Member Reviews
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"I Know Where You Live" was the 3rd novel that I have read by Gregg Olsen. Though this wasn't my favorite book of his, it was still a well written story that was dark & disturbing.
The author told the story using multiple points of view with a non-linear timeline.
I am looking forward to reading what Mr. Olsen decides to write next.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW.
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This was almost a DNF for me, however, I painfully powered through. I can't say I liked anything about this book truthfully. It started off semi-strong with the death of an old man we didn't care about. Then, a little of the backstory as to why we hate said old man. This plot was painfully boring to me when it could have been potentially good. I didn't find any character likeable. Violet's vigilantism could have been suspenseful and thrilling but the writing fell flat and it hardly discussed the actual act of getting justice on the perpetrators at all. There was a semi-twist at the end but even that bored me.
Overall, it was a good idea and premise for a story. However, it fell so flat.
Have you ever wanted to have revenge for something that has been done to you... would you take the blame for a crime you did not commit, but felt you needed to take the punishment for your other sins?? Read this newest novel from Gregg Olsen and see where your opinion on this falls! Great story with well written characters and for the most part you will feel for each and every character!
What an incredible writer, he is so underrated. He hit it out of the park with this one again. I hope that lands on the New York Times bestsellers list.
Thank you to NetGalley, Gregg Olsen, and Thomas & Mercer for an eARC. This was my second book by Gregg Olsen and it didn't disappoint. Yes there are some trigger warnings, but overall this was a great read and I enjoyed it. If you enjoy messed up family with secrets this is a book for you. Looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of I Know Where You Live by Gregg Olsen. This is the second book by Olsen that I’ve read. He covers dark and hard topics. His writing, while fiction, realistically portrays the dynamics in a family with abuse.
Thank you Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars for DNF as I cannot comment on the overall quality of the book. The writing style just was not for me. The prose was turgid.
This one was just okay. A tough subject - rape/incest/murder/revenge - it had all the ingredients to be a really great book. It fell short. It was boring and dry. The characters were unlikeable and, quite honestly, I felt lacking any emotion. It was hard to root for any of them except for Lily. She's the only one that seemed "real", With so many great books out there, this is one I would be recommending.
Thank you #netgalley and #thomas&mercer for the eARC.
Thank you to NetGalley, Gregg Olsen, and Thomas & Mercer for an advance reader copy of I Know Where You Live, coming out on November 15, 2022. My rating is more of a 3.5, but I am rounding up to a 4.
I will start by saying that there are trigger warnings for child molestation/sexual abuse, pedophilia, rape, and murder. These are all on-going themes within the entire novel. Although Olsen does not go into detail about any of these activities, they are discussed by multiple characters throughout the whole book, so if these are topics that you are not comfortable with, then I suggest not reading this one.
Having said that, I did enjoy the novel. We open with Violet's wedding, and her grandfather collapsing at the reception, leading to a series of events that no one could have seen coming. Violet hadn't wanted him there, and now he's dead...but how did he die? Was it natural causes? An accident? A murder? We see certain events before and after the wedding, shedding light on why Violet hadn't wanted her own grandfather at her wedding, and how his unexpected death has far-reaching consequences.
This is told in multiple points of view with a non-linear timeline, and although the chapters started with a date and location, I didn't pay too much attention to the date and realized late into the book that events weren't happening in a straight line. If I had paid attention to the dates shown, I probably could have saved myself a little bit of the confusion I felt while reading this. Confusion aside, it was a relatively gripping novel. I was never really sure what the end was going to be, or how we were going to get there. There was a lot going on between the different characters, and each person just kept dropping breadcrumb hints as to where we were heading.
The characters aren't necessarily likeable, although you do feel sorry for them, having to deal with certain situations that no one should have to deal with. Violet seems to be the strongest one, although that sometimes doesn't mean a whole lot. Rose just seems to be a huge pushover, letting everyone, including her daughters, walk all over her. Lily has just checked out completely, I'm not even sure how she ended up where she did.
I know none of this makes this novel sound great, that it really sounds like a bunch of negativity. That's not what this was. This was a gripping novel about family drama and secrets, people coming to terms with their pasts, taking charge and making changes. We do see changes in the characters as they go along, although who's to say if they're good or bad changes. You have empathy for what all three women have gone through, although how they handled their situations may not always have been the best.
All in all, a great novel if you're looking for something a little more gritty, with family drama, and a lot of secrets. Take your time piecing everything together, and even then you won't see the end coming. If you enjoy family drama, a take-charge female protagonist, and a little bit of murder, then this is for you. I would recommend for fans of Karin Slaughter or Riley Sager.
I love Gregg Olsen books and this one didn't disappoint! This one isn't an edge of your seat type of book, more of a slow burn but I definitely stay interested and had to know what happened!
This book does has some very strong triggers such as rape and incest.
I do have family and friends that are a victim of incest and/ or rape and this book really does make you question.. would they be able to live their life better if their attacker was dead? What would the world be like if victims were always believed and the attackers were never allowed hurt someone again.
Talk about a load of HEAVY! Gregg Olsen doesn’t disappoint in this emotional, intense, grip your heart and mind read. Super huge triggers: molestation, underage abuse, murder- graphic in all of the above. You will experience the trauma felt by so many characters and the way a family unpacks it all in very different ways. If your heart and mind can handle it, it is one I highly recommend.
