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I Don't Forgive You
Perfect for book clubs or the beach, Aggie Blum Thompson's I Don't Forgive You is a page-turning, thrilling debut "not to be missed." (Wendy Walker)
An accomplished photographer and the devoted mom of an adorable little boy, Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb, the kind of place where parenting feels like a competitive sport. Allie’s desperate to make a good first impression. Then she’s framed for murder.
It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead.
Soon, the police are knocking at her door, grilling her about a supposed Tinder relationship with the man, and pulling up texts between them. She learns quickly that she's been hacked and someone is impersonating her online. Her reputation—socially and professionally—is at stake; even her husband starts to doubt her. As the killer closes in, Allie must reach back into a past she vowed to forget in order to learn the shocking truth of who is destroying her life.
An accomplished photographer and the devoted mom of an adorable little boy, Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb, the kind of place where parenting feels like a competitive sport. Allie’s desperate to make a good first impression. Then she’s framed for murder.
It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead.
Soon, the police are knocking at her door, grilling her about a supposed Tinder relationship with the man, and pulling up texts between them. She learns quickly that she's been hacked and someone is impersonating her online. Her reputation—socially and professionally—is at stake; even her husband starts to doubt her. As the killer closes in, Allie must reach back into a past she vowed to forget in order to learn the shocking truth of who is destroying her life.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 637 reviews
March 15, 2022
Holly hell! My legs are jello! My head is spinning! My bladder is about to explode! And I’m starving at the same time!
When you read nonstop for six hours long and finish a book in one longest sits of your life time, you must find creative ways to leave your couch without being humiliated!
My entire body is numb and I plan to call someone to carry me to the bathroom because my husband dearest at the next door who is snoring happily acts like he doesn’t hear my cry for help! Maybe I throw myself down the floor and begin crawling but it seems like my hands are also jello!
Holly hell! That’s the redemption of reading something extremely gripping, addictive! Feeling like boneless chicken wing may be the most unexpected result!
Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely, this is one of my wildest, heart pounding, action packed rides!
Let’s give you more details about the story line so you may get my points why my hands have been glued to this book for 6 hours!
Allie Ross is so excited to make a fresh start by moving to upscale Washington D. C. neighborhood with her lovely husband Mark and their six years old son.
They attend a party their realtor throw at for socializing with their new neighbors. As Mark finds himself talking about baseball with a bunch of his new mates, Allie finds herself making a deep conversation with a man: it is harmless flirting , nothing bad can happen, they’re surrounded by people! Nope! This is absolutely wrong! Because the same man call her the high school name she wants to forget: Sexy Lexie! And the very same man attacks her at the bathroom.
Allie doesn’t tell the incident to her husband which is another wrong move because the asshole harassed her at the party is poisoned and now the police and her new neighbors are accusing her have an affair with this dead man.
The officers finds out Tinder account of Allie which she never head any in her entire life! They find the long time and intimate correspondences on fake Facebook account between Allie and the same asshole/ abuser/ dead man! There are also very provocative photos of Allie shared in this account. Somebody plays a real dirty revenge game with her.
Could it be about the events of 16 years ago Allie tried so hard to forget? Something happened in high school and somebody truly blamed Allie for ruining his entire career. Could all these events be related with Allie’s past?
Even her own husband becomes suspicious about her motives and entire neighborhood points at their fingers, gossiping about her! She keeps drinking too much and dealing with her mother’s early dementia, her adaptation to her new settling circumstances at her new place!
All the walls seem like closing on her! She’s trapped! She must find a way to prove her innocence but how?
So exciting, so riveting, so entertaining story you have to devour with big bites!
I cannot wait to read future works of the Ms. Thompson ! This is a real winner, earning my 5 heart pounding, addictive, delicious mystery stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/ Forge Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
When you read nonstop for six hours long and finish a book in one longest sits of your life time, you must find creative ways to leave your couch without being humiliated!
My entire body is numb and I plan to call someone to carry me to the bathroom because my husband dearest at the next door who is snoring happily acts like he doesn’t hear my cry for help! Maybe I throw myself down the floor and begin crawling but it seems like my hands are also jello!
Holly hell! That’s the redemption of reading something extremely gripping, addictive! Feeling like boneless chicken wing may be the most unexpected result!
Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely, this is one of my wildest, heart pounding, action packed rides!
Let’s give you more details about the story line so you may get my points why my hands have been glued to this book for 6 hours!
Allie Ross is so excited to make a fresh start by moving to upscale Washington D. C. neighborhood with her lovely husband Mark and their six years old son.
They attend a party their realtor throw at for socializing with their new neighbors. As Mark finds himself talking about baseball with a bunch of his new mates, Allie finds herself making a deep conversation with a man: it is harmless flirting , nothing bad can happen, they’re surrounded by people! Nope! This is absolutely wrong! Because the same man call her the high school name she wants to forget: Sexy Lexie! And the very same man attacks her at the bathroom.
Allie doesn’t tell the incident to her husband which is another wrong move because the asshole harassed her at the party is poisoned and now the police and her new neighbors are accusing her have an affair with this dead man.
The officers finds out Tinder account of Allie which she never head any in her entire life! They find the long time and intimate correspondences on fake Facebook account between Allie and the same asshole/ abuser/ dead man! There are also very provocative photos of Allie shared in this account. Somebody plays a real dirty revenge game with her.
Could it be about the events of 16 years ago Allie tried so hard to forget? Something happened in high school and somebody truly blamed Allie for ruining his entire career. Could all these events be related with Allie’s past?
Even her own husband becomes suspicious about her motives and entire neighborhood points at their fingers, gossiping about her! She keeps drinking too much and dealing with her mother’s early dementia, her adaptation to her new settling circumstances at her new place!
All the walls seem like closing on her! She’s trapped! She must find a way to prove her innocence but how?
So exciting, so riveting, so entertaining story you have to devour with big bites!
I cannot wait to read future works of the Ms. Thompson ! This is a real winner, earning my 5 heart pounding, addictive, delicious mystery stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/ Forge Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
June 3, 2021
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 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.
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 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.
June 8, 2021
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
It started out with Tinder...but this is far from a love story.
Allie is a happily married photographer with a young son. Having recently moved to a fancy Washington DC neighborhood, she and her husband, Mark, attend a neighborhood soirée. Allie doesn’t seem to fit in with the other wives, and begins chatting with a man who approaches her. It’s just innocent flirting...until he calls her by an old nickname that she would rather forget.
The next day, Allie finds out that the man is dead. Not only was she seen talking to him at the party, but the police also have evidence that they had conversations on Tinder (which Allie has never been on). It becomes evident that someone is posing as Allie on social media in an attempt to ruin her career, her marriage, and her life.
As much as Allie can’t imagine who would do something like this to her, she does have some secrets from the past. There’s no way they could be coming back to haunt her...could they?
Compulsively readable and fast-paced, I Don’t Forgive You is a psychological thriller that successfully increases tension and suspense throughout. As one terrible thing after another happened to Allie, my stress level increased. It was also exasperating how little her husband, Mark, believed her or supported her...but maybe there’s good reason for that? I’ll never tell. 🤫🤐
The writing is efficient and to the point. Although the plot offers little new in terms of shock and twists (and can seem slightly unrealistic at times), it exceeds at keeping the reader on their toes with intrigue and plenty of suspects. Just the thought of what hackers/identity thieves can do is terrifying.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you to Macmillan, who sent me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be available on: 6/8/21.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
It started out with Tinder...but this is far from a love story.
Allie is a happily married photographer with a young son. Having recently moved to a fancy Washington DC neighborhood, she and her husband, Mark, attend a neighborhood soirée. Allie doesn’t seem to fit in with the other wives, and begins chatting with a man who approaches her. It’s just innocent flirting...until he calls her by an old nickname that she would rather forget.
The next day, Allie finds out that the man is dead. Not only was she seen talking to him at the party, but the police also have evidence that they had conversations on Tinder (which Allie has never been on). It becomes evident that someone is posing as Allie on social media in an attempt to ruin her career, her marriage, and her life.
As much as Allie can’t imagine who would do something like this to her, she does have some secrets from the past. There’s no way they could be coming back to haunt her...could they?
Compulsively readable and fast-paced, I Don’t Forgive You is a psychological thriller that successfully increases tension and suspense throughout. As one terrible thing after another happened to Allie, my stress level increased. It was also exasperating how little her husband, Mark, believed her or supported her...but maybe there’s good reason for that? I’ll never tell. 🤫🤐
The writing is efficient and to the point. Although the plot offers little new in terms of shock and twists (and can seem slightly unrealistic at times), it exceeds at keeping the reader on their toes with intrigue and plenty of suspects. Just the thought of what hackers/identity thieves can do is terrifying.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Thank you to Macmillan, who sent me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be available on: 6/8/21.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
June 22, 2021
Allie Ross has just moved into an upscale neighborhood in the D.C. area with her lawyer husband and young son. At a neighborhood party a man begins to flirt with her, a man who says he knows her and calls her a nickname that she hasn’t heard in many, many years. The problem? She has never seen this man before, but he seems to know HER.
The next day the man is found murdered in his home, and Allie is soon the prime suspect. Someone is impersonating her online and has created fake profiles and interactions on social media, as well as Tinder. Her entire life, both professional and personal, is soon in a shambles with neighbors turning against her and even her own husband doubting her innocence. The evidence quickly mounts and increasingly strange occurrences are happening.
She, of course, knows this is someone who has ties to her past, a past she hasn’t shared with her husband. There’s no shortage of red herrings and suspects, and even some evidence that Allie is losing it because of her drinking (which honestly didn't sound that excessive). I don’t know about you but if I were living Allie‘s life I’d be tempted to open up a bottle of wine and grab a straw. But if I’m ever wrongly accused of a crime I read enough to know this would be a VERY bad idea.
The trope is a common one with a secret past, accusations of a crime, hacked social media accounts, gaslighting, a neighborhood clique, inept investigators, and no one believing the accused, including the husband. But there's only so many plots/themes you can write about without going out in left field, and losing credibility. If it's well done, then it's ok with me.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The escalating tension with misdirections and red herrings, and her day-to-day routines as a mom and photographer, along with the complicated, dysfunctional relationship she had with her mother and sister made Allie seem real and authentic.
Another plus is I didn’t guess the final reveal, and I appreciated how the book ended without everything tied up in a neat bow. This is a quick entertaining debut, perfect for a lazy summer day (or any season!). I both read and listened, and highly recommend the audio version and narrator (Lauren Fortgang).
It has been acquired by Kapital Entertainment for adaptation into a TV series
* I received a copy of the book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
*Publication date June 8, 2021 by Forge Books
The next day the man is found murdered in his home, and Allie is soon the prime suspect. Someone is impersonating her online and has created fake profiles and interactions on social media, as well as Tinder. Her entire life, both professional and personal, is soon in a shambles with neighbors turning against her and even her own husband doubting her innocence. The evidence quickly mounts and increasingly strange occurrences are happening.
