An engaging psychological thriller about an American woman who is lonely after moving to the UK with her husband, only to find that someone in her new group of friends may have ulterior motives. More than just a typical social media thriller, I Know You by Annabel Kantaria has great twists and turns.

Plot and Structure

The teaser for I Know You is catchy but really doesn’t tell you much about the book. The story is centered around Taylor Watson, an American woman who moved to London with her husband Jake and is pregnant with their first child. The move and pregnancy come in the wake of an affair Jake had with another woman, but we don’t know too much about that.

The story is narrated by Taylor, who is lonely with her husband traveling for work and living in a new country. She joins a walking group and meets Simon, a cybersecurity hacker who also seems a bit lonely (and a bit smitten with Taylor), and Anna, another woman pregnant with her first child and with a husband who travels a lot for work. Taylor is a bit desperate to become friends with Anna, and once the two begin to get to know one another they are fast friends. They both formerly worked in the airline industry, are both pregnant with their first child, and a bit lonely with distant husbands.

Meanwhile Taylor is invited to join a new book club by her neighbor Sarah, and she invites Anna to join as well. The fourth member of their book club named Caroline who is honestly a bit of a snob and who also happened to go to primary school with Taylor’s husband Jake. As the four friendships evolve, things get sticky. Single mother Sarah seems to be flirting with Taylor’s husband Jake, even though Jake denies it. Caroline makes unending snide comments to Taylor and seems to show up everywhere Taylor and Jake go. Meanwhile someone may be stalking Anna.

As the story unfolds, each chapter ends with an unidentified second narrator who is closely following someone’s social media presence and knows more about them than they let on. As the book goes on, this narrator seems to escalate in their contempt for the person they are watching, which adds a lot of suspense to the story. Taylor herself is at times speaking from a future state where she is looking back on the events from the story from a time in the future where something has clearly changed in her life.

Characters

Taylor was easy to like. She and her husband had gone through a rough patch and trust was broken, then they move overseas and she is starting over a bit. Jake is trying to regain what they had, but Taylor is looking for friends of her own. Anna is a good friend for Taylor and their friendship is reciprocal and supportive. Anna also has a bit of a backstory that makes her character more compelling, and it also ties to why she is paranoid about being watched.

Anna’s husband is rarely around and I did suspect (as does Anna) that he is probably cheating on her. He works in Qatar most of the time and Anna seems like she is just glad to have the financial support, even if their marriage isn’t what it should be. This also made another point for Anna and Taylor to bond over time, as Taylor has recently experience infidelity in her marriage and is now trying to work things out with a fresh start. Jake comes in and out of the story and you can tell her cares about Taylor, but I also felt suspicious of him at times. It’s always the husband, amirite??

Sarah and Caroline are both such fascinating characters in their friend group in different ways. Sarah is likable and gregarious, but it does seem like she might be a bit too interested in Jake. Caroline has her own rich husband, but there is something there about her past connection to Jake. She seems to hint at things that make Taylor unsettled. And to be honest, Caroline is a bit cruel towards Taylor at times. Simon is an odd character and I oscillated between finding him awkward but sweet and a bit too clingy.

Overall Thoughts

One thing that I liked about I Know You is that it wasn’t clear from the narrative structure who was being watched and who might be doing the watching. Both Anna and Taylor post a lot of their lives on social media so I felt at times it may be one and at times it could be the other. I also liked that the social media watcher adds suspense to the story for the reader (and the watcher has some biting commentary on whoever they are watching), but the characters themselves don’t know it is happening. Furthermore, the story itself was quite compelling and at times I sort of forgot the watcher might escalate to something.

That’s all I can say for now! The story took lots of twists and turns and I liked that there were lots of different threads that could tie to the main story. The conclusion was satisfying with a good shocker towards the end, and I loved the way the book was written, with Taylor looking back from some point in the future, and the watcher always around but lurking behind the scenes as events unfold.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of I Know You by Annabel Kantaria.

Oooooh, this was a juicy read, lots of suspicion, full of tension, a good little mystery.

Taylor is a pregnant woman who has just moved to London from California for a fresh start with her husband. But she is lonely and desperate for friends, which is why she is thrilled when she is able to meet people through her new walking group and bookclub. But there is something about almost every new friend that she meets that unsettles her. Not only that, but she can't help but notice that her husband has taken an interest in one of them as well...

Lots of great cattiness, and unsurety. Everyone is a suspect in I Know You, be sure to assume nothing!

Very interesting premise, one I enjoyed. The storyline was a bit predictable, but the story was good enough to keep the pace going to see if I was right. I must say though, what threw me off was if you read this genre enough, the "twists and turns" become very much the same and meh. But, I would recommend this especially in the digital age.

This was a middle-of-road psychological thriller. I was hooked by the plot and kept the pages turning but the ending was too far-fetched in my opinion.

