Many thanks to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux MCD, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by Louisa Luna, perfectly narrated by the cast of Megan Tusing, Robb Moreira, and Stephanie Németh-Parker. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Brooklyn psychiatrist Dr. Caroline Strange is certain she knows what's best for her patients, her family, and pretty much everyone else, but that all changes when a troubled young man arrives for his appointment and makes a pair of alarming confessions: I am going to kill someone, and I know who you really are. Thus, the story begins.

I really loved this book - it's full of unreliable narrators and unlikeable characters with a plot and storyline that will have your head spinning in the best possible way. I think you really need to go into this book as blind as possible to get that full head spinning effect; suffice it to say that it will keep you gripped until the very end. Be sure to add this to your reading list - I switched between the digital and the audiobook, and the cast was wonderful.

I just so happened to be listening to this one while also reading Final Girls by Riley Sager. Usually I manage an audiobook and hard copy just fine but these two books easily blended together with MC Caroline fitting the criteria of a Final Girl. Caroline was the sole survivor of a massacre when she was a child. Now she’s a psychiatrist and finds herself entangled in a crime a patient committed.

Chapters alternated with Caroline in the present and Gordon (Caroline’s neighbor) in the past. The characters were individually flawed and somewhat annoying, but extremely realistic. I loved the choice to have male and female narrators. The ending felt a little more rushed than I was expecting, but everything wrapped up nicely.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC.

Pub Date Jun 04 2024

The multiple character narration of this book was exceptional! I loved the storyline, and couldn't stop listening!

Thanks netgalley for the prerelease audiobook!

✨ALC review✨

Holy smokes! This is a nail biter. As is the case with mysteries, I don’t want to give too much away. That said, this is the story of a brilliant, sarcastic psychiatrist and her past and present colliding in Brooklyn.

Dr. Caroline Strange seems to have it all: a financially-fulfilling career, handsome artist husband, gorgeous home, two sons. One day a new client comes in and drops two bombshells on her: I’m going to kill someone and I know who you really are. 🤯

I won’t go further into the plot because I went in totally blind as just a fan of @louisalunawriter and I think that’s the way to go. Just let yourself be immersed in this well-paced, exciting novel.

The narrators take you through it. Trust me when I say this is one of the best-narrated mysteries I’ve heard in a while. They were all fantastic as the three main characters. The narrator for Dr. Caroline was so good; I felt like I could hear Dr. Caroline’s brain whirring as she answered the detective’s questions and felt her rage when she talked to or thought about her past. I’m always in awe of these vocal talents and I know you will be too.

I received a copy of this from #netgalley and @Macmillan.Audio in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are mine alone.

#mystery #thriller #contemporaryfiction #louisaluna #tellmewhoyouare #narrators #voiceactors #voiceacting #readalllouisalunabooks

TELL ME WHO YOU ARE
Louisa Luna

She whispers

“Tell me how you start your day.”

“Tell me what makes you angry, sad, and vulnerable.”

“Tell me all the secrets you've kept, the lies you've told, and the dreams you've sold.”

“Tell me who you are”

Dr. Caroline Strange (love that name) is unlike any psychiatrist you know, and she’ll be the one you never forget. She has nontraditional methods for tackling her patients’ issues and from time to time her problems seem bigger than her patients

One day a new patient, Nelson, walks in threatening to kill someone but with no specifics yet, she cannot intervene with a phone call to authorities. But there’s time still. He also states he knows who Dr. Strange really is. This unnerves Caroline but instead of cowering, she decides to take Nelson as a patient head-on. She knows how to handle her patients and he is just one in a long line of creepy patients that have sat on her couch.

Soon after Nelson’s session, the police show up at her office door. Someone is missing and Dr. Strange is on the short list of people to interview. Does this have anything to do with her strange new patient, Nelson?

Someone’s mental health is showing, and it’s not the patients.

Well, at least, it’s not just the patients. I love Louise Luna’s female characters. They are almost always headstrong, alpha types that don’t take a lot from anyone and they’re so much fun to read.

The writing is smart, and the characters are gold, however, this story didn’t really work for me. I look forward to whatever Luna publishes next. I am a fan and even when I don’t love the story, I still enjoy my time reading Luna’s work.

Have you read Louisa Luna before? What are you waiting for?

Thanks to Netgalley, Farrar, Straus, Giroux | MCD, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!

TELL ME WHO YOU ARE…⭐⭐⭐

I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrators! The storyline was interesting but I kept waiting for something completely unexpected to happen. I saw a lot of it coming but the ending had some details I didn’t expect. The Covid talk was a bit much. All in all, this wasn’t my favorite but I would still recommend it as a fast paced, solid read.

