That's Not My Name

I have not in a very long time, had a book that gave me that kind of reaction towards the end. I was angry, I cried, I was furious but glad, it pulled at my heart stings and was somehow still a thriller. The suspense just kept page after page. It made it hard to put down.I had thought of several different endings or the way the plot could go and every..single..one was wrong!! It was unpredictable in my opinion. It really hit home of good friendships and how gossip in smaller towns can ruin a life or make one up to seem as something it isn't. It was a crazy book with an even crazier ending. I just am still feeling. I can't believe it....I don't personally read books that will make you cry. I tend to read more thrillers, suspense novels, murder mysteries you get the picture. I cried over this book and it's fictional characters seemed real to me. It made me believe that I had suffered a loss for someone I didn't even know, someone not even real. I found myself gripping my kindle harder and harder. I was shaking it wanting to yell at the people like it's hard not to do in horror films. "Don't go in there" and such as that. I have never in all my years of reading for joy, ever cried over a thriller.... this book is worth a read no matter what your reading preferences are, give it a chance!!! Just wow .....

I need to write what I think about this book before the feelings and the plot fade, and, since I finished it last night, it means this is going to happen very very soon, lol! 😂I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!! ❤️Go get it! Seriously. 🙄Here's my spoiler free review that is going to convince you!1) The book is very well written, it flows really well, except for a couple of slow and slightly boring moments that describe the boyfriend's emotional pain. I couldn't put the book down and it hasn't happened in a while.2) The characters are well developed and you get fond of them.3) The plot and consequently the plot twists are very well thought and studied, with lots of details that are going to help you try to guess what happened.4) Even if the plot twist is not a huge one because it's (at least partially) predictable, it's still really good. This is the proof that to write a good book you don't necessarily need a cRaZy plot twist that nobody could have ever guessed because EXTREMELY unlikely (I hate that!)5) The ending is moving. I almost had tears. I almost never cry for books or movies, but this made me emotional in an enjoyable way, not necessarily sad I would say. I don't know... 🤔The description of the characters feelings makes you emphasize with them a lot.6) That book has everything: feelings, good characters, good plot, thrill and action. What else do we need?I hope you are going to read it, I can't recommend this book enough! 🫶🏻

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.

I enjoyed this one! I'm not usually a mystery book reader, but I gave it a try with this book and was pleasantly surprised! It had me wondering the whole time what would happen next and the ending didn't disappoint.

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.

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.

3.5A super fast and fun YA thriller. I knew what was coming for a lot of it but still had a great twist thrown in there. Very popcorn. You've probably read similar books, but if you are in the mood for a classic missing kid/creepy man book you'll probably enjoy this

I keep trying to get my 13 year old niece into reading. I often read YA so I can recommend novels I think she'd like. This was a great book and right up her alley. It only has a couple POVs, has a compelling mystery, doesn't contain any sex, only a little cussing and a good ending. She is actually reading this book so mission accomplished this time around.

Enjoyed this story until the end. Very good story, could have used a better sheriff’s attitude as this won was stupid! But otherwise a good storyline.

If this book could be rated 10 stars I would give it to it. This book had me gripped! I couldn’t put it down! It played with your mind in the best way possible. You knew all along but you didn’t know the half of it until you were in it. 😭 fantastic book! I’d read it over and over again. Highly, highly recommend!

This story grabs you from the first chapter and keeps you engrossed until the very end. I was surprised by the outcome but it made it all the more reason to keep reading. Thank you for a story that kept me turning the pages until I was finished

This was a very exciting, fast piece novel with a humongous twist at the end. This was my first novel by Megan Lilly and I really enjoyed it. The protagonist Drew is very like-able and the supporting cast is developed very nicely.At the beginning of the story, a young lady is wandering a lonely road, unsure of where she is. When a deputy spots her, he brings her to the station where he learns she has no memory of who she is, or what she was doing in the woods. Soon, her father shows up to the station, explaining how he was looking for her. He cannot explain what may have happened to her memory, but shows various photos of her as his daughter. The deputy is still somewhat unsure, so he agrees to follow the father to their cabin where he has more identification information (birth certificate, etc).The young girl is a little skeptical herself The same time acknowledges that her “father” is very kind to her, but she decides to call him by his name, Wayne.Then we hear from Drew. Drew is the boyfriend. He’s also the main suspect in his girlfriend’sLola’s disappearance. The town sheriff who is also the father of one of Lola‘s best friends is sure Drew is behind the disappearance.The story then alternate chapters between Drew and the girlfriend being held captive.But there is a twist. A doozy of a twist…This book is definitely worth reading by anyone who enjoys psychological suspense, thrillers, mysteries, or just a good fast-paced story.

