Oh my goodness! I did not see that coming! A turn of events that was shocking!
This is the first book I’ve read by AR Torre and I definitely want to read more. It was a little slow for me at first, but wow the more I read, the more I couldn’t put it down! Twists and turns and just when you think you have it all figured out- more twists and turns.
Put this one on your list to read for sure!
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review!
I just reviewed A Familiar Stranger by A. R. Torre. #AFamiliarStranger #NetGalley

ONE MONTH BEFORE THE DEATH

And, the countdown begins……..

Lillian Smith is a wife and mother, obsessed with Pumpkin Spice Lattes with almond milk….and DEATH.

She writes obituaries for a living, and tweets “ puzzles” about death on Twitter as @the mystery of death: 10,000 followers-
Example: “ Three women go to Vegas for the weekend. A trophy wife, an Internet coach, and a struggling single mom. One of them won’t make it back home. Who will die?“ Her greatest entertainment is posting hints-and reading the responses.

But when she discovers that her husband has been cheating and she loses her job-it is no longer enough.

David begins flirting with her at a coffee shop, after they discover that they share the same taste in coffee-and without thinking things through she reinvents herself as “Taylor”….

I was giddy with excitement when I discovered that A.R Torre had a new book coming out in September and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! As always, her writing immediately drew me in and for the first half-I wasn’t disappointed!!

But at 50%, after we find out WHO died, the story takes a major DETOUR.

Sure, she took us down a road less traveled, and props for coming up with something new.

However, the second half was a bumpy ride, and it didn’t even feel like the same book.

What happened to the story that I was so enjoying??

I didn’t care for the direction she took at all, and this went from a potential 5 ⭐️ read for me, down to 3.

Suddenly we had a myriad of possible reasons for the DEATH, but none felt plausible to me.
Or fully fleshed out.

However, the others in my buddy read group, felt differently so be sure to check out the amazing reviews of DeAnn, MarilynW and Mary Beth to read additional opinions on this one!

Will I request her next? ABSOLUTELY! This is the first time I have been disappointed by this author So odds are-I will love her next!

You can pick up a copy on September 27, 2022 and discover which side of the fence you end up on!

Thank You to Thomas and Mercer for the gifted ARC, provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Such a fun read! I started off thinking I had everything figured out. I’ve read one other book by Torre and it was a pretty standard, but totally captivating, domestic thriller. I assumed that would be the case here. But I was pleasantly surprised by a unique twist! Totally hooked me in! I can’t say what type of twist it was since it’s a massive spoiler but I’m a huge fan of books that that and it really helped give an original spin on a familiar story. I was completely invested in Lillian’s story, she’s an interesting character and while she wasn’t very likable, I couldn’t help but root for her. Plus, she’s an obituary writer. How perfectly morbid. A Familiar Stranger had great twists, secrets on secrets, characters with questionable motives, and, the biggest plus of all, very short chapters that succeeded in keeping the story moving. The book is mostly in Lillian’s POV but there were some pretty perfectly placed chapters with a POV switch. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a domestic thriller with a twist.

The first 60% of this book I was pretty engaged and was trying to figure out what was going on, and then after that it pretty much took a turn for the worse. This needs to be categorized as a family drama and not a thriller. I am interested to read more from this author in the future to see if it was just the "twist" in this book I didn't enjoy, because I do like how bingeable it was.

I liked this book. Good plot and story. Capturing read, bit of a nail biter. The characters were fleshed out well and very easy to put yourself in their shoes.

To describe A Familiar Stranger is a bit challenging, it's a mystery, thriller, crime story? It's about Lillian who is cheating on her husband to get back for her husband cheating on her. It gives Girl on The Train vibes with heavy drinking and blackouts. It started SO strong and I was super invested - Lillian is a obit writer and meets a new man David who she makes up a new persona for, her husband Mike has no idea but is growing increasingly concerned with her behavior. This book felt very disjointed and was unfortunately very disappointing.

A Familiar Stranger by A. R. Torre

Lillian Smith has issues. She used to be a celebrity obituary writer with a blog until she messed up big time and now she's just an obituary writer with a blog. She's not happy with her fall from grace but it's not likely she's going to be given another chance to move up the ladder. Her home life is dreary, with a husband who is almost completely blocking her out and a son who has his own walls up when it comes to his parents. She has a drinking problem which she is pretending is under control while she still drinks. Is this what the rest of her life is going to look like? Is her husband going to leave her? Does her son hate her?

Then she meets David in a coffee shop and, on the spur of the moment, she reinvents herself to him. She is this other person with him and it frees her from the drudge and worries of her real life. She's not hurting anyone, her husband is already doing his own thing, she's becoming a better person with this freeing of her old self. Right?

But then a video hits social media, a video directed at her son, exposing Lilian in so many ways. We've already known someone is going to die because the chapter titles have told us so from the beginning of the story. Who is going to die? Once we find out, the twists and turns are revealed, and the story goes places I didn't expect it to go. The way the book is written, I flew from one chapter to the next, not wanting to put down the book until the end. This was a fun buddy read with DeAnn, Jayme, and Mary Beth and we had lots to discuss.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.75 double-life stars

Lillian is an interesting character although she doesn’t think she’s interesting! She writes obituaries for the newspaper, she’s been married for 18 years to Mike, and she has a teenage son.

A chance encounter at a coffee shop soon takes her down a new path. She decides to reinvent herself and soon she’s having an affair with the handsome stranger David. Soon she’s taken on another job and happier than she’s ever been. Until evidence of her affair is exposed to her son and husband and anyone on social media. Her new life is imploding!

The first half of this book was compelling and a quick read. Then the second half went in an entirely different direction! We know that someone ends up dead and my mind swirled with all the possibilities! There were some great twists and an ending that made me hope for one more vengeance chapter.

I really like this author and will continue to read her next thrilling story!

I don’t know how she does it, but every book is an instant thrill from beginning to end. I was sucked in from the very first page and stayed up way too late not able to put it down.

The multiple POVs and the countdown to “the death” mixed with the high emotions and a few affairs made me binge this in a matter of a day.

If you haven’t picked up anything by this author yet, I highly suggest you do so, and then clear your day since you will not be able to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very solid mystery about people leading double lives. How well do we actually know the people we love? Many twists I didn’t expect.

This is a solid thriller, with some great twists, and an engaging plot. This should have wide appeal for fans of the genre and others. The author has a solid track record, and is on a great career path.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

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....

════════════════

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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