Editorial Content for The Girl with the Wrong Name
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Imagine waking up with a large scar running down the left side of your face with no recollection of how it got there and what occurred the night before. In Barnabas Miller’s third novel, THE GIRL WITH THE WRONG NAME, that’s exactly what occurs to our main character Theo Lane. The night in question is always in Theo’s mind but, as school starts once again, it seems as though everyone ignores it and tries to move on as if it weren’t there. Even though they act normal, everything seems different for Theo. She begins to seclude herself in her favorite café and focus her energy towards filming random subjects there as she aspires to become a great filmmaker.
In THE GIRL WITH THE WRONG NAME, readers follow Theo as she becomes closely attached to one subject that she’s named “the Lost Boy”. He arrives at the café every day at the same time and follows the same routine, which captivates Theo and her camera. She watches him for several days when she suddenly finds herself talking to him and learning his story. She discovers that he’s waiting for a girl who he has no way of contacting, and they set off on the seemingly-impossible task of finding her. However, something seems off as Theo’s Lost Boy constantly forgets crucial information and disappears at random times. He gets weirder and weirder as they get closer to discovering his mysterious lover. Still, Theo is just as caught up in solving the case and can’t seem to get away from it.
The timing of the novel is really what made it such a great read for me.
I’ve never been a large fan of mystery novels. However, Miller wrote this book a little differently from other mystery novels that I’ve read and he made it a lot more interesting to follow the storyline. Maybe it was the connection I felt to Theo, who’s a teenage girl in high school feeling a bit self-conscious, or maybe just the romantic/adorable notion of a man searching for his lost love. The story was written with enough suspense to keep me on my toes and curious about the upcoming events and paced quickly enough for me to not get bored of the story. I feel as though the timing of the novel is really what made it such a great read for me.
Although there were many pros to this book, there were a few cons, as well. The story was a bit confusing near the end of the novel and I felt as though there was a sudden rush in information. I felt crammed with events at that point, and it was a very different feel from the slow and steady beginning. By the last page, I somewhat understood why the author wrote it the way he did, but it was a bit difficult and confusing for me while reading it. There wasn’t anything else I disliked about THE GIRL WITH THE WRONG NAME and I definitely enjoyed the shocking ending that I had never even thought would occur.
Teaser
Ever since The Night in Question left her with a hideous scar and no memory of what happened, Theo Lane has been using a hidden button cam to keep the world at bay. She spends the entire summer in a Manhattan café, secretly documenting random “subjects.”Her most interesting subject is the Lost Boy, a stranger who comes in every day at the same time. When she finally gets up the courage to talk to him she discovers why: the Lost Boy, Andy, is waiting for someone who said she’d meet him there…four days ago. Intoxicated by Andy’s love for this mystery girl, Theo agrees to help him find her, and her unhealthy obsession pulls her into a perilous, mind-bending journey. But is it really Andy’s world she’s investigating? Or is it her own?
Promo
Ever since The Night in Question left her with a hideous scar and no memory of what happened, Theo Lane has been using a hidden button cam to keep the world at bay. She spends the entire summer in a Manhattan café, secretly documenting random “subjects.”Her most interesting subject is the Lost Boy, a stranger who comes in every day at the same time. When she finally gets up the courage to talk to him she discovers why: the Lost Boy, Andy, is waiting for someone who said she’d meet him there…four days ago. Intoxicated by Andy’s love for this mystery girl, Theo agrees to help him find her, and her unhealthy obsession pulls her into a perilous, mind-bending journey. But is it really Andy’s world she’s investigating? Or is it her own?
About the Book
Ever since The Night in Question left her with a hideous scar and no memory of what happened, Theo Lane has been hiding. An aspiring filmmaker, she uses a hidden button cam to keep the world at bay. She spends the entire summer in a Manhattan café, secretly documenting random “subjects.”
Once school starts, Theo finds her best friend has morphed into a flirtatious, short-skirt-clad stranger. Everyone ignores the scar. As if that will make it go away. The café remains her lunchtime refuge.
Her most interesting subject is the Lost Boy, a stranger who comes in every day at the same time. When she finally gets up the courage to talk to him she discovers why: the Lost Boy, Andy, is waiting for someone who said she’d meet him there…four days ago. Intoxicated by Andy’s love for this mystery girl, Theo agrees to help him find her, and her unhealthy obsession pulls her into a perilous, mind-bending journey. But is it really Andy’s world she’s investigating? Or is it her own?
