This was a pretty slow burn for me. There were parts that got really interesting, I really enjoyed when the POV would switch between Lilian and Mike. It was pretty twisty with the plot, but other than that, it was a slow burn.

I definitely did not anticipate this story going where it did, however I really like that! It was a good suspense novel without leaving me feeling scared to go to bed at night. The plot twist was well executed, and I liked that it was told from multiple perspectives. It was a quick read!

Wow, I just loved this book from the very first. Great storyline. Left you wanting more.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read b this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

What an amazing, suspenseful and original story. A ‘whodunnit’ of sorts - I bet you can’t guess who it was. I had so many theories, got to say I wasn’t too far off base with a couple of them. We’re taken on a rollercoaster ride throughout, with Lillian Smith leading the narrative, and continuing throughout, with the help of her husband, her best friend, her graveyard drinking buddy, and her lover. All POVs keep the story flowing and the questions unanswered. I’m not a fan of cheating in books, but this is done in a way that didn’t offend. I found myself rooting for Lillian, and hoping that she would get back on track with her husband. I always think things happen for a reason, and both David and Lillian were to blame for the consequences of their actions. Of course there’s a spanner thrown in the works and the whole story takes a turn I didn’t see coming. The halfway was a turning point, and I was struggling to put my kindle down. I needed to solve this puzzle. A great story (so many twists and turns), brilliantly written, and totally addictive. I loved it. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an arc of this book. <i>A Familiar Stranger</i> follows the story of Lilian, a ´boring´ and 'average' wife and mother who writes obituaries for a living and invents a more reckless and free persona when she meets David and thus, lies start to pile up on top of one another. This was my first A.R. Torre book so I wasn't quite sure what to expect going in. I think the first half did a decent enough job to establish who the characters were but whether it was intentional or not, I couldn't find most of them to be people worth rooting for. And I also have some hang-ups on how this book handles the protagonist's mental health. Still, though, I found myself staying up all night reading through a good chunk of this, waiting to see what would happen next. The second half of this book was... all over the place, in my opinion. I did guess some of the twists despite this book taking a certain turn at one point, and ultimately I found the resolution to be a little rushed and not completely satisfactory.

A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre

Lillian Smith writes obituaries for a living, has a less than attentive husband and a teenage son who has better things to do than strike up conversation with his mother.

One day while working, Lillian by chance meets handsome David in a coffee shop. She soon finds herself sucked into an affair where she pretends to be someone she’s not, no strings attached, no deadlines and now, a new job. During the affair, Lillian strays from everything important in her life.
Her husband, son, job and best friend.

Soon, evidence of her affair is posted on social media sparking outrage and even greater distance between her son. Much more is at stake than just a ruined marriage and reputation.

Lillian isn’t the only one living a double life.

First of all, thank you to #Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

When I saw A.R Torre had a new book releasing this year, I immediately wanted to try and snag an ARC as I have loved everything else she has written. I am sad to say that this one missed the mark for me. Im not entirely sure why? It could have been my mood….but for a thriller, I went in expecting more. More thrills, more edge of my seat, more “just one more chapter”. I didn’t feel any of those things which was a let down.

The characters in this book I could not connect with, nor did I like them very much. The plot is decent and the storyline is good but approximately 1/4 of the way in, I guessed the ending. I found it (for me) completely predictable with the exception of a few revelations *gasps* thrown in along the way.

My Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
Goodreads Average Rating: 4.32/5

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it🤷🏼‍♀️

* 290 Pages
* Publication Date: Sept 27, 2022
* Available on Kindle Unlimited
* Fiction
* Thriller/Mystery
* Dark/Tense
* Medium Paced Read
* Slow Burn Thriller

**Some of these triggers may contain spoilers**

⚠️ Triggers/Warnings ⚠️

* Toxic Relationship
* Infidelity
* Sexual Content
* Cursing

Enjoyed this domestic thriller by AR Torre. Great characters that worked well together. Lots of tension and twists. Fun read.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

**Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC**

I have not yet read A.R. Torre, but I know that everyone freaks out about her writing. So when this popped up as a choice for a Netgalley read, I jumped on it! In this book, we are following Lillian who lives a pretty average and boring life. Not much happens, but one day she finds herself meeting a handsome stranger at a coffee shop. Desperate for a change, they being an affair. But nothing will be the same if her hidden life is revealed.

