Parts of Forget You Know Me reached out to me, but it would have been better if it stayed on track a little more. It seemed like we went between Liza's story and what was happening with Molly without getting the depth that was hinted at by the author.

This is my second Jessica Strawser novel and I've enjoyed them both. Two best friends, Molly and Liza are on skype having a girls night (they live in two different cites). While Molly leaves the room to check on her child, Liza sees an intruder in a mask entering the house. Liza calls the police and then after not hearing from her friend, gets in her car with a close friend of hers and drives to Molly's home where she receives a rather cold reception.

This book is really about relationships - between the two friends, between husband and wife - and the interactions that make all the difference in the world. I found it interesting and the plot was a good one. I liked the characters and the writing style.

Thanks to Jessica Strawser and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy.

I was absolutely riveted by Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser! When two best friends realize that life has caused them to drift apart they plan to catch up over video chat and a bottle of wine. The conversation is going smoothly until a masked intruder enters the scene... and the friend refuses to talk about it. Who is the masked intruder? What has happened to make their friendship so distant? Just when you think you have it figured out... the twists and turns will take you in a new direction! I highly recommend this book. I received and ARC, all opinions are my own.

Liza and long-time friend, Molly, are skyping for a much needed "girls night" when Molly's daughter calls out for her. Liza says she'll wait and while she's waiting she sees a masked man enter Molly's house! Liza instantly calls the police, but Molly blows off the whole situation. What is Molly hiding? Molly's husband, Daniel, is also hiding something.

This is Jessica Strawser's third novel and my new favorite. It's an excellent follow-up to "Not That I Could Tell'. This book had a lot going on but all the parts meshed well together and the final twist was a strong finish bring everything together nicely.

I found Daniel to be thoroughly unlikeable and to a certain extent so was Molly. I wanted to shake them both and tell them to communicate but I also know that's real life...it happens in relationships and it takes time, trust, love and desire to make things work for it to get back on solid ground. Do Molly and Daniel have what it takes to make their relationship work?

As someone who suffers from anxiety on a daily basis, I can say that Liza's "almost" anxiety was well-written and true to life.

I recommend this book for fans of women's fiction with a hint of mystery/thriller. I liked that the relationships were stronger than the mystery aspect of the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy; all opinions are my own.

Book Info
Hardcover, 336 pages
Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by St. Martin's Press
ISBN 1250184460 (ISBN13: 9781250184467)
Other Editions (3)
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB


In this riveting domestic thriller, Jessica Strawser takes readers deep into the intimate friendship of two women and the distance, secrets, and lies that threaten to break them apart.

Liza and Molly are life-long best friends—or at least they used to be. Ever since Liza moved to Chicago to pursue her career, leaving Molly behind in Cincinnati with a husband and two kids, the distance between their two lives has grown more and more insurmountable. In a last-ditch effort to save their friendship, they arrange a “girls night” over webcam, wine in hand, catching up like they used to. But when Molly runs upstairs to check on a crying toddler, Liza watches, horror-struck, as a masked man enters the home of her best friend.

After calling the police, Liza frantically tries to reach Molly, but when she finally responds, her message is icy and terse, insisting that everything is fine. Liza is still convinced something is wrong—that her friend is in danger. But after an all-night drive to rescue her ends in a brutal confrontation, Liza is sure their friendship is over.

Meanwhile, Molly finds herself wondering whether she’s dodged one ruinous mistake only to make another in its place. Did she sacrifice her oldest friendship to save her marriage? Or has she inadvertently sacrificed both?

Liza and Molly can’t avoid each other forever, and soon, they’ll face a reckoning that will force them to decide just how much weight a shared history can carry.

My Thoughts


How long can one hold onto a friendship when time and distance come between you? Liza and Molly have lost touch in the last years of their lives. Even before they were living in different cities making time for each other had become more difficult due to work and family obligations.

The night when Liza is on a webcam call with Molly and sees what she believes to be an intruder is the start of the beginning of the end for these former BFF's. When Molly rebuffs Liza after she and a friend drive all the way from Chicago to Cincinnati to check on her is not only a shock but also a nasty surprise as well.

How can Molly not want to let Liza comfort her and more importantly why is she adamant that nothing is wrong? What is Molly hiding from Liza and even worse from her husband Daniel?

A story of friendships gone awry, a marriage needing some TLC, secrets that are being revealed, lies, deceptions and most of all the ins and outs that take peoples lives in directions they never intended to go.

I found myself addicted to figuring out the mystery aspects immediately and then became engrossed in the different characters storylines as well. This book proved to be different than what I expected, in a very good way.

