I’m a sucker for a secrets haunting from the past book, and this was a fun twist on the trope with a book digging them up.

DNF 50%

This book started off really well. The plot was interesting, the opening scene quite original, and I found the novel engaging, even if a bit slow at times.

I really, really wanted to love this book, but the main character just ruint it for me. I can honestly say that Petal (or Petta) was the most immature, annoying, unlikeable character I have ever came across. I kind of get the idea that she's supposed to be a bit edgy, a bit "out there", and I wanted to finish the book and find out how it ends, but I couldn't make myself read about her any longer.

Personally, I think that with a different heroine, this novel could have been brilliant, but unfortunately for me, Petta's character just made it extremely hard to read, and almost impossible to enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The author made a great twist with how she wrote this book. We know all what happened as the story unfolds. Yet, what really gets us, readers, is how it is told. Our main character Petal is just rolling through life until she shows up in a book one day. A book that has her pegged as part of a murder. The only way someone would have that idea is if they were there when everything happened. However, they don't know everything.
As our story unfolds, we see how Petal handles situations, and it seems homegirl smokes a lot of weed to get through everything. That is just how she copes with getting through hard things.
Petal has turned into an investigator, though she isn't very good; bless her heart to clear her name and get her life back to normal. I like how Petal came out of her comfort zone on more than one occasion because she is an introvert; I believe many people can relate to that.
The pace is medium; it wasn't confusing to follow.
I hope to read more by this author in the future.

I really liked the premise of a woman finding out she’d been publicly accused of a murder in a fictional book and she has to find the author. I enjoyed the formatting and how the chapters would switch to excerpts from “No One Suspected” so that “I Know What You Did” became a book within a book.

The author certainly didn’t make Petal likable and I found her actions as a character frustrating. Petal has the book in her possession and instead of reading it start to finish to see what it’s all about, she instead tries to find an old class mate and uncover the author. Wouldn’t you want to know everything that’s been written about you first so you knew what to be mad at? Petal reads as a woman in her late twenties/early thirties focused on junk food, getting high and noncommittal relationships. The constant references to her smoking a joint got old real quick. But if she graduated high school in 94, she’d be 47 in 2023. The author doesn’t provide the current year but mentions the first John Wick movie so it’s at least 2015 which still places Petal at just shy of 40.

Despite Petal’s unlikability, the book is compelling! It’s hard to put down and the cat and mouse game the author is playing with her is fast paced and intriguing. It was easy to figure out a portion of the twist but I was happy not to have figured out all of it. I also enjoyed the last chapter which put a final bow on each little detail.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read! It felt a little deja vu-y at the beginning with something else I had recently read, but very quickly turned a corner and shone.

I loved the character development we see in Petal/Petta’s character…from denial, to truth seeker, to investigator, to ass kicker. I also really liked that her growth trajectory wasn’t linear. It’s generally not, and it reads as inauthentic when it is in a book. So to the author, thanks for writing a character with real personality, flaws and all.

The whole premise of the book? I’m here for it. A somewhat closed-universe whodunit…but very twisty and no shortage of surprises and minor twists. This read as more of a suspenseful drama to me, rather than a thriller; or even a psychological suspense.

Everyone needs a person in their life that stands by them, and I’m probably Gus’s biggest fan after this book. What a gem of a human.

Overall, this was a solidly written book and I really enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Crooked Lane Books for a review copy!

I went into this one blind and I’m honestly so happy I did. This was such a fun read and I loved the concept of it; finding out that you’re specifically named in a book and also the murderer. It was definitely a slow burn but with a lot of build up along the way until the ending. I so enjoyed Petta and her snarky, sarcastic self. When I thought I had it figured out I was wrong, and this had me guessing until the very end. It did seem to drag at times but it was still a quick read.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this fun thriller and all the bookish things sprinkled throughout the story.

Thank you so much Netgalley for this ARC. I really enjoyed this read! I flew through this book and could not put it down. The book within a book theme was different for me and I loved it. Looking forward to more from this author for sure !

What a gripping suspense read with a fabulous narrator! I love Petta’s sharp wit and found myself laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband on quite a few occasions.

I thought the set-up for this thriller was brilliant and am always drawn to the “book within a book” trope as well. Petal finds out she is named in an anonymous best selling book detailing events from her past that only her and her childhood friends would have known about, and she is the only one whose real name is used. Cue the race to find out the author, the reason she was named, and the “real story” behind it all. I don’t want to spoil it, but loved this from start to finish!

I loved this debut from Cayce Osborne and will absolutely read her next book!

Read if you like
📕 Books about books
🔪 Thriller
😡 Public Blame

This one is a well paced thriller that got me hooked and kept me invested throughout the story, This one is about 100 pages shorter than the average thriller length I’m used to, but it didn’t miss anything as a result and was concise and kept me guessing!

I love that this one is about a character with her own demons and then a book is published that publicly accuses her of killing her best friend by her full name. When this happens she has no choice but to figure out who is framing her and clear her name.

