4⭐️ This was such a fun, twisty read — exactly the kind of book I love to get lost in!

In I Become Her, newlyweds Imogen and Lev are on their honeymoon cruise when things take a sudden dark turn. After a heated fight, Lev falls overboard — and somehow survives, but with no memory of what happened. Back home, Imogen tries to piece things together, but when she discovers secrets from Lev’s past and a missing woman connected to him, she starts to question everything about the man she married.

The writing pulled me in right away, and I found myself flying through chapters to figure out what was going on. I did start to suspect the twist partway through, but I still really enjoyed how it played out. I would’ve loved a little epilogue though!

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

This is a psychological suspense thriller. On the honeymoon cruise in the mediterranean, Lev falls overboard and as soon as he is found, his memories were vanished. All he remember was that Imogen is his fiancé. Truth is twisted and the book is full of secrets and twists. It kept me on edge. I couldn’t decide who was right and who wasn’t. I felt for the characters. While the woman who was missing is found dead adds another layer of mystery to the story. It was interesting to see how all of these were connected. I think the book can be best described as slow burn psychological thriller. Expect secrets, secret identity, twists, past traumas, love, betrayal and revelations.

Thanks to the Author, and Thomas & Mercer

This was a slow starter but it certainly picks up as you keep reading. It’s a trope I’m quite familiar with but this author did it well. It was my first by this author but I will be reading more. Thanks for the early access

I’ll admit—at first, I Become Her didn’t immediately pull me in. The pacing felt slow, and I wasn’t quite sure how Sierra’s sections fit into the bigger picture. The multiple POVs also felt a bit too similar in voice at the start, making it harder to fully connect.

But I’m so glad I stuck with it. What starts as a quiet, tense read builds into something so intricately plotted and well-executed, it genuinely caught me off guard. The twist was masterfully hidden—one of those reveals that, in hindsight, feels obvious but completely blindsides you in the best way.

The way Joe Hart weaves the timelines and perspectives together by the end is nothing short of brilliant. And his portrayal of anxiety—especially through Imogen—is raw, immersive, and beautifully written. You feel every moment of doubt and unease right alongside her.

I haven’t been this surprised by a book in a long time. Once published, I’d absolutely recommend picking it up.

I haven't read anything new by Hart in way too long, so I was so excited to see this. While I strongly feel this book could benefit from a good condensing it was a pretty good read.

Poor Imogen. Every single person in her life is out to get her in one way or another and the poor girl has so many issues. Thankfully, things ended in her favor with a stunning twist.

I’ve never read a book by Joe Hart but I loved this book. The story. The plot. The entirety of it. A true thriller, I couldn’t put this book down! Thank you

The first two chapters were confusing and frankly not needed, but overall I did like this book.

Imogen is one of the UNLUCKIEST characters I've encountered in a long time. She has an over developed stress response that causes her to lock up, which is how she is unfortunate enough to meet Lev, a smooth talking, 'perfect on paper' guy.

Egged on by best friend April, Imogen attends a party where she freezes up, unable to breathe or speak, panic rising, and unable to find April, all seems lost, until Lev approaches with the helpful suggestion of running cold water on her face and neck. Everyone loves Lev. Her married brother is relieved that she found someone, her mother really likes Lev and even April seems happier that Imogen has found someone 'great'.

But Imogen had a previous relationship with a man that cheated on her, which left her skittish and looking for signs of infidelity. She is stunned to find that Lev may have been flirting and possibly unfaithful while on their honeymoon. They have a drunken argument on a cruise ship and then the real trouble for Imogen begins.

A faithless best friend, a gaslighting love, a cruel, grasping Mother, Imogen is surrounded by all of the worst of humanity. With no other choices, she becomes someone else, a stronger version of who she was always meant to be.

A page turner from the beginning. I loved how the opening of the book started on a cruise. It really set an eerie tone right from the start. The book is full of secrets, lies, suspense, and a great twist at the end. The characters help drive an already fascinating plot. Highly recommended for anyone that enjoys a good thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley, Joe Hart, and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of I Become Her in the return of an honest review.

Read in 2 hours and 43 minutes.
Everything about this book gripped me; this plot is a well done theme in the thriller genre but it still felt fresh as I hurtled through the pages.
I loved the cruise ship beginning- it was eerie and anxiety inducing, although the luxurious house that followed was also a good setting.
Like most women, the idea of being paranoid and alone with my disturbing thoughts, being unable to trust those closest to me, is such a popular theme because of how realistic this is.
Shoutout to Charlie and Jamie for being loyal to the bone, and Moxie, who knows when to step in.

It’s similar in tone to The Girl Before by JP Delaney and The Woman In The Cabin by Becca Day- I can’t say that you won’t be disappointed when you read this, because realising that the story has come to a close always feels that way.

