A Girl Named Anna Blog Tour: Review

A Girl Named Anna
Author: Lizzy Barber
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: MIRA

Description:

A compulsive suspense debut for fans of Megan Miranda, Wendy Walker and Kimberly Belle, about two teens--one sheltered by her strict and reclusive mamma, one living in the shadow of the missing sister who was snatched from a theme park as a toddler--and their search for the truth about their families and each other.

If your whole life is a lie, who can you trust?

Raised in a quiet rural community, Anna has always been taught that her Mamma's rules are the only path to follow. But, on her eighteenth birthday, she defies her Mamma for the first time in her life, and goes to Astroland. She’s never been allowed to visit Florida’s biggest theme park, so why, when she arrives, does everything about it seem so familiar? And is there a connection to the mysterious letter she receives that same day—a letter addressing her by a different name?

Rosie has grown up in the shadow of the missing sister she barely remembers, her family fractured by years of searching without leads. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, the media circus resumes as the funds dedicated to the search dry up, and Rosie vows to uncover the truth herself. But can she find the answer before it tears her family apart?

Winner of the Daily Mail First Novel Competition, A Girl Named Anna is a psychologically riveting read that introduces Lizzy Barber as an outstanding new voice in suspense fiction.  

 

A Girl Named Anna is an electrifying debut that will have readers flying through the pages to find out the truth in the end. There were a lot of aspects of the book that I really enjoyed and only one that disappointed me a bit (and had nothing to do with the book itself). In my opinion, the story felt like a template that has been done time and again only with differing details put in. This isn't anything personal to the author or the book. It's almost impossible to create a wholly original story about any topic anymore, so the author did her best to make her book stand out from the rest out there and did a pretty good job doing so.

The plot is basically laid out for you in the description. You pretty much understand what's going to happen going in, so for me it was more about the journey than the ending. I loved discovering all the twists and turns, secrets and lies, and all the other juicy details that made this story so fantastic. The main characters, Anna and Rosie, were both wonderful. They were quite different yet had so much in common. Most of their differences were due to their completely different upbringings. Each girl was incredibly realistic with good traits and qualities and also flaws that made them human. I loved getting to know each girl throughout the story and seeing them grow and change as the book progressed. The secondary characters were well rounded and realistic as well and I didn't find any of them to be flat or stereotypical. 

The major thing for me is always the writing style of a book - it can literally make or break a book for me. The author told the story in the first person point of view, from alternating perspectives between Anna and Rosie. I think that this was absolutely genius and a perfect fit for the book. First person is almost always my favorite because I believe it allows the reader to get to know the narrator on a deeply personal level that other writing styles just can't achieve. This book was no different and the fact that the author chose to have dual narrators made the story all the more fascinating to me. I loved getting to really know Anna and Rosie throughout the book - their inner thoughts, emotions, memories, fears, dreams, and everything in between are shared with the reader. By the end of the story, I felt like I had experienced the entire book alongside each of the girls, see everything play out from their perspective. It was a perfect fit for the novel and I can't think of a better way to tell this complicated and layered story. The raw talent and intuitive storytelling ability made it really had for me to believe that this is the author's debut. If I hadn't known beforehand, there's no way I would've believed it. This is definitely an author I want to hear more from and I'll be keeping an eye on her. Highly recommended for fans of mystery, thriller, suspense, psychological suspense, and contemporary fiction.