Fading memories that slip back into focus. Too late to serve a purpose. Too exasperating to bring comfort.

Miriam "Mimi" Caravasios suffers from dementia. At eighty-five, she's frail and weak and confused. All she wishes is to return to her family estate to live out her last remaining days. Her daughter, Dora, and her granddaughter, Delphine, wait anxiously for the ambulance to arrive bearing a private nurse caretaker, Adam, and a wheelchair.

The family estate, The Whispers, was built long ago. But the mansion is in need of repair while certain rooms are closed off. But it brings comfort to Mimi and that's all that matters.

Kat Rosenfield will implement the flip switch on past and present as we come to know Mimi as a young age being courted by handsome young men. It is Theodore Caravasios who will win Mimi's hand in marriage. Their relationship will hold deep, dark secrets that will slowly be revealed.

The Prologue gives us a jolt in the beginning stages. Any references to Knives Out doesn't really fit here. Yes, there's a twenty million dollar elephant sitting on the settee with its trunk dipping into the champagne bucket. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of thirsty relatives looking enviously at all those zeroes. Someone may be up to some dastardly actions to fill their glass.

When checking off boxes, You Must Remember This doesn't fit in the thriller or psychological thriller network. It's a very slow burner with that tedious time element. We shall live through every minute of Mimi's earlier life which lies in the realm of the rich and famous. The majority of the secrets are far from shockers in the conclusion. This is a recipe whose framework we've been exposed to many, many times. It's still a good read in itself, but don't expect lightning bolts in this one. Just don't.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishing and to Kat Rosenfield for the opportunity.

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The Whispers. A mansion built with money made from selling illegal liquor. Miriam’s father built it specifically for this purpose. It has secret passageways and private escape paths. There are hidden rooms and cubbyholes to stash his wares.

Miriam married the love of her life. Theodore is a Lobsterman and well below her in social rank but she doesn’t care. They raised their family in the huge gothic estate that was named after the muttering sound the wind makes when it hit the gables.

Miriam is old now, a widow with dementia, living in a care facility. The family is gathering for one last Christmas dinner at The Whispers. When she dies, there is $20 million at stake. So of course I suspect murder.

Who doesn’t love a gothic whodunnit? The Whispers sounds like a cool house to grow up in, even if all the memories aren’t good. I’ve always wanted to live in an old house with secret tunnels and hiding places! The house and atmosphere make this book absolutely captivating.

The most interesting parts of the story are told through Miriam’s eyes in different timelines. She tells an eloquent story of the beautiful romance between her and Theodore and their life at The Whispers. And we find out there is another more twisted side to the story.

The blurb and Prologue tell us of poor Miriam’s tragic death so we’re only left to decide who is responsible. I selected my suspect early. I was correct so that part wasn’t a surprise but the story is still a riveting whodunnit. Not quite as good as “No One Will Miss Her”, but a solid 4 stars!

Sincere thanks to Kat Rosenfield and William Morrow for the gifted ARC through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#YouMustRememberThis #KatRosenfield #WilliamMorrow #netgalley #giftedARC #honestreview #gothic #whodunnit #crimeandcocktailsbookcrew #mysteryandthrills #newrelease

You Must Remember This by Kat Rosenfield is a book that is advertised as a “Knives Out” type of whodunnit, so I was thrilled to pick it up because murder mysteries are right up my alley.
The story alternates between the timelines of Delphine and her rich grandmother Miriam. Miriam, or Mimi, has just returned home from a nursing home and is approaching the end of her eventful life. Her children and grandchild have all come to be with Mimi for the holidays at her mansion called The Whispers in hopes of creating some lasting memories if possible, because Miriam’s memory has been rapidly deteriorating. Or have they gathered simply to ensure their place in her will? What are the odds that on Christmas Eve she should go missing out in the freezing cold. Delphine has her suspicions that there is foul play involved.
I found that this book was more romance with a little drama than a murder mystery. However, the mystery really kicked into gear towards the last quarter of the book, and it did so with lightning speed! I would have really liked to see the same energy all throughout the book. The end really saved You Must Remember This is my opinion. With that being said, I have high hopes for Kat Rosenfield in the future.
Many thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Describing this book as "A Knives Out-style whodunnit with a twist of Taylor Jenkins Reid" was all I needed to read it as I love both of those references. Unfortunately that is not how this book read. It was very slow and didn't really start being good until the end, which also felt a little rushed.

I will start out by saying I didn't find this to be much of a thriller. Lot of family drama, secrets, and money which is a good combination for a good thriller. That being said the pace was a little slow but it wasn't a bad read and I was invested in the storyline. Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review and share in my Instagram feed. I have attached the link

I’m sorry but this book left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I just could not connect with anyone. To much maybe. It had the thrills but I’m afraid the synopsis just gave a bit of it away for me. I just didn’t enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

A gothic family secret laden story. Family secrets always seem to come out in the worst way when someone dies and I love stories that delve into humanity in this way because money and material items seem to bring out the worst in people.

I don't know that the answer to the mystery was really as intersting as the secrets themselves, but this was a decent winter read. I also enjoyed the dual time line within this ancestral home between the present time and Mimi's past.

One important thing to note is to not go in expecting a thriller but more of a slow-burn family drama. Expecting an edge of the seat and twisty ride will likely leave readers disappointed.

This is my first book by Kat Rosenfield! I loved her writing stle. There were perfect descriptions of the home and beautiful Bar Harbor. I loved the setting and it had a great storyline.

