I was torn between 3 and 3.5 stars. It started with a bang but the ending fell slightly flat for me.
I do want to say wow that cover though.
Thank you for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Jessica Strawser book, and I don't think it will be my last. From other reviews, it would seem that this is a departure from the 'thriller' genre of her previous novels: it's definitely more 'Literary Fiction'. There's no real mystery (ok, just the one), and everyone's cards are pretty much laid out on the table. It's just that they all seem incapable of talking to one another: Molly and Liza, once best friends, become more and more estranged as they live so far from one another. Daniel and Molly, although they are married, seem to be growing apart, and due to the demands of work and children, do not seem to have any time for one another. The takeaway message in this seems to be - just talk to each other, for goodness sakes! Relationships need effort from all sides!
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of this book to read and enjoy!

Since Liza’s move to Chicago, Molly had felt at loose ends, missing her best friend even though being a stay at home mom to two young children kept her on her toes. When Molly’s husband Daniel had an overnight business trip scheduled, Molly and Liza planned a video chat that promised to be almost like old times. In the middle of the conversation, though, Molly left the room to check on the kids, and Liza saw someone break into Molly’s house over the webcam. Screaming, Liza scared the intruder away, and afraid for Molly’s safety, she and her friend Max drove all night from Chicago to Cincinnati to make sure everyone was all right.

Liza was horrified at the reception she received from Molly early that next morning, and felt it was the end of the friendship, though she had no idea why. Returning to Chicago, Liza discovered that her apartment building had caught fire, killing several residents, and had Liza been home, she likely would have been one of the casualties. Moving home to Cincinnati was her only option, and fortunately her brother and sister in law had room for her to stay.

The beginning was exciting, and had me wondering exactly what Molly was hiding, but then the story went off in too many different directions. I liked Liza’s loyalty towards Molly and her resilience in starting over, but I got a bit tired of Molly and seeing her remain stuck in her own mess, without confiding in either Liza or Daniel. I’m a fan of Jessica Strawser, but this book wasn’t my favorite.

I’m so sad to be writing this review, because it’s coming from a person who adored Jessica Strawser’s two previous novels. But alas, this book was not a winner for me.

Molly and Liza have been best friends since childhood, but motherhood, wifehood, and a move for Liza states away have gotten in-between the friendship they assumed would last strongly forever. In an attempt to catch up one evening while Molly’s husband is away, the ladies have a girl’s night via video chat, and just when things might be getting comfortable between the two of them again, Molly’s daughter calls her upstairs. What happens next is where the story begins to unravel. Liza sees a masked man enter the home, who then disconnects the computer. Frantically, Liza calls the police on Molly’s behalf, and after a whole ordeal with the police searching the house, Molly simply foo-foos it off. What!? Obviously there’s more the story.

Man, this book was off to such a strong start, and until halfway through I was turning the pages as fast as I could. The writing was absorbing, and while I couldn’t my quite connect with any of the characters, I was hooked! HOOKED. But then, all the side stories began to conjumble and what happened at the beginning almost became a distant thing, yet still what the story was based on. Then, what really ruined it for me, was that ending. Simply put, I was left utterly unsatisfied.

I had a heads up going into this one to not expect a thriller/suspense, but to expect more of a women’s fiction read instead. That’s not my issue here. In fact, something I loved about this book was the in-depth, carefully developed look into friendships and what can come in between them, creating a deep crack you didn’t realize was there. It was realistic, compelling, and believeable. I guess I still expected more on that front though because of how the story started out. It almost felt like too many genres were trying to meet in the middle here, leaving it disjointed.

It’s clear that Strawser truly is a master at writing, what with her page-turning storytelling and incredibly developed characters, but unfortunately the story in wasn’t executed well in my opinion, and I couldn’t get over it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free review copy.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The original description of this book led me to believe it was a "thriller." The book definitely starts out as a thriller. Two best friends are video chatting when one gets called out of the room. While she is out, the other friend notices a masked intruder has entered the room. This takes place in the first chapter. While this book does leave you wondering what exactly is going on, I would not describe it as a thriller. Instead this is a book about a marriage and a friendship full of lies and secrets. Although it isn't a bad story, it just wasn't the story I was expecting. I might have given this a 4 star rating, but since the book wasn't really what I was expecting, it's a 3.5.