She, of course, knows this is someone who has ties to her past, a past she hasn’t shared with her husband. There’s no shortage of red herrings and suspects, and even some evidence that Allie is losing it because of her drinking (which honestly didn't sound that excessive). I don’t know about you but if I were living Allie‘s life I’d be tempted to open up a bottle of wine and grab a straw. But if I’m ever wrongly accused of a crime I read enough to know this would be a VERY bad idea.
The trope is a common one with a secret past, accusations of a crime, hacked social media accounts, gaslighting, a neighborhood clique, inept investigators, and no one believing the accused, including the husband. But there's only so many plots/themes you can write about without going out in left field, and losing credibility. If it's well done, then it's ok with me.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The escalating tension with misdirections and red herrings, and her day-to-day routines as a mom and photographer, along with the complicated, dysfunctional relationship she had with her mother and sister made Allie seem real and authentic.
Another plus is I didn’t guess the final reveal, and I appreciated how the book ended without everything tied up in a neat bow. This is a quick entertaining debut, perfect for a lazy summer day (or any season!). I both read and listened, and highly recommend the audio version and narrator (Lauren Fortgang).
It has been acquired by Kapital Entertainment for adaptation into a TV series
* I received a copy of the book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own
*Publication date June 8, 2021 by Forge Books
July 28, 2021
Tension filled plot that started off fantastic!
I was left drained after living with the protagonist Allie or Alexis or Sexy Lexie!! (Whatever name she calls herself)! Boy, I thought she might have a mental breakdown at any moment (or I would first)! So many things pile up against her that anyone would collapse from it. Geez, give her a break!
No one wants to encounter Rob, the wine guy, but Allie has the misfortune of having a flirting session with him one night. We have a neighborhood gossip mill on steriods to further the rumors- tongues wagging and hurling accusations, more drama, social media gone wild, and a bit of wine drinking to top it off.
When it rains, it pours and it did! I mostly enjoyed it, but it did become a little too much and I wanted to end it already! Whew!
This was a library loan. Read July 2021.
I was left drained after living with the protagonist Allie or Alexis or Sexy Lexie!! (Whatever name she calls herself)! Boy, I thought she might have a mental breakdown at any moment (or I would first)! So many things pile up against her that anyone would collapse from it. Geez, give her a break!
No one wants to encounter Rob, the wine guy, but Allie has the misfortune of having a flirting session with him one night. We have a neighborhood gossip mill on steriods to further the rumors- tongues wagging and hurling accusations, more drama, social media gone wild, and a bit of wine drinking to top it off.
When it rains, it pours and it did! I mostly enjoyed it, but it did become a little too much and I wanted to end it already! Whew!
This was a library loan. Read July 2021.
April 24, 2021
Allie and her husband Mark have just moved to an upscale DC suburb, with their young son, Cole, and she is hoping to make a good first impression …
Not bringing the little square hamburger buns for the sliders, which you supposedly signed up to bring, doesn’t earn you points.
A picture of you, snapped at that same neighborhood gathering, where your head is awfully close to a neighborhood Dad, over glasses of wine, doesn’t help either.
Especially when you exit the party quickly after an altercation-and that same Dad is found murdered the next day, texts between the two of you on Tinder, linking you to the dead man..
But Allie has never been on Tinder, and she soon discovers that her identity has been hacked, and someone is impersonating her online. Just one of the eighteen million fake FB accounts according to Google...
But why?!
It is amazing how many people believe whatever they read on a Facebook page.
Or that people believe videos and pictures posted, even though everything can be doctored nowadays.
“He who controls the camera controls the truth”
And, to think that I have sat in a Starbucks and logged on to public wi-fi! 😳
Terrifying!
DEBUT author Aggie Blum Thompson was a true crime reporter in the D.C area, and she NAILED a life spiraling out of control because of identity theft! The tension was palpable.
Allie doesn’t know who she can trust, and I didn’t either, as there is plenty of misdirection, and plenty of possible suspects-many who are guilty of something...
But who is guilty of this?
What really makes a book for me is when I find the characters and their daily lives and conversations authentic, and this one fits the bill, capturing the dynamics of relationships perfectly -Marriage, Siblings, Parents and Parenting and the delicate balance of female friendships too!
Plus-it kept me guessing to the end!
Thank You to Macmillan, who sent me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Available June 8, 2021!
Not bringing the little square hamburger buns for the sliders, which you supposedly signed up to bring, doesn’t earn you points.
A picture of you, snapped at that same neighborhood gathering, where your head is awfully close to a neighborhood Dad, over glasses of wine, doesn’t help either.
Especially when you exit the party quickly after an altercation-and that same Dad is found murdered the next day, texts between the two of you on Tinder, linking you to the dead man..
But Allie has never been on Tinder, and she soon discovers that her identity has been hacked, and someone is impersonating her online. Just one of the eighteen million fake FB accounts according to Google...
But why?!
It is amazing how many people believe whatever they read on a Facebook page.
Or that people believe videos and pictures posted, even though everything can be doctored nowadays.
“He who controls the camera controls the truth”
And, to think that I have sat in a Starbucks and logged on to public wi-fi! 😳
Terrifying!
DEBUT author Aggie Blum Thompson was a true crime reporter in the D.C area, and she NAILED a life spiraling out of control because of identity theft! The tension was palpable.
Allie doesn’t know who she can trust, and I didn’t either, as there is plenty of misdirection, and plenty of possible suspects-many who are guilty of something...
But who is guilty of this?
What really makes a book for me is when I find the characters and their daily lives and conversations authentic, and this one fits the bill, capturing the dynamics of relationships perfectly -Marriage, Siblings, Parents and Parenting and the delicate balance of female friendships too!
Plus-it kept me guessing to the end!
Thank You to Macmillan, who sent me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Available June 8, 2021!
April 19, 2021
I Don’t Forgive You by Aggie Blum Thompson is a 2021 Forge publication.
Crazy, Creepy, and Atmospheric!
Allie and her husband, Mark, along with their young son, have recently moved to DC- settling in an affluent neighborhood. Things go horribly awry after the couple attends a neighborhood party. Allie is assaulted in the restroom, which is bad enough- but when her attacker is later found dead, Allie finds herself a person of interest in the case after a fake Tinder account is found in her name.
From there, one thing after another, points to a deliberate smear campaign against Allie- an attempt to not only ruin her life, but to frame her for murder. The question is… Why?
As it turns out, Allie is harboring secrets from her past- and it looks as though she's been found her out. Is someone from her past seeking revenge, or has someone closer to her discovered Allie's dark secrets- like her less than charming sister in law- or even Mark?
The setup for this novel is unnerving- seriously unsettling- and draws from current fears of identity theft, and deep fakes. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I read an article about a woman who made deep fake videos of her daughter’s cheerleading competitors, which depicted them exhibiting behavior that would get them kicked off the squad. Just goes to show how anyone with the right computer skills could easily make one look guilty of something they didn’t do.
With just the slightest bit of evidence that points to a person’s guilt, the cops might latch on to that theory and run with it. Happens all the time. This is what makes the plot so disturbingly plausible.
The author did a great job with Allie’s character. Thinking about the way the story develops, Allie is the one who carries most of the burden in the novel. The secondary characters do their part- and do it well- as there is not one person Allie can completely trust.
Yet, Allie’s behavior can look a lot like self-sabotage –such as consuming copious amounts of alcohol, which doesn’t help her reputation much. Her one -woman show is harrowing, tense, edgy and very suspenseful.
We could stop there, and I’d be satisfied, as the book delivered what I was expecting it to. Yet, this one stands out just a bit more because although the author stuck to the format's requisite rules, she broke form by taking the genre into deeper, darker, and more emotional territory than your garden variety psych thriller. I do hope readers will pick up on the more meaningful messages in the story, beyond the surface chills and thrills.
While one does experience the usual relief as the roller coaster ride coasts to a stop, the reader isn’t let completely off the hook, as the complexities and emotional aspects continue to linger after the last page is turned… as they should.
Coming June- 2021
Crazy, Creepy, and Atmospheric!
Allie and her husband, Mark, along with their young son, have recently moved to DC- settling in an affluent neighborhood. Things go horribly awry after the couple attends a neighborhood party. Allie is assaulted in the restroom, which is bad enough- but when her attacker is later found dead, Allie finds herself a person of interest in the case after a fake Tinder account is found in her name.
From there, one thing after another, points to a deliberate smear campaign against Allie- an attempt to not only ruin her life, but to frame her for murder. The question is… Why?
As it turns out, Allie is harboring secrets from her past- and it looks as though she's been found her out. Is someone from her past seeking revenge, or has someone closer to her discovered Allie's dark secrets- like her less than charming sister in law- or even Mark?
The setup for this novel is unnerving- seriously unsettling- and draws from current fears of identity theft, and deep fakes. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I read an article about a woman who made deep fake videos of her daughter’s cheerleading competitors, which depicted them exhibiting behavior that would get them kicked off the squad. Just goes to show how anyone with the right computer skills could easily make one look guilty of something they didn’t do.
With just the slightest bit of evidence that points to a person’s guilt, the cops might latch on to that theory and run with it. Happens all the time. This is what makes the plot so disturbingly plausible.
The author did a great job with Allie’s character. Thinking about the way the story develops, Allie is the one who carries most of the burden in the novel. The secondary characters do their part- and do it well- as there is not one person Allie can completely trust.
Yet, Allie’s behavior can look a lot like self-sabotage –such as consuming copious amounts of alcohol, which doesn’t help her reputation much. Her one -woman show is harrowing, tense, edgy and very suspenseful.
We could stop there, and I’d be satisfied, as the book delivered what I was expecting it to. Yet, this one stands out just a bit more because although the author stuck to the format's requisite rules, she broke form by taking the genre into deeper, darker, and more emotional territory than your garden variety psych thriller. I do hope readers will pick up on the more meaningful messages in the story, beyond the surface chills and thrills.
While one does experience the usual relief as the roller coaster ride coasts to a stop, the reader isn’t let completely off the hook, as the complexities and emotional aspects continue to linger after the last page is turned… as they should.
Coming June- 2021
June 8, 2021
***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY***
I thought this book was good, it kept me turning the pages, but it didn’t have a very complex plot. I thought it was entertaining but not a book whose characters will stay with me. This was a 3 ½ for me rounded up to a 4.
Allie, her husband Mark and their young son Cole have recently moved to this upscale suburb in D.C. Allie is trying to establish herself as a photographer and Mark has taken an upward move to a new law firm. Allie is having trouble making friends, everyone here seems to already know each other. The women walk together, do yoga and apparently spend a lot of time gossiping in each other’s kitchens!!!
On Mark’s insistence they attend a neighborhood get together where most everyone ignores her. There is one man who reaches out and pours her some wine. Later in the evening he will attempt to “get closer” to her. This is the last straw for Allie and she insists they leave.
The next day the man is found dead, he lives just down the block! Now begins a nightmare of incidents, betrayals, social media attacks, etc that will change Allie’s personal and professional life.
This is not the first time that Allie has been the victim of a hateful social media attack, the last time was when she was just 17.
