I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Stacy Willingham's books. Some I enjoyed while others I DNF. This latest book was thankfully one that kept my interest. Overall, I am satisfied with the conclusion and the buildup throughout. The pacing was spot on and I would try her next book when it does come out.

Of all Stacy Willingham’s thrillers this is by far my favorite! In “Forget Me Not” we follow Claire Campbell, who’s sister Natalie disappeared 22 years ago, as she decides to get a summer job at the farm her sister once worked at right before her disappearance. While working on the farm, Claire begins to discover some suspicious things about the owners and their connection to Natalie thanks to a hidden diary she finds. The longer Claire stays at the farm, the more she realizes there are sinister things at play involving not only her sister but other missing women as well. I’ll start by saying I loved the setting of this story. The way the author described the farm and the southern setting really put me in the book. The plot itself was also great and I liked that we got a little more mystery and whodunnit action than the typical thriller. There’s an odd “romance” subplot happening that I didn’t necessarily love, especially because the guy is kind of a jerk, but it’s a very,very small part of the book and not overly distracting. Overall, this was one of the best thrillers I’ve read that’s releasing this year and highly recommend to other Stacy Willingham lovers!

Claire hasn’t returned to her small South Carolina hometown in 22 years, not since her sister’s disappearance. When an event brings her back home, and she takes a temporary job at a local vineyard, the last place her sister was seen, unanswered questions start to resurface. Then she finds a hidden diary, and everything begins to unravel.

This was good! Just when you thought you knew the twists, it got twistier with a mega full circle moment at the end. Willingham's writing kept me locked in, and I totally loved the vineyard setting.

3.75 stars--

I flew through this book-- in a good way! I think that Stacy Willingham is a good writer, and I have enjoyed some of her other books. This one, though, felt a little rushed. The connections among and between the characters felt far-fetched. A group like The Farm is interesting, and I would have liked more time with Claire's mom's side of the story. Overall, though, this book moves quickly. The pacing is good for some of the disbelief that needs to be suspended. There are a lot of books out like this right now, and this isn't going to be among the best.

This is a slow burn Southern thriller that slowly creeps under your skin and stays there until the turn of the last page.

The story follows Claire Campbell, a down on her luck journalist, who returns to her home town after 15 years. Her older sister was murdered and her parents divorced, so she left and never wanted to return, until her mother’s accident brought her back. Her mother wasn’t too welcoming so Claire took on a job at Galloway Farm in exchange for room and board. What she discovers here will bring up some long buried memories and push Claire to investigate her sister’s death.

As the story peels back the layers of her family’s history, Claire’s memory reawakens and secrets are revealed.

With the quick pace, well-rounded characters and brilliant ending, this book is a definite winner. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this 5-star book.

I was very excited to get a copy of this book on NetGalley to read and review. I was hooked immediately when I started reading this book. I enjoyed how the book alternated between past and present and there were so many twists and turns. The book kept me on the edge of my seat without being too scary (which I really appreciate!). I wasn't sure until the very end what was going to happen. Anything Stacy writes is automatically a must read for me.

I have read every single book of Stacy Willingham’s and enjoyed them all! This was no different. I love the flow of her writing style. Her descriptions help me to imagine I am there! I love short chapters ❤️ The characters have strength and personality. This book is dual timeline: the 80’s and the present. It will perfectly unfold right before your eyes. It is a sloooowburn!

Claire is an adult whose sister went missing 22 years ago. Natalie was 18 and Claire was 11 when Natalie went missing. During this time Claire was dealing with her parents also getting a divorce. Shortly after she went missing Natalie’s blood was found in the car of an older man she was seen with. He is charged and convicted of her murder. Case closed? Or is it? In the present day Claire returns home to visit her mother and starts a job at Galloway Farms. She feels a connection to Natalie there. Was there more to the story?

This book has it all: secrets, lies, betrayal, powerful relationships and so much more. Each chapter dropped a new morsel of information and I enjoyed it from start to finish. This is the perfect read!

