Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big Stacy Willingham fan and absolutely could not wait to read this one! There is a lot to unpack in this book; a slow burn start (in a good way) with a fast paced and super twisty finish!

Throughout the entire book there was a dark and eerie vibe that truly vibrated right off the pages! Set to the background of the isolation of the farm, it really gave the scenery so much weight, but here it worked! You know a cold case mystery always needs a dual timeline; here it was our FMC in present day juxtaposed with the past timeline of journal entries. The journal entries were told in 3rd person POV to transport you right into the epicenter of the time when it would’ve been written, adding even more suspense. The isolation of the farm was very haunting and added to the overall atmospheric vibe!

The character development and depth was greatly appreciated and the plot was just so twisty, you’ll have to read it for yourself  I also am here for the cult-like plot of the farm and how one single man could have so much lure-power.

Add this to your TBR if you love: murder mysteries, cold cases, domestic suspense, family drama, small town, missing girls, trauma, guilt, identity.

5/5!!!!!

I could not put Forget Me Not down! Claire is a woman who recently quit her journalist job after not receiving a promotion. She is in a crossroads of seeking closure of her sister went missing twenty two years ago. Claire returns to her hometown to visit her mom. Claire finds a trail of clues that lead her to finding the truth of what happened twenty two years ago. I enjoyed the alternate flashback layers and the depth of this novel. It really grips the reader!

I am not a thriller or mystery girl by any means, but I am obsessed w Stacy Willingham books. This is absolutely her best yet. No I’m serious I devoured this thing and loved every second. I stopped at 92% to even DM her on Instagram to share my love for this book.

This was an emotional page-turner complete with a hidden diary, an isolated location in an old vineyard, and a suspicious, creepy owner. The grief of the protagonist was powerful, allowing the reader to feel the true weight of the loss of her sister and the effects it had on everyone around her. This story had so many layers to it, so many little details and secrets that when everything was untangled, I couldn't help but be in awe of this author's writing. I am always impressed when there are so many moving parts that slowly weave their way together, all fitting perfectly into their slots by the end. The characters were fully dimensional, and the pacing held the perfect momentum. This will be a great summer read, and I give it four stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I really liked this book. It had a great pace and kept my attention the entire book. I did guess part of what was going to happen but it didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

*Forget Me Not* was my first foray into Stacy Willingham’s storytelling, and I’m absolutely hooked. What a thrilling ride! From the very first chapter, I was swept into a world of secrets, shadows, and simmering tension. Willingham’s writing is razor-sharp and immersive—balancing rich atmosphere with a sense of creeping dread that made it impossible to put the book down.

The story follows Claire Campbell, a journalist haunted by the decades-old disappearance of her sister. When she returns to her hometown, she’s reluctantly drawn into a fresh mystery that mirrors her past. The narrative pulses with emotional depth, peeling back layers of grief, guilt, and long-buried truths. Claire is the kind of flawed, tenacious protagonist you can’t help but root for.

What really stood out to me was the setting—lush, mysterious, and tinged with Southern Gothic charm, making it a perfect summer read. The vineyard setting became its own kind of mystery, both intoxicating and claustrophobic. And that ending? Still echoing in my mind.

If this is your first Willingham novel too, prepare yourself—you’ll want more. I can’t wait to dive into the rest of her work.

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Want to tweak it even further or give it a specific star rating? We can keep polishing till it’s just right.

This one was definitely intriguing. Kept me interested for sure but I didn’t have that big satisfactory ending that I usually get from this author. But I love her books and I will absolutely keep reading.

Stacy Willingham does it again! I’ve read all of her books, and each one reminds me why I fell in love with southern thrillers in the first place. There’s something about the heat, the history, and the haunting tension she builds that pulls you right in.

In Forget Me Not, we follow Claire as she returns to an abandoned vineyard—once home to her sister’s brief employment, and now the site of long-buried secrets. The setting simmers with atmosphere, and as the layers peel back, so do generations of tangled family ties.

I usually reserve my Kindle reads for lunch breaks or quiet evenings, but this story had me fully hooked. I abandoned all other physical reads just to see how it ended.

Five stars from this librarian—with just the right amount of Southern Gothic shimmer. Already asked our circulation supervisor to add it to the collection! 🖤

I really enjoyed Forget Me Not! Stacy Willingham delivers another gripping psychological thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. The mystery was layered and twisty, with just the right amount of suspense and emotional depth. I especially liked how the story explored memory, trust, and the complexities of sisterhood. If you’re a fan of dark, immersive thrillers with strong female leads, this one’s definitely worth picking up

Stacy Willingham is a new favorite author for me! Each book she writes just completely shakes me. It’s incredible to end a book and not want it be done.

The book had a lot of potential to be an atmospheric thriller but fell flat. I wish the characters had been a bit more developed- i didnt feel any connection to them. There also could have been more descriptions of the farm or the island, i never felt immersed. the plot had a lot of potential to be super interesting but again fell flat due to lack of development.

