That’s Not My Name
Megan Lally
A police officer finds a teenager sleeping on the side of the road. She is covered in blood. She has a lump on her head and a broken nose. He takes her to the station where she is reunited with a man claiming to be her father. She has no memory of who she is. The man claims he has been looking for her. He has documents and family pictures showing who she is. He says her name is Mary. Her “father” tells her a story as he drives her home. He suggests she might have had a car accident.
The more time she spends with her “father” the more questions plague Mary. He is controlling, very cautious and domineering. He refuses to allow her to go outside without a cloak.
Lola and Drew had a disagreement. She opened the car door and left after slamming it. Drew thought she would calm down and everything would be ok. But it didn’t happen that way. She disappeared and everyone, the police and his friends, all think he murdered her. He is more concerned with finding Lola. Drew searches for the cabin where Mary lives. Could Mary and Lola be connected.
This is one of those books that grabs your attention from the beginning and refuses to let loose until the very end. You will find yourself guessing, trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t, and each guess will be wrong. The pacing was great. The ending was perfect. It is told from two POV, Drew and Mary. Kudos to author Megan Lally.

This book had me drawn in from the beginning. It’s a dual POV of a true crime drama told from the victims POV and the boyfriend trying to find his missing girlfriend. I listened to this book in a day and a half.

This was such a chilling mature YA thriller, and it had me on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. I loved the dual points of view, and the twist was a shocker for sure! Very atmospheric which I love.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This debut thriller by Megan Lally did NOT disappoint! Wowee! This was a fast read and super tense in certain spots. I listened to this on audio and loved this heart pumping ride SO MUCH. I am excited to read the next book Lally writes.
Thanks to Net Galley for this audiobook.

Read/Listen if you like:
🥛 Missing Persons Cases
🧠 Memory Loss
2️⃣ Dual POV
🔪 YA Thrillers
💨 Fast Paced Books

This is such a fast paced and enjoyable YA thriller! I’ve been seeing it compared to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and so I think I need to finally make the time for that series because I truly loved this one!

The pacing of this is perfect to keep you hooked and needing to know what’s happening especially as we swap between two POV.

First POV we have is girl, who is brought to the police station after being found, likely from a car accident, with amnesia from her head injury and soon in comes a man claiming her name is Mary and is her dad and provides all the documentation for the officer so they go home to a remote cabin together where even with her amnesia something just doesn’t feel quite right.

Next, we have the POV of Drew who is the prime suspect in the case of his missing girlfriend Lola with the whole town believing he murdered her. Despite being their only suspect he is passionately looking for her, putting up flyers, and holding tight to his claim of innocence.

I loved the jump back and forth between these pulse pounding points of view and how you are wondering what is going on in both POV as they feel connected, but are they?

I loved the twists and turns and how well the reveal was done because I truly didn’t see it coming as I thought I had it all figured out but was definitely wrong and was pleasantly shocked by the ending!

Truly, if you are looking for a fast paced thriller I highly recommend this one as it kept me at the edge of my seat and enthralled in all the details throughout the whole book!

Thanks to the publisher for my ALC in exchange for my review!

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. I thought the plot was predictable at first but there are some earned twists and turns that keep the plot believable.

The dual perspectives helps the story move along quickly and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to listen to this audible. I have no words. This was such a fun & fast read for me. Kept me guessing what’s going to happen next, had me on the edge of my seat. For me it started to pick up around 60% & from there I couldn’t stop listening. I honestly didn’t see that turn of events coming. Still processing & trying to hold back the tears from how it ended. Amazing book, amazing author, I loved this so much. Highly recommend this book. Can’t wait to see what else Megan Lally writes.

3.5 stars rounded up.

YA mystery, dual narrators, slightly predictable as far as the big twist.

Mary found on roadside and can’t remember anything, did find her to be naive and trusting even for YA. Her story definitely kept me engaged and wanting to know what was next.

Drew well he was a bit whiny and has pretty severe language for a YA (unnecessary) any who, his relationships with Max and Autumn add the story and they go some sleuthing on their own.

Excellent narration, no concerns there. Love the cover!!

Good quick listen and not sorry I gave it a try!!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Recorded books for my audio advance copy in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own

That's Not My Name REALLY delivered on the tension! I was absolutely pleasantly surprised, going into it knowing nothing about it. The reader quickly figures out the gist, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what would happen to our main character.

The story alternates between the POV of "Mary", the main character, and Drew. I wasn't as invested in Drew's chapters, but I appreciated the contrast to the tense anticipation of Mary's chapters.