I like Stacy Willingham's books so much that she is an auto-buy for me - if she wrote it, I will read it! This story is mysterious and tragic. We are following Claire and she spends the summer 'getting it together' and also trying to figure out what happened to her sister, Natalie, so long ago. And there there is the mysterious diary she finds in the guest house! What's up between Mitchell and Martha? And, is Claire safe around them?

Willingham’s Forget Me Not had me completely hooked from chapter two—I literally couldn’t put it down. This psychological thriller delivers relentless pacing and kept me guessing until the very end. What makes this more than just entertainment is how it tackles heavy themes like gender inequality, poverty, and teenage vulnerability. Willingham shows how isolation and lack of support systems make young people easy targets for manipulation and predatory behavior. It’s both a gripping page-turner and an eye-opening look at social issues. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

**spoiler alert** This review is based on an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review This review may contain spoilers.

Quite honestly, I’ve been burnt out on thrillers for a while. After reading so many, it’s easy to start predicting exactly where the twist will land—or to spot it from a mile away. It’s been a long time since a thriller genuinely kept me guessing while still laying the proper foundation for a twist. But Forget Me Not reminded me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place.

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I couldn’t put this book down. I read more than half in a single day because I had to know what was going to happen next. Every time I thought I had it figured out—whether it was a cult theory or a plot reveal I was 100% certain about—I was wrong. But not in a frustrating way. The story never relied on shock value or random twists. Everything was earned and well thought out while still taking you in unexpected directions.

What really stood out, beyond the mystery, was the emotional depth. Claire's journey from grief and isolation to strength and clarity gave the story real weight. I also loved the inclusion of Marcia’s diary entries. The dual timeline added layers to the mystery and made the final reveals even more impactful.

I’ve enjoyed several of Stacy Willingham’s books, but Forget Me Not might be my favorite yet. It struck that rare balance of suspense and substance, and I’ve already recommended it to several thriller-loving friends. If you’re looking for a smart, surprising, and emotionally grounded mystery, this one is a must-read.

Claire Campbell is haunted by her missing and presumed sister Natalie. She quits her job as a reporter in New York City and heads home to South Carolina when her mom breaks her leg. The family reunion is short lived but stirs up long buried emotions around her sister. Claire decides to stay in the area to try and understand what happened the summer she was 11 and her older sister went missing. What she stumbles upon is a multi-layered decades old mystery.

I sped through this book. The mystery felt fresh and was a perfect summer read. I will be reading all of Stacy Willingham’s books thanks to Forget Me Not. My newest favorite author!

Claire Campbell, an investigative journalist in New York, returns to her childhood home in South Carolina when her mother is injured. Haunted by the unsolved disappearance of her older sister Natalie 22 years earlier—which was presumed closed after blood was found and a suspect arrested—Claire reluctantly accepts a summer job at Galloway Farm, the same vineyard where Natalie worked before vanishing. On the farm, Claire uncovers an old diary belonging to Marcia Galloway, one of the vineyard’s owners. What begins as a nostalgic glimpse into the past quickly deepens into a chilling exploration of unsolved crimes, secrets, and possibly a connection to her sister’s disappearance. This was a well-written, bingeable thriller that I absolutely loved. Stacy Willingham creates a hauntingly atmospheric Southern setting—think isolated vineyards, slow summers turned eerie, and moody ambiance—that instantly pulls you in.

YES! This is everything I want in a psychological thriller. The premise is engaging, all the characters are well-developed beyond the superficial descriptions, and the twists and turns are organic and unexpected.

I have previously read A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham, and Forget Me Not is definitely my favorite. I was captivated from the very first pages as it felt very reminiscent to Missing: Carrie Phillips, Age 15 by Janet Dagon which was one of my favorite books growing up. I have been searching for that same feeling from psychological thrillers as an adult, and I finally found it! Not only did I care about Claire and the ripple effects of her sisters disappearance on her life, but I also cared about Natalie, Claire's missing sister, and the rest of the family as well. I wanted to know the intricacies of how this highly traumatic event affected all of them and their family dynamics. The dual timelines also allowed me to feel connected with other periphery characters as well which led me to finishing this book within 24 hours.