Taylor thinks London is going to be wonderful- it's very different from California- and she's happy to be pregnant and that she's found friends. But are they her friends? There are some twisty secrets here. It's a good read for fans of the genre.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and the author, Annabel Kantaria, for the opportunity to read I Know You in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought this book delivered a good read. Plenty of action has you turning the pages to see how it will end.
Would definitely read this author again.
Worth a read.

A nail biting page turner that’ll keep you guessing. When the twist comes you won’t believe it! Taylor moved to the quaint town of her husband and finds herself lonely. She wants a depends so badly she is desperate. She finds the friend in Anna and puts all her trust and time into the friendship. But was it worth it?

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this

This was a book I kept seeing on bookshelves in shops and I eventually managed to get round to reading it!

Whilst I did enjoy it the book and I definitely kept wanting to turn the pages. I found it lacking a bit in suspense. We have two soon to be mothers. Taylor and Anna, who both meet at a walking group. Taylor is desperate to make new friends after moving to the UK and she thinks Anna will be a perfect new best friend.

The book is the story of their friendship, how it develops and their shared love of social media. But their friendship isn’t all as it seems...

I found the ending very rushed and predictable. I knew what was going to happen, just not the exact ins and outs. This book needed some more suspense in the earlier chapters as I felt that the final outcome just wasn’t quite believable after such a slow paced book earlier.

Saying that, I stills enjoyed it and loved the inclusion of Instagram into the story - highlighting both the positives and negatives to social media!

This book was provided by NG for an honest review.
This book is told by two point of views. Taylor and a mystery creepy stalker. It was very hard to put down and the clues sprinkled in made me second guess everything.

I wish I had gotten a chance to read this book earlier. I would tell everyone to read it.

It takes a special brand of crazy writing to get me to turn off the location on all my social media/shopping apps in the middle of the night. How is it that you think you know someone, you think that you have this person figured out and therefore allow them into your life? In this day and age with social media, we have a glimpse into people’s homes, routines, special moments and loved ones but.. we never think or rather we don’t want to think that someone could be capable of using that glimpse against you. You don’t think that someone could be so twisted and sick to use all these precious moments to hurt you in such a way that’ll leave you floored and fearful of the outside world.

When our main character Taylor uproots her entire life in the US to move to England with her husband Jake she is left lonely and in desperate need of a friend. With a floundering marriage, Taylor is in need of companionship more than ever so the solution? She joins a walking group. Here she meets Simon followed by Anna. Simon; a seemingly weird and shifty man whose been dealt a hard few instances in life. Then Anna, the perfect friend who says all the right things and just seems like the best of friends. When Anna claims to feel someone watching her, Taylor feels for her friend after all they have so much in common; both pregnant, both married to traveling husbands and both new to the area. So who is Taylor supposed to trust here?

In a completely surprising twist, this book will leave you gasping right till the very end!

Having been a victim of online stalking, this book resonated with me. The characters are diverse - we are not sure who is good and who is bad and there are enough twists to keep the reader interested.

In a reality where social media is part of our lives, this books uses that concept to make us question what really is possible when the intentions of someone aren't the best.
This book hooked me, even though I wasn't a particular fan of the characters. It made you think, and it also made you curious to see what was coming next.

this was an entertaining read, not completely obvious from the set up how it would go and nice fleshing out of characters as it progressed to a satisfying conclusion

I’m catching up on my backlogged netgalleys and this was one of them. I worry about some thrillers because some of them are predictable or the same, but I Know You was different. The relationships and the digital age was a new twist that I enjoyed.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book for my honest review. Yayy I was so excited that I was chosen to read and review this book and it was simply delicious that I devoured it in one sitting. Great book!

Description

A recent transplant from sunny California, life in the London suburbs is not what Taylor Watson expected. Far from the West End shops and city lights she imagined, she finds herself pregnant and lonely, with a husband frequently away on business and only social media to keep her company. It’s only after Taylor joins a book club and a walking group, that she finally starts to make some real-life friends. Before long, Taylor’s hanging out with Anna, Sarah, Simon, and Caroline but, as her pregnancy progresses and her friendships blossom, a sense of unease develops. Nothing’s ever quite as it seems on the surface, and it soon becomes clear that Taylor’s new friends have secrets. One appears to be after Taylor’s husband, another’s always putting her down, and then there’s the question of Simon. Could he have feelings for Taylor? But far more worryingly, one of the group’s not being too careful what they post on social media—and another is watching all too closely. Who’s stalking who . . . and why?

My Review

Taylor recently arriving in the US from London finds herself a bit lonely since her husband is away from home more often than not. Since she misses her family and friends she decides to join a group to make friends. Since this is a thriller you can imagine things don't go well for Taylor.

This ARC was provided in exchange for my honest opinion. I must say this is one of those books that keeps you guessing until the very end. If you enjoy a really good whodunit, then "I Know You" is the perfect novel.

I give this book a 5 Star.

thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I really enjoyed it. not what i thought it would be like. but well written and glad i gave it ago

Big eye opener in the digital world and I never saw the ending coming. I didn't like any of the characters, but I still was interested and highly engaged.