The author contacted me directly and provided my an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.
Title: Not Like Everyone Else
Author: Jennifer Leigh
Release: June 15, 2018
Publisher: Self Published
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Bound to Writing
![Not Like Everyone Else by [Leigh, Jennifer]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51U%2B6SCujYL.jpg)
Synopsis:
Ryan can’t seem to get her memories in order. When she breaks it off with her long-term boyfriend, Corey, she can’t help but feel free. But mysterious events keep Ryan asking “just what happened?”
After her family moved to Ryton, after Carter goes missing, after Jacob is in the hospital. All of these afters, but Ryan can’t remember the befores.
With Harper and Elliot by her side, Ryan can only hope that she does not forget… again. Will Ryan be able to recover her memory to figure out what happened when it all went dark?
Quotes:
“Why don’t I remember anything else? This whole time everything I had thought had been a lie. My mind has been playing tricks on me.”
“I am the killer just so you are not confused. But do not tell anyone or you may be next.”
“The three-date rule is that you can only date someone after you’ve been on three dates with them. That way you know for sure if you like them or not and that they aren’t trying to use you.”
My Review:
Needless to say, I was ecstatic when Jennifer contacted me directly and asked me to read and review her latest young adult mystery/thriller book. The synopsis for ‘Not Like Everyone Else’ provides you with a brief, yet tantalizing introduction to the world of Ryan, the main character in the story. Ryan is an 18 year old girl who just ended a very serious 4-year long relationship with her high school sweetheart, Corey.
The backstory between Ryan and Corey is one of teenage domestic abuse where she was beaten by her boyfriend but eventually up and left him one day when she decides she can’t take anymore. Now Ryan has moved back into her parents home and is getting restless spending all of her time alone or under the careful watchful eyes of her mom and dad.
She begins redeveloping her life, reacquainting with a high school friend of hers, Harper, as well making some new friends. Ryan and Harper take a weekend ‘camping’ trip to Harper’s family cabin and Harper secretly invites a few boys over. One for her and one for Ryan. Carter, who is the invited boy for Ryan, makes a move on her and she becomes angry. This starts the process of Ryan forgetting things.
The book opens with and is also interspersed with the running inner dialogue of an unknown killer that we learn more about as the book goes one.
There have been plenty of times that I imagine what I could do if I brought him to my house. To play my little games with him. To show him a side few get to see of me and never get to tell anyone about. That is the good thing about the woods. They are my cover. My protection.
Other than these kinds of inner dialogues that appear throughout the entire book, the rest of it is told from the perspective of Ryan. As she tries to piece things together and understand what is happening and why she cannot remember certain things.
I really enjoyed reading about Ryan and her friends. I felt bad on many occasions for Ryan and her lack of human interaction; feeling loved – other than by her parents. She seems so alone and unable to really want to connect with the people around her. As the story progresses we gain a better understanding as to why this is and she does begin to start new relationships with people around her.
I was a little disappointed with the ending, though. It felt like the entire thing had me clutched with the foundation of the plot, the amazing build up to who the killer was, and then kind of a quickly done fizzled out ending. I don’t like to post spoilers so I am being vague here, but it got really exciting there at the end and then just kind of ended without any real understanding as to why things ended up the way they did. I believe a few additional pages could have been added drawing out a little bit of the final confrontation and elaborating on what the driving forces were, but there is a lot implied leading up to the point. So.. I guess I understand why this happened. But still.
Altogether though, it’s a great book that I will definitely recommend to my YA fans out there!
About the Author:
Jennifer Garey is a self-published young adult author and blogger that writes under the name Jennifer Leigh. She has participated in National Novel Writing Month where all of her thoughts come together and books are created. Jennifer has three published books: Incognito, In Plain Sight, and her new release Not Like Everyone Else. She also has published a short story, The Stranger I Knew. Her blog, Bound to Writing, focuses on young adult books and writing. She lives in New Jersey with her fiancé, two guinea pigs, cat.
Find more by Jennifer Leigh at
www.facebook.com/boundtowriting
www.instagram.com/boundtowriting
Adventures in Literature 
Leave a comment