I could not put this book down! Most of the time I can guess how a book will end, but this one kept me on the edge of my seat! Ohhhh the betrayals are real and raw and honest. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller!

I enjoyed Every Last Secret so I was really looking forward to reading this book! This story was thrilling and twisty from start to finish! I flew through it and loved it all! I look forward to reading more books by A.R Torre!

A.R. Torre never disappoints. I loved the set up of this book and the changing character viewpoints. The storyline was really interesting, easy to follow and kept me hooked. I didn’t see the ending coming and it was great. Highly recommend!

4.25 Stars

Lilian is almost 40. She's an obituary writer for the L.A. Times. She has a very teenaged son and very possibly a very cheating husband. Safe to say she's not really happy with her life at the moment.
Then she meets David. And she doesn't know what happened in her brain in that moment, but she insta-invents a completely new person. And things are good for a while. She feels like a new woman.
But then things start to spin out of control and suddenly it's all worse than it was before....

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Well. I'm not sure if I loved this book or not. I definitely liked reading it. It was interesting and mysterious and other things... LOL - you can't stop reading, because you just have to know how it all ends.
But I was never really sure if I liked Lillian or any of the other people. It was all a bit weird. Especially when you're used to reading cute romances and real thrillers with one hero-type person.
So I wasn't really sure about things here. But I really liked reading it. The story is not taking you where you thought things were going in the very beginning. It was really interesting. But I also kinda wanted more of everything. Maybe a bit more epilogue and more details about people ... or just more scenes. It was all a bit short ... no idea. But I liked it. I LOVE the cover - and I would definitely watch the Netflix show!

So to put it all in one paragraph:
A FAMILIAR STRANGER was a very interesting and mysterious and slightly weird novel. 😂 A bit mystery & psychological thriller, a bit women's fiction, a bit crime, a tiny bit love story, lots of Family Drama and a few other thingies I can't talk about without crossing into spoilery territory! 😂 JUST READ IT!!!

Woah. This book was definitely a new experience.

I mean the plot is pretty basic and common, people leading dual lives blah blah. But the thing is, this book had a grim aura from the beginning which kind of sets the appropriate mood for the story.

There's a supernatural element as well since some chapters are narrated by a dead character! which was a new experience for me. I haven't read something like that before. Maybe it was a bit lame technique and the author could have used someone else's perspective or written in the third person, but I kinda dug it!

There was a plot twist around the 75% mark of the book which I did NOT see coming! It was a great twist! Also at the reveal of the whodunit, it was another great twist!

Overall. it was a quick read, and I loved it! I love this author's other work as well. Highly recommended!

The cover of A Familiar Stranger kept grabbing my attention and I had seen other books by A.R. Torre that sounded up my alley. I was excited to dive into this story. The mysterious lover, her husband’s secrets, so much potential for mystery and suspense! I really loved the beginning of the story, with Lillian as the obituary writer and her interactions with other characters.

However, as the story continues there seemed to be a lot left out. She said her husband had to have the kitchen cleaned up after dinner, but then he leaves. So what happened if she didn’t do it? There were instances later on, I didn’t get the “twist” but maybe it was just me.

Overall, it was a decent story but some parts fell a bit flat for me.

Another brilliant read from AR Torre! This cleverly written domestic thriller introduces us to a very average wife & mother who finds herself in an ever intensifying affair after suspecting her husband’s own infidelity. You may think you know how this type of story will end, but Mrs. Torre is much more wicked than that. There is a massive twist that I can see polarizing some readers, but for me it read as inventive & brave. The alternating POVs were well executed & the short chapters made for a quick, hard to put down your kindle kind of book. Go into this open minded, it was quite an enjoyable ride when you strip away the expectations of what a “domestic thriller” should be.

3.75*
Let’s be honest, at one time or another haven’t most of us wished we could reinvent ourselves?

Lilian’s life is imploding. She just lost the job she loved - writing obituaries for the famous. (Well, I suppose someone needs to do it). Now she fears her husband is having an affair. And her son? Oh please...he’s a teenage boy. If he has any focus at all, it’s certainly not on his mother!

Feeling alone and all but discarded, Lilian strikes up a conversation with a stranger in a coffee shop. She introduces herself as Taylor, who leads a totally different life than that of poor Lilian.

But what starts as an innocent flirtation quickly takes a wild turn, leaving her new life as Taylor exposed.

Oh my gosh! There is one massive twist I could never have predicted and it left my head spinning! Bravo for that, Ms. Torre. But…I do wish the emotions from that shocking moment would have carried me through to the end. It seemingly peaked, then settled back into the telling of the story. I just wanted a bit more.

A.R. Torre remains one of my go to authors! I look forward to her next amazing release!

A buddy read with Susanne!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer .

🄼🄸🄽🄸 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆 ----⤼⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝚃𝙸𝚃𝙻𝙴: A Familiar Stranger
𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: ★★★★☆
𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝚃: eBook ARC
𝙿𝚄𝙱 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴: September 27, 2022

This was an interesting book. Like... really interesting. Something about it was unlike anything I've read before. But I am certain there will be an aspect to this story people will either love, or they'll be like "nope, that just ruined the complete story." I actually liked it and thought it brought something new to an already unique plot.

Definitely a quick read and page-turner. This took me only a couple hours to finish and even with the abrupt ending, I really liked it. I think this will be very popular when it comes out later this year.

My only hiccup with this book was, despite it being an ARC and it not being 100% complete, there were so many errors in it! It felt really unpolished and that kind of took me out of the story. But I didn't deduct points for that. It just was weird to be flowing through and be like... "Wait, what?"