SHE THOUGHT THAT SHE HAD LEFT THAT LIFE BEHIND HER BUT SOMEBODY “DOESN’T FORGIVE HER” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather than have support from her husband, he thinks everything that is happening is because Allie has been drinking too much, he thinks she is delusional. He and his family want her to enter rehab. When she turns to the police for help in stopping the frame up and smear campaign, they are pretty useless. She needs someone who is computer savvy, someone who can undo the damage that has been done. Whom she chooses to help her will surprise you!
What this novel does well is to remind us how quickly and apparently easily, things that we post on any social media sites can come back to haunt you, hurt you and EVEN RUIN THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE SO CAREFULLY CHOSEN AND PLANNED!!!!!!
There are a lot of characters for you to decide who is doing this to Allie. There are the unaccepting neighbors, her out of control sister, her babysitter and people from her past life. Everything spirals out of control !!!!!!
To tell you just what she is dealing with would ruin the novel for you. This would be a great beach read and I would classify it as a domestic thriller. I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on June 8, 2021
I thought this book was good, it kept me turning the pages, but it didn’t have a very complex plot. I thought it was entertaining but not a book whose characters will stay with me. This was a 3 ½ for me rounded up to a 4.
Allie, her husband Mark and their young son Cole have recently moved to this upscale suburb in D.C. Allie is trying to establish herself as a photographer and Mark has taken an upward move to a new law firm. Allie is having trouble making friends, everyone here seems to already know each other. The women walk together, do yoga and apparently spend a lot of time gossiping in each other’s kitchens!!!
On Mark’s insistence they attend a neighborhood get together where most everyone ignores her. There is one man who reaches out and pours her some wine. Later in the evening he will attempt to “get closer” to her. This is the last straw for Allie and she insists they leave.
The next day the man is found dead, he lives just down the block! Now begins a nightmare of incidents, betrayals, social media attacks, etc that will change Allie’s personal and professional life.
This is not the first time that Allie has been the victim of a hateful social media attack, the last time was when she was just 17.
SHE THOUGHT THAT SHE HAD LEFT THAT LIFE BEHIND HER BUT SOMEBODY “DOESN’T FORGIVE HER” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather than have support from her husband, he thinks everything that is happening is because Allie has been drinking too much, he thinks she is delusional. He and his family want her to enter rehab. When she turns to the police for help in stopping the frame up and smear campaign, they are pretty useless. She needs someone who is computer savvy, someone who can undo the damage that has been done. Whom she chooses to help her will surprise you!
What this novel does well is to remind us how quickly and apparently easily, things that we post on any social media sites can come back to haunt you, hurt you and EVEN RUIN THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE SO CAREFULLY CHOSEN AND PLANNED!!!!!!
There are a lot of characters for you to decide who is doing this to Allie. There are the unaccepting neighbors, her out of control sister, her babysitter and people from her past life. Everything spirals out of control !!!!!!
To tell you just what she is dealing with would ruin the novel for you. This would be a great beach read and I would classify it as a domestic thriller. I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on June 8, 2021
April 1, 2021
This is a chilling and creepy psychological thriller debut from Aggie Blum Thomson that focuses on the life and personal history of photographer, Allie Ross, married to lawyer, Mark and mother to a young son, Cole. The family have moved to an upmarket suburb of Washington DC, but Allie is struggling to settle in. In her efforts to be accepted and make friends, she and Mark attend a neighbourhood party to ingratiate themselves within the community. At the party, Allie flirts with a local man, a dad, called Robert, having a conversation that oddly resonates with her past, and the strange mention of a nickname of hers from childhood, the encounter ends in a disturbing manner
When Rob turns up dead, after having been poisoned, Allie finds herself under an unrelentingly glaring spotlight when she becomes a suspect in the murder investigation by the police. She is confronted by an apparent Tinder account and texts that relate her relationship with the murder victim, all of which is not true. Who could possibly want to frame her? As the local rumour and gossip mill goes into overdrive, Allie finds herself the target of cyberbullying, her accounts are being hacked and someone is impersonating her online. The flawed and unreliable Allie finds her life and reputation, personal and professional, begin to unravel in spectacular fashion. This fuels her growing paranoia, suspicious of everyone around her, including her not so perfect husband, Mark.
In a story where Allie's past comes back to haunt her, there are plenty of twists and turns that make this such an intense and gripping read. Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an ARC.
When Rob turns up dead, after having been poisoned, Allie finds herself under an unrelentingly glaring spotlight when she becomes a suspect in the murder investigation by the police. She is confronted by an apparent Tinder account and texts that relate her relationship with the murder victim, all of which is not true. Who could possibly want to frame her? As the local rumour and gossip mill goes into overdrive, Allie finds herself the target of cyberbullying, her accounts are being hacked and someone is impersonating her online. The flawed and unreliable Allie finds her life and reputation, personal and professional, begin to unravel in spectacular fashion. This fuels her growing paranoia, suspicious of everyone around her, including her not so perfect husband, Mark.
In a story where Allie's past comes back to haunt her, there are plenty of twists and turns that make this such an intense and gripping read. Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an ARC.
June 16, 2021
2 stars.
Allie and Mark move into a posh new neighbourhood with their young son, Cole. After an incident at a neighbourhood gathering, Allie finds herself wrapped up in a murder investigation that ties her to social media accounts that she never opened.
What started off as an intriguing plot quickly turned into an eye-roller. While I understand that identify theft on social media is an important issue to be aware of, I didn’t find the characters thoughts or actions believable so I wasn’t invested in any portion of the storyline.
This was a complete miss for me, but I encourage you to check out the many positive reviews out there.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy through NetGalley.
Allie and Mark move into a posh new neighbourhood with their young son, Cole. After an incident at a neighbourhood gathering, Allie finds herself wrapped up in a murder investigation that ties her to social media accounts that she never opened.
What started off as an intriguing plot quickly turned into an eye-roller. While I understand that identify theft on social media is an important issue to be aware of, I didn’t find the characters thoughts or actions believable so I wasn’t invested in any portion of the storyline.
This was a complete miss for me, but I encourage you to check out the many positive reviews out there.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy through NetGalley.
December 6, 2021
Solid 4 ⭐️
If you needed a reason to get off social media or stop checking it so frequently: read this book and be alarmed at how scary easy it is to steal someone’s identity online. 😳
My husband and I have been binging the show ‘Catfish’ and we’re about to start the last season. Has anyone actually ever watched it that far? 🤣 This book is pretty much the novel version of that show. It completely terrified me that my social media presence is actually pretty sensitive and vulnerable. If that isn’t a thriller, I don’t know what is! 😩
The characters were well developed, but my gosh, Alexis’ husband suuuuuuucked! If my husband acted a fraction of the way Mark did in this book, he would not be my husband…😂
I was constantly on the edge of my seat dying to read more and see what happens next!
The ending was a bit blah, but the entire rest of the book made up for it in my opinion.
Great book for those thriller lovers who don’t want the ‘easy to guess’ villain!
Side note unrelated to my book review:
I know that most of my GR friends are those in the thriller community and constantly read those types of books. (As do I, usually), however, I’ll be taking a thriller/mystery/horror hiatus until further notice.
Long story short-my husband, kids and I recently moved to the beautiful small town of Oxford, MI that just had the devastating school shooting on Nov. 30th and I have spent this past week grieving uncontrollably for my kind and loving new community. I found out today that my aunt died of Covid this morning and my good friend’s dad is dying of cancer. To say this past week has been the worst is an understatement. I’d be lying if I said this book wasn’t hard to get through given the sensitivity of the topics. (I was already knee deep in the book and just decided to stick it out.) Until I am in a better mental headspace, I’ll be reading lighter, easier reads that aren’t so taxing and aren’t about death. Please bear with me and my 180 in novel genres. I’ll still be reading reviews for thrillers/horror/mystery and as always, I’m looking forward to everyone’s fantastic book reviews!! ❤️
If you needed a reason to get off social media or stop checking it so frequently: read this book and be alarmed at how scary easy it is to steal someone’s identity online. 😳
My husband and I have been binging the show ‘Catfish’ and we’re about to start the last season. Has anyone actually ever watched it that far? 🤣 This book is pretty much the novel version of that show. It completely terrified me that my social media presence is actually pretty sensitive and vulnerable. If that isn’t a thriller, I don’t know what is! 😩
The characters were well developed, but my gosh, Alexis’ husband suuuuuuucked! If my husband acted a fraction of the way Mark did in this book, he would not be my husband…😂
I was constantly on the edge of my seat dying to read more and see what happens next!
The ending was a bit blah, but the entire rest of the book made up for it in my opinion.
Great book for those thriller lovers who don’t want the ‘easy to guess’ villain!
Side note unrelated to my book review:
I know that most of my GR friends are those in the thriller community and constantly read those types of books. (As do I, usually), however, I’ll be taking a thriller/mystery/horror hiatus until further notice.
Long story short-my husband, kids and I recently moved to the beautiful small town of Oxford, MI that just had the devastating school shooting on Nov. 30th and I have spent this past week grieving uncontrollably for my kind and loving new community. I found out today that my aunt died of Covid this morning and my good friend’s dad is dying of cancer. To say this past week has been the worst is an understatement. I’d be lying if I said this book wasn’t hard to get through given the sensitivity of the topics. (I was already knee deep in the book and just decided to stick it out.) Until I am in a better mental headspace, I’ll be reading lighter, easier reads that aren’t so taxing and aren’t about death. Please bear with me and my 180 in novel genres. I’ll still be reading reviews for thrillers/horror/mystery and as always, I’m looking forward to everyone’s fantastic book reviews!! ❤️
February 8, 2023
I may need to rethink this whole Goodreads thing.
In her debut thriller, I Don’t Forgive You, Aggie Blum Thompson brings to the forefront the inherent dangers of technology. And thanks to Ms. Thompson, I now see the Internet and social media for what it is when in the wrong hands: a weapon.
Allie Ross, a successful photographer and devoted wife and mother, has recently moved to an upper-class neighborhood in Bethesda. Being new to the community, she works hard to create a comfortable niche for her family amongst their neighbors. Until she finds herself accused of murder, and all she can do is watch as she is impersonated online and her social media accounts are hacked.
While being fairly unremarkable in premise, I Don’t Forgive You is a solid entry into the crowded psychological thriller genre. Thompson has written a fast-paced, compelling page-turner, one that is filled with deft red herrings and numerous suspects. You will find, however, many classic thriller tropes within the story: an unreliable and drunken narrator, gossipy neighbors, a shifty husband. But Thompson utilizes these tropes so effectively that the end result is pure entertainment.
Now combine all of the above into an audiobook with fantastic narration by Lauren Fortgang, and you’ve got a terrific listen. Pressing the pause button was never easy.
I probably won’t remember much about I Don’t Forgive You three months down the road. It will likely be nothing more than a fuzzy memory of yet another thriller that I’ve enjoyed. But I’ll at least remember the fun I had while listening to it – so yay for that.
