Conocía usted a la víctima? Un momento, ahora recuerdo. Sí, Aura Estrada, la joven escritora que se ahogó en la playa de Mazunte. De eso hace ya… ¿un par de años? Eva knew her biological dad and sister for like a hot minute and she’s already showing up at their places in crisis. Say Her Name takes place at a boarding school on the cliffs of a small town outside Oxsley, England. The school, Piper's Hall School is an all girls school. Our main character Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe is spending her Hallowe'en night with her best friend Naya and some other girls in her year. One friend Sadie decides that they all should play Bloody Mary. Only three from the group are down to actually call out Mary's name. Bobbie, Naya and the cute boy, Caine, that has been hanging around Grace. Say Her Name is the story of Bloody Mary, or better yet what happens when you call her. In the boarding school were Bobbie and Naya go to, the legend of Bloody Mary comes to life when, in a Halloween dare, they decide to say her name, along with a local boy. What follows is pure mayhem as they realize that Bloody Mary is actually a real ghost that will come for their lives after five days. In the mean time they all experience parts of Mary's lives. Seeing glimpses of her life, Bobbie decides that Mary is a ghost that wants her side of the story heard and probably her very own killer punished. So Bobbie and the other two embark on a mystery solving journey to figure out what happened to Mary and who killed her. All the while trying to avoid the ghost that wants to claim their lives. Descriptively, Goldman is a master writer. Let me quote him as he speaks of loss and desolution here:

What’s most glaring and intentional about Crenshaw and AAPF’s approach to this heartbreaking, necessary and significant contribution to history is the spotlighting of the many unsung names most of us have never heard: Denise Hawkins (killed November 11, 1975). Netta Africa (May 13, 1985). LaTanya Haggerty (June 4, 1999). Tiraneka Jenkins (July 14, 2009). April Webster (December 16, 2018). Remember that scene from The Conjuring- the one with the music box chiming "Happy birthday to you" slowly until the dreaded figure appears in the mirror on the inner side of the lid? That's what I have been hearing ever since I opened this book. It's been singing somewhere in my neighborhood. Relentlessly. Non-stop. Day and Night. Depriving me of sleep. Driving me insane. Nope. Not kidding. My dad rubbished my claims. Apparently he heard no such music filtering into our house and that's even creepier. The characters were all likeable and I found myself liking Bobbie a lot! Her decisions were all rational to me and I think I would've acted the same way. Not really, I would've probably ran in a corner, screamed and peed myself whenever I saw a mirror. Or some other reflective surface. The same goes for Naya and Caine - all three were in this together and I liked how they worked as a team to solve this mystery and fight her. It was definitely suspenseful and thrilling and I even caught myself biting my nails at times.

I liked the discussions it had on identity and belonging, alongside the main thrilling storyline of trying to solve the crime/mystery at it’s heart. Speaking of, every time I thought I knew where this book was going I was wrong. The twists and turns got me every single time and my predictions were completely off. A lot more sinister than I anticipated, but it made for a fun and unpredictable read. Dropped threads/ Plot holes More info on the medical experiments could have easily upped the creepy factor, but it’s glossed over. The whole thing of WHY her bio-dad wanted Eva to take a DNA test in the first place is unclear. The husband’s involvement. Sugar’s dealings with Ronnie. The doctor job that she’s conveniently suspended from (otherwise the story arc might have had to be about work/life balance.

Vaya. Esto es un poco irregular, no sé si el procedimiento… ¡Pero oiga! Esto tiene casi quinientas páginas. En fin, se nota que es usted escritor. A ver… The plotline itself was a little up and down though. I didn't think that the beginning was very strong, though that may have been my skepticism tainting my judgement a little. By the middle of the book, however, I was thoroughly enthralled and eager to read more. The mystery grabbed me, and some of the stuff happening was really intense. My favourite part was probably the phantom pregnancy just because it was so unexpected and eerie. This really built over the last third of the book, and the ending was fantastic. The newspaper clipping was a perfect conclusion, and I loved that it left open for a sequel. Fingers crossed that there will be one! Tell us you are willfully ignorant without telling us you are willfully ignorant: write a bad review of this book and say it’s “political”.Bobbie wondered if that's how long you truly live for - until the last person who remembers you, until the final bouquet on your grave." Needless to say, the book fulfilled it's horrific aim. I was -- and am scared. I enjoyed the story and Bobbie's spunky, shy girl personality. And that ending? Great. I recommend this to anyone who's brave enough (or at least not a scaredy cat like me). Say Her Name me atrapo desde un principio, la trama es intrigante hasta el limite, los personajes aunque un poco cliches tambien son coherentes y la pluma de James Dawson es completamente adictiva, ademas, para no ser una novela excesivamente larga, creo que el desarrollo esta mas que bien llevado, tal vez lo unico que me falto es un poco mas de detalle luego de que se descubre el gran misterio, pero por el resto, fue un libro mas que correcto.