Thank you so much Netgalley and Faith Gardner for this ARC.

This book was a rollercoaster of a ride. I didn't wanna put it down to sleep. The ending felt forced and abrupt but it didnt take much away from it.

This book is about a girl named Jolene and her former high school best friend Elizabeth. There was some trauma in their past and they meet up again 10 years later. I really enjoyed the premise and this was my first book by this author. I did get a little bored throughout the middle of the book, but I did enjoy the ending thoroughly. I will try other titles by this author.

4.25⭐️ This was a very good thriller. I really enjoyed how the characters were written and loved all the twists and turns. The ending was amazing.

4 stars
Get ready to question reality and everything you know in this fast paced, mind bending, psychological thriller.
This book follows Jolene, a woman with a sordid past that just may come back to haunt her as she moves to a new town to try to get her life together.
This book will have you second guessing what you read, wondering if the main character really is "crazy" or if someone really is messing with her, and what happens when guilt takes over.
This is my first book by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. Some of the sentence structure and writing threw me off a little. however, I was able to overlook that. Thank you to Netgalley, Mirror House Press, and the author for the eARC of this book!

I enjoyed this for the most part, although I had a few issues with it. First of all, it ended rather abruptly for my taste. And second, I'm gon' need these gals in mystery/thrillers to start calling the police a lot sooner. Or heck, change your [expletive deleted] lock, especially when your landlord lets you know that there's like, a million key copies out there floating around.

Wow! I don't even know where to begin with this one

What I first liked about this book was the cover. The dark picture with a single car in the road is intriguing. The use of neon green wording for the title made it pop and it caught my eye. Once I read the synopsis, I was in.

We start with Jolene deciding to pull a dumb prank which causes Elizabeth to get into a really bad, fiery car accident. Luckily for Jolene, no one sees it happen and so she gets away with it and goes on to live her life. Ten years later, we see Jolene again, who has constantly been moving from place to place all these years to outrun the guilt. The thing different about the most current place is that she runs into Elizabeth, who doesn't seem to know Jolene had anything to do with her accident. They reconnect and things start to happen that make Jolene feel like she is absolutely losing it. Is she? Or should she just trust her gut instincts?

I absolutely loved this one! I could not read it fast enough! I would read every chance I could. I had know if we could trust Jolene's gut or if she really was crazy. The creepy events that occur throughout kept me wanting more. I would highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Mirror House Press and Faith Gardner for allowing me access to this ARC!!

✨Thank you to Faith Gardner for the gifted ARC from NetGalley in exchange of a review.

“Push, push, push… at some point, somebody’s going to push back.”

I liked this one! I enjoyed exploring Jolene’s mind throughout “Like It Never Was.” I have never read a character quite like her. She’s quite dynamic in the sense that you have no idea what she’s going to do or say next, which makes you overcome with thrill. Jolene is pessimistic in a way that made me laugh throughout. Having humor in a thriller is something that I am personally fond of. From the first chapter, I found the book hilarious, which helped me focus on the plot more. I also LOVED the graphic details and the twist ending. However, the reason why I’m giving this book 4 stars instead of a 5, is because I think the backstory needed to be a little bit more concise. For example, Jolene’s friend, Alice, made me irritated whilst reading the present scenes. Even when Jolene would send proof of bizarre things happening, Alice would pretend the scary circumstances were not happening. I desperately wanted more clarity on why Alice acted the way she did. I realize that the twist cleans up the confusion from earlier on, but I do still think Alice should’ve been concerned? Why is she so nonchalant?? I’d be scared for Jolene!!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely read more from Faith Gardner in the future! 🤍

Like it Never Was by Faith Gardner is an intense psychological thriller about Jolene, a now 30 year old woman having trouble moving past something she did as a teen. Jolene caused an accident that left her friend Elizabeth traumatized and disabled, and never admitted what she did. Jolene and Elizabeth’s paths cross again in adulthood, which brings up the old feelings. Weird eerie things start happening to Jolene and she suspects Elizabeth knows the truth of the accident.
This moves along fairly slowly and quietly for a while, with a bit of laugh out loud humor thrown in, but the end is like a sledgehammer of surprise. Read this if you liked The Silent Patient or Girl on a Train. Thank you to NetGalley and Mirror House Press for this excellent ARC.

A quick and fun (if you find the sticky bits fun, that is) little read that absolutely falls victim to the 'let's add another twist because we can (and not because it enhances the story in any way)' fallacy. (It may shock you to learn that I just made that fallacy up. The name needs work, no?)

This book was everything I was hoping it would be. A true thriller with twists that I didn’t see coming. Definitely a 5 star book for me!

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Jolene dresses up in a costume to scare Elizabeth as she drives by- but what happens isn’t what she expected- Elizabeth has an accident and looses her leg and has burns. Ten years later the two run into each other - does Elizabeth know it was her who caused her accident? They become friends- or are they? Jolene does feel guilt about the accident but she is worried Elizabeth is looking for revenge- is she?

.OKAY.. WHAT did I just read? My brain hurts in a good way.. rating 3.5 not rounded up, I'll explain below.

This book has so many twists and turns. I honestly thought I was the crazy one trying to figure out what was going on... I didn't know who to trust.. everyone was unreliable. BUT let me tell ya.. I had an idea but truthfully never saw THAT coming! IYKYK. I didn't round up because some of the internal dialog was sort of unnecessary.

