4.5 ⭐️ Mary, my Mary…or is she?

This gripping tale swiftly unfolds as a seventeen-year-old girl, Mary, awakens in a ditch, her memory wiped clean, amidst suspicion of her connection to a local girl's disappearance. Simultaneously, Drew, also seventeen, grapples with accusations surrounding his girlfriend Lola's vanishing. The narrative deftly interweaves Mary's journey, sheltered by her father who harbors secrets, and Drew's relentless quest for truth. As Mary questions her identity and her father's motives, Drew's guilt over Lola's fate propels him into an investigation, haunted by the possibility of their intertwined fates.

The story navigates through dual perspectives, switching between Mary's uncertain reality and Drew's relentless pursuit of answers. Themes of identity, deception, and redemption converge as the mysteries surrounding Mary's amnesia and Lola's disappearance unfold. The emotions and authentic character portrayals anchor the narrative in realism, evoking empathy and investment from readers

Hi Again!

I am so happy to be back! I took the past week off for a much-needed break and I feel like I accomplished a lot! I also read a lot (but definitely not the books I planned to read or thought I would have read last week, but that is totally okay)! Before going away for a bit over a week for my time away I did finish reading That’s Not My Name and it is officially a new favorite of mine! I recently even looked at my local bookstore to grab a copy for my permanent collection but they did not have any. I am going to continue to look for a physical copy but in the meantime let’s talk all about this book!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Lola was the girlfriend of Drew. But after Lola has a fight with her parents, she and Drew drive to their favorite spot by the lake and decompress for a bit this conversation quickly turns into a fight and Lola storms out of the car. After she storms out of the car she is never seen again and everyone assumes she is fine until the next morning when her parents and everyone are freaking out and accusing Drew of having done something to her. But Drew knows he didn’t and he feels so guilty about the fight and being the only one who believes something bad has happened to Lola. Drew is determined to not give up on Lola and amongst being questioned by the police and his whole life falling apart he begins to create flyers and post them literally everywhere. He is determined to never give up on Lola.

We also follow Mary in this story. Mary wakes up in a ditch, with no idea who she is or what happened to her. But she knows it can not be anything good. She starts to get up from the ground and move on to try to figure things out when a police car pulls up to her. The officer takes her to the stations, gets her kind of cleaned up, and gives her warm clothes and a blanket. Mary does not want to go to the hospital but the officer moves her to a back room and they begin to chat when he hears a knock on the door. There is a man at the door begging to be let into the station as he is looking for his missing daughter. While the officer is a bit skeptical that Mary could be his daughter, he has photos of them together throughout their lives and her birth certificate so he lets Mary go home with him. The officer plans to go check on them frequently but Mary can not for sure remember if this is her dad? Also if this is her dad, why is she in a ditch? What happened? Mary has endless questions about her own life which makes her all the more confused as she begins to try to piece her life together.

This book was absolutely amazing. Once I picked it up I could not put it down. I was granted an E-ARC on Netgalley (in exchange for my honest opinions) and I read it so quickly and then when it officially came out I placed a hold on my Libby so I could try the audiobook. (It has not come in yet). Both Drew and Mary’s POVs were exciting to read from and I never felt disappointed when one or the other came on. (I will say there were plenty of times when I was on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what was happening in the other POV). The ending was an absolute twist and I never guessed what we would learn (I also felt my heart literally break for Drew multiple times but especially at the end). I am beyond excited to read Megan Lally’s next book and I am super grateful to the publisher for allowing me to read this book a bit early! I definitely recommend checking this book out if you are looking for a great mystery/thriller.

P.S. If you are reading this I would love love love an ARC of the next book!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars (deserves many more)!

***Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I think this author made me love thriller books. I COULDN’T PUT THIS DOWN!!

That’s Not My Name had me looking over my shoulder while I was reading this book

OMG!!!!!

I always love a good YA thriller and this one was top notch! I was instantly drawn in to the mystery surrounding the disappearance of 17-year-old Lola, and the suspicion that was cast over her boyfriend Drew. Everyone thought he had something to do with it, but he is committed to finding Lola and bringing her home.

