Pondo’s Review: When I Was You

By Minka Kent

After barely surviving a brutal attack, Brienne Dougray rarely leaves her house. Suffering from debilitating headaches and memory loss, she can rely only on her compassionate new tenant, Dr. Niall Emberlin, a welcome distraction from the discomfiting bubble that has become her existence.

But Brienne’s growing confidence in her new routine is shaken when she stumbles across unsettling evidence that someone else is living as…her. Same name. Same car. Same hair. Same clothes. She’s even friended her family on social media. To find out why, Brienne must leave the safety of her home to hunt a familiar stranger.

What she discovers is more disturbing than she could have ever imagined. With her fragile mind close to shattering, Brienne is prepared to do anything to reclaim her life. If it’s even hers to reclaim.


This was a wild ride of a book. I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen, then it would take a left turn.

Brienne is a great main character. She was easy to connect with and I instantly wanted to see her happy and with no more trauma. As the story begins, it even sounds like that might be happening: she’s back at her home, has a great roommate, and seems to be on the mend from her attack. I was hoping for the possibility of a recovery story though I knew from the synopsis that something was going to turn everything on it’s head, and my gosh it did.

The plot twists in this book are perfectly timed and hidden well. Normally I have a fairly easy time predicting how the plot will progress, even in thrillers, so I loved being on the edge of my seat waiting to read what would happen next. How the deception was designed was outstanding and as much as I want to talk about it, I don’t want to ruin any of it for those that might read this.

In short, I loved this book. I truly hope Minka Kent puts out more novels of this genre and caliber.

5/5