I’ve been really into thrillers lately and have been binge reading and watching things focused on crime and missing people. Realistic pieces are the scariest to me, since they could happen to anyone. What real people can do to another human can be really messy. So I’d like to chat about When I Was You by Amber Garza, a book I can’t stop thinking about.
- Genre: Psychological Thriller
- Overall Rating: 6/6 Glass Slippers
Kelly Medina is an empty nester, her son off at college and her husband always busy with his work as a professor. One morning, she gets a call from a pediatrician’s office about a newborn checkup. The mother’s name? Kelly Medina. The elder Kelly wants to meet the younger woman who shares her name. They both have sons and live in the same small town. Surely it’s fate they meet.
Kelly #1 meets Kelly #2 by chance and becomes enamored with the young mother who, in her opinion, isn’t prepared for the reality of being a single mom. Kelly #1 begins to shower her with gifts, meals, and advice. What begins in friendship starts to morph into obsession. But soon it’s revealed there’s been a terrible tragedy. Though who’s to blame? And where does reality and pretend overlap?
This book was a maze of mental gymnastics coordinated by Kelly #1. We begin to question everything she’s told us as a narrator as the story goes on. We’re not even sure who is real and when isn’t as the people in Kelly #1’s life begin to ask questions.
I read this book in one day over the summer and just read it again to get my fix of a scary story straight out of a Dateline episode. I really didn’t expect the last third of the book, and Garza did a wonderful job of keeping me on my toes. I recommend this book to all readers who want a little uncertainty and a lot of twists in their read.
A Kiss At Midnight Reviews 