Miles away from Lola and Drew's hometown, a teenage girl wakes up in a ditch with a lump on her head and covered in blood, with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Someone claiming to be her father picks her up at the police station and brings her home, calling her by the name of Mary. She should be relieved to be home, but Mary has too many questions- why can't she remember what happened? Why can't she remember her dad? But most concerning of all, why can't she remember who she really is?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the twist at the end had me shook!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

In this YA mystery, Lola has gone missing. We get to follow Drew, Lola’s boyfriend. The town hates him because he’s the boyfriend, so it was obviously his fault. And he will admit that it’s his fault, but that he didn’t hurt her and she’s out there waiting to be found. When the sheriff seems to give up, it’s up to Drew to figure it out. But is anyone on his side?

The audience for this is YA. And it is very YA. I enjoyed the journey (even if it would never work like this in the real world) and will definitely be recommending to my students. It’s well written and kept my interest. There are several twists along the way that I didn’t see coming! This would be a great summer read for any teen!

A YA thriller told from two perspectives. Our main perspective is that of Mary Boone, a teen girl who as we meet her, is waking up from some kind of accident in a lonely Oregon forest that has resulted her losing any memory of herself. Luckily her dad finds her at the police station. Too bad she can't remember her dad.
Our other perspective is Drew, a teen boy who's girlfriend went missing, and he was the last one to see her. His entire town believes he is to blame for her disappearance, including the town's sheriff that has all targets set on Drew.

This was a 4.5 stars for me. The initial opening of the book was attention grabbing, but then the shifting back and forth between perspectives lost momentum for me. However, 50% of the way through the story, I found myself unable to put this book back down. It quickly snowballed to a breakneck pace of a plot, and I was just trying to hold on for the ride. A twisty-turny end that I didn't see coming. This was fun to read.

Absolutely thrilling. That's Not My Name is such a great thriller with plenty of twist and turns. I couldn't seem to put this book down. Such a great "debut" novel.

Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a road with no memory of who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station when a frantic man arrives. Her name is Mary. Or so he says. When Lola stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the whole town is convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads to follow… and the more danger they both are in.

THAT’S NOT MY NAME is a tense-stricken tale between Mary and Drew’s alternating POVs that lead to a down-spiraling roller coaster of emotions! Mary wakes up on the side of the road with no recollection of who she is until her father finds her at the police station. Mary was an easy character to connect with, regardless of her memory loss. I instantly wanted to protect her, especially since something unsettling was in the air.

This book was fast paced and kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat all the way through! I think the twist may be controversial, but for me, it made the book even better! I really really enjoyed it and can't wait to read more from the author!

This was such a fantastic read! The synopsis had me hooked, I wanted to know what was going on with her, whether her name was Mary or Lola or something else was going on, I had to know! I couldn't get enough of this story!

I really enjoyed following both "Mary" and Drew's perspectives. Mary not knowing what was going on, but that something was off with the man telling her to call him dad. Drew, because he's looking for Lola, and I had such a great time following the both of them, putting the pieces together.

A big question connected to which girl she was, was what happened to either Lola to become Mary, or Lola and Mary, because either both of the one did go through. something violent, and I wanted to know what and who did it to her, because it had to be a who.

Wow, but the way things came together and the secrets were revealed and questions was answered, yeah, that was so fantastic! It was so well done and pretty gruesome and thrilling to read, because that ending did not come easy, but I loved where it left us!

Loved reading this book and I'd love to read more by Megan Lally!

Soooo creepy and well written and omg???
The plot twist. The writing. Everything was so so good I adored this. Definitely was pulled right in and felt immersed.
Thank you for providing me with an arc :)

You know that sinking feeling you get in your stomach when something doesn’t quite add up? That gut feeling that something is wrong before there are any red flags? This book starts out that way and that pit in your stomach never truly goes away. Weird coincidences turn into red flags into wtf why has no one figured this out yet. I didn’t want to put this down. It was a good thriller with some great twists.

She doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a ditch. The cop that came across her called the paramedics and they said it looked like she had been in an accident, but there is no car. She goes back to the police station with him until they can figure out what is happening. When a man comes racing in and claims she is his daughter, she has no reason to not believe him. He has a birth certificate, school id, everything. But she has no reason to believe him either.

Oooo chiiiiile this was an edge of the seat thriller for me. The writing was gripping and the storyline was great. All the characters were well developed and everything wrapped up accordingly.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

TLDR: Anxiety inducing, emotionally charged with a little bit of teenage whininess; plot is solid; ending comes out of nowhere

I’m going to start this review off with a confession. I didn’t expect much from this book when I first started it. What I assumed I would be reading was a YA thriller. And, it is a YA thriller, but the plot of the book is definitely a horror in origin.

The book is told in two alternating points of view. One is from the girl who can’t remember who she is. From the start, the reader knows this girl is a victim, and every time something happens involving her, it is tremendously anxiety inducing. It is similar to watching a horror movie and yelling at the character on the screen to not open the door.

The other point of view we get is from Drew. Drew is a high school senior who’s girlfriend went missing five weeks ago. Everyone in his small town thinks Drew killed his girlfriend Lola, and Drew feels guilty about things that happened the last night he saw Lola. But, the reader is kept wondering what Drew has to feel guilty for.

The plot setup, the tone, the story-telling, and the characters in this book were all extremely well-done. The points of view of both the girl and Drew were emotionally drawing and impactful. My only hiccup with the characters is the way the teenage characters are shown to emotionally support the parents. This is a teenage farcical fantasy. This isn’t the first book I have seen this in, but it feels like a false representation of reality everytime i read it.

Other than that though, this was a solid gut-wrenching debut

4.5/5

I was completely sucked into this book. The characters were very well developed and the twists were mind blowing! Definitely would recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. What an amazing YA thriller! The story kept me guessing and hooked until the very end. Looking forward to more from this author in the future

This book kept me turning the pages! I was sucked in right from the beginning, which is honestly the best thing I could ask for with a thriller. I can't wait to see what Lally writes next.

I am kicking myself for not picking this book up sooner! It will haunt me forever. The fact that this is a debut is even more mind-blowing! I listened to this and I will say that the narrators are both good. Drew's chapters were absolutely heartbreaking. The girl's chapters were heart pounding. You are on the edge of your seat, trying anxiously to piece together the same puzzle Mary is. You could not figure out what was happening but just knew it was not good. I won't spoil anything but the ending was shocking and painful. The epilogue in particular brought me to tears. This will be a thriller that I will not get out of my head anytime soon and you can bet I will be shoving this book into everyone's hands I can! Cannot wait to see what this author writes next!

A truly gripping YA thriller that will keep you turning page after page right until you reach the end of the book and are gasping for this author's next book.

I managed to guess where this book was going fairly early on however I think that is when you truly get to see how good an author's craft is because it takes a really talented author for the reader to know what the twist is going to be and still love it. This was such a propulsive story as I needed to know what was next for each of our characters. I also really enjoying picking up all of the subtle clues that this book laid out for us.

A missing girl, a town in suspicion, and two lives about to collide. When Lola vanishes after a heated argument with her boyfriend, Drew, the entire community turns on him. Accused of the unthinkable, Drew must navigate the suffocating small-town whispers while maintaining normalcy for the sake of appearances. All the while, a gnawing fear for Lola's safety consumes him.

Meanwhile, a young woman named “Mary” awakens in a disorienting haze, her past a complete blank. Found wandering by the side of the road, she's identified as Wayne's missing daughter. Though a sense of unease lingers as fragments of memories resurface, Mary attempts to acclimate to a life she doesn't remember.
Narrated through the alternating perspectives of Drew and Mary, this gripping thriller hooks you from the first page. Compelling characters, a supportive cast of friends, and a plot brimming with unforeseen twists keep you guessing until the very end. For the vast majority of the book, I clung to a theory, absolutely certain I'd cracked the case. The pacing, however, was masterful. Even with my (mistaken) belief, the story remained relentlessly captivating. And let me tell you, the actual twist? I never saw that coming!

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.