4.5! Really enjoyed this!!! I felt immediately drawn to Imogen. I love a book that has a great lead, and one where you feel like you could be friends with. I thought Hart did a good job jumping timelines - I find this to be tricky, but it was well done in this. Just a really good thriller, overall. So worth picking up if you're in the mood for a good original story that truly is a mystery the entire time.

Can you imagine. 😳
Such a great book. Couldn't put it down. Just had to know how it ended. Thank you so much for letting me read in advance.

In a world of domestic thrillers that can tend to blend together, there is I Become Her. This was perfection. Normally any story involving “amnesia” loses me but that couldn’t be further from the truth here. I was so engrossed that I read it two sittings. Throughout this novel we traverse seemingly several different worlds, yet it all blends together seamlessly. The surprise twist near the end caught me completely by surprise. I never in a million years saw it coming, which made me appreciate it all the more. This is genuinely one of the top thrillers I’ve read so far this year! I clearly need to read more Joe Hart

Having never read anything by Joe Hart before, I didn’t know what to expect. I thoroughly enjoyed this page turner. It was a quick suspenseful read that keep you asking yourself what on earth is really happening until nearly the end. It came together beautifully in the end and I thought it was very clever.

𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇. 𝑨 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆. 𝑨 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏.

Imogen has been married to Lev for ten days, and they're on a honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean when Imogen suspects Lev of being unfaithful. After a tense confrontation, Lev ends up in the open sea. Imogen is frozen in shock, and she's even more incredulous when Lev is found alive hours later with no memory of how he ended up in the water.

The couple returns home and tries to restart their married life, but all the while, the fear that Lev's memories will return is palpable. However, Imogen can't shake the feeling of his infidelity, so she starts to dig. She starts by locating the social media account of the waitress she's sure she saw Lev with and sends her a message. A little more digging unveils the shocking discovery of a woman from Lev’s past he never told her about--a woman who has been missing for years. The tension skyrockets when Imogen begins to suspect that Lev remembers exactly what happened that night on the ship.

Unreliable hysterical wife or cheating gaslighting husband? Told from alternating points of view, I had no idea who or what to believe, and when I got to the line that inspired the title, I screamed. I felt SO DAMN STUPID that I didn't figure out what was going on. Well played, sir.

This book is everything a thriller should be. I was invested immediately, and I felt every bit of the tension, fear, and paranoia the MC felt. This author became an auto-buy for me many books ago. It's not just the genuine twists and exceptional storytelling; it's the fact that he knows how to write female characters without turning them into stereotypes, and he has such deep insight into what it means to be human. He totally nails the flawed familial relationships, past traumas, betrayals by those closest to us, and all the little detritus that makes up who we are.

A huge thank you to Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse and Thomas and Mercer for the early copy. This stunner publishes August 26, 2025.

I liked this book. The story held my attention throughout and the ending was pretty good. I found I had to suspend disbelief a little with Imogene's character though, she was completely off-kilter at times and her past was not beyond reproach. Hard to have sympathy for her on many levels. Overall though this was a quick and satisfying read.

This book was an enjoyable read. There was a good mixture of mystery and suspense that kept the reader interested. A few twists added to the storyline. This is a book which I would recommend to those who enjoy a quick read mystery.

It took me a little bit to get into this book but once I did. I was invested.
I like how you we get the different POVs

An accident
Secrets
Life on the run

So much to take in but it was a good read.
For some reason there were points where I got a little lost where I felt like we moved into something new without really noticing or back tracking

Imogen is on her honeymoon when she suspects her new husband Lev is unfaithful. But she isn’t 100% sure. Is she imagining things? We might never learn the truth when Lev goes overboard. It must be his lucky day though because somehow, he survives. Even though he’s suffering with what the doctors hope is just temporary amnesia. While Imogen is grateful that he survived (since she maybe to blame for his ‘accident’), she is left with many doubts and many more questions.
When they go home, Imogen spends all of her time, trying to find out who her husband really is. Her work suffers, her relationships suffer, and even when Lev seems like the perfect partner, her hackles are up. For quite a while, I thought she may have been going down the wrong path until… Bam… Everything became crystal clear (or so I thought). That was not the only surprising twist, and I just kept flipping pages to see where the story was actually headed.
This was a treadmill read for me, and there wasn’t a moment when it didn’t keep me moving. Even though the ending worked, I found myself wishing for just a little bit more story. Maybe an epilogue?

Review of ‘I Become Her’ by Joe Hart due for publication on 26 August 2025 by Thomas & Mercer.

Newlyweds Imogen & Lev are on their honeymoon when Imogen begins to suspect that Lev is being unfaithful (they’ve only been married for 10 days). Accusations, denial of betrayal and anger results in a shocking accident and a loss of memories of what happened before.

The past comes back to haunt them, bringing with it secrets and lies resulting in fear and wondering who exactly they have married.

I Become Her by new to me author Joe Hart, published by Thomas & Mercer, is a thriller of its finest. Intriguing, suspenseful, with twists and turns I never saw coming. An unputdownable pageturner that deserves all the stars, I recommend the book, 5 stars.