I could not read this fast enough. The POV switch was so well done and I couldn’t get to the next one in time! I didn’t see the twist coming, the ending wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, but it was great nonetheless.

I read this book knowing nothing of it or the author. I was pleasantly surprised. I was hooked from the first chapter and found myself needing to continue reading. The story line pulls at your heart strings. The characters are believable. Great book and I will read more from this author.

That’s Not My Name was my first read by Megan Lally, and I have to say—I was pleasantly surprised. While this leans more into the YA suspense/mystery genre, it didn’t make it any less engaging or compelling to read. In fact, I found myself flipping through pages quickly, eager to see how things would unfold.The story does a great job of building tension and keeping you guessing. There were several points where I thought I had things figured out, only to be thrown off course again. I was really hoping for a satisfying, feel-good ending… but instead, what we got was much more unexpected. The ending might not be what some readers hope for, but it was definitely surprising—and it stayed true to the darker, twisty tone of the story.Lally’s writing style is sharp and addictive, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more of her work. For fans of YA thrillers with unpredictable conclusions, this one is worth picking up.

I really enjoyed this story! It’s very suspenseful and I couldn’t put it down. Lola goes missing and the town sheriff thinks it’s her boyfriend but it isn’t. Because the sheriff is such a piece of garbage I was enraged with him. As Lola’s friends look for her and the mystery unravels this book gets even better. The ending I didn’t see coming was disappointing and yet somehow this author made it better, ending the book on a high note. Four stars

A girl wakes up in a ditch beaten and bruised and gets found on the road by a police officer. She has no memory of anything about herself, not even her name. When a man shows up claiming to be her father, with seemingly good proof, the cop lets her go with him. The pov in this book goes back and forth between, “Mary” and her experience with her “father” and getting her memories back and Drew who is the boyfriend of a missing girl who everyone in his small town thinks he had something to do with her disappearance. It takes you on an eerie journey of her flashes of memories not adding up to what Wayne is telling her is her life and Drew doing everything he possibly can to find and save his girlfriend Lola. Even though the story didn’t end how Drew wanted it to, he was brave and saved a girl he now knows as Madison. He was one girl too late to save Lola. this story was a quick read that kept my attention and was a good story.

Sigh, I wavered between 3.5-4 ⭐️ rating for a few reasons. First of all, this book is very much a YA read. The author is definitely a liberal. And some of the characters were quite annoying. Trying to be funny when they were anything but. Okay, so those are the things I didn’t like about the book. I did very much like the mystery though. The author redeemed herself by the way she dropped breadcrumbs of the twist at the end. In addition, I’m a mother of two teen girls. I can’t even begin to imagine what a parent(s) would be going through should something this catastrophic happens to their child. She even brought me to tears twice and I’m not a crier. Oh how I wish the book ended differently (as I’m a sucker for a HEA) however it did give some hope and relief. The story begins with a girl waking up in a ditch near a deserted road in the middle of the night. She’s bruised up and bloody. Has no idea how she ended up there and worse no idea who she is. A cop finds her and calls an ambulance. Yet she refuses to go the hospital…..why? That didn’t make a stitch of sense. Especially since she didn’t know who she was. The officer brings her to the station and tries to research who she might be but comes up blank. An older man comes running into the precinct to claim his daughter as missing when he sees her. He claims she is his missing teen daughter Mary who was in a car accident. The officer takes every precaution and insists the man must show proof, which he (Wayne) has no issue with and even allows the officer back to his cabin in the woods to check it out and make sure Mary is who Wayne claims she is. But there are many odd things that don’t make sense. Like Mary doesn’t have any clothing, they can’t locate Mary’s vehicle and Wayne is ridiculously possessive of her. She has a feeling her name isn’t Mary but Wayne has all this evidence that she is. So she waits for her memory to return. Then there is Drew, Max and Autumn. These are friends of a girl named Lola that has been missing over a month. Drew is Lola’s boyfriend and being blamed for her disappearance- which in a way he is. He’s annoying at best. So are the other two, however you feel for Drew bc he is being painted this awful person by people he’s known his entire life. He has to find Lola to clear his name but also bc he still cares about her. After pointless chapters of bickering, the three of them finally pool their heads together and begin to play detectives to track down Lola when a lead comes in (that Autumn’s dad (who is the towns sheriff) chooses to ignore bc he wants Drew to be the prime suspect). Sadly, there are good police officers and bad ones. Autumn’s dad is not one of the good ones. The savvy teens end up in the same town Lola was last seen…..do they find her before it’s too late?? Does Mary get her memories back? Why does Wayne want to keep a girl as his daughter if she’s really not?? All these questions and then some get answered. And the best part is the author tells you the answers the entire time throughout the book. You just have to connect the dots…….,