Annie’s life unravels after the death of her mother. Her OCD and PTSD return, and the police suspect her in a crime. Her self-doubt forces her to distance herself from family and friends. Unsure of what is real and what is not, she struggles to uncover the truth.

You Know What You Did is told from Annie’s point of view. Annie seems to have a great life, but things really unravel after her mother’s death. Annie is an intriguing unreliable narrator.

You Know What You Did is intense and suspenseful. Recommended for fans of slow-burning psychological thrillers.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5⭐️ rounded up

Suuuper slow burn. The first part of the book was pretty repetitive. I ended up liking the ending, but that was really the only ‘thrilling’ part. I would say this is more domestic drama than thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book didn’t hit home the way I expected it to. Felt a bit outlandish, unbelievable. Thinking I will be a rare reader that doesn’t love it however. Sometimes a novel isn’t read at the right time. Maybe this was the case.

This thriller kept me on my toes not knowing what will happen next and with a lot of questions. The story follows Annie through her struggle after her mother dies. Annie is a Vietnamese American immigrant and I enjoy that this story captured some of the struggles of that comes with that. Annie also struggles with OCD and throughout the book questions herself because of this. One of her customers suddenly dies and Annie is a suspect. I think the story was intriguing and kept me reading to find out what really happened.

I liked this. I loved that there were morally grey characters. The writing was very good. I like how the author addressed mental health. I loved the characters however i felt the book itself was longer than it needed to be! It was extremely slow paced and I struggled to keep my attention on it. It focused more on character then plot. I felt the plot felt lackluster in certain parts.

Sadly I couldn't connect with this book and I found it to be pretty slow. I wish it had been different but hope that it works out for others and I appreciate the opportunity!

Annie recently lost her mom; she didn't have the best relationship with her so her emotions are all over the place. She begins to spiral into her OCD ways pushing her husband and daughter farther away. Her husband takes a job overseas for the summer and her daughter is away at camp so Annie is left on her own with her thoughts swirling. Her somewhat employer and friend Byrdie disappears and she cannot recall if she had anything to do with it; all the signed lead back to her, even the cops agree. She meets Gabe and has an instant connection with him; things go to far and he winds up almost dead but she doesn't remember what happened except for fleeing the hotel room; again all signs point to her. What is going on and why can't she remember? The twists in this story will have you wanting to read until it's done.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC!

I enjoyed this book but found it to be a little longer than necessary to accomplish the goal.

When Annie's mother passes away, her OCD and other mental health issues become unmanageable, and her life begins to spiral out of control

I really liked that the mental health representation and aspect of the book was handled appropriately and was very well written. One of my favorite pieces of the book were the glimpses into Annie's past where we developed an understanding of where he trauma came from.

It was enjoyable overall, but moved a little slowly at times, and I found the ending to be a little predictable. I would recommend it to people who are looking for a thriller that is going to make you think.

Every character in this book sucked.
The pacing was so slow only to end with an abrupt stop. The mystery wasn't very mysterious when you realize how fucked up the characters are. I feel like the author had very good ideas but the execution just didn't come through for me.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy!

The pacing was super slow. I also didn't care for the time jumping, at times it was confusing. Overall I wasn't a fan of this novel.

This book was such a ride. It was intense with full of suspense. We follow Anh Le (Annie) who is a wife, mother, artist. Her mother passed away, her marriage is falling apart, she can't seem to relate to her daughter, & her career isn't where she thought it would be. This story is the ultimate gaslight & I felt for Annie as she felt she was losing her mind through the book. I can't wait to read more by the author.

I really enjoyed this! The ending was unexpected and the suspense building is really well done! I enjoyed the character development and the writing style. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to K.T. Nguyen, Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled with this book because of the pacing of it. It was very slow throughout the first 75% of it and wasn’t until the end that things really picked up, and yet the ending sort of felt like a cop out.

It was interesting to learn of Annie’s relationship with her mom, and how it probably affected her OCD.

Overall it was okay, but I don’t think I’d read it again.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Pub date: 16 April 2024

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐢𝐝
𝐊.𝐓. 𝐍𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐞𝐧
𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬
𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰
𝟒 ⭐️

Special thanks to @aardvarkbookclub for the gifted copy of 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐢𝐝 by @ktnguyen_author! This was dark, disturbing, very twisty, and full of mind boggling situations! The story grew on me more and more and I was really invested in the storyline and the characters.

Main character Annie is the definition of an unreliable narrator. Annie had a traumatic childhood and suffers from OCD, which she has worked hard to keep under control. She truly just wants to be a good mother and although she makes a few bad choices and is somewhat of a mess, I was rooting for her the whole time and praying she would pull it together.

The amount of craziness that occurred in this book was a little overwhelming, every chapter it seemed like something batsh*t was happening, but it also made the plot fun! I definitely reccomend this book if your looking for a disturbing thriller, that focuses on mental health and family dynamics. This story has a lot of trigger warnings so I’d go in prepared!

Quickly I want to add that I LOVED how the author used unique ways for the murder/attempted murder scenes. We don’t have the typical strangulation, shooting, or stabbings here 😂😱(this is what happens when you read so many disturbing books and you get burnt out on typical murders 🙃)!