I loved the way we got little clues throughout so when the reveal came through it was all clicked imto place and made me happy as it wasn’t out of left field and was definitely believable!

If you are looking for a shorter book, I highly recommend picking up this thriller as I don’t think you’ll be disappointed at all!

Thank you to Crooked Lane books for my ARC in exchange for my review!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!
This was a super quick read for such a slow burn thriller.
This is my first from this author and will read more from them.
Thankyou again

I really enjoyed this book. Kept my attention throughout and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I Know What You Did by Kayce Osborne

Petal Woznewski lives in NYC and tries her best to keep to herself and forget her traumatic childhood. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, her parents passed away. She befriends two girls at her new school, but when the three girls sneak out one night only two make it home alive.
Years later, a best-selling book details that fateful night and uses Petal's real name. Petal returns to Wisconsin to try and find out who wrote the book and what they want from her.
This is Osborne's debut and it did not disappoint. It was a fast-paced and easy read. I both loved and hated Petal. She was not your typical thriller heroine - she was gritty, guarded, and very independent to a fault. However, at times I found her frustrating and it didn't seem realistic that a person could survive on only snack chips, weed, and beer. The ending was somewhat predictable but, given the details of the story, the only way that made sense. Overall, I enjoyed this one! Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

When Petta discovers a novel written about an incident that happened to her friend group and which seems to be pointed directly at her, she takes it into her own matter to clear her name and discover who is behind the dreadful book.

I wanted to comment on the things I liked first, but there's not really much. The characters were very unlikable, especially Petta. It's been 30 years from the events of that tragic year, which means she is in her late 40s, but she still behaves like a teenager. She was super immature and only talked about eating junk food and smoking pot (boring).

The premise of the story was interesting, but the plot, even though the book was under 300 pages, dragged for so long. The plot twist barely made any sense, as it turned out to be a character that had barely been mentioned and whose motive was weak at best. The police plot line (both in the novel and the reality) was pointless and we could have done without her. As for her love interest, Petta was rude to him and they had little chemistry.

I don't really recommend reading this.

This book was a fun read! I saw a few reviews that compare it to the style of R.L. Stine and I would agree. So if you are/were a Stine fan, this book is for you.
I enjoyed the flow of the mystery and the way the puzzle pieces came together. My dislikes were that I felt like the main character was always smoking pot or being awful to her boyfriend, which made me wonder why he wanted to be with her. I also would have liked to know more about Petal’s parents and why they chose what they did.

This was such a great book... it was paced at a great speed and just kept me guessing who the author & killer could be all the way to the end!! I assumed it was going to be the person who looked the guiltiest, but boy was I wrong!!

I really enjoyed this. The mystery kept me turning the pages.
For a while, I wondered if Petal had imagined Jenny.
For a while, I thought it might be Petal's on/off boyfriend.
For a while, I thought it might be Megan herself, who didn't actually die.
I wasn't completely surprised by the revelation of the author, but it was still a twist I hadn't seen coming.
Petal is an interesting, deeply flawed character, which is something I love. Se's not perfect or even fully stable. She's hiding from living her life until she has no choice but to face it.
While I was reading, it felt like there was something missing but I still can't quite put my finger on what that was.
But, if you enjoy a good mystery and psychological torment, this might be for you.
I received an advance copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!

I feel like this almost was what I wanted but it missed the mark. The book seemed too short to be as meandering as it did. The final twist and reveal didn’t hit like I wanted it to, especially with how short it was. The final motivation was weak of the bad guy.

A bummer, but well written at least!

I was no a big fan of I Know What You Did. The book had such promise, but it almost felt like two books in one (not speaking of the excerpts from the book that's the cornerstone of the story...so three books in one?). At one point in reading (about 60% through), the book took a left turn and became a different story. The ending wasn't unbelievable, but it was odd enough that it didn't really fit. Three stars because it kept me reading.

Petal (Petta) Woznewski is an introvert to the max, happy with her simple life until she finds out that a best-selling novel is out that talks about the death of her childhood best friend and names Petta as the killer. She has to find out who this author is and decides to step out of her comfort zone and track them down. This is a well-done novel, with a story within the story, and it had enough mystery to keep me interested up to the very end. Many thanks to the author, Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley for my copy of I Know What You Did!

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
A dedication in an anonymous thriller book stating “I know what you did, Petal Woznewski. And now everyone else will, too.” With those two sentences Petal is thrown into her past and to secrets she has kept buried for thirty years. Traveling back to her hometown was suppose to help give her answers but instead it has left her with more questions as she hunts to find the author. The synopsis and plot sounded new and exciting, I had high hopes but sadly I feel disappointed especially because the beginning of the book was so strong. This book while being on the shorter side was a challenge for me to get thru as I could not stand the main character Petal. The book itself is written well and there are some twists especially at the end but for me I just could not get past my dislike of Petal to be able to enjoy this book. Everything Petal did either felt very selfish, immature (despite her age), and the continued mentions of her “smoking” just turned me off.

I Know What You Did comes out July 18, 2023.

Thank you again NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.