When psychiatrist Dr Caroline Strange encounters a patient, Nelson, who says he will kill again with evidence pointing to something similar happening, Caroline decides to try to find out what happened, with the police doing their own search too. Whoa, this psychological thriller was so clever! Fast paced with multiple POVs had me racing through to see how this one ended. Definitely a good one for thriller fans - highly recommend the audio!

This was a weird one. It was full of completely unlikable characters. There was no reason to care about almost any of them. The main character is absolutely horrible. Whether or not she did or did not do something in her past, she is just really bad. Everyone is. The plot was OK but it was impossible to find it at all believable or relatable. And no one calls Jack Daniel’s “bourbon”.

This book had me hooked right away. Told from 3 POV, with the main female “Dr. Caroline” who was snarky, dark, sophisticated, and a bit unhinged made for a perfect unreliable narrator. The performances with the audiobook were stellar, especially the Gordon Strong MMC. This is the type of fast paced, easy to follow thrillers that doesn’t get caught up in the weeds taking you down convoluted rabbit holes that at the end you never get out of. Only took me a day to finish! I’m so happy I got a copy of this book and look forward to more from Louisa Luna. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook. Highly recommend!

I will follow Louisa Luna wherever she wants to go.

That having been said, psychological thrillers are generally not my bag. I need *something* extra to draw me in and keep me reading.

And I got that in Caroline. She was such a juicy character to read about - a psychologist with a big ego, too much money, and a judgy personality.

The story kicks off when a new patient comes to her and says he thinks he's going to kill someone - and he knows who she really is.

I listened to TELL ME WHO YOU ARE in a day; I found Megan Tusing, Robb Moreira, and Stephanie Németh-Parker well cast and believable. I was laid up with a cold - this one kept me interested and wasn't too hard to follow along with while under the weather. Not a standout thriller of the year for me, but certainly not one I'm disappointed to have read - I'm glad I had it to keep me company while I felt crummy.

Having a full cast really brought this book to life. It gave each character distinction and even more personality. As for the book itself, I AM IMPRESSED. Typically the “bad therapist” trope gets a little stale but this was anything but. The flashback chapters really added to the unsettling tone of the book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

📚 Louisa Luna’s “Tell Me Who You Are” is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of identity, secrets, and the haunting power of the past. Narrated by Megan Tusing, Robb Moreira, and Stephanie Németh-Parker, this audiobook takes listeners on a suspenseful journey through the mind of a psychiatrist whose life unravels when a dangerous patient walks through her door.

🔍 Plot Summary: Dr. Caroline Strange, a Brooklyn psychiatrist, believes she knows what’s best for her patients and everyone else. But her confidence shatters when Nelson Schack, a troubled young man, confesses during an appointment: “I am going to kill someone, and I know who you really are.” As detectives inquire about a missing woman, Dr. Caroline becomes the prime suspect. Convinced the police are incompetent, she takes matters into her own hands, chasing down Nelson and confronting a past she has spent her life trying to forget. The polished pieces of her manicured life splinter as people question who she truly is.

🌟 Key Elements:

Psychological Intrigue: Luna weaves a web of psychological tension, blurring the lines between sanity and madness. Dr. Caroline’s unraveling psyche keeps listeners on edge.

Identity Crisis: The central theme revolves around identity—how well do we truly know ourselves? Can we escape our past, or does it forever define us?

Twists and Turns: The plot is a rollercoaster ride of unexpected revelations, false leads, and chilling encounters.

Narration: The trio of narrators brings depth to the characters, enhancing the audiobook experience.

🎧 Narration and Performance: Megan Tusing, Robb Moreira, and Stephanie Németh-Parker deliver stellar performances. Tusing captures Dr. Caroline’s vulnerability, Moreira infuses Nelson with menace, and Németh-Parker adds layers to the supporting cast. Their voices intertwine seamlessly, immersing listeners in Luna’s dark world.

📖  “Tell Me Who You Are” is a haunting exploration of secrets, guilt, and the fragility of self-perception. Luna’s prose is sharp, her pacing relentless. As the truth unravels, listeners will question their own assumptions. If you crave psychological thrillers that linger long after the final chapter, this 🎙️audiobook is a must-listen.

I liked this a lot! Dr. Caroline was a great character, an unreliable (and unlikable) narrator I couldn't help but love. The other narrators were also really good characters, I just really enjoyed Caroline the most. The story kept me guessing, questioning all sorts of plot points! The audiobook was well read, with each narrator having a distinct voice.

