The Girl She Used to Be

There was just something about this book. I really loved it and couldn't put it down. At first I wasn't thrilled with the Melody character. She didn't have the life she dreamed she would have. When she first meets Jonathan I wasn't sure how it would end since he's the son of the mafia boss. I think I may have even cried at the end. Jonathan and Melody found in each other what they were both missing. There was only ever one Mr. Emerson. ( )

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-girl-she-used-to-be.html

Melody Grace McCartney has many different names - Michelle, May, Karen, Ann and so many more. She has been part of the Federal Witness Protection Program for over 20 years. She and her family witnessed a horrible crime when Melody was six. Since that time, Melody has had so many different identities - so many except for the one she really wants - her own.

As the book begins, Melody is about to be relocated yet again. This time, it is because she has become bored with the life she has and manufactures a situation that precipitates the relocation. This is not the first time she has tried this as she longs for her true identity and a place where she feels she belongs.

In the midst of this, she meets a man who calls her by her real name. Jonathon Bovaro is part of the crime family from which Melody has been hiding all her life. Yet, the chance to be Melody McCartney proves irresistible.

This story too proves irresistible. I want to reach in and protect the child Melody used to be and to return to her the safety and security she craves. Even though I have a hard time understanding her attraction to a man whose family is responsible for her losses and her sorrow, it does not prevent me from feeling for her and with her.

David Cristofano has also written the same story from Jonathon Bovaro's perspective because as he says to Melody, "In fact, we are identical except for one thing: You would give anything to be who you were meant to be, and I would give anything to be anyone but who I was meant to be." That book is titled The Exceptions, and I can't wait to read it! ( )

Creative premise, told from the viewpoint of a 26 year old woman who has been in the witness protection program since she was six. This is a terribly difficult way to live, and she is relocated many times while attempts on her life are made. She meets and is attracted to a man sent to kill her. ( )

This book by David Cristofano was a cute, quick read. Being the naughty type of reader I am, I judged the book by it's cover too quickly. I figured it would be another chick lit/feel good type of book. Don't get me wrong, there was definitely that feel to it, but it ended up being a little more. Melody and her family witnessed a horrific act of violence as a child and has been in the Witness Protection Program ever since. It was meant to keep her safe, but safe is the last thing she's felt since she was forced into the program. She comes face to face with her past and everything she thought she knew changes. Honestly, what I enjoyed most about this book is that the voice and mannerisms of the female character were pretty dead on and the author is a male. I can usually tell if a female character is written by a male, but he did a great job with Melody. I give this book a B. ( )

I *wanted* to like this book: it's well-written; the premise is intriguing; parts of it are set in Baltimore.

But the male author writes his female protagonist as if he's never actually talked to a woman about anything *important* before. Women do not talk this way. Women do not act this way, esp not with creeps hitting on them. Women who are being terrorized and traumatized are not inordinately concerned about their boyfriends' feelings right then.

He writes women like (I would guess) he wants to think women are. And his male protagonist wasn't particularly believable either.

And the whole 'virginity' thing, and wanting only your true love to be inside you, forever, was just oogy. Dude, she's 26, not 13. Grow up.

However, I'd be interested to read other fiction the author writes. Because I was interested enough to finish the whole thing, despite its problems. ( )