Everything You Want Me to Be

A Thriller

By: Mindy Mejia

Narrated by: Caitlin Thorburn, John Moraitis, Jeff Harding

Full of twists and turns, Everything You Want Me to Be reconstructs a year in the life of a dangerously mesmerizing young woman, during which a small town's darkest secrets come to the forefront, and she inches closer and closer to her death.

High school senior Hattie Hoffman has spent her whole life playing many parts: the good student, the good daughter, the good citizen. When she's found brutally stabbed to death on the opening night of her high school play, the tragedy rips through the fabric of her small-town community. Local sheriff Del Goodman, a family friend of the Hoffmans, vows to find her killer, but trying to solve her murder yields more questions than answers. It seems that Hattie's acting talents ran far beyond the stage.

Told from three points of view - Del, Hattie, and the new English teacher whose marriage is crumbling - Everything You Want Me to Be weaves the story of Hattie's last school year and the events that drew her ever closer to her death.

Evocative and razor sharp, Everything You Want Me to Be challenges you to test the lines between innocence and culpability, identity and deception. Does love lead to self-discovery - or destruction?

©2017 Mindy Mejia (P)2017 Simon & Schuster

A superb and engaging mystery murder

At 17 Henrietta (Hattie) Hoffman is one of those precocious teenagers who, in the cusp of adulthood believe they have everything figured out. On the surface Hattie appears to be a typical teen about to graduate high school, she is talented, popular and looking forward to starting her life after school pursuing her dreams of becoming a professional actress.

But Hattie has two very notable character traits: she is a masterful manipulator and is capable of transforming herself into anyone and anything people want her to be. It is not surprising then that chooses acting as her future career and that the theater provides the ideal platform to use and develop her talents.

By the time the second chapter starts though, we learn that Hattie's promising life has been tragically cut short. Her body is found in an abandoned barn, only a few hours after her last performance as Lady Macbeth at her high school auditorium.

The novel is told in the form of flashbacks narrated by its three main protagonists.Sheriff Dell Goodman is in charge of investigating the murder, he is also an old friend of the Hoffmans. Peter Lund is Hattie's literature and drama teacher and someone with whom she becomes involves via a web chatting room. Hattie herself is the third narrator.

The challenge for a whodunit is keeping readers engaged once they know what the outcome of the story is. But as suspects emerge, new theories are considered and more secrets get revealed, Mejia does a great job at keeping the story flowing and our interest piqued.

Everything You Want Me To Be is one of those deliciously twisted stories that allow us to vicariously indulge our morbid tendencies without feeling guilty about it. Kudos to Mejia for writing a highly addictive crime mystery that manages to entertain without insulting our intelligence.

All three narrators were new to me but I thought they did a pretty decent job narrating the story. Particularly the two male narrators. The novel's easy-to-follow format and fast pace made for a breezy and enjoyable listening.

Great read!

I love how the three main characters had a different actor. It helped to really get into this. I read some bad reviews, but I really enjoyed this. It's a good who done it with a surprise ending.

Several Suspects

A farm town teenager tries to be what she thinks everyone in her life wants her to be. The town sheriff character is well-developed and believable as he investigates what happened to the teen.

Perfect for a relaxed day.

This is good fun to listen to, despite the subject matter. Writing is tricky and entertaining . Some words are mispronounced. No biggie, enough to make you smile though.

I won’t remember it forever but it’s well crafted and enjoyable!

Super good!

Really enjoyed this! Threw you through a bunch of loops! The only thing I didn’t like was the man who voiced Dell. The way he talked bugged me.

Really great!

Kept me interested and guessing the entire way through. Complex characters about whom I'd like to learn more. A modern take on an old story. Narration is just ok- not the greatest. IMO doesn't detract from the listening experience though.

Good story but two terrible narrators

What didn’t you like about the narrators’s performance?

I'm enjoying the book but am writing my first review based on two terrible narrators. I'm losing count of the number of words Caitlin Thornburn has mispronounced--as another reviewer noted, what theater geek in Minnesota wouldn't know how to pronounce Guthrie? Cholera, LaGuardia, Gustafson (a common surname in the Upper Midwest)--all mispronounced and took me out of the story. Then she gives employees at the Minneapolis airport Southern accents. What? Is anyone paying attention? John Moraitis sounds like he belongs in Brooklyn not Minnesota, and pauses in weird places. Why no attempt at Minnesota accents? Very disappointed in the narration of this book (although Jeff Harding is good).

I would have totally dismissed it..

...as a poorly conceived whodunnit Twins Peaks wannabe ripoff but the final chapter stuck with me.

Stupid, stereotypical main characters thoughts are all boring and a bit contrived. Just..you can predict them too easily.

Peters wife is the only really unique character. the rest are just...god.

That said. You still are human. The final moments of the book haunt me and therefore it is memorable.

might have liked it better without two of the narrators

Narrators Could Be Better

The story was pretty good, although somewhat predictable. The narrators were often difficult to listen to as they often pronounced words strangely.

Enjoyable listen in spite of distracting narration.

Compelling and additive read with interesting and complex characters.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the others reviewers about the narrators. Caitlin Thornburn did a good job (mispronounced words and all), but the male narrators almost ruined the book with their distracting and cringeworthy performances. One used an odd accent and sounded "robotic," while the other was unintentionally comical and rather cheesy. The book was good enough to put up with the narration.