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A review by ottercorg
That's Not My Name by Megan Lally
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm going to be as kind as I can because this is a debut novel, and I don't like to be mean!
I did not enjoy this. I finished it, because I wanted to know what happened, and the ending did catch me by surprise, so there's that. The plot was cohesive and made sense.
However, Lally's writing reminds me a lot of my own writing back when I was still wanting to be a fiction author - and this is not a compliment by any means. There is a reason I stopped writing fiction, and thank God none of it was published. The writing was just so poor, and I know it's a young adult novel - but I've read middle grade that is written incredibly beautifully, so that's really not a good excuse to me.
I also hated the characters, just about all of them. Drew's gay parents and mixed raced family just felt like tokens, like Lally was crossing things off a checklist.
All that being said, again, the plot was just fine and it was an easy read (too easy) but I definitely was let down by the high ratings this novel is getting. Also, too many grammatical errors for my taste.
I did not enjoy this. I finished it, because I wanted to know what happened, and the ending did catch me by surprise, so there's that. The plot was cohesive and made sense.
However, Lally's writing reminds me a lot of my own writing back when I was still wanting to be a fiction author - and this is not a compliment by any means. There is a reason I stopped writing fiction, and thank God none of it was published. The writing was just so poor, and I know it's a young adult novel - but I've read middle grade that is written incredibly beautifully, so that's really not a good excuse to me.
I also hated the characters, just about all of them. Drew's gay parents and mixed raced family just felt like tokens, like Lally was crossing things off a checklist.
All that being said, again, the plot was just fine and it was an easy read (too easy) but I definitely was let down by the high ratings this novel is getting. Also, too many grammatical errors for my taste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder