The search for truth is one of the key societal anxieties of our time. This fine novel takes us straight to the heart of the uncertainty of it all with real potency. A great piece of work.

A good story, although somewhat easy to predict. I guessed fairly early on what the main idea was, so from then on it was just filling in the gaps.
Nevertheless, a nice easy read.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

This is a book that really makes you think. Very tense. Very well written. Did deferent to other books and that’s a good thing.
4/5 on goodreads

Great first book. Found it a little bit obvious but enjoyable. Would definitely read another book by this author. Thank you Netgalley.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone Digital for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* This book tells the story of two teenagers, one named Rosie and, you guessed it, another named Anna. Their lives seem to be completely different - one has a mother, a father and a younger brother, the other lives with just her overly pious mother. One is growing up in the United States, the other in the UK. However, for some reason, their lives are inextricably linked. Why is this? What do they have in common? Anna's quiet, but ordered life starts to unravel when her devoted boyfriend (and son of a preacher man) William takes her on a holiday excursion to a theme park. Anna is sure she has never been here, yet for some reason, the place seems inexplicable familiar...

My name is Anna by Lizzy Barber is a dark family tale of lies and loss. The story is told from two perspectives, Anna and Rosie, this allows past and present details to be told simultaneously. Anna, who has just turned 18 and having lived a very strict, religious life with her mamma, feels the need to rebel. Astroland is the local theme park where everyone visits for their birthdays so William, Anna's boyfriend and son of the precher takes Anna on the forbidden trip, which causes long forgotten memories to unfold.

Rosie is the sister of a missing girl Emily, who went missing 15 years previously aged 3, when her british family were on an American holiday to Astroland. Rosie is worried about funds running out from a charity trust and never finding her sister so sets about searching herself.

The plot is quite obvious, although a very good idea I would have preferred a little more suspense, not giving the game away from the start. I'm afraid Rosie is not convincing enough for me, there doesn't seem to be enough emotion around her or her family and the reasons for her suddenly starting to look for Emily I think are weak. Anna however, is a brilliantly written character, with emotions you can understand, her need for love from her mamma and her relationship with William.

I did enjoy this book, it is very slow to start, but the latter third is very good, fast paced, dark, even thrilling! I would definitely read another of Lizzy's books but I do prefer a few twists where the story isn't so obviously laid out.

Thanks again to cornerstone, penguin random house uk and netgalley for an advanced copy to review this book

Told from two perspectives, Anna and Rosie.
Anna has been brought up by an overprotective overly religious mother, who seems reluctant to let Anna out into the world.
On her 18th birthday Anna and her boyfriend, the local pastor’s son, take a trip to a nearby theme park behind her mothers back. Surprisingly, the park seems familiar to Anna although she has never been before.
Rosie lives in the shadow of her missing sister Emily, who was abducted from a theme park whilst they were on holiday in America. Her parents have spent the years since their daughter went missing continuously searching for their missing child. As another anniversary comes around a telephone call advising her family that funds for the search are nearly gone, prompts Rosie to involve herself in trying to find her sister.
The book follows each girls path to discovering what really happened to Emily.and why,
A decent young adult read, , I found myself wanting to keep reading to find out what happened to Emily, although struggled with the reporter’s part of the story..

Quite a well written book but it didn't really take me into the world of the two main protagonists and there were a number of times when I didnt believe that the way they reacted was credible and found myself getting annoyed with the characters rather than sympathising with them.

Another example of this was when rosie discovered an investigative journalist who was so intimidated that rather than contact the police when threatened and intimidated or report this to his employers he just resigned and moved job, house etc..

It was examples like this that made me lose credibility in this story and I ended up feeling disappointed that I'd given up a few hours of time to read this.

A promising first novel yes but in the end too many inconsistencies and hope that the next book by this author will be better although I'm not convinced I'll be reading it.

My Name is Anna follows two teenage girls on different continents. In Florida, Anna is growing up with her single mother who is obsessive about her church life and also about cleanliness. Anna is dating William, the son of the pastor at their church. For Anna’s 18th birthday William takes her to a local theme park, Astroland, but they don’t tell Anna’s mother as she would not approve of their going there.

