Do I regret reading this book? No.
Do I wish I didn’t pay as much for it as I did? Yes.
That’s Not My Name makes for a great middle school read (if you ignore the murder and kidnapping). The depth of most of the scenes, and especially the characters, was nearly non-existent.
I am well aware that this is a young adult but I’ve read enough young-adult books to say that this was just straight-up poor writing.
That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally
Published December 26th, 2023
Genre: Thriller, Young-Adult, Mystery
Pages: 297
She thought she had her life back. She was wrong. It was a mistake to trust him.
Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there―or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He’s been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos. He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.
When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it’s too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow…and the more danger they both are in.
Spoiler-Free
A teenage girl loses her memories and is brought to a police station where a guy comes in. He claims to be Mary’s Dad and can prove it to the officer. However, just a few hours away, Lola is missing and her boyfriend is being pinned for it.
Who is this man? Where is Lola? Why can’t Mary remember anything?
As my old English teachers used to get on me about, “show don’t tell.” I read a lot about the characters in this book but there is little to nothing to back it up.
For example, “Mary” is meant to be tough and bad but she is isn’t doing anything to make me believe that. It made me laugh a bit because all it did was make her seem quite the opposite: weak.
“Nobody can make me go to that hospital if I don’t want to”
While this line may suffice in other books and be seen as cool and mysterious, Mary/Lola has just been introduced. As far as it is described, she is just sitting in a chair, which makes this line bland.
These types of lines occur frequently throughout this book. Either they are cringy or bland, nothing else.
“My Lizzo heartbeat speeds up…”
“Duh, we break into the police station.”
“We’re stealthy teenagers. If anyone can get away with this, we can.”
When Lally says things like this, I would contemplate putting the book down before even reaching chapter 2.
Despite this, I held onto hope which is about the only thing that got me through this book.
Spoilers
The alternating perspectives helped ease my boredom but even that couldn’t mask just how cheap the writing seemed.
For example, Lola’s best friend was convinced Drew, the boyfriend, did it. Then, he says one line, “I broke up with her” and suddenly she’s convinced, and now his #1 defender?
“Lola is my best friend and I’ll be dammed if I let you get away with this.”
“I may not know what you did but I know all this was your fault.”
How did she switch sides that easily? Not even a, “How do I know you’re not lying?”
I don’t understand.
Also, how is the boyfriend the main suspect when it is stated that there is no evidence against him?
Until “Mary” got her memories back, I had to drag myself to the next page.
I found there to be a lot of holes in the story that I would otherwise look past if it weren’t for the fact there was nothing about the writing that distracted me.
I usually say that the book was so good that I forgot I was reading. For this one, I knew I was reading.
Now for a bit of positivity!
After “Mary” gets her memories, I found myself eager to know what happens next. I originally thought that they were the same girl but “Mary” had just been kidnapped for multiple weeks.
When I saw that Lola’s name was etched into the wall in that basement? Stunned.
Lally had me convinced that Lola was Mary. To find out that Lola was the previous girl was shocking.
I was also very anxious during the fight scene at the end. I could never tell when Wayne was down for good or not.
Final Thoughts
I will say that the ending was pleasing. It was predictable but not expected (if that makes sense).
I finished this book with a pit in my stomach because of the depressing realization that was the truth of what happened to these girls.
However, there were too many issues in this book for me to ignore.
To put it simply: I don’t want you to tell me the glass is broken, instead describe the shards.
In every chapter I was rolling my eyes at something new which didn’t make for a spectacular reading experience.
By chapter 3 I checked Good Reads to see what others thought of the book. It was a surprise to see so many five-star reviews considering up until halfway I was giving it 2 stars.
Take my words with a grain of salt. According to Good Reads, plenty of people enjoyed reading That’s Not My Name and you might too.
However, if you are a mystery fanatic like myself, you might want to look elsewhere.
While I don’t regret reading this book, That’s Not My Name is not a book I intend on picking up again.
