You Know What You Did by K. T. Nguyen is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of guilt, revenge, and the dark secrets that bind friends together. The narrative follows a group of friends whose past actions come back to haunt them, leading to a tense exploration of their relationships and moral dilemmas. Nguyen’s sharp writing and well-developed characters keep readers on the edge of their seats, as twists and turns unfold in a captivating manner. This novel masterfully combines suspense and emotional depth, making it a compelling read for fans of the genre.

I liked this book! I found Annie as a character to be both unique and fascinating. Every step she took in the book had me wanting to read further ahead. I was expecting more of a fast-paced thriller from this book as opposed to many slow burn elements thrown in, especially in the first half. I really enjoyed the writing and the premise of the book was incredibly promising. My only issue lies with some inconsistencies with the pacing and overall plot itself. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

You Know What You DId is a thriller that centers around mental illness, generational trauma, and how much we know about the closest to us. This debut thriller is in the vein of Lisa Jewel or Celeste Ng. The pacing and the protagonists OCD, along with the hints of who was good and who was bad, made for a fast paced and enjoyable read.

I’d categorize this book as thriller/horror. On the surface, Annie has the perfect life—an artist with a loving husband, a smart teenage daughter, and a nice home. But in reality, her life is far from perfect.

Annie is caught in a push-pull relationship with her mother, torn between love and hate. She exhibits OCD behaviors, something that overshadowed her own adolescence due to her mother's struggles. As the story unfolds, Annie experiences memory loss and battles to keep her sanity.

With Annie as an unreliable narrator, it’s tough to know what’s real. I enjoyed unraveling the truth with her, but the first 25% of the novel dragged with too much background information.

The resolution felt a little too neat for my taste, and I struggled to empathize with Annie despite her obvious struggles with OCD and PTSD. The entire cast exists in a morally gray area, which adds complexity, but combined with the graphic depictions of worms (I have a serious worm phobia, lol) and her OCD tendencies, it made for a tough read.

I can’t recommend this to everyone, as it covers triggering topics like OCD, emotional parental abuse, and mysophobia (germophobia). Please be mindful of that going in! That said, the writing is undeniably good.

I just cannot get into the audio version of this book. I think I will try the copy at a different date. Thank you for my copy!

This book was very slow and way longer than it needed to be. Some of the characters were so unlikeable, it took away from the story itself.

Unfortunately, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID was not for me. I had a difficult time getting into the story and couldn't invest in the characters. However I believe there will be people who will like the thriller aspect, the core of the story didn't work for me.

3.5 stars.

This was a decent thriller in the sense that it kept me reading and turning the pages, which as far as I’m concerned means the thriller author did her job. I don’t expect much from thrillers other than to keep me entertained and turning the pages. For that I gave it 3.5 stars. But it did not differentiate itself much and fell prey to typical thriller tropes. The ending and reveal was not bad, & I enjoyed myself overall.

This mystery/suspense novel is a strong debut from KT Nguyen- congrats on publishing your first novel!

The story follows an artist and mother of a teenage daughter Annie, after the death of her mother which sends her spiraling. Trigger warning for severe OCD. Unfortunately, one of Annie's patrons goes missing shortly after Annie visits her which sets off a series of events that will have you seriously wondering if Annie is a reliable narrator.

The book was a little slow and repetitive at times, but I think that served to hone in on Annie's disorder and make you feel similarly uncomfortable in her headspace. I am excited to see what KT publishes next!

Thank you to KT Nguyen, Dutton, and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review!

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Penguin Group for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this if you like: fast-paced thrillers

This is one that I wish I loved. There were some really great parts to it. It was very thrilling. There were too many slow parts in the plots for me, so it lost me. I will read more by this author. I did like it.

I really wanted to love this book however it felt like a chore reading it. I’m always excited to read a book by a Vietnamese author and the fact that this was a thriller really was the cherry on top.
I felt the story was so long and drawn out unnecessarily. I understand the purpose was to accurately portray the unreliable narrator’s struggle with OCD but I felt the storyline was chaotic and disorganized. This book fell more so in the category of contemporary fiction or women’s fiction for me. The jumping of timelines was at times confusing and disorienting (probably like the narrator) and then suddenly a murder would occur. Just as sudden as the murder occurred, we called the attorney and that storyline was immediately forgotten and never had a solid foundation laid. There was really no likable characters and I felt the unaliv-ing of the dog was super uncalled for.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton for the Advance Reader’s Copy via NetGalley and the opportunity to review this book. Also thank you to the author, K.T. Nguyen.

