Review: Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: February 5, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Blurb:

When a video call between friends captures a shocking incident no one was supposed to see, the secrets it exposes threaten to change their lives forever.

Molly and Liza have always been enviably close. Even after Molly married Daniel, the couple considered Liza an honorary family member. But after Liza moved away, things grew more strained than anyone wanted to admit—in the friendship and the marriage.

When Daniel goes away on business, Molly and Liza plan to reconnect with a nice long video chat after the kids are in bed. But then Molly leaves the room to check on a crying child.

What Liza sees next will change everything.

Only one thing is certain: Molly needs her. Liza drives all night to be at Molly’s side—but when she arrives, the reception is icy, leaving Liza baffled and hurt. She knows there’s no denying what she saw.

Or is there?

In disbelief that their friendship could really be over, Liza is unaware she’s about to have a near miss of her own.

And Molly, refusing to deal with what’s happened, won’t turn to Daniel, either.

But none of them can go on pretending. Not after this.

Review:

Before I share my thoughts on this one I want to address the fact that this one shows up on Goodreads as a mystery/thriller and it’s really not. This is women’s fiction with a suspenseful edge and if you know that before you start, I think you’ll be better prepared. Thankfully I was aware thanks to my friend Jamie so I did end up liking this more than I would’ve had I been expecting a fast paced and exciting thriller.

The blurb for this talks about a video chat and a shocking incident and makes you think the whole book will be about said incident but if you look at the event as a catalyst, your expectations will be more in line with the reality of the story. This is a domestic drama about the relationship between two long time friends and then also about a marriage on the brink.

Two things make JS a standout author for me, first she creates authentic and relatable characters that just feel real and secondly she is a really fantastic writer. Liza and Molly’s friendship was genuine, as riddled with strife as it was, and Molly and Daniel’s marriage was also incredibly authentic. Seeing how one event can set off a chain of other events and reactions was interesting and was depicted very well by the author, she really knows how to write about relationships in general and adds enough secrecy and suspense to keep a nice momentum.

Full disclosure, I listened to the bulk of this one via audio and the narrator is just amazing so that may have impacted my enjoyment in the end. I’m not quite sure I would’ve liked it as much as I did had I just read it because the narrator was so fantastic. Recommended for book clubs, there is much to dissect and discuss.

Forget You Know Me in three words: Genuine, Fluid and Secretive.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

16 thoughts on “Review: Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser”

  1. Pingback: Review: Forget You Know Me by Jessica Strawser — Novelgossip – All About Writing and more
  2. homesweethouser says:
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    Agree that this was misrepresented as a mystery/thriller. I was expecting something more like Not That I Could Tell so it was a bit of a let down for me.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Ola says:
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    The miscategorization of genres is the worst, I build my expectations of the book based on that and it just hurts the book when I don’t enjoy it because I was expecting something else and I end up rating it poorly. I was actually looking at this book today and I was intrigued, but I lost my interest now that I learned that it is not a psychologica thriller. Thank you for the review, keep up the good job of helping other readers deciding on what to read next 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Amanda @Cover2CoverMom says:
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    “Before I share my thoughts on this one I want to address the fact that this one shows up on Goodreads as a mystery/thriller and it’s really not. This is women’s fiction with a suspenseful edge and if you know that before you start, I think you’ll be better prepared.”

    Ooooo I’m glad you mentioned this. Based off the blurb this definitely sounds like a thriller… I bet many people will be disappointed with this one because of this.

    I’ve often wondered if a audiobook narration effects my enjoyment of a book. I’ve listened to mediocre books that are excellently narrated, so I enjoyed more than I would in print, and I’ve also listened to books that are poorly narrated, and I often wonder if I would have enjoyed them more in print.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Dianna says:
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    I rarely listen to my own books on audio — usually just what the kids want to hear while we drive — so I should start using some of my credits on myself! I like psychological thrillers, but also domestic/relationship books, so maybe would enjoy this one.

    Liked by 1 person

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