I just finished reading this ARC from Netgalley, and it is the first book I have read by this particular author. I felt the book had a good flow, and was easy reading with an interesting plot.
The story is told from the perspective of three people; Molly-a mother of two young children who suffers from chronic pain, Daniel- Molly's husband who hasn't been there for her as his climb in corporate America has become too overpowering, and Liza-who has been Molly's best friend since they were children. The story revolves around these three characters trying to "get through" there dy to day lives with and without interaction with each other.
As I said before it does pan out to be an interesting story, and the book has a good flow. Perfect for someone looking for an easy read!

Parts of Forget You Know Me reached out to me, but it would have been better if it stayed on track a little more. It seemed like we went between Liza's story and what was happening with Molly without getting the depth that was hinted at by the author.

This is my second Jessica Strawser novel and I've enjoyed them both. Two best friends, Molly and Liza are on skype having a girls night (they live in two different cites). While Molly leaves the room to check on her child, Liza sees an intruder in a mask entering the house. Liza calls the police and then after not hearing from her friend, gets in her car with a close friend of hers and drives to Molly's home where she receives a rather cold reception.

This book is really about relationships - between the two friends, between husband and wife - and the interactions that make all the difference in the world. I found it interesting and the plot was a good one. I liked the characters and the writing style.

Thanks to Jessica Strawser and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy.

I was absolutely riveted by Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser! When two best friends realize that life has caused them to drift apart they plan to catch up over video chat and a bottle of wine. The conversation is going smoothly until a masked intruder enters the scene... and the friend refuses to talk about it. Who is the masked intruder? What has happened to make their friendship so distant? Just when you think you have it figured out... the twists and turns will take you in a new direction! I highly recommend this book. I received and ARC, all opinions are my own.

Liza and long-time friend, Molly, are skyping for a much needed "girls night" when Molly's daughter calls out for her. Liza says she'll wait and while she's waiting she sees a masked man enter Molly's house! Liza instantly calls the police, but Molly blows off the whole situation. What is Molly hiding? Molly's husband, Daniel, is also hiding something.

This is Jessica Strawser's third novel and my new favorite. It's an excellent follow-up to "Not That I Could Tell'. This book had a lot going on but all the parts meshed well together and the final twist was a strong finish bring everything together nicely.

I found Daniel to be thoroughly unlikeable and to a certain extent so was Molly. I wanted to shake them both and tell them to communicate but I also know that's real life...it happens in relationships and it takes time, trust, love and desire to make things work for it to get back on solid ground. Do Molly and Daniel have what it takes to make their relationship work?

As someone who suffers from anxiety on a daily basis, I can say that Liza's "almost" anxiety was well-written and true to life.

I recommend this book for fans of women's fiction with a hint of mystery/thriller. I liked that the relationships were stronger than the mystery aspect of the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy; all opinions are my own.

Book Info
Hardcover, 336 pages
Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by St. Martin's Press
ISBN 1250184460 (ISBN13: 9781250184467)
Other Editions (3)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB


In this riveting domestic thriller, Jessica Strawser takes readers deep into the intimate friendship of two women and the distance, secrets, and lies that threaten to break them apart.

Liza and Molly are life-long best friends—or at least they used to be. Ever since Liza moved to Chicago to pursue her career, leaving Molly behind in Cincinnati with a husband and two kids, the distance between their two lives has grown more and more insurmountable. In a last-ditch effort to save their friendship, they arrange a “girls night” over webcam, wine in hand, catching up like they used to. But when Molly runs upstairs to check on a crying toddler, Liza watches, horror-struck, as a masked man enters the home of her best friend.

After calling the police, Liza frantically tries to reach Molly, but when she finally responds, her message is icy and terse, insisting that everything is fine. Liza is still convinced something is wrong—that her friend is in danger. But after an all-night drive to rescue her ends in a brutal confrontation, Liza is sure their friendship is over.

