Published by Head of Zeus on October 1, 2018
Forget My Name was intriguing right from the opening chapter, in fact the first sentence, and straight away I was wrapped up in the mystery of a woman who couldn’t even remember her own name. Laura and Tony have recently bought a house together so the last thing they are expecting is a strange woman to turn up on their doorstep claiming they are in her home. Of course, they don’t believe her, especially given she has little memory of anything else, but she does remember the exact layout of their house… Would they live to regret letting her into their home?
Tony christens her Jemma with a J and Jemma’s character was truly fascinating. As she struggles to remember anything, she is a proper unreliable narrator and attempting to get to know her left me with more questions than answers. From reading the blurb of this book, I had an idea where I thought the story was going to go but J.S. Monroe surprised me with twists I wasn’t expecting and a plot that went to places I hadn’t imagined. This was a cleverly plotted and compelling book with a sinister edge to it that made each chapter more and more tense and suspenseful.
One thing I particular enjoyed about this book was the strong characterisation and how the author built up everything with vivid descriptions that made it so easy to picture the place and the event and as the reader I gained such clear images of everything that was happening which made it all the more chilling to read. I loved how the author brought everything to life and every chapter of this book played out like a movie in my head. Each character was interesting and full of personality so there was never a dull moment.
There was such a complex plot here that appeared so well researched, and it was extremely fascinating. Jemma was a true mystery in Forget My Name but there were plenty of sickening and thrilling aspects which gave the story an edge. I was captivated trying to work out the story of Jemma, and though further on I had my suspicions, I could never have guessed the depths to it and every single intricate detail had me mesmerised.
Although this book was captivating from the first page to the last, I do think that maybe the amount of twists and turns led to some coincidences which weren’t really necessary and made parts of the book more difficult to believe and buy into. If I thought too much about it, parts of it were probably too implausible for my liking, however for pure entertainment value, I let them slide as this was still a really engaging and engrossing story.
Forget My Name had me gripped and held my attention all the way through as I was dying to get to the bottom of the mystery. It was surprisingly haunting and truly entertaining. I will definitely be checking out other books by this author.
Review copy provided by the publisher - this was my honest review.