Across the Atlantic, in England, Rosie Archer is dealing with her parents’ obsession for finding her elder sister, Emily, who disappeared as a toddler at Astroland when Rosie was only one year old. Emily’s disappearance has dominated family life for all Rosie's living memories and also those of her brother, Rob, who was born several years after Emily’s disappearance. The trust fund that is funding the search for Emily is about to run out so Rosie decides to do some amateur sleuthing herself to try to solve the mystery.

The way the plot was going was fairly predictable from early on but I still enjoyed this book a lot as I wanted to know how it would end and I was happy with the way it did. I would love to see a sequel from the author.

There were times when one had to suspend belief but you often have to that in books so I didn’t let that spoil my reading enjoyment. Although there were a few times when I wanted to shout at the characters ‘get on the internet and do some simple searching’. I was also slightly mystified and sceptical towards the end when Rosie just happened upon a vital clue in a place that didn’t make any sense to me.

A well written and good paced book. Slightly too much description for my liking at times but a great read and great characterisation. I’d like to read more novels by Lizzy Barber.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. As in LOVED it. Told from two different perspectives, this is a gripping read about loss and the impact of child abduction. I was absolutely captivated right from the very first page and managed to read this in two days. Something that is not an easy thing to do for someone with 2 children and 2 jobs!

Told from two different perspectives, My Name is Anna does not shy away from the fact that life is not black and white. Usually I would shy away from giving away spoilers, but for me Barber has been clear in her blurb as to what the premise of the book is. So, feel free to click away now.

It is clear both in the synopsis as well as in the initial few chapters that Anna is in fact Emily; a child abducted at 3 years of age. Raised in a strictly religious home with a 'Mamma' she both loves and fears, My Name Is Anna follows her story as her whole world falls apart and she comes to realise the truth as to who she really is. On the other side of the Atlantic is her sister Rosie. Rosie is dealing with life as 'the child who is left'. With overprotective parents, the burden of expectation on her, and the mystery surrounding her sister’s disappearance overhanging her life. Things are hard for Rosie and she vows to confront it head on to find out what really happened to Emily.

There are a few odd moments in the book. Such as Rosie's younger brother Rob who was born after Emily disappearance. I have no idea what he adds to the book and don't really know why he is there. Also, there seems to be so much that was easily unravelled by a teenager in a matter of weeks, when it's something the police, the trust and everyone else involved never managed in 15 years. However, My Name is Anna is a great autumn read that will leave you turning page after page. Waiting to see how it's all resolved.

This story of two girls, Anna and Rosie is an interesting read, you know what’s happened just not why and this is what the book leads up to. Anna’s life reminded me of Stephen King’s Carrie; strict, religious Mother but no supernatural spooky stuff, Rosie’s life; not too remarkable but lived in the shadow of her older sister who went missing 15 years ago. I was hoping the reveals would be a little more earth shattering but nonetheless the writing kept me engaged and interested enough to finish the book. My thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Class debut. Kept me on the edge of my seat and a book I simply couldn’t put down and will eagerly await more from this author. Nd surprisingly it works being told from both viewpoints.

thoroughly enjoyed this split narrative story spanning two different continents.

There's a marked contrast between the lives of the two narrators, with Rosie's longing for normality and anonymity (although this is overtaken by a need to find her missing sister during the course of the novel) and Anna's sheltered religious upbringing, which is anything but normal. I found the alternating chapters worked well and kept me turning the pages, especially once the 'clues' in one girl's narrative started to find echoes in the other's.

I thought Anna's relationship with her zealot 'mother' was handled very skilfully and the book's title really resonates in the final few pages. This is one of those stories that lingers long after you've

Wow! What a fantastic book, I just couldn't put it down. I loved how each chapter switched from one sister to the other getting both perspectives at the same time. The author cleverly left each chapter at a crucial point in the story so that you have to keep reading to find out another piece to the puzzle. I really hope the author writes a second book to this so we find out what happens next. This is an absolutely gripping and addictive book that I will be recommending to everyone.