The story is told from Miriam (Mimi) and Delphine (Del) perspectives. Mimi is the matriarch of the family. She had three children, Theodora, Richard and Diana. Delphine is Theodora's daughter and Mimi's granddaughter. Mimi is 86 and her health is fading fast, she has dementia too. While Theodora and Del have been taking care of her home and visiting her in her nursing home, Richard and Diana come home to celebrate Christmas together one last time. Mimi comes home and shortly after dies by drowning. We don't know if it was an accident, suicide or if she was killed by one of her greedy children.

The story was beautifully written and I was very intrigued.

One of the biggest plot twists was told in the synopsis but it wasn't in the book until it was more than halfway over. I kept waiting for another big twist. The characters were not very likable. Del was my favorite and she was a little oblivious!
Overall I really liked this book. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick who dunnit book.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Kat Rosenfield and William Morrow for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This one draaaagged. The ending was twisty and interesting, I definitely didn’t guess it, but it took SO LONG and SO much backstory to get there. I had to wait for the title to be published and my audiobook hold to come in from my local library to push through and finish, which was 11 hours long for what felt like minimal plot. It is told in dual POVs and dual timelines of Del (granddaughter) today and Mimi (grandmother) when she was younger/then. I’ve read very few books like this so the concept was cool. There were two narrators in the audiobook version, one young for Del and one older for Mimi. I didn’t like the older narrator to tell the POV of Mimi when she was young at first, but I got used to it.

Triggers: death, dementia, sensitivity to potentially hurt animals

Thank you to William Morrow, Kat, and NetGalley for the advance reader’s proof in exchange for an honest review!

I keep finding myself getting sucked in by book titles that have me singing a song. Of course this one is nothing like Casablanca, but that title… I found I was a little underwhelmed with this one. Of course it is billed as a Knives Out style plot and I don’t think I was smart enough to appreciate Knives Out even though I keep telling myself I just didn’t pay enough attention as I watched it.

I am perplexed that the book blurb kinda ruins a spoiler that happens two-thirds of the way through the book. I don’t usually read them, but this time I did. And I am leaning more towards women’s/historical fiction than a thriller. I find that every thriller I pick up that is described as Gothic is really not a thriller.

But even though this wasn’t my cup of tea, it has a lot of rave reviews, so I would suggest giving it a try to see if you like it, but I would avoid the book blurb before reading it.

I’m not sure why this book is labeled a thriller. It was not, it was more historical fiction than anything else. And so it is unfair to say that the twist didn’t surprise me, because I don’t think this book was meant to be a twisty thriller like it has been advertised. It was compared a lot to Knives Out, and I will not hesitate to grab any novel that compares itself this way, but this was not that.

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS explores how one family copes with the death of the matriarch and the fallout of emerging secrets and truths. It is truly a wonderfully dark and addictive "rich family with baggage" psychological thriller.

What I loved about this book was how Rosenfeld expertly weaves back and forth through time. She brings to life Miriam’s past while still grounding the story in the present through Delphine. These two women, in many ways, mirror each other while still having very distinctive personalities. There is a complexity to all the characters within these pages, but Delphine and her grandmother are the ones who the reader gets to know the best.

With a smartness to the plotting and an effortless flow in the writing, the author unravels the mystery of what happened to Miriam Caravasios and who should be trusted. This book is filled with dysfunctional family relationships, duplicity, and a suspicious death. Combined with the winter landscape and the family’s mansion, The Whispers, it is one chilling read.

The Caravasios family has reunited in their Gothic mansion to celebrate Christmas with their matriarch Miriam, who is suffering from Alzheimers. The mystery kicks off when she is discovered dead on Christmas morning, The novel jumps back and forth through time to give the reader clues about Miriam's life, her relationship with her husband, and the family's history, and the family will uncover that not everything is as it appears. This book reminded me of a classic Christie novel in a good way. The personalities 0f the characters and atmospheric setting were developed perfectly and really drew me into the story.

Thanks for the advance copy of this book! This was a great book to read during the winter months. Although I predicted the plot twist pretty early on and felt the synopsis in the back of the book gave some of it away, I enjoyed Kay Rosenfield’s writing style. I did feel like the story was a bit repetitive at moments, but overall enjoyed it.

You must remember this is a fast paced suspense novel. Told in past and present Kat Rosenfield delivers another twisty story. There’s so many twists and whoa moments. Miriam is an 85 year old woman whose healths declining and her family is planning a last Christmas get together.

This was a really great book. It’s a very strong psychological thriller, where you are trying to figure out just what is going to happen. I was definitely spooked and loved the gothic vibes.

I really wanted to like this because the first half was good. In the end it was predictable and not really worth the read. I read her other book and thought it was just okay but it sounded like she found the right thing with this one or I honestly wouldn't have picked it up at all. There are too many great books to do this one.

This is a tangled, layered mystery in a creepy setting. An 85 year old woman walks out into the icy water outside of her home while her family slept. They assume it was suicide, but as things unfold, suspicions arise. Did someone in the family cause her harm? Who stood to gain from her death?

I really enjoyed the writing style of this story and was completely pulled into the characters and the gothic atmosphere.

As a “Knives Out style whodunnit” I found it lacking, especially because so much information is revealed in the synopsis. I would recommend not reading the synopsis if you want a surprising reading experience. Having read the synopsis, the book feels very slow as it builds to covering everything that’s revealed in the synopsis, and the “who” of the “whodunnit” is pretty obvious to a seasoned mystery reader.

Despite all of that, I really enjoyed the story for what it was- a story about a complicated family, secrets, seeing people for who they really are, and the ways in which we rewrite our own history. I would definitely pick up more from this author in the future.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.