You’ve read the book’s blurb and maybe by now you recognize the author’s name. Yet for some reason, you’re reading this review to see if you should read her book. Stop reading the reviews and go get the book, already! Stacy Willingham knows how to write a thriller. Even when her audience recognizes she’s a master craftsman at a good twist or sharp turn in her storytelling, we will still gasp in delight as the tale unfolds in a new and revealing way. Expect no less from Forget Me Not.

Claire Campbell returns to her hometown to care for her injured mother, only to face the past she tried so hard to leave behind. Twenty-two years ago, Claire’s older sister Natalie disappeared and was presumed dead. While the case was closed and a man is currently serving time for the crime, Claire never felt she knew the truth in her sister disappearance. After years of living away, being home again brings up all the painful memories. With time on her hands, Claire decides to retrace that fateful summer by taking a job at a local vineyard where her sister worked. This decision will draw her deeper into the mysteries of the past. Stacy Willingham weaves a compelling narrative exploring the themes of loss, memories and the haunting draw of unanswered questions.

*Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press |Minotaur Books for sharing the advanced digital edition of this book. This is my honest review.

“The silence around me so heavy and charged it feels like a physical thing, thick and meaty”

A darkly Southern thriller, fronted by an impulsive and somewhat unpredictable heroine, with more than a few surprises up its sleeve.

Claire Campbell, a not-very-successful reporter, is thirty-three years old, and is finding life even more difficult as a now freelance journalist in New York City. Still reeling from the loss of her older sister, Natalie, twenty-two years ago, Claire has also never resolved her relationship with her distant and fiercely-independent mother and has only one “close” friend to speak of — Ryan, a former colleague, who is nonetheless someone Claire still keeps at arms length, and is not averse to telling the occasional whopper of a lie to.

When an unlucky turn forces her back home to assist her mother in South Carolina, Claire finds herself confronting her traumatic past, along with handsome Liam, and some additional creepy characters occupying Galloway, a cult-like farm and commercial vineyard based in the rural outskirts of her home town.

When Claire uncovers a hidden diary set in the year 1983, past and present begin to collide, as secrets tantalizingly unfold and life, as Claire knows it, is forever changed. Told now in alternating timelines, as Claire (in the present), and the diary-writer (in a voice based forty-odd years ago) tell their stories, Claire’s search for answers soon results in a complex and sinister outpouring of evil, that quickly becomes more than a little dangerous for all of those it touches.

An interesting read with perhaps an overly meandering pace followed then by one quick closing twist too many, the story kept this reader mostly hooked, right up to the resulting final wallop of surprises — only a few of which this reader guessed beforehand.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

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This book was so twisty! I’ve loved all of Stacy’s book & this one was just a good as her others. Everyone add this to your tbr asap!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!!

I was really drawn into this story from the beginning, but once Claire returns to her childhood home with her mom, the pace completely stalled. The overly ornate, flowery writing style often took me out of the narrative. A decent slow burn mystery, but not my favorite from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!
WOW! I have always enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s books and this was no different! At times I had to slow down and reread or process things because the timeline jumped around some. That was my only dislike out of the entire book! The ending! Man! There were several twists and surprises I hadn’t expected! Highly recommended!

A very isolated farm on a small island off the coast of SC is the setting for this slow burn but very engaging story about Claire, a young woman searching for not only clues about a sister who disappeared as a teenager 20 years earlier but also for what she wants in life. The cult-like atmosphere of the island, the strange people who are on the farm and the mysterious diary that Claire finds makes you want Claire to run, but of course there wouldn’t be an engaging mystery with some very surprising twists if she just left and returned to her old life

This book had a strong premise and so much potential—it just took a while to really tap into it. I found myself interested in the setup, but the pacing in the first half dragged a bit too long for my taste. It wasn’t until much later in the book that the real mystery elements started to come together and pull me in.

That said, once it got going, I did enjoy the twists and the eerie, unsettling atmosphere Stacy Willingham is so good at creating. Her writing has a way of making you second-guess what you think you know, and I appreciated the emotional depth layered into the suspense.

Overall, this was a solid read, just not as gripping from the start as I had hoped

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Another book with journal aspects I love it. I'm a big fan of this author and this didn't miss. I love new york and vineyards so it just seemed like the perfect setting for family drama and discoveries. I kind of feel like the journal should have maybe been 1st person instead of how it was but im not the author. I really like this a lot.

Slow burn mystery and thriller. It kept my attention but definitely a slow burn. Different than anything else I have read with some interesting aspects that kept me guessing.

Super fun thriller! The key plotline was slightly predictable, however, there were some great twists that I didn't see coming. I There were a few minor plot points in the ending that felt a bit unresolved, and the book could've benefited from another ~20-30 pages to tie everything out..
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!

Well developed characters. I felt like some of the characters were just there to get the plot along and be better as passive characters. Anyways, it was an interesting premise. I had fun trying to figure out who did what and why.

3.5 missing sister stars

Can you ever get past losing a sibling? Claire’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared more than 20 years ago in South Carolina. Even though an arrest was made and a man is in jail, Claire has never forgotten her sister.

Claire now works as a journalist in New York and has been summoned back to her childhood home to help her recently injured mother. The two aren’t close, and Claire finds she just can’t stay with her. A chance visit to the last place her sister worked, Galloway Farm, results in a seasonal job offer, and Claire decides to give it a shot since she’s now working freelance.