The epilogue packed an unexpected emotional touch that really brought this read home. I don't always love YA thrillers but this one was a great debut! I'm looking forward to more by this author. The narration was great as well--I was completely sucked in by the performance and didn't want to press pause.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book in excellent for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Wow this book was so compelling I couldn’t put it down. Its written in first person - opening with you are a teen girl who wakes up injured and alone in the dark woods. You stumble into the road and police officer happens to be driving by. He asks for your name and you are shocked that you don’t know it. He takes you back to the station and a panicked man come to the door looking for his daughter- Mary. From there the web is woven- you aren’t sure who you are and this guy seems so concerned, but is not familiar.
Alternatingly you are Drew a teenager boy whose girlfriend is missing and the entire town thinks he’s the number one suspect.
As the clues add up, the characters become fully developed but sense of peril doesn’t really kick in until the last 25%, then its full speed ahead.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who like psychological thrillers. The author does a terrific job of tying it all together and writing relatable characters. I will seek out more of her books .

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally was a great YA Thriller. I was nervous the whole time I was listening to it. I was nervous for "Mary" and I was nervous for Drew, boyfriend of a missing teen who is the prime suspect in her disappearance. I loved how Mary and Drew's POVs were described in alternating chapters. I loved the supporting characters of Drew's cousin and his girlfriend's best friend. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what the deal was with Wayne and his story of his and Mary's life. I was not able to really predict as much as you sometimes can with thrillers. The teens were realistic without being caricatures. Basically, this book was terrifying because the characters were so believable. The only character I felt was a bit too exaggerated was the main cop investigating Drew's girlfriend's disappearance. I totally understood why he was focused on the boyfriend because as anyone can tell from 20/20 (haha), its always the significant other. But in the second half of the book, when presented with solid evidence, his actions didn't make sense to me. Otherwise, this was a nearly perfect quick-listen/read I will be recommending to all my thriller friends and their teens.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn’t realise this was a YA book but it was pretty good. The story kept me gripped and I didn’t predict the ending for once!

* ARC from Netgalley *

That's Not My Name was BRILLIANT. What an amazing YA debut thriller. Let me tell you it doesn't read like a debut at all. It is truly amazing. It was so suspenseful, intriguing, gripping and completely addictive. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, I couldn't stop.

This is a one sitting bingeable read. The anticipation, the tension, the setting everything was just so perfectly written. It was such a fast paced read with twists and turns that you won't see coming. The double POV just adds to the intrigue and made me so much more invested.

The plot was perfectly paced. This book is dark and heavy but it delivered everything I could want in a YA thriller. I thought I had it figured out, but I didn't. The epilogue was such a great addition and so touching.

🎧 The narration by Sophie Amoss & Robb Moreira was extraordinary. They did an amazing job portraying the characters. The tension, the emotions they had in their voices made for such a chilling listen. Highly recommend the audiobook for this one !

✨️Thank you to @netgalley, @rbmedia & @meganlally for my free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read, about a missing girl from her perspective and that of those who love her. It was a solid mystery, but there was not much that made this a particularly memorable story. The “why” at the end was a twist, but it seemed to be a bit of a rushed afterthought. 3.5 stars ⭐️ rated down. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy for review.

This book started great from page one...and got even better. I couldn't stop reading it. It tells the story of two people, a boy looking for his missing girlfriend, Lola, and a girl confused by amnesia who is told her name is Mary when a man shows up at a police station claiming to be her father after an accident. As the title suggests, she isn't so sure that's her name. I'm tough-to-please when it comes to books, but this one did not disappoint.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for this ALC. This was a very intriguing and exciting thriller. The dual POVs help to draw the reader in, and pull the reader along this twisty plot. I was very happy to be able to listen to these narrators, rather than read the two timelines because the performances of the two narrators provided an added element to the overall atmosphere of the novel. I truly enjoyed this one. It has been a long time since a thriller has been able to "gut" me, however, the final chapters of this one did. It was definitely an emotional ride. Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publishers for the advance copy. I didn’t know what to expect from this debut novel but as soon as I started to I read it I didn’t want to put it down. I read the entire book in a day and loved every page. It’s a tense YA thriller with an intriguing storyline and twists.

I guessed some of the main twists but there were more to come and I really enjoyed that about it.

The characters were believable but this book definitely has a YA feel. If you’re looking for an easy read or thinking about trying out a thriller you wouldn’t go far wrong by picking up a copy of this book.

Wonderful listen. Held my attention throughout. And the twist about took me out. Thank you to publisher and netgalley for the advanced listen.

5.0 stars!
This story started of with a bang. A teen wakes up in a ditch bloody and bruised and cant remember who she is. A police officer picks her up and whilst at the station they try to scramble together who she really is. In comes someone who claims he is her dad and that her name is Mary. But is she?
Another teen, is grieving the absence of his girlfriend Lola. Everyone in town including the cops believe it was he, who had involvement into her disappearance .
This story keeps you on your toes from beginning to the end, and I highly recommend anyone read or listen to the audio.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had such a good time reading this book and listening to the audiobook! There is just something about YA thrillers that always hit. I was very interested in this book because it's by a PNW author plus several friends of mine got early ARCs which they truly enjoyed.

I was captivated from page 1 and had so many theories throughout the story. I liked how the narrator handled the multiple POVs and the emotion they put behind the scenes that were more tense. I read this book in one sitting and would 100% recommend this to people that love thrillers, adult thrillers or YA.