This is a debut novel for a new author. The premise sounded so good. For starts, this book was super slow. It is a mystery and you are definitely trying to put the pieces together. The past and present wove together throughout the story, and honestly, it was quite confusing for me. There were quite a few characters also that I found really hard to remember. Ultimately, this one didn’t work for me, but could work for others.

* ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review

3.5 stars – This was a slow burning mystery, not a fast-paced thriller. While that alone is not reason enough to have reservations about the book, I think this slow burn ultimately threw off the pace and created dull points throughout the novel that were a bit tough to get through. There are times of a "running in circles" feeling that were just a bit tough to get through. However, near the end of the book, it was all quite worth it and the story ended nicely.

3.5 Stars!

“Where is Nora Altman?”

January 7, 2008

17 year old, Nora Altman’s car was found abandoned on Old Highway 51, locked but with an empty gas tank.
She has not been seen since.

January 7, 2018

Family and Friends have gathered at a vigil commemorating the ten year anniversary mark of Nora’s disappearance. Maddie, Nora’s best friend, notices that Noelle, Nora’s younger sister by 10 years seems particularly pale, and unusually quiet. Perhaps it’s because she just turned seventeen?

Then a body is found at the same spot that Nora’s car had been found. It’s Noelle (Elle).

The small town is in a state of shock.

Most of the town’s police force were teenage boys who grew up with Nora. How can they investigate the death of her younger sister? Are the two cases related? Nobody seems to think so, except Maddie, and perhaps her friend, Ange, now a reporter for the Madison journal. So, she starts to do some “digging” on her own.

Federal agents are called in to investigate.

Will they be able to tie the two cases together?

This is a slow burn, murder mystery with some beautiful writing, and thought provoking prose. It doesn’t move fast, as a lot of the story is pieced together through reminiscing, and discussions that take place at the local diner over breakfast and coffee or at the local bar over sudsy beers and fries.

I had my suspicions, fairly early on, and they proved to be correct this time, but that’s ok..this isn’t meant to be a twisty thriller..more of a “follow the bread crumbs” novel of suspense.

A strong debut novel for A.M. Taylor

This book was ok. I really wanted to enjoy it more that I did. I did enjoy most of it, but then it really dragged on. It won’t keep me from reading more of this authors work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a debut author, A M Taylor’s first book and I look forward to reading many more books by this author. It was a chilling psychological thriller and the writing was excellent and the story at times deeply moving.
Highly recommended.

Actual rating of 3.5

It's been ten years. Ten years since Nora Altman disappeared of the face of the earth, leaving a hole in the lives of all those who loved her. She disappeared on the 8th of January 2008, she was seventeen, and she had her whole life ahead of her. But not anymore. Maddie has lived her life since that day in a kind of haze, unable to handle crowds to the point that she will wait until 3am before setting foot outside her basement apartment. She finds herself at the ten year memorial for Nora's disappearance, questioning why they are still doing these things, what's the point to it? Nora's gone, and she's not coming back. Little did Maddie know, that that would be the last time she would see Nora's little sister Noelle. Thrown back into the whirlwind of existence that she has tried to pull herself out of since Nora's disappearance, Maddie finds herself reliving the same thing, except this time, it's Noelle who was found dead, on the ten year anniversary of her big sister's disappearance, where Nora's car was found. Maddie now finds herself being sucked downwards into a never ending spiral of doom that she can't escape from. How could this happen again? Was it the same person? Why now? What happened to Nora Altman?

The premise of this story interested me immensely, a cold case, with no leads whatsoever, and it's happening again? Sign me up! The story itself was compelling, I found that I had no idea who had been the cause of Nora's disappearance and Noelle's murder, not until something happened, and it clicked with me earlier than it was meant to, however, the author did a fantastic job of switching the reader's view on "whodunit" and I found myself filled with doubt.

The mystery itself was fantastic and I felt the reveal at the end was done brilliantly, there was no rushing to tie ends up, it just all fell into place and fit perfectly. I did however find that the pace of the book was incredibly slow, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it was a slow burn mystery which I felt fit the story line great. One thing I did have a problem with, was that the author would use descriptives in order to engage the reader into feeling what Maddie felt, however, a lot of the time the author said one descriptive, followed directly after with the same description just in different words. I felt that there was a lot of excess words that were really not needed. Normally one description is enough. I'm not sure if this was meant to help the reader feel how sluggish the world was for the characters? I'm really not sure.