In her debut thriller, I Don’t Forgive You, Aggie Blum Thompson brings to the forefront the inherent dangers of technology. And thanks to Ms. Thompson, I now see the Internet and social media for what it is when in the wrong hands: a weapon.
Allie Ross, a successful photographer and devoted wife and mother, has recently moved to an upper-class neighborhood in Bethesda. Being new to the community, she works hard to create a comfortable niche for her family amongst their neighbors. Until she finds herself accused of murder, and all she can do is watch as she is impersonated online and her social media accounts are hacked.
While being fairly unremarkable in premise, I Don’t Forgive You is a solid entry into the crowded psychological thriller genre. Thompson has written a fast-paced, compelling page-turner, one that is filled with deft red herrings and numerous suspects. You will find, however, many classic thriller tropes within the story: an unreliable and drunken narrator, gossipy neighbors, a shifty husband. But Thompson utilizes these tropes so effectively that the end result is pure entertainment.
Now combine all of the above into an audiobook with fantastic narration by Lauren Fortgang, and you’ve got a terrific listen. Pressing the pause button was never easy.
I probably won’t remember much about I Don’t Forgive You three months down the road. It will likely be nothing more than a fuzzy memory of yet another thriller that I’ve enjoyed. But I’ll at least remember the fun I had while listening to it – so yay for that.
June 24, 2021
I once read a story about a happy couple that lived in a cute, little blue house for years until one morning, they came down to discover the kitchen had fallen into a sinkhole. By the late afternoon, the entire house had been swallowed, their lives vanished before their eyes.
That’s how this feels.
A little innocent flirting never killed anyone.Are you 100% sure about that?
Allie Ross, a photographer, is new in Eastbrook, a pretty nice neighborhood, close in to DC. She arrived from Chicago this Summer, with husband, Mark, a lawyer, and their kindergartner, Cole. Never one of the in-crowd, popular-kid sort, Allie has had minimal success trying to make friends in her new community. But her R/E agent is hosting the annual neighborhood social, offering a chance to maybe make another connection or two. We scan the tribes along with her, the alpha career moms, the stay-at-home moms, the PTA contingent. It becomes clear that parenting is a blood sport in this place, but on this night it looks like Allie is prey of a different sort. One of the local dads, Rob, is flirty, which is a novelty Allie actually enjoys, briefly, but when he tries to force himself on her in the upstairs bathroom, claiming that she had come on to him, it ends with her bruised and fleeing the party, and him telling her to stay off Tinder. That he called her “Sexy, Lexi,” was a major no-no, something with a particular dark resonance. No one had called her that for sixteen years. What the actual f---?
Author Aggie Blum Thompson - image from her site
Allie survives the night. For good or ill, Rob does not, and all eyes turn toward her.
The innocent-accused is a familiar device in thriller plotlines. It offers us a chance to identify with the poor target of such. I mean haven’t we all been falsely accused? There is usually a familiar corps of accusers. The police characters can be relied on to jump to incorrect conclusions, based on a less-than-thorough consideration of all possible explanations. They can be counted on to ignore alternate theories and inconvenient evidence. Yes, I know this happens in real life far, far, far too often, but it is certainly a trope in novels of this sort. Must it happen all the time? Maybe? I don’t know.
Another is to pile on our poor suffering hero or heroine. In the 1690s, the psychos running government in Salem at the time applied a brutal form of torture and execution to one Giles Corey, believing him to be a witch. Or, wink, wink, nod, nod, claiming to believe him to be a witch. The particular actions taken may vary over the years, but the disingenuousness remains.
Image of Giles Corey having a bad day from Wikimedia
Stones were added, and added and added until the poor soul beneath them either confessed to whatever false charge they were being accused of, or expired. Allie Ross would have fit in quite nicely. In Aggie Blum Thompson’s suspense/mystery/thriller, I Don’t Forgive You, our heroine is subjected to such a continuing load of burdens that it is a wonder she does not emerge on a spatula. I do not have a metric for this, no x trials are ok, but x+1 is too much. It is purely a feel thing, and it felt to me like Allie was being subjected to waaaay too much.
I could run through a list, but I do not want to spoil anything. Suffice it to say that she is being framed. Someone is out to ruin her life, and she finds precious few allies.
My goal was to create a really sharp protagonist who makes all the smart choices, yet still ends up in serious trouble. - from The Big Thrill interviewIf so, then a) why does Allie keep this huge secret from her husband? b) why does she voluntarily talk to the police, in the police station, knowing they believe her guilty of murder, after being specifically cautioned by her very smart criminal lawyer not to ever speak to the police without him present? c) why, when she realizes that she is being impersonated on-line does she not go to a legitimate investigative firm straight away to find out who is doing it? d) how did such a keen sort manage to pick a husband who should be brought up on charges for non-support? e) how does she leave her mother’s finances in the hands of her sketchy sister? Maybe Allie is not so sharp as the author set out to make her.
Am I being too harsh? Thompson certainly succeeds in creating a fraught tension level, sustaining it there for the whole of the book. She offers a few bones of possible helpers for this desperate housewife, but keeps us wondering ab0ut those people too. Allie’s persistent isolation fuels the tension. Thompson ramps it up, keeps it high, then ramps it up some more, tossing in a glimmer of hope every now and again. If your BP and heart condition can tolerate it, then full steam ahead with that. My BP is not terrible, and my ticker is fine. It felt like too much. I started feeling that poor Allie needed to be rescued from her creator as much as from the morons, narcissists, and evil-doers around her.
Will Allie find out who is doing this to her? And why? Will she be arrested? Will her husband ever actually stand up for her? Will anyone believe she did not post those photos or those comments? Will the cops grow a brain? Can she chuck her entire family (well, except for her son), and her entire community (almost all of them, anyway. Not that big a loss, as Allie has only been there a few months)? One can only hope.
One nice element in this book is Thompson’s attention to some of the perils of the on-line world. No Russian hackers needed. We see how easy it might be to impersonate anyone on-line, set up fake accounts, and post images and comments, to dark purpose, all with0ut the knowledge of the person whose identity is being used. She also clues us in to a scam that targets seniors, and is fiendishly effective.
Another is showing how guilt and insecurity can combine to make one’s life unnecessarily fraught. In the Big Thrill interview Thompson asks
…can we ever really forgive ourselves? And what price do we pay if we don’t? I enthusiastically believe the answer to the first question is yes, if you do the work…if you don’t—the burden of carrying shame and guilt around for decades can be like a fog casting a dark shadow on every aspect of life.There are twists and turns aplenty, numerous balls to keep juggling, directions to keep turning, and enough red herring to supply a Norwegian smorgasbord. Toss in a countdown clock as Allie needs to figure everything out before the police arrest her. It is exhausting, which you may enjoy, or not. If all you need is something to get your blood boiling, you are set. This one will do quite nicely. It certainly demonstrates that Thompson knows how to tend the landscape 0f the genre. I hope next time she does, the lead’s decision-making is more finely honed.
A tiny, ugly truth blooms in the swampiest corner of my soul. This rotten, little weed, begging for attention, wants me to know that inside of me is a broken thing, which he recognized. I thought I’d been clever enough to hide it. I’ve fooled so many people, people like Mark. But this guy smelled it on me.
Me. Not anyone else there.
Review posted – June 18, 2021
Publication date – June 8, 2021
I received an e-ARC of this book through Macmillan’s Reading Insider's Club, by way of NetGalley. Thanks to both.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, FB, and Instagram pages
New York native Thompson was a writer long before penning her first novel, working as a crime reporter for several newspapers, including The Boston Globe and The Washington Post.
I can’t remember ever not wanting to be a writer! I was one of those kids who was writing poems, stories, and plays in elementary school. In high school I wrote a scandalous novella in middle school and revealing all the secrets of seventh grade. I put basically everyone I knew in it. It was a hit at school, until it was confiscated in biology class. - from her siteInterviews
-----The Big Thrill Magazine - I Don’t Forgive You by Aggie Blum Thompson by ITW
-----Kelly Duran - Q&A with Aggie Blum Thompson by Kelly Duran
Items of Interest from the author
-----Women Writers, Women’s Books - Gardening and Writing - this is wonderful
-----Excerpt
February 9, 2021
Allie Ross, her husband Mark, and six year old son have recently moved to an upscale Washington DC neighborhood. At a local neighborhood party hosted by their realtor Allie has a flirtatious conversation with a man while her husband is talking baseball with a bunch of men in the other room. It's only harmless flirting until that man utters a name she hasn't heard in years. A name she was called back in high school: Sexy Lexi.
This begins Allie's descent down the rabbit hole.
Turns out the man in question turns up dead of poisoning the same night of the party. The police have questions for Allie but she insists she hardly knows him having only met him that night. However, the police have records of a Tinder relationship between the two that has been going on for months. Allie has never even been on Tinder. Then before you know it a false Facebook account claiming to be her turns up posting things Allie would never post including provocative photos of herself.
Slowly but surely her world becomes dismantled and Allie has to find out who is trying to ruin her and for what reason all while the police are closing in on her.
This was a really fantastic psych thriller that kept me flipping the pages. I could feel Allie's frustration. I could not imagine having someone infiltrate your life like this. The violation of it all would be devastating to anyone. I will say that I did not guess the who - part of it, yes, but not the complete picture and to say more than that will ruin this for everyone so I will zip my lips here. Aggie Blum Thompson, you have made a new fan! 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for my digital copy.
This begins Allie's descent down the rabbit hole.
Turns out the man in question turns up dead of poisoning the same night of the party. The police have questions for Allie but she insists she hardly knows him having only met him that night. However, the police have records of a Tinder relationship between the two that has been going on for months. Allie has never even been on Tinder. Then before you know it a false Facebook account claiming to be her turns up posting things Allie would never post including provocative photos of herself.
Slowly but surely her world becomes dismantled and Allie has to find out who is trying to ruin her and for what reason all while the police are closing in on her.
This was a really fantastic psych thriller that kept me flipping the pages. I could feel Allie's frustration. I could not imagine having someone infiltrate your life like this. The violation of it all would be devastating to anyone. I will say that I did not guess the who - part of it, yes, but not the complete picture and to say more than that will ruin this for everyone so I will zip my lips here. Aggie Blum Thompson, you have made a new fan! 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for my digital copy.
November 24, 2021
I liked this one!
The whodunit was always in the back of my mind. Who was torturing Allie? I knew why, but I wasn't sure who.
Allie Ross was living a suburban life. Her husband Mark, an attorney, has started a new job and they have moved to DC. Her six-year-old son is in a good school and Allie is moving in the right direction as a photographer with the hope of starting her own studio in the near future.
Allie and her husband are invited to a neighborhood party where Allie flirts a little with a man until he calls her by a nickname (Lexie) that she hasn't heard in many years. Then the same man follows her up into a bathroom and tries to have sex with her. She is shocked and is able to escape him but not without her husband noticing something was not right. After taking a shower, Allie only wants to forget the weird encounter.
