Who was it that broke in that night? It did happen, didn't it? How could so many lives have gotten so complicated, so many decisions have turned out so badly?

An intricately constructed story starts with a home invasion incident accidentally witnessed over Skype, but the journey proceeds in myriad peculiar ways. When a pebble is dropped in a pond that has assorted twigs and flowers distributed randomly over its surface, the ripples become random, too, but they are still connected... This plot is like that.

At first, I had no idea what to say about Forget You Know Me.

After reading, I felt the same way I do when I watch a really good trailer, see the movie, and then wonder if I had watched a trailer for the wrong movie.

Don't get me wrong. I liked the book, but the blurb led me astray. This book is not a thriller and it is not a mystery. Once I got past that, I was able to more easily sift through my thoughts and evaluate the book more clearly. 

This is character driven story. The real drama is in the relationships both built and broken, and how far each is willing to go to repair the damage they have done. 

Liza is a relatable protagonist. She is strong and independent, but a major plot point leaves her understandably shaken and she is a bit adrift. She begins to question her choices, and as she learns to navigate through the uncertainty, I find myself cheering her on.

Molly, on the other hand, is easy to dislike. She is pretty miserable through out and she is terrible to her husband, who is no saint, but who is clearly trying. They both have life altering secrets they are keeping from one another and it pushed the boundaries of credibility that they remained married, but seemed to not communicate about the most basic things. I did begin to empathize with her struggles later in the book, but I can't say that I ever really cared about her all that much. 

For the most part, I was pleased with the resolution, especially from Liza's point of view. 

This is a great book for book clubs, and if you enjoy domestic dramas, this is the book for you. 

3.5/5 stars

I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected date of publication is February 5, 2019.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy for an honest review.

The book hooked me right away... And then it lost me. I don't know if it was lack of sympathy for the characters but something just lost its luster. One character got too whiny. The husband annoyed me. I did want to know what happened so that kept me intrigued.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5— Forget You Know Me— Jessica Strawser
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This is my second Strawser book and I liked it, but the description is slightly deceiving.
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What sounded like a thriller and starts like a thriller, quickly tapered off. The relationships written about in this book are wonderful. They are complicated and real. These were my favorite part of the book.
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What brought this to three and a half stars was what seemed like a book that teetered on a deep relationship book or what wanted to be a thriller.

Genre: Fiction – Thriller

Rating – 4.5/5

I want to start by sharing that I am a huge fan of Jessica Strawser, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to review her book prior to it’s publication, courtesy of NetGalley. Thank you, NetGalley!

I first discovered Strawser through Book of the Month when her novel, Not That I Could Tell, became one of the monthly picks. Having read the synopsis and finding out that the novel took place a mere 30 minutes from where I lived, I decided to give it a shot. Instantly, I fell in love. I then reached out to Strawser, who invited me to a local book signing. I saw her again later that week at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop, where she led courses for new and upcoming writers like myself.

Her newest novel, Forget You Know Me, is just as suspenseful, if not moreso, than her other two novels. She has a knack for leaving readers at the edge of their seat.

When Molly and Liza are chatting via webcam from there respective homes, Liza sees something she isn’t supposed to. An intruder, dressed in black, entering her best friend’s home, while Molly is upstairs checking on her young children. When Liza drive six hours from her apartment in Chicago to the suburbs of Cincinnati to check on her dear friend, she finds that she is not as welcome as she thought she might be. In fact, Molly is extremely upset with Liza and utters the phrase, “forget you know me”.

Why is Molly so mad at Liza for coming to her rescue? Who was the intruder? Did Molly know him? Expect him? And where is her husband in all of this?

The questions are endless, and they continue throughout the story. Every narrative has their doubts, their secrets, their lies. Without spoiling more for you, I’ll leave you with this: you’ve got to read this book.

Most thrillers are getting cliche, and this one simply isn’t. We hear the same stories over and over, and it’s hard to find something suspenseful that is unique. But Strawser doesn’t imitate other artists, she’s not reinventing the wheel – she has her own stories, and damn if they aren’t brilliant!

A sidenote: Cincinnatians will love this book because of it’s setting. Liza goes to Graeter’s Ice Cream, they talk about Tafts Ale House (which, I might add, is where I had lunch this week, and it IS indeed gorgeous and one of my favorite places to grab a drink) – it felt entirely familiar, similar to that of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible.

I can’t wait to share this book with friends and family. I highly recommend pre-ordering now!

Lifelong friends Liza and Molly have grown distant since Liza moved to Chicago. One night, when Molly's husband Daniel is away on business, they have a video chat in a bid to reconnect. After an awkward start, the conversation is flowing easily when Molly has to go check on one of her children. Liza is horrified when she sees a masked man enter her friend's house, and panics when the screen goes dark. She calls the police, and then—unable to get Molly to answer her phone—Liza jumps in her car and drives all night to make sure she is okay, only to be turned away by an angry Molly. Confused, hurt, and angry, Liza returns home only to find more heartbreak waiting for her as she tries to figure out what happened that fateful night.

