manages to reach a bottle and find the nerve to hit him with it...except it feels like it wasn't her but another entity, a monster, that has done it while she watches on helplessly.

Fran is a sixteen-year-old girl who still suffers from the trauma of being kidnapped when she was six. As a result, almost everyone thinks she's a weirdo. Her only friends as well as protectors are her widowed father who has never fully forgiven himself for her abduction and Lady Jinx, a fox who resembles a character from her favourite childhood cartoon complete with armour and sword. She knows Jinx isn't real but she needs her all the same because, without her, the nightmares would be even worse.

Liz and Fran are eventually brought together by Liz's son and Fran's classmate, Zac. Their meeting will have repercussions that will lead to unforeseen and devastating consequences.

Someone Like Me is by author M.R. Carey who has become one of my favourite authors. I loved his previous books, The Girl With All the Gifts and The Boy on the Bridge but I think I loved this one even more. It is kind of a scifi thriller hybrid and it works great as both, full of action and twists and turns as well as a slow and tantalizing reveal of what is really going on. But it is also a well-thought-out and insightful commentary on domestic violence and here, I feel I should add a caveat. Carey doesn't try to soften this abuse but lays it out in all its ugly violence which may be upsetting for some.

4.5

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

I love character driven books, no matter whether the character is likable or not. M.R. Carey is a master of the complex. layered, intriguing character. Someone Like Me is definitely character driven, and I enjoyed experiencing the story unfold around them. M. R. Carey addresses some difficult subjects and situations, and I was highly entertained.
I think it would make an excellent book discussion selection.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Someone Like Me by M.R. Carey ( writer of Lucifer and Hellblazer comics) is one of those books that blend genres and refuses to be categorized into any single tome. Someone Like Me is a mix of mystery, science fiction, fantasy and horror with just a taste of romance tossed in. It is a good tale of desperation and loss and redemption. As well as a tale of wonder, as in when you look into the mirror, do you wonder who really is looking back?

"...We need to talk, Liz thought for the third time. We have to stop fighting each other. We're just two halves of the same thing.
No, the other spat back. Just that single word, quick and hard and flat.
Liz knew the voice, of course. It was the one she was expecting to hear. And when the other's outline filled in slowly, the details drawing themselves on the air, she was prepared for what she would see and was not surprised. Except, perhaps, by the implacable hostility on the Liz's face, the twist of raw contempt on her lips.
You don't know me. The words were thick with challenge, with an anger that crackled like electricity. You don't know me at all..."

Liz Kendall wouldn't hurt a fly. She struggles to take care of her two children and make it through a difficult divorce with her ex-husband Marc. He had a temper and beat her often during their marriage until the one day she finally struck back. The day that voice in her head, telling her to fight back, was finally heard. The day when for one moment, the voice took over.

There is another side to Liz and her name is Beth. She is hungry and desperate and she wants out. Liz thinks she is just a personality, a piece of her that comes out when tough situations need to be dealt with. But Beth is far more than that. No Beth is something altogether different and she wants to live again. But to do so, Liz has to go.

"...You know,' Picotta murmured. 'You were there too, but I was there for longer. Much, much longer. Years. Doing okay, Bruno. I thought it was magic and it had to be really bad. Deviltries, like my mom said. Like she said the ghost witches do. Like you were the ghost of...a...' His hands tried to shape something in the air, the chain clanking as it sawed back and forth in its bracket. 'But it's not. It's only that place, and what it does to you. If you stay too long you get squishy too. It touches you, I guess. It sticks to you if you're a certain kind of person. Like you. Like me. If you look like there are two of you, it doesn't mean you're bad..."

Fran is an outcast at her school and to make matters worse she sees things. Auras around people and her imaginary friend Jinx, a warrior fox. But mostly Fran is known for being abducted by Bruno Picotta when she was a child and held captive in a hotel room where he was going to kill her. But the police saved her that day. She remembers little of it and most of what she knows she got off the internet and from people telling her. Now she is in high school and more alone then she has ever been. She has one new friend, a boy named Zac. But there is something wrong with Zac and his family. She can feel it. Mostly around Zac's mom, Liz. Because where Liz is, Fran sees two people. Two people at war with one another.

Beth knows that she wants out and she is ready to take over. But to do so, she must get rid of Liz, and if necessary, Liz's two children and that girl who looks at her strangely. The one named Fran.

