Review: That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

   

Print Length: 301 pages

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (December 26, 2023)

From Goodreads.com: 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.

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My Rating: 1.5 stars out of 5

I normally stay away from anything labeled "YA" fiction as I have not been a young adult in quite some time. However, the premise of this one sounded intriguing, and it came with a lot of five star reviews, so I thought I would give it a try since I had some time to kill. 

And about the only good thing I can think to say about this novel is that it was a quick read and it killed the time that I needed while I waited for some work to be done. 

However, there were several gaping plot holes that I could not overlook. The first comes within the first chapter, while the second comes a bit later. You see when "Mary" is found, the officer notices two things. 

1. She is young

2. Something horrific has happened to her as not only is she bruised and bloody, but she has absolutely no idea who she is, or how she came to be in a ditch. 

An ambulance is called, and they check her out on scene telling here that it is very likely she has a concussion on top of everything else. And yet they don't take her to the hospital? The author says that it was because "Mary" did not consent, but there are two problems with that. To begin with, anyone under the age of eighteen in the united states (where this book takes place) is considered a minor and therefore needs parental consent not to be checked out after a serious injury like the one she obviously suffered. And secondly, she has a concussion and amnesia thus she has an altered mental status and therefore again, cannot refuse transport to the hospital. To make matters worse, the officer then takes her back to the police station where he attempts to question her about who she is and what happened to her? Of course, luckily for her, a man shows up claiming to be her father (and why would he do that considering the truth of the matter), and because he has several recent pictures of her (alone that he could have you know downloaded off of her social media, something the officer never checks), and can produce a birth certificate and a social security card, the officer feels confident enough to leave her with him. Oh, and her "father" claims she was in a car accident, but no car is ever found, something again the investigating officer never finds suspicious.

Then we change narrators and the story shifts from "Mary" to Drew. The boy who had been dating Lola, and the last person to see her before she disappeared. Of course, this makes him the number one suspect in her disappearance because the chief thinks he is lying to him. This would make sense, if not for the fact that the Chief is written like an over-the-top villain, who overlooks other evidence (or accuses Drew of fabricating it) just because it doesn't fit his narrative. 

To the point that Drew, his friend Max, and Lola's friend Autumn (who also happens to be the police chief's daughter), decide to follow up on the investigation themselves. And by follow up, I mean they travel two hours away to chase leads, speak to potential witnesses, and "obtain" camera footage. Because you know, that would hold up in a court of law. 

Anyway, some other things happen including what I think the author planned to be a big twist/reveal, but sadly, it was something I had figured out long before then simply based on the clues provided throughout the rest of the novel. 

LT;DR: If you're into YA novels, or want something that you can use to pass the time, this is for you. If you're not, or you like your novels to be a little less glaring plot hole, then maybe give this one a pass.