For some reason, I thought this book was a thriller when I read it, even though it's clearly marked as women's fiction on Netgalley. (Something I realized while preparing to write this review.) I originally rated this book at three stars, which would have been fair if it was being marketed as a thriller. Since the correct genre is women's fiction—which puts things in a different light, story-wise—I'm bumping my rating up to four stars.

The main focus of the story is Liza and Molly's fading friendship, as well as the strained relationship between Molly and her husband, Daniel. Molly's life as a wife and mother created a distance with Liza, and it became greater after Liza moved away from their hometown. I felt a great deal of sympathy for both women. I understood Liza's perspective because I've had dear friendships fade away, but my greatest empathy was for Molly. She came across as distinctly unlikable in the beginning, but as the story progresses it becomes evident that Molly is struggling with unidentified medical issues that have her in constant pain, which causes a rift in her marriage and makes mothering her children an often difficult for her.

The main characters—Liza, Molly, and Daniel—all face other obstacles in their lives that complicate the mending of their relationships. Issues faced by Molly and Daniel, in particular, often eclipsed the problems in their relationships... which, I suppose, illustrates how easily day-to-day life interferes in how people interact with those we care about the most.

This was an enjoyable book that I'll have to add to my reread list, so that I can properly enjoy it without misconceptions about what genre of book I'm reading.

If you enjoy reading women's fiction, do give this book a try!

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of St. Martin's Press via Netgalley.

This was an intense and well done book. Very well developed characters and scheming plots! It was very easy to be drawn into the complicated lives of each character. Kept me interested and wanting to find out more.

A wonderful novel of domestic suspense! A Skype call between friends, a masked intruder, a friend in danger, A story of people we love and the lengths we will go to to protect them. Dangerous deceits, friendships in question and a marriage eroding. Well written and kept my attention until the end. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Forget You Know Me is a lovely examination of relationships and different types of love. It follows multiple perspectives and for me felt more like a domestic drama than the 'thriller' I am used to reading. The book starts off with a bang - BFFs, Liza & Molly, who have grown apart in recent years, decide on a catch-up Skype date while Molly's husband is away. As Molly is away from her computer momentarily, checking on one of her children, Liza sees a stranger enter Molly's house and it all goes wild from there. However, again, I wouldn't classify this as a 'thriller'. As a portrait of adult life, f/f friendships, marital relationships, m/f friendships and new loves, it is wonderfully done. As a thriller, it is lacking a bit of the thrill. Besides that first chapter, I was never on the edge of my seat anxiously awaiting a big reveal. A creepy thing happened and we just sort of moved on. In the end, it is wrapped up but the end was just sort of okay for me. It was a good book for sure but I don't anticipate lying awake tonight thinking about it.

I did really enjoyed Stawser's writing style and absolutely plan to read more of her books. The prose is well-thought out and rich in detail. As far as the characters go, they were all very well developed and we spent a good amount of time learning the main characters thoughts, past and motivations. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys contemporary literature, especially those that revolve around the complications that can arise within adult relationships.

Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it so much and as always, look forward to hearing other reader's thoughts on this one.

I did not like this as much as I was hoping but it's still a pretty good mystery. The main issue I had with the book is that all the main characters are REALLY unlikable. I found Molly to be the most unlikable of all. Her constant mystery health issues and anger at her husband when he was TRYING to do better were really annoying!

Forget You Know Me starts out like a superb thriller, but after the first few chapters it turns out to be a book about the complications of friendship and marriage and the damage that secrets can do in those institutions.

Liza and Molly are lifelong best friends whose friendship has lagged following Molly's marriage to Daniel and Liza's move from Cincinnati to Chicago. Without giving anything away, the novel starts out with a bang that threatens to end the Liza/Molly friendship. (Personally, I would not have gotten over it.) However, from there, the book is focused on daily life. Molly is a woman in great physical but undiagnosed pain, and she is hiding a really big secret from both her husband and her best friend. Strawser does a phenomenal job of bringing the reader into her world and developing empathy for all she is experiencing. And Liza is just a normal person struggling with a bit of PTSD from something that happens early on in the novel. She too is written sympathetically.

To be honest, I was just a bit bored once I realized that the thrilling start wasn't going to be the focus of the novel. It's a lovely story about friendship, but not a mystery and not a thriller. Three stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC.

An unusual tale of friendship- loss and recovered, with a mystery and romance. the characters are very believable and like real people sometimes you love them and sometimes you want to shake them into reality. A great story with lots of surprises. Chic read

Riveting from the opening scene, Forget You Know Me is a layered and suspenseful domestic thriller that will have you questioning how far you might go to help an old friend with a twist at the end that will take your breath.

Liza & Molly have been best friends/friends since childhood. They remained friends throughout teen years, college, and starting life after marriage & children.

