This is an intricate mystery. I had some of it figured out but for the most part it kept me guessing. Very descriptive prose and great premise. I almost felt like I needed a spreadsheet to keep everyone straight at the end but it was a good payoff.

Stacy Willingham does not miss a detail in this captivating thriller! The tale she weaves is bloody brilliant!

Stacy Willingham can do no wrong! I absolutely loved Forget Me Not—I couldn’t put it down. Packed with unexpected twists and turns, it keeps you hooked until the very end. While it might feel a bit long to some, trust me, it’s worth every page! I’ll be recommending this to everyone!

For some reason I haven’t been reading as fast as I used to (not that anyone cares), but I did end up enjoying this one. It wasn’t my favorite Willingham book to date, but after last year’s “Only If You’re Lucky”, which wasn’t a favorite of mine, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. This story kept me turning the pages, and I was eager to find out how this story ended.

In this story, we have Claire, who gets a call from her estranged father that her mother could use some help back home. Out of work, and struggling financially and a bit personally, she decides to travel from New York City back to her small town home, which she hasn’t been back to in fifteen years. Once home, Claire has to face her traumatic past, and the realization that her mother doesn’t even want her there…

To get away from her childhood home, Claire takes a drive to Galloway Farm, where her older sister Natalie used to work 22 years ago, before she disappeared. Once Claire arrives at Galloway Farm, she is offered a job, and accepts this position to stay in the guesthouse. Once inside, she finds a diary, and throughout the pages of this diary she finds some disturbing facts that just aren’t settling right with Claire. In fact, some of the contents of this diary are very concerning and disturbing. Will Claire ever uncover the truth about the disappearance of her missing sister? Is Galloway Farm a safe space for Claire?

While some things were easy to figure out in this story, there were a few twists that I didn’t see coming. So overall, I did enjoy this story and I do recommend reading this. I am also looking forward to Willingham’s next book!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and the author for a DRC of this book in which I had the pleasure of reading.
Publication date: August 26, 2025
Genre~ Mystery & Thriller, General Fiction (adult)

Stacy Willingham has never disappointed me. I absolutely love her writing style—it's concise without being bare, and the chapters are short enough to keep the pace moving. Her books are always easy and quick to read, which is a huge plus. This particular story stood out with a unique plot and a twist I definitely didn't see coming.

After Claire Cambell’s older sister Natalie disappeared some twenty-two years ago, Claire has refused to return to her childhood home and the town she grew up in. Not only has she refused to return home, but she has avoided dealing with the many emotions that go along with the loss of her sister and the impact it’s had on the relationship with her parents.

After leaving her job and seemingly going nowhere, Claire reluctantly returns to her childhood home to help her mother out after an accident. Claire finds herself with a job at a local vineyard that her older sister Natalie had also worked at shortly before she went missing. Claire begins uncovering some dark connections and circumstances that leave her wondering if maybe the answers to her sister’s disappearance are closer than she thought.

This was SUCH a good read—Stacy Willingham does it again! A huge thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my review! You can find Forget Me Not on shelves near you on its pub date of August 26th, 2025!

#StacyWillingham #ForgetMeNot #netgalley #ARCreader #2025reads

I completely loved Forget Me Not and couldn't put it down. It was a great story about a girl, Claire, who finally goes home to help her mother, but gets embroiled in solving the mystery of her sister's disappearance 22 years earlier. Willingham weaves a nicely complex plot as Claire discovers little by little what happened not only to her sister but to others long ago. This is a great page turner!

Stacy Willingham does it again. She has a way of masterfully crafting a very atmospheric story that sucks you right in. Clair is at a crossroads in her career as an investigative journalist in New York. She hasn’t been to her childhood home in South Carolina for over 20 years. Her sister was murdered when Clair was only 11 years old, and Clair couldn’t wait to get as far away from her past as possible. An opportunity arises for her to return home and while there she comes across things in her sister’s belongings that has her digging deeper into what really happened. She stumbles across a domineering man with cult-like behavior, a woman totally mesmerized with him and a cast of other followers all laid out in a diary that she has found. The pacing of this book was spot on, and it kept me wanting more.

