Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Out February 5th!
Forget You Know Me was the opposite of what I expected it to be. After reading Jessica Strawser’s book Not That I Could Tell, which had a strong thriller/mystery quality, I was expecting something similar this time around. The beginning of the book had me on the edge of my seat. Two friends on video chat catching up from hundreds of miles apart. Molly steps away from her computer to attend to a needy child when suddenly a man in a ski mask walks into the house. Liza panics when she sees him enter, and goes into full on freak out mode when he shuts the laptop and leaves her in the dark as to what is happening in the house. Thriller, right? Wrong.
The rest of the book evolved into more of a women’s fiction novel about friendship, marriage, relationship struggles, changes people go through over the course of their lives, guilt, second chances, and more. Just because it wasn’t what I was expecting does not mean I did not enjoy it. In fact, I did. Strawser’s writing is enjoyable, easy to read, and real.
While both of the main characters really irked me (stop making a series of horrible decisions people!), they could have been real people from my life. A wife struggling with her new life as a mother, a husband unhappy in his marriage, a friend feeling like she’s being left behind. It was all very realistic and believable.
I will admit that in the beginning of the book I felt like there were a lot of subplots all going in different directions and I was a bit confused about how they all related. But for the most part, they all intersect nicely along the way. There were perhaps a few places where I didn’t understand the relevance, particularly in Luke and Steph’s portion.
Overall, bravo to Jessica Strawser on another successful novel! I hope to see more from her in the future.
-This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Strawser, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to review.-
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