There is so much more to this tale than the small bits I have put here, but to tell you about all of it would ruin what the book is really got to deliver. It is a tale of right and wrong and the darkness that lives in all of us. Especially that darkness that comes from pain and hurt. There is a touch of the supernatural here but moreover there is the sense that the dimensions that separate us from other versions of us can at times, collide.

Carey is a gifted writer, not just comic books and by the way, do not judge his comics by the television and movies made from them, but of novels as well. Someone Like Me is one of the sleeper hits of the season. If you missed it, pick it up. If you didn't hear about, you are now.

A great thrill ride through the dark and unknown and the things that go bump in the night.

I keep really wanting to like Carey’s work, but really not liking it... I couldn’t get into this at all.

I thought this was an interesting read, a bit slow but it kept my interest. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I thought maybe a little split personality thing but this was far different.

Started this in October 2018 as an ARC and it was so slow and I was lost. I didn't know who was who and what was real. So I requested the audio from the Library and I am so glad I did what a difference.
This by far was way better than reading it and can I say CREEPY.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved “The Girl With All the Gifts”, but I have to face the fact that that’s the only book by this author that I am going to like. Had I known what this book is about I never would have started it. Supernatural plots usually do not appeal to me. There was also the problem that this book took forever to get to the point. Fortunately, there were reviews with extensive spoilers that confirmed my decision to abandon this book. This wasn’t for me. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

I read this because I loved this author's book The Girl With All the Gifts This book is nothing like that but still really enjoyable. I'm not sure what to say about the overall plot because it's a complex story line and one I don't want to spoil.

The writing was really good and it drew me in from the first page. I wasn't sure what was going on in places and love the parts where the "ahh....now I get it" moments happened.

I ended up enjoying this a lot and would definitely recommend it.

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

In M.R. Carey’s latest thriller, Someone Like Me, we first meet sweet, docile single mother Liz, as she tries to assert herself yet again to her aggressive ex-husband. After years of enduring an abusive marriage, Liz was finally able to divorce her husband and keep her children safe from what she feared would be potential danger to them, too. But the shared custody of the two children still causes much friction, with Liz’s ex Marc often pushing boundaries.

(Warning: the novel [and review] include scenes of domestic violence.)


On one such night, when he brings the children home much too late and Liz complains, he lashes out at her physically once again, with more aggression than before. But this time, unlike all the other incidences Liz had submissively borne, she feels something within herself break free, something stronger and more violent, and she is able to defend herself against Marc with equal brutality, slashing his face with a broken glass bottle as he chokes her. Liz herself is shocked, and worried as to what has come over her but grateful to be alive after the altercation.

Later, upon seeing a psychologist to discuss what happened to her in that moment, she is told it was probably a ‘dissociative episode’ brought on by trauma and fear. Liz tries to make sense of the single angry voice in her head that seems to be getting louder, and louder, and finds that she isn’t alone, and doesn’t seem to be imagining things. Eventually she gives in to Beth, the voice in her head, and it feels like something ‘rose as she fell. Spread itself like wings through her and above her and around her. A funnelled force like a gale hit her full on, snatched her up and hurled her headfirst into a blistering, unbearable cold.’

Meanwhile, not too far from where Liz lies dreaming of the voice in her head, 16 year old Fran is dealing with the deep psychological scars of having been abducted at age six by a highly disturbed young man who insisted she was some sort of demon. Though physically unharmed after the kidnapping, Fran has never managed to fully process and move on from her childhood trauma, and continues to have nightmares, memory loss and hallucinations. Most interestingly, she is in the constant company of a magical fox called Lady Jinx, who is her best friend, protector and not at all real.

Fran understands Jinx to be her an imaginary friend created by her subconscious soon after her abduction made her a well known but incredibly lonely and often teased child. Something shifted in Fran the day she was stolen away to a hotel room and held for hours: she has strange layered memories of the day—all horrific—but Jinx is the one positive remnant of the incident. But there are things about Jinx that don’t quite add up to this theory, and while Jinx is determined to keep Fran away from the trauma, grief and sadness of her past, Fran is equally determined to figure out why she isn’t able to make progress with her mental health, even after a decade of professional help and medications, both.