Thank you to NetGalley & Minotaur Books for an advanced eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you NetGalley & Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Forget Me Not is a syrupy slow mystery (I slightly hesitate to call it a thriller) that follows Claire, a recently unemployed journalist who finds herself back in her home town. With no real direction to her life, she finds herself drawn to the farm where her sister worked her last summer before she was murdered.

I am kind of conflicted about this book. All of Stacy Willingham's previous stories were a solid 4.5 stars for me. This one, for me, dragged. Her style hasn't changed at all, so I can't quite tell you what it was that had me slogging through the initial part of the book. Maybe it was that I never quite felt any urgency to the story.

I felt like this was a solid 3 star book until around the 50% mark, where the story picked up a lot more, and I found myself drawn into the mystery and intrigue of Galloway Farm.

With the last 50-60% being a much more interesting story, I'm rounding my 3.5 star up to a 4 because I do really like Willingham's ability to weave such myopic details into such a larger plot. The "gotcha!" at the end of her stories always seem wild until all the little pieces click into place and it makes perfect sense.

Considering I've loved every other story she's written, I am happy to have read this one, and will pick up whatever she writes next, as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

I've read other books by Willingham, and they're a great recommendation for folks who like suspense novels. This wasn't my favorite, as it moved pretty slowly at the beginning and I wasn't sure where the tale would go. It got better in the second half, although I feel like the main character should have seen all the signs that there was something mysterious about the property and family she was with, so I doubted why she would stay. Most of the action was near the end and that's where the story got really good. I enjoyed the twists and turns there.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Claire hasn’t been home in years, so this trip has the potential to be the disaster she’s been avoiding. Claire knows she’s walking back into memories of her sister’s mysterious death, her parents’ split, and more trauma she’s tried to put behind her. Starting with a box of her sister’s photos and then visiting old places that were important to her, Claire uses this trip to remember details about her sister’s life while disconnecting from her own troubles back home in the big city. Will she finally get information on what happened to her sister, or will Claire end up another victim?

Stacy Willingham is back with her latest thriller Forget Me Not, following a journalist who returns home on a mission to uncover what happened to her sister years ago. Known for her acclaimed works A Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things, Willingham expertly weaves interpersonal conflict and mystery to build a novel that will keep readers on the edge of their seats! Currently residing in Charleston, Willingham utilizes her knowledge of the local area to deliver beautifully written scenes, bringing the landscape and scenes to life off the page. This is a story about the dangers of keep secrets, but, more importantly, the power of family ties.

I give Forget Me Not 4 out of 5 stars. Willingham kept me guessing right until the end – I had no idea what to expect with this novel! I appreciate the inclusion of herbal and non-chemical medicines in this book, but it should come with some caution – there are readers out there who will look at this like it’s completely factual. I specifically found issue with the conversation around the snake bite – the character didn’t get medical treatment and, while antivenom may not be necessary, medical assessment should always be a first line of defense after snakebite.

If you enjoyed Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox, The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins, or One Big Happy by Jamie Day, you’re going to love this book, too. With light references to sex, discussions of drugging unknowing victims and murder, this book would be best directed to more mature audiences over 16. I would also caution readers who have history of relationships where gaslighting or mental abuse may have be present – this book may be triggering.

I was approached by the publisher with the opportunity to review Forget Me Not and jumped at the chance. After reading The Heiress last year, I fell in love with southern thrillers set in areas I’m familiar with. I was immediately drawn in by the cover and the publisher’s blurb on this novel and I knew I had to share it with you!

Forget Me Not will release August 26th. You can pre-order your copy today on our Bookshop.org page!