Another thing I had a gripe with, was Maddie herself. I understand that she lost her best friend ten years earlier and was left with no closure, and no idea what had happened. But I couldn't help but feel like she was being a martyr. A lot of it was about how Maddie felt lost, how she felt she could have done SOMETHING, what hadn't she done, if she had known she could have done something and stopped it. It was all very martyrdom from the character I was reading. It was about how SHE needed people, or DIDN'T need people, how it affected her, how it still was. I've no doubt that something like this happening when you're at an impressionable age could send you into a spiral of mental issues, it'd be weird if it didn't, but it felt TOO much when it came to Maddie. At times, it almost felt like she was obsessed with Nora, not so much with what happened to her, but her. I'm not sure if this was the author's intent, but that's how it came across to me.

I think I considered DNFiing at one point maybe, it just felt like the story wasn't moving anywhere, there were all these words and we were just staying stuck in the same spot. That said, I did enjoy this story, and I find I'm still thinking about the characters now as I write this. My advice is, if you don't mind a slow burn story that feels like you're not getting anywhere, where the main character is stuck in a hole and very whiney and "why me?", then this one is for you, if you need fast paced, action, action, action, then this one may not be your cup of tea.

'Forget Me Not' is A. M. Taylor's debut novel, and although it did have promise, in the end, it was just too dull and straightforward to really have any impact on me. An enthralling and engaging plot is obviously very important to get the reader to invest their time in pursuing the outcome of the book, and even though I did follow it through to the end, my thought on it didn't become any more positive.

Essentially, the core concept of the story explores the deep friendship of Nora and Maddie and the sense of loss and grief Maddie felt when her best friend disappeared, and she has never given up looking for her. But will Maddie be able to handle the truth when a truly shocking truth about the missing girl comes to light?

I would define this as more of an emotional mystery novel rather than a thriller per se, and it does move at quite a pedestrian pace, slowly building up the suspense and it certainly had the potential to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. Unfortunately, this suffered from some of the issues frequently found in debut novels - the introduction of too many completely unnecessary characters, rather large holes in the plot that had no explanation. predictable twists and a foreseeable conclusion. Some of these problems could easily lead to a reader becoming confused. However, I did like the writing style which was very descriptive - I always appreciate that type of narrative but it obviously depends on individual preference.

Overall, I would say that seasoned crime readers will find it far too easy to predict much of what happens in this book, but those who only dabble in the genre may find it keeps them engaged enough to be enjoyable.

Many thanks to Killer Reads for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book is a slow burn for sure. It is not a fast paced book. It’s a mystery but with a lot of emotional dwelling added to it. The story is about how deep the friendship between Nora and Maddie was and how Nora’s disappearance impacted Maddie. It was not just about what happened to Nora. I enjoyed the subtle psychological analysis that came up all through the book. The past vs. present format of storytelling is helpful to establish the emotions of the story. However I could not really connect with the book. To me there were too many gaping holes in the plot. The outcome was something I could figure out before i was even half way through with the book.
There were way too many characters being introduced in to the story and a lot of them were entirely unnecessary. This lead to many smaller storylines potentially developing but going nowhere. It only contributed to creating confusion that was entirely avoidable. The story is told from Maddie’s perspective in some places and in others it’s being relayed when Maddie isn’t in the scene. This makes it harder to follow and keep track since you can’t associate the plot with a narrator very easily.
While the plot is in interesting the book doesn’t grip the reader the way it should. Partly to blame is the writing style. It is unnecessarily descriptive, gets boring and at times is even annoying. This book could easily be at least 25% shorter! I would expect better editing especially since it’s debut novel.
To sum it up- would I recommend this book? NO
Would I read this author again? Maybe if I was certain that the next one is edited much better than this.