Annie just lost her mother and the grief and stress has caused her OCD to intensify. As she tries to work through her past and understand what is most triggering to her. she finds herself waking up next to a dead body in a hotel and she's not entirely sure how she got there. Annie wants to improve her relationship with her daughter and get back to feeling more in control, but it Annie is losing grasp on what is happening. Overall an intense and confusing read with Annie spiraling and constantly seeming to misstep, While her actions seem incomprehensible and unreliable, the flashbacks to her relationship with her own mother and the twist towards the end help explain it. Readers who like unreliable narrators will like this one.

I found "I Know What You Did," the debut book by K. T. Nguyen to be a suspenseful and enjoyable read. When we meet Anh Le (Annie), Shaw, the protagonist, she is enjoying her career and family. When her mother, a war refuge with mental health issues passes, Annie is thrust into her own increasingly alarming symptoms of OCD. Nguyen takes the reader into Annie's head as her mental health problems escalate, she questions her own sanity and finds her life in shambles. The story delves into the story of Annie's mother and the impact of her death on her daughter. The many twists and turns and high level suspense kept the pages turning to and ending I didn't see coming. I am looking forward to the next book by this author. Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

You Know What You Did
K.T. Nguyen

The splashes of horror! gah, wincing and bracing myself bc of my own fears..

Annie just lost her mom which activates her previously dormant contamination based OCD tendencies.

The story is told within flashbacks between a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship shaped by their cultural gap, generational trauma, and refugee experience. Annie attempts to manage losing her mom, maintaining normalcy with her husband and daughter, and her resurfacing fears.

It feels like it didn’t really pick up until a third in, some parts felt predictable and often repetitive situations? the pacing felt slow and ramped up in the last 30%

This mystery thriller with horror elements feels very different from what I’ve read before. Having read it with the audiobook definitely helped me get through it. Overall the book left me feeling the effects of the slower pace and that the ending that didn’t feel like it matched the rest of the story.

I feel that the author had some great ideas that could have been better executed with the support of a better editor. Perhaps the intention was to have the reader experience the exhaustion, confusion, and the desire for something completely different because that’s what Annie experiences throughout the (too long) novel? The ending was rather abrupt and discombobulating… but again maybe that’s to mimic the characters’ experience? I don’t know 🤷🏻‍♀️ I do know that I don’t enjoy a book if I keep asking “are we there yet”?

You Know What You Did will leave you breathless! From the first page until the thrilling unexpected ending, this psychological thriller will grab you in an unimaginable, yet completely satisfying way. The story, which is told in different pieces throughout the character's life, will have the reader surprised by the twists and turns the narrative takes.

Annie (Anh Le) Shaw had a very difficult childhood, we will learn. The daughter of a single mother (Me) with mental illness who abused her in so many heartbreaking ways. But even after all that when Annie married and had her own daughter, she had her mother live with them in a house on their property where her mother continued the emotional abuse.

But, when her mother dies, it throws Annie into a tailspin. She knows her husband who adores her and understands her and whom she relies on loves her, but she feels her daughter who is fifteen now seems to hate her. Of course, Annie does not want to repeat the pattern of abuse she endured, but her daughter seems to be distancing herself from Annie and will not tell her why. And Annie is jealous of her husband's relationship with their daughter which seems so special.

Annie's career as an artist was one bone of contention with her mother. She felt Annie was doing nothing with her life, even though she had a good career. So, when Me dies, she takes on a large project first to take her mind off Me's death, but also to prove to herself she is worthy of her career.

But she soon begins to notice differences in herself almost immediately. She reverts back to her old ways, with her anxiety and severe OCD. She also thinks she is hallucinating and begins to not remember events. She sees the bond with her daughter deteriorate further.

Then the benefactor whom she has been working for disappears and Annie thinks she may have done something wrong. But the worst happens when Annie wakes up one morning in a bed in a hotel next to an injured man who is not her husband. Her life begins to explode.

She then starts to relive experiences she had while living in Japan with her then boyfriend, now husband. Those odd memories make her realize, perhaps she did do these other things. And when the police get involved, and her husband is away on assignment, things go from bad to worse.

Why can't she remember? All the while she begins to alienate her daughter as she starts to feel as if she is now beginning to act just like her mother. Did she do something back in Japan and now? How does she reconcile her life, with her daughter and without her mother? What did she do?

You Know What You Did is a sharp, twisty story about complicated relationships, love, fear and death. It will mesmerize and shock and you will love every horrifying minute!

Thank you #NetGalley #Dutton #YouKnowWhatYouDid #K.T.Nguyen for the advanced copy.

Many thanks to Dutton Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. You Know What You Did is a well-crafted suspense novel that was a bit creepier than my usual thriller picks, but once I was about 1/3 through the book, I had trouble putting it down. There are short flashbacks at the end of some of the chapters, many of which ended with, “You know what you did.” And I had to keep reading to find out what the unreliable narrator did!
More than just a suspense novel, You Know What You Did covers familial relationships, including the complexities of mother-daughter relationships and intergenerational trauma, including its connection to mental illness. The depiction of hoarding and OCD seemed realistic, and readers with sensitivities to these topics may find this a difficult book to read.
I didn’t realize this was a debut novel until I finished reading it, and I am super impressed by the author’s work. I think suspense fans of Simone St. James would enjoy this read. I did a mix of reading the ebook and listening to the audio, and both were engaging. I appreciated listening to the audiobook to hear the proper pronunciation of some of the Vietnamese words, but their meaning is clear, so readers will understand how they are used even if they don’t know how to pronounce them. The narration, however, was excellent - I loved listening to this one!