Cover Image: My Name is Anna

My Name is Anna

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Member Reviews

Every one of us has probably experienced déjà vu at one time or the other, the feeling of having seen, heard or experienced something before. When Anna defies her mother and spends the day at a popular theme park she isn’t sure whether she is having a flashback or a feeling of déjà vu.

Just one problem with that, there is no way she could be having a flashback, because according to her very strict and religious mother, Anna has never been anywhere near the theme park. Anna starts to question whether what she knows is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Meanwhile a young girl called Rosie decides to look into the disappearance of her sister. The loss, grief and confusion has left her family broken. She believes that solving the mystery could be what finally brings her family back together. The not knowing, the unanswered questions and the imagined scenarios make a unexplained disappearance worse than a disappearance with a bad ending.

I really appreciated the realistic and honest approach to the ending of this book. Barber didn’t feel the need to romanticise it for her readers, and to be completely frank it’s exactly what it would be like for families in such a traumatic situation. So kudos to the author for that.

This may appear to be a simple premise but Barber takes it a step further and puts readers in a situation where the worst possible crime a family can deal with could be completely understandable given the traumatic and extraordinary circumstances. The predictable takes a sharp left turn and leads the reader on a merry chase up the garden path.

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Wow what a read. I struggled to put it down. It is split into two Anna and Rosie. Anna lives in America with her Mamma living a god fearing life just the two of them. Rosie lives in London with her Mum and Dad and younger brother Rob. Rosie has an older sister Emily who was taken as a toddler while at a fun fair on holiday. You read the two stories of their lives side by side as each of them try’s to understand what’s going on. Rosie’s family hold a party for what would have been Emily’s 18th birthday and Rosie starts to look closer into what people have been putting on the internet all these years. Anna gets taken back to the same fun fair and starts to have flashes of another life. A gripping read I recommend this book.

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I liked My name is Anna, it is a novel told in alternate chapters, jumping between Rosie & Anna.
Rosie is the child of parents who have endured a parents worst nightmare, the kidnapping of their child. Emily, Emily was Rosie big sister who was taken 15 years before from an American theme park, whilst her English father’s back was turned. The family was suddenly plunged into a waking nightmare but they have never given up trying to find her, but after 15 years of searching the trust fund is running dry and it looks unlikely they will ever find out what has happened to their daughter, where as Anna lives in America with her very religious & strict mother, she has had a very oppressive childhood life consists of School, church and keeping clean & trying to make her mother proud, definitely not an easy life, which she longs to escape & with her understanding boyfriend she might find a way.
My name is Anna, tackles a very difficult subject very well & doesn’t just head towards a happy ever after like some novels do. Definitely worth reading.

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This book gave an account of how two lives on either side of the Atlantic were shaped by an event. It looked into the nature vs nurture impact on people. I enjoyed it and it was an easy read.

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Fantastic read. Gripping after each chapter.

A girl is abducted from Astroland in Florida. The story follows her discovery and her sisters aim to find her missing sister.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

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This is a story of Anna, who grows up in the USA and Rosie, who grows up in the U.K. This was an intensive read as I quickly became engrossed in the different upbringings of the two girls. The ending was predictable but this did not detract from the beauty of the book.
The story brings the emotions that the family of an abducted child goes through as well as some of the issues that religious sects can produce., both these topics were very well addressed throughout. The book has alternate chapters for each girl showing their lives so clearly from Rosie’s overprotective mother to Anna’s strict religious upbringing. I fell in love with the both girls but found the ending tear jerking as it describes so clearly the emotions that Anna has to go through to try to be Emily.
A beautiful written book that I highly recommend to all.

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Bit too predictable and a few too many coincidences. Also left a few too many unanswered questions at the end

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I finished this book in a few hours, I couldn't put it down, it was suspenseful and creative, I do feel there were some things left unsaid though and that the ending felt a little rushed.

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My Name Is Anna is a nail biting, emotional thriller with a great storyline.
Anna lives with her mamma in America, she lives a very strict, religious life and for her eighteenth birthday arranges to go to a theme park she’s never been allowed to go to before. William her boyfriend takes her there and when she gets there she weirdly feels like she’s been there before but how and why when she knows her mamma is so defiantly against going.
Rosie lives in London and had a sister who was taken 15 years ago, her mother has never got over it and it has had an adverse affect Rosie. A fifteen year party is put on by her parents for close family and people that have helped them over the years and it is at this party that Rosie finds out that in a few months the trust that was made to help find Emily will cease to exist due to financial reasons so with the help of her best friend she tries to find out what happened.
This was a read where I was invested in the characters from the first few chapters, I liked how the chapters were alternately from Rosie and Anna’s viewpoint showing you they were leading very different lives with very different people. This was a thriller with a difference and was very believable and enjoyable.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed this book! Well paced and grippy, with real emotion felt, and empathy for the characters. It kept me reading far too late to finish it on Christmas Eve night!! Well worth a read.
Suitable I think for YA as well as the category it’s placed in, I think a slightly younger audience would appreciate it too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in return for my honest opinion.

