3.75 Stars Rounded up t0 4

After a prank goes wrong between Jolene and her friend Elizabeth, Jolene keeps this a secret, what follows is Jolene's guilt at what she's done and her inability to outrun this or numb it away.

Ten years later Jolene moves to Berkley and meets back up with Elizabeth and they attempt to rekindle a friendship, but will Jolene's guilt let her be friends? will the voice in Jolene's head ruin everything?

I had an interesting journey with this book, the first chapter... BANG hooked, then the story started to slow down in pace for a while and I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with it, then another cliff hanger and so it went on, until I completed the book, for me the end petered out to the point I felt it could have been 2 or 3 chapters shorter for my liking, but maybe that's because I'd guessed or at least suspected quite early on the outcome and would have preferred to end on a cliff hanger of not knowing, but I know for a lot of readers that would not work for them, so I get why it was fleshed out.

The characters were well written, with some absolute treats in there that kept me entertained, with the addition of the voice Jolene hears in her head and I did double guess myself a few times throughout the book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

I will be adding my reviews to social media & Amazon on publishing day

I really enjoyed this and flew through it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book.

This book was so good! It's an eerie psychological thriller that will have you guessing until the last page what is happening and who is telling the truth.
I really loved how the book had short chapters, a morally grey main character and no romance. All of that mixed together with the mystery just worked so well!

4.5 stars rounded up!

10 years ago, Jolene nearly killed her classmate Elizabeth in a prank gone wrong, but no one knows she was the reason behind the accident. She’s been running from the guilt ever since, and when Elizabeth ends up rekindling their friendship in present day, Jolene has to sort out the voice in her head from reality to determine if her guilt really will be the end of her.

LIKE IT NEVER WAS by Faith Gardner can easily be defined as a popcorn thriller with its short chapters, wild wtf moments, and overall page-turning effects.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!

The characters were incredibly interesting and there were some truly gross moments (bordering on horror).

This story truly surprised me in the best way and I’m finding it difficult to find the right words!

Anyways, a very unique reading experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mirror House Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 2

Thank you to Mirror House Press, Faith Gardner & NetGalley for the arc in return for an honest review.

One night Jolene plays a prank on her frenemy Elizabeth that goes horribly wrong and left Elizabeth seriously injured. Jolene left the scene and has never properly confessed to the incident and has carried the guilt and shame with her ever since.
Fast forward 10 years and Jolene relocates to a new area for a fresh start when no surprise Elizabeth turns up back into her life. But does Elizabeth know what happened to her all those years ago?

I did find that some of the plot did have a few holes in it that weren’t patched up and felt like they were thrown in there for the sake of it and was left unanswered.

The twists were good but it wasn’t a shock to me it almost felt like the reaction was left flat and I was like “oh that’s it?”

Overall the chapters were short but had too much sub plot that diverted away from the actual plot at times

This book comes out July 2nd and is available on Kindle Unlimited

3.5

This was such an interesting read and my thoughts are still kind of blurry on how I feel about this book.

This book is heavy on the mental illness and the narrator questions herself which makes you question if she's an unreliable narrator or not.

I was honestly super annoyed with the main character Jolene. She was a spoiled brat, her daddy always bailed her out of everything, she knew she had mental health issues but refuses to take her meds.

The plot itself was done well I think though! I think the purpose was to make me dislike the main character at times and also feel for her. At times it just felt like it dragged on and I got a little lost. There was a particular character that I thought was going to be so important and she really wasn't but there was another character that I felt could've been developed a bit more.

A

digital arc was provided by Netgalley and Mirror House Press

A very unsympathetic protagonist met an undiagnosed mental illness. Should be great, but I just wanna rip my hair off, often.

Synopsis
Jolene did something bad in high school that let her traumatized and unable to hold her life together. After numerous stints in various schools, countries, and carreers, she ended up in a city where her old nightmare also resided. To say that she was tense is an understatement. Soon, she would began questioning herself and sanity due to many weird things that happened to her. Is it true that Elizabeth tried to get her?

What I like
After reading We are The Hunters, I was intrigued by Faith Gardner, and Like It Never Was was also looking interesting from the synopsis. Needless to say, I'm loving Gardner's writing. I could feel the emotion much like in the WaTH and putting a very unlikeable main character was a brave move too. Jolene was infuriating me and the best part is? She wasn't aware that she was that kinda person lol. It's honestly frustrating in a good way.