The next morning, the neighborhood is uproar. A man has been found dead. The man is none other than the same man that accosted Allie in the bathroom. Then, detectives come on knocking and they want to know more about her Tinder app. An app she never downloaded herself despite showing up on her phone.
The more confusing and damaging her life becomes, the more Allie questions who is behind this vendetta and why?
Quite entertaining from beginning to end. I couldn't stop reading it!
Allie was likable and I could feel how desperate she was becoming. I wasn't really happy with the way her husband Mark took things and his lack of support when she needed it but I guess it worked in isolating her even further.
I Don't Forgive You had me guessing to the end which is my favorite type of book.
I know that when Aggie Blum Thompson writes another novel, I won't hesitate to read it.
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Forge Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The whodunit was always in the back of my mind. Who was torturing Allie? I knew why, but I wasn't sure who.
Allie Ross was living a suburban life. Her husband Mark, an attorney, has started a new job and they have moved to DC. Her six-year-old son is in a good school and Allie is moving in the right direction as a photographer with the hope of starting her own studio in the near future.
Allie and her husband are invited to a neighborhood party where Allie flirts a little with a man until he calls her by a nickname (Lexie) that she hasn't heard in many years. Then the same man follows her up into a bathroom and tries to have sex with her. She is shocked and is able to escape him but not without her husband noticing something was not right. After taking a shower, Allie only wants to forget the weird encounter.
The next morning, the neighborhood is uproar. A man has been found dead. The man is none other than the same man that accosted Allie in the bathroom. Then, detectives come on knocking and they want to know more about her Tinder app. An app she never downloaded herself despite showing up on her phone.
The more confusing and damaging her life becomes, the more Allie questions who is behind this vendetta and why?
Quite entertaining from beginning to end. I couldn't stop reading it!
Allie was likable and I could feel how desperate she was becoming. I wasn't really happy with the way her husband Mark took things and his lack of support when she needed it but I guess it worked in isolating her even further.
I Don't Forgive You had me guessing to the end which is my favorite type of book.
I know that when Aggie Blum Thompson writes another novel, I won't hesitate to read it.
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Forge Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
June 18, 2021
Too convoluted for me with just too much going on yet not much at all. I lost interested halfway and was only clicking the pages to get thought it. Lindsay finished first and took one for the team and I gave up. Since I did read more than half the book I am still giving it a rating.
I received a copy from the publisher on NetGalley
I received a copy from the publisher on NetGalley
March 30, 2021
4.5 stars
I'm going to make a bold prediction and say right now I Don't Forgive You will be one of the hottest psychological thrillers this year. It was a creepy and disturbing story that held my interest from start to finish. I had a good time coming up with different theories as to what was going on and yet I still wasn't able to piece everything together ahead of time with 100% accuracy. This author hit a home run with her debut novel.
Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb with her husband and son. She's met a few people in the neighborhood but in general feels like a fish out of water. She also has a past she has gone to great lengths to leave behind. Allie is caught completely off-guard when a man at a party calls her by a nickname she briefly went by in high school. The next day, that man is dead. What happened to him?
For various reasons, you just can't be too sure what is going on especially if you are a frequent reader of mysteries and thrillers. It's like you are hyper-aware of everything the author could throw at you which means you have many possible scenarios floating through your head while reading this book. Combine that with the tension you feel as you place yourself in Allie's shoes and well, it makes for an incredible reading experience.
If you are looking for a good story to get caught up in and distract you from real life, this book is an excellent pick. There are some disturbing aspects of the plot but no more so than any other book in this genre.
I received an advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.
I'm going to make a bold prediction and say right now I Don't Forgive You will be one of the hottest psychological thrillers this year. It was a creepy and disturbing story that held my interest from start to finish. I had a good time coming up with different theories as to what was going on and yet I still wasn't able to piece everything together ahead of time with 100% accuracy. This author hit a home run with her debut novel.
Allie Ross has just moved to an upscale DC suburb with her husband and son. She's met a few people in the neighborhood but in general feels like a fish out of water. She also has a past she has gone to great lengths to leave behind. Allie is caught completely off-guard when a man at a party calls her by a nickname she briefly went by in high school. The next day, that man is dead. What happened to him?
For various reasons, you just can't be too sure what is going on especially if you are a frequent reader of mysteries and thrillers. It's like you are hyper-aware of everything the author could throw at you which means you have many possible scenarios floating through your head while reading this book. Combine that with the tension you feel as you place yourself in Allie's shoes and well, it makes for an incredible reading experience.
If you are looking for a good story to get caught up in and distract you from real life, this book is an excellent pick. There are some disturbing aspects of the plot but no more so than any other book in this genre.
I received an advance digital copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.
May 12, 2021
When Photographer Allie Ross moves to an upmarket suburb in Washington DC with her lawyer husband Mark and young son Cole, she tries to make new friends but the neighbourhood moms are very cliquey and she finds it hard to fit in. An invitation to a local party should be a good way to meet people, but Allie finds the women not very friendly. She finds herself talking to a friendly man, mildly flirting with him, but when he calls her by a nickname she hasn't used since high school, she feels a chill running down her spine as she recalls past secrets that have remained buried with that name.
The following day Allie is shocked to learn that the man she was talking to has been found murdered in his home. She is even more shocked when she discovers fake social media accounts have been set up in her name with inappropriate photos and comments leading to her not only fast becoming a topic for local gossip and cyberbullying but also being framed for murder.
This is a suspenseful psychological thriller that ramps up the tension as Allie's world unravels, affecting her reputation, her marriage and her career. It's difficult not to feel sympathy for her as she feels boxed in by everything is happening to her, with little support from her husband who doesn't know what to believe and blames her paranoia on her increasing alcohol consumption. As well as trying to work out who is doing this to her, Allie has her mother struggling in a nursing home, an irresponsible sister, and Mark’s disapproving family to deal with. With a good twisty plot that will keep you guessing, this makes for an engrossing, page-turning read. 4.5★
With thanks to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for a copy to read
The following day Allie is shocked to learn that the man she was talking to has been found murdered in his home. She is even more shocked when she discovers fake social media accounts have been set up in her name with inappropriate photos and comments leading to her not only fast becoming a topic for local gossip and cyberbullying but also being framed for murder.
This is a suspenseful psychological thriller that ramps up the tension as Allie's world unravels, affecting her reputation, her marriage and her career. It's difficult not to feel sympathy for her as she feels boxed in by everything is happening to her, with little support from her husband who doesn't know what to believe and blames her paranoia on her increasing alcohol consumption. As well as trying to work out who is doing this to her, Allie has her mother struggling in a nursing home, an irresponsible sister, and Mark’s disapproving family to deal with. With a good twisty plot that will keep you guessing, this makes for an engrossing, page-turning read. 4.5★
With thanks to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for a copy to read
November 1, 2021
This psychological whodunnit will not let you rest until you finish it! I wanted to take off from work to finish it, but didn’t do. I enjoyed an evening of reading while the TV is blaring with the State Capitol chaos. Even with that going on I lost myself in this must-read. You may find yourself mindlessly eating while racing through an unforgettable story that will make you think about what you post or your security settings.
Allie & Mark, with their young son, moved to an upscale suburban neighborhood hoping for a normal lifestyle with him as an attorney and her as a booming photographer. What appeared as an innocent neighborhood party, turned into a flirty encounter with one of the local dads Allie had not met before that night. She will not soon forget his name when he attacks her in the bathroom. Hurriedly, her and Mark leave the party with questions rambling in her mind and her integrity and marriage at stake. Before she leaves the man warns her if you do not want to be a tease than stay off of Tinder. Confused by the statement because she had never been on a dating website.
The next day the news cast in her neighborhood with her attacker found dead.....
Before long, her job is at stake, neighbors suspiciously in and out of her life whispering about vicious posts appearing on her social media, as well as naked photos of Allie.....It doesn't stop there!!!!! Her computer is hacked....steamy texts appear on her phone..... What else? There is more, if that wasn't enough!!
Police suspect her as the murderer....Could her past be the reason for the attacks? A jealous neighbor? Her own husband trying to sabotage her life? Her sister-in-law?
Talk about paranoia...I feared for her mentality with this much at stake.... When I thought I knew, I didn't.
Good job, Aggie Blum Thompson! Thank you for the ARC! I can't wait to see the explosion of this book in June 2021!!
Allie & Mark, with their young son, moved to an upscale suburban neighborhood hoping for a normal lifestyle with him as an attorney and her as a booming photographer. What appeared as an innocent neighborhood party, turned into a flirty encounter with one of the local dads Allie had not met before that night. She will not soon forget his name when he attacks her in the bathroom. Hurriedly, her and Mark leave the party with questions rambling in her mind and her integrity and marriage at stake. Before she leaves the man warns her if you do not want to be a tease than stay off of Tinder. Confused by the statement because she had never been on a dating website.
The next day the news cast in her neighborhood with her attacker found dead.....
Before long, her job is at stake, neighbors suspiciously in and out of her life whispering about vicious posts appearing on her social media, as well as naked photos of Allie.....It doesn't stop there!!!!! Her computer is hacked....steamy texts appear on her phone..... What else? There is more, if that wasn't enough!!
Police suspect her as the murderer....Could her past be the reason for the attacks? A jealous neighbor? Her own husband trying to sabotage her life? Her sister-in-law?
Talk about paranoia...I feared for her mentality with this much at stake.... When I thought I knew, I didn't.
Good job, Aggie Blum Thompson! Thank you for the ARC! I can't wait to see the explosion of this book in June 2021!!
May 29, 2021
Allie Ross is married, a talented photographer on the path to building a successful career and the mother of five-year old Cole. She and husband Mark have just recently moved into their first home in a Bethesda, Maryland community where parenting is akin to a competitive sport. Allie doesn’t fit the mold of the typical suburban mother, working or otherwise, but is looking to develop long term female relationships and find her niche. When they attend their first neighborhood party one evening, she’s approached by one of the divorced Dad’s who comes on strong and calls her by a nickname that she’s never used since high school. He turns up dead the next day and she discovers fake Tinder and Facebook social media accounts for herself, suggesting she’d known him intimately long before that night and her past comes back to haunt her. Suddenly everyone is suspicious of her, including Mark, as things began spiraling out of control.
Allie becomes an unreliable narrator but this time it’s not the reader who’s questioning her truthfulness but everyone in her sphere. It’s clear from the onset that someone else is out to destroy her reputation and much more. I was outraged on her behalf and kept looking for ways she could extricate herself from this mess as she became more deeply mired. Allie’s past is slowly revealed during the course of the story, giving me time to develop theories but there were too many well crafted red herrings to hone in on any one person (but I came close!).
This isn’t your typical debut novel that reflects some of the pitfalls of an inexperienced writer. The pacing is just about perfect, the writing is excellent and the characterizations well designed. The suburban setting was also deftly defined without resorting to caricature. While many of these women came across as being disingenuous, I also sensed the desperation that drove them, which took some skill because they were fairly unlikable. There are several propositions to ponder that aren’t easily resolved involving family, inappropriate relationships and community bullying. I liked having to think about these issues as I also worked to figure out the mystery, always worrying on Allie’s behalf. This was a solid psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I’m also ready for the author’s next book, whatever it is and whenever it’s released.