Thank you Harper Imulse and Killer Reads, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Also shared on:
https://romasharma.blogspot.com

10 years ago 17 year old Nora Altman disappeared from her hometown...10 years later, on the anniversary of Nora's disappearance her 17 year old sister Elle is found murdered near where Nora's car had been found. The story is told from the point of view of Nora's best friend Maddy. Maddy has spent the last 10 years trying to get her life back together after losing Nora. She's back in town for the 10 year anniversary memorial commemorating Nora's disappearance. Maddy is determined to find out what happened to her friend and starts her own investigation of sorts. This book is so much more than a murder mystery...it is a soul searching look into the lives of the people left behind when someone you love vanishes and there can be no closure. Alternating between the present and the past we feel Maddy's pain. This story drew me in and I wanted to make things right for Maddy. I liked the pace of the book, it never dragged but led to an exciting ending that was a bit of a surprise! I highly recommend this book...I believe that this is A.M. Taylor's debut novel...I'll be excited to read her future books.

Forget me not tells the story of Mads, whose best friend, Nora went missing 10 years ago. History seems to be repeating itself when Noella, Nora's younger sister, is found murdered at the same spot where Nora's car was found. Mads must try and find who dunnit before they strike again.

A.M. Taylor has a unique writing style that unfortunately did not engage with me. We are casual observers to Mads' internal dialogue and what she sees, as well as scenes where we see other characters without Mads being present. The difference in tone is hard to come to terms with and at times completely throws you out of the narrative. The plot moves slowly and there are no real surprises throughout. Unfortunately, it took me a while to get through this book as I was not enjoying it as much as I thought I would.

I didn't like any of the main characters either, finding them to be annoying, and at times completely incompetent. The storyline raises so many questions and feels like a political stance against a certain profession (spoilers), which really detracts from the story. The number of plot holes throughout means that there is an unsatisfactory conclusion and I left the book feeling disappointed. Added to the fact that a number of storylines are not resolved, unrealistic character portrayals that have been pointed out in other reviews, and a solvable twist (OK it was my second guess BUT I still got it by the 30% mark).

I will say however, that the portrayal of grief throughout this book was interesting and gave readers some insight into the psychology of the characters but doesn't really make me sympathise with them.

I'm sorry to be so negative about this book, as it was very kind of both the publisher and Netgalley to send me an Advanced Copy.

This was an OK thriller but a bit too slow and predictable for me. A bit confusing too as there are so many characters in this book it is hard to keep track of who's who. The story was also not very plausible and was often quite silly. I struggled and almost didn't finish it. I am sorry but it wasn't for me.

When Maddie met Nora, when Nora disappeared, all the air went with her. Without her best friend, Maddie’s life became impossible. Ten years later, Nora is still missing and Maddie is still searching. Then, in the same spot where Nora went missing, the murdered body of Nora’s little sister is found.

This was such a fast paced read for me, I couldn't put this book down until I found out what happened to Nora. The ending will blow you away! I didn't see it coming. If you love psychological thrillers, then you'll love this one!

Thank you to #NetGalley, A. M. Taylor, and the publisher for this ARC of #ForgetMeNot in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: 05 Oct 2018

Great book.
Kept me interested. Will be recommending this time to family and friends.
Will be in the lookout for more book like this and by this author

5**** very good

3.5 stars – This was a slow burning mystery for me. It took a while before something actually happened and caught my attention. Once it did, it wasn’t bad, it was just a bit too slow for my liking.

The protagonist, Maddie, is trying to solve the mystery of her missing friend from 10 years ago, after a terrible event happens that she thinks is connected. This was a great premise, but I do wish there would have been more investigating on behalf of Maddie. I felt like most of the book she was running in circles with a “deer caught in the headlight” look.

However, I did love that it was from the perspective of Nora’s friend. It solidifies the idea of how friendships can be very deep rooted and can have a major impact on our lives.

The ending was a bit of a surprise (the foreshowing kind of gave it away), but that being said, the ending was my favorite part of the novel. That’s when, for me, the action really started. Otherwise, I felt like the chapters kept repeating themselves, with a lot of flashbacks that didn’t add that much to the story, in my opinion. Plus, the chapters were quite long.

Still a good story, and the ending was wrapped up pretty good. I recommend if you enjoy slow burning novels.

