This is an amnesia thriller at its best! Hannah Mary McKinnon does an excellent job of weaving a tale wrought with mystery, suspense, and lots of twists that I didn't see coming! This was a fun read for sure!

You Will Remember Me by Mary McKinnon
Release Date May 25, 2021




A very dark novel that will capture your attention and hold you while you try to figure out what the character is hiding from everyone. Amnesia is only the beginning. McKinnon has written a very intriguing and clever thriller that shows how families act when trying to keep a secret hidden.

Lily Reid believes that her relationship with Jack is going well. She has grown comfortable with and around him. Until on day he is gone. It is then through searching that she discovered his lies. He, the one person she trusted, has a dark secret he is trying to protect.
Jack wakes up on a beach in swim trunks and a gash on his head not remembering anything. Just tiny fragments of who he is, Returning home to his stepsister, she is overjoyed even if he cannot remember her. Maya Scott, had been searching for her estranged stepbrother Asher for some time frantically hoping one day to see him again. The two are now reunited but everything is not as it seems. Lily has now found where Jack/Asher is and upon seeing him is thwarted by Maya from any contact. However, they both soon learn that they are confronting a past that will not change and one of them wants to make sure that does not happen.

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

A tense and terrifying thriller from a writer at the height of her storytelling powers, Hannah Mary McKinnon knocks it out of the park with her latest chiller, You Will Remember Me.

Lily Reid is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Jack. She thinks she knows all of his secrets and there isn’t anything about him which she doesn’t know – until he goes missing one night. In a frantic search to find him, Lily only succeeds in uncovering one shocking revelation after another as it transpires that Jack has been lying to her all this time. As the secrets of his dark past come to life, Lily realizes that she didn’t know Jack as well as she thought…

Maya Scott has been desperately trying to find her stepbrother Asher. Since he disappeared without a trace, Maya has been absolutely desperate to locate him- so she is over the moon when Asher comes back even if he has no recollection about his past. At long last, Maya has been reunited with Asher, however, his return forces her to confront their shared devastating secrets leaving her to wonder just how far she is willing to go to keep her cards close to her chest.

As Lily and Maya’s lives intertwine in the most startling and unexpected of ways, they find themselves compelled to confront old ghosts and past demons in a devastating game of terror, danger and deception.

Hannah Mary McKinnon’s thrillers should come with a warning: don’t start reading them just before going to bed because not only will they keep readers engrossed all through the night but they will give them nightmares! You Will Remember Me is a dark, shocking and disturbing thriller where the pace is relentless, the shocks and surprises come thick and fast and the twists and turns give rollercoasters a run for their money.

A must-read for thriller fans everywhere, Hannah Mary McKinnon’s You Will Remember Me is a superb page-turner readers will certainly not forget in a hurry.

Lily and Jack have been in love for quite a while when Jack ends up missing. Lily does her own research and discovers that Jack is in Maine with his family. She heads to Maine to discover he has lost all his memories. He has retrograde amnesia.
Jack has a secret past and he has a psychopath for a sister. This is why he left to begin with and changed his name. So the amnesia falls right into his sister, Maya’s, plans. And she is determined to keep Jack for herself and no one else.
This is not a story in which I enjoyed as much as I expected. I am usually all over a book like this but this novel was predictable and I anticipated every turn.

Special thanks to net galley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really loved this twisty and shocking thriller from a new author to me!
Our story starts with a man waking up on a beach with amnesia, while his girlfriend Lily searches for the truth about what happened to him. When Maya claims that he is actually her brother, they both face off to fight for the man they both love.
You won’t like some characters, won’t know who to trust, and an ending you won’t see coming!

You Will Remember Me is a dark read that kept my interest from start to finish. I am a huge fan of this author's books and this one didn't disappoint.

In true McKinnon style, she traps you in from the beginning. A man wakes up disorientated on the beach dressed only in swim trunks and has no idea what happened to him, so he just starts walking.

Meanwhile, Lily's boyfriend has disappeared, but she also learns that her boyfriend has his own hidden agenda.

This is own twisty thriller you think you will figure out, but good luck!