Emily Archer was just a toddler when she was abducted from a Florida theme park. Her baby sister, Rosie has lived in her shadow ever since. As the 15th anniversary approaches, Rosie discovers that the trust fund helping to keep the search alive is running dry and sets out on finding her sister once and for all.
Anna Montgomery has been brought up in a strictly religious household by a single mother obsessed with cleanliness and godliness. Her only contact with the outside world is through school and church. But Anna has recurring dreams of belonging, and being somebody else. As she turns 18 - she receives a card and gift in the name of her dreams.
The story is told from both girls perspectives as they start on a journey to find out who they truly are and what happened 15 years ago.
It is made very apparent from the outset who Anna really is but that doesn't detract from her confusion as she starts to realise that truth. The one negative is that it is a bit unrealistic in that both girls manage to realise, search and find out the truth within a matter of weeks where all the professionals have failed in 15 years - but if you can put that to one side it makes a great read.

This one was a bit of a heartbreaker, with tragedy on all sides. We’ve all read the stories in the news and at times there may be similarities in this novel that are a little uncomfortable, however, it is clearly not intended to be based on anything factual. I didn’t entirely warm to any of the characters but this is not really important. The final scenes had me on the edge of my seat in nervous anticipation and the ending was pretty much a melancholy perfection. Definitely worth a glance.

My Name is Anna was one of those books you can lose yourself in. I had to read it at night when my baby had gone to sleep because I wasn’t sure I would notice anything going on around me it was that good.

My Name is Anna is a split narrative novel which alternates between Anna and Rosie. In some books this would be distracting and mean the reader can’t relate to either character but in this it worked very well.

Anna's religious mother instilled in her that being virtuous is the path to God. But on her eighteenth birthday she lies to her and chooses to visit Florida's largest theme park with her boyfriend.

Anna has never been permitted to visit Astroland before – so why does everything seem so familiar?

Rosie's family has been consumed by the search for the missing sister she barely remembers. Now time and money are running out until on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister's disappearance Rosie decides to start her own search for the truth.

It is clear from the beginning that Anna’s living situation is one where she needs to walk on eggshells.

“I raise my fingers through the cooling bathwater and check my nails, looking for invisible fragments of dust I always fail to spot but Mamma hones in on with such definite aim.”

Anna and her mother are obsessive in their need for cleanliness both physically and in their home. Anna knows that if she doesn’t adhere to the rules then her mother has a much darker side to her.

She is normally a good girl, sticking to the rules, but on her eighteenth birthday she decides to lie to her mother for the first time.

She feels anxious all morning when she wakes up after a dream that felt to weird, a dream where people were calling out to her, but they weren’t calling her name.

Anna’s mum is a difficult character to like.

“She turns to me, gives me her best attempt at a smile- the one she saves for the really good days.”

Rosie’s mother on the other hand is instantly likeable. It is obvious to the reader from the beginning that she is overprotective but is equally obvious that there is a reason why. The disappearance of her daughter has obviously had a massive effect on her.

For Rosie, the overprotectiveness has worn a bit thin:

‘When has she ever not ended a farewell like that? Be Safe.’

Rosie never knows if people want her for her or for her sister. She lives in the shadow of a sister she barely remembers despite her mother’s best efforts to keep her alive in their memories. She feels defined by her.

“She can do no wrong, while I am always trying to play catch-up.”

The author was very good at portraying the situation for all of the characters – particularly Rosie and the rest of her family.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. A memorable book.

Fantastic. This book is explored from both sides of the Atlantic and side by side which gives it a great aspect of exploring the story of not only Anna but also the lives that have been impacted by her story. Kept me intrigued to the very end. Only thing missing for me was a little more exploration of what after

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 enjoyably different stars.

This is a great book mainly because it’s told backwards; you know what has happened, so the book is about going back to the beginning, told from different viewpoints, the circumstances that lead the Anna’s disappearance.

Clever writing means you get a real feel for the characters and the book feels joined up rather than disjointed despite being set in different time periods and locations at times.

Dropped a star only because the end quarter seemed to take a turn in direction, it felt a tad rushed and the ending I had to read a few times as I thought I’d missed something.

Will read another by the author.

I loved it. A real page turner, I couldn’t wait to read what was happening with the two girls.
What seems at first to be a straightforward story of child abduction and (probably) the solving and happy ending of it, this rapidly drops into a much darker place....
Beautifully written, especially the last chapter, with such understanding and empathy it made me shed a tear.