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A book that gripped me from the start which tells the story of a child abduction and a family's campaign to keep searching to find their child. It is told by 2 sisters in alternate chapters, Anna who lives in America is beginning to have flashbacks of her earlier life that make her doubt her strict, fanatically religious mother, and Rosie in London who is desperate to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her sister Emily from an American theme park. As more and more snippets of information come to light, a more sinister picture of events from the last 15 years begins to emerge to both Rosie and Anna. The last third of the book began to gain pace and I could not put it down. A very good read.

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There were just far too many coincidences in this story for my liking.
It made the story line far fetched and very improbable.
Not for me.

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This was a good read, a story told by sisters separated following Emily’s abduction. Only Emily doesn’t know that her mamma stole her from a theme park. Rosie’s family have spent 15 years searching for her, refusing to give up hope.
There were no real surprises and we knew from early on that Anna was Emily, but it was interesting to follow the story, fill in the gaps and answer the questions.
It was a different theme and I very much enjoyed it.
I would have liked to see a little bit more on what happened when Emily/Anna was reunited with her birth family - the author started to suggest there were problems, it could have been a great twist, Will look out for more from this author.

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Simply brilliant, a tale told by 2 girls who have lived very different lives.

Anna - is almost 18 and living with her very over protective and super religious mother in the US. One day she sneaks away to go to a theme park for the first time with her boyfriend, but when she gets there it seems strangely familiar.

Rosie - lives in the UK with her family, 15 years before her elder sister went missing and was never seen again. Rosie is determined to find out what really happened.

This book kept me reading through the night, it was thrilling and exciting and had some great twists throughout. Totally captivating a well earned 5 stars.

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On her 18th birthday, Anna defies her mamma's rules and visits Floridas biggest theme park. She has never been allowed to go, so why, when she arrives, does everything feel so familiar.? When she returns home, she receives a note addressing her by a different name, a name she recognises.

Rosie has grown up in the shadow of her older sisters disappearance. She was 1 year old when her sister disappeared. They have tried everything in their power to get her back. Bit Rosie discovers the Trust that was set op for her sister is about to wind down. She decides that she needs to find out the truth behind her sisters disappearance.

The story is narrated by both Anna and Rosis. A tale of sisters torn apart at an early age but the bond between them is still there. Although the book is well written, it does seem a little far fetched at times. The pace is quite slow until nearer the end where it all kicks off. Anna's mother is a character that I won't forget very easily. You can't help but think of all the other children who have went missing while your reading this book, and wonder if something like this has happened to them. A story that definitely makes you think. This is an enjoyable read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author Lizzy Barber for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

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*** ARC provided by Netgalley via the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ***

Definitely a page turner, I whipped through this in a couple of days and would have done so sooner if it weren’t for other commitments. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away as I think the blurb does this much more succinctly than I would and I fear there is a danger of giving too much away.

Great first novel from Lizzy barber, I will be looking out for more of her books in the future!

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I think i requested this book by accident as it reads more as a YA book. Anyway here goes.
Ann lives with her mother and has had a very sheltered upbringing. On her eighteenth birthday she breaks free of the apron strings and heads off to Astroland theme park.
Rosie lives in London and has been living under the shadow of her missing sister, she went missing at the age of three while on holiday in America.
This is their story of how they met and the journey they embark together. I like the way the story enfolds and chapters are given to each of these women. Also their back stories and in turn we learn so much more. The ending was predictable but still a good read.

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Firstly, this should be more a YA/teenage read rather than in the category it is - misnamed and misplaced. Dead obvious storyline told in a very juvenile fashion, as befits the 'narrators' but hardly a substantial read.

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Ohmidays this was a good book. I read it in 24 hours! The story flipping backwards and forwards between Anna and Rosie was expertly done. This was very different in as much as the reader knew who had done what, but we didn't understand why. Slowly, like the layers of an onion, little revelations appeared until all was made clear. The pain that Emily's family went through was so poignant, my heart broke for the parents, the siblings and everyone connected in any way to such a traumatic nightmare of an ordeal. Mamma wasn't portrayed sympathetically, but as more and more of her back story came to light, you couldn't help but feel sympathy for such a troubled and vulnerable young girl. It all seemed such a credible tale, it made me wonder how more children aren't snatched and hidden away. Highly recommend this book to all, Ms Barber has done a fabulous job!

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

Anna lives in Florida with her Mamma and lives a sheltered life, bought up to believe that virtue is the path to God. But on her eighteenth birthday, she breaks one of Mamma’s rules by going to Astroland theme park where she is forbidden from going...but has she been here before? Why does it feel so familiar? Then when Anna receives a birthday card and gift from a stranger, she knows she has to go on a mission to find out who she really is.

Rosie lives in London and has grown up in the shadow of the disappearance of her older sister. With the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance approaching, Rosie vows to uncover the truth about what happened to her sister.

As soon as I started the first chapter of this book, I was hooked; I read the book in two sittings! Each chapter keeps you wanting more. The chapters are narrated, in turn, by Anna and Rosie, so we hear the story from both viewpoints. Both characters are totally different, with Anna more mousy and Rosie independent, but both are likeable.

From the beginning, I could tell where the story was going, how everyone was linked, but it didn’t stop me from reading - I still wanted to know how the story would play out and end. However, I did find the ending a bit too rushed and short - it could have been lengthened a bit...unless a sequel is planned??? (Fingers crossed!)

Definitely a book I recommend!

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