On the surface, this might seem like your run of the mill domestic thriller...husband and wife...cheating spouse, secrets that could tear them apart, but I think that the characters particularly Lillian, are very well done. I enjoyed learning more about her and seeing who she was.

I was not expecting things to go the way they did, this was absolutely not what I was expecting out of this thriller. I loved the ride that we went on and now I am so much more eager to read other books by this author. If you think that this sounds interesting, I would 100% pick it up!

This twisty book had a great premise and was handled deftly.

Lilian, a disgraced obituary writer, with a disinterested husband and hard to read child, has turned to social media for recognition and to fulfil her needs. However a handsome stranger in a coffee shop helps Lilian realize she could turn herself and her identity around.

This book was definitely twisty, with several blindsiding surprises.

I really enjoyed the writing style, and I highly recommend this book.

This was my first by A.R. Torre and let me just say, it won’t be my last. I really enjoyed this whodunit story and the way it was written.


This one starts off in just the POV of the MC Lillian, but changes once we get more into the story, giving us other perspectives of her husband, Mike, and friend Lenny. I really enjoyed getting inside the thoughts of the different characters because there was so much to unpack with this story. A.R. Torre did a great job of throwing you off as far as who the killer was. There were a few twists I did guess along the way, but the big one I did not see coming. It was a really entertaining story and I enjoyed it! 4⭐️s

A huge thank you to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and A.R. Torre for this e-arc. Check out A Familiar Stranger on its pub date 9/27!

Lillian Smith writes obituaries for a living, and has a close friendship with an ex-cop, Lenny, whose daughter died, for which she wrote an obituary.
She finds out that her husband has been having an affair, and calls him out on it. Her husband ends the affair in order to cover up what he really has been up to.

Lillian's son is a quiet youngster, with no real relationship with either of his parents.

Lillian meets a man and starts a friendship with him, which turns into an affair. In the middle of the affair, she dies of a drug overdose on a Malibu beach.

Lenny engages his ex-colleagues to investigate his friend's death, and much more is discovered about Lillian's real life, and the scaly business dealings her husband has, and his affair, which was quite a twist.

All in all, I enjoyed the story, but really am not fond of the supernatural. There was enough intrigue that kept me reading the book. I found it somewhat slow, and felt that there was no real affection between the characters. I ended up disliking them all for various reasons.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Alright. Holy 💩

I mean, I have loved every single thing from the author. But this? This! Believe the reviews when they say they could not put this down. The first half had me. I thought, no way is this as groundbreaking as everything else I’ve read from her. No way is this earth shattering like the reviews said.

AND THEN THE RUG WAS PULLED FROM UNDERNEATH ME.

This was SO AWESOME. And so unexpected. And so unique. And so messed up. And SUCH JUICY GOODNESS. Is this my favorite thriller this year? Yes, yes it is.

A thriller with a deliciously wicked twist! Lillian, Mike and Sam are leading double lives and are keeping secrets from each other that are mind blowing. Each is trying desperately to keep these secrets hidden until Lillian discovers Mike’s. I kept trying to guess who had died and why and I was SO wrong. I gasped out loud when I found out who died and who actually was responsible. An intense thriller you don’t want to miss out on.

If you’re a meat ‘n potatoes kind of domestic thriller lover, never willing to add a little something different to the menu, you might want to abstain from reading A. R. Torre’s latest suspense novel.