[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the author in exchange for an honest review. It's the story of best friends Molly and Liza. It's also the story of the marriage of Molly and Daniel. It was pretty suspenseful from the beginning and I had high hopes. However, I was truly disappointed with the last quarter of the book. I just felt like there was too many loose ends and no closure. I had more questions than answers.

Each character has something they hide from another character and actually from themselves.

We first meet Liza and Molly the night of their long overdue Skype chat that was to bring them close again, but the chat turned everything sour.

Another question is what was going on between Molly and her husband that she couldn’t tell him or even call him about the scary incident that Liza had seen?

An answer might be that there were a lot of things happening in Molly and Daniel's life that were not being addressed, and it had nothing to do with what happened in the Skype chat.

The tension mounted as we learn more about what was going on with everyone and how cunning and sneaky some of the characters were.

If you enjoy personal drama, seeing how any type of relationship can fall apart, characters that are somewhat believable, secrets, and a story line that will have you thinking about the situations and choices the characters made long after you turn the last page, then FORGET YOU KNOW ME will be a book you won't want to miss.

I do have to say that the book dragged on a bit too long, but it didn't affect the read. I still enjoyed the book and the revelations at the end. 4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Forget what you've read about Forget You Know Me being a "mystery" or "thriller." The story does start out with a heartpoundingly disconcerting event, but other than the impact it has on the book's characters, the rest of the story isn't really ABOUT that. Instead, it's a captivating story about the weight of secrets in relationships, the impact of hiding parts of yourself from the people that know you best. Liza's story is particularly heartwrenching- what she witnesses on Molly's end of the webcam starts a chain of actions that alters her relationships and her life completely, and she struggles with how to manage her anxiety and new realities after these events.

I liked some parts of this book and others not so much. There is a lot thrown at the reader when the novel begins. It's all muddled and it takes several chapters to discern who is lying, who is being secretive, and what is really going on. The characters I liked the best were Lucas, Steph, and Henry. Molly is a mess, both finally and emotionally. Her husband is being deceitful and gets involved in a work scandal. Liza is neurotic and a fire pushes her anxiet level to new highs. The novel ends well with the main players confessing and vowing fresh starts.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Let’s get this out of the way from the start: just like her previous novel, Jessica Strawser’s newest work Forget You Know Me is once again WRONGLY labeled as being of the “mystery/thriller/suspense” genre when it should more accurately be placed in the “women’s fiction” or “contemporary fiction” categories. I’m not sure if Strawser’s marketing team is the one mis-categorizing her books or perhaps she originally did intend to write a suspense / thriller novel but it didn’t end up working out that way. Regardless of reason, the important thing is to NOT go into this book expecting a thriller -- or even domestic suspense for that matter -- because the book definitely won’t deliver on either front.

Just like with her previous 2 novels (her debut Almost Missed You as well as her sophomore novel Not That I Could Tell), Strawser starts off her story with an “explosive” scenario – in this case, it is one of the main characters Liza video-chatting with her best friend Molly one night while her husband is away on a business trip, when Molly steps away to tend to her kids and suddenly, through her laptop’s webcam, Liza sees a masked intruder entering Molly’s house. The screen goes blank and when Liza’s attempts to confirm Molly’s safety prove unsuccessful, she makes the rash decision to drive hours across state lines (Liza is in Chicago, Molly is in Cincinnati) to check on her, only to have her best friend be annoyed by her unexpected appearance and subsequently slam the door in her face. Angry and saddened, Liza returns home to Chicago, only to find out that she is about to have a “near miss” of her own.

Reading the first chapter with the above opening, plus the vagueness of the summary describing the book itself, I can see where the misunderstanding of this being a suspense / thriller may possibly come from. Despite the “shocking” incident that opens the story though, it is apparent a few chapters in that the incident serves merely as a catalyst to jump-start the story – after that, it becomes “background noise” of sorts, a plot point placed on the back burner in order to make way for the real plot: mostly a character-driven exploration of relationships, marriage, family, friendship, and just how badly lies and secrets can drive even the closest of friends and family apart. One of Strawser’s talents as a writer is her ability to draw up realistic portrayals of characters whom we can all relate to in one way or another – characters who are flawed and vulnerable and often dealing with issues that ordinary people face on a near daily basis. Going deep into her characters’ minds and giving us a thorough understanding of their thought process and rationale, we get to know Strawser’s characters intimately, though I will admit that with this particular book, it goes a little too deep in the sense that at certain points, it felt like some of the characters were overthinking and overanalyzing their situations a bit too much. This made the story a bit tedious to read at times, as some parts seemed to ramble on a bit unnecessarily. With that said though, I still enjoyed the book overall and the topics explored did leave me with some “food for thought” afterwards, which is always a good thing when it comes to my reading.

