You Know What You Did is a creepy, difficult-to-follow thriller with an extremely surprising ending. The difficulty to follow seems to reflect the deterioration and persistent OCD of the major character as she spirals seemingly out of control and apparently on a killing spree. Parts of the story were grim and in retrospect, very sad as the truth is revealed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the opportunity to read this ARC.

You Know What You Did follows Annie as she tries to deal with her mother’s death, mange her worsening OCD, and understand all the unexplainable things happening in her life. The first part of the book I honestly didn’t know where it was going with the story! Seeing Annie experience OCD in such detail was very intense, but it really added to the story. I read this pretty quickly because I really wanted to see how it turned out. Amazing debut, and I will definitely read more from K. T. Nguyen.

Thank you Dutton and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my review.

Publishing April 16, 2024

The story was good but could be a little repetitive at times.. I stuck it out and I really didn’t expect the twist at end! I would recommend this book for those who enjoy guessing to the end.

Anh Le (Annie Shaw) has a seemingly perfect life: a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, and a teenage daughter. But Annie is not handling her mother’s recent passing very well. The relationship between them was tenuous at best, and in her final stages, Mẹ, a hoarder, barely let her into the carriage house Duncan had renovated for her use. To make matters worse, Annie and Duncan’s teenaged daughter Tabby is acting very much her age, and Annie’s OCD seems to be spiraling, and there are blank spots in her memory. The stress and frustration mount; Duncan leaves, frustrated at Annie for long-term work in Syria as a war correspondent and Tabby for equestrian camp. The resultant freedom from familial and relationship constraints don’t help as much as add to the isolation, and as the pieces continue to crumble from the facade she’s built of her life, Annie finds herself under investigation for a murder. Ugly truths are exposed, and Annie is forced to reckon with terrifying reality.

I won’t forget this story. Nguyen uses Annie’s severe OCD as a means to propel the reader into a state of nervous tension, and Annie’s fears become very real. I appreciated the drama inherent in all the broken pieces of Annie’s life that add up to the dramatic conclusion.

2.5 stars rounded up

I really really wanted to like this book. Annie/Ahn’s experiences with OCD were so vivid and intense. The author vividly captured and painted such a raw picture of intrusive thoughts and the physical and mental toll this disorder takes on people. Additionally, Ahn’s relationships with Me and Tabitha were heart wrenching. I couldn’t help but emphasize.

Although in many ways brilliantly written, my critique focuses on the structure of the plot and the pacing. I just could not get into the story. The plot is a bit all over the place with a focus on mental illness, bonds between mothers and daughters, the immigrant experience, and murders to boot. As literary fiction and without the murders, this would have all the hallmarks of a bestseller. As a literary thriller, the pacing and order of events needed work to make it more engaging.

Despite my lackluster review, I do this this story will resonate with many readers and my perspective should be taken with a grain of salt. This just wasn’t the right book for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC. This is a 4 ⭐️ for me.

I really enjoyed the depiction of OCD and felt that the story was exciting, keeping me turning the page.

I love a good thriller! This will be a fun summer read for most folks.

Thank you, NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Sorry, I wasn't able to get into this book. Mainly because it was written in the third person. It just wasn't for me.

In "You Know What You Did," Annie "Anh Le" Shaw's seemingly perfect life shatters when her mother's sudden death triggers a resurgence of her long-buried OCD and disturbing premonitions. As accusations swirl around her in the wake of a disappearance, Annie finds herself unraveling, isolated from those she loves. But when she wakes up next to a corpse with no memory of how she got there, Annie's desperation to protect her daughter leads her down a perilous path. With gripping twists and a poignant exploration of identity and sacrifice, this debut thriller delves deep into the complexities of family, trauma, and the lengths we'll go to for those we love.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and K.T. Nguyen for an ARC of You Know What You Did. This was such a compelling and moving story of generational/hereditary trauma and expectations of motherhood. I loved the thriller portion of it along with the perspective of being a first generation in the United States and how to make it in a new country. This book made me reflect on a lot of issues people face nowadays. This book is about Anh Le/Annie and growing up poor with her mother who was a Vietnam War refugee and Annie met her husband and has it all. Her mother passes away, and her OCD that has been under control is now out of control. When it rains it pours - next an art Patreon disappears and Annie is at the head of the police investigation. Then Annie wakes up next to a lifeless bodies. All Annie knows is she will do what it takes to protect her daughter at all costs.

"In this heart-pounding debut thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell and Celeste Ng, a first-generation Vietnamese American artist must confront nightmares past and present....

Annie "Anh Le" Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie's mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie's carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she thought she'd vanquished years ago, comes roaring back - but this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie's brain might actually be coming true.

A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room - naked, next to a lifeless body. The police have more questions, but with her mind increasingly fractured, Annie doesn't have answers. All she knows is this: She will do anything to protect her daughter - even if it means losing herself.

With dizzying twists, You Know What You Did is both a harrowing thriller and a heartfelt exploration of the refugee experience, the legacies we leave for our children, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters."

Personally I'm in to for the journey as to how OCD leads to you waking up naked next to a corpse. Because that hasn't been my experience. Yet.