The story presents itself when 1 fateful night a secret is created. When an intruder is witnessed during a video call between Molly and Liza. What happens. Why. And why is it such a secret. Molly's husband is out of town for when this occurs and she neglects to tell him. She lies to Liza and says it was no big deal.

Unfortunately, for me I think I miss the signal or the unveiling of the climax and the suspense because although listed as a thriller, I would identify this novel as drama, what happens when secrets are present? How far do we go to protect the ones we love.? What happens when marriages and friendships fall apart or were never real to begin with.?
I lean more toward 3.5 stars a good read just wasn't what I had expected and had me questioning.

The book started of course with the major scene. Got me right away but as chapters went on got less interesting to me. Had a hard time picking it back up once I put it down. I finished it just didn’t hold my attention. I was a little confused at times.

Special thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a free, electronic ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Molly and Liza have friends for years. Even when Molly got married and Liza moved away, the two have retained their strong bond. One night, during a video call, Liza sees an intruder in Molly’s house and, worried for her friends’ safety, she drives all night to ensure her friend is not in danger. However, Molly seems almost put out by Liza’s unexpected arrival, claiming all is well and practically slamming the door in her face. Liza is convinced their friendship is over, but when other secrets are revealed and Liza has a close call of her own, both Liza and Molly are left with no one but each other to uncover the mystery.
“Forget You Know Me’ is the third novel by author Jessica Strawser. I was a huge fan of “Almost Missed You” and although I have not yet read “Not That I Could Tell”, I heard great things.
“Know Me” is an entertaining women’s fiction novel, which, heads up, is not my favourite genre. I found the writing to be creative and of course, Strawser is talented, but I was not engaged by this novel. The plot was slow moving and the novel itself was one of those “daily life” stories, where we hear about what Liza and Molly ate for breakfast or spent their day, instead of focusing on the mysterious stranger and its implications.
Liza was a wonderful character, and I thoroughly rooted for her the entire way and although I was not a huge fan of Molly at first, she grew on me as I began to understand her motivations and flaws. The fact that this novel did not have many characters was a huge draw, as the plot was not difficult to follow.
The friendship between Liza and Molly was the basis of the book. How the two met, how they have grown apart in recent years, and the drastic events that bring them together now. “Know Me” speaks to the realities of an adult female friendship, torn apart by relationships and distance, and the challenge it takes from both parties to maintain its importance. This aspect of the plot is obviously relatable, and the challenges are depicted honestly and openly, showing both parties as being mutually responsible for the slow drift of the friendship.
I would’ve preferred more action and drama, as opposed to daily life adult struggles <i>(I get enough of that in my own daily adult life) </i> but the novel itself was entertaining, and Strawser is definitely a top notch writer. More mystery and suspense and this novel would’ve been my exact cup of tea, but fans of women’s fiction will eat up this novel. I can’t help but read Strawser’s works, as I am always wowed by her writing chops, but I do look forward to a little more excitement in her next one.

Jessica Strawser is a wonderful writer; as I was reading this book, I often marveled at how well her prose read. Each passage and each scene was interesting and a pleasure to read. The premise of this book--that a woman sees an intruder entering her friend's house while they are talking on Skype and the friend had briefly stepped away--was also excellent.

And yet, all of this didn't come together for me and I found that the book failed to live up to its promise. I felt there were way too many little plot lines, too many unlikable characters, and too many loose ends in the disappointing ending. This book took me way too long to read--I found it didn't keep my interest for long so I often put it down, and then I was often reluctant to pick it up again. I'm not sure I would have finished it if I hadn't felt obligated to write a review.

I loved Jessica Strawser's first book and liked her second, but I see in rereading my review of the second that I made the same comment about the book not really keeping my interest. I still think she is an enormously talented writer and really want to get back to loving her books, but this one fell short.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this. Jessica Strawser is one of my favorite characters although this book was not my favorite. I will continue to look for her books in the future but I probably wouldn’t recommend this one.

I picked up this book because I like the way Jessica Strawser writes, and really enjoyed her last novel, Not That I Could Tell. If you enjoyed that thriller you will also enjoy this one. However this is not a thriller and that was part of my disappointment because that is what I was expecting. If you go into this understanding this isn't a thriller, but rather more about secrets, friendships, and relationships you may enjoy it more. I wish I had known this going it.

I am a fan of Jessica Strawser's writing so I was very excited to read this book. I was totally hooked with the beginning with the computer incident and the fire...and that held me for a while but I admit that parts in the middle of the book dragged a bit.
The way this book was promoted, I thought it would be more full of suspense. I expected more to come out of the fire and the computer incident so I was kinda let down. I think the character development and the writing, in general, was incredibly strong - as all her books are. But I was thinking this book was going to be more "on the edge of my seat" aside from the first few chapters. I enjoyed the book but felt it was more fiction than suspense but I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.