Fantastic, dark, and poignant. A thrilling tale of generational trauma and the things that can happen when some wounds don't heal.

I thoroughly enjoy this novel. It hits all my favorite markers of this genre and even exceeds a few of them. Most characters felt fully fleshed out, but not so much so that it was redundant. The story was a bit slow going, but necessary to get us where we needed to go. Nguyen brings a fresh darkness that I think many thriller/horror authors are skittish to approach. I loved that our main character was as unhinged as she needed to be.

Was a little slow to start. I picked it up and put it down multiple times. Some of the descriptions, especially related to the main characters OCD and fears, made me squeamish - so not for the faint of heart when it comes to mice and rats and creepy crawlies. Book picked up around 60% and from then on could not put it down. Killer was a surprised for me and I'm usually good at predicting the twists! I had everyone else on the hit list except for them. So in the end it was an enjoyable read.

This book was a real commitment—a slow burn with a lot of complexity. It dealt with mental illness, marital doubts, the challenges of raising a teenager, intergenerational trauma, and, of course, murder. However, the story didn’t introduce a missing person until about halfway through, which made the pacing feel off. I’m not usually a fan of the ‘woman can’t trust herself’ trope, but the ending was satisfying. I especially appreciated learning more about OCD, and knowing that the author has personally struggled with it added a special layer to the book.

📖 Book Review 📖

🎧📱 "You Know What You Did" by K.T. Nguyen

⭐️⭐️⭐️
published April 16, 2024

A debut thriller, borderline horror story, full of trigger warnings. Annie is a first-generation Vietnamese American artist with a perfect life until her mother, a refugee from the Vietnam War dies. Annie begins to spiral and her OCD comes out in full force. Jumping between past and present I began to understand how the extreme emotional abuse Annie endured as a child from her mother on top of the generational trauma and issues her mother projected onto her young daughter made life very hard for this immigrant child. This is not a book I will recommend to just anyone as I felt the topic was heavy and at times hard to read.

Thank you to @netgalley for this eARC

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K.T. Nguyen's *You Know What You Did* is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of guilt and redemption. Nguyen's sharp writing and intricate plot twists create a tense, immersive experience that keeps readers on edge. The novel's exploration of moral ambiguity and its compelling characters make it a standout in the genre.

At first I had a hard time getting into this book, partially because of the daunting length, but I also found myself captivated by Annie’s past and the generational trauma she had endured. Overall longer than I felt it needed to be, but still a good read!

This book was absolutely amazing! The plot was well written and kept me reading. The twists were truly mind blowing. This book is easily in my top 5 this year!

You Know What You Did is described as a heart-pounding debut thriller. From the book's description, not to mention the high praise prior to the book's release date, I was expecting a thriller I could not put down and I was very excited to read the book. I see for many reviewers this was the case. For me this book was long and drawn out, jumping back and forth to many points in time in Annie's life. This was frustrating as it gave a lot of details that didn't feel relevant until the very end of the book. I was surprised by the ending (even if it was extremely rushed), and also pleased with Annie's growth journey. For this I am giving the book 2.5 stars, but I am rounding down to 2 stars as the book was not heart-pounding.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

🎬 Read this if you like:
Gothika
Black Swan
⏰ Best time to read:
When you’re looking for an audiobook for long walks
📝 Themes:
Psychological Thriller, Unreliable Narrator, OCD, Immigration, Generational Trauma, Infidelity, Multiple Timelines
👍 What I liked:
The mother-daughter relationships in this book were a lifeline for me when I considered DNFing
❓ Synopsis: Annie is a wife, mother, daughter, and artist living in Washington DC. Annie is also first-generation Vietnamese-American, and she suffers from OCD. Things begin falling apart when Annie’s mother dies. Suddenly, Annie’s relationships falter, her OCD flares up, and her employer ends up dead. Is Annie guilty of something? Would she even know it if she was?
📣 Review: This was one of my most anticipated reads of spring, but it just didn’t live up to the hype. Nguyen is a super talented writer, and the premise of YKWYD is so good. But there were too many things going on while, somehow, nothing was happening. It took me ages to slog through this one—I even switched to audio halfway through, the narrator was fantastic!—then, I found the ending predictable. Still, I’d be willing to give the author another try based on the themes she tackles.