Forget You Know Me
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
The next “masterful” (Publishers Weekly) novel from "the gifted Jessica Strawser" (Adriana Trigiani), hailed as “immensely satisfying” (Kathleen Barber) and “that book you can’t put down” (Sally Hepworth). 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. Forget You Know Me is a “twisty, emotionally complex, powder keg of a tale” (bestselling author Emily Carpenter) about the wounds of people who’ve grown apart. Best friends, separated by miles. Spouses, hardened by neglect. A mother, isolated by pain. One moment will change things for them all.
Reviews with the most likes.
Don't go into this book expecting it to be a psychological thriller - it's not. It's a nuanced, well-paced story of three adults - Molly, her husband Daniel, and her life-long best friend Liza. While the opening scene ramps up the suspense factor, this is much more of a women's fiction with its emphasis on exploring the nuances of friendship, marriage, and how people change as they move through life. Each of the characters gets a voice and I particularly identified with Liza, first trying to save her friend from what she thinks is a dangerous stranger, and missing the connection to Molly that she counted on in her life. An emotionally-charged novel with complex characters that ring true. Strawser did a good job laying out the dots that she skillfully pulled together for a satisfying ending.
The genre tags for this book were quite off the mark. I almost feel like there was a bait and switch sort of situation going on.
We start out with a video chat between Molly and Liza, two life long friends who have grown apart a bit due to distance and the direction each of their lives have taken them. They're still each other's best friend and the video chat is a substitute “girls night out” while Molly's husband is away on business. When Molly leaves the room to attend to her child, Liza witnesses a masked intruder entering the room. She calls out to him and tries to yell a warning to Molly, but the intruder silently closes the laptop.
And so begins this non-thriller. This is the most, and almost only thriller-type moment of tension in the book. There is A LOT going on, but it's more along the vein of struggling marriage and PTSD. The story moves along through the eyes of Molly, Liza and Molly's husband Daniel, each with their own secrets and struggles.
What ended up being difficult reading for me was relating to Molly so much. Molly began experiencing several different medical ailments after her first pregnancy. Things like TMJ, knee and back pain, migraines. Ailments that maybe aren't visible to those not experiencing it. Molly tries every sort of treatment she can, every drug, but nothing brings her relief. She overhears her five year old son say that women aren't strong because look at Mommy, she can't do anything. When Molly hears that she is stung and I too felt the sting. Shortly after having my second daughter my health deteriorated in ways very similar to Molly's. All things that felt, at times, crippling to me, but outwardly no one could see what was wrong. You begin to feel like people don't really believe you're ill or that it's that bad. You start to avoid seeing friends and family because they ask how you feel, but you see their eyes glaze over when you talk about whatever pain you are feeling at that moment. Worst of all, you see the strain on your partner as they take on the things you can no longer do around the house, or with the kids. And you wonder, do they think you're exaggerating. Worst of all, you think, is it all in my head?
Molly's desperation to heal herself leads her into an abyss and while I can't see myself following down that same path, I could very much see how it could happen. And while this wasn't the mystery/thriller/suspense novel I was expecting I still found myself blazing through the pages to see how everything turned out.
