When I Was You

Applause as loud as you can and make some noise till your neighbors suffer from ear bleeding because we have skilled, evil genius, ultra smart author in literature town who can write a hell of a marvelous, gripping, heart throbbing, soul shaker, dazzling novel!<br /><br />Did she play us with her well-organized, detailed, evil-ish mind games? Sure, she did. Well-played, well-done! She made me fool, tricked me so well misdirected my spidey senses ( I think they’re out of order right now but as soon as quarantine over I’ll replace them with better versions!)<br />From the beginning, did we clearly understand what is real and what is delusional? I honestly had no idea and if it makes me a moron, I’m proud of being one because it was so entertainingly cunning and surprising story including so many twists and surprises centered around two characters who share the same name which makes it more and more interesting!<br /><br />Before giving my extraordinary, helluva crazy train ride, I didn’t see that punch coming and I didn’t expect somebody pull the rug from under me and hurt my back so bad when I hit the floor five stars, I want to give some short clues about this deliciously nerve bending plot:<br /><br />We have a broken and traumatized protagonist named Kelly Medina who is living at her house by herself, surrounded by good friends, a little estranged relationship with her husband who is a workaholic professor and her 19 years old son who never comes back to their family house. Her life changes with a phone call from pediatrician’s office tells her about her appointment time with her baby which makes her realize she shares the same name with a woman.<br /><br /> Then she appears at the same time of their appointment out of the pediatrician’s office to meet with her and slowly she starts fixating Kelly and her son Sullivan which makes her friends more worried about her mental health and they keep asking her if Kelly is real person or if she connects with her little baby without her consent which makes us question about our protagonist’s psychological condition because everybody treats her with kid gloves and her husband acts suspicious around her judging his wife’s motives.<br /><br /> As Kelly spends more time with young Kelly and Sullivan her fixation gets extremer and she turns into Josephine Goldberg ( batshit crazy Auntie version of our dear Joe) starts stalking her each move and she finally decides young Kelly doesn’t deserve to be Sullivan’s mother and what happens if she takes over her place?<br /><br /> I’m stopping right here but I assure things will get crazier and you couldn’t put this book down and admire the talent of the author. As far as I can see Amber Garza mostly wrote high school romance books but I have to admit she shines brilliantly with her new choice of genre! I cannot wait to read upcoming works of her in near future.<br /><br />Special thanks to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN Trade Publishing/ MIRA for sharing this nail biter ARC with me in exchange my honest review. I truly had an amazing time! Cheers!