3.5 Stars (upped from 3 stars for that ending)

Hannah Mary McKinnon shows how far people will go to make sure the one they love gets their memory back:
He wakes up on a deserted beach, and does not know who is or how he ended up on the beach, survival instincts take over and he knows he has to get off the beach and get warm. Lily wakes up and realizes that her boyfriend Jack never made it over last night and starts to panic when she is unable to find him. Maya has been hoping her step-brother Ash would come home one day after disappearing two years ago. Her hopes are raised when she receives a mysterious phone call. The problem is that Ash cannot remember anything, not even his name and he has two people who love him, but one is wanting him to make sure that some memories stay buried.

This is the first book that I have read by McKinnon and I enjoyed the book, I am a bit confused as to whether I was supposed to have it figured out within the first quarter of the book. I found it pretty obvious what was going to happen, so that is where my confusion is, like we were as the reader supposed to figure it out and wait for the other characters t catch up? If yes, this really took the suspense out of the book for me.

I really liked the format of this book, with having the three POV and that it worked better in the beginning before Ash got his name back as he was just the Man on the beach. I think that it hindered the book the farther into the books as it let the reader know what all of the characters were thinking and wanting to achieve, which took some of the suspense out of the book

The level of manipulation is off the charts in this book and I think that each of the characters take part in some form of it, whether they are aware of it or not. It was hard to read at times to read about what one of the characters were willing to do in order to get their way. It was interesting to see when Ash did not know who he was at the beginning listening to his instincts and what came to his mind right away.

This was going to be a 3 star read for me but I totally upped it to 3.5 just for the ending. Yes, McKinnon that is how you delivery an ending. I totally want to read more by her just for that ending and going a different road and not being the norm.

I'm excited for what McKinnon may be bringing to the table within the thriller/suspense genre and I look forward to reading another book by her.

Enjoy!!!

Another diabolical pageturner from Hannah Mary McKinnon!! You will not want to sleep until you've read every every page of this book!! Definitely recommend for thriller/suspense readers.

A man wakes up on the beach and can’t remember who he is or what happened to him. He hops into a travel trailer headed for Maine and remembers a phone number. His step-sister, Maya, answers the phone and brings him home. Was this a wise choice?

This book pulled me in from the beginning! I had so many questions that needed to be answered that I couldn’t put the book down! The chapters alternate back and forth between the characters to give the reader a full perspective of what is happening. I do have to say that this story was a little dark for me. There are many scenes and memories that are graphic and gruesome. It is the perfect book for thriller fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin- Trade Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

You Will Remember Me delivers a compelling and suspenseful read where it got a bit darker in the end. I’m a fan of the dark so I really enjoyed the authors take on that and WOW! what an ending!! Thank you the author and publisher for my advanced readers copy

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. This was the first amnesia thriller I have ever read, I will definitely be reading more of this genre. It will grip you on the first page, trying to figure out what will happen next. This is a fast paced thriller. I would definitely highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It sucks you into the world from the first page. This book is in stores for CA$21.99 (CAD).

A man wakes up on a beach in Maryland, with no memory of who he is or how he ended up there! Meanwhile, Lily is looking for her boyfriend Jack who has suddenly gone missing, and Maya is searching for her brother who completely disappeared a few years ago...

I love Hannah Mary McKinnon's writing, and was highly anticipating this novel after Her Secret Son and Sister Dear. It starts out strong! The first half is very fast-paced and intriguing. My mind was crafting all kinds of relationships between the characters, and I couldn't put it down! However, about half-way through, I figured out the ending and unfortunately the story didn't offer me much from there. I wanted the truth to come out, but it spends a bit too long getting there! There is a surprise at the very end but it didn't quite work for me.

I still enjoyed this sinister novel, and know many readers who completely loved it! I highly recommend trying out Hannah's books for yourself. The Neighbours is still high on my list!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for my electronic review copy!

A man finds himself washed up on the shores of Maryland. He has no idea how he got there or who he is. Lily was expecting her boyfriend to come over with blueberry pancakes, but he's late. All calls and texts to him go unanswered. Unsure of where to go and what to do, he hides out in a camper with Maine license plates. Something about Maine is familiar. What will he find there about himself?

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Last year I fell in love with McKinnon's writing with Sister Dear. I was so excited when this dropped in my inbox. I had no idea what it was about. I was really excited when I started reading and it was in my home state of Maryland. I wasn't sure where this story was going to go, but I was along for the ride.

Both Lily and Jack/Ash have pasts that they didn't share with each other. Their present was amazing, but his disappearance and memory loss force them both to figure out how they are going to tackle the future.

