That's Not My Name

I read this in a day because I couldn't put it down. I thought the entire time I knew how it would end and was wrong! Fast, suspenseful and easily wraps you in. I

This was so good! It is suspenseful and well written. I read it over a couple of days because I couldn't put it down. I really love how it ended - very realistic; sad but also sweet and hopeful.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was definitely one of my quick reads. The beginning was a bit slow, but once I really got into the book, it was impossible to put down.I like how realistic this story was. There are lots of police like the ones mentioned in this story who act the exact same way in these situations in real life, and I like that the author showcased that in the story. It was realistically terrifying in the best way. A very captivating YA thriller.

Someone else had a review that echoes my thoughts. The author is clearly a liberal - and it’s a tiny bit in your face. But it isn’t too bad and it’s really just one part of it. One of the character’s parents are gay. Not a big deal and that’s pretty much where it ends. But yeah we get it. Those characters aren’t a big part of the story and their sexual orientation has nothing to do with the plot or anything else. Maybe that’s why it was a little distracting idk. Moving on. I didn’t realize it was a YA novel at first. I’ve read many thrillers where there is a minor’s POV. But then it became very obvious. There’s a lot of cursing. Which gives it a more negative feeling overall and is a little distracting. I don’t think it was necessary to have so much of it. It felt a bit like a PG13 movie? Some parts not super original and trying too hard to make the characters funny when it was a pretty serious situation. It’s one thing to have a sense of humor or remain optimistic but another to try to be funny I guess. So yeah - some of it was like an overrated PG13 movie and little cringe.However - the author is a good storyteller and I think this book could have been really really really good. It was fast paced. The tension was there all the way through to the end. I haven’t had a book make my heart pound in quite awhile. And it def made me emotional because I just thought about all the missing person’s out there who don’t come home. Or you never know are missing or dealing with a super abusive situation. And they are never found. And their families never get closure. Overall I thought it was pretty good and I will check out the author’s other work. She gets five stars. The book gets 3. The plot as a YA novel gets 3.5-4 for its genre. Tension - 10 stars cuz it kept me turning pages and that’s all that matters.

I'm absolutely gutted! I wanted it to be so different from what I expected. I couldn't put the book down. I needed to know what happened. Dual POV worked so well for this novel. It didn't take away from the suspense and just gave an intense dialog to keep track of. I was blinking tears away at the end. My heart ached.