That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
That’s Not My Name was a great start to a new reading year. If this is what 2024 has in store, I’m a happy girl!
I’ve been on a holiday for the past 10-days. My house needed cleaning, I needed to unpack, organize, it was a whole day affair. Thanks to Megan Lally, that day was a breeze.
I started this one as soon as I started cleaning this morning and could not stop. It’s super compelling, with fabulous narration for the audio. Before I knew it, it was done.
This story follows two perspectives, Mary and Drew. There are dual narrators for the audio and they were each perfect for the character they were portraying. They were convincing as teens, which isn’t always the case.
When we meet Mary, she is injured and in distress. She is taken to a police station and expresses that she has no memory of who she is, or how she got injured.
As she and the kind Officer who picked her up try to decide what their next steps will be, a frantic man arrives at the station looking for his daughter.
She doesn’t remember him, but really, she doesn’t remember anything. He is able to provide the Officer with everything needed to prove she’s his daughter, Mary Boone. He has School IDs, family photos, even her birth certificate.
The Officer leaves Mary in his care, but does promise to check up on her soon, after she’s had a chance to rest.
Drew’s whole life changed weeks ago after his girlfriend, Lola, disappeared. He hasn’t been 100% truthful about the last night he saw her, not with anyone, not even the police, and now the guilt is eating away at him.
Making matters worse, the whole town, even people he considered friends, seem to think he is responsible for her disappearance. It’s always the boyfriend, right?
Drew tries to stay positive and focused. He knows he didn’t do anything to Lola and he’s determined to find her before it’s too late. He needs to prove his innocence, but he also feels he owes it to her after what he did.
The longer Lola is missing though, the more his chances of finding her diminish. He knows that, he’s realistic, so clearly time is of the essence. Along with a couple of friends Drew begins some sleuthing of his own, following leads to a place he never would have suspected.
When I tell you I was drawn in from the very start of this story, that is not an exaggeration. Getting Mary’s perspective as she struggles to recover memories and figure out what happened to her, that whole narrative was so freaking compelling.
Then with Drew, I was equally transfixed by his story. He doesn’t reveal everything right away and you can tell he is second-guessing some things. I needed to stay with him until the end.
I love how Lally paced this out. The perspective shifts were so well done. It’s definitely a ‘one more chapter’ kind of read. Each chapter left me wanting more in such a fun way.
The intensity builds at a nice steady pace as you are given more and more information about what the truth actually is for these two. By the end, I was racing along and felt so many emotions by the end.
I loved the conclusion and am just so very pleased by the overall experience. I am absolutely blown away that this is a debut. Lally knocked this out of the park, IMO and I am super stoked to see what she delivers us next.
I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a tense, fast-paced, emotional YA Thriller. I think this would work well for fans of Kit Frick, Laurie Faria Stolarz, Mindy McGinnis, or even Natalie D. Richards.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Megan Lally is going on my autobuy list for sure. I can’t wait for more!