The story begins with a suspenseful feel when one friend, via a video chat, witnesses a man breaking into her best friend's home a couple of states away. But if you go into this book expecting a suspenseful thriller based on its blurb and opening scene, you may come away from this book underwhelmed. While it starts off with a strong thriller vibe and the mystery surrounding the identity of the home invader lingers, this is very much a Contemporary Fiction read that will give readers food for thought about the changing nature and struggles of different relationships.

While the story starts off strong, the remainder of the book slowly meanders through the lives of the main characters, Liza and Molly. Readers witness their daily lives and try to get at the heart of their motivations and their many flaws. Unfortunately, this meandering style took its toll on the plot which is slow in a few spots. I also struggled to like the characters (other than Max and Rick - them I liked). Part of my issue stemmed from not enjoying how Liza, and especially Molly, overreacted to a few situations. Their overthinking and overreacting takes too much page time and I found it frustrating.

I liked that Strawser introduces issues that impact friendships and marriages - topics that are always timely - but unfortunately, the lulls in the story and character development resulted in this book not being as entertaining as I had hoped. But readers who enjoy domestic fiction (with a small side of suspense), that touches on the messy parts of different relationships, may want to give this one a try.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for providing me with a complimentary digital copy (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Once I realized this wasn’t a thriller and more a dive into relationships, I altered my expectations and mindset. Relationship development and miscues abound while Strawser builds this story around an initial significant and shocking event. Behaviors had me baffled, yet I found valuable lessons to be learned in communication, strained friendship and marriage.

Molly and Liza have been best friends since childhood. They have been through so much together, but life has been getting in the way recently. Especially since Molly got married and had kids and Liza moved to Chicago. They only have time to connect one evening over Skype when Molly's husband is out of town. Molly runs off to see to a child when Liza sees a masked man enter the house hours away. Liza is so terrified for her friend. There isn't any response when she calls and the police think that she is a kook. She gets in the car with her friend, Max, and drive through the night to get there. And she is shocked to have Molly slam the door in her face. She was still stunned when she returned to Chicago to find that her apartment had burned down. She has no choice but to return to Cincinnati and try to move forward. Meanwhile, Molly is trying to hold it all together. Not only has her marriage stagnated, but she has put her family in jeopardy by trying to take the easy way out. And she still doesn't know who the man was in her house, but she suspects she knows why they were there. Will Liza and Molly be able to solve their problems and repair their lifelong friendship?

Forget You Know Me was more drama and less mystery than I was expecting. I like both Molly and Liza, despite the fact that they were such different characters. Neither was perfect, that is obvious. Liza is a little messed up from the fire that destroyed her home and killed her neighbors. And Molly has made a mess of her family's finances. And she hasn't told her husband. Not to mention she and the widowed father in the neighborhood have gotten too chummy. I could even understand why Molly was shutting Liza out, but it also annoyed me. And I could see why it annoyed Liza, too. Poor Liza was so terrified from the fire and I can understand why. It was pure luck that she was not in the building when it went up in flames. In a way, Molly saved her life, yet Molly was hardly speaking to her. Overall, the ending was just okay. We got our answers, but I also think there were a lot of unresolved issues between all of the characters. -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - Forget You Know Me is a book that explores the lives of two less than perfect women and how they deal with fairly normal stressors in their lives. Life, love, friendship, and marriage are all messy and complicated. It is how you handle it that matters.

Details:
Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser
On Facebook
Pages: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 2/5/19
Buy it Here!

I have to confess that I was bored while reading Forget You Know Me. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, especially the protagonists and just never felt curious or concerned about them. I usually like thrillers that have a complicated psychological, characters but their plight did not move me. I rarely ever stop reading a book but after a few days of trying, and having read close to 2/3 of the book, I decided to stop.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to review this book.

I will post to Amazon, Goodreads and LibraryThing.

Thank you,
Karen

I enjoyed this book from start to finish. I don’t understand why some people call this a thriller when it’s marked as a Women’s fiction book on NetGalley. It’s the kind of story that will keep you wanting to know why things happened. What caused it and who this person really is. At least to me it did.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a kind of edge of your seat, women’s fiction book. It will keep you turning pages to find out what or who did what. It’s kind of a pull at the heartstrings in places too. I felt bad for Molly and Daniel. They seem to have lots of love but somewhere they have drifted. Molly is in chronic pain and Daniel is frustrated because he can’t seem to make things ok. Or he can’t relate maybe. Liza is Molly’s best friend and they have something that has driven a wedge between them. I felt for Liza so much. Returning back home. Dealing with things that are beyond her control?? All three lives have complications.