I won’t divulge too much as it would rip apart the true feelings to experience when reading this book. It focuses on the before and after of a family. Nana and Papa, their daughter Rose and her husband Richard, and their daughters Violet and Lily. Violet struggles with her past and what happened to her by the hands of her Papa. Who believes her? What other dark messed up secrets does everyone have? It’s all uncovered piece by piece and has you clenching your teeth in anger and devastation. It’s a twisted, realistic family that suffers and hides disaster after disaster.
Thank you so much Thomas & Mercer and netgalley for the insane experience arc in exchange for my honest review.
I have read a few books from this author before so I knew to expect some pretty dark and sometimes heavy things from his works. This book was captivating even when it was not really that easy to read. The story is well told and includes some pretty major triggers but overall I really enjoyed it. I think it's a great read for someone who doesn't mind the darker types of thrillers for sure.
A raw, emotional story of child rape and the trauma it causes everyone in the family. Each person pov carried some sort of guilt and no way of navigating their way thru it. When matters are taken in hand it’s on inevitable that the truth be told. A quick explosive read into a subject that can be very real for some families.
Thank you Netgalley for this arc
I Know Where You Live is a disjointed story of familial childhood sexual abuse and generational trauma. The subject matter is challenging enough to read, but the multiple POV structure of the story makes it worse; there's not really any tonal difference in the way each character narrates the story. Loose ends abound in the plot, every "twist" is obvious, and none of the characters are likeable. This one should have spent more time with a good editor (or any editor, really). I would give this book zero stars if possible.
When violet was just a little kids her grandfather molested her. Ever since then she hasn’t been the same. Her whole personality changed drastically. She became quiet and withdrawn. When she went to tell her mother about about what her grandfather did. Her mother called her a liar and began shaking her and said how could she tell lies like that about her father. Her grandfather then apologized for what he did but violet couldn’t forgive him. Violet started planning her wedding to Zach and at the wedding her grandfather got sick and went to the hospital. While he was there overnight he passed away unexpectedly. Lily called violet on her honeymoon to let her know that the police were looking into a homicide that took place in Oregon because of a nurse that was in the room with him when he coded. Violet told lily she was happy and called the nurse an angel avenger.
The family got the results of the autopsy and it was inconclusive because they don’t know if it was an accident or a murder. Either someone had cut his air supply on purpose or the machine malfunctioned.
I really enjoyed the the story because violet as the story went on found out she was stronger than she knew. She finally started standing up for herself and help families of others who survived and others who sadly hadn’t had the courage to stand up to their attackers. I was proud of violet for what she had done because these rapists were getting what they deserved. Rapists shouldn’t get out of jail for good behavior they should stay in jail to do their whole sentence.
An important message to hear although it hurts to read. The author does an excellent job of addressing sexual abuse and the guilt it causes. Characters are well-developed and their emotions and actions display the hurt, hate, fear, and denial.
This book is a mess. It's got an interesting plot, and the language and the characters are OK, but the disposition is a mess with changing first person POV and jumping around in time. Lots of repetition and no suspense.
⚠️ Trigger Warnings for Incest, Child Molestation and Rape, and Murder ⚠️
This was a very dark novel. Be prepared to take a lot of that on when reading Olson’s new novel.
Violet is getting married and has specifically requested her Papa (grandfather) not attend the event. Her grandfather raped and molested her as a child; Violet shared this information with her mother, Rose, when she was a child but her mother brushed it off (not even mentioning it to Violet’s father). This event caused catastrophic damage to Violet and her life up to this day.
In a series of events we follow narrators Violet, Rose and Violet’s younger sister navigate life after this event, that caused a chain reaction in their present day lives. I also have to mention Rose’s mother, who is also complicit and important to this story.
2 Generations in this novel suffer in silence from extreme sexual abuse. It’s a hard topic to write about, but Olson does a fine job of describing the nuances with each character with impeccable detail.
301 pages
4 stars
Oh wow. How do I feel about this book? I knew it would bother me to no end, but I had to read it. It was like the person who drives past a car accident and has to take a peek.
As a survivor myself (I hate that word), I felt compelled to read the novel to see how the women in the book coped. Violet is the main character and is having a very difficult time moving past what her grandfather did to her. She also blames her mother for not believing her when she told her as a child. But did her mother really believe her? This is an issue that is ironed out in the book.
Lila is Violet’s younger sister. She believes Violet and has always loved and trusted her elder sister. Rose is Violet and Lila’s mother. She lives a carefully constructed life with a serial cheater for a husband. She knows her life is a sham, but cannot see another way to live.
Grandma is married to the abuser whom everyone calls “Papa.” Grandma flatly denies that any abuse has occurred despite the reports not only from her relatives, but also from neighbors.
The book reveals much. From Violet’s manner of coping with the abuse to Rose’s solution. Although embarrassed to admit it, I smiled when Papa suffered from anaphylactic shock at Violet’s wedding. Violet was adamant that he not attend, but Grandma brought him anyway.
I really liked the book even though it caused me much distress.
I want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for forwarding to me a copy of this good book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.
This was too dark for my liking and I did just skim quite a bit of it because I didn't need those images in my head. Other than that, I found it all a bit of a mish mash n it seemed to have no cohesion between the multiple character povs. It's mainly just personal preference but I should stick more to lighter domestic noirs about dodgy hubby and wives! If you do like incredibly dark trama stories then this might be for you. I would score neutral since it is mainly just not the genre for me rather than any fault of the author/ book but I've marked it slightly lower due tk how confusing it all was and how unlikeable all the characters seemed