Update: Kapital Entertainment has acquired the rights to develop this novel into a TV series! See here for more info: https://deadline.com/2021/05/i-dont-f...
Posted on Blue Mood Café
(Thanks to the Macmillan Insiders Reader Club for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)
Allie becomes an unreliable narrator but this time it’s not the reader who’s questioning her truthfulness but everyone in her sphere. It’s clear from the onset that someone else is out to destroy her reputation and much more. I was outraged on her behalf and kept looking for ways she could extricate herself from this mess as she became more deeply mired. Allie’s past is slowly revealed during the course of the story, giving me time to develop theories but there were too many well crafted red herrings to hone in on any one person (but I came close!).
This isn’t your typical debut novel that reflects some of the pitfalls of an inexperienced writer. The pacing is just about perfect, the writing is excellent and the characterizations well designed. The suburban setting was also deftly defined without resorting to caricature. While many of these women came across as being disingenuous, I also sensed the desperation that drove them, which took some skill because they were fairly unlikable. There are several propositions to ponder that aren’t easily resolved involving family, inappropriate relationships and community bullying. I liked having to think about these issues as I also worked to figure out the mystery, always worrying on Allie’s behalf. This was a solid psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I’m also ready for the author’s next book, whatever it is and whenever it’s released.
Update: Kapital Entertainment has acquired the rights to develop this novel into a TV series! See here for more info: https://deadline.com/2021/05/i-dont-f...
Posted on Blue Mood Café
(Thanks to the Macmillan Insiders Reader Club for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)
June 8, 2021
4 red herring stars
This fast-paced psychological thriller kept me on the edge of my seat. I worried for the main character Allie as she is attacked at every turn, much of it through social media. She’s just moved to suburban DC with her attorney husband and sweet boy who loves pink. The women in the neighborhood can be welcoming but can turn on you in a heartbeat.
It all starts with a neighborhood party and a series of misunderstandings. A man flirts with Allie, even calling her by an old nickname. The next day the man is found dead, and the heat turns up on Allie as she is investigated by the police. How can Allie explain all the strange social media posts that look like are coming from her?
Soon, her marriage, her career, everything is in jeopardy! As her past rears its head, can she reconcile things and salvage her life? The author had my head spinning as I tried to figure this one out and that was great fun! This one made me feel more cautious about technology and makes for a great book to discuss!
I received a free ARC from Macmillan in an exchange for an honest review.
This fast-paced psychological thriller kept me on the edge of my seat. I worried for the main character Allie as she is attacked at every turn, much of it through social media. She’s just moved to suburban DC with her attorney husband and sweet boy who loves pink. The women in the neighborhood can be welcoming but can turn on you in a heartbeat.
It all starts with a neighborhood party and a series of misunderstandings. A man flirts with Allie, even calling her by an old nickname. The next day the man is found dead, and the heat turns up on Allie as she is investigated by the police. How can Allie explain all the strange social media posts that look like are coming from her?
Soon, her marriage, her career, everything is in jeopardy! As her past rears its head, can she reconcile things and salvage her life? The author had my head spinning as I tried to figure this one out and that was great fun! This one made me feel more cautious about technology and makes for a great book to discuss!
I received a free ARC from Macmillan in an exchange for an honest review.
May 8, 2021
Photographer Allie Ross is trying to find her place among the women in an upscale Washington, DC neighborhood where she's recently moved with her lawyer husband Mark and young son Cole. Being accepted is important to Mark's career as he climbs the corporate ladder so it's imperative that Allie make friends and fit in with the neighborhood moms. Unfortunately, the harder Allie tries the more obvious it becomes that she's an outsider and unlikely to be accepted into the established mom cliques. In a last ditch effort, Allie agrees to attend a neighborhood block party with Mark where she once again finds herself standing on the sidelines. When another dad strikes up a flirtatious conversation with her, Allie plays along until a combo of alcohol and a disturbing reference to her secret past send her fleeing to the bathroom where she fends off a sexual assault after which she insists on going home. Allie makes a spur of the moment decision not to share details of the troubling attack with Mark which comes back to haunt her the next day when news of the neighborhood dad's overnight death circulates like wildfire. The neighborhood rumor mill is running rampant, and it's only a matter of time until intimate pictures of Allie and the guy from the party surface on the internet fueling the raging gossip and suspicions. Much to her surprise and her husband's shock, Allie's become the prime suspect in a murder investigation.
The story that unfolds is unsettling, disturbing, and eerily relatable. The role society cliques, gossip mills and social media play in accusing, judging and convicting Allie is eerily similar to modern day cyber bullying. Tinder and Facebook accounts indicate Allie is living a double life - one as a wife and mother and another as Sexy Lexy the sensuous Tinder sensation. She claims she's being framed by someone from her past, but the evidence of her guilt is insurmountable as are the growing doubts in the minds of police, friends and her husband who is reeling from all the negative media attention. Allie sets out to prove her innocence which means opening old wounds. Undoubtedly, someone knows her secret and blames her for what happened way back in high school. Someone who doesn't forgive her.
There's nothing I love better than a dark, twisted thriller that keeps me burning through pages looking for answers. One that forces me to change my mind numerous times throughout the story. I'm thrilled to say I Don't Forgive You is one of those books. Author Aggie Blum Thompson has rendered a creepy, unsettling story ripe with lies, hidden truths and paranoia that will have readers questioning every character. I Don't Forgive You is so twisted and convoluted with evidence so damning to the unreliable narrator Allie that it's hard to know what and/or who to believe. Continuous shocking revelations move the story forward at a furious pace leaving readers and Allie reeling. Her attempts to soften the blows and disappointment in the lack of support and sympathy from family leads to an increase in her alcohol consumption which unfortunately leads to strong suspicions about her behavior. Is someone setting Allie up? Or is she delusional? Did she kill to keep her secrets?
I Don't Forgive You ventures into the dark, dangerous, scary world of the dark web. A place of deceit, lies, secrets and illusions. A place where innocent lives are exploited and destroyed. It's not often that an author can keep me floundering in the dark until The End, but Thompson's skill at weaving a twisted tale with a large cast of possible villains kept me guessing until the big reveal. Fans of suspense thrillers are going to love this one. It's a page burner that demands reading straight through in one sitting. I couldn't put it down.
Special thanks to Forge Books for an arc of this book. #readersinsidersclub
Reviewed first posted in Mystery & Suspense Magazine where I am a staff writer.
Review also posted at Cross My Heart Reviews
The story that unfolds is unsettling, disturbing, and eerily relatable. The role society cliques, gossip mills and social media play in accusing, judging and convicting Allie is eerily similar to modern day cyber bullying. Tinder and Facebook accounts indicate Allie is living a double life - one as a wife and mother and another as Sexy Lexy the sensuous Tinder sensation. She claims she's being framed by someone from her past, but the evidence of her guilt is insurmountable as are the growing doubts in the minds of police, friends and her husband who is reeling from all the negative media attention. Allie sets out to prove her innocence which means opening old wounds. Undoubtedly, someone knows her secret and blames her for what happened way back in high school. Someone who doesn't forgive her.
There's nothing I love better than a dark, twisted thriller that keeps me burning through pages looking for answers. One that forces me to change my mind numerous times throughout the story. I'm thrilled to say I Don't Forgive You is one of those books. Author Aggie Blum Thompson has rendered a creepy, unsettling story ripe with lies, hidden truths and paranoia that will have readers questioning every character. I Don't Forgive You is so twisted and convoluted with evidence so damning to the unreliable narrator Allie that it's hard to know what and/or who to believe. Continuous shocking revelations move the story forward at a furious pace leaving readers and Allie reeling. Her attempts to soften the blows and disappointment in the lack of support and sympathy from family leads to an increase in her alcohol consumption which unfortunately leads to strong suspicions about her behavior. Is someone setting Allie up? Or is she delusional? Did she kill to keep her secrets?
I Don't Forgive You ventures into the dark, dangerous, scary world of the dark web. A place of deceit, lies, secrets and illusions. A place where innocent lives are exploited and destroyed. It's not often that an author can keep me floundering in the dark until The End, but Thompson's skill at weaving a twisted tale with a large cast of possible villains kept me guessing until the big reveal. Fans of suspense thrillers are going to love this one. It's a page burner that demands reading straight through in one sitting. I couldn't put it down.
Special thanks to Forge Books for an arc of this book. #readersinsidersclub
Reviewed first posted in Mystery & Suspense Magazine where I am a staff writer.
Review also posted at Cross My Heart Reviews
October 4, 2021
Wishing things were different has cost me so much—time, energy, peace of mind. I'm trying to break that habit and to form a new one: forgiving.Allie Ross has just moved to the DC suburbs with her husband Mark and their son Cole. She flirts a bit with a neighbor named Rob at a party, and he behaves inappropriately and calls her by an old nickname she hasn’t used for a decade. But before Allie can make any sense of what happened, Rob is found dead, and the police are treating her like a potential suspect in his death.
I Don’t Forgive You has a lot of classic psychological thriller characters. Allie is a potentially unreliable narrator, with a secret in her past. Her sister Crystal is just unreliable. Her husband Mark may be gaslighting her. Her sister-in-law seems to be a complete bitch. Her mother is in assisted living due to early onset dementia caused by alcoholism, and she’s not handling it well. To top it off, there are suspicious neighbors and a creepy teenager nearby.
Unfortunately, the plot of I Don’t Forgive You requires Allie to repeatedly act not just against her own interests, but against common sense. She keeps secrets from her husband, and more importantly initially lies to the police, for no clear reason and in situations where her lies will obviously be caught and will place her in greater suspicion. She trusts strangers even while insisting that someone is framing her for a murder she did not commit, rather than working with her lawyer to prove her innocence. She keeps worrying about her new job despite the fact that—you wouldn’t think it would need to be repeated but here we are—she believes she is being framed for a murder she did not commit. And she makes a couple of decisions about the care of her son that, without spoiling anything, are simply impossible to believe. Finally, the identity of Rob’s killer was not particularly hard to guess even though the reason he was killed was never made clear.
And yet, despite all of those flaws, I Don’t Forgive You still somehow works. Allie’s narration draws the reader into her uncertainty and paranoia. And the story has some interesting real world elements involving cyberstalking, sexual abuse, fake social media accounts, and revenge porn. But most of all, the book is a fun, fast read, with the vibe of one of those 1990s psychological thriller movies like Single White Female. Recommended.
P.S. I occasionally take issue with a Goodreads description, but Goodreads has never lied more than when it describes Allie’s son Cole as “an adorable little boy.” Maybe it was the audiobook reader, but Cole came off as the whiniest child in all of literature. If the world was just, some Oompa Loompas would have shown up halfway through the novel to sing a song insulting him before dragging him away. 😄
June 22, 2021
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! June 8, 2021
Title: I Don't Forgive You
Author: Aggie Blue Thompson
Publisher: Macmillan Tor/Forge Books
Allie Ross and her family are still fairly new to the tight-knit suburban neighborhood where everyone knows everything about all people within a five mile radius. One evening at a neighborhood block party Allie finds herself harmlessly flirting with with one of the dad's until he later sexually assaults her and angrily calls her a tease and tells her to stay off the app "Tinder" if she doesn't want to play the game that she suggested. The next day this man is found dead and the police are looking at Allie as a suspect.
