WHEN I WAS YOU by Amber Garza
MIRA; 8/25/20
CBTB Rating: 4/5
The Verdict: a binge-worthy “popcorn thriller”
There’s a fine line between devotion and obsession—a fact that Amber Garza brings to life in her sinister, deliciously page-turning new psychological thriller WHEN I WAS YOU. Kelly Medina has never felt so alone. With her son off at college and her husband busy with a job that takes him out of town every week, Kelly finds herself adrift, searching for purpose and direction in this new stage of life. Everything changes when Kelly meets a young woman who - against all odds - shares her exact same name. Kelly #1 becomes fascinated by Kelly #2, a young, single mother raising a beautiful baby boy. But as their unlikely friendship blossoms and intensifies, Kelly #1 becomes a bit too interested in Kelly #2, setting both women on a deadly collision course. Amber Garza weaves an utterly unputdownable story of friendship, motherhood, and obsession in WHEN I WAS YOU. Grab this book for a pacey, twisty, just-one-more-page read that will satisfy all your “popcorn thriller” cravings. Summer may be winding down, but there’s still time for one more thrilling beach read, and WHEN I WAS YOU will make for a perfect selection.
Plot Details:
It all begins on an ordinary fall morning, when Kelly Medina gets a call from her son’s pediatrician to confirm her upcoming “well-baby” appointment. It’s a cruel mistake; her son left for college a year ago, and Kelly’s never felt so alone. The receptionist quickly apologizes: there’s another mother in town named Kelly Medina, and she must have gotten their numbers switched.
For days, Kelly can’t stop thinking about the woman who shares her name. Lives in her same town. Has a son she can still hold, and her whole life ahead of her. She can’t help looking for her: at the grocery store, at the gym, on social media. When Kelly just happens to bump into the single mother outside that pediatrician’s office, it’s simple curiosity getting the better of her.
Their unlikely friendship brings Kelly a renewed sense of purpose—taking care of this young woman and her adorable baby boy. But that friendship quickly turns to obsession, and when one Kelly disappears, well, the other one may know why.
WHEN I WAS YOU is a perfect example of what I like to call a “popcorn thriller”: a suspense novel that is binge-worthy, jam-packed with entertainment value, and lighter on violence. If that sounds like your cup of tea, Amber Garza’s newest release will be just what you’re looking for. In WHEN I WAS YOU, female friendships and the experiences of a woman in her 40’s are put under the microscope. Kelly Medina is a woman facing a pivotal change in her life. For the first time in years, she finds herself alone. Her son, a young man to whom she is deeply devoted, has gone off to college, and Kelly feels the absence of him all around her in her big, empty house. Her husband is distant, his job keeping him busy and traveling. With her husband preoccupied and her son out of the house, how will Kelly define herself? When you peel away the labels of “wife” and “mother,” what’s left? Kelly is a deeply sympathetic character, a woman tackling some of life’s biggest questions and grappling with the loneliness that can come with newfound independence. There’s just one problem. To fill the void in her life, Kelly has found a new person to attach herself to… and that attachment might prove to be deadly.
Amber Garza will hook readers from page one with this book’s simple-yet-intriguing premise. What if you found out that there was someone else in your town with your exact same name? That’s exactly what our Kelly Medina (we’ll call her Kelly #1 from here on out, to eliminate any confusion!) finds out. When she accidentally receives a phone call intended for another Kelly Medina, she’s curious. When she discovers that this other Kelly Medina is a new mother with a young baby boy, she’s intrigued. And when she just so happens to meet Kelly #2 on the street one day, she realizes she has found a new project to keep her busy. She is determined to befriend Kelly, and help the new mother navigate parenthood, sharing with her the tips and tricks she learned from raising her own beloved son. Sounds sweet and innocent, right? Wrong. Kelly #1 is a woman grappling with her own secrets and past traumas, and the closer she gets to Kelly #2, the more her good intentions morph into obsession and control. Amber Garza deftly ratchets up the tension page by page in WHEN I WAS YOU, giving readers an increasingly urgent sense that something is wrong with this friendship—and that one of these women might not make it out alive.
A key factor in what I consider the “popcorn thriller” genre (a genre of my own making… but let’s pretend it’s real!) is the readability and page-turning pacing of the writing. WHEN I WAS YOU met my “popcorn reading” expectations and then some. With short chapters, engaging writing, and a propulsive just-one-more-page plot structure, WHEN I WAS YOU is a book built for binge-reading. And if you’re a reader who loves plot twists, this one is sure to satisfy—but even better, it’s a book that’s sure to satisfy even if you guess a twist or two in advance. Amber Garza layers on the reveals throughout this book, and her clever plotting will keep readers guessing from the book’s first page to the last. I did personally predict one twist in this story, but I did not find that hugely detrimental to my reading experience—Garza had plenty more thrills and surprises in store for me. WHEN I WAS YOU is jam-packed with entertainment value, and the themes explored in this story, brought to life by the character of Kelly #1, kept me genuinely invested in the fates of its characters… even when those characters were doing some truly sinister things to one another. This book is pure fun to devour.
In many ways, WHEN I WAS YOU could be considered a domestic suspense novel: it deals with familial and close personal relationships, and certainly has the same tone and style as popular domestic thrillers from authors including Sandie Jones and B.A. Paris. But what made WHEN I WAS YOU particularly exciting for me as a reader is that this isn’t just another suspense novel about a marriage with secrets. It’s a story that centers around the friendship between two women, and it’s a story that explores the experience of motherhood, in particular, the experience of being a mother to a child who has left the nest. With these topics as the foundation for her psychological thriller, Amber Garza weaves a suspense story that feels fresh, engaging, and genuinely surprising. Summer 2020 isn’t over just yet, and Amber Garza’s deliciously dark suspense novel WHEN I WAS YOU is here to give us one last thrilling “beach read” before the fall season arrives.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Book Details:
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: MIRA; Original edition (August 25, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778361047
ISBN-13: 978-0778361046
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