Sara Foster | YOU DON'T KNOW ME

Plot (via Goodreads):

Lizzie Burdett was eighteen when she vanished, and Noah Carruso has never forgotten her. She was his first crush, his unrequited love. She was also his brother's girlfriend.

Tom Carruso hasn't been home in over a decade. He left soon after Lizzie disappeared under a darkening cloud of suspicion, and now he's back for the inquest into Lizzie's disappearance--intent on telling his side of the story.

As the inquest looms, Noah meets Alice Pryce on holiday. They fall for each other fast and hard, but Noah can't bear to tell Alice his deepest fears. And Alice is equally stricken--she carries a terrible secret of her own.

Is the truth worth telling if it will destroy everything?

Review:

Every now and then, a novel comes out of nowhere that wallops me into oblivion and leaves me stunned. You Don't Know Me by Sara Foster was that novel. The premise of this one seemed like a good psychological thriller that I could get into and what I got in return was a story about two people,  a plethora of secrets, and a cast of characters that can carry one hell of a plot and make it into a calculating and immersive reading experience.

I don't want to say this one starts off slowly, but Foster definitely took her time with the backstory for this one and the character introductions. For the first 1/3 of the novel, it almost reads like a romance novel as Foster sensationally weaves a believable relationship between two fictional characters and I still found myself glued to the pages. The minute I began this one, I did not and could not put it down. The pages were flying by and what I loved was that even though this one focused heavily on the relationship for a while, there was still mentioning of this backstory involving this family that holds so many secrets and kept me intrigued about that - and I'll be the first to say, the characters in this one were done so well that the murder plot took a backseat for me interest wise. I needed to spend as much time with this couple as I possibly could.

The remaining portion of the novel definitely kicked things up regarding the backstory and the current timeline and were woven together perfectly. By the time I got to the bottom of the story and the thriller aspect of this one kicked into high gear, aliens could have landed and I still would have loved it just as much. The pacing was definitely perfect with this story and the characters were fantastic. The ending to this one not only answered all of my questions, but made me shed a couple of emotional tears within a thriller - I don't even know the last time that had happened. If you are looking for something different and yet alluring, this is definitely a novel that I would suggest anyone get lost in.

Special thanks to Blackstone Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5