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

#bookstagram #letsread #somanybooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #booklover #bookishlove #readersgonnaread #bookishaf

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.

I have mixed feelings on how to review this book. I think if I had devoted more time to reading it in bigger chunks, I would have really really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the way I read it was more broken up, which made the story feel that way as well. I do love an unreliable narrator, and the history of her family and her mother was really interesting. Overall, I did enjoy this book.

Hmmmm...

I felt like this was a little too deep of a story to be a psychological thriller. That's usually not how I like em lol I thought the writing was done well, but it also was a little too much of a slow burn.

Thank you to Lavender Public Relations, Dutton Books, and PRH Audio for the copies to review!

This was an incredible debut that while on the slower side, it kept my attention the whole way through. Annie Shaw is an artist that has everything going for her, and then when her mother dies, it all seems to start coming apart. Annie is unreliable at times which keeps you on your toes and questioning things, which I loved. The second half of the book is intense and does not let up. I absolutely loved this one and also thought the narrator was the right one for this story, and enjoyed listening to this one via audio. I definitely recommend this one and am very excited to see what Nguyen writes next!

2.75/5

The first third of the book was really rough to get through and I probably would’ve DNF’d but the ending definitely made the book better. Unfortunately, I probably wouldn’t recommend it to any of my friends…

Not my favorite thriller. It was obvious what was happening to the MC but the story seemed so long. Not really into domestic thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book left me perplexed on how to describe the experience. I had a hunch about 65% through as to the ending and felt it was more of a cliche than an evidence-based conclusion, unfortunately I was right. Normally this would be fine but it felt convenient and easy, especially paired with how long this book was. While there was great development and a sense of who the FMC was as a person was well-established, there was too much going on for this to be a coherent thriller or suspense. This felt more like a lit-fic with slight suspense. I don’t love using mental health as a way to establish an unreliable narrator, so while some things were well-done and by no means was this a bad book - it was not for me.