This is only the beginning of a wild and crazy ride for Allie and her family as she finds herself being stalked on Facebook as well as an unknown person impersonating her on there as well as the Tinder app. The information on these social media apps are very damaging to her credibility as a loving wife, mother and professional photographer. As friends and family begin to doubt her Allie begins drinking too much and it's creating harmful effects to her marriage as well as her character since she starts losing control over her emotions with the people she loves and trusts the most. Eventually Allie's life completely spirals downhill not of her own doing and she finds herself being followed, possibly being arrested for murder, even her mother being attacked in a nursing facility, many neighborhood women blatantly accuse her of murder and no longer welcome her at her son's school or other programs. Even her husband begins to doubt Allie's truthfulness when one thing after another continue to cause havoc and her life begins to completely fall apart and Allie realizes that she has no one to lean on but herself and she must find answers soon to who is trying to destroy her life since time will soon be up and Allie she will end up in prison or dead.
I was quite surprised to find out this was a debut book by the author. I found the story to be fun in a dark way, suspenseful and quite the page turner. This was a very enjoyable and entertaining book for myself. A wonderful domestic thriller with non-stop action within every chapter. Although unrealistic the story was just so good and fast-paced. Plenty.of unlikable and suspicious characters as well. Much credit to the author for keeping the villain hidden until the end of the book. A few times I thought I had it all figured out, but (happily) I was very wrong. I highly recommend this book to any domestic/thriller reader and I am looking forward to reading more books written by Aggie Blum Thompson.
I want to thank the publisher "Macmillan Tor/Forge" as well as Negalley for the opportunity to read this terrific story and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this entertaining book a rating of 4 Tantalizing 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!
Title: I Don't Forgive You
Author: Aggie Blue Thompson
Publisher: Macmillan Tor/Forge Books
Allie Ross and her family are still fairly new to the tight-knit suburban neighborhood where everyone knows everything about all people within a five mile radius. One evening at a neighborhood block party Allie finds herself harmlessly flirting with with one of the dad's until he later sexually assaults her and angrily calls her a tease and tells her to stay off the app "Tinder" if she doesn't want to play the game that she suggested. The next day this man is found dead and the police are looking at Allie as a suspect.
This is only the beginning of a wild and crazy ride for Allie and her family as she finds herself being stalked on Facebook as well as an unknown person impersonating her on there as well as the Tinder app. The information on these social media apps are very damaging to her credibility as a loving wife, mother and professional photographer. As friends and family begin to doubt her Allie begins drinking too much and it's creating harmful effects to her marriage as well as her character since she starts losing control over her emotions with the people she loves and trusts the most. Eventually Allie's life completely spirals downhill not of her own doing and she finds herself being followed, possibly being arrested for murder, even her mother being attacked in a nursing facility, many neighborhood women blatantly accuse her of murder and no longer welcome her at her son's school or other programs. Even her husband begins to doubt Allie's truthfulness when one thing after another continue to cause havoc and her life begins to completely fall apart and Allie realizes that she has no one to lean on but herself and she must find answers soon to who is trying to destroy her life since time will soon be up and Allie she will end up in prison or dead.
I was quite surprised to find out this was a debut book by the author. I found the story to be fun in a dark way, suspenseful and quite the page turner. This was a very enjoyable and entertaining book for myself. A wonderful domestic thriller with non-stop action within every chapter. Although unrealistic the story was just so good and fast-paced. Plenty.of unlikable and suspicious characters as well. Much credit to the author for keeping the villain hidden until the end of the book. A few times I thought I had it all figured out, but (happily) I was very wrong. I highly recommend this book to any domestic/thriller reader and I am looking forward to reading more books written by Aggie Blum Thompson.
I want to thank the publisher "Macmillan Tor/Forge" as well as Negalley for the opportunity to read this terrific story and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given this entertaining book a rating of 4 Tantalizing 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!
April 4, 2021
IDFU is a claustrophobic thriller that twisted me inside-out and had me flipping the pages like a speeding bullet. It is one of those books that absolutely drives me crazy – but in good way.
The loving Ross family, Allie (AKA Sexy Lexy), Mark, and their son Cole, have recently moved to a DC suburb where Mark has become a partner in a big law firm. Allie is a talented photographer who is successfully making her mark in one of the town’s top studios, but, other than professionally, she has always felt like an outsider. Allie reluctantly attends a parents’ party of her son’s class, in her attempt to become more involved with the other housewives/mothers in the neighborhood. From the start she is set apart from the mothers’ clique, and (horror) she has neglected to bring the sandwich buns which she volunteered (or was volunteered) to bring to the party – or so they claim. But that was the least of Allie’s worries! After a flirtatious tête-à-tête with one of the fathers, Allie has a second, more disturbing experience. She and her husband leave the party abruptly and an emotional Allie relates the experience to her husband. Mark is attentive and supportive.
When someone who attended the party is found toes up on the floor of his bedroom the next morning, the whole neighborhood is buzzing with rumors. From that point on, Allie’s life turns into a nightmare. She becomes a person of interest in the murder investigation as well as the object of speculation and neighborhood gossip. Furthermore, she has become the target of identity theft and a dangerously malicious smear campaign. Her “supportive” husband begins to doubt her, whilst the ID Thief (IDT), who has opened fake accounts on Tinder and the school’s Facebook internet sites in Allie’s name, is posting lewd photos and crude dialog on the fictitious accounts. The IDT is privy to, and posts, intimate details and mails from Allie’s past – including photos of a compromising and sexually specific nature (can you hear the cluck cluck cluck, of the neighborhood mothers?). Things go from bad to worse, the noose is tightening around her neck, the police are hounding her, the IDT is cranking up the pressure with professionally damaging posts and enough defamatory evidence to keep Allie firmly in the police crosshairs, and on the wagging tongues of the neighborhood gaggle. The IDT opened an Amazon account and ordered incriminating evidence delivered to Allie’s doorstep, her husband finds a condom that was planted under her car seat - he is no longer even pretending to be supportive. IDT also plants her High School T-shirt in her house (which ultimately confirms to Allie that her embarrassing past is playing a role in her predicament). In the meantime, someone has poisoned her mother, and framed her sister for mortgage fraud – no one is listening to the real Allie and no one cares. Allie learns that Mark has hired a private detective to follow her, she has passed out drunk on more than one occasion, and he is threatening her with filing for custody over Cole if she does not check herself into a rehab center.
So, what happens next in this claustrophobic mystery thriller? All I will say is that I solved the mystery early on, since the author had me pointing a finger in all directions, at nearly every character in the book (except at Allie’s demented mother and innocent son). So, of course, eventually I was right! One of the characters actually DID commit the crime/s!
Lest the reader forget and blame the victim, I liked the fact that at one point amidst all the madness, the author uses the character of Madeline to issue a sobering reminder relating to the capacity for consent (or rather lack thereof), and what standard is expected of a teacher, even if he or she feels that it is the student who is doing the pursuing. This was a solid 4 star for me, but considering that this was a debut novel and a really fun read, I bumped up to 5 stars – paying it forward because I will definitely be looking for more books by Aggie Blum Thompson.
Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Forge Books, for an ARC of this book. I LOVED IT!
The loving Ross family, Allie (AKA Sexy Lexy), Mark, and their son Cole, have recently moved to a DC suburb where Mark has become a partner in a big law firm. Allie is a talented photographer who is successfully making her mark in one of the town’s top studios, but, other than professionally, she has always felt like an outsider. Allie reluctantly attends a parents’ party of her son’s class, in her attempt to become more involved with the other housewives/mothers in the neighborhood. From the start she is set apart from the mothers’ clique, and (horror) she has neglected to bring the sandwich buns which she volunteered (or was volunteered) to bring to the party – or so they claim. But that was the least of Allie’s worries! After a flirtatious tête-à-tête with one of the fathers, Allie has a second, more disturbing experience. She and her husband leave the party abruptly and an emotional Allie relates the experience to her husband. Mark is attentive and supportive.
When someone who attended the party is found toes up on the floor of his bedroom the next morning, the whole neighborhood is buzzing with rumors. From that point on, Allie’s life turns into a nightmare. She becomes a person of interest in the murder investigation as well as the object of speculation and neighborhood gossip. Furthermore, she has become the target of identity theft and a dangerously malicious smear campaign. Her “supportive” husband begins to doubt her, whilst the ID Thief (IDT), who has opened fake accounts on Tinder and the school’s Facebook internet sites in Allie’s name, is posting lewd photos and crude dialog on the fictitious accounts. The IDT is privy to, and posts, intimate details and mails from Allie’s past – including photos of a compromising and sexually specific nature (can you hear the cluck cluck cluck, of the neighborhood mothers?). Things go from bad to worse, the noose is tightening around her neck, the police are hounding her, the IDT is cranking up the pressure with professionally damaging posts and enough defamatory evidence to keep Allie firmly in the police crosshairs, and on the wagging tongues of the neighborhood gaggle. The IDT opened an Amazon account and ordered incriminating evidence delivered to Allie’s doorstep, her husband finds a condom that was planted under her car seat - he is no longer even pretending to be supportive. IDT also plants her High School T-shirt in her house (which ultimately confirms to Allie that her embarrassing past is playing a role in her predicament). In the meantime, someone has poisoned her mother, and framed her sister for mortgage fraud – no one is listening to the real Allie and no one cares. Allie learns that Mark has hired a private detective to follow her, she has passed out drunk on more than one occasion, and he is threatening her with filing for custody over Cole if she does not check herself into a rehab center.
So, what happens next in this claustrophobic mystery thriller? All I will say is that I solved the mystery early on, since the author had me pointing a finger in all directions, at nearly every character in the book (except at Allie’s demented mother and innocent son). So, of course, eventually I was right! One of the characters actually DID commit the crime/s!
Lest the reader forget and blame the victim, I liked the fact that at one point amidst all the madness, the author uses the character of Madeline to issue a sobering reminder relating to the capacity for consent (or rather lack thereof), and what standard is expected of a teacher, even if he or she feels that it is the student who is doing the pursuing. This was a solid 4 star for me, but considering that this was a debut novel and a really fun read, I bumped up to 5 stars – paying it forward because I will definitely be looking for more books by Aggie Blum Thompson.
Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Forge Books, for an ARC of this book. I LOVED IT!
April 9, 2021
Many thanks to Net Galley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.
What a RIDE!
Aggie Blum Thompson’s debut novel I Don’t Forgive You is an exhilarating and enthralling experience, something akin to river rafting.
