I Don't Forgive You

 

Paranoia? You are my new friend.  I’m kidding (but not really.)

This book is messed up.  I say that with love, because it’s very good, but now I want to throw my phone, laptop, Kindle and every other internet-based device I own into the nearest river and move to the middle of nowhere, where I can entertain myself talking to trees or something.

What we know:  Allie Ross, along with her husband and son, have recently moved into an upscale DC community.  One evening at a neighborhood dinner party, Allie engages in some mild flirtation with a fellow neighbor, Rob, she hasn’t interacted with before - only, before the night is over, he addresses her by a nickname she hasn’t heard since her prep school days and desperately wanted to leave behind … Lexi. How does he know that name? 

Without saying too much, he’s found dead the next day and poo hits the proverbial fan for Allie, as a seemingly never-ending chain of online and physical “evidence” piles up against her. To clear her name, she’s forced to reckon with her past, and figure out who’s trying to destroy her life before it’s too late.  I won’t go into details, because it’s so much better to discover them yourself, but seriously - if you weren’t paranoid about the internet and social media before, you might be after!

This thriller has its tropes:  your classic unreliable narrator, mean moms, a husband who constantly doubts his wife (grrr), an MC trying to escape her past, the requisite “weird” character you’re not sure what to make of, and red herrings galore, but that’s OK because author Aggie Blum Thomspon has used them so effectively!  I was tense ALL the way through this book, because the train of circumstances threatening Allie was barreling down that track at every moment, and there was NEVER a moment where things felt safe.  

So why not give it the full five stars?  As much as I love the writing and felt fully invested in the story, I also found the unrelenting nature of threatening circumstances a bit exhausting and repetitive after awhile, and the threats extending to other characters muddied the story a bit and drew my attention in too many directions.  Having said that, it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the story at all - it’s just a me thing.  I highly recommend this exciting debut and will eagerly wait for Thompson’s next book!

Now … off to find that river.

★★★★ ½  

Thank you to Forge Books, NetGalley and author Aggie Blum Thompson for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.  This is due for publication on June 8, 2021.