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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
2.5 stars rounded down. This is not a thriller or much of a mystery. Who was that masked man? By the end of the book, I didn't really care. Liza is the only likable character out of all of them, and even she is pushing it. It's hard to get invested in a story when the main characters seem to change who they are every time the wind blows.
This book started off great, full of intrigue and suspense. And then....it felt as if this story wasn’t sure what it wanted to be. Part mystery, though those plot points were brought up and abandoned, part romance, part thriller. Liza was, for me, the only relatable character. The rest I just could not identify with. The writing style was good and I would definitely read something by this author again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5— Forget You Know Me— Jessica Strawser
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This is my second Strawser book and I liked it, but the description is slightly deceiving.
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What sounded like a thriller and starts like a thriller, quickly tapered off. The relationships written about in this book are wonderful. They are complicated and real. These were my favorite part of the book.
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What brought this to three and a half stars was what seemed like a book that teetered on a deep relationship book or wanting to be a thriller. It was like it could not decide.
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This is my second Strawser book and I liked it, but the description is slightly deceiving.
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What sounded like a thriller and starts like a thriller, quickly tapered off. The relationships written about in this book are wonderful. They are complicated and real. These were my favorite part of the book.
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What brought this to three and a half stars was what seemed like a book that teetered on a deep relationship book or wanting to be a thriller. It was like it could not decide.
Molly and Liza have always been best friends, even after Molly got married. But after Liza moved away for a job, their friendship started to fall apart. While Molly’s husband, Daniel is away on a work trip; the women decide to have video chat to catch up on one another’s lives after the kids are in bed. But when Molly leaves to sooth a crying child, Liza sees something that will change everything. This terrifies Liza and when she can’t get ahold of Molly, she drives all night to check on her and ends up with a door slammed in her face. Is their friendship really over?
I really enjoyed the writing in this novel and how you are dropped into these people’s lives seeming like you actually know them. The characters were well developed and thought out and I really enjoyed the insight into both of their very different lives and how they fit together. This book had me hooked right from the first chapter and I couldn’t see how this was going to pan out at all. I enjoyed how different the characters are for one another and how some people will do anything to save their relationships. I enjoyed reading about the strong female relationships in this novel and how some secrets are just too terrible to want to share with the people we trust the most. I did find the mid section of the book dragged a little, but it picked up quickly and I really enjoyed the last half of the book and I’m excited to read more by Jessica.
Out February 5th!
I really enjoyed the writing in this novel and how you are dropped into these people’s lives seeming like you actually know them. The characters were well developed and thought out and I really enjoyed the insight into both of their very different lives and how they fit together. This book had me hooked right from the first chapter and I couldn’t see how this was going to pan out at all. I enjoyed how different the characters are for one another and how some people will do anything to save their relationships. I enjoyed reading about the strong female relationships in this novel and how some secrets are just too terrible to want to share with the people we trust the most. I did find the mid section of the book dragged a little, but it picked up quickly and I really enjoyed the last half of the book and I’m excited to read more by Jessica.
Out February 5th!
I was so delighted to score an early copy of the latest Jessica Strawser novel (thanks Net Galley and St. Martins), and I was not disappointed. Strawser is a master of writing stories about relationships--both friendships, marriage and those more complicated situations in between--with the angle of suspense thoroughly intertwined. Forget You Know Me was no exception, keeping me reading late into the night trying to unravel all of its mysteries and to find out what was going to happen next!
A solid good read, good enough for me to put off whatever I was really supposed to be doing this Saturday morning to finish the book :-)
Forget You Know Me starts out like it's going to be a thriller - two friends are chatting via Skype and when one leaves to check on her child, the other sees a masked intruder enter her house. This should have been a thriller to figure out who it was and why. However, the intruder story line gets sidelined and then brought up on occasion (it does get resolved at the end). In the meantime, the book then focuses on the relationships between the two friends (Liza and Molly) and Molly's relationship with her husband.
