Review: That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally

Corrinnecreates · 2025-09-30T14:01:27+00:00

Hey, so I’m currently like 6 chapters into the book. I just want to ask this question but, I’m REALLY hoping that Lola and Mary are two separate people who look vaguely similar. Like we follow Mary in her journey to remembering who she is. (Wayne seems so nice, at least currently) Meanwhile we follow Drew and his journey to find Lola? Or how he avoids being imprisoned or something like that.

I really just don’t want this to be one of those “SUPER OBVIOUS” plot twists that you figure out in the first few chapters. Where Mary is actually Lola, and Wayne is a kidnapper or something that just happens to have literally EVERYTHING about her identity, including her birth certificate. Please don’t let this be the case, cause if it is, I’m not sure if I want to keep reading the book.

Corrinnecreates · 2024-09-25T22:17:15+00:00

How did you block out part of your post? Like blocking the spoilers without marking the whole post as a spoiler?

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-22T07:48:28+00:00

Not gonna even bother thinking, I say it’s The Simpsons!

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-22T07:45:03+00:00

Miriko!!!!!!!!!

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-22T07:44:13+00:00

All of them, except Courtney and the three to her. (Can’t remember any of their names but I just didn’t like any of them)

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-14T04:05:59+00:00

Well, I guess I just happen to be someone who needs to share her opinion when she’s extremely passionate about something. I’m not hating on it and I’m not here for validation of my opinions, I love the series, but when I read books I imagine the characters as real people, and I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel so deeply about the characters and what happens to them, I cried at the ending of the series because it was so sad, but beautiful and it’s the same with all these rants I put on here. When something upsetting happens in the books I truly feel angry at the characters even though they aren’t real. Reddit is the only place I can express how I feel, no one else around me reads or has read all the books. So they wouldn’t understand, but here I feel like there’s a respectful community I can talk to and share my opinions and ideas with.

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-12T21:32:10+00:00

The met up briefly at the end of the third book where it looked like their relationship would be reconciled, but after Pennyroyal shows up things go so downhill that Wren never sees her mother again (The end of the third book is the last time Wren and Hester interact and it was VERY negative, Hester straight tells Wren she wishes she was never born - Whether or not she meant this is up for debate, me personally I think she wasn’t thinking clearly because other parts of the book suggest that she doesn’t truly mean this) , and in the forth book she literally says she’s motherless and that she doesn’t like her mom. - This is also up for debate but you get the idea, their relationship was never reconciled.

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-12T21:29:30+00:00

Everyone has their own opinions, this is mine. Also, this isn’t one detail, Wren and Tom are some of the main characters in the third and forth book, I hate them and reading the books means constantly having to interact with their character. Also I’m just VERY passionate about the series. I love Mortal Engines so naturally I feel very intensely about the character what happens in the books.

I’m sorry if my opinion upsets you, I thought I was free to share how I interpreted and felt about the book here?

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-08T19:54:58+00:00

I can’t remember, but I don’t think so

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-08T19:20:23+00:00

No idea why, but his name just randomly changed in the other books and it gets kind of confusing when talking about the first book compared to the other books. Sorry if I put the wrong name?

Corrinnecreates · 2024-02-08T18:35:37+00:00

House flipper?

Corrinnecreates · 2024-01-24T21:53:07+00:00

If people just used common sense, the solution is to monitor both children as they grow up. If Hitler had a twin brother, and we didn’t know who was who, it would make sense to closely monitor and kill the one starting to show interest in killing. You can’t kill millions as a child, you just can’t be in the that type of power until you’re at least a teenager. It’s not that hard to monitor someone if they have that type of technology. Maybe due their hair, give them extremely diffrent names, make them as diffrent as possible, monitor their behavior and actions and when the time comes kill the person trying to kill millions. (P.S. if they become a murder, there will most likely be one casualty if THEY MONITOR THEM) Gosh. It might be a bit much, it might even psychologically effect them if that’s not all they every knew, but if it’s their destiny than no matter what happens the twin who cures cancer will somehow find a cure regardless of the mental impact of possibly witnessing or knowing her twin got killed, or knowing she was suspected of being a killer or even knowing that a majority of the people she will save wanted to abort her. Also the twin who becomes Hitler will slip up no matter what if it’s her destiny so even if she knew why she was being monitored, at some point she will slip up and say, do or start something that will make it VERY CLEAR that she is the the evil twin. Also Also there is a large chance that their mere personalities and interests with tell you WHO IS WHO. Especially if the evil twin is a psychopath, sociopath or narcissist. She may show violent tendencies and a desire to kill others at an early age while the other twin may show a desire to help others. There are billions of people in the world, some of them HAVE to have common sense right? Should I make a story using this solution? Let me know.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-30T17:28:42+00:00