"I just feel the same as I did before, which is to say like something burnt and curling up at the edges....." So goes the story of Maddie's leg for the past decade, ever since her best friends disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Things in quiet little Forest View are in for quite a shock indeed. So I really liked this book once the story found it's footing and began to take off but some of Maddie's whiny and woe is me behavior got a little old. The need to know what happened though, kept new reading late into the night.

I just finished Forget Me Not by A.M. Taylor. What a great ride!! The mystery of this story was very engrossing. I just needed to know what happened to these girls! I felt myself really connecting to the protagonist.
It was a deep story with a lot of characters. The story unfolded very nicely at the end.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Killer Reads for this ARC.

Another slow burner. I had high hopes for this book unfortunately they never materialised.
The premise was predictable and in my view been done to death.
I felt as though the book had lost its way and too much time was spent on the relationship between Maddie and Nate.
It lacked any tension, suspense it did just not grab me.
This is not a book for me.
I would like to thank the author A.M.Taylor, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

Enjoyed the book. From the moment I started reading it, I was hooked and I needed to know what happened to Nora. She completely disappeared and no clues were left. I suspected who was behind everything after the information Maddie found was never relayed.

Maddie's best friend Nora disappeared ten years ago. Maddie has been stuck in that moment. She suffers from depression and at times it's crippling for her. Maddie relied on Nate, Nora's brother, as her safety blanket but now their relationship is complicated and they don't talk. It's Nora's ten year memorial and friends and family have gathered for it. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the family again. Nora's younger sister, Noelle, is found dead. Noelle was killed exactly ten years after her sister disappeared and in the exact same place where Nora's abandoned car was found. Maddie is convinced Nora's disappearance and Noelle's death are connected. She makes it her mission to find out what happened to both of them.

Loved the story, characters and writing style. I kept switching who I thought was involved with Nora's disappearance. I figured one of her friends had to know something and were lying. The book was full of twists. I honestly thought Nate hated Maddie with the way he treated her. Maddie's family acted like she was going to fall apart at any moment. She was almost thirty but they acted like she was a child. Maddie definitely needed to find out what happened to Nora.

Definitely recommend the book. It was a great mystery and kept me interested from start to end. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads and the author, A.M. Taylor, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Forget Me Not in exchange for a honest review.

Forget Me Not opens up with your typical cliche storyline; a beautiful teenager with everything to live for has been missing for 10 years. On the 10th anniversary of Nora's death, her younger sister is found dead.

Okay, I was a bit intrigued so I gave it a chance but this is what I found on the pages:

1. The investigation is botched by the bumbling police force and some of the suspects have ties to the force. Hmm...not suspicious at all.

2. Noelle is also a gorgeous young woman (all the vics are gorgeous in these books) because unattractive people are never victims.

3. There were A LOT of characters. Now, supporting and secondary characters are fine. Siblings, colleagues, lovers, BFFs, no problem.

But there were an endless stream of people popping in and out, misfits, the waitress, the cops and what's up with the pretentious names like Louden and Hale? Is Hale very hearty as well?

4. I don't know about you but I would never tell my lover or BFF my password for my social media accounts, maybe my sister, but it wouldn't occur to me. Maddie logs in and out of Nora's and Noelle's accounts with ease, searching for clues, as if she's Veronica Mars.

5. The narrative is slow and lacking in tension and urgency. There are no shocking clues, no unwrapping of twists and turns.

There are plenty of flashbacks and reminiscences, Maddie alludes to her nervous breakdown and her tight connection with Nora and her family and brothers and sisters.

Exposition is fine, giving us background into the vic but there is such a thing as too much. It read like filler for the most part.

Maddie plods along, in conjunction with her unremarkable personality, trying to deny her feelings for Nate as well as she replays old memories of Nora ad nauseaum.

6. I don't think its professional for a Special Agent (or anyone in a official capacity) to have drinks and beer with people involved in an investigation..

7. None of the characters are interesting, witty or smart, and a incredible lack of suspense left me feeling tired, and not in a good way.

What happened to Nora? It took me a bit to be drawn into this story and characters because the pace starts off a bit slow. But hang in there, it definitely picks up. With two mysteries surrounding this family a decade apart, the plot is realistic and keeps you guessing. I wasn't a big fan of the main characters but they were intriguing none the less. The ending shocked me, I never saw it coming. I will be reading more by this author.