When I first started reading this, I was unsure if I would end up liking it because I am not really into stories where the main character is “investigating” a murder, however the plot was more so centered around unraveling the mystery behind the folks residing at Galloway Farms and I was very invested in finding out how everything connected and what the plot twist was. It was very suspenseful all throughout and kept the reader wanting more. Thanks, Netgalley for this ARC. I would recommend this one to others!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'd only read one other book by this author so took a chance on her newest story Forget Me Not. I was thrilled by it. Could not put it down even for sleep.

Forget Me Not is a gripping psychological thriller that follows Claire Campbell, an investigative journalist who returns to her childhood home in South Carolina after two decades to face the tragic disappearance of her sister, Natalie. What begins as a quiet summer visit soon spirals into a deep dive into long-buried secrets at Galloway Farm.
The title is spot on, as the story beautifully captures the inescapable pull of the past. This book had me on the edge of my seat—may or may not have stayed up until 2 AM, desperately needing to know how it all ended! There are so many twists and turns, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, another unexpected revelation would throw me completely off course. The way the author skillfully kept me guessing was a huge part of what made this such a captivating read.
If you love twisty, emotional mysteries, Forget Me Not is a must-read. It's a haunting tale of grief, secrets, and the search for closure.

When Claire Campbell returns home for the first time in years, she is quickly re-immersed in the cold case disappearance of her older sister, Natalie. When she, on a whim, decides to take a summer job at the same place Natalie worked before she went missing years ago, Claire quickly finds that there was more to the disappearance than she ever knew- and finds a diary that may end up putting her in danger herself.

This book was solidly OK for me. It didn’t keep me up at night turning pages, and I didn’t find any of the twist to be very exciting or shocking, but the story is well written and enjoyable overall. Recommend anyone who enjoys cold case mysteries, cult vibes, and/or the returning home trope.

Thank you to the author, publishers, and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This was unfortunately a DNF for at 60%.

I felt like the thrill wasn’t thrilling — just extremely slow moving and not for me. However, the author does have other excellent books and I look forward to trying her future books again.

Unique take on a mystery/ thriller and I have to say, I couldn’t put it down!

The mysteriousness of the Galloway Farm residents, and Claire’s complexities made for a really captivating beginning of the story. As time goes on, even more characters are introduced and the mystery of the Farm just gets deeper and deeper.

This is my third book by Stacy Willingham and I’m convinced she is the queen of unexpected twists after reading yet another fantastic story of hers. I love when I’m unable to predict the twists in a thriller book and this one had plenty of them.

One of my only critiques is that the book did start a little slow and it wasn’t until about 30% of the way through that the questions and true suspense started to reel me in.

Thank you to NetGalley/ St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Wow what a twisty read! I liked all the subtle details and tie ins that really helped keep me engaged the whole time. I was surprised by a couple of the twists in this one! A very good thriller.

Really happy to get this ARC from Netgalley. Loved this one. It started out a little slow for me. A writer quits her job after she is passed over for a promotion. She is floundering when she gets a call from her dad that her mom has been in an accident and could use her help at home.

She returns home after many years away because the trauma of her sister going missing and presumed dead has made it hard to be there. She winds up going to work at a vineyard—the same vineyard where her sister worked the summer of her disappearance.

She finds a diary hidden in a guest house on the property and the story really takes off from there! The writer of the diary reveals that there may be other missing girls connected to the property. How does it all relate to her sister’s disappearance?

Great book about secrets, lies, and buried truths. Definitely a must read!

Claire has returned home to help her mother after an accident. When her mother doesn’t want her help, she finds herself working on the same farm her sister did the summer she was murdered. She stumbles into an investigation of what really happened to her sister and other missing women who all may be connected.

I did like this story, however the first half of the book was very slow and was hard to keep focus at times bc of that. I do feel like it was worth the ending. I didn’t see a lot of it coming. I guessed a couple of things but the twists kept twisting.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel!