This is a well-written, thoughtful, slow-burn thriller-drama. The complex mother-daughter relationship is very compelling. The exploration of OCD is also incredibly detailed and really put me in the shoes of the main character. Certain aspects of this book - such as the genres, the past and present timelines, and the theme of trying to escape your past - reminded me of LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE by Jessica Knoll and WHITE IVY by Susie Yang. Though it is slower paced and less commercial than those titles, if you are a fan of either, I would recommend this book.

(3.5⭐️) What an interesting, twisty book this was.

This one had a bit of a slow start, and didn’t really pick up for me until about halfway through. However, during those slow moments, there is still definitely a buildup of unease, and you’re not quite sure what to believe. The MC Annie has OCD, and I’ve never read a book before where that was the main driving force behind the suspense/mystery, but I really liked how it was done. It added a ton to the psychological aspect, and even if I didn’t always like Annie as a character, I could empathize with what she had been through in life; there are flashback moments mixed in throughout the book that give some background there. The last 1/3 really picks up the pace, and I was surprised by the twists towards the end- I had thought for sure I knew what it was going to be.

If you want a new and interesting take on psychological thrillers, try this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen. I absolutely devoured this debut thriller/mystery. This one is a slow burner type of novel, but it is oh so satisfying and will keep you guessing right up until the end.

This one set me up to have my mind spinning, turning, and overthinking the entire length of the book. The characters are perfectly curated to make you cling on and not let go. Annie is dealing with the death of her mother. They have always had a trying relationship. Growing up Annie had to worry about going without food and her mother's trips to find treasures, with the little money they had. Her mother clings to her like a leech. Never daring to let her go, always tormenting, and undermining everything Annie does. During college Annie met her husband. Someone she can depend on no matter what happens in her life. Such as her OCD that she has controlled with her little yellow pill since the birth of their daughter. Since her mothers' death, it seems to have been slipping and not working. As her ability to keep the nagging thoughts that she is unclean crops up. Her mother shouting in her mind, that she is not good enough. Not a good mother and not a good wife.

When Annie's art patron disappears, and the police set their eyes on her as a possible suspect. Her entire sense of wellbeing is turned on its head. Her teenage daughter hates her, and her husband may need to leave the country to cover another war as an award-winning journalist. He must go to keep his boss happy. As Annie feels her life, as she knows it, slipping even further away.

This is a slow burn read, that took me a minute to get into. Once I was in, there was no turning back. The ending rocked my world. As more and more of Annie's past slips out, I was left with more moments of clarification. Her mothers struggle as a Vietnam refugee, that leaked into her everyday life and Annie's. The mental health overtone is eye-opening and heartbreaking at the same time. Thank you to K.T. Nguyen and Dutton for my gifted copy of this spine tingling read.

You're telling me that this absolute masterpiece is the author's DEBUT work!? That's unbelievable. This book had a grip on me from the very first page and I could. not. put it down. Even when I was forced to, I found myself thinking about when I could squeeze in another chapter. It was THAT GOOD!

When Annie's mother suddenly and tragically passes away, it leads her down a dark spiral, reopening OCD triggers that she thought she had finally solved through therapy and medication. Annie and her mother had a rocky relationship to say the least, and she always swore her relationship with her daughter would be better. But as her disorder comes roaring back, her daughter's resentment for her grows, and when another elder in Annie's life also suffers a tragic death, she becomes a suspect for something more sinister. With her relationships unraveling, her marriage threatening to fall apart, and her own brain clouded by obsessive thoughts, can we really trust the perfect life Annie has curated for herself?

I really have no other words for this other than you need to read it because I don't want to give anything away. Between the flashbacks of childhood, concerning moments of young adulthood, and present day, Annie's story is dark and twisted. Plus, with obsessive thoughts consuming her, Annie is nothing but an unreliable narrative. I had no idea what direction this was headed in until the very end.

Safe to say I am incredibly impressed with K.T. Nguyen, even more so knowing she drew on her own experiences with OCD to portray a very real picture of what Annie experiences throughout the book. I am SO excited to see what comes next for our author because this was a phenomenal debut work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Annie’s life seems to be picture perfect. A loving husband, a smart rebellious teen daughter, a great career as an artist. But when her mother dies her life starts to unravel.

This was kind of a mixed bag for me. I really liked the OCD rep and that it wasn’t villainized in the plot and I liked the overall claustrophobic feel of the writing. Where it lost me I think was the pacing-some bits were so slow I did think about dnfing a couple of times… the ending was a little predictable but also satisfying. So I definitely recommend it to people that lover a psychological thriller and don’t mind a slooow burn.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN for an eARC.

This psychological thriller melds generational trauma coupled with OCD in a murder mystery. Our main character Annie finds herself in hot water after the death of someone close to her.

I thought the depiction of OCD was suffocating and realistic. Our FMC and really every character in this book is a bit messy. I think the book started off well, then went became repetitive in the middle and ended on a good note. While I liked this one, I don’t think the end was at all surprising.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Usually I enjoy books like this and the synopsis was intriguing. Annie is a strong character and I feel a lot of empathy for her mental health issues, but her complaining about the same thing was getting annoying. The first part of this of this was hard to put down. The middle part dragged a little bit. The last part just ended and was not believable.

Except for Annie, the rest of the characters in this book were flat. It was hard to care much about them. This was a mediocre book IMO.

Cannot recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley, KT Nguyen and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/16/24

I received a gifted galley of YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID by K.T. Nguyen. Thank you to Dutton Books, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID follows Anh Le, known as Annie. Annie’s mother was a Vietnam War refugee and the pair had a tumultuous relationship. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Annie’s life begins to spin out of control. Annie’s art patron disappears, putting Annie in the middle of a police investigation. Worse still, Annie wakes up in a hotel room next to a dead body.

The obsessive compulsive disorder Annie has long had under control no longer is. Annie’s relationships with her husband and her daughter are strained to a breaking point. Annie loses track of what is true and she’s unsure how to answer all of the questions coming her way.

The author’s note clarifies that this is an own voices story when it comes to Annie’s struggle with her OCD symptoms. I think that the mental health representation in this book was a big highlight for me. The confusion and out of control feelings Annie experiences really come through strongly to the reader. In fact, it was at times a struggle to read some of Annie’s hyper-fixations and I did take a few breaks.

This is largely a mystery thriller story, I would say that it includes horror elements as well. In particular, the book does go into the realm of body horror given that Annie’s OCD revolves around health, insects, bodily fluids, and germs. This is a book where I would highly recommend checking out trigger warnings.

There were a few places where I got confused in the timeline as we moved back and forth a bit in time, but I think that was to some extent intentional as the main character is also often confused. I did find the conversations about generational trauma and mother/daughter relationships to be really well done. I had some mixed feelings about the way this ended, but it did manage to surprise me!

There were parts that I liked and parts that I didn't. I thought it was interesting how the character with OCD was portrayed. this also made her somewhat of an unreliable narrator. Overall, I think the book was slow and some parts were repetitive. The book was enjoyable enough to finish.

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen is a debut mystery novel about Annie, a woman mired down by her identities as a mother, wife, and daughter. Annie has been managing her OCD until the book begins with her elderly mother's death. Her grief launches her into a quagmire of intrusive thoughts and self doubt. When an older patron who has hired her for many artistic projects disappears, Annie is at a loss and under suspicion.

The synopsis of this book gave me high hopes, but what it delivered was uneven pacing and a first half that was very repetitive, slow, and hard to get through. However around the half way mark, the pacing picked up and I really enjoyed most of the back end of this story. Annie's OCD is based largely on the author's own experience and her character development was promising. I didn't feel the same about the development of her husband and daughter's characters. As for the ending, I thought it was really fun and unsettling until the final pages of the epilogue put on a too tidy bow.

