Being Nobody by Heather D'Agostino

Being Nobody by Heather D'Agostino

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Being Nobody started off great. Ms. D’Agostino does an excellent job of setting up Sam/Mallory’s story. I felt both sadness at the loss of her childhood and adolescence – so many friends lost, so many opportunities missed, and so much time gone – and awe for her strength as she continues to survive and live her life as best as the circumstances allow. And living on the run in the Witness Protection plan didn’t lend itself to the best of circumstances.

When we meet Sam she is living as Mallory. She is snarky, confident, a bit of a smarta$$ – everything I like in a heroine. Her interactions with her coworkers and the bar patrons felt real and I was sucked right into her story. I loved the dance she and Brian played on the first night they met – their banter was entertaining, yet she maintained the distance her WP identity required. The pace of the book was great and the storyline was moving fluidly … until they had sex. Mind you the sex was hot, but it supposedly so intense that her entire existence shifted on its axis and she found herself falling for Brian – not drawn to him, not infatuated, not lust, but falling in love with him after knowing him for only a couple of days. I so totally got that she was initially drawn to him because he reminded her of the only guy she ever loved, but to be so far gone after one night of sex made no sense. Add to that her getting mad at him for keeping secrets about his “job” after saying she understood and her constant back and forth on that subject made me dizzy especially as her WP status made her the Queen of Secrets (pot meet kettle). As for the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, for me it was when she recognized Brian’s tattoo as belonging to the gang that was after her and her mom, yet she decided to stay with him and not only not report it to her handler, but willingly walked away from her mother forever because she wanted to see where things were going and if she could convince Brian to get out – at that point I couldn’t decide if she was stupid or delusional.

Even though I loved the beginning of Being Nobody and found Ms. D’Agostino’s writing style to be quite enjoyable, I just couldn’t get past Sam/Mallory’s seemingly never-ending bad choices. As the story progressed I found that connection I had with her character diminished until I was no longer invested in what happened to her and the book went from being a great read to just okay. Ultimately I didn’t like being in her head after the first sexual encounter because she just kept contradicting herself. Sadly I don’t think I can deal with Sam’s back and forth, so it is doubtful that I will read the next book in the series. As always, I recommend you check the book out for yourself because you may not find Sam as disconcerting as I did. Ms. D’Agostino’s talent is obvious, but this just wasn’t the book for me.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Being Nobody by Heather D'Agostino blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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