DNF after reading 20% couldn't get into the story and truly did not care for the main character. I have heard glowing reviews so I am sad I couldn't get into it!

This debut novel is a great psychological thriller….well done!
Cleo wakes up on the side of the road with amnesia…but wait, it gets worse. Her parents are also missing. But before they went missing, they won the lottery. So what happened to them.? Where is the money? Why does Cleo have amnesia?

A woman wakes in the forest, alone, not knowing where she is. As she tries to piece things together, she realizes she doesn't know WHO she is.

After going to the police, she's reunited with her brother, but finds out her parents are missing as well.

Slowly she starts remembering over the course of the book who she is, and what she may or may not have done.

Is she a victim? Is she responsible for her parents' disappearance? Or is someone else out there still waiting to harm her?

This was a really engrossing book, clues are doled out slowly over the course of the book, but it is done so well that each one is a bit of an "A-ha!" moment. It's hard to say more about the story without giving the plot away.

I really enjoyed this one, highly recommend if you are looking for a smart, unpredictable read. Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishing for the ARC!

WOW!!! I really enjoyed this book. The main character wakes up not knowing where she is and who she is. I enjoyed how the author helped the reader follow this character on her journey to discovering who she is and what happened to her and her parents. I also liked how the main character had to work through PTSD and anxiety and the reader felt the same emotions as the main character. Let me tell you about Cass, I loved him. He was there for his sister through the whole journey even when everyone suspected that she had something to do with their parents disappearance. Cass's character was extremely loyal and put his family first. I cannot wait to read another book by this author. Thank you for the advanced copy of this book!!!!

This was a weird one... it wasn’t bad but by the end it’s just like uh what?

So we begin with Cleo waking up lost and without any memory. The fact that she had been in some sort of altercation was obvious and it’s later determined she was drugged to. Amnesia so strong that she can’t remember her own name makes things difficult for her. And once she gets some answers there are only more questions. No far from where she woke up her parents went missing from a resort. The only luck she has is when her brother and sister-in-law are located. They are quick to come to get defense and try to help her through this crisis. Especially when the police start looking at her like a suspect. Oh and there’s the small matter of her mother having secretly won the lottery of $47.3 million dollars that she had yet to claim.


The ending isn’t so much ambiguous as it’s just nonsense there’s no real resolution to anything. No explanation for why any of this happened or what the plan had been. Was any of this about the money? Because the lottery thing only really served to give a reason someone might kill. But seems like there was so much wrong in that family that killing for money was the least of their problems. And Cleo’s amnesia... they do make a point to mention how it’s strange that the drugs could have made temporary memory loss happen but full on long term amnesia? Sure trauma could make you lose your memory but wouldn’t that be more traumatic event specific? Not just wipe away everything? And if the person Cleo later remembers was in the car was the one that drugged her how? Why? Where did they even get the drugs? Nothing makes sense.

Was this much of a thriller or have much suspense? Not really at least not to me. There was a mystery and I was thinking up all sorts of things that could have happened. In the end none of it actually mattered because there wasn’t a resolution. Up until this last few chapters it was a story that kept me entertained at least wondering what might have happened. And following Cleo as she tried to piece everything together. Basically all that comes from everything that happened is that Cleo essentially became a completely different person after whatever happened. Apparently losing her mother freed her from a lifetime of emotional abuse and resentment. Like literally from the moment her mother went missing suddenly all her tightly bound emotions were set free.

I honestly just don’t know how I felt about this one in the end it wasn’t bad it was better than ok but it just didn’t really stick the landing in the end.

This book started off strong!! I was HOOKED! Cleo wakes up and can't remember who she is, where she is, how she got there etc. I love books like that!!

The book was 352 pages but it seemed longer than that in a good way. The story kept going at a steady pace. 

I liked the characters and the way their relationships wove together. Cleo seemed to have some personal growth which was a positive aspect to her unfortunate situation.

One part of the plot that bothered me was her total memory loss. They found Rohypnol in her system. That drug wouldn't cause total memory loss. I wish that was clarified when it was first mentioned. I know it's small and silly detail.

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑰𝒇
🔱 you love books that start off at warp speed
🔱 you love thrillers that mess with your mind
🔱 you like books set in Canada
🔱 you like books that have characters who are immigrants/2nd generation immigrants
🔱 you like a book that could have a sequel but is also tied up neatly

I'd recommend this book and mark it is as a 🅑︎🅤︎🅨︎ on the scale of Buy, Bargain, Borrow, Bud (audio) or Bust.  (I came up with the scale. I'm oddly proud of it!)

A little hard to get into, but once you get in you’re hooked! I will definitely recommend this to friends!

In the Dark We Forget by Sandra SG Wong

Wow, I thought this was a fantastic, entertaining and DARK read!
It is an extremely well-written, fast-paced novel with well-drawn out characters.
A riveting and incredible read. I was entertained the whole time.
This was a fantastic read. I kept guessing and, in the end, I was not correct.
It is a page turner, and you are going to love how it all plays out.

Its incredibly well written, with just the right amount of suspense. I was completely hooked throughout the whole book.

