Review & Giveaway: Everything You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia (CLOSED)

Title:Everything You Want Me To Be

Author:Mindy Mejia

Published:January 2017, Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Format:ARC E-copy, 352 pages

Source:Netgalley via Publisher

Full of twists and turns, Everything You Want Me to Be
reconstructs a year in the life of a dangerously mesmerizing young
woman, during which a small town’s darkest secrets come to the
forefront…and she inches closer and closer to her death.

High
school senior Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many
parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good citizen. When she’s
found brutally stabbed to death on the opening night of her high school
play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of her small town community.
Local sheriff Del Goodman, a family friend of the Hoffmans, vows to find
her killer, but trying to solve her murder yields more questions than
answers. It seems that Hattie’s acting talents ran far beyond the stage.
Told from three points of view—Del, Hattie, and the new English teacher
whose marriage is crumbling—Everything You Want Me to Be weaves the story of Hattie’s last school year and the events that drew her ever closer to her death.

Evocative and razor-sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges
you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and
deception. Does love lead to self-discovery—or destruction?

My thoughts:This book has been generating a lot of buzz and I knew it was one I just had to read – and it was so worth it…I really enjoyed it! It’s one of those books that is utterly addicting and will have you thinking about it long after you finish reading the last page.

I loved the way this story was told. We have three points of view – Del, the local sheriff, investigating the murder; Hattie; and Peter, the English teacher, who is in the midst of dealing with his own problems. As the story alternates between these three characters, tidbits are slowly revealed as to what happened to Hattie, and we go back in time as well, to set the scene. It is so cleverly crafted that you get caught up in the drama that is the story and find yourself feeling quite sympathetic to these flawed characters, characters that tend to be quite manipulative and secretive at times. But, you find yourself getting attached to them, nonetheless.

The twists and turns that this book takes had me frantically flipping the pages, desperate to know what really happened to Hattie. I thought I had it figured out, only to find I had been misled! I loved the tension that slowly builds as the story progresses. It’s as if the more we find out, the more tense the story gets. 

This is a great read and I cannot wait to see what comes next for this author…she is definitely someone to keep an eye on! 

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Thanks to the folks at the @AtriaMysteryBus twitter account, I have one copy of Everything You Want Me To Be to give away to my readers. To enter the giveaway, please fill out the rafflecopter below by January 10th.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends January 10th.

Good Luck!!!