Meanwhile, Molly finds herself wondering whether she’s dodged one ruinous mistake only to make another in its place. Did she sacrifice her oldest friendship to save her marriage? Or has she inadvertently sacrificed both?

Liza and Molly can’t avoid each other forever, and soon, they’ll face a reckoning that will force them to decide just how much weight a shared history can carry.

My Thoughts


How long can one hold onto a friendship when time and distance come between you? Liza and Molly have lost touch in the last years of their lives. Even before they were living in different cities making time for each other had become more difficult due to work and family obligations.

The night when Liza is on a webcam call with Molly and sees what she believes to be an intruder is the start of the beginning of the end for these former BFF's. When Molly rebuffs Liza after she and a friend drive all the way from Chicago to Cincinnati to check on her is not only a shock but also a nasty surprise as well.

How can Molly not want to let Liza comfort her and more importantly why is she adamant that nothing is wrong? What is Molly hiding from Liza and even worse from her husband Daniel?

A story of friendships gone awry, a marriage needing some TLC, secrets that are being revealed, lies, deceptions and most of all the ins and outs that take peoples lives in directions they never intended to go.

I found myself addicted to figuring out the mystery aspects immediately and then became engrossed in the different characters storylines as well. This book proved to be different than what I expected, in a very good way.

[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the author in exchange for an honest review. It's the story of best friends Molly and Liza. It's also the story of the marriage of Molly and Daniel. It was pretty suspenseful from the beginning and I had high hopes. However, I was truly disappointed with the last quarter of the book. I just felt like there was too many loose ends and no closure. I had more questions than answers.

Each character has something they hide from another character and actually from themselves.

We first meet Liza and Molly the night of their long overdue Skype chat that was to bring them close again, but the chat turned everything sour.

Another question is what was going on between Molly and her husband that she couldn’t tell him or even call him about the scary incident that Liza had seen?

An answer might be that there were a lot of things happening in Molly and Daniel's life that were not being addressed, and it had nothing to do with what happened in the Skype chat.

The tension mounted as we learn more about what was going on with everyone and how cunning and sneaky some of the characters were.

If you enjoy personal drama, seeing how any type of relationship can fall apart, characters that are somewhat believable, secrets, and a story line that will have you thinking about the situations and choices the characters made long after you turn the last page, then FORGET YOU KNOW ME will be a book you won't want to miss.

I do have to say that the book dragged on a bit too long, but it didn't affect the read. I still enjoyed the book and the revelations at the end. 4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Forget what you've read about Forget You Know Me being a "mystery" or "thriller." The story does start out with a heartpoundingly disconcerting event, but other than the impact it has on the book's characters, the rest of the story isn't really ABOUT that. Instead, it's a captivating story about the weight of secrets in relationships, the impact of hiding parts of yourself from the people that know you best. Liza's story is particularly heartwrenching- what she witnesses on Molly's end of the webcam starts a chain of actions that alters her relationships and her life completely, and she struggles with how to manage her anxiety and new realities after these events.

I liked some parts of this book and others not so much. There is a lot thrown at the reader when the novel begins. It's all muddled and it takes several chapters to discern who is lying, who is being secretive, and what is really going on. The characters I liked the best were Lucas, Steph, and Henry. Molly is a mess, both finally and emotionally. Her husband is being deceitful and gets involved in a work scandal. Liza is neurotic and a fire pushes her anxiet level to new highs. The novel ends well with the main players confessing and vowing fresh starts.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Let’s get this out of the way from the start: just like her previous novel, Jessica Strawser’s newest work Forget You Know Me is once again WRONGLY labeled as being of the “mystery/thriller/suspense” genre when it should more accurately be placed in the “women’s fiction” or “contemporary fiction” categories. I’m not sure if Strawser’s marketing team is the one mis-categorizing her books or perhaps she originally did intend to write a suspense / thriller novel but it didn’t end up working out that way. Regardless of reason, the important thing is to NOT go into this book expecting a thriller -- or even domestic suspense for that matter -- because the book definitely won’t deliver on either front.

