“My Life As I Knew It” Book Review – An Enjoyable Slow-Burning Thriller

My Life As I Knew It by Peri June focuses on the struggles of a young Maggie Martin trying to go back to having a life after witnessing her mother’s murder.

This review contains minor spoilers for My Life As I Knew It. You’ve been warned.

Here’s the official description:

Even the people closest to you can be monsters.

Maggie Martin is plagued by nightmares.
This hasn’t always been the case. She used to be your typical 17-year-old, worrying about boyfriends and college applications.
Until, one night, when she wakes up to the sound of screaming and witnesses the unthinkable. Now she’s scrambling to put the pieces of her life back together, which is not as easy as everyone would like her to believe.
Especially when she’s struggling just to BREATHE.

With the help of new friends, and a new love, will she be able to put her life back to rights? Or will the past come knocking once more?

I’m all for reading books with female leads that find strength as the story continues. Maggie Martin is an interesting lead. My Life As I Knew It is told from Maggie’s POV. We see her witness her mother’s murder by the hands of her stepfather. After having an asthma attack, she wakes up in a hospital while her stepfather is on the run.

The book is more than 200 pages long on a Kindle, and yes, the first few chapters can get a bit repetitive. They focus a lot on Maggie trying to cope with her loss. Also, throughout the story, there’s a sense of dread connected to her stepfather’s inevitable return which I enjoyed.

Author Peri June does a good job of taking readers deep into Maggie’s struggles. She has gone through a tremendous loss in her life and it makes sense that she isn’t able to smile and become normal in a span of a few days. It’s also heartwarming to see that Maggie has a wonderful and supportive group of family and friends. You really want her to live a happy life. Also, Val is awesome as a best friend.

I was expecting a lot of twists and turns when I began reading My Life As I Knew It. I wanted to know more about Maggie’s stepfather. And yes, I even started to have suspicions as far as Bill (Maggie’s biological father) and Sam (her romantic interest) were concerned. While the resolution was simple at best, it was still satisfying.

What I greatly enjoyed was how Maggie was able to handle her fear on her own. She didn’t wait around for someone else to rescue her. She still needs time to recover properly but after dealing with her stepfather I think she’ll be fine.

All in all, My Life As I Knew It is a good read and talks about how hard it can be to move on after suffering a great loss.

We also interviewed author Peri June so make sure to check it out.

My Life As I Knew It is currently available.

Have you read My Life As I Knew It? What did you think? Let us know.     

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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