I am a fan of Stacy and if she writes it, I'll read it. Her first 2 were some of my favorite thrillers, but the last 2 just have not been for me. It felt like there was too much happening and nothing at all at the same time, if that makes sense. Once everything started coming together, it just got confusing and hard to keep up. Maybe that makes it more complex and psychological and hit the goals she was going for, but for me it was too much. Additionally, the journal being in third person really just made it even hard to keep up with when the rest of the book was 1st. The audio for this was the most enjoyable part, and the narrator did a great job keeping me engaged when the story didn't really.

3.5 stars
This slow burn mystery definitely kept me turning the pages. While it wasn't a nail biter and I predicted a few things along the way, I was invested enough to see how it all unfolded, and the ending tied everything up nicely. If you're into true crime vibes, family drama, and mysteries that take their time, this might be right up your alley, especially if you're already a fan of the author.

This is a slow burn mystery with more twists than can be imagined as it picked up toward the end. Told in two timelines from two characters, the ending saved this one for me.

NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, thank you for this advanced copy. It was a pleasure to read.

Stacy Willingham is one of those authors that just knows how to create these compelling stories and worlds in her books that just suck you in from the very beginning. It’s truly amazing. This book immediately had me turning pages frantically, desperate to know what was going on.

The novel centers on Claire, whose career has taken a dive, so she agrees to go home for the summer to help her mother recover from an accident. Realizing her mother doesn’t want her help, and that neither of them are over the disappearance of her older sister, Natalie, 20 years before, Claire decides to follow in Natalie’s footsteps and takes a position at a nearby vineyard that Natalie worked at her final summer. But once she gets there, Claire realizes immediately that something is off. But what exactly is it? The secrets of the vineyard run deep.

This is really the definition of a Southern gothic novel, with a really foreboding atmosphere, and the mystery unfolding in a slow, calculating manor, with the clues also stacking up as the novel continues. Things were super eerie, and there was an aura of foreboding and creepiness over everything that gives you a lot of pause. I loved it.

Claire is also a very likable character and I was rooting for her the whole time. She’s been down on her luck in journalism, something I know a little bit about, and she’s dealing with family stuff, something I think we all know about. Then she gets caught up in this mess and things careen out of control. It’s so relatable (well, not exactly the creepy vineyard stuff, but you know what I mean).

And while the clues are all definitely there, I definitely did not see the solution coming. Even though it all ended up making sense. I mean, my mind was completely blown. That’s what I love about a good book like this: everything is there, but you don’t see it until the author *wants* you to see it.

This is the third book by Stacy Willingham I’ve read, and each one just cements that she’s one of the best authors out there today. Pick this one up without a doubt.

This is my second book by this author and I am *really* struggling to get through it. It started off slow and has not picked up pace still and I’m 80% of the way through it. Don’t get me wrong, some of the story has been intriguing, but it’s not holding my interest. I have been picking this book up and putting it down for a couple of months now. I’m going to read the last 20% and hopefully be able to update my review then.

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! Slow burn - started a bit slow and I wasn't sure where it was going until BOOM so many RANDOM stars aligned...

Claire was a journalist; Natalie her sister was murdered or missing or....?

Claire gets intertwined in Natalie's past unbeknownst to her...

SO GOOD

This book had a slow start and I wasn’t clicking with the story but because it’s an arc I like to push through. Then yesterday the power was out for 5 hours and I had nothing to do but read and so I read the majority of this book in one sitting and finally around the 50% mark things started happening and I became more interested in the story. The writing was strong throughout and I found the plot twists to be not super unexpected but still well done. I don’t think this is my favorite from this author but I overall enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for early access!

3.75/5 stars

This was a fun read! It’s a slow burn mystery with two very dysfunctional families. Claire’s sister Natalie was murdered when Claire was 12 and Natalie was 18, with a lot of unanswered questions, and Claire has never really healed from that. Now, twenty years later, she takes a break from her job as a journalist in NYC and goes back to her South Carolina hometown, where of course she ends up investigating Natalie’s murder. The story is told in two timelines, the current timeline and a diary from 40 years ago that’s been hidden and now discovered by Claire. Everything builds up slowly to the payoff at the end, and I loved the way everything was connected. Plenty of twists and turns, with short chapters that move you right along.

This one has a slow start, BUT stick with it! I promise you will not be disappointed. Claire Campbell returns home, but the decades spent away has not really healed/repaired her relationship with her mother or eased Claire's guilt over her sister's disappearance. She travels out to Galloway, the vineyard/farm where her sister worked before her disappearance. Claire gets a job, but something doesn't seem quite right. Pretty soon she is immersed in a dual timeline mystery after discovering the diary of the wife of the land owner. People aren't quite what they seem, and soon Claire is in a fight for her life. Yes, there were some clues that should have been evident to Claire, but even with that, it made for a suspenseful read that I couldn't put down once the story really took off.

I'd rate 4.5 stars for sure!

It was a good story, has more suspense than anything and does have some good twists. The ending for me is what sometimes makes it or breaks it and the ending wasn’t too bad. It did start off a wee bit slow but the suspense again was pretty good throughout until the end. Thank you NetGalley for another great opportunity!

I’ll be honest and say I am not a huge fan of Stacy Willingham but boy did she reel me in with this one.

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist... until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.
With the entire summer now looming ahead―a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother―Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

This one is the definition of slow burn but when it gets going, it GETS GOIIIIINNNG. Willingham will have you questioning everyone and trusting no one as a dark and twisty mystery unravels. I really liked our main character and found her very realistic and one that I was rooting for when it came to solving the case. While some things i predicted others i certainly did not but was satisfied with how everything turned out.

4.25 🌟

This book kept the surprises coming!