Being drawn to Maine, Ash found his stepsister Maya. Maya helps Ash to remember his past, but is the information she is giving him the truth, or what she wants him to believe?

This book had me on the edge of my seat and wanting to jump through the book to slap a few people.

When I want a fast-paced, dark, and addictive read, Hannah Mary McKinnon has delivered every time. YOU WILL REMEMBER ME is simply a page-turning thriller packed with twists and turns.

Thank you to the publisher, Mira Books, for providing me with an ARC of You Will Remember Me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist

I had the pleasure of reading McKinnon’s previous book Sister Dear last year, I believe. So, when I found she had a new story ready to hit the shelf I was quite excited to get my hands on a copy.

This is only my second book by McKinnon, but I am starting to sense a theme to her stories, especially the type of atmosphere she likes to create. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything. Just be prepared.

I kept thinking back to Emily Brontë’s introductory note to her novel Wuthering Heights, warning the reader that no smile will pass their lips when reading this story.

Yeah, that’s a pretty good summary of McKinnon’s stories.

The Details

You Will Remember Me has an interesting structure. It intrigued me greatly because we jump right into the story. No fluff or prologue-type introduction chapter. There is a continuous flow, without any dragging parts or sections that seem rushed or ignored. It worked.

Another point I found interesting was the author’s decision to tell the story from three different points of view. Yup. Not two, but three. It gave the story a perspective and an angle I haven’t seen much before.

We have these three protagonists who all have their own problems, and we are never quite sure who fully speaks the truth. If they speak it at all. We start to wonder, ponder and begin to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out how this will all end.

I can’t say with complete certainty that I liked any of the characters, but they are dimensional enough to make this story work; to keep my attention; and to feel for them.

This is not an easy task, since I usually need some sort of emotional connection with at least one character to motivate me enough to finish the book.

Just another comment on the writing. Besides it being fast-paced and able to keep the story at a steady pace, the descriptions of the scenery, the setting and the language used did a fantastic job painting vivid images in my imagination while reading the story.

The Verdict

You Will Remember Me wasn’t so much a rollercoaster ride, but a steady unfolding of intrigue and mystery with a great background and enough secrets to keep the reader guessing until the last page.

Overall, I thought it was a perfect summer mystery read and I would definitely recommend it.

Lily doesn’t know what to do when her boyfriend goes out for a swim and doesn’t return. What happened to him?

A guy wakes on a beach with a gash on his head and no memory of who he is or what he’s doing there.

Maya has been searching for her step brother, Ash, for years after he left a note and disappeared from her life.

These three are on a collision course that only Hannah Mary McKinnon can imagine in her brilliant mind.

💭 Once again, this reminds me why McKinnon became an auto-buy for me the minute I finished The Neighbors. I have since eagerly anticipated every new book for just this reason. I loved the way this story progressed. I wondered which of the three main characters was unreliable, if any, because they all seemed to be hiding something. This is one that you’re better off going into it with little detail so you can experience it all! Make sure to add it to your list!

I received a gifted copy and am providing a review.

The premise of this book is based on Jack waking up on a beach not remembering who he is but having an extremely strong desire to make his way to Maine for reasons he cannot understand. He makes it to Maine and ends up with Maya who, as it turns out, is his younger stepsister but because of his amnesia he does not remember her. Lily, who “Jack” was with in Maryland, sets out on a quest to find him because she knows he isn’t dead, or is he?

This book published back in May 2021, and I am terribly late to be getting around to reading this one; it has been on my list for quite a while. It is quite a twisted read – just what I like! The characters Jack/Ash, Maya, and Lily … what relationships they have and their backstories. They each have deeply hidden secrets and they keep them for their own reasons. And, really, who wouldn’t want to read a book with a quote like this one: “… as if we were in the middle of a vomit-inducing romantic comedy.” Ms. McKinnon’s descriptions alone, especially those recalling how Ash and Maya met, make the reader feel like they were there experiencing their encounters themselves.

This was an interesting book. I didn't really love the amnesia plot but having read another one of Hannah Mary McKinnon's books and enjoyed it I thought I would give this one a chance. Like her other books this one had several twists and turns and kept you guessing as you turned the page. Just when you think you have it figured out you get another little piece of the puzzle that makes you question it! I liked the characters in the book and felt myself intrigued with what was going to happen but it was a bit of a disappointing end.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great mystery novel and the story was so well done. The characters were interesting and I had a good time reading this.