It’s a very good book. I enjoyed it very much. It’s one I just might read again.

I gave it a 4.5 star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC.

Although it wasn't what I expected, Forget You Know Me is a good story. It begins as a thriller but evolves into women's fiction. This is more the story of women's friendships over time, distance and miscommunication. It's interesting and engaging. The characters are strong and complex. Overall a good read for what it was. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I read this and found myself wanting to continue, it took far longer than it should have done.
The writing was good, but I felt, far too much detail was included too often. Yes, by all means go into depth about scene setting, emotions etc but I scanned and skipped too many pages.
I kept at it as I was waiting for the excitement to follow after the initial few chapters. So I was feeling a little bit let down by the ending.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The blurb was a little misleading and not what I expected. But still a very good, complex domestic drama. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It's touted as a thriller, and it started out as such - Molly and Liza are having a video phone chat when Molly has to go tend to one of the kids, leaving the computer open for her return. Liza then sees a masked intruder. She calls the police, who arrive to find no intruder. Molly, however, won't phone Liza back. She only texts her, which only makes Liza worry more So, Liza does what any good friend would do, and makes the drive across a few states to show up at her friends doorstep to make sure she is truly okay. But, her friend not so kindly turns her away. And that's where it stops really being a thriller. It's more about relationships and secrets and lies. And everyone in this story seems to have their secrets. To say that they everything is complicated is putting it mildly. This wasn't a page turner in the sense that I needed to read to figure out how the mystery was going to unfold. Instead, I had to turn the pages to figure out how all the complications were going to get sorted And while it sort of wrapped up, I'd have like a little it more for each person's story.

I'm afraid this was a huge miss for me. The book begins with an exciting event - while talking to her former best friend, Molly, on Skype, Liza sees an intruder in her friend's home. However, that's where the suspense ends. Because I thought this would be more of a thriller, I kept waiting for twists that just didn't come. If this book was trying to fall into more of the 'women's fiction' category, it also didn't seem to succeed. There wasn't a whole lot of plot, so I found myself bored pretty frequently. Also, I didn't fully understand the relationships (either between Liza and Molly or Molly and her husband), so I wasn't invested in what happened. Not sure if I'll pick up another one of Strawser's books after this one.

This book is women's fiction with a bit of a mystery. The story centers around two women who were past friends and attempt to reconnect over Skype one night. When a home invasion occurs and is witnessed it changes the course of both of their lives and takes the story in a mysterious direction that builds around their past friendship and what they mean to each other as friends today.
This story took me by surprise and was a interesting read with strong charcters and a well crafted story of women's friendships and how they can be torn apart by distance and misunderstanding.
Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review.

I really wanted to love this book, however it just didn't work for me. The beginning was intriguing - two best friends are video chatting when one, Molly, leaves the room for a moment to tend to her children, when the other, Liza, sees a masked intruder enter. While Molly downplays this event, Liza is rightfully worried. This set up of there-has-to-be-more to this break in. Sadly, after this event the book looses steam and there wasn't the right amount of suspense or intrigue.

What a great book! I was hooked until the end. Kinda didn’t want the story to end. Maybe she’ll write a part 2.

I was so excited to finally read a book by Jessica Strawser, but was not as impressed as I thought I would be. The rambling sentence structure often forced me to stop and re-read sections, so I had a hard time staying focused on the storyline. There were quite a few characters to keep straight as well. Though there were similarities to the Gone Girl type of novels, I would primarily classify this under women's fiction. It focused on relationship struggles along with other issues such as work ethics, anxiety, chronic pain, parenting, pregnancy risks and selective mutism. Even though I was a bit disappointed with this book, I plan to read the author's previous books and hope to be more impressed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review Forget You Know Me.

This book really confused me. It started out as the thriller I thought it was. A masked man seen on a video chat - who then disappears. Who was it? What did he want and why did he disappear? A woman escapes certain death when her apartment building burns down - who set the fire? Everyone has secrets. Whoooa - this should be a good one! But then all the suspense just sort of fizzled out and it became a book about relationships between friends, between siblings, between spouses. Ok - that's great, but it wasn't what the book promised.

I thought the writing was good and the characters done well. The story moved along fairly well (if I could just stop wondering what happened to the thriller!!) I liked the book ok but didn't love it.