Forget Me Not starts off a little slow but once it gets going... its errie in thr best way! There were so many twists in this book and Galloway was soo creepy. Fans of Willingham will enjoy this book!

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

Stacy Willingham thrills yet again! I really enjoyed the two that I've read by her previously. She's very good at suspense and keeping you engaged and dropping the little nuggets so you can try to put them together. Really strong female characters are her speciality and I love that they're always trying to figure out their own problems.

Dual timeline here was very fun and I felt like the older timeframe gave a lot of nods and comparisons to the Manson Family which as a true crime lover, I thought was great.

I've been reading a lot of sister thrillers and novels recently so keep that in mind if you've read any of the recent ones i.e. The Missing Half.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy !

I would recommend this to any thriller lover!

📚 Book Review: Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham

Big thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the ARC! 💐📖

I’m giving this one ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. The story had a chilling edge and a compelling mystery at its core. The concept drew me in right away—equal parts unsettling and addictive.

That said, I did find myself frustrated at times with Claire’s inability to catch onto some very obvious clues 🤷. Whether it was intentional or just a quirk of characterization, it slowed the momentum a bit for me personally.

Still, this was a fast-paced, intriguing read that kept me hooked. If you love a mystery with a touch of danger, and characters walking the fine line between doubt and discovery, this one’s worth adding to your list! 🕵️‍♀️🔍

ARCReview #ForgetMeNot #StacyWillingham #MysteryReads #NetGalleyFinds #MinotaurBooks #BookRecommendation #SuspenseReads #Bookstagram #FourStars #DangerouslyGood

✨️Book Review✨️

💜Forget Me Not
🖊️ @stacyvwillingham
🏢 @minotaur_books
📅 August 26th
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @minotaur_books #partner for this e-arc 💌

Another Stacy Willingham book for the win! 🙌📖

I'm so here for it! The atmosphere was eerie in the best possible way. It’s the kind of story that pulls you in with tension, slow reveals, and just the right amount of unsettling moments to keep you flipping pages long after you should be asleep. 🌒🌾

I loved watching the mystery unfold layer by layer. Every time I thought I had it figured out, someone else would act suspicious and I’d be second-guessing everything. It keeps you in that delicious state of is it them? no, wait… maybe? 🤯

The journal entries were my favorite part. 📓✨ They added such emotional weight and insight, and really deepened the entire story. They made everything feel more personal and helped tie the past and present together in a haunting, beautiful way.

The pacing was just right. It had a steady build that made each reveal feel earned. And the ending? Totally satisfying. If you love books about sibling bonds, old secrets, and slow-burning tension with emotional payoff, this one’s for you.

Perfect for fans of moody settings, investigative twists, and the kind of story that lingers long after the last page.

❓️ What’s been your favorite summer read so far? Which ones are you looking forward to?

#ForgetMeNot #StacyWillingham #MinotaurBooks #ThrillerReads #MysteryBook #BookReview #BookRecommendation #BookLover #Bookstagram #Bookish #MustRead #SuspenseBooks #SummerThriller #DarkReads #NewRelease #ComingSoon #SMPInfluencers #BookishThoughts #PsychologicalThriller #SpookyReads

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 stars, rounded up)

This might be my favorite of hers so far! The pacing was quicker, the tension was tighter, and I was all in from the jump. The story follows a woman who comes home to be with her mom during a health scare, and ends up working on the same farm her sister worked at before she died. From there, she stumbles upon truth after truth after truth. You can just feel something is off the entire time. In true Stacy Willingham fashion, the twist hits. And then it hits again. Back to back twists that I never saw coming.

What I really loved was how connected the main character still felt to her sister. Even in death, she could just feel her. There’s something powerful about knowing someone so deeply that…well, I won’t spoil it. Anyways, it added this emotional weight to the whole story that I didn’t expect.

Also? That old roll of film? Gave me the heebies. It’s a small moment, but it stuck with me. This one had just the right balance of emotion and suspense to keep me flipping pages. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC—I’ll absolutely be recommending this one to other thriller readers!

This was good! There were some parts early on that made it hard to get into and were a bit eye roll inducing when it came to believability but once it got rolling I was hooked. I saw some of the twists coming up but it still had a fun eerie vibe that was more about dread than discovering who did it.

A great thriller that had a lot of unexpected twist. I enjoyed following Claire through her journey as she learned about herself, her family history, and others caught in the crossfire of Galloway farm.

Claire Campbell has been dodging her parents since she moved out -ever since her sister Natalie vanished 22 years ago. When her dad calls her back home, Claire plunges into what feels like full-immersion therapy, facing her family issues head-on.

On a whim, she lands a seasonal job at Galloway Farm -the same vineyard where Natalie worked before she disappeared. What starts off as a nostalgic, breezy gig quickly becomes weirdly creepy. Claire stumbles across a hidden diary in her guest cottage -written by Marcia, one of her hosts and owners of the vineyard. Sure, snooping seems shady, but I couldn’t blame Claire -it drew me in too

The dual timelines - Claire’s present and Marcia’s past - mesh beautifully. As Marcia’s diary entries unravel secrets and unsolved crimes, Claire races headfirst into her sister’s disappearance. It’s a classic “how far will you go for the truth?” question, and Willingham answers it with twist after delicious twist.

I was invested in Claire’s journey, rooting for her to find Natalie alive after all these years. And Willingham’s ending? Just the right balance: not so tidy that it feels forced, but not so loose that it leaves you hanging. It landed.

I’m giving Forget Me Not 4 out of 5 stars—it was a gripping, layered mystery that had me turning pages at midnight and piecing together puzzles from two timelines.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Forget Me Not was the first of Stacy Willingham's titles that I read, but I will certainly be on the lookout for more in the future. This one was twisty and kept me on edge from the start.
Recommended for purchase by the Scottsboro Public Library.