This is the third novel of Jessica Strawser’s that I’ve read and though none of her 3 books thus far have made it to my favorites list, I still enjoyed reading each one. I like the way Strawser writes and also the strength of her storytelling, which manages to keep me engaged and interested in the story even though there might not be much going on in it. This is an author whose books I know I will continue to read and look forward to each new release.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

Forget You Know Me has a storyline and plot that is different from any that I've read and I really liked that I did not know what to expect. No spoilers...

In the beginning, Liza sees something on the webcam of her friend that changes the course of their once close relationship. Lot's of confusion ensues and there are several twists, turns and tension points. You have to keep reading to find out who is responsible for what and how/if it will work out in the end.

I interrupted my planned reading for January to read this book. I was just going to start it to see what it was like and then I couldn’t put it down! It has a similar feel to her earlier book, Not That I Could Tell, that I read last summer. The story revolves around two women, Liza and Molly, who were lifelong friends, but had drifted apart. A series of bizarre events bring them together again. The book deftly illustrates how fragile relationships are...both marriage and friendship...and how maintaining them involves love, honesty and commitment. The book is thriller-like in that in has some surprising twists. The characters are realistic and relatable even though some of their choices and the situations they find themselves in are a little off kilter. Thanks to #NetGalley for an eArc of this book. I loved it!

I was expecting a psychological thriller and this was not that at all but I still enjoyed it. The varying POVs were easy to follow and seeing how the stories of a husband, wife and her best friend intersected was interesting. I expected a bigger climax but it was really just a realistic ending. And having lived in the Cincinnati area, the local ties were fun!

Everyone has that one friend that no matter what happens in life you can always count on. This was Molly and Liza! While living in different states they got involved in their own lives and they tried to keep in contact as often as they could. However, it wasn’t always easy. Then, one planned girls night in goes terribly wrong and this incident brings them back together and closer than ever. This book is filled with friendship, marriage, work and relationship drama and lots of it! When you’re done reading it will make you want to pick up the phone to call your bestie just to say hi!

This book was a too slow for me. I liked the premise of it and the story kept me interested but I found myself getting bored easily so I stopped about 35%. The author does a great job in making the characters very relatable and communicating just how relationships need to be nurtured if you don’t want to grow apart.

I will definitely read more by Strawser.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

The beginning of this book hooked me right away but after that it didn't keep my attention as I thought it would. It's not really a thriller--but more of a look at what can happen between friendships over the years. The book is about close friends Molly and Liza. Molly gets married and Liza moves away and as time passes their friendship changes and neither of them is happy about it. They try to get the friendship back on track and plan a video chat so they can reconnect. But when Molly leaves the video chat to go check on one of her kids, Liza sees an intruder enter Molly's house. He closes the computer screen, to Liza's dismay. She tries to contact Molly to make sure she's ok but the response she gets from Molly doesn't make any sense. She's so upset that she drives all night to check on Molly and things just get worse from there. Everyone has secrets...but the problem is that none of them are that compelling.

I really thought the book was going to be more of a thriller rather than a drama that focuses on the personal issues the characters were dealing with, but that wasn't the case and I was a bit disappointed. The masked man scenario almost seemed like it was added to the beginning of the book after the whole thing was written just so there was some sort of compelling way to get readers into the book. But it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

3.5 stars

Read this last year, but for some reason I missed reviewing this one.

This is one of those books that I think will affect people differently. I didn’t have any problems with the writing style or even the characters, (only criticism would be that they were a bit cookie cutter) it was really the plot premise that had first intrigued me, then fell apart by the end.

The plausibility of this ever happening IRL as it does on paper is was made this hard for me to become invested in the how and why of it all. But that’s just my take...others have had a much different response and perspective than what I walked away with.

I’m still a fan!

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

This book was good but different than what I exoected, I thought it was going to be more of a thriller than a drama. It was however a good read.The characters were well developed and the writing was done in a manner that kept the reader interested.

I tried to give this book a fair shot, but I couldn't get into the story. It wasn't my cup of tea and ended up not finishing this.

How well do you really know the people that you are closest to? Forget You Know Me will have you questioning that for long after you finish the last page. Jessica Strawser created this engrossing thriller with complex characters and a juicy storyline that is impossible to put down.