I will look forward to reading Nguyen's next novel and seeing how she improves and builds upon this start.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This was a great debut novel from Nguyen! I really enjoyed reading this book and Nguyen’s incredible storytelling and the way she pulls the reader in. I would say that this is a slow burn, but I had a lot of fun with it. The book deals with some heavy and real life topics, but I think that is what makes this book so incredible and brings it to life. I really liked the main character, Annie, and my heart ached for her and all that she was dealing with. I would say this is a definite character driven book, and it is pretty graphic and heavy at times, so it may be tough for some readers to get through. Overall, a fantastic and strong debut and I am definitely looking forward to reading future books from Nguyen!


⚠️TW: Death & mental health


𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦A solid debut
✦A good slow burn
✦Character driven books
✦Heavy topics and subject matter
✦Short chapters



𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

This novel is billed as a psychological thriller, but it’s much heavier on the psychological than the thriller. The protagonist suffers from OCD and that representation was well done, but also made being in her head difficult. It took me a long time to get into the story and when the thriller portion really kicked it, it was a little too obvious.

Another intense / suspenseful thriller that gripped me from the beginning. Meet Annie, an artist who's married to a perfect husband who saves her every time and a troubling teenager. I had unreliable narrator vibes throughout and was trying to figure everything out, but I didn't get it right. It was definitely entertaining. Annie's life begins to spiral out of control but it's a wild ride as we go along with her to figure out who dun it. Overall a great book, definitely entertaining.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Annie, despite growing up in poverty, has a wonderful husband and daughter, a stunning home and a fabulous career. However, when her mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie's life unravels.

It took me a moment to put my thoughts together for this one. I am ok with slight horror and perhaps for me, this was more horror than I like to read. I say this to note my personal preference and this is not reflected in my rating. I really liked that the story touched on generational trauma, mother/daughter relationships, and mental illness. Annie's OCD was really well covered throughout the story. Also, the background on Annie's childhood was well done and really helped develop her character.

The pacing, multifaceted plot, and short chapters did not add to the overall story. I think there was almost too much going on with the trauma, mental illness, murder, and immigrant issues.

Overall, if you are ok with the trigger warnings, I do recommend this as a different sort of psychological thriller. Take my recommendation as what it is, my opinion. You will know if you should read this and if you find yourself on the fence, jump into it!

3.75 rounded to 4 stars

Rating: 2.5

It took way too long for anything to happen. And when things finally started happening, I didn't care. I didn't like the main character at all, or any of the characters.

Gosh. I so wanted to like this one, and while I'm thankful to the publisher, author, and Netgalley, this one wasn't for me.

This is marketed as a psychological thriller but it’s really more of a character study on a woman’s descent into madness after continued gaslighting by those around her. I really appreciated the OCD rep here, that isn’t something I see much of in books. It was a difficult read at times being inside her head, and had a bit of a slow start for me but overall I enjoyed it.

4 ⭐ This book will have you guessing who dunnit until the end, while all the while giving you the can I trust the main character trope due to mental health issues. This book does a great job at showcasing what it's like to have contamination OCD while also dealing with grief, loss, trauma, abuse, overbearing parents, hoarding, and being a woman as well as Asian living in America.
This book follows Annie, as she navigates the death of her mother, the trauma surrounding that relationship. the issues she has with her husband and teenage daughter, along with having OCD.
This book also delivers in the murder department and what its like to not fully trust yourself or your thoughts and how obtrusive thoughts can have a major impact on one's life.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the eARC of this novel in turn for my honest review.

3.5 stars - This was a good debut from K.T. Nguyen. I liked the mystery and wanted to know what was happening with Annie. But her OCD and her relationship with her mother made me so uncomfortable - she was such an unreliable narrator. It was a little slow at times and wrapped up a little too neatly. But overall it was well written and I look forward to reading more from the author. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.