Before You Knew My Name

by Jacqueline Bublitz

• ISBN10: 1982198990
• ISBN13: 9781982198992
• Publish Date: 1 November 2022 (first published 13 May 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Atria Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

I am a huge true crime junkie. I listen to various podcasts, watch ID Discover, and read fictional mysteries/suspense/thrillers. So, when I got the Before You Knew My Name invite, I accepted it. No hesitation, I downloaded this book to my Kindle in record time. I am glad I did because I enjoyed reading this book a lot.

Before You Knew My Name was an exciting book. This was the story of Alice, an eighteen-year-old girl from Wisconsin who had traveled to New York City. Alice was murdered and left for dead on a rocky pier. She is determined to help the woman who discovered her, Ruby, find her murderer and get justice. But this is also the story of Ruby. Ruby, from Australia, had been stuck in a rut for a while when she decided she needed a new start. And for her, it means traveling to New York City. But Ruby is the one who discovers Alice’s body, and Ruby is the one who pushes the police for answers. Will Ruby find herself in New York City? Will Alice get her justice?

There are trigger warnings in this book. The trigger warning is underage sexual contact/situations, cheating, mentions of sexual abuse, suicide, child abuse, and drinking. If any of these trigger you, I suggest not reading this book.

Before You Knew My Name was a medium-fast-paced book set in New York City. It starts fast, slows down in the middle of the book, and then picks up towards the end. The pacing was perfect for this book. Any faster, and I would have had an issue keeping up. Any slower, and the book would have dragged.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Alice and Ruby when they were both introduced. Alice seemed like an unreliable narrator. At the beginning of her story, she glossed over a lot. Ruby was a hot mess, and you know what? I related to her.

• Alice— As I mentioned above, I wasn’t too sure about Alice at the beginning of her storyline. She was very unreliable and kept glossing over her earlier years. But, as the book went on and she opened up about her life pre-New York City, I started to like her. I did think she was too trusting (mainly with Noah, but he ended up being a teddy bear). When the killer killed her, it did hit me hard. I was a freaking mess. Then I got mad and hoped the police would catch the killer soon.
• Ruby—I liked her right from the beginning. She was a hot mess but relatable (as I described above). I wasn’t that shocked that she up and left Melbourne. She needed a new start. But her fresh start didn’t exactly go as planned when she found Alice. I loved how her character grew after finding Alice. She became almost obsessed with finding the killer, and she did have a great support system (a found family) in New York. My only quibble with her was Ash. He was like a drug to her, and she needed to let him go.

There were many memorable secondary characters in Before You Knew My Name. They each brought added depth to the plotline. There were some that I wished had more book time (Noah and Tina were two), and others (like Alice’s teacher/lover) needed less book time.

Before You Knew My Name was a combination of mystery and thriller. It fits perfectly into those genres. I think there could have been a tad more thriller, but that’s just me.

Alice’s storyline was poignant. But it also made me unbelievably mad during some parts. Alice had some awful things happen to her, but she dealt with them with a grace that I know I wouldn’t have had. But, once she arrived in New York with that camera and found Noah, she turned into a different girl. She began to see a future. And that is what made me so unbelievably angry when she was murdered. The killer snuffed out her light too soon.

Ruby’s storyline was just as poignant but in a different way. She needed a change. She was stagnating in her life in Australia. So, her going to New York City and starting over was good. And, in a way, finding Alice’s body was a good thing too. Because if she didn’t, she would have never gone to the support group. She would have never met Lennie, and she would have never joined The Death Club. She also would have never met Josh, Susan, or even Noah.

The storyline with Alice’s killer was interesting. The author kept his identity and motive under wraps until almost the end of the book. Ruby had a hand leading the detectives to him when she remembered something crucial about the night she found Alice.

The end of Before You Knew My Name was poignant. The author was able to merge all the storylines, and she ended them in a way that tugged at my heartstrings. From beginning to end, this book will make you think about all the John and Jane Does out there.

Three Reasons You Should Read Before You Knew My Name:

1. It was a true mystery. The author kept Alice’s killer under wraps until the end.
2. The book had a great pace to it. It made reading and keeping track of the different storylines very easy.
3. The characters were very relatable.

Three Reasons You Shouldn’t Read Before You Knew My Name:

1. The trigger warnings.
2. Alice being murdered. I was so angry about that (even though I knew it would happen).
3. Ruby being a hot mess.

I would recommend Before You Knew My Name to anyone over 21. There is language, nongraphic sexual content, and violence. Also, see my trigger warnings.

[Jeff Sexton]

Haunting Yet Preachy. This is a book in the vein of if i stay, though here we know up front that our narrator is dead - and she knows it. Still, when searching through my memories trying to find a comparison point, that is what comes up and I think the comparison works. This tale has a similar haunting effect, not from the haunting itself (though the narrator is, if anything, a benevolent ghost just trying to be helpful), but more from the style of the story being told. There is a lot of trauma here in terms of child molestation/ exploitation (though within the last few months pre-18th birthday, at least on screen). adultery, abuse, and safety generally. It is on this last point - safety generally - that this book veers too far into the "preachy" side, hammering the reader over the head several times with its own metaphorical version of the murder weapon used here, and this is the reason for the star deduction. Still, overall the tale is solid if a touch slow, but interesting enough to want to find out what is going on and to keep reading through the end. Very much recommended.

[Quirky Cat]

Before You Knew My Name caught my attention because it makes big promises – two women, one mystery, and a feminist thriller. Um, yes, please! Also, gotta say that I like the cover. Not sure what it is I like, maybe the colors?

Alice Lee and Ruby Jones are very different women, but both have turned to New York City for their second chance. For Alice, she arrived with only the items she could carry, only to meet a dark fate.

As for Ruby...she's hoping this will be a chance to reinvent herself. Or rather, that is what she had been hoping. But finding a body has a way of changing one's perspective, wouldn't you say? Now she is integrally tied to Alice's story.

"The story," she says, "always belonged to Alice."

Wow. Having just finished Before You Knew My Name, I'm still processing everything that happened. This was one hell of a debut, and it packs quite the emotional punch. It also makes you think and is delightfully poignant. In other words, it is very much worth the read.

Before diving into Before You Knew My Name, I knew that one of the two leading characters would die. This is no secret. I was interested but also hesitant. Sometimes books of this style can be depressing, you know? But something about Before You Knew My Name worked for me.

Bublitz's writing does a brilliant job of capturing complex and complicated themes. Grief, loss, death, consent, the nature of attachment, it's all there – and so much more. It made for a heavy read, but it was also a deeply powerful experience.

If you're looking for a book that will burrow under your skin and make you stop and think, please take the time to pick up and read Before You Knew My Name. It's worth it.

Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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