Just like with her previous 2 novels (her debut Almost Missed You as well as her sophomore novel Not That I Could Tell), Strawser starts off her story with an “explosive” scenario – in this case, it is one of the main characters Liza video-chatting with her best friend Molly one night while her husband is away on a business trip, when Molly steps away to tend to her kids and suddenly, through her laptop’s webcam, Liza sees a masked intruder entering Molly’s house. The screen goes blank and when Liza’s attempts to confirm Molly’s safety prove unsuccessful, she makes the rash decision to drive hours across state lines (Liza is in Chicago, Molly is in Cincinnati) to check on her, only to have her best friend be annoyed by her unexpected appearance and subsequently slam the door in her face. Angry and saddened, Liza returns home to Chicago, only to find out that she is about to have a “near miss” of her own.

Reading the first chapter with the above opening, plus the vagueness of the summary describing the book itself, I can see where the misunderstanding of this being a suspense / thriller may possibly come from. Despite the “shocking” incident that opens the story though, it is apparent a few chapters in that the incident serves merely as a catalyst to jump-start the story – after that, it becomes “background noise” of sorts, a plot point placed on the back burner in order to make way for the real plot: mostly a character-driven exploration of relationships, marriage, family, friendship, and just how badly lies and secrets can drive even the closest of friends and family apart. One of Strawser’s talents as a writer is her ability to draw up realistic portrayals of characters whom we can all relate to in one way or another – characters who are flawed and vulnerable and often dealing with issues that ordinary people face on a near daily basis. Going deep into her characters’ minds and giving us a thorough understanding of their thought process and rationale, we get to know Strawser’s characters intimately, though I will admit that with this particular book, it goes a little too deep in the sense that at certain points, it felt like some of the characters were overthinking and overanalyzing their situations a bit too much. This made the story a bit tedious to read at times, as some parts seemed to ramble on a bit unnecessarily. With that said though, I still enjoyed the book overall and the topics explored did leave me with some “food for thought” afterwards, which is always a good thing when it comes to my reading.

This is the third novel of Jessica Strawser’s that I’ve read and though none of her 3 books thus far have made it to my favorites list, I still enjoyed reading each one. I like the way Strawser writes and also the strength of her storytelling, which manages to keep me engaged and interested in the story even though there might not be much going on in it. This is an author whose books I know I will continue to read and look forward to each new release.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

Forget You Know Me has a storyline and plot that is different from any that I've read and I really liked that I did not know what to expect. No spoilers...

In the beginning, Liza sees something on the webcam of her friend that changes the course of their once close relationship. Lot's of confusion ensues and there are several twists, turns and tension points. You have to keep reading to find out who is responsible for what and how/if it will work out in the end.

I interrupted my planned reading for January to read this book. I was just going to start it to see what it was like and then I couldn’t put it down! It has a similar feel to her earlier book, Not That I Could Tell, that I read last summer. The story revolves around two women, Liza and Molly, who were lifelong friends, but had drifted apart. A series of bizarre events bring them together again. The book deftly illustrates how fragile relationships are...both marriage and friendship...and how maintaining them involves love, honesty and commitment. The book is thriller-like in that in has some surprising twists. The characters are realistic and relatable even though some of their choices and the situations they find themselves in are a little off kilter. Thanks to #NetGalley for an eArc of this book. I loved it!

I was expecting a psychological thriller and this was not that at all but I still enjoyed it. The varying POVs were easy to follow and seeing how the stories of a husband, wife and her best friend intersected was interesting. I expected a bigger climax but it was really just a realistic ending. And having lived in the Cincinnati area, the local ties were fun!

Everyone has that one friend that no matter what happens in life you can always count on. This was Molly and Liza! While living in different states they got involved in their own lives and they tried to keep in contact as often as they could. However, it wasn’t always easy. Then, one planned girls night in goes terribly wrong and this incident brings them back together and closer than ever. This book is filled with friendship, marriage, work and relationship drama and lots of it! When you’re done reading it will make you want to pick up the phone to call your bestie just to say hi!