Things are odd at the Farm, and the author’s writing vividly describes the setting. It is an eerie place, and Claire discovers a hidden old diary that occupies her time. Could this have anything to do with Natalie and what happened to her all those years ago?

It takes a while for all the pieces to come together, and I feared for Claire’s safety! There were times I wanted to jump into the book and tell her to be careful and not make unsafe choices! There were plenty of twists in this one that kept me guessing.

Overall, it is an enjoyable read, but the prose is sometimes too descriptive, and it feels slow in a few places. I'm still game to read this author's next book!

Solid thriller! I read the first part and then put it down for a while, which means it didn't quite get me super invested in how it would turn out, but once I got to the end I was pretty hooked. I enjoyed the chapters that depicted the events of Marcia's diary, and I loved the twists at the end.

Clare Campbell's entire life has been cast into the shadow of her older sister's disappearance 22 years ago. She fled the memories and darkness by moving to NYC and becoming an investigative reporter. When her mother is injured she returns to South Carolina for the summer. Deciding to follow in her sister's footsteps she takes a temporary job at Gallaway Farm where her sister was last seen. She stumbles upon a journal written by the owner's wife in her youth whose entries seem sinister and haunting. In the isolated setting she begins to suspect ties to not only her sister's fate but other unsolved crimes. Can she stay a step ahead of the shadows? I found this novel to be atmospheric and edgy. Clare is a well developed character although I did not find her particularly relatable. The supporting cast were also well drawn and the twists when they proved to be not who I had expected were deftly executed. I have not read this author before although I was aware of solid reviews of her earlier works. The landscape and setting of Gallowy farm was a character in itself through out the story contributing to the eerie vibe. This was an entertaining entry in the Southern thriller category with its domestic suspense and family trauma themes. An engaging entertaining read.

OMGOSH THIS BOOK! I stayed up until 4am reading this thing. I just could not sleep. I couldn't focus on anything but this book. This is such an interesting book because I definitely guessed some of the things happening and I was surprised that our main character didn't guess but there were still a few surprises and character twists. It was WONDERFUL. I loved this book so much.

Claire returns home to South Carolina to help her mom out after fifteen years of being away. She doesn’t usually make a point to visit since nothing has felt right here since her sister Natalie disappeared during childhood. She’s struck with the thought of returning being a mistake as she immediately feels tension with her mother and decides to take up a job tending to a vineyard…the same vineyard her sister worked at that summer before her disappearance. Once on the job Claire realizes the owners are very strange, and she’s intent on figuring out what their story is.

Stacy Willingham writes some of my favorite thrillers! I read this book in about two sittings, there was simply no time to stop. Forget Me Not is full of eerie tension and atmospheric writing that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this arc! Pick up Forget Me Not when it publishes August 26 📚 and if you can’t wait that long pick up one of her already published thrillers! I’ve loved them all.

This was solid! More of a mystery than a thriller. 3.5 stars.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of summer in the South. While the plot/conclusion was satisfying, I found the pacing a little slow/underwhelming. The premise really feels like a romcom with some cold cases tossed in: struggling writer is forced to return to her home town and take a quaint, rustic job. There isn't really "rom," though. I kept not being sure if the guy-left-back-in-NYC was a friend or something more. We had the hot local Southern guy, but again, I was never quite sure of their dynamic.

It felt like no matter what was going on, it was a bit murky and people's reactions were strange. Like, every single character. Claire was often giving dumb girl in the horror movie who keeps walking straight into danger without good reason/internal acknowledgment.

I wish the diary portions would've been first person. If anything, I would've preferred the diary to be first person and the present-day portion to be third. But my top choice would both being first. I don't think it would've been confusing.

All in all, I still found the overall story satisfying by the end. I was ready to read a bit more every day until I finished it. I read so many thrillers it's a little difficult for any to feel fresh. But I would read more from this author despite my complaints.

⚠️ Content Warnings ⚠️
Spice level: None
Graphic: Murder, blood, adult/minor relationship, being drugged
Moderate: Gun violence, pregnancy

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham was creepy goodness at its best. After Claire's older sister Natalie disappeared, she wanted nothing more than to leave her small town behind. Now after losing her job in the big city, she is back to help her mom. Claire has always felt unwanted by her mom and escapes to a farm where her sister used to work for the summer.

Working on the farm she feels isolated and tries to draw closer to the home's inhabitants. But are these people really who they appear to be? The house and property are crawling with secrets; will Claire uncover what the last days of her sister's life were like on this farm? Will this be Claire's last summer?

Thank you Stacy and NetGalley for letting me get my eyes on this early.

4.5⭐️

What a fantastic ride! I am not normally a thriller girlie but this story had me hooked.

We follow the life of Claire, a journalist, as she navigates dealing with her sister's murder years after it happens. She returns home to heal and find closure only to be thrown back into the midst of the trauma and mystery surrounding her sister's case. What she finds is shocking. There are so many twists and turns in the last 1/3 of this book. I thought I had it all figured out but there were 3 surprises that blew my mind. Will definitely be reading more from Stacy in the future.

I did enjoy this book! I can’t say it’s one of my favorites but it did keep me interested and engaged for the most part!