𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏...𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒘.

Oh, my heart. I knew this would be an emotional read, but I was wholly unprepared for the intensity within these pages. Inspired by actual events, teen mom Sabina, partly pressured by her parents and partly feeling completely inadequate, gave her newborn daughter Andrea up for adoption. She's tried her best to move on, marrying a kind man whom she deeply loves, but every day, she clings to the hope that her daughter was safe, happy, and loved.

Then the letter from the police arrives, asking for a DNA sample. Andrea Beaumont is a missing person. Because the adoption was closed, Sabina never knew where Andrea was placed, but her missing persons status puts an end to that mystery. When she drives to Utah to track her daughter's movements, she contacts Andrea's adoptive mother, who warily agrees to a meeting.

That meeting will change everything. Sabina sees the squalid living conditions Andrea called home, and to her shock, she sees Andrea's things boxed up, as if someone knew she wouldn't be coming home. But call it more than just a mother's intuition because something or someone seems to be guiding Sabina's investigation, and it will take her to places that no mother should have to visit.

This book, just like ASK FOR ANDREA is a masterpiece of startling juxtapositions. Unspeakable acts of horror and savagery are wrapped around breathtaking beauty, redemption, and hope. The words in this tale are powerful, having the power to both devastate and heal. I can't say enough good things about this book, and I was so glad to be back in this universe. Many thanks to the author for this stunning early copy. Look for this one November 4, 2025.

Let me start by saying, I read a lot of thrillers, and very rarely do I finish one with my adrenaline pumping. It's to the point where I wonder sometimes what's wrong with me, and have I become immune to such books.

I am not immune.

I sat here on the edge of my seat for almost 300 pages, NEEDING to know what happens. How do they put the pieces together? How does it end? I have never wanted justice to be served so bad in my life.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but between this book and the sequel, Ask for Andrea, I don't know how I'm going to pick a next read. At this point, nothing else can even remotely compare.

Buy the book.

Forget You Saw Her is raw, riveting, and intensely emotional, a book you won’t be able to put down, and one you’ll be thinking about long after you do.

This standalone prequel to the runaway hit Ask For Andrea tells the story of a woman’s quest to find the daughter she gave up for adoption seventeen years earlier, convinced that something terrible happened to Andrea, whose adoptive parents claim she ran away. It’s hard to imagine an antagonist more revolting than Andrea’s adoptive father, who hides behind the veneer of respectability while his complicit wife sits by and enables him. It’s powerful because it feels so real, and sadly, is all too common of an occurance.

But mostly, this is a story of resilience and the lengths that a mother will go to see that justice is served. Heart-wrenching and gripping, Forget You Saw Her is bold, brave, and ultimately, hopeful. Nobody can find light in the darkness like Noelle Ihli. She’s in a class of her own. Highly recommended.

Forget You Saw Her is an absolute powerhouse of a thriller. Noelle W. Ihli masterfully delivers a standalone prequel that not only sets the stage perfectly for Ask for Andrea but also stands strong on its own. The story is taut, suspenseful, and packed with emotional depth that kept me fully engaged throughout.

The characters are complex and compelling, each with secrets that unravel in unexpected ways. Ihli’s writing is sharp and atmospheric, creating a sense of tension and urgency that never lets up. The twists hit hard and feel earned, making the plot unpredictable and thrilling.

If you love psychological thrillers with strong characters and a gripping storyline, this book is must-read. I couldn’t put it down and am already looking forward to revisiting this world in Ask for Andrea.

Oh, Noelle W. Ihli did it again and I swear my heart still hasn’t recovered.

Ask for Andrea nearly broke the internet (and every reader’s sanity), and now this standalone prequel, Forget You Saw Her, has crept straight into my nightmares, in the best possible way.

This isn’t a story. It’s a haunting.

Sabina’s desperation seeps through every page, the kind that claws at you long after you’ve turned off the lights. A mother’s guilt. A daughter’s disappearance. A truth that doesn’t want to be found. You can feel Andrea’s ghost in the room with you, whispering, guiding,

Noelle Ihli, orchestrates psychological chaos. She lures you in with grief and guilt, then slams you with dread so sharp it leaves a mark.

The pacing? Relentless. The tension? Palpable. Every chapter felt like standing on the edge of something dark and bottomless.

What makes Forget You Saw Her so chilling is how real it feels, because it’s inspired by true events. You’re not just reading a missing person mystery; you’re living inside a mother’s unraveling mind as she searches for answers that may destroy her.

And let’s talk about Ihli’s brilliance, she listened. She watched us spiral after Ask for Andrea, heard every theory, every sleepless DM, and instead of leaving us in the dark, she lit another match. But be warned: this flame burns even colder.

Forget You Saw Her isn’t a prequel. It’s a reckoning. It’s the echo of Andrea’s story told through the eyes of the woman who started it all and it cements Noelle Ihli as one of the most bone chilling voices in modern suspense.

Read it with the lights on.

And if you think you’re ready for answers
you’re not.

Flawless.

I spent most of this book feeling like my heart was caught in a vice. Yes, Noelle Ihli writes incredible thrillers, but to label her just a thriller author is a disservice. The way she weaves her characters together, her imagination, the thought and care she pours into each backstory, each haunting, each fragile thread of love… it all reflects an author with remarkable emotional depth.

Ask for Andrea has always been my favorite Ihli book (and I’ve read them all), so I came into this prequel both wildly excited and fully prepared for disappointment. Surely nothing could live up to that!

But it did. The crossover... the chills.
The way these characters existed within the same universe yet felt wholly their own. Authentic, layered, and heartbreakingly human. The entire time, I felt this strange sense of recognition, like I already knew this story somewhere deep in my chest. When I reached the author’s note and saw that her inspiration came from Cathy Terkanian and her daughter Alexis (from the documentary Into the Fire), I got tears in my eyes. It’s such a beautiful, haunting, and deeply respectful tribute to real-life tragedy.

If I were a bestselling author, I can only imagine hoping that readers might say about me what I can honestly say about Noelle Ihli: she writes with heart. Her work is moving, vivid, and gut-wrenching and she uses her talent to shed light on real stories of loss and resilience.

And even though I proudly call myself The Hateful Reader, I’ll keep being her loudest fan. Noelle’s storytelling, her imagination, and her compassion have earned my full, ungrudging admiration.

There’s a line in this book that says, “Every woman I’d ever met had learned how to grin with her heart bleeding out of her chest.” That stayed with me because it captures exactly how this story feels: raw, resilient, and unforgettable.
This one will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dynamite Books for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I loved it!