Cover Image: I Know You

I Know You

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Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an Advance Readers Copy of I Know You. The following review is based solely on my own opinion.

3 stars

The story centers around married couple Taylor and Jake and Taylor's friend, Anna. The bit players are Simon, Sarah and Caroline.
I could not connect with the characters in this book. They did not have depth and I didn't feel that any of them belonged together.

A sticking point for me was that the author was not able to write Taylor as an American. Taylor did not speak or have thoughts that were phrased as someone who is from the United States. It wasn't even necessary for Taylor to be American. It added nothing to the story.

I kept reading, hoping that the characters would develop, but they never did. I finished it because I had to know the "who."

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I didn’t realize from the book’s synopsis that this was a book about a stay-at-home pregnant woman who spends her days interacting online with other mommies and soon-to-be-mommies. I find this type of fictional drivel insufferable, and this book was no exception; however, the chapters narrated by someone stalking the mommies online through their social media accounts was so well-written, it kept me reading despite how bored I was by all the baby-centric blather.

I love reading books that incorporate social media, and this is one of the best I’ve read so far. The chapters about social media were exceptional. The author hit the nail on the head with all of her observations about what people post to social media. (There’s even a witty chapter about people who share the books they read on social media and have deluded themselves into thinking they are part of the literary world without realizing they are essentially unpaid marketers for authors and publishers. I also loved the chapter about the wannabe foodies.) While there is some tongue-in-cheek humor about the things people share about their life online, the story does really make you think about what you share for complete strangers to read and the consequences that can follow if someone starts stalking you.

If I could separate the social media chapters from the rest of the book, this would be a five-star read for me. Unfortunately, I could not stand reading about an adult woman being offended after someone referred to her as “big” because she thinks her bump is perfectly proportioned (seriously, for real?) It’s even more irritating when this very same person has the audacity to confront a childless woman hosting an event in her home for being a “cow” just because she does not fall all over her and worship the ground she walks on like everyone else is expected to do. I’m also very tired of reading about how every woman wants to kidnap someone’s baby. Nope. Sorry, many women do not have babies on the brain 24/7.

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This book could have been a five star rating had I not found it so up and down. One minute I was hooked, the next I felt boredom creeping in.
Great idea for a book but just seemed to drag a bit. That's just my personal opinion, I therefore advise you to give it a go.

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Thanks to netgalley for the review copy of this thrilling read!!!
This was really a very thrilling yet scary read. In a day and age where everything everybody does goes on Facebook or Instagram, it is eye-opening to think how our obsession with being liked by everybody can be used against us. This was really a good read, I recommend it.

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Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.


Don't you love when you have no thoughts or feelings going into a book and then end up being blown away? That's the best.


I wasn't excited to read this but I didn't NOT want to read it. It was just kind of like "Yeah, sure." Expectation is the root of all evil because lately whenever a book is hyped and I'm ready for it I usually detest it in the end.


So! Going in semi-blind this really did it for me. I wasn't sure at the start of it, but every time I stopped reading I missed the characters. I got completely absorbed in this and felt like I was apart of it which I haven't felt like in a while. I was invested! I cared!! 


That being said all the characters are shady, sketchy, and pretty shitty people. I loved em! What a bunch of creepy weirdos. It leaves you guessing because everyone is capable of being a stalker and untrustworthy. 👍 Good times.


Anyway it left me guessing until the last couple chapters where I was like, "wait I got it!"


Loved it and would recommend for any mystery/thriller lover.

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Really enjoyed this book! All of the twists & turns left me guessing until the end.
Well written & great characters. Would recommend to others!!

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What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

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I really enjoyed this book. Well constructed and always a pleasure reading this author. Another success.

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Great Book! Pulls you right in from the beginning. Impossible to put down. Keeps you guessing until the end.

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I will rate this a 3.5 star. This book was..interesting. I will say, although it lacked a bit of polish, it kept me decently intrigued from the start and had me guessing throughout. I liked the intermittent inner dialogue of the stalker between chapters. This helped to build intrigue and mystery. I enjoyed trying to unravel the details right up until the very end. However, that is where I felt it lost something-that ending was ODD! All this action and drama in this one climactic finale, and then bam, done-AND Taylor's reaction to the entire scene that played out before her eyes, and subsequently followed, was bizarre!!! I felt the author lost something in this rushed and unusual ending. The premise of the story was extremely promising. I felt that there was a lot of potential in this story, things just fell a little short for me. I wish it had more substance in the ending to round out the entire story a little bit better. That, along with a little polish to smooth out some rough edges of the writing, could have been a 5-star book for me.

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I Know You is an intriguing thriller that will make you think twice about what you share about yourself on social media.
Taylor moved from the US to London with her husband, Jake. They've been having trouble in their marriage and Taylor thinks this will be a way to work on the relationship and a fresh start. With Jake being away for work most of the time, Taylor is lonely and finds herself on social media sharing her day-to-day life and hoping to connect with people. With new people in her life, who can she trust? Are some of her new friends following her life a little too closely?
This book was a wild ride! It was fast-paced and kept me interested and trying to unravel all the secrets. I really enjoyed it!
Thank you to Annabel Kantaria, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

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*I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

If you're one of those people who's paranoid about every little thing they post on social media.....maybe don't read this one.

I was hooked from the very beginning. We jump back and forth between the main story, told by pregnant Taylor who has just moved to London from California with her formerly cheating husband, and the thoughts of a social media stalker. It's not immediately clear whether the stalker is male or female, which adds to the mystery. What is clear is that this stalker is very angry, and very skilled in the art of stalking via social media.