The book ended with a lot of questions unanswered. Maybe that was the suspenseful part?

I enjoyed Jessica Strawser’s third novel as much as I did her first two. As with the first two, Forget You Know Me focuses on relationships and friendships with a bit of suspense. Strawser combines these elements to create a solid contemporary or women’s fiction novel. I enjoyed the character development and the interactions of the main characters, both with each other and the secondary characters that are in their lives. Liza and Molly are well-developed and multi-faceted characters as is their friendship. Strawser explores the characters and how they have changed as individuals as each has followed their own path in life. She also delves into how their individual changes, combined with time and distance, have impacted their friendship.
I have enjoyed following Strawser on her publishing journey and am really excited to see where the next stop takes us.
#BloomReads #TallPoppyWriter #ForgetYouKnowMe #StMartins

Okay, I read another book by Jessica Strawser and loved it. She is quickly developing a reputation for a writer of psychological thrillers for women. But, this is not the book for me - and I think others will feel the same. To put it simply, in this novel, Strawser jumped the shark. Forget You Know Me goes straight off the grid into the land of bonkers. The book opens with long distance best friends, Molly and Liza, having an online Facetime conversation when Molly goes to check on the kids and Liza sees a masked intruder enter Molly's home. The computer is closed. Now, that is a GOOD start. But, if goes off the rails right after. No intruder is found, Molly does not call Liza back to let her know she's okay, when Liza drives through the night to check on her, Molly closes the door on her face. Weird, right? I could stick with it at this point. But, then as you get to know Molly, it gets way weirder. Molly is dealing with chronic pain issues and has run up massive debt hidden from her husband and she is being targeted by a group of loansharks - who may or may not have been the intruder. They even show up and leave cryptic symbols on trees. Then, her husband is also facing some seedy stuff at work and is being threatened by someone who may or may not have been the intruder. Then, Molly thinks the intruder was the neighbor she has fallen in love with but hasn't acted on and convinces herself he snuck over to her home to fulfill some secret masked man fantasy. Again, this affair has not actually even begun...

***Get ready because I am going to totally spoil it now***


Then, when it seems like this book could not be anymore unimaginable, you learn that Molly's husband was the masked intruder because he wanted her attention and to feel like her hero again. Wonk wonk wonk. Basically, choose this one if you are looking for a hate read.

I was so excited to get an advance copy of Forget You Know Me coming out in 2019. The premise sounded so good. Two friends, Liza and Molly have let life come in between them and are finally making time to have a "girl's night" even though it's just through the computer. Liza has moved away from her hometown and has a career in Chicago, while Molly has stayed home in the suburbs raising a family.


While video chatting, Molly goes to see what one of her children want and while Liza waits, she sees a masked man entering the house. She yells at him and he shuts the computer screen down. Frantic, Liza has no idea what is happening to her friend. She contacts the local police and then finally learns that Molly is okay. However, Molly is tight lipped about the encounter and brushes Liza off about it.


This is what the book promised the story was about but it was about so much more. Liza has a tragedy of her own that forces her to make big changes. Now, she doesn't have Molly to talk to about it since they are kind of on the outs regarding Molly's attitude about the intruder Liza saw. There are also more plots in the story and overall it all tied together nicely.


In some ways, the story being about more was a good thing, but not when the description made it sound like the intruder part was really going to be the bulk of the story. Also, the title made me think that, too. However, there was a small surprise in the book, which I won't spoil. The only thing is I think the book should be marketed less of a thriller and more of just domestic or women's fiction. That way, it would tell you more of what to expect.


I know I sound let down, but I really wasn't overall. It kept my interest enough to keep going, I am very grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity.

3.5 stars

I have read and liked all of Jessica Strawser’s books, with my favorite being “Not That I Could Tell.” “Forget You Know Me” is advertised as a psychological thriller, and it certainly fulfilled that description at the beginning. After that, the book changed course and focused primarily on the relationship between Molly and Liza. The suspense took a back seat to the issues in their friendship and resulted in what seemed to be a somewhat disjointed novel, or at least not the thriller I was expecting. It was an enjoyable read but I wish the two genre styles could have been more integrated or that the book had been advertised as women’s fiction with an edge. Not a bad book, just not what I was expecting based on the book blurb and on Strawser’s previous books.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 2/10/19.

This book had great characters and a good plot, but it fell short in the reading. I felt like it dragged on and on and took more time than it deserved. I wish it had been better, I was looking forward to reading it, but it was just not my style of writing I guess.