Unfortunately I found none of the characters or story lines likable. The book dragged a bit, and some of the story lines were left unresolved and unfinished. It seemed like this book didn't know where it wanted to go - was it a thriller? Was it women's fiction? And it didn't really work in either genre.
2.5 stars, rounded up.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I found none of the characters or story lines likable. The book dragged a bit, and some of the story lines were left unresolved and unfinished. It seemed like this book didn't know where it wanted to go - was it a thriller? Was it women's fiction? And it didn't really work in either genre.
2.5 stars, rounded up.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The publisher's blurb is a disservice to this novel. It creates an expectation of a domestic thriller but this is more of a book about friendship, trauma and recovery and I did enjoy it.
Molly and Liza have been friends forever--seeing each other through high school, college, and early adulthood. But they now find themselves drifting apart. Liza is single and recently moved from Cincinnati to Chicago. Molly still lives in Cincy, is married to Daniel and has two kids, ages three and five. One night they attempt to reconnect over video chat. But while Molly's upstairs putting one of the kids back to bed, Liza spots a black-clad figure sneaking in Molly's back door. Liza's shouting over the computer startles him, and he shuts the computer lid on her. Liza panics and calls the police. But she never hears from Molly again that night, beyond a few short texts. Convinced her friend is in real trouble, Liza drives from Chicago to check on her, only to have the door basically be shut in her face. Liza is baffled, wondering if their friendship is truly over. And Molly is unable to deal with what happened--and with the other issues going on her life. But the webcam incident has kicked off a series of events for both women that they soon will be unable to ignore.
I have to hand it to Jessica Strawser--not sure what's happened to her in her life (ha), but she can come up with some tangled plots. As always with her books, you have to go in expecting more women's fiction than suspense/thriller, and that helps set expectations up front. Still, I have to say, that there are a surprising number of suspects for the black-clad figure who pops up on Liza's web cam. For a suburban neighborhood, it sure is a tangled web of secrets and lies out there!
So I found the plot on this one kind of baffling at first: I think it could have done without Liza and Molly's fight, honestly. Their fighting was awkward and uncomfortable and didn't seem really necessary. But I quickly warmed to Molly and Liza, who were very real characters with flaws and genuine traits. For Liza, much of her life is ruled by her anxiety, while Molly's by her chronic pain. I felt for both of them. Despite being best friends, they are on separate tracks for most of the book, making you wonder where things are going to wind up.
With everyone keeping secrets, telling lies, and basically just being dishonest--both to others and themselves--the book really does keep you guessing about what happened that night. As it does, you're treated to a very realistic look at marriage and friendship. I felt parts of it were overblown and it was a very different sort of read, but I enjoyed it overall. The descriptions and portrayals of Molly and Liza are what really drew me in. 3.5+ stars.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an unbiased review- thank you!
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I have to hand it to Jessica Strawser--not sure what's happened to her in her life (ha), but she can come up with some tangled plots. As always with her books, you have to go in expecting more women's fiction than suspense/thriller, and that helps set expectations up front. Still, I have to say, that there are a surprising number of suspects for the black-clad figure who pops up on Liza's web cam. For a suburban neighborhood, it sure is a tangled web of secrets and lies out there!
So I found the plot on this one kind of baffling at first: I think it could have done without Liza and Molly's fight, honestly. Their fighting was awkward and uncomfortable and didn't seem really necessary. But I quickly warmed to Molly and Liza, who were very real characters with flaws and genuine traits. For Liza, much of her life is ruled by her anxiety, while Molly's by her chronic pain. I felt for both of them. Despite being best friends, they are on separate tracks for most of the book, making you wonder where things are going to wind up.
With everyone keeping secrets, telling lies, and basically just being dishonest--both to others and themselves--the book really does keep you guessing about what happened that night. As it does, you're treated to a very realistic look at marriage and friendship. I felt parts of it were overblown and it was a very different sort of read, but I enjoyed it overall. The descriptions and portrayals of Molly and Liza are what really drew me in. 3.5+ stars.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an unbiased review- thank you!
