2.75 stars

This book lured me in with the comparison to my dark Vanessa but ultimately disappointed. It was clear to me what was happening but it was never actually said, this book said so many things and yet nothing at all. If you like boring books in which nothing happens then this book is for you. The whole time there is this buildup and this expectation and then you reach the end and nothing has happened.

I liked the idea of this book but the execution just fell flat with this author. Even though I didn’t enjoy my dark Vanessa I could appreciate the writing and the message behind it but I'm sad to say that I can’t say the same about this book.

Someone else who reviewed this book said something that I feel was a great way to summarize this book, so I will share it here: “I think having that comparison to my dark Vanessa does a disservice to anyone reading this novel, and the novel itself. The focus is not so much on the crime or even the person who did irreparable damage to another human being. It is really an exploration of a person who was ignorant to events surrounding the lives of her family, and confronting those events later in life.”

What We Both Know by Fawn Parker

⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @mcclellandstewart for providing a digital copy of What We Both Know in exchange of a honest review.

I was attracted to this one mainly because of the My Dark Vanessa premise but unfortunately, this one didn't worked for me. Even if the book is only 250pages, I found the story to be too long.

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I really wanted this book to be more, more into what happened, more into who Baby was.
Within the first few pages, I felt confused about what was going on and it took a few chapters for me to see the full picture and get into the flow of the writing style.

This is the first time I have read a book by this author and I would definitely give another book of theirs a try.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eBook.

I was cautiously intrigued by WHAT WE BOTH KNOW’s synopsis which led me to request the title on Netgalley. Rather unfortunately, the overall tone of the book (as far as I read anyway) is very vaguely dark and disturbing. The writing style was very much outside of my comfort zone as I found it to be vague and challenging to focus on and really dive into the story. It made for a jerky reading experience that I just could not get into.

Ultimately, this book surely has a particular audience - but I am not part of it. Many thanks for allowing me the opportunity to experience this book!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, McClelland and Stewart (an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada), of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own. Upon publishing of this novel, I will also be posting my review to Amazon Canada.</i>

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Fawn Parker for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Well, this was a DNF for me. I struggled for about 70 pages and trued to get with the story and narration type, and I failed. I could not wrap my head about anything- it was jumping from one thing to another without any connection.

My New Year resolution for 2022 was not to waste my time on boring books, and here I had to follow my heart and dropped it. It was not for me at all. The inly thing that I did enjoy it was that it was set in Toronto. Was it enough to proceed? No, not for me. I give it 2 stars. 1 for writing the book, the second for persuading a publisher to give it a go.

I wish I enjoyed the book and I did not.

I liked this book but I didn't love this book. The writing was consistent and interesting but I found the main character flat. However, I will definitely give this author another chance!

A short, dark, and disturbing book. What We Both Know was a very easy read, but not much happened, and although it was compelling, there wasn’t much I enjoyed about it.

After receiving an ARC and reading the comparison to My Dark Vanessa, I was surprised to find that this was a novel I did not want to finish.
I have yet to not finish a book, as I choose to always give them the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately this is one that did not change my mind and I wish I had put it down when I had the chance.
I had a very hard time getting into this novel as the beginning was confusing and slow. After quite a few chapters I did find the story to become clearer and easier to follow, however it still uninterested me. I did not connect with the main character, Hillary, at all. Despite the attempts to gain empathy for her, it fell short as there was so much back and forth and jumping around with Hillary's connections to her mother, father and Catherine.
Finally, at the end of the book I felt it was leading up to a good ending, only to be let down by the story just ending without any real closure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my review.

A fascinating and disturbing concept. Hillary, a young woman with a fragmented sense of self and even more scattered memories of her childhood, has moved home to care for her literary lion father as he descends into dementia. She's also there to ghostwrite his memoirs as the ability to write coherently is fast slipping away from him. But the more she works, going through his notes and reassembling her own memories, the more questions arise.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The blurb over-promised and the prose under-delivered. The text didn't fully land the emotional conclusion that should have felt triumphant after all the meandering through old and new traumas. I had to remind myself I am reading an ARC and it's possible the over-fragmentation may have been cleaned up a lot in the final edits. Marginally recommended

This story is gloomy, slow-paced and a tackles heavy subject matter.
Hillary Greene, a lonely, timid woman with a negative body image, is left to tend to her possibly incestuous father as he is losing his memory. He is a famous Canadian author and wants to release his memoir as his final book, but Baby's (yes, that's his name) memory loss has left Hillary to write it for him. Will she "out" him to the public or cover his possible crimes?
I think that Parker is a good writer. She successfully created a believable unreliable narrator and her writing was intimate and intense. I kept waiting for something momentous to happen in the story, but nothing was resolved in the end. Maybe this is more like real life, but tends to be a little too bleak for me.