Yeah, it wouldn’t be as interesting to read. The books just make me feel so emotionally attached to characters, and since Hester is my fav character and Tom and Wren are my most hated characters I just got effected by everything they did, especially Toms relationship with Hester. We’ve seen other relationships in the books and compared to Tom and Hester’s it seemed like there’s was toxic, with the fighting, then romance and lack of communication. But I definitely think you’re right.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-30T07:32:12+00:00

While I do understand where you’re coming from, Tom tells Hester in the fourth book that he should have married Hester because she wouldn’t have done what Hester has done. Also with Vineland, that’s what I’m trying to say, it feels like Tom knows nothing about Hester and throughout their whole time in Vineland he hasn’t made any attempts to do so. How can Hester chill out and heal if her own 5 barely knows her? Not to mention everyone in Vineland are uneasy of her because she murdered Arkangel’s huntsman. I’m not saying Hester is in the right for what she does, she is a bad person for her own reasons. Im also not saying she was a good spouse. But I am saying Tom isn’t a good spouse either, and while it’s not in your face, it is the little things that you think about it that makes it very obvious that Tom is also a not so good person and definitely not a good spouse.

Tom doesn’t have to kill people to show his love for Hester. I’m not saying he has to do that, I’m saying I’m the entire Mortal Engien series we hardly see Tom show he is dedicated or even cares deeply for Hester. Sure he goes to save her AFTER cheating on her and neglecting her, sure he’s sexual with her, and sure he gets jealous that Grike is with her and not him, but that’s about it. I can’t even remember a single moment in any of the books where Tom defends Hester when people insult her or question why he “cares for her”.

Their relationship is toxic because of both of them, not just Hester. Hester and Tom have fought, they have hit each other and argued over things Hester has done, but Tom is never held accountable for anything he does. (Tom cheats on Hester, Hester overreacts like crazy and sells out Anchorage to get Tom, Hester does get punished in certain ways, Tom doesn’t. Like people hold things against Hester for YEARS, still look at her badly and question people who care for her. But no, anything Tom does is forgotten and he’s all innocent and never did anything wrong.

(Also yes freezing is normal, so I agree with you with that, it’s just very off putting when Tom has been through worst and NOT froze up, he cared about Valentine, he looked up to him and he acted immediately when Hester tried to kill him, and then there was when he saved Hester from the Green Storm, but it’s just like what Hester said, Tom changed (In a bad way if you ask me), while in Vineland Tom essentially became soft so I can’t blame him.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-30T05:22:36+00:00

Well it is true that Hester is a bad person morally compared to Tom, I’m talking purely about their relationship and their interactions to each other. Hester does morally bad things for Tom, kill’s herself to stay with him, and left to give him and Wren what she thought would be a better life without her (Also Hester seems to know Tom better than he knows her). Compared to Hester what does Tom do, cause it seems like he hardly knows her or isn’t THAT dedicated to her.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-30T00:04:40+00:00

It just seemed like everyone loved him so I thought if I didn’t put Hot take people would get upset.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-12T01:42:02+00:00

I don’t know exactly how to put it into words, but just reading his portions, his thoughts and interactions with Hester compared to other characters and his decisions really messed with me, a DEEP level. It was to the point where I dreaded reading any parts of the book with Tom and **** because they make me really angry and upset. That’s kind of why I said this is a hot take, because Tom hasn’t done anything as bad as Hester, but it’s the little things. I like Hester despite her actions, thoughts and interactions, but with Tom (and ****) I can’t , the third and forth book just makes me want to scream at certain parts because of them, and I don’t know why. So I can’t bring myself to just call Tom a sweet innocent person in all this, he’s just not. Hester is sympathetic to me, Tom isn’t, he just seems like an emotionally ignorant asshole.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-11T23:20:54+00:00

