When I Was You
A Novel
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4.0 • 92 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“A heart-pounding thriller. When I Was You pitches two women with the same name against one another, and the rug is pulled out from under you the moment you decide to trust one of them.” —Sandie Jones, USA Today bestselling author of The Other Woman
“Amber Garza has upped the game on the classic stalker novel! . . . A fast-paced, beautifully plotted book.” —Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely Wife
You meets Fatal Attraction in this up-all-night story of suspicion, obsession and motherhood.
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Depressed, lonely Kelly Medina, the principal narrator of this clever psychological thriller from Garza (Play Safe), misses her son, Aaron, who's away at college, and sees little of her emotionally distant professor husband, who prefers to stay near campus instead of their Folsom, Calif., home. One day, Kelly is surprised to receive a call from Aaron's pediatrician about an appointment. When Kelly looks into this mistake, she discovers that the town is home to another Kelly Medina, who has an infant son. Kelly goes out of her way to meet this other Kelly, in whom she develops an unhealthy interest. Believing that the younger woman's son looks remarkably like Aaron at the same age, she sets out to take charge of the baby's upbringing. When the point-of-view shifts to that of the younger Kelly, the plot takes some murderous turns along the way to the unexpected ending. Through the skillful use of the second-person, Garza makes it tantalizingly unclear at times which Kelly is which. Fans of tricky tales of obsession and revenge will be well satisfied.
Customer Reviews
Talk about twists & turns! 4 solid stars!
Wow! I rate this book a solid 4 stars!
The book follows a woman, named Kelly Medina, who feels all alone due to her son Aaron moving out of the house for college, and having a husband who is only home on weekends due to being a professor at a college two hours away. By happenstance, Kelly gets a phone call from a pediatricians office stating that Kelly’s baby has a wellness appointment that Friday. The only problem is that Kelly’s son (Aaron) isn’t a baby and is currently away at college. What are the odds that there is another Kelly Medina out there, living in the same town as her and who uses the same pediatrician that her own son went to during his childhood? Kelly, cannot stop thinking of this mystery Kelly Medina. So she is determined to meet this woman and learn about her, possibly even befriend her. It quickly becomes apparent that she may be a bit unhinged or delusional. Amber Garza’s book seemed to be a cross between the TV show “You,” and the book “The Woman in the Window” by A.J. Finn.
While I was able to guess/piece together one of the big reveals by about page 45, and 2 other twists by page 130, I give this book 4 stars. For being able to predict 3 of the twists not even halfway through the book, why would I give it 4? It’s because there were plenty of other twists and turns, with a few shocking moments that I did not see it coming. And even though I was able to guess 2 of the twists, they still didn’t happen in the way that I imagined. This book was a fairly quick and easy read, and would be a great candidate for a weekend getaway or else to be curled up in a reading nook on a rainy day. Amber Garza did a wonderful job and I look forward to reading some of her other books.
The main takeaway from this one? Stranger Danger is real, and you truly do not know who a person is until it’s too late sometimes.
Not very twisty
This book was very predictable. Very predictable. And the ending abrupt. Not my favourite read.