Call Me Evie

By: J. P. Pomare

Narrated by: Olivia Mackenzie-Smith

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

A 17-year-old struggles to remember the tragic night that changed her life forever in this twist-filled debut novel of psychological suspense for fans of Sharp Objects and The Last Time I Lied.

Evie and her uncle Jim have just moved to an isolated cabin in a remote beach town - a far cry from their hometown of Melbourne. But Evie isn't her real name. And Jim isn't really her uncle.

Jim tells Evie she did something terrible back home, that he's hiding her to protect her. But Evie can't remember anything about that night - for all she knows, he's lying. As fragments of her memory return, she starts to wonder if Jim is really her savior...or her captor.

In a riveting novel that fearlessly plumbs the darkest recesses of the mind, J. P. Pomare explores the fragility of memory and the potential in everyone to hide the truth - even from themselves.

©2019 JP Pomare (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel

A Macavity Award Nominee 

“[An] outstanding debut...the final pages stun with their gallows-drop plot surprises. Almost nothing will turn out as it initially appears in this devastating novel of psychological suspense.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) 

“This debut novel by Pomare sets him up as a writer to watch....Pomare's writing is so crisp and his characterizations so spot-on....Readers looking for a page-turner will be happy, but so, too, will those looking for a work with deeper resonances, in this case about gaslighting and the ruthless world of teenagers. Read this one with the lights on, and keep Pomare on your radar.” (Kirkus Reviews)  

“Literary psychological suspense as dark and fresh as midnight in winter. A corkscrew plot, prose that crackles like kindling, that merciless twist-of-the-knife finale - one of the most striking debuts I’ve read in years and years.” (A. J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window)  

Wow

This book kind of reminded me of Good Me Bad Me at the end. I really thought I knew where it was going but there were many twist and turns. I love a book that goes back and forth from past to present day. Love it! Great Narrator too.

Just Dont.

This book is sssssoooooo ssssslllllooooowwwwww!!! The big "plot twist" that everyone talks about I predicted 100 pages earlier. The entire actual storyline fills about 30 pages. The rest is all the main character talking to herself like she's bi-polar. There are very few books I would ever right a negative review about, but this is one I felt I had to. I really hated it. I wish I had those 10.5 hours and my money back!

So slow 😡

Kate/Evie character is so annoying, entitled teen, distracting... I finished the book, just to find out what happened it happens in the end.. waste of credit

WTF???

I cannot believe I just wasted hours of my life for that piece of crap.

A vicarious scare

The words used to convey the taut fear of the main narrator, were so very well used, that I physically felt anxious while listening to this.

I wish we had half stars instead of taking a whole one off as my only issue is that the story was a bit too long, which is what kept it from being perfect.

Having said all of that, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to be in the middle of a psychological thriller and totally engrossed by it.

Attention Holder

Loved the characters in this book. Grabbed me from the start. Kept me guessing who was really the bad guy/girl and who you could trust. It was a bit predictable at some points. I wish the ending was a little more dramatic but all in all I enjoyed this book.

Good book but a little confusing at times

This story was a little scattered and I did actually like the layout of flashback and forward but it sometimes didn’t describe well enough what was going on. It didn’t really keep my captivated I just hung in to finish it because I started it. I would not recommend this as a must read to anyone I knew after finishing this book

Just ok

The story was good but it dragged on a bit. I found myself wanting to forward through bits. Not as good as “The Scholar” for sure. Just ok.

Kept me guessing

I enjoyed this book. There is an intensity in it. I kept trying to guess who Jim was the entire time! It is revealed in such a subtle way. Once I finished it I thought back about everything that had happened and reprocessed it in a new light. Finished it in two days!

Very good interesting book

This book was very good and kept your attention. It's very hard to put down/ stop listening. There are lots of twists and turns, you never know what's going to happen. She did a very good job writing this story.