<b>**4.5-stars rounded up **</b><br><br><i>...this up-all-night psychological thriller about a lonely empty-nester's growing obsession with a young mother who shares her name.</i><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1595446474ra/29854178.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The line above, from the publisher's synopsis, certainly caught my attention and I'm extremely thankful it did!<br><br>Kelly Medina is the empty-nester mentioned. Kelly Medina is also the young woman who arrives in town and shakes things up.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184007ra/30005427.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The main Kelly, I will refer to her as 'our Kelly' from this point forward, is adjusting to life with her only son, Aaron, gone from home. Her husband, Raphael, is not around much either, as his job keeps him away during the week and even some weekends.<br><br>Because of this, our Kelly spends a lot of time alone and to be honest, she's struggling.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184007ra/30005428.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Feeling increasingly lonely and isolated, one day she receives a phone call that will change everything.<br><br>The call is from Aaron's pediatrician's office, with a reminder of his upcoming well-baby appointment.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184007ra/30005429.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Kelly tries to laugh it off with the receptionist. Obviously, it's a mistake, her son is in college, years beyond any need for a well-baby appointment.<br><br>The lady apologizes profusely. Apparently, there is another Kelly Medina in the area and their numbers must have gotten mixed up in the system.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184007ra/30005430.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Our Kelly is taken aback. Another woman, sharing her same name, in the same area, with a baby.<br><br>In the coming hours, it's all she can think about. Imagining who this young woman is and what her life must be like. It all seems too strange.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1527841340ra/25631127.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The whole incident has shaken her. Arriving later at the gym to meet her best friend, Christine, for a yoga class, she has forgotten her membership card. <br><br>When the desk clerk looks her up in the system, she comments on how funny it is that another Kelly Medina was there that very morning for a workout.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184008ra/30005431.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Now the girl is invading her gym space? Who is this person?<br><br>That's all it takes for Kelly to become obsessed with finding out more about the other Kelly.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1510264017ra/24406880.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>After several attempts at online stalking, our Kelly realizes the best way to actually find the other Kelly would be to go to the well-baby appointment that started it all.<br><br>That's exactly what she does. The rest of the story goes from there and let me tell you, you are in for a WILD RIDE!!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1548019902ra/26948030.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I had so much fun reading <i>When I Was You</i>!<br><br>Once I got into the story, I could not put it down. I can definitely see why the publisher chose to describe it as an, <i>up-all-night Psychological Thriller</i>!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1596577421ra/29916774.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Garza added some epic twists. I couldn't believe what I was reading. My goodness.<br><br>My jaw hit the floor so many times! It was a bloody fantastic.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1498698672ra/23153400.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I don't think I have had this much fun reading a Thriller since the first B.A. Paris novel I read, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/29437949.Behind_Closed_Doors" title="Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris" rel="noopener">Behind Closed Doors</a>.<br><br>And like that novel, <i>When I Was You</i>, is not perfect. Personally though, I feel like any tiny flaws were completely made up for with the perfectly plotted story.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184008ra/30005432.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I hope that Amber Garza continues to write in this genre. I really look forward to getting more of this type of story from her.<br><br>This is wildly imaginative. It went some places, guys, I was shocked. Just when you think you have hit the crazy limit, another revelation comes to light!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1556244306ra/27414737.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a twisty-turny, compulsively readable Psychological Thriller.<br><br>Once you pick it up, it will be hard to put it down, so clear your calendar!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598184008ra/30005433.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Thank you so, so much to the publisher, Harlequin MIRA, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I had so, so, so much fun reading it.<br><br>Thank you, thank you, thank you!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1597860322ra/29989622.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

<b>Obsession<br /><br /><i>When I Was You </i> is a psychological thriller about two women who share the same name. </b><br /><br />When Kelly Medina learns there is another woman in town who shares her name, her curiosity about her “other” develops into obsession. The other Kelly Medina has an obsession of her own, and when the two Kellys collide, both of their lives implode.<br /><br />This is a fast-paced, twisty, and suspenseful thriller told in three parts. Each part of the book has at least one major twist. The perspectives of each Kelly is shared, and both have a lot of crazies in their heads.<br /><br /><i>When I Was You</i> <b> is an engrossing and gratifying read. It’s a little predictable, but the two Kelly’s kept me invested in the story. </b> I wasn’t sure which Kelly was going to win in the end.<b> I guessed the twists, but I thought the structure of the narrative and revelations were well-executed. My one gripe was with the character of Rafael. He was a supreme a**hole. With that being said, I wish the ending was a little more vicious.<br /><br />I was looking for a juicy thriller to get lost in, and the crazy Kellys got the job done! </b>

Well, Hot Diggity Dang, that was good! I was almost ready to give up on thrillers, but I had this blog tour and Amber Garza saved me and reminded me why I love thrillers! She nails it here with this thrilling, exciting twisty page-turner! This is the way to write a thrilling page-turner!!! Don't miss this one, my friends!!! <br /><br /> Amber Garza takes obsession to a whole new level here with our main characters Kelly and Kelly and creates some tension and exciting suspense here with jaw-dropping twists and turns to the story. My heart was pounding with each page and my head was swimming with questions I was answering in my head. I was very pleased with myself for seeing one turn to the story that was layered so well in the story and then I was thrilled when I was very surprised with one twist that had me thinking how clever the story was told. AND that ending WOOT WOOT knocked me off my chair and then had me happy dancing around the house!! Nothing better than a thriller that leaves you feeling like that. I highly recommend it!!<br /><br />I received a copy from the publisher for a blog tour!!

