Wow, I definitely didn’t see the end coming in this book. It kept me hooked on my seat and I finished it in less than a day. I’d definitely recommend this.

I would definitely categorize this in the thriller/horror genre. On paper, Annie’s got the perfect life - she’s an artist with a loving husband, a smart teenage daughter, and a nice home. But in reality, her life is anything but perfect.

Annie is caught in a confusing pull between love and hate when it comes to her relationship with her mother. She also is exhibiting OCD habits, and her mother’s OCD kept her from living a “normal” adolescence. Annie has memory loss and struggles to maintain her sanity throughout this novel.

Since we’ve got an unreliable narrator, it’s hard to parse through what to believe and what to not. I liked figuring out the truth alongside Annie, but I felt like the beginning of this novel (maybe the first 25%?) dragged on and there was a lot of background information.

The resolution was a little too clean for me. And it was truly difficult to empathize with Annie, even though we see her evidently struggle with OCD and PTSD from her past. I felt like the entire cast of characters was in the ”morally gray,” none of them being out-right good or bad people, and that’s supposed to make the story even more complex - but for me, with the graphic depictions of worms (I have a legit phobia of worms lol) and her other OCD tendencies/paranoia, it just made it harder to read.

I can’t in good conscience blanket recommend this to everyone, as there are some triggering topics like OCD, emotional parental abuse, and mysophobia (germophobia). Please be mindful going into this! The writing was good though, there’s no doubt about that. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

You Know What You Did is a book about intergenerational trauma, family loss, mental illness, and the refugee experience contained within a mystery/thriller--and the last 25% of the book is so compelling that I was unable to stop reading until I finished.

It has the added benefit of making me incredibly hungry, particularly for pho....which ends up being a really important aspect to the story. I do love a book that engages my sense of smell and taste (and which brings back memories for me, much in the way those senses are tripped as part of the novel).

I was particularly interested in the ways in which all the characters were flawed, and how those flaws play into the plot and resolution.

*already posted to Goodreads

This book deal with three generations of Vietnamese American women come to terms with nightmares past and present. This book is for fans of thrillers and suspense. It had me gripping the book so hard trying to finish it to see how it ends. I could have never guessed the ending.

A unique thriller with layered twists. I loved the examination of generational trauma, and the things we carry from the past. Great read!

‼️‼️‼️‼️ARC REVIEW‼️‼️‼️‼️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this advanced reader copy!

You Know What You Did by K. T. Nguyen
⭐️⭐️ ⭐️/5
Release Date: April 16th, 2024

I enjoyed this book. It was filled with suspense and drama and kept me intrigued.

I also enjoyed that it touched on more sensitive subjects like hoarding and mental health issues. You see first hand the struggles of OCD and the many compulsions that can run through a persons head throughout their normal life.

However, if you have a fear of spiders I would not recommend this book. I definitely am terrified of spiders, possibly even arachnophobic and there are descriptions in this book that I would have been happy living my whole life never hearing. 100% nightmare fuel. I felt a bit less engaged in the story in fear of more skin crawling descriptions.

Overall I did enjoy this book and would recommend it. I just wish there would have been a 🕷️content warning.

Unique, dark, and twisted story! This book does an excellent job portraying a character’s struggle with contamination OCD. Mental illness is neither overdramatized or simplified, and I appreciated the intergenerational storylines.

This is my first completed book from Netgalley.
I found the writing style engaging, and really enjoyed the ending.
I will gladly read more books by this author.

Too bad there are no half stars...this one is a solid 4.5.

Thank you to Net Galley and Penguin Randomhouse for the ARCebook.

In this thrilling debut, three generations of Vietnamese American women come to terms with nightmares past and present. . . . Annie Shaw, the daughter of a Vietnam War refugee has it all---(handsome Pulitzer Prize winning husband, beautiful teenage daughter, and a budding career as an artist; at least until you start to peel that onion.

This novel is so much like a visit to an amusement park.... the rush of a roller coaster ride, the whiplash feel of the tilt-a-whirl with all of the twists and turns; the whit knuckles from holding on so tight. If you are a fan of thrillers and mystery...waste no time in picking this one up. I look forward to K.T. Nguyen's next novel.

You Know What You Did started as an engaging mystery, deftly weaving thought-provoking examinations of mother-daughter relationships through three generations and nearly debilitating challenges of OCD into growing questions of what is real and what is imagined for the main character, Annie (Ahn). The overused mantra of “you know what you did” quickly began to miss the mark of building suspense and became a somewhat trite part of the narrative that took me back to many ghost stories I heard as a kid (and used myself in a murder mystery in 7th grade- mine was “it’s not polite to point”)

Somewhere around 80% of the book being finished, the story went off the rails for me and the tenuous hold the main characters had on my empathy disappeared. The resolution of the mystery was too easy in hindsight and did a disservice to a plot which contained a reasonable balance of clues and possible solutions that kept me engaged throughout the earlier chapters. The casual “everybody is going to be ok in the end” conclusion after so many morally bankrupt character traits are revealed left me feeling even flatter. I’m clearly in the minority here, but this book ultimately failed to deliver by the time it reached it’s conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! I need 3-5 business days before I read another book. At first, this book didn’t feel like a mystery thriller. But as the delved deeper into Annie’s mind, I started to see the mystery thriller elements.

This book focused a lot on generational trauma and the mother-daughter relationship; between Annie and her mother and Annie and her daughter. The way she handled it was masterful and drew me further into the book. It also reminded me of my childhood to a far lesser degree.

Usually in mystery thriller books, I kinda figure out what’s going on midway through the book. But this one had so many twists and turns that the ending left me speechless! A million out of ten! I would read anything else from this author!

