When I Was You by Amber Garza
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up **
Below is a line from the first paragraph of the synopsis for this book. I think it sums it up perfectly:
…this up-all-night psychological thriller about a lonely empty-nester’s growing obsession with a young mother who shares her name.
That statement certainly caught my attention and I’m super glad it did!
Kelly Medina is the empty-nester in question. Kelly Medina is also the young woman who arrives and shakes up her life.
The main Kelly, I will refer to her as ‘our Kelly’ from this point forward, is adjusting to life with her only son, Aaron, gone from home. Her husband, Raphael, is not around much either, as his job keeps him away during the week and even some weekends.
Because of this, our Kelly spends a lot of time alone and to be honest, she’s struggling.
Feeling increasingly lonely and isolated, one day she receives a phone call that will change everything.
The call is from Aaron’s pediatrician’s office, with a reminder of her upcoming well-baby appointment.
Kelly tries to laugh it off with the receptionist. Obviously, it’s a mistake, her son is in college.
The lady apologizes profusely. Apparently, there is another Kelly Medina in the area and their numbers must have gotten mixed up in the system.
Our Kelly is taken aback. Another woman, sharing her same name, in the same area, with a baby.
In the coming hours, it’s all she can think about. Imagining who this young woman is and what her life must be like. It all seems too strange.
The whole incident has shaken her. Arriving later at the gym to meet her best friend, Christine, for a yoga class, she has forgotten her membership card.
When the desk clerk looks her up in the system, she comments on how funny it is that another Kelly Medina was there that very morning for a workout.
Now the girl is even invading her gym space? Who is this person?
That’s all it takes for Kelly to become obsessed with finding out more about the other Kelly Medina.
After several attempts to discover who she is online, our Kelly realizes the best way to find her would be to go to that well-baby appointment.
That’s exactly what she does. The rest of the story goes from there and let me tell you, you are in for a WILD RIDE!!
I had so much fun reading When I Was You!
Once I got into the story, I could not put it down. I can definitely see why the publisher chose to describe it as an, up-all-night Psychological Thriller!
Garza added some epic twists. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. My goodness.
My jaw hit the floor so many times! It was a bloody fantastic.
I don’t think I have had this much fun reading a Thriller since the first B.A. Paris novel I read, Behind Closed Doors.
And like that novel, When I Was You, is not perfect. Personally though, I feel like any tiny flaws were completely made up for with the perfectly plotted story.
I hope that Amber Garza continues to write in this genre. I really look forward to getting more of this type of story from her.
This is wildly imaginative. It went some places, guys, I was shocked. Just when you think you have hit the crazy limit, another revelation comes to light!
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a twisty-turny, compulsively readable Psychological Thriller.
Once you pick it up, it will be hard to put it down, so clear your calendar!
Thank you so, so much to the publisher, Harlequin MIRA, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I had so, so, so much fun reading it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