Connecting Fran and Liz is Zak, Liz’s 16 year old son and Fran’s classmate. He is the one who introduces the two women, unknowingly setting off a sequence of events that will change all their lives. Fran, upon meeting Liz, is able to see something strange in the older woman, a blurring of sorts, as if there are two of her within one space. Fran doesn’t understand what she is seeing, and though she has no idea that Liz has just had her first ‘dissociative episode’, she has seen enough in Liz to know when something changes in the older woman a few weeks later. It is enough to make Fran wonder further about her own ‘hallucinations’ and what really happened to her during her abduction that has caused this shift in her vision, and if it is at all connected to what is happening to Liz.


BUY IT NOW



Liz and Beth. Fran and Jinx. Liz and Fran. Beth and Jinx.

All four are unique identities, all four share traumas and overlapping lives through time and space—or do they? Are they each simply an aspect of the others’ own personality, subconscious? One an id to the other’s ego? Carey is good at making his readers question this, with plenty of well timed reveals adding to the constant tension in this twisty yet controlled narrative. The perspective shifts between Liz and Fran, until Beth comes into the mix and we hear from her, too. Carey does a great job at creating empathetic characters who are not necessarily likeable—Beth, in particular, is straight up unsavoury. And yet, it is easy to feel her pain just as much as it is Liz’s, who is, quite simply, a nice woman It’s a small cast of clear, true voices at play in Someone Like Me, and Carey is just as skilful at creating a deeply satisfying narrative that comes full circle here as he was with brilliantly plotted The Girl With All The Gifts.

But this isn’t just a thriller—it’s also a sensitive and smart commentary on domestic abuse and it’s traumatic aftermath, not just on the victim herself but on the family as a whole; on childhood trauma, compartmentalisation, defence and coping mechanisms. It’s an exploration of how love can drive us to do strengths we’d never expect, but so can hate and fear. It’s about the demons that exist within us, and the angels too, and how it’s never quite certain which aspects of our secret selves are supporting us or harming us. Sure, it’s also about metaphysical slipstreams in time and space—or are those just slipstreams between our conscious and subconscious minds? Carey is clever, and so he leaves the answers to his readers.

I found this book to be very original and intriguing. The way it was written was so unique and at times absolutely spine tingling chilling. I thought that it was well written and was a very scary read, which made my brain spin a bit!
Will be using in a challenge and recommending in Chapter Chatter Pub.

M.R. Carey is perhaps best known for the blockbuster The Girl With All the Gifts, to which he received a ton of rightfully deserved praise. As I said in my review, "Carey energizes the zombie novel with a fresh new approach." Unfortunately, I can't garner the same enthusiasm for his latest, Someone Like Me.

It definitely starts off originally enough. Liz Kendall is a kind woman just trying to bring up her two children away from her abusive ex-husband. That is, until the other side of Liz emerges -- a woman named Beth, who is violent to the extreme. At the same time, we meet Fran, a young girl trying to recover from a traumatic experience with the help of Jinx, a fox only she can see. How Liz, Beth, Fran, and Jinx relate to each other is the essence of Someone Like Me, a book not without its own problems.

To me, this was a slog to get through. I just couldn't get myself invested in the characters to care much one way or the other, even at the book's way-too-long length: 500 pages. There were moments I enjoyed it, but then the ridiculous ending put me right back to my original feelings about it. I can't recommend this one.

MY RATING - 2

I've liked all of M. R. Carey's other books but just couldn't get in to this one. It was very dark and I had a hard time relating to any of the characters. Just wasn't an enjoyable read for me.

Orbit Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Someone Like Me. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Can a trauma in the past have unintentional and unwanted side effects? Both Fran Watts and Elizabeth Kendall are seemingly powerless to stem the tide of unusual attacks on their individual psyches. What happens when outside forces puts pressure on their fragile minds? Will they both spiral out of control or will they each find a way to live with their particular set of circumstances?

Author M.R. Carey has taken the idea of people being pushed beyond the limits that their minds can fathom, leading them down a dangerous path. Given a similar set of circumstances, individuals will make different choices depending on the situation and on how much pressure they are able to withstand. The novel begins with a bang and really does not let up, despite the size of the book itself. I enjoyed the twists and turns, as the hint of the supernatural can really help to boost a novel to new heights. Although both Liz and Fran are unreliable narrators, the plot does not suffer. If anything, the fact that there is doubt about what is truly transpiring gives the story more of an impact. I thoroughly enjoyed Someone Like Me and I would recommend it to readers who like horror thrillers with a little twist of the unknown.