I found it interesting that the author throws us such an obvious red herring in Simon. Ok yeah, he was a little creepy, but I think he was just lonely and weird. Similarly, Caroline was far too obvious a choice for the stalker, as she knew "Jake the Rake" back in primary school and seemed standoffish and full of herself to begin with. These things are explained in the story, at which point I thought "oh, so THAT'S why he/she is like that."

About 80% through, I had convinced myself that it was most likely the woman who Jake previously cheated with, who is now obsessed with him and wants him all to herself. I was wrong, but honestly, NOT THAT WRONG. His ex-wife? What?? At no point in the story do we ever hear about Jake having been married, and it's clear after the reveal that Taylor also had no idea.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and could've given us a bit more.

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THIS BOOK HAD ME SHOOK. I was tossed and teased during this whole story, and then after a couple good twists, the ending gave me chills! This book reminded me of You, the Perfect Mother and Big Little Lies all wrapped into one, but it was a 5 star read the whole way through. The first quarter of the book I was thinking one thing, and then by the halfway point I was thinking another, and I was wrong both times! Love being fooled, and I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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What a great book! Once I started reading... I could not put it down! Very unexpected twists! Can’t wait for the next one!

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Wow!! I Know You by Annabell Kantaria has got to be one of the most exciting reads so far this year!
As a passive social media user, I found this story to be so jarring yet so relatable in the sense that I see people posting the most trivial and pedestrian of things on social media that it starts to turn into a habit and ultimately into an obsession. The need to overshare your personal and private moments with strangers or acquaintances is something I don't understand, personally. Therefore this book to me was so amazing! Though its fiction, it can't get more accurate than this, on the perils of social media.
This plus the compelling storyline made this very hard to put down. I highly recommend getting your hands on I Know You.

Thank You netgalley, the publishers and Annabell Kantaria for an arc

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I Know You is a fabulous thriller that will keep you on your edge of your seat and keep you guessing to the very end. I hope to read more from this author.

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Description
A twisted domestic thriller in the vein of B. A. Paris and Shari Lapena that asks: How well do you know your friends?

That picture you posted?
I’ve seen it.
That location you tagged?
I’ve been there.
I know everything about your life . . .
And I’m going to destroy it.

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?


*** Thank you very much to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC for the advance of I Kow You.***

JUST OMG!! This book is full of twist and turns. It is a book you rush to finish. I did not see the crazy, nor had it figured out. Very clever! I say WOW, and more than 5 stars.

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This is the first time I have read anything by this author and I was impressed by her book. Another book that had a twist ending that you thought you figured out but was completely wrong. I wouldn't say the book was different from others that I have read, but I enjoyed it very much, it kept my attention,.

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A Riveting Thriller

Do you know your friends as well as you think you do? Before this novel is over you will be wondering and questioning how much of yourself you reveal on social media.

Taylor Watson, with her husband Jake, has just moved from California to the suburbs of London, Jake's original home. Alone in a new place Taylor discovers that it is not as exciting as she expected. She becomes lonely as Jake is often away on business. She sets out to make some friends and in attempting to do so she becomes a very active poster on social media. Soon pregnant, she joins a book club and a walking group. She becomes friends with Anna, Sarah, Caroline and Simon.

The main chapters written from Taylor's perspective are interspersed by other chapters offering comments from another person who is filled with bitterness and and appears to be seeking some form of revenge. As her pregnancy advances Taylor begins to suspect her friends are not exactly what they appear to be. One is always criticizing her, another may be interested in her husband and then there is Simon who is a bit of a social loner but may be interested in her.

Taylor is being stalked by someone who intends her great harm. The denouement ties everything together in a way that reveals the hidden secrets in a rush.

A well written thriller that is quite enjoyable. I received a digital copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Wow! As someone who is very active on social media, especially Instagram, this was exceptionally creepy!

Taylor, a California native, has moved with her husband back to his hometown of Croydon, England, and is struggling to make friends. She has always lived her life through social media-constantly uploading little snippets of her life, be it where she goes for her honeymoon, for dinner, even her new baby’s crib and clothes. Sounds like most of us, right? When she joins a walking group in her neighborhood, she’s so lonely, homesick, and desperate for interaction she tries to get one of the girls, Anna, to like her, instantly. Slowly, Anna warms up to her, but Simon, also seemingly desperate for friendship, is constantly around Taylor and he gives Anna the creeps. Slowly, Anna and Taylor become best friends, as they have a lot in common-they’re both pregnant, their husbands both work out of town frequently, they both used to be airline cabin crew, and they’re both lonely and looking for friendship. Anna also shares a lot of her life online, especially Instagram, and Taylor is delighted when some of the hashtags Anna posts are about #newfriends! She clings to this, and it really hurts when Anna reschedules their plans, which is frequent.

Aside from the walking group, Taylor also joins a book club where she meets Caroline and Sarah. There are a lot of characters to keep up with but they are all well developed and it’s hard to pinpoint if one of them is the sadistic stalker that readers come across in some alternating chapters. If you’ve followed my blog for awhile now, it’s no secret I love to read thrillers! This one was especially relatable due to the contemporary time period where everyone puts everything online. I had an inkling of who the stalker would end up being but the final reveal was definitely not what I imagined! Make sure to pick this one up if you’re in the mood for a great twisty thriller!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own and this has not influenced my review.

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