The thrill, the excitement, the shock, the gasp, everything gets rolled into one as the reader gets absorbed into Allie and her life. It was just harmless flirting at a neighborhood party but she had to pay a price of unspeakable horror, like most women who do not want the fuss of attention, Allie also decides to ignore the blatant disregard of decency. The decision backfires spectacularly with Allie not knowing the direction of destruction that is happening in her life. Her dementia-affected mother, her irresponsible sister, her career going down the drain, her neighbors opting to isolate her, the police suspicious of her, suddenly everything that she has held sacred is nose-diving at an alarming rate and nothing makes sense.
Aggie Blum Thompson has worked wonders in capturing the nightmare that follows Allie. The horror of having someone impersonating you on social media is utterly terrifying and the helplessness of the unsettling trauma has been described brilliantly. It was easy to picture the powerlessness of the situation.
I Don’t Forgive You is an edge-of-the-seat revenge thriller that one would be hard-pressed to put down. It is a fast-paced read, the events in Allie’s life happening one after another without a break so much that I advise that the reading also be done in one sitting to enjoy it thoroughly.
Outstanding debut!
This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Meduim.com, and Twitter.
What a RIDE!
Aggie Blum Thompson’s debut novel I Don’t Forgive You is an exhilarating and enthralling experience, something akin to river rafting.
The thrill, the excitement, the shock, the gasp, everything gets rolled into one as the reader gets absorbed into Allie and her life. It was just harmless flirting at a neighborhood party but she had to pay a price of unspeakable horror, like most women who do not want the fuss of attention, Allie also decides to ignore the blatant disregard of decency. The decision backfires spectacularly with Allie not knowing the direction of destruction that is happening in her life. Her dementia-affected mother, her irresponsible sister, her career going down the drain, her neighbors opting to isolate her, the police suspicious of her, suddenly everything that she has held sacred is nose-diving at an alarming rate and nothing makes sense.
Aggie Blum Thompson has worked wonders in capturing the nightmare that follows Allie. The horror of having someone impersonating you on social media is utterly terrifying and the helplessness of the unsettling trauma has been described brilliantly. It was easy to picture the powerlessness of the situation.
I Don’t Forgive You is an edge-of-the-seat revenge thriller that one would be hard-pressed to put down. It is a fast-paced read, the events in Allie’s life happening one after another without a break so much that I advise that the reading also be done in one sitting to enjoy it thoroughly.
Outstanding debut!
This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Meduim.com, and Twitter.
June 8, 2021
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
#Me Too?
Allie Ross recently moved to the upscale DC suburb, Bethesda with her husband and five year old son, Cole. When she attends a neighborhood get together, she meets a man who claims to know her, using her old nickname. However, she has no idea who he is or how he knows so much about her. Later that evening, he assaults her in the bathroom. When he turns up dead the next morning, the police question her, believing that she is their prime suspect. Soon after, Allie finds that her social media accounts have been hacked and someone has set up a fake profile on Tinder. Things go from bad to worse as Allie struggles to figure out who is setting her up for murder.
This is a fantastic debut domestic thriller from newcomer Aggie Blum Thompson! It is fast-paced and has you questioning all of the suspects multiple times. There is a distinct authenticity in the interactions between the neighbors in this community as well as believable exchanges between mother and whiny five year old, pink obsessed son. While I was rooting for Allie to figure out the mystery, I did find myself questioning her denial of the crime that was committed against her many years ago. This was slightly problematic for me, but is ultimately explained in the end. Overall, I wish that this book took sexual assault a little more seriously, but the clever plot twists and suspense-filled writing won me over in the end!
4/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC of I Don’t Forgive You in exchange for an honest review.
#Me Too?
Allie Ross recently moved to the upscale DC suburb, Bethesda with her husband and five year old son, Cole. When she attends a neighborhood get together, she meets a man who claims to know her, using her old nickname. However, she has no idea who he is or how he knows so much about her. Later that evening, he assaults her in the bathroom. When he turns up dead the next morning, the police question her, believing that she is their prime suspect. Soon after, Allie finds that her social media accounts have been hacked and someone has set up a fake profile on Tinder. Things go from bad to worse as Allie struggles to figure out who is setting her up for murder.
This is a fantastic debut domestic thriller from newcomer Aggie Blum Thompson! It is fast-paced and has you questioning all of the suspects multiple times. There is a distinct authenticity in the interactions between the neighbors in this community as well as believable exchanges between mother and whiny five year old, pink obsessed son. While I was rooting for Allie to figure out the mystery, I did find myself questioning her denial of the crime that was committed against her many years ago. This was slightly problematic for me, but is ultimately explained in the end. Overall, I wish that this book took sexual assault a little more seriously, but the clever plot twists and suspense-filled writing won me over in the end!
4/5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for the ARC of I Don’t Forgive You in exchange for an honest review.
December 20, 2021
This was one hell of a book unlikeable characters a murder everyone blamed the new girl in town Allie who had just moved in to the upper class area of Eastbrook DC from Chicago.
She is invited to a party & meets the wealthy people including Karen Pearce a pediatrician but later we find that Aliie is framed for murder but know one is speaking secrets are being kept & someone wants to hurt her.
This was a quick compulsive read that I enjoyed I didn’t care for any of the characters as I really am not well to do I am just an average money earner & couldn’t relate to wealth. All in all a good book.
She is invited to a party & meets the wealthy people including Karen Pearce a pediatrician but later we find that Aliie is framed for murder but know one is speaking secrets are being kept & someone wants to hurt her.
This was a quick compulsive read that I enjoyed I didn’t care for any of the characters as I really am not well to do I am just an average money earner & couldn’t relate to wealth. All in all a good book.
April 2, 2021
This is a ridiculously tension-filled novel. It’s actually a stressful read.
Photographer Allie Ross has moved to an upscale suburb of DC with her husband and five-year-old son. She’s having a difficult time making female friends here, but she forces herself to go to a party with her husband, Mark. The only person who pays attention to her is a man who pours her wine. She thinks it’s harmless flirting until he’s found dead the next day, and police and her neighbors are convinced she’s the one who poisoned him.
As she tries to live her life while also clearing her name, whoever is framing her for the murder is systematically destroying her life by creating fake social media accounts making her look like a lush and a terrible mother. Mark’s family has no love lost for Allie, who doesn’t enjoy going to their strict, old-school church. The fact that Mark keeps pushing her to go to rehab because she has started to drink more than half a bottle of wine a night is infuriating. It’s not hard to drink three glasses of wine while making and eating dinner with friends, let alone trying to deal with being investigated for murder while people believe the awful things being posted under fake identities. It was too easy to identify with how social media can be abused. Obviously in most cases its abused for revenge or to extort money from people, but anyone who has any presence on social media knows how easily things can be misconstrued and manipulated and abused.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, which RELEASES JUNE 8, 2021.
Photographer Allie Ross has moved to an upscale suburb of DC with her husband and five-year-old son. She’s having a difficult time making female friends here, but she forces herself to go to a party with her husband, Mark. The only person who pays attention to her is a man who pours her wine. She thinks it’s harmless flirting until he’s found dead the next day, and police and her neighbors are convinced she’s the one who poisoned him.
As she tries to live her life while also clearing her name, whoever is framing her for the murder is systematically destroying her life by creating fake social media accounts making her look like a lush and a terrible mother. Mark’s family has no love lost for Allie, who doesn’t enjoy going to their strict, old-school church. The fact that Mark keeps pushing her to go to rehab because she has started to drink more than half a bottle of wine a night is infuriating. It’s not hard to drink three glasses of wine while making and eating dinner with friends, let alone trying to deal with being investigated for murder while people believe the awful things being posted under fake identities. It was too easy to identify with how social media can be abused. Obviously in most cases its abused for revenge or to extort money from people, but anyone who has any presence on social media knows how easily things can be misconstrued and manipulated and abused.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, which RELEASES JUNE 8, 2021.
August 11, 2021
Holy Heck! This plot is so conceivable, it’s crazy scary! I highly recommend this debut thriller that might scare you away from social media.
After a short romance, Allie and Mark are pregnant and married. They have Cole, who is adored by Mark’s family. Allie isn’t welcomed so pleasantly, but Mark doesn’t seem to notice. His sister, Caitlin, is a divorce lawyer and always making snide remarks to Allie, then blowing them off as a joke. This woman is bitter and angry!
Since Mark and Allie married so fast, they knew little about each other’s past. And Allie has secrets she’d rather keep left in the past. But when she meets a father at a neighborhood gathering, things start to go very wrong.
”A little innocent flirting never killed anyone.”
After the encounter, the man turns up dead and someone is framing Allie for his murder. They have gone to great lengths to make sure she looks guilty. They’ve set up fake Facebook and Tinder accounts, along with planting evidence in her house. There are so many suspects, I bounced back and forth between numerous ones and was never able to pinpoint the real culprit.
And don’t get me started on her husband! In the beginning, he was supportive and wonderful. But then his sister convinced him to believe the lies and he turned into a total jerk….and a suspect, along with his sister!
I was on the edge of my seat until the very end! This author is one to watch out for.
Sincere thanks to Edelweiss and Macmillan Audio/Macmillan Publishers. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
My Rating: 4.5 ⭐️’s
Published: June 8th 2021
Pages: 320
Recommend: Yes!
#IDontForgiveYou #AggieBlumThompson #BookReviewer #InExchangeForReview #ARC #JustFinished #MustRead #PsychologicalThriller #NoRulesJustThrills #Edelweiss #AudioBook #NoRulesJustThrills #LizzyHosty
@MacmillanUSA @MacmillanAudio
After a short romance, Allie and Mark are pregnant and married. They have Cole, who is adored by Mark’s family. Allie isn’t welcomed so pleasantly, but Mark doesn’t seem to notice. His sister, Caitlin, is a divorce lawyer and always making snide remarks to Allie, then blowing them off as a joke. This woman is bitter and angry!
Since Mark and Allie married so fast, they knew little about each other’s past. And Allie has secrets she’d rather keep left in the past. But when she meets a father at a neighborhood gathering, things start to go very wrong.
”A little innocent flirting never killed anyone.”
After the encounter, the man turns up dead and someone is framing Allie for his murder. They have gone to great lengths to make sure she looks guilty. They’ve set up fake Facebook and Tinder accounts, along with planting evidence in her house. There are so many suspects, I bounced back and forth between numerous ones and was never able to pinpoint the real culprit.
And don’t get me started on her husband! In the beginning, he was supportive and wonderful. But then his sister convinced him to believe the lies and he turned into a total jerk….and a suspect, along with his sister!
I was on the edge of my seat until the very end! This author is one to watch out for.
Sincere thanks to Edelweiss and Macmillan Audio/Macmillan Publishers. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
My Rating: 4.5 ⭐️’s
Published: June 8th 2021
Pages: 320
Recommend: Yes!
#IDontForgiveYou #AggieBlumThompson #BookReviewer #InExchangeForReview #ARC #JustFinished #MustRead #PsychologicalThriller #NoRulesJustThrills #Edelweiss #AudioBook #NoRulesJustThrills #LizzyHosty
@MacmillanUSA @MacmillanAudio
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