My favorite part of Forget Me Not is that every time I thought I had it all figured out, Stacy threw in another twist or connection I didn't see coming. I am always ecstatic when an author can surprise me as I don't feel it happens very often. Being able to surprise readers is a balancing act as you want the plot twists to feel organic without being super obvious, and Stacy does this with a precision that is enviable.

Forget Me Not is a must read thriller perfect for your summer TBR.

It was like I was a tool in the hands of the Devil”.
Susan Atkins, on
Charles Manson,
1976

Any book that begins with a quote by Susan Atkins has my attention, so I was immediately drawn to Stacy Willingham’s upcoming novel, Forget Me Not.

An investigative journalist, Claire Campbell has lost her job and is adrift when she is called back to her childhood home in South Carolina. A home filled with memories of the summer her sister, Natalie was murdered twenty years ago. Soon after she arrives she finds cache of photos and a roll of undeveloped film hidden in her sister’s room. A need to understand the events of that fateful time lead Claire to a job at the muscadine farm where Natalie spent much of that final summer.

This book started out as slowly and languidly a hot summer day as we follow Claire in her sister’s footsteps at Galloway. With its mysterious inhabitants, what at first feels like a bucolic escape soon morphs into a fevre dream nightmare as she discovers the cult like remnants of that long ago summer.

While I wish this book had gotten going a bit faster, I realize Willingham was luring me into it- creating an atmosphere of timelessness and dread that felt as suffocating as the S.C. humidity. I am glad I stuck with it because when it does pick up, I was firmly caught in the grasp of Galloway. This book has a lot of layers to excavate in both the present and the diarist timeline of the past. I guessed one of the major twists early on but there were some I didn’t see coming. Willingham is one of the best thriller writers of recent years. Her books are dark and take me to unexpected places and this is one that I think will linger with me for some time.

This was my first read by Stacy Willingham!

When Claire Campbell decides to take a summer job to try and find out what happened to her sister, Natalie, who disappeared twenty-two years earlier at Galloway Farms, she's begins to unravel the past with clues left in a hidden diary!

This book moved along quickly and kept my interest with the twists and turns that I didn't see coming! I'd highly recommend reading this book!

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

What happens a Galloway, stays at Galloway...

This one had me guessing until the end, which I love and only a good mystery will have. Very well written and was full of character development. The plot twist on this was a stumper and not what I was expecting at all.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed and will be recommending to others!

Such an interesting premise that is so easy to jump right into. Stacy's prose is so evocative and compelling. There are really incredible twists and turns that you will absolutely not see coming!! Highly recommend this book.

I’ve enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s previous books.. I was so excited to read her new one! I enjoyed this book as well, Claire moves away after her sister disappeared. She moves back after her father calls. What she finds and discovers when she gets home makes a great story!

4.5 stars. What a wild ride! This book had me hooked from the beginning til the end. In the book, a woman whose sister passed years ago, finds herself back in the same location her sister was before her disappearance. Uncovering a hidden diary, the secrets and mystery of this place and the people in it spill out, leading her to investigate and uncover the truth. I absolutely loved the mystery and suspense, leaving me guessing and discovering the truth along with the main character. Highly recommend.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

With a butter-smooth opening and smart, early plot jolts, readers will be drawn into Forget Me Not from the jump.

Claire, our narrator-protagonist and homicide reporter explains, "My parents have never understood why I do what I do, the fact that I marinate in murder for forty hours a week." As tenacious as a junkyard dog, but a realistic character with believable emotions and reactions, Claire is the perfect vessel for this mystery.

Pacing alternates from frenetic to pensive and revelations dug up about the past influence the progressively sinister current-day story. Flashbacks are retold in present tense, a brilliant technique, and even the sharpest reader will guess 'zigs' for some 'zags'. Suspense and surprise are essential to the story and Willingham executes both deftly. The plot is served by innovative applications of 1980's era photography, and modern phone technology, masterfully.

Only 5% battery left on the iphone/flashlight! Do I try and get myself out of this horrific situation or explore further? These and other mystery are solved to satisfaction. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a review copy.