I love Stacy Willingham’s writing is so easy to get into and so easy to get lost in. This was a great slow burn mystery. The main character as a bit infuriating at times but isn’t that the case for many books? A bit slow but worth the wait for the ending. The book goes back and forth between different timelines but Stacy does it well. Stacy Willingham never disappoints me.

3.5 stars. Very captivating mystery. Sad too. The diary stuff seemed dumb at first but revealed so much about the past. Claire, however, was very one dimensional. Every other character was more interesting than her. I’d definitely recommend this to mystery lovers. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

Forget Me Not is the 4th book by Stacy Willingham and I was a big fan of her prior three books. But this book didn’t quite work for me.
Claire left Clayton SC twenty years ago after the disappearance and presumed murder of her elder sister. Now, having quit her job as a journalist for a NYC paper, she returns home, ostensibly to help out her mother after an accident. But within a day, on a whim, she’s taken a job at a farm/vineyard several hours away, a place her sister worked right before her disappearance.
The book has all the typical tropes of a psychological thriller - the MC is out of work and has a traumatic past, the lack of connection with the outside world, secretive, weird owners and a mysterious diary found. I found the beginning to be sluggish and boring. By the 30% mark, I was skimming pages. The tension started to pick up about the 50% mark, but it was all still pretty predictable. The ending didn’t quite hold together and relied on some stretches of imagination.
Claire is a decent main character, but there wasn’t anything unique about her. In fact, that’s my biggest gripe about this book. I felt like it had all been done before.
One thing that threw me off was why was the diary written in the third person. While it started in the first person, “I met a boy” it quickly turns to the third person POV. This just seemed like something an editor should have picked up on.
While this was just an okay story for me, I’ll definitely check out what Willingham writes next.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham has all the makings of a knockout thriller: a long-missing sister, a moody Southern backdrop, and a journalist barely holding it together. Sounds promising, right? And yet…I was bored out of my mind. Sure, there are twists—but they all show up fashionably late in the last quarter. For some readers, this slow-burn will hit hard. For me, it just kind of flickered. So much potential, so little payoff.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham is a haunting, atmospheric thriller that hooked me from page one. This was my first book by Stacy, and it won’t be my last!

The writing is stunning, the setting eerie, and the characters feel so real it’s honestly unsettling—especially since one (or more) might be a killer.

Willingham crafts a world that feels chillingly real—one where trauma, memory, and trust unravel against a backdrop of possible murder. Claire, a journalist shaped by past trauma, returns home to care for her injured mother and ends up unraveling long-buried secrets surrounding her sister’s disappearance.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Don’t skip the trigger warnings—and don’t miss this book when it releases on 8/26!

Thank you Net galley for this arc.
Forget Me Not—it’s one of those books that creeps under your skin in the best way. Stacy Willingham has a real talent for writing women who feel layered and deeply human, and the main character in this one absolutely delivered. Her grief, her doubt, the lingering trauma—it all felt so real. I loved being inside her head, even when it was uncomfortable.

The pacing was steady but never slow, and the Southern setting added an eerie, humid tension that made everything feel more claustrophobic. I had a few of the twists figured out early, but it didn’t bother me because the emotional payoff still hit. It wasn’t about the “shock” as much as the slow unraveling of truth, and that worked for me.

This isn’t just a thriller—it’s about memory, sisterhood, and how the past refuses to stay buried. A moody, atmospheric read that left me unsettled in the best way. 4.25 stars—Willingham keeps getting better.

Claire Campbell escaped to the city years ago in hopes of leaving her traumatic past behind, but it never really left her completely. It has always been there, in the back of her mind, or in her dreams, reminding her that she will never fully be able to let it go. At least not until she knows the real truth...

Forget Me Not is a haunting story of a woman who lost everything years ago and is now on the road to finding the answers she has always longed for. Not really knowing what happened to her sister has been something that is has haunted her, the unanswered questions, all the things that don't add up and no one there to offer up the truth. She left town thinking it was the best thing to do at the time, but now she knows differently.

When her father calls her home she is hesitant to go, because of what awaits her, but it might also be the best thing to happen to her in weeks. What she finds waiting for her just might be the one thing that will give her what she's craved to know all along. It's a journey that will heal, hurt, but bring her much needed peace.

This book did me in!! It captured my attention from it's opening lines and didn't let go until long after the last page found me and even then I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was an addiction I had a hard time shaking. If you are looking for a suspenseful summer read to lose yourself in, you HAVE to pick this one up!!! It's words will grab ahold of you and not let go!!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was creepy!

Fresh out of a job, Claire, who is still grieving the loss of her sister after 22 years, accepts a seasonal job at Galloway Farm. The farm may seem beautiful, but the lore runs deep and Claire is about to discover some very eerie secrets and that she's been tangled in a web of lies.

This was a decent thriller. It had a slow start and I feel like the punch was all packed up in the last few chapters. I did enjoy alternating between the present and Marcia's POV from the diaries, it made for a unique storytelling experience.

This book leaned more towards mystery with a slight thriller vibe. It kept me entertained and I was surprised by the ending. Definitely recommend. Thanks NetGalley for the arc.