Forget You Know Me begins like a thriller. Liza is on a video call with her life-long best friend Molly, a desperately needed catch-up after a too-long hiatus. Liza has moved to Chicago and these two who have been in each other’s pockets since childhood have been out of touch. They hardly begin when Molly’s daughter cries for Mommy and Molly takes a moment to tend to her. The call was still connected, so when a masked intruder enters the room, Liza sees him and tells him she is calling the police.
Molly’s response was cold and secretive, so Liza wonders if the intruder is holding her hostage, threatening the children maybe. She immediately drives to Cincinnati to learn the truth. So, you might think this is a thriller, but you would be wrong.
Jessica Strawser’s Forget You Know Me is in many ways similar to her earlier Not That I Could Tell. You start the book thinking it is a suspense novel and finish thinking it is about friendships and marriage. That worked well enough with the first book, but with this one, I felt cheated.
It was bad enough that the introduction promises one kind of book and another is delivered, but this time not one person was someone I really cared about. Well, not true. Liza’s friend Max seems like a good guy, though suspiciously devoted to Liza. Liza’s brother and future sister-in-law seem nice enough, too. The kids are pretty decent. Every other person, though, is unlikable through combinations of self-indulgence, cowardice, and lack of compassion.
Molly suffers from chronic pain. Her husband Daniel is tired of it. Also, he’s doing a half-assed job at work and didn’t catch some problems soon enough, so that has made more trouble for him. The longer he says nothing, the worse the problems get. Molly feels defensive about the burden on her pain on her family. She pursues every quacktastic offer she can find, spending money she doesn’t have. The longer she says nothing, the worse the problems get. The thing is, that is the book over and over and over. People just won’t do the work of honest relationships and then feel baffled their relationships suffer.
I think Strawser is skilled at writing realistic people who are nuanced and understandable. However, this is the second time I have felt her book was a bit of a bait and switch. I need to remember that she writes contemporary stories about relationships, friendships, and marriages and not expect suspense. Then I won’t feel so disappointed.
Forget You Know Me comes out February 5th. I received an e-galley for review from the publisher through NetGalley
Forget You Know Me at St. Martin’s Press
Jessica Strawser author site
Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
★★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/9781250184474/
Molly’s response was cold and secretive, so Liza wonders if the intruder is holding her hostage, threatening the children maybe. She immediately drives to Cincinnati to learn the truth. So, you might think this is a thriller, but you would be wrong.
Jessica Strawser’s Forget You Know Me is in many ways similar to her earlier Not That I Could Tell. You start the book thinking it is a suspense novel and finish thinking it is about friendships and marriage. That worked well enough with the first book, but with this one, I felt cheated.
It was bad enough that the introduction promises one kind of book and another is delivered, but this time not one person was someone I really cared about. Well, not true. Liza’s friend Max seems like a good guy, though suspiciously devoted to Liza. Liza’s brother and future sister-in-law seem nice enough, too. The kids are pretty decent. Every other person, though, is unlikable through combinations of self-indulgence, cowardice, and lack of compassion.
Molly suffers from chronic pain. Her husband Daniel is tired of it. Also, he’s doing a half-assed job at work and didn’t catch some problems soon enough, so that has made more trouble for him. The longer he says nothing, the worse the problems get. Molly feels defensive about the burden on her pain on her family. She pursues every quacktastic offer she can find, spending money she doesn’t have. The longer she says nothing, the worse the problems get. The thing is, that is the book over and over and over. People just won’t do the work of honest relationships and then feel baffled their relationships suffer.
I think Strawser is skilled at writing realistic people who are nuanced and understandable. However, this is the second time I have felt her book was a bit of a bait and switch. I need to remember that she writes contemporary stories about relationships, friendships, and marriages and not expect suspense. Then I won’t feel so disappointed.
Forget You Know Me comes out February 5th. I received an e-galley for review from the publisher through NetGalley
Forget You Know Me at St. Martin’s Press
Jessica Strawser author site
Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
★★★★
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/9781250184474/