Imagine getting a call from a pediatrician’s office, reminding you of an appointment for your baby. Your son is in college. It turns out there’s someone else who lives in the same town, with the same first name and last name as you. <br /><br />Kelly Medina. <br /><br />With her son gone and her husband away for work throughout each week, Kelly is quite lonely. When she finds out there is another Kelly, and with a baby to boot, she becomes a bit obsessed with meeting her...helping her with the baby...entwining herself in the other Kelly’s life. <br /><br />As her obsession grows, disturbing behavior follows. <br /><br />The rest is better to go in blind. This is a gripping read... a bit of a slow burn. It has unreliable narration, growing unease, and a low simmer of suspense. I felt like I knew where the book was going the whole time (I WAS right about part of it, at least). That is, until things take a crazy turn after about 2/3 of the way in! I audibly gasped at one of the twists, and that doesn’t happen too often these days. The last section of the book really pushes this thriller to exceptional territory. The ending is excellent as well! <br /><br />3.5 stars.

Will the <b>REAL</b> Kelly Medina please stand up?<br /><br />(whether you take that as a <u>To Tell The Truth</u> reference or an Eminem reference is up to you...and that is NOT to be confused with <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/49203372.To_Tell_You_the_Truth" title="To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan" rel="noopener">To Tell You the Truth</a> either!)<br /><br />Kelly Medina receives a seemingly routine phone call from the doctor's office...it's time for her baby's checkup. However, Kelly's child is not an infant...Aaron is 19 and off at college. So who was this phone call actually intended to reach? Could there be ANOTHER Kelly Medina right under her nose, in the same town? Kelly is fascinated by the premise of a seemingly perfect younger 'version' of herself, and her active imagination goes to work about the possibilities of a friendship between the two Kellys. She slowly becomes obsessed with this woman, manages to accidentally bump into her outside of the doctor's office that brought them together, and she can't <i>help</i> but introduce herself as Kelly Medina, for added effect. From that moment on, Kelly grows increasingly fascinated by her new friend and is totally enamored with her infant son Sullivan. You see, SHE would be the better mother. SHE would do everything just right. Younger Kelly just doesn't know what's good for her...but our older Kelly won't let that be a problem for long.<br /><br />I have heard such rave reviews about this book, I was honestly doubtful that it could live up to the hype. Garza, however, shocked, stunned, and COMPLETELY hoodwinked me! The first part of the novel is designed to hint at the potential of Kelly as an unreliable narrator, leaving the reader twisting and turning, trying to decide how much of the story is true or exists only in Kelly's mind. This was an absolutely brilliant plot device for this story, though, because as a reader you are so wrapped up in these mental gymnastics that the first twist is BEYOND shocking. I was so far down my own mental rabbit hole when it happened that I had to go back and reread a good 15 pages or so before I even caught up! There is nothing I adore more while reading a thriller than being completely fooled, and this book does that over and over again. The hits keep on coming, in the BEST possible way! Short, brisk, and full of punch, this is the sort of book you could EASILY consume in an afternoon (and I wish I'd had that opportunity!) The ending was everything I'd hoped for too, the perfect final twist to cap off an absolutely fantastic book!<br /><br />Fans of Joe Goldberg will adore Kelly (or love to hate her, at least) and all of the comparisons to both <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/36430011.You__You___1_" title="You (You, #1) by Caroline Kepnes" rel="noopener">You</a> and Fatal Attraction are certainly warranted! This was precisely the thriller I needed to get me out of my book slump and one of the most captivating I've read in some time. I am absolutely ready, here, and waiting for whatever Garza writes next! <br /><br />4.5 ⭐️

3.5 stars. An easy and addictive read!<br /><br />Kelly Medina receives a call from her local paediatrician’s office asking to confirm her newborn sons upcoming appointment. Problem is, Kelly’s son is nineteen years old and hasn’t been to the paediatrician in years. The secretary apologizes and confirms she got mixed up with another Kelly Medina who recently moved into town. Two Kelly Medina’s in one small town? Kelly can’t stop thinking about the other woman. Curiosity gets the best of her as she plans to find out all she can about this new Kelly.<br /><br />After reading several raving reviews on this book, I snapped it up when I saw it available at the library. This was highly addictive and easy to fly through. The writing kept me engrossed and intrigued throughout even though the story took some implausible turns toward the end. There was something so compulsively readable about the writing that had me flying through the pages and I loved how the book was broken down into three parts. The storyline was twisty and clever. <br /><br />Was this as amazing as I had hoped and expected? No. Was this a highly entertaining, mindless and addictive book? Yes! I look forward to seeing what this author comes out with next!<br /><br />Thank you to my lovely local library for the loan of this book!