Hope you put this on your radar! AR Torre wrote one of my favorite books ever, 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛, so pick that one up if you want to try her out!

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This book was good, I’m glad I got to read it early and can’t wait to tell others about it .
I think they are gonna enjoy it just as much
Thank you

This was the first book I’ve read by this author. I still can’t decide how I feel about it but I didn’t hate it. I went in not knowing what was going to happen and was thrown for a loop. I really liked the countdown.

I thought I would know who the killed would be and who the killer would be and that ending threw me for a loop. The author had me turning pages in this book and it was so easy to read for me.

Some elements to the story were predictable but then it ended on a cliffhanger! I enjoyed reading. Great cat and mouse story.
Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for my advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’m a huge fan of A.R. Torre and was so happy to receive an arc of this book. I loved it! The twists, the turns and the fact that I could barely keep straight what was happening and who was good or bad. Done it again with another great thriller. Thanks!

I couldn’t determine what type of feel I got from this book when it starts off. I went in blind, no need to read the blurb because A. Torre can always pull off the suspense/thriller genre. All I know from the prologue is that someone is going to die and we have this timeline that leads up to it. I can say off the bat I despised Mike. His actions and thought process were controlling and narcissistic. He really needed to be put in his place. Lillian’s job was really interesting, and she was an interesting character as well. The whole time I felt David and Lillian’s relationship was a huge setup and I kept waiting for the ball to drop. As we progress to the “now” part it really begins to take off. You are reeling from what is going on and need to get to the bottom of Mike’s shadiness. Then Sam was almost too good to be true and something about him had this niggling feeling in the back of my mind. I will say that Lenny came through for Lillian and I really enjoyed his role in the book. Every player that was sheisty got what was coming for them! I felt it was a little unfinished as to what David’s role was in the whole thing and wanted a little more information on that part. In all it was another fantastic read from A. Torre.

Arc provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great, at first. Short chapters, intriguing characters, good writing. I was being set up for a potentially jaw dropping thriller. I was chugging right along, seat belt fastened, waiting for the twists and turns to come and they did just that. Most I was able to sort out. However, there was one I can honestly say I did not see coming but it was not one I cared for. The twist did manage to keep me interested enough that I needed to see how they played out. Doing so didn't leave me breathless but overall, I was not completely disappointed. I still recommend you read this book for yourself. If I enjoyed a certain sub genre of thriller, I would have LOVED this book. A special thanks to @netgalley and @amazonpublishing for making this ARC available for me to read, in exchange for an honest review.

I had read Every Last Secret by A. R. Torre and squealed with delight when I got the chance to read an ARC of A Familiar Stranger.

I figured this would be a domestic thriller that I'd enjoy, but the storyline went somewhere that I didn't see coming. I won't say anything more as to avoid spoilers, but man, I loved the originality! This one is chock full of unreliable characters who are all harboring some pretty deep secrets. The story kept me engaged and I didn't want to put it down. And that ending - chef's kiss!

Another fast-paced, twisty-turny psychological thriller by A.R. Torre! It kept my attention, and the short, action-packed chapters kept me guessing! It almost moved a little too quickly, I have some clarifying questions and wasn’t ready for it to end! I continue to enjoy and look forward to this author’s books!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Well, that took a serious turn I wasn't expecting! I burned through this riveting page turner in a day. The author grabbed my attention from the first page and held it until the last. I liked the pacing and getting the story from several different character's point of view. A Familiar Stanger is a Thriller worth your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for access to this arc.

3.5⭐️ This was my first A.J Torre book, and it was totally addicting. It definitely wasn’t a perfect read, and when I finished I felt like pieces were missing. Despite this, I know many will love it.

Short synopsis: Lillian Smith is a wife and mother who leads a pretty typical suburban life. When she finds out that her husband Mike cheated on her, after months of suspicion, she dives into a series of reckless behavior. Most noteworthy include losing her job and having an affair. Lies begin to pile on top of one another as the chapters lead up to the day of a murder. The one thing is, you do not know who died or who the killer is.

What I enjoyed:
-The book was a quick read and 100% a page-turner
-The chapters are short and each one felt like a new revelation
-The countdown to the day of the death kept me on my toes. I was so curious to see who it would be
-While Lillian was the main character, multiple POVs were added in the second half of the story. I loved how the pieces started to come together once we heard from more characters
-I did not see the big twist coming at all

What I did not like:
-Once the big twist happened midway, the rest were not as shocking
-I really longed for more of a backstory to get a sense of what was going on
-The plot points moved so quickly without much closure
-The characters, minus one, were all unlikeable


Thanks NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date 9/27/22

Not my favourite story by ART, but her last two books were absolute bangers, so this latest novel had some super tough acts to follow.

The premise of this book is pretty simple. A husband cheats, so the wife cheats, and then someone dies. You know this right from the beginning. And it was quite interesting seeing the dynamics between husband and wife play out because I actually really liked them together, even though they were lying to each other, all the while trying to figure out who in the story will wind up dead. But then when it actually happens, the entire plot takes a 180. I'm talking completely different story with a completely different vibe. And I have a feeling it's not going to click with a lot of readers.

I went along with it just to see where it went and it was fine. Again, it wasn't my favourite, but I didn't actively hate anything about how the story eventually progresses. It's a bit of a risk and odd choice compared to ART's other stories but, again, I didn't really hate it. Probably because I found the first half of the book really intriguing, so those feelings must have just stuck around until the end.

Overall, a pretty decent book, but I am interested in seeing how other readers feel about it once it comes out!