The Girl She Used To Be by David Cristofano

From Goodreads:

"When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed an act of violence so brutal that it changed their lives forever. The federal government lured them into the Witness Protection Program with the promise of safety, and they went gratefully. But the program took Melody's name, her home, her innocence, and, ultimately, her family."

My Thoughts:

The Girl She Used To Be swept me up from the beginning of the novel and didn't let go until the end. This is a fast paced moving novel that focuses on what a lack of identity can do to an individual. Melody has been multiple names and faces throughout her lifetime but never the person that she wants to be which is Melody. She is caught up in the net that is the witness protection program and struggling to find herself amongst all of the lies. Melody was an interesting main character for me. I didn't always like her or her actions at times but I couldn't stop myself from caring about what happened to her...even when she didn't care herself. The main problem I had with this book was the believability issues. As a reader, I really had to stop myself from nitpicking and just enjoy the ride. Because it is a good ride and like I said before, I found myself caught up within the pages of this book. But it isn't realistic whatsoever which did cause a few problems for me especially at the beginning of the book. All in all, I liked this book and would definitely pick up more by this author in the future.

(I received this book from the lovely folks at Hatchette and unfortunately am just now getting around to reviewing it. )