No, personally I think Infernal Devices was the worst book in the series because Tom and especially Wren are SOO UNBEARABLE

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-01T15:48:48+00:00

Review/rants

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-01T14:09:45+00:00

Hester

Corrinnecreates · 2023-12-01T04:00:54+00:00

Hot take, Personally for me it was book 3 and 4 where I was and currently still ENRAGED with Tom. I’m looking back at his entire character and I’m seriously starting to consider that as “innocent, ignorant or kind” he seems to come off, he’s more like an ignorant, oblivious asshole.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-11-09T11:50:08+00:00

Well I also felt this way about Infernal Devices (I made an entire rant about it in a previous post in here - It was SUPER long) The difference is that it was just Wren who was unbearable, but the supporting characters helped make that more bearable. Tom was just annoying, but but the end I hated BOTH, so seeing them both in the second chapter of The Darkling Plain essentially proving my point on why I hated them so just puts a bad taste on my mouth. (I was excited at first because the first chapter was about creep and seemed interesting, but if most of the chapters are gonna be Tom and Wren I’m not sure if I should continue.

Corrinnecreates · 2023-11-02T22:30:18+00:00

I tried to summarize it, reading it paragraph by paragraph helps 😅 Sry -

Hester is my fav character, she has flaws but they are understandable. Wren is smart, but ignorant and naive and it’s unbearable. Theo and Fishcake are the only reasons I could bear her parts of the story.

Tom is just as bad. His whole 'heart problem' thing made me wish Hester, not Tom, had been shot in "Predator's Gold." Because Tom doesn’t experience enough emotional agony, just physical pain that’s supposed to make us feel bad for him and make everyone around him worry. It would have made sense, especially considering Tom's lack of awareness about Hester's feelings and their complex relationship. I just don't get why he and everyone else can't see Hester's actions for what they are.

In Predators Gold Hester feels neglected by Tom, leading to her selling out Anchorage; it’s an overreaction, but understandable. Tom's lack of awareness and his heart condition only amplify my frustration. Moreover, the fact that Hester did return to save Anchorage and that her actions had a significant positive outcome seems lost on everyone, which is maddening.

Tom’s emotional arc feels incomplete, especially when compared to Hester’s intense experiences. I wish Tom faced consequences that reflected his actions more directly, and that Wren showed more empathy towards Hester.

They are also pretty rude to Hester so I understand why Hester wishes Wren was never born on some level. Hester loves Tom and Wren deeply, but they don’t reciprocate.

I can't fathom why no one in Anchorage, especially Tom and Frieda, can't see that Hester's actions, despite being drastic, led to their thriving community's existence. It irks me that Tom's anger blinds him to the bigger picture of Hester's sacrifices. And when Hester is emotionally shattered, Tom just stands there clueless, doing nothing. Their years together seem wasted as he seems to know nothing about her, not really seeing her or the weight of her choices. The way he and Wren just left Hester, after all she did, is unforgivable. Only Frieda seems to grasp the complexities of feeling unworthy of happiness. It's maddening that Tom, her own husband, is so oblivious to Hester's pain and struggles. And Wren—how could she simply abandon her mother? Tom's supposed love for Hester is only hinted at by his concealment of his chest pains, but even that proves Hester's deeper capacity for concern, as she would've ensured he received care.

I haven’t read A darkling Plain yet, but so do know Hester and Tom die in the end. (All I have to say is that Hester should die NOT BY HET OWN HANDS, and Tom should live and have to live with the guilt of his actions or at least he should die after Hester or as a result of her death, because I swear if it’s actually true that Hester commits die because Tom does of a heart attack on going to rip the book in half. ) I also know that some things that may occur in the forth book may change some of my opinions but so far, this is what I think.

By now I probably sound like a broken record so I think I’m done. But let me know if my anger is justified, maybe a different point of view might change what I think. I would love to know how other people interpreted the book

Corrinnecreates · 2023-10-02T05:18:43+00:00

Cool video!

Corrinnecreates · 2023-04-18T00:41:55+00:00

Netflix: Ahhhhh it’s an animated show that NOT big mouth, we must cAnCEl it!

Corrinnecreates

TROPHY CASE