Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Everything I wanted this book to be was apparently not in line with what the author wanted this book to be. Not to say this book was bad, because it wasn’t. And the rights can certainly be scooped up by Lifetime, or Reese Witherspoon for that matter now that she’s the resident ”chick flick meets domestic crime thriller” director, at any moment.

It’s suspenseful enough to keep the reader engaged and wondering, but too incredibly generic to be anything memorable in the end. I really thought the ***spoiler alert!*** student sleeping with their married teacher storyline was played out and, like, so 2008 (...wait a minute...). No? Just me? Regardless, the author doesn’t add anything new to this tired premise or the characters involved, except for maybe leading with the student Lolita being killed off? Asking the reader to believe that the dumb-as-a-bag-of-toenails boyfriend was the murderer certainly did not do this plot any favors, either.

That said, the book was enjoyable, and its alternating narrators and timelines made it much more pleasantly digestible. The sheriff’s POV seemed stereotypical and a bit boring, as were most of the passages describing the town and the people inhabiting it. But hey, maybe I just don’t understand small town America since I am currently living the hustling and bustling big city lifestyle that is Cleveland, Ohio, after all (insert eye roll).

On a positive note, Hattie was a fascinating character. She was intriguing, in a manipulative and self destructive way. Had the novel played out differently, she could have been a really impactful representation of what happens when a young, impressionable child cannot manage the demands of their family, friends, society etc. and instead learns the upside of deceiving everyone around them - which, of course, later turns them into a raging sociopath. In the beginning of the novel, it seems as though groundwork was being laid for some sort of huge bombshell later. I was hoping to uncover a secret agenda or backstory or reveal that would make us rethink our whole impression of Hattie and her tragic demise. But unfortunately, the author left us with an immature teenager who lied her way through 18 years of life and in the process, got herself and a classmate killed. Oh and ruined a marriage (but not to worry - no real consequences here!). I’m being a tad harsh, but only because I think this novel could have done a lot more than it did.



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