That's Not My Name by Megan Lally - A Thrilling Debut YA Novel

Note:  This post contains no spoilers.  This is a deeply suspenseful book, and it's best not to read online reviews since many people are a bit careless with what they reveal.  Below is the publisher's summary, which only reveals information that the reader learns very early in the book.

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally is a YA thriller published by Sourcebooks Fire on December 26, 2023.

Publisher's summary:

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.

This book is very suspenseful, and the reader will be kept guessing until the end.  Readers may have an inkling about part of the plot's resolution, but it's highly unlikely that they will guess the entire resolution.  I had a suspicion but wasn't sure.  I was shocked at the full reveal.

That's Not My Name has alternating viewpoints.  This is usually annoying in books, but it is quite effective in this case.  The alternating viewpoints between Mary and Drew move the plot forward steadily in an interesting fashion that keeps the reader engaged and guessing as to what is really going on.

There's no problem telling Mary and Drew apart because of their vastly different situations.  Mary can't remember anything about her past, and Drew is desperate to find his girlfriend, Lola.

This book has a newspaper article after the conclusion of the main action which is followed by an epilogue.  The newspaper article is interesting, and the epilogue is quite captivating and effective.  The epilogue satisfactorily wraps up the plot and is well worth reading.

I despise epilogues and consider the abomination at the end of Harry Potter Deathly Hallows to be the worst offender, but the epilogue in That's Not My Name is great.

I love Megan Lally's delightful descriptions.

Page 14:  His hair looks like it's thinking of going gray but hasn't committed to the change.

Page 49:  A motion light over the door flickers on, illuminating us and the driveway.  The darkness pushes back to the tree line and hovers there like a living thing.

Page 55:  Incredibly soft jersey sheets stretch across the mattress with a massive white fluffy down comforter that weighs a ton and smells like a good night's sleep.

One character is obsessed about sleuthing and uses that word repeatedly.  On page 109, another character thinks to himself, "Wannabe Nancy Drew over here probably thought she'd get me to confess and then backflip out the window or something."

I also wonder whether it's just a coincidence that one of the protagonists is named Drew.

This book could be turned into an excellent movie adaptation.

That's Not My Name is an outstanding book.