A very strange book. The writing, the story, the characters were dull. I found myself confused and bored. At about 75% I had to resort to skimming to get to the end. Did not enjoy this book at all.

It’s a no from me. (I did appreciate the Canadian aspects of it).

I was intrigued by the My Dark Vanessa premise, unnerved by most negative reviews on Netgalley and Goodreads. Given those, I wanted to give this book a fair shot but it didn’t have much going for it. I almost DNF’d but ended up just skimming through it.

I was detached from the protagonist with no real clue what was going on because the writing style felt vague and boring. I nearly fell asleep while flipping through the pages. I was about halfway wondering what the plot of the book was because it felt like nothing was happening.

The term “baby,” has never been a favourite of mine in a nickname sense and now I’m truly bothered by it (especially since she uses it for her dad, for some reason. I would’ve picked a different name because it was odd to read). Also, I don’t know if this was intentional or if it was because it was an ARC, but a lot of words were written in alternating case letters like “lAst night i sAw my mother.”

I loved this book! The writing style, the author's voice, the main character, the cover, the family secrets, the emotion, the dark vibes... everything. I will be looking for more from this author and talking about it on my YouTube channel soon!

This book is hovering between a 1 and a 2.
I did not enjoy this book. I was incredibly bored for the vast majority. At the beginning I was very confused and once I understood what was going on…. I was unimpressed.

I think I actually disliked this book.

Contemporary literary fiction is not my usual thing, and maybe that's partly why I didn't like this book, but I REALLY didn't like this book. It was boring and felt emotionally disconnected. It felt like there should have been a big reveal but it never came, instead it just sort of leaked out and then never amounted to much.

The book was also oddly sexual and that one scene with the dog was so uncomfortable and so unnecessary. I kind of hated this book.

CWs: sexual abuse, child abuse, Alzheimer's, animal harm

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

let me start by saying I very rarely share negative reviews. it takes a lot for me to dislike a book.

this was just…..
when I got the email about this book, I was so excited to read it. the premise sounded incredibly compelling. the blurb compared it to my dark vanessa, which was one of my top reads of 2021. I was anticipating a mix of my dark vanessa, and verity. but this was honestly such a let down for me.

the writing was very chaotic, often jumping from one thought to another so quickly I thought I’d get whiplash. I had to reread paragraphs to figure out what the heck was happening.

she calls her dad baby. I get it, it’s his pseudonym for writing, and she didn’t want to call him dad. fine. fair. call him by his real name then, please? calling your dad baby is just weird.

there were storylines in this book that should have brought me to tears. I am an EXTREMELY emotional person. It doesn’t take much. but it was just so… robotic. there was no emotion whatsoever. my eyes were the sahara desert. no tears. zip. nada.

also, the talking in circles thing just frustrated the hell out of me. at the end of the almost 300 pages, nothing happened. I knew no more than I did when I started the first page. there were constant hints towards the past. hints building up to some big dramatic moment. and then just….. nothing. at no point did we get answers. it was just constant rambling.

I did not like Hillary. all she did was whine. she was so self centred. she only ever focused on how things affected her. her sister’s trauma. her father’s illness. the situation with the dog at catherine’s house. she was convinced everyone was out to get her. the nurses were conspiring. the dogs were making fun of her. just, wow.

maybe this is a genre I haven’t come across before. maybe there’s a type of reader who would absolutely love this. but for me, it just wasn’t the vibe.
I’m so sorry that this review was so negative, but it is what it is.

the one positive was that this story took place in Toronto. so… yay, Canada!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for the eARC

This was recommended for people who loved My Dark Vanessa, and although I can see the similar themes, I feel like this comparison did this book a disservice. Didn't care for the writing or the characters even though the premise intrigued me from the start. Characters felt really flat and made if difficult for me to reach for this book. I ended up DNF'ing around half way.

What We Both Know is a dark yet compelling read that covers many disturbing subjects such as child abuse, suicide, the care of elderly parents and much more.

I still was interested to see what choices would be made by Hilary and how a memory is perceived differently between people.

The relationship between father and daughter is a complex one and Fawn Parker does a good job exploring this.

Although I have a hard time comparing it to Dark Vanessa and this book might not be for everyone , I believe it is well worth the read .

What We Both Know is a book that is staying with me and the more I think about it, the more I appreciate the read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada, McClelland & Stewart

What We Both Know by Fawn Parker is often compared to My Dark Vanessa which I did not read subsequently I cannot comment on, this is heartbreaking at times beautiful, and a very dark book. It deals with sex with a minor, parental sexual abuse, drunk driving, body image, infidelity, caring for aging parents, memory loss, suicide, and death. It is a sad story of a famous Canadian writer losing his memory due to Alzheimer’s and a daughter charged with writing his memoir torn between writing her truths or his. Their relationship is complicated, Parker does an excellent job portraying this.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.