What I don't like
However, I could only deal with so much of her. The ending works, of course, but the climax, not so much. I wish of a more tense showdown and or revelation, instead, it felt flat.
I also skimread some of the books since Jolene's pov was staled after a while.

Final thoughts
I might be persuaded to buy the physical book because I like Gardner, but it lacks the thing that reeled me in on the first place.

Wow!!!! I mean the question is did I really reward this book or did I think I read it!!! Loved it!!! Mind twisting!!! Definitely recommend!!!

So many twists and turns, your head will be spinning. Jolene has tried desperately to escape her horrible past. Back in high school she caused someone to crash their car. She has never been able to get over that guilt. What happens when that same person comes back into her life after all these years. This book deals with mental health issues in a new light. Jolene’s story will have you flipping the pages and not wanting to put the book down! Loved this book! Fast paced read. Would absolutely recommend it to others. I got this book as an ARC read.

Jolene, Jolene! Jolene, Jolene!

High school memories. Elizabeth and Jolene are frenemies that are vying over the same role of Juliet in the school play. One is a copycat of the other’s style, hair color and even “love” interest. Enough is enough. A practical joke gone wrong.

Years later, Jolene continues to struggle with her concept of reality. Is she hearing an inner voice? Is she being stalked? Navigating years of guilt, her character takes you through lots of ups and downs. She is on a journey of figuring out what she wants to do with her life and who she really is.

When she reconnects with Elizabeth, strange things start happening. She doesn’t know what is real and what she is imagining. Their reunion stirs up a lot of emotion and takes you on a very wild ride. The characters unravel and in the end, become completely unhinged.

This one definitely was a quick read that kept me on my toes. I enjoyed the “Then” and “Now” perspectives of the storyline, keeping it simple yet giving you enough interest and character development to follow. I still don’t know how I feel about the ending as it was quite shocking, but it definitely kept me engaged.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Faith Gardner, and Xpresso Book Tours for an advanced copy of this book.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝟐.𝟓 ⭐️𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 (𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝), 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝/𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞) 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭… 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰𝒕 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐹𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒢𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓇, 𝑀𝒾𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓇 𝐻𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Firstly thank you NetGalley and faith Gardner for allowing me to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It follows our FMC Jolene as she struggles to find her place in the world after a traumatic event which resulted in her almost killing her friend when she was in high school. She's riddled with the guilt which is causing her to live an unsettled life.

Jolene never owned up and her friend now lives with scars and the loss of a leg. As Jolene moves to a new town she realises that her ex-friend also lives there.

can they become friends again or will the guilt get too much.

This book had you second guessing all your opinions about the characters and make you wonder if you were right all the way through.

I'm giving this one a 3.5 rating. This is my first book by Faith and I'm so curious to read her other books to give them a try as well.

This book starts 10 years ago in High School with an accident that happened. Jolene nearly killed her friend Elizabeth, no one has any idea what happened that day.. not even Elizabeth. It shows parts from High School as well as the present as them older. After all this time Jolene still feels the guilt of what she did, only to come face to face with Elizabeth again after all those years.

Jolene and Elizabeth rekindle a friendship but at what cost.. Jolene keeps having stuff happen to her and making her question everything from the past and present. The voice in her head isn't helping her just making it worse at the time.

Elizabeth has been through a lot after the accident in High School which she doesn't remember, but it brings up bad memories for Jolene. Is Elizabeth out for revenge or does she really not know what happened that day?

For me I felt like this book was a mix of YA and Adult which I love reading both but not in the same book, it through me off a bit and couldn't relate to anyone. I loved the way this book showed guilt and fear though and what can happen. Jolene was a bit too much for me at times but I loved how she wrote this book. I would still recommend this book to others to give it a try, you may enjoy it more than I did.

(Thank you to Mirror House Press, Faith Gardner and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be released on July 2, 2024.)

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Faith Gardener for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I have to start out by saying WOW, whatever is in this book kept me wanting more and constantly reaching for my kindle to squeeze in a chapter.

The beginning starts to suck in you with Jolene and Elizabeth. Two "friends" who one thinks she is better than the other and always wants what the other has. Jolene gets an idea that almost costs Elizabeth her life one day. Jumping between now and then we get to see what happened before the accident and after the accident. Running from her past, Jolene moves to Berkley to see if her new career idea "sticks" and signing up for an improv class. She is met with her past that she is trying to run from, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is trying to reconnect with Jolene and wants to be friends again. Jolene is very weary about if Elizabeth actually wants to be friends or trying to get her to confess. Random “gifts” start to appear at Jolene’s apartment and the voices in her head are telling her to run or confess. Is it the voices in her head or is Jolene right for being cautious with Elizabeth? Will she do the right thing and confess or will she go on as if nothing happened?