Thank you @netgalley @duttonbooks for the ARC!

This book is a bit of a slow burn at the beginning, but it is absolutely worth it to keep reading. I was blown away by the storyline, and I was constantly guessing what was going on. Annie had to be responsible, didn’t she? But maybe not? This was one time I did not guess the ending.

All in all I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense/thrillers. I will for sure be reading anything else this author releases!

Oh, my goodness. K.T. Nguyen is someone we need to keep an eye on! This novel seized me with squelchy hands—so riveting it resonated beyond sense.

The story follows Annie, who came to America with her mother as refugees of Vietnam. It explores mother-daughter relationships, generational traumas, and mental illnesses. Annie overcame the challenges of turbulent upbringing and now lives a perfect life, until she lost her mother. Annie started to grapple with chaos through her thoughts and struggled to make any sense in it all. K.T. Nguyen did a fantastic job bringing forth some of Annie’s disturbing thoughts and paranoia, flashes of memories, and subjects that haunted her. I felt like I also started to experience Annie’s OCD tendency by having thoughts like, “there must be something dirty about this donut, whoever made it” (lol). At first, the book’s opening felt sluggish, but before I knew it, the story took flight, and I was utterly engrossed. I’m also unaccustomed to reading from a third-person perspective because it seems so limited, almost like I’m a fly on the wall observant, but once I got used to the style, I started to experience it as if I was watching it on film.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced e-book copy of You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen.

I REALLY wanted to like this book. I even re-read the beginning to see if maybe I just missed the "catch" but I didn't. It was a very slow burn and once it got to the suspense twists and turns, I had already lost interest. It's not a bad book, it just didn't grab my attention and I didn't feel vested in any of the characters.

*Thank you NetGallery and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

So originally I really wanted to give this book a 2-3 star review but after finishing it though it was a solid 4 stars for me. This is a slow paced thriller through the first half of the book and then it escalates through to the end. At first I found Annie, her husband, Duncan, and daughter, Tabby, beyond annoying and hard to get emotionally involved with. After the loss of her mother Annie slowly starts to succumb to her OCD tendencies that start off mild and continue to escalate throughout the book. I will say I held in due to the supporting characters around them like Ike and later in the story Dr. Patel. About halfway through the book, I started to become invested into Annie, her story, and her mental health journey. Also as the maturity of Tabby grows, she did finally start to wear on me and by the end I actually could feel the difference in the character in a good way. Not much longer after this point the plot twists started to really develop. Due to the changes in the pace, the depth, and character development after this point kept me reading. By the time I got to the end and everything was explained there were definitely pieces I was surprised about. Overall was a good read and I enjoyed it by the end.

This was nice enough, but it took a while to see the story truly bloom. Still, it was a worthwhile experience and I'm interested to see more from this author. Recommended.

I really, really wanted to love this book but it just didn't scratch my mystery/thriller itch. I need to be hooked into a story right away and this book took time to build to the excitement. But once the story finally got going and was on track it wad a suspenseful ride with sharp twists and unexpected turns. Not a terrible read, but it was difficult to get hooked so unfortunately missed the mark for me.

Ok, I had NO idea what to expect with this book. But the description, the title and the cover drew me in on Net Galley (and thank you SO MUCH for the opportunity to read this before it’s release date). The book at the beginning tended to have a slow burn; the first third of the book was a lot of backstory about Annie, her mom, her family, her condition, etc; but makes sense with the story. But reaching Part 2 (out of 3) it really picked up and had me questioning everything that was happening. I thought “There is no way” but then “ok, well maybe 🤔 “ I wanted to continue to read and read to see what was going to happen and who was behind everything. This book will have you questioning every character and if you like a good thriller/suspense, I HIGHLY recommend.

4.5 stars

**Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group-Dutton, and K.T. Nguyen for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
Expected publication date: April 16, 2024

This riveting debut novel by K.T. Nguyen kept me reading!! I could not look away!! I would characterize this novel as a dark thriller/horror/mystery. The subject of mental health and bonds between mothers and daughters created a powerful view inside the thoughts and minds of her characters struggling for control. The perspective and point of view added to the drama and twists in the plot.

Annie is a Vietnam War refugee, who was raised by a single mother. She grows up to become an artist and marries a well-off man. They have a beautiful home and a bright teenaged daughter. The adult life she has created for herself is far from her childhood of growing up in poverty with a mother who struggled with mental health. Annie vows to give her daughter the life she never had and to protect her as much as she can from the cruel world. When her elderly mother passes away, Annie's life slowly begins to unravel. Her own mental health starts to deteriorate and her previously controlled obsessive-compulsive disorder begins to rage.

Suddenly, several people Annie is close to become victims of heinous crimes. Annie becomes the prime suspect in these cases. Under the stress, Annie begins doubting herself. She begins suffering from black outs. Her mind beings racing. Are her thoughts somehow coming true? Is she the cause of what is happening? Why can't she remember? She begins to spiral into a dark place and beings questioning her own actions and the actions and intentions of others. She pushes her family and friends away, as she struggles to gain control of herself and her mind. No matter what happens, one this is certain, Annie will do anything to protect her daughter.

“You Know What You Did” was an excellent debut thriller! The beginning was a little slow for my tastes but once it picked up, it PICKED UP. I was on the edge of my seat. However, I kinda called the ending so that was a little disappointing, but I overall really enjoyed this. Artist Annie Shaw has a dream life, dream husband, a cool electronic shower, but she does have a bratty teenage daughter and complicated mother. After that mother’s death, her life starts to unravel and we’re left to figure out what is true and what is Annie’s delusions. 4/5 ⭐️ thank you, K.T. Nguyen, Netgalley and Penguin Group: Dutton for my eARC.