How do I describe this book? It's kind of like one of those carnival fun houses where all the mirrors distort things and you lose your sense of where you are, but you keep wanting to go back in!<br /><br />One day Kelly Medina gets a call from the office of her son's old pediatrician regarding a scheduled well visit for her baby - only, her son is fully grown. Upon explaining this, she finds out that there’s another Kelly Medina who’s recently moved to town, and she’s the intended recipient of the call. This call sets in motion the rest of the “WHAT on Earth is happening?!?” that comes after. <br /><br />It turns out that the first Kelly Medina, who you learn early is trying to regroup after a mental breakdown caused by a frequently alluded to, mysterious event from her past involving a baby, quickly fixates on the new Kelly Medina and her baby son, Sullivan. Her attempts to befriend the struggling single young mother and help take care of Sullivan become more aggressive and imposing with each new encounter, and you get her POV as insight into how she rationalizes her behavior. To make matters worse, despite being a truly toxic a-hole, her husband Rafael, who’s never home due to work, is worried she’s gone off the deep end again, as is her friend Christine, neither of whom believe this other Kelly is actually real. <br /><br />Is her fixation dangerous? Who is this new Kelly Medina? What will become of this budding mentor-young mom friendship? Suffice it to say, you’ll have to read to the twisty end to unravel what’s real and what isn’t, because as anyone who reads thrillers knows - things are never quite what they seem on the surface. I will say the twist at the beginning of Part Two was just awesome, the twist at the beginning of Part Three I saw coming but was still fantastic, and the ending was delicious. A couple downsides? None of the characters are likeable, but in this story it worked. I also thought that Part One started feeling just a tad long and repetitive, but in hindsight it set the stage well for the final two parts.<br /><br />This book was disorienting with the dual Kellys, it was intriguing, it was at times nerve-wracking, sometimes sad, sometimes downright angering (Rafael really is a scumbag), and at all times it was engrossing. The story pulled me in, wound me up and spun me around like a top, and that’s what a good thriller should do, so well-done Amber Garza!<br /><br />★★★★

Hot damn this was a fun book! <br /><br />Kelly Medina is a lonely stay at home wife. Her husband, a professor, works in the Bay area and only comes home on the weekends and her son is away at college. She feels as if she has a huge void in her life now that her son has grown up and doesn't need her anymore and she is definitely suffering depression because of it. <br /><br />One morning she receives a call reminding her of her well baby visit that's coming up. Her son is nineteen so surely there has been a mistake. They inform her that there was a mix up and that there is another Kelly Medina and somehow the numbers must have been crossed. From here she becomes obsessed with finding out more about this other Kelly all the while wishing she still had a little one to care for. Let's just say she gets a little unhinged in the process. <br /><br />This book was pure gluttonous entertainment and nearly impossible to put down. If your looking for an escape from the drudgery of life and you don't mind a little cuckoo in your fiction then this may be just what your looking for. Highly recommend! 4 stars!

Excerpt: “Then I drove to your house, irritated that you were forcing me to stalk you. It was annoying. I wanted to hang out with you in a non creepy way, but you weren’t allowing it. So, really, this was your fault.”<br /><br /><br /><br />Lonely, empty nester Kelly Medina becomes obsessed with young mother, Kelly Medina who has just moved to town. <br /><br />Told intimately in the second person POV in three parts..<br /><br />Part 1 has two reveals and I guessed both..but that is probably because I read A LOT of thrillers.<br /><br />Part 2-WAIT! WHAT? I need to back up about 7 pages and read THAT again! <br /><br />PART 3- The Grand Finale...<br /><br />Yes, I am being cryptic!!<br />Because the less you know the better! <br /><br />This was a fun, (but not too creepy) and engaging read by author Amber Garza “who lives in Folsom, California, which is —no joke—home to another Amber Garza”—according to her author bio! ?