The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Book Review)

Title: The Girl She Used To Be
Author: David Cristofano
Publisher: Hachette Books
Available: Now
Genre: Fiction
My ARC was provided to me by Miriam at Hachette Books.

First sentence(s): Name me. Gaze into my eyes, study my smile and my dimples and tell me who you see.


Melody was six years old when she and her parents witnessed the brutal slaying of a man by Tony Bovaro. Thought to be the only witnesses, they fled the scene and returned to their home. Somehow the FBI tracked them down and convinced them to testify against this Mafia boss. Even though they lost the case, Melody and her parents were forced to go into the Witness Protection Program.

She has had eight names in the last 20 years - not including the one she was born with. Since her parents where killed by the mafia when she was in high school, whenever she becomes bored with her life - she calls up her federal contact and claims that she has been "found." She has no friends, no family, no freedom, no career, no security, no past and she feels no future.

But then she meets Jonathan Bovaro, the son of Tony Bovaro. Jonathan gives her something her federal agents have not been able to - security and freedom to be "the girl she used to be."

I liked this book. I can't say that I fell in love with it, but I did like it. It was a very original story - or maybe an original take on a story - with an ending that I did not see coming. I think the author did a good job of expressing Melody's feelings of loneliness and despair. Despair in the sense that she would never be able to live her own life, but would always be in this invisible prison.

Jonathan was quite a surprise for her, and I think his feelings for her were a bit of a surprise for him, too. He had tracked her down many times - on orders to kill her - but was really trying to keep her safe. Their relationship had a lot of undercurrents to it involving safety, trust, family. Their lives were so irrevocably intertwined though that I think it was inevitable that they would eventually meet.

If you want a nice, easy story, with a surprise ending - then this one is for you.