There’s a lot of different things happening in this book. I felt like the first 40%ish was just fluff before you get to what’s really going on. I felt like there wasn’t a focal situation, but instead the author just kept adding more and more to the story. There’s alot of mention of her mother being a refugee and the Vietnam war but I don’t feel like there was much more besides mentioning it. The ending was predictable because of the lack of characters and overall had some holes. There’s death but I feel like this came across more as literally fiction that thriller/mystery.

My thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Group Dunton for allowing me to review this arc.

This is 3.5 stars for me. The premise of Annie dealing with her OCD , PTSD, life as an immigrant, dealing with her mom s death, and waking up in a hotel room with an injured body next to her was good. However there were times I wasn't sure what this was about? In between chapters it went back in time in Annie's life which yes, she had a bad childhood with not a great mother...But then we had marriage issues, issues with Tabby. What was this book really about? It did not pick up till about the last hour reading the book which made up for, but a but late.

3⭐️

Annie has worked hard to control her OCD symptoms and has done well on medication for years. But following the death of her mother, her life begins to spiral out of control. Her symptoms not only effect her everyday life, but they also effect her relationship with her husband and her daughter. To make matters worse, there have been several crimes in Annie's orbit that she has no memory of but she's the prime suspect.

I'm conflicted on this one. I really enjoyed the deep dive into Annie's OCD and PTSD and how that effects the relationships in her life. As her symptoms worsen throughout the book, the story feels more tense as Annie begins to doubt her reality. I liked how Annie was an unreliable narrator, intentional or not. I liked the focus on generational trauma and how easy it is to pass struggles down the family line. Annie's mother escaped a war torn area and struggled to make ends meet. She was very strict with Annie and often came across as cold. This was something that Annie had not processed and passed on to her own daughter.

While the mental illness and generational trauma was described very well, overall I was a little bored with the story. The beginning of the book dragged for quite a bit and since all of the characters came across as morally gray at best, that was little that drew me into the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for providing this ARC to me!

I wish I liked this book more but it was just very hard for me to get into. It was kind of all over the place for me which made it hard to keep track.

Annie's mental state definitely added so much to the suspense of this story. It was an exceptionally well-executed unreliable narrator situation.

I absolutely loved Nguyen's writing. The character work in particular, I was so impressed. I enjoyed not only the suspense and mystery of this story, but Nguyen also chose to tackle some difficult topics, such as the immigrant experience and mental health.

K.T. Nguyen offered the reader glimpses of Annie's past which explained some of her behaviors in the present day. She endured severe emotional abuse by her mother and was subjected to the generational trauma that often occurs in immigrant families. I think this would be a great book club book because there are many components that would prompt thoughtful discussions outside of the plot.

This book is so damn crazy in the best way possible!

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an advance readers edition of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.
The relationship between a Vietnamese mother and daughter are central to the storyline of “You Know What You Did”. Annie’s controlling hoarder mother has died, and Annie (who has OCD) is reeling. Her marriage is suffering, her daughter is distant, and people around her are being hurt and killed. Annie is a flawed person, but surely she is innocent. Or is she?
The story alternates between what is happening in the present with Annie’s past experiences with her mother. It certainly holds your interest, and the ending wraps the story up nicely.

Two stars for part one, three stars for part two, and a big fat zero stars for the reveal in part three.

This was an exceptional portrait of the mind of someone experiencing a unique form of OCD, but there was not much in the way of plot for the entirety of part one, more than a third of the book. It did pick up in part two, but I found part three offensively disconnected from the rest of the story, to the point where it seemed the author wrote the first two parts then threw a dart at a list of her characters to pick who the sociopath would be and wrote part three off of that random choice.

I thought it was a poor execution of the unreliable narrator trope, it lacked a sympathetic build up and jumped straight to unlikeable and unbelievable. The only thing it did well was portraying the disgust factor that characterized Annie’s OCD. And did I need that scene with the dog? Absolutely not.

This is such a creepy and thrilling debut from K. T. Nguyen!

After Annie's immigrant Vietnamese mother dies, the OCD Annie thought she had under control rears it's head back into existence. While she struggles to keep control of her mind, one of her wealthy art patrons disappears, and Annie finds herself in the middle of a police investigation. Then, Annie wakes up in a hotel room next to a dead body with no memories as to what happened to land her in that position. She's left wondering if she can trust her own mind well enough to work her way out of the situation she is now in.

This story is suffocating and eerie from the get go, and escalates to an even scarier conclusion along the way. While staying true to itself as a thriller, it also explores generational trauma, mental health and the fragile bonds between mothers and daughters. I was so impressed by it and look forward to more from Nguyen!

Impressive psychological drama. It includes family trama, the immigrant experience and some unexpected murders. A completely surprise ending.

This thriller/horror focuses on a woman with OCD tendencies who is having all the family issues one could image. Her mother dies, her teenage daughter is on her case about everything, her husband is working overseas, and she is contemplating meeting up with another man. On top of that there is a murder investigation that she's being questioned for and she's a bit of an unreliable narrator. Overall, an interesting read, but I did find some parts of the story slow and/or confusing.