I'll definitely be on the lookout for more books by Faith as I was on the edge of my seat and finished it in like 2-3 days

While I enjoyed the second half of the book much more, much of the beginning felt disjointed and still very much like a rough draft. This book at times came off a bit more childish than I would have expected for a psychological thriller, and just had such an abrupt ending for the build up. The idea was there, but the execution wasn’t what I’d hoped.

This is a 3.5 rating rounded up to 4. This book is bringing in some great early reviews, so I suppose I'm a bit of an outlier.

Jolene plays a prank on her friend Elizabeth, but it goes horribly wrong. Elizabeth is seriously injured and maimed and Jolene never tells a soul. Fast forward ten years and Jolene has been wandering through life. Her inner voice has been her guilty conscience and to me it was annoying at times. Anyway, ten years passes and Jolene is working at yet another job when her boss introduces a new person. Could this person be Elizabeth? And the very important question, does Elizabeth suspect Jolene for that prank all those years ago?

Strange things begin to happen to Jolene and Jolene begins to wonder if Elizabeth has really forgotten like she claims she has. The book started off on the wrong foot with me with the prank. I had to suspend all logic and just shake my head and say really??? I never seemed to get back on track after that. The story starts when they are in high school, but as Jolene and Elizabeth age, it seems they are still teens with Elizabeth's teen language. I had to suspend all logic and just go with the flow. The book was very well written. I have not read anything else by this author, so I have nothing to compare this book to. I did like it, but it did have a YA feel to it in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for this arc. I greatly appreciate it. I do recommend this book as it is quirky and quite unhinged and will appeal to many.

Well, this book was different. It read like a YA novel to me, which I do not like or read. The writing style was just too "flowery or fluffy", kind of juvenile. The book had an excellent concept, but due to the way I felt about the writing, it just bombed for me. I just didn't connect with it or the characters. 3 stars, and that is being generous, maybe more like a 2.5.

Ten years ago, Jolene played a prank on her friend Elizabeth that went horribly wrong. The prank nearly killed her friend and permanently scars her.
Jolene has kept her part in Elizabeth's accident a secret, and Elizabeth has no memory about what happened that night.
Jolene has tried and failed to outrun her guilt and makes an attempt to start over in Berkley, California.
After joining an improv class, she is shocked to see Elizabeth there too. Soon after rekindling their friendship, very sinister things start happening in Jolenes' life. Scared of Elizabeth's unhinged behaviour and paranoid someone knows her secret, Jolene struggles to comprehend if her guilt is stalking her or if someone is out for revenge.
A brilliant unhinged thriller about frenemies, guilt and revenge.
Thanks to netgalley and faith.gardner for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks netgalley for my ARC copy of this AMAZING thriller. WHAT A RIDE. The ending really threw me crazy, i didnt see that one coming at all. This book had me wanting more and more - i couldnt put it down!

Like It Never Was by Faith Gardner is a fast-paced, dark thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. The unreliable narrator adds an intriguing layer of suspense, making it a wild ride filled with twists and turns. The unhinged frenemies story is both captivating and unsettling, keeping you guessing until the very end. I read it in 24 hours because I simply couldn’t put it down—I needed to know what was happening next. If you’re looking for a great thriller pick that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this book is for you. 4.75 stars rounded to 5!

Thank you NetGalley, Mirror House Press, Xpresso Book Tours and Faith Gardner for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted on Goodreads 6/13/24.
Review will be posted on Instagram on 6/18/24 at https://www.instagram.com/kaitlynsbookshelves/

This is an insane thriller!!!!!

Jolene tells us upfront that she caused an accident for a frenemy Elizabeth. Elizabeth survived, but lost an a leg and an eye. Trust fund Jolene has been dealing with the guilt ever since and has run from short term job to short term job all over the globe.

When Jolene moves to California though, she runs into Elizabeth. Who seems better, and interested in a friendship. But is Elizabeth really her friend? #mirrorhouse #likeitwasneverwas #faithgardner

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

In the world of psychological thrillers, Faith Gardner’s “Like It Never Was” is a novel that delves deep into the shadows of guilt and the specter of revenge.

The story unfolds with Jolene, a woman haunted by a decade-old secret that nearly cost her friend Elizabeth’s life. The accident left Elizabeth scarred, and Jolene, the perpetrator of the ill-fated prank, burdened with a guilt that has dictated her nomadic existence. When fate brings them together again, the past’s grip tightens, and Jolene must confront the reality of her actions and the truth that Elizabeth may not be as oblivious as she seems.

Gardner masterfully crafts a narrative that is as much a psychological exploration as it is a thriller. The prose is sharp, each sentence meticulously honed to evoke the characters’ inner turmoil. The use of an unreliable narrator adds layers of complexity, leaving readers questioning every twist and turn.

The novel’s structure, with its short, fast-paced chapters and dual timelines, propels the story forward at a relentless pace. The inclusion of mixed media elements further enriches the reading experience, providing a multifaceted view of the characters’ psyches.

“Like It Never Was” is a testament to Gardner’s prowess in creating a suspenseful atmosphere that is both enthralling and unsettling. The deeper the secret, the darker the shadow, and this book casts a long one. It’s a story that resonates with the truth that the past is never truly behind us, and the consequences of our actions can emerge when least expected.

With this latest offering, Gardner solidifies her place in the pantheon of thriller writers. Her ability to weave a tale that is both innovative and gripping is a gift to the genre. “Like It Never Was” is not just a book to be read; it’s an experience to be absorbed, a journey into the heart of darkness that is human guilt and the desire for redemption.