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

Harper 360 & HarperCollins Publishers,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book relies heavily on the amnesia/memory loss trope, which is one of my least favorite thriller tropes so I know I have some reader bias. But I have enjoyed amnesia books in the past so it's not a hard pass for me. When it's done well, it can be really unsettling and compelling. When it's done poorly, it just comes across as a cheap trick. In the case of Cleo Li, I didn't quite buy it. She wakes up in the forest in Canada near the highway, with no memory of how she got there, and no memory of who she is. Her short-term memory and long-term memory both seem to be gone, but her actions after she's found by the police don't quite match up to expectations of how a person might behave with that kind of severe memory loss. Cleo Li seems to be more of a liar than an amnesiac, but then again, this is half the fun of the book--trying to figure out if Cleo is telling us the truth.

Though the premise was promising and the main character verging on intriguing, ultimately, I found the pacing of this story to be slow, the police investigation confusing, the writing style repetitive, and the characters' emotions a bit too overwrought for my tastes.

Recommended for readers who enjoy amnesia tropes, unreliable narrators, melodramatic characters, and complicated families with big secrets.

I loved reading a book written from a Chinese-Canadian woman's point of view, although cultural considerations may have made the author deliberately ambiguous about the ending and the resolution of the crime. I think I know who the author intended as the culprit(s) of the crime(s), but I understand many people have been put off by what they see as a vague and ambiguous ending.

Nevertheless, this may add to the intrigue of the novel. An unreliable narrator who gets our sympathies in some instances, and our wariness about her supposed reputation, real or unfairly imposed by a non sympathetic society.

It is a book I'd like to read over again, such is its pull and draw.

How is this a debut novel?

Sandra SG Wong, delivers! In the Dark We Forget, was so well done I kept going back to google this author to make sure I had not missed any previous work.

I was completely consumed from page one until the very last page. The narration was done with perfection. The pace was done so well and kept me engaged and interested in what was going to happen next. This book is classified perfect as a thriller and had me on the edge of my seat, chewing at my finger tips the entire time.

I fell in love with Cleo, she was a multi-dimensional character that just seemed "oh so real" . The development over time made her even more realistic.

In the Dark We Forget is destined for the bestsellers list and many kudos to the author for starting out her career with such a bang. You made a lifetime fan out of me

Classic thriller. The story has a unique plot that will we be reeling. Perfectly constructed characters and a unique setting! I absolutely loved this book.

This was a DNF for me sadly. I made it to chapter 10 i gave it a few chapters. I like the thought of the novel but didnt like how the main character was written. I also tried listening to the audio book but jesus the narrator couldnt help the writing

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC copy for my honest review.

This mystery about a bitter, bitchy Canadian-Chinese woman is well-written and has a good plot. It is a fast read. However, it would’ve been so much better if the author hadn’t spent so much time describing everyone’s race or sexual identity. One would guess the author had a point to make. Ninety-nine percent of the time, race didn't matter. It literally only mattered with the main two characters, and that was cultural. I counted dozens of examples of race, with antagonistic comments about White people throughout. Once or twice, OK. But lets not make it the story, because it wasn't *the story.* As the author loved to say, 96 times in this book, “f***.” It distracted from what was a good overall story from an author with solid writing skills. I would have rated the book higher had I not been so annoyed.

It was also slightly ridiculous to describe the Li parents as “elderly.” They were 55-60! Cleo was clearly a parent-oppressed bitch-on-wheels, at her mother’s beck-and-call, with a train wreck of a personal life, because for some reason, she couldn’t break free from her parents. I hated Cleo almost from the start. Once we got to see what she was really like, she was impossible to like. Bitch at work, but whipped at home? Her brother Cass was interesting but a little too “we’re family, family sticks together,” seemingly, no matter what.

Lastly, the ending was unclear. What the heck?

A woman wakes up in the side of the road with amnesia. I’m listening.

Unfortunately, for such a thrilling start, I was incredibly bored throughout. The pace, the dialogue, the characters were all a bore. For such a large group of characters, each had a similar personality and cadence. Everyone appeared aggressive and talked in circles. At one point I assumed I was nearing the end, and my kindle informed me I was only at 35%. I am sorry to say this was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very well written slow burn thriller. It was sometimes hard to read as the main character struggled with amnesia and for part of the story not much was happening but the build up. Who is she, is she a good person, a victim, a perpetrator and is anyone just one thing. The ending was ambiguous, so left with questions about what happened, which isn't my favorite 4.5

3.5 This psychological thriller was an interesting read. The ending was somewhat vague and I wish it had a more concrete ending, but it was still an enjoyable read. I found Cleo to be a complex character and it was fun to solve the puzzle of what really happened as I made my way through the book. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC!

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Harper 360 and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Wild thriller with a mystery that made my senses tingle.

Tough to love main character, a slow almost too slow of a mystery, the word "sis " batted around abundantly, unrrliblable relationships. Should not be marketed as a thriller...due to the fact that I skim read the last half of the book.
Honestly the best part...the setting!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper 360 for the copy of In The Dark We Forget. I thought Cleo was a wonderful, strong character. I liked how she learned about herself and how she was perceived and grew from it. Her relationship with her family was realistic and emotional.
I loved the story, how Cleo went from remembering nothing about her life and slowly started finding clues about what had happened and at the same time came to realizations about her family. The book did a good job of addressing family and racial inequities that do not just exist in Canada! The most important thing for me when reading a book is the quality of the writing, and this book delivered! Even if I hadn’t loved the story or characters, the writing was so hypnotic I would have finished this book anyway. This book is not to be missed!