Everything You Want Me to Be - Book Review

Growing up in a small Minnesota town, Hattie Hoffman is the charming, talented and beloved girl that everyone expects to go far.  Hattie has high expectations for herself and plans to head to New York City as soon as she graduates. All those dreams and aspirations die when Hattie is found stabbed to death in an old barn near the lake on the opening night of the school play.

Every Thing You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia is a psychological thriller told through the alternating eyes of  the local sheriff, the young new English teacher at the high school and Hattie herself as the novel recreates Hattie's last year. Leading a secret life, Hattie was much more than the lead actress, the reliable employee and the girlfriend of the star football player.

With taut prose and a quick pace, Every Thing You Want Me To Be kept me guessing and second guessing the suspicious and the guilty until the very last page. It really was everything you want in a psychological thriller as the characters' private desires and personal weaknesses are exposed. I couldn't put it down and it was the perfect distraction to keep my mind off all the recent personal stress.

I wasn't expecting to be impressed. I'm frankly tired of all the books being compared to Gone Girl. I've been disappointed so many times. But honestly, Every Thing You Want Me To Be surprised me by being so much better than I hoped.

Every Thing You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia is published by Atria Books and released on January 3, 2017.

**I received a complimentary copy of the book. This review reflects my honest opinions. No compensation was received.**