A Familiar Stranger takes a familiar genre and spices it up. Not in the “spicy” sense of grody sex scenes, but rather by taking some interesting and unusual risks that are sure to alienate some readers. The general premise is pretty standard - a wife begins an affair shortly after learning her husband is having one himself. Someone turns up dead. Readers of course are meant to wonder who the killer is, but first they have to wonder who the KILLED is.

That’s right, for the first part of the book we know someone will die but not who it will be. Then we find out, and then bam, we’re reading a different kind of story all of a sudden.

Personally I’m all in on Torre and whatever she dishes out after her last two thrillers, Every Last Secret and The Good Lie. The lady knows how to write a page turner, okay? So even though I found some of the elements predictable (such as sleuthing out the murderer even though I hadn’t initially guessed who had been murdered), I applaud her for taking chances in a genre that might be approaching its sell by date.

As usual, A. R. Torre does not disappoint. Lillian Smith is a once-famous obituary writer who discovers her husband's affair--but that's only the beginning. She soon decides to begin her own affair, taking on the identity of a woman who not only recently died, but is basically her alter ego, who she wishes she could be. But when their affair is caught on camera, everything falls apart, brick by brick. There's a HUGE midpoint twist that utterly shocked me, and I never saw the end coming. If you're a fan of A. R. Torre, be sure to pick this one up!

Based on other reviews, I’m clearly in the minority, but this book wasn’t for me. I felt like the characters were a bit underdeveloped, very unlikeable, and after a while I lost interest in their stories and involvement in the main plot. At one point, the story took a turn that I wasn’t expecting (and didn’t really like) and I just couldn’t get in to it after that.

I think if you like messy, domestic dramas with wild plot twists, multiple POVs, and a story that keeps you guessing from beginning to end, you might really like this one.

I enjoyed some of A.R. Torre’s other books, so I’ll definitely read more from her in the future.

Lillian smith leads a pretty monotonous life. She has been married to Mike for 18 years- writes obituaries for a living for the LA Times and is bored with her marriage and life in general. She has a cool best friend, Sam. She finds out her husband is also bored, hence his affair he’s been having. Lily is tired of caring, she decides to live a-little and have her own affair and meets Mr David. She gets fired from her job and takes on a new cool job at a local Marina running errands for yacht owners until one day something happens to Lilian. And the second part of this novel begins. Holy heck- what did I just read? Completely threw off with the second portion of this story. Think Ozarks but a really mean Marty Bird!
I enjoyed this one a lot but will say it was underdeveloped for everything that actually took place. I wanted to know more about how Mike and how he ended up in his job. I longed for more of the back story to make sense of the front story. I liked the short manageable chapters and the fast burn it gave off!
A familiar Stranger is sure to be a fall hit for many! Due to hit shelves end of September! Thank you Netgalley and Thomas&Mercer for my advanced copy.

This was just an okay story better than what i read from this author recently. Better plot line and character development. I need more thrill to it.

This book was definitely a surprise. I can certainly say that I couldn’t put it down. It was addictive and entertaining. There were some twists that I was definitely not expecting, and the short chapters made for a more interesting read. Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an opportunity to read this early!

In this book, we follow Lillian and Mike. Lillian is your average mom. Nothing really special about her. Mike, her husband, is a very A-type person.

One day, Lillian finds out that Mile is cheating on her. Mike confesses, and instead of moving forward to fix the relationship, Lillian goes and cheats on him with a guy named David. Eventually, a video gets posted on social media of Lillian and David getting intimate with each other. The next day, someone ends up dead.

This book definitely took an interesting turn, but it wasn’t unpredictable. I had my doubts about a certain someone since the beginning. And because this book is fairly short, it’s easy to get invested in the plot and finish it in like a day.

We do follow different perspectives, though Mike and Lillian are the main ones. However, that being said, I felt like some characters sounded the same. I wish we got more personality from each of them.

Overall, a good read!

Would I recommend this book? Sure!