Dr Caroline is a psychiatrist and meets with a new patient who tells her he’s thinking about killing someone and that he knows who she really is. He then leaves her office and doesn’t return. Her next visit is from the police to ask if she knows anything about a missing woman.

This was a quick read and a good way to spend a summer afternoon. I’m not sure it’s one that will stick with me or felt particularly different from other books I’ve read - but sometimes it’s fine for a book to just be a good time for the moment!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook and audiobook to review.

When I first started listening to this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. The character; Caroline, was not very likable in the beginning, but as the story progressed, I really started to like her and all her “faulty” ideas and thoughts. A great psychological thriller. I highly recommend this book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!

3.5 stars rounded up. I was pretty well entertained by this one, and I enjoyed the unlikable characters. Where it failed for me is the twists, such as they are. It felt like the kind of book that would have multiple reveals, but it isn’t really.

This story has 3 POVs. A psychiatrist, a kidnapped woman, and a horrible husband. It doesn’t take too long to understand their connections to each other. The psychiatrist becomes obsessed with solving the kidnapping her way, butting heads with the police.

The strength of the book for me was the writing style, the voice. Caroline and Gordon in particular I think were really well done. Caroline was nasty in the best way, and Gordon felt like such a *real* self-absorbed, failing man. A lot of reviewers have noted the unlikability of the characters as a negative, but I think it’s really well done. I don’t mind reading from unlikable POVs. Definitely avoid this book if you can’t enjoy that kind of POV.

I ended up a bit disappointed by this book because I expected it to be more twisty. I think it sets itself up to *be* a twisty book, but it doesn’t really do much. There are a couple reveals, one of which has nothing to do with the kidnapping, but…for the most part it’s straightforward. I really expected something more about Will and Ellen or some kind of trick making use of the multi-POV format. You’re better off thinking of this as suspense.

Ellen’s POV I think could’ve been cut. I thought she was going to be used to provide a twist or reveal, but no. At least, not as far as I can tell. So her POV felt kind of pointless in the end. I also disliked her voice in contrast to Gordon and Caroline. She had a little too much snark and wisecracking for a woman in that situation - it didn’t ring true to me. She doesn’t get that many chapters, though, so it wasn’t a huge deal.

In the end I did find it entertaining and engaging enough to finish, so that’s a win for me with thrillers. I had a good enough time to still round up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook.

All of the POV characters in this thriller were quite flawed, which kept me engaged to see what was going to happen and how all of their storylines would come together. Louisa Luna did a good job of making me question whether Dr. Caroline had actually killed all of her neighbors when she was a teenager. The reveal of why the killer kidnapped Ellen (and later Dr. Caroline) felt very contrived, which is why this is only three stars instead of four or five.

QUESTION:
What can be better than a thriller with a snarky female psychiatrist protagonist with the last name of "Strange"???????

ANSWER:
Not too many books!

The book begins with an "I plan to kill someone and I know who you are" confession by a new male patient to his psychiatrist.

After that, the book continues to sizzle, soar, and astound.

"TELL ME WHO YOU ARE" checked all of my boxes:
* Unreliable, unlikeable narrators
* Unpredictable and unputdownable
* Brilliantly orchestrated and fast-paced
* Many LOL and GOL (Gasp Out Loud) moments
* Full-cast, Oscar-worthy audiobook narration by Megan Tusing, Robb Moreira, and Stephanie Németh-Parker

This standalone read by Louisa Luna is one of my besties of 2024.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so fun! It's packed with twists and there are so many horrible, twisted people in it than there are multiple candidates for whodunnit/who's doing it (both in the past timeline and the present).

Premise - a Brooklyn psychiatrist with a dark path and a sociopathic POV gets a new patient with a dark past and a chilling confession: he's going to kill someone.

I ended up figuring out the twists pretty early on, but I couldn't be entirely certain until about 95% of the way in and the storytelling is so addictive that I didn't mind at all.

Pick this up if you like:
- thrillers set in familiar settings
- unlikeable POV characters
- manipulation and general social f*ckery
- dual timeline thrillers with equally high stakes in both

Heads up, this does happen during 2021 and they don't pretend Covid doesn't exist, so some readers might not like it as much for reliving that period. I personally love stories that happen during Covid but don't center around the pandemic/disease/political situation, so I loved it, but if you see some low star reviews there's a decent chance they're reacting to that.

Thanks, NetGalley and MCD, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.