I loved the cover of this book! The dark ominous background with the bright title drew me in! Also have to say, Suzanne was a kook, but I am leaning towards yes to what she did. I loved that the chapters were short so it went very quick. The ending was wrapped up nicely and it explained everything that was built during the plot.

Hold onto your hearts because they are going to pound out of your chest!!

Read if you like:
🤫Secrets
👿Rivals
👁️ twists and turns

⭐️: 3.5/5
✏️: July 2
📖: thriller/ mystery
📱: kindle unlimited

I always ask for the next Faith Gardner book. I love the twists and turns of her books. I didn't particularly like any of the characters of this book and at times it seemed to drag on. However, it started off strong and it ended with a bang. That was enough for me. Jolene is definitely a flawed main character. She, at best, is careless. At worst, she is a psychopath. I liked watching the harassment of Jolene as it ramped up. I thought the ending was tied up pretty quickly, but it didn't come out of nowhere. There were hints all over the place. In the end, it seemed a little bit skewed towards people younger than me. Still, I enjoyed reading it in one day.

Thank you NetGalley, Faith Gardner, and Mirror House Press for early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a trip! Crazy stalker goes after peer from high-school, mental health, family, making a comeback from falling her current path, etc. I was not super surprised by the ending of who was causing Jolllen so much trouble but there were still some good twists.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mirror House Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book officially publishes on 7/2/24!

This book was a roller coaster of a ride! It was twisty and was the epitome of the unreliable narrator trope. Up until the last couple of chapters, the main character had me questioning my sanity and what I had read as she herself does the same. This book is told from a single POV, and there aren’t that many characters - however, the characters that are mentioned are well developed. I did not guess the ending at any point either and found myself rushing to finish it after the main twist was revealed because I couldn’t put it down. Definitely recommend giving this one a read!

I was a bit unsure of this book when reading it, and honestly I flip between thinking it’s 3 or 4* - for me 3 is a good book a enjoyed, 4 is really enjoyed it, would recommend - and I’ve decided to go with 4!

The story revolves around Jolene, who caused an accident years before which resulted in a friend having life changing injuries but no one knows who was responsible. Jolene relocates to start a new life and bumps into this old friend, and as her life starts to unravel, she begins to question whether her secret involvement in the accident has been revealed. The author takes us on a story of friendship, rivalry, mental illness, addiction, stalking and fear, and a ends with a culmination of all of this coming together - no spoilers though!

I think the reason I was so unsure about this book is because none of the characters are particularly likeable. Jolene is self centred, spoilt and acts like a brat, Elizabeth comes across as intense and over bearing, Jolene’s Father panders her and is in constant denial, and the minor characters all seem to have flaws too. As the story unfolds, my interpretation is that this is intentional by the author (though I could be wrong!) as the characters all have their issues and it adds to the narrative, and therefore I can kind of overlook it. Usually I find it hard to read a book if I don’t really support any one character but I persevered with this and the ending was worth it. Overall a good read but with some flaws for my personal taste.

". . . memories are nothing but lies we tell ourselves."

Wait! Is that really true? This statement is made by Jolene's lawyer dad about 20% in. As I pondered this read (I had to reread the last couple of chapters.), I can see how this concept is the basis for the narrative.

The book begins with a fiery car crash where Elizabeth is gravely injured-- caused by Jolene in a gorilla suit. Faith Gardner then jumps ahead to more than a decade later when the two are reunited in a Berkley Improv class. Does this feel so good as Peaches and Herbs once told us being reunited does? Well, it seems Elizabeth is thrilled and Jolene is triggered. Thus begins a dance of doom. Who is the puppet and who is holding the strings? You will have to read this one yourself to find out. Once again, Gardner has written a story that can spin on a dime. Do you have to suspend your sense of disbelief a bit? Yes. Are their elements that baffle my Gen X worldview? Yes. Still an entertaining page -turner. Even better than the Jolvix episodes in my opinion.

A big thank you to Mirror House Press and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This thriller was delicious.
I was hooked from the beginning to the very end.

This book had everything I love. Unreliable narrator, fast pace, shocking twists, sprinkles of humor, and an unforgettable rollercoaster of psychological warfare.

I cannot wait to read more titles from this author.