Reviews

When She Was Me by Marlee Bush

alilbitofmonica's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wow. I did not see this coming, but this was a fantastic thriller that turned from a 4 star at 70% into a 4.5-5 star read by the ending.

The twists and turns in this are spectacular. The author does a fantastic job at giving you enough to hook you and pull you in, while still remaining vague enough in details to keep things suspicious and suspenseful. I genuinely had such a good time reading this - especially the closer we got to the end.

- Cassie and Lenora were two fascinating characters - I truly never knew who I was supposed to like more or who was being sketchy and suspicious.
- The setting is automatically eerie by having them live in a cabin in the woods, but add in the other mysterious happenings and you've got yourself a classic setup for a good thrill.
- The introduction of Sarah and then the Meadows family sets off a whole new slew of drama that keeps you guessing at what is truly going on those cabins.
- The flashback chapters are the perfect blend of uncovering secrets of the past while remaining just vague enough to really make you think "do I even know what I'm reading right now?" - the way these chapters do not use names to tell you who is who makes you really stop and think about which sister we're talking about and I loved that element.
- The underlying narrative of sisterhood and what someone will or won't do for their family is so good here and it's all so dark and twisted

whatsreadallover's review against another edition

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It just didn’t keep me interested

gssll_lpz's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

marginsofmarisa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Unfortunately, I saw the twist coming early on so the rest of the book felt like a drag. There was just something missing for me. Pretty good writing for a thriller though!

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onmalsshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

memull17's review against another edition

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3.25

As an identical twin I was totally intrigued by this book after reading the synopsis because it follows identical twins isolated in a cabin on Tennessee campground. Cassie and Lenora are identical twins and prefer to stay away from prying eyes and true crime junkies when it comes to their past which is ironic given what Cassie does for a living. When a teenage girl at the camp goes missing, old memories and uncertainties come rushing back for the twins but something else happens causing them to fear for their lives. 

I love an unreliable narrator and with the alternating POVs as well as a mysterious past pov, this book has you wondering who is the past pov and what are they all hiding. The isolated setting really gave weight to the story and helped with the mysterious factor. I did figure everything out with the plot but it didn’t deter me from finishing the story. 


Thank you @posionedpenpress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback 

susie300's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

megandherbook's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a slow one but if you keep with it the ending is a good payoff. 

After a fateful night when they were younger, twins Lenora and Cassie have relied on each other. Currently living in a cabin on a secluded campground they live a pretty peaceful existence; at least from the outside world. After the passing of the owner of their campground a new woman has bought it and moved in. Then a couple and their teenage daughter come to stay for the weekend and all three of the cabins are occupied. When the teen goes missing and is soon found dead the twins start to suspect everyone that was there at the campground. They even start to suspect that each other knows more than they are sharing. Their peaceful cabin is now riddled with danger and they must figure out what's going on before one or both of them are next. 

This book is very slow. Luckily the writing is good and it makes reading it enjoyable. I found both sisters to be frustrating but overall good characters and learning about them made reading it enjoyable as well. However, about halfway through I became frustrated. The story is told from the perspective of both Cassie and Lenora and also a third perspective that isn't revealed until the end. For the first half of the book I was collecting more and more questions and was not getting any answers which is why I was getting frustrated. Luckily I kept with it and by the last quarter of the book I got most of the questions I needed answers to. And the answers I didn't get weren't that pressing to the story. The twist was exciting and made sense which also made the payoff worth it. 

I also really enjoyed the narrator which also made listening to the book easier. She really made each character come to life; even the characters you weren't sure who they were yet. 

I recommend but I'd go into this knowing that it's a slow build. 

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catdogcatdog's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
This book just wasn’t my cup of tea.

casuallycolorado's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

3.0