I really did not see the book ending the way that it did. I thought I had who was the one following her and writing the chapters to make her think all figured out. The twists definitely got me though. They have always said to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I haven't decided how I feel about the one that ends up being the one writing those chapters and knowing what she did. I also wonder why she didn't remember her nickname until she looked it up? She should have just stuck with her gut in the first place.

This one is a true enigma for me. On the one hand, Vi Keeland is an automatic one click author. I've loved SO many of her contemporary romance works, and when she first announced she was branching into the Psychological Thriller genre, I was on board 100% since that is one of my most favorite genres to read.

This story is billed as a psychological thriller, and while I agree it is heavy on the psychological, I didn't find it to be a thriller. Yes, someone is sending Elizabeth chapters of a story that actually happened to her when she was a teenager, and she spirals into a state of paranoia, amongst other things, but the story didn't have much of the thriller aspect.

Even though Elizabeth is an English Professor at a local college, she really is pretty much a hot mess, much like the female character was in The Unravelling. There were several places in this story that I wanted to pull Elizabeth to the side and ask her what the heck she was doing! Several times she puts herself into an unsafe situation, making rash decisions without thinking through the consequences. The way she treated the people all around her was awful, using ones she knew had true feelings for her, and then pushing them away when they serve no further purpose. Elizabeth was a pretty unlikeable character to me, but if that was Vi's intentions when she created her, she did a great job!

I was super intrigued with Noah, a character that she truly should never have even started talking to. Another reason why she made so many questionable choices. Once you read this book, you'll understand what I'm talking about. There were a few other characters that I think were thrown in to be red herrings, which was brilliant because I couldn't stop thinking about who I thought was behind sending the chapters to Elizabeth.

I admit I couldn't put this book down, needing to know what was going to happen next, but at the same time, a bit frustrated with the execution of how revelations, and the big twist(s) came to light. I had to reread several chapters and go back to different sections of story to make sure I was comprehending what was being implied on the pages. I think I figured it all out, but this really is not my strong suit. I don't often read between the lines very well. I particularly enjoyed the last two chapters, which really brought the whole story full circle. But it also brought up a ton of questions that we never get answers to, so I still feel a bit frustrated at the close and need a spoiler group I can ask questions in to make sure I grasped everything that Vi was laying down.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, it kept me very engaged, but I didn't enjoy how some things were revealed, and didn't particularly care much for Elizabeth, although in the last few chapters, she did grow on me a bit, but it was too little, too late. I also couldn't figure out what the reader was supposed to glean from her obvious distaste for church and religion. It seemed to play a very large part in this story, with her mother often telling her to go to confession. Was it supposed to show how hypocritical people are? Again, I'm not good at trying to figure these types of things out.

I know this story is going to live rent free in my head for a long while to come, because there are so many things I still have questions about. It makes me wonder if there's going to be a book 2, or if I need to start picking people's brains to make sure I caught everything that I was supposed to.

Also, as many others have mentioned in their reviews, if you have triggers of any kind, please know there are several triggering topics that occur throughout this story, so take that into consideration.

Absolutely loved this thriller - lots of twists, with a complex main character. Would recommend as a great summer beach read!

I really enjoyed this one from Vi Keeland. I do love her as a romance author, but I am really loving this new side to her writing. This story was full of twists and turns I didn't always see coming.

Elizabeth is a college professor and in her creative writing class, she receives a submission that is too close to home. Like exactly what happened to her and her best friend when she was in high school. She has no idea who the person is that is submitting the chapters to her. So, she decides to go back to the small town she's from to see if she can figure out who it is. This story is 20 years old for Elizabeth and she knows how it ends.

Now the problem seems to be Someone Knows what Elizabeth did as well...and she needs to find out who.

4.5 🌟


Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc!

I have been waiting to get my hands on this book ever since I read The Unraveling last year. I am a big fan of Vi Keeland's romance books so I was thrilled (pun intended) to see her branch out into thrillers and I was not disappointed! If I thought The Unraveling was good, this one took me off guard. It was so so good that I blew through this book in a few hours and the plot twists really surprised me. I really thought I had it figured out then bam I had another thing coming and also THAT ENDING?!? OMGGG I have so many questions... it was him?!? hannah?!? I literally am still reeling from that discovery :0

Well, I binged this book in one sitting because once I started, I could not stop! Vi Keeland was one of my gateway authors to adult romance when I was in high school nine years ago, so I love to see that she's pivoted into writing romantic thrillers. I read "The Unraveling" last year, which I did find unputdownable, much like Someone Knows. However, while this book had me in a chokehold from start to beginning, I found that I really didn't care about any of the characters themselves. I found Elizabeth and Noah to be pretty stale and unlikeable. I also did guess all of the twists, which was disappointing. Ultimately I wasn't surprised by the final chapter like many other reviewers were...to me, it was pretty predictable. I wish the characters had been a bit more developed. Keeland didn't do justice to Sam and Lucas' characters. The story had all of these potential avenues Keeland could have taken, and ultimately, she chose the bland one. So, while the story was fast and addicting, overall, it left me pretty unsatisfied. I'm also wondering, from the last chapter, if there is a sequel planned. If so, I'd definitely come back and read it because I can see the potential.

I see you Vi Keeland ! This was my first book from Ms. Keeland, and it won't be my last. I really enjoyed this one. It had great twists and turns. The ending was perfect.

Elizabeth is a professor who is teaching a Creative Writing course at a college in NY. One day she gets a submission from an unfamiliar student. She is stunned to read a story of a teenage girl having a romantic but abusive relationship with a teacher. It's a familiar story with names and exact scenarios that she is familiar with.It's the story of her friend, Jocelyn. Elizabeth knows how the story goes, because she killed the teacher. She and her two friends swore themselves to secrecy and went their separate ways. Who could know these details after twenty years? Who is the mystery student? What do they want from Elizabeth? Elizabeth must return home to uncover the mystery.

I highly recommend this one! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.

A big thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book drops in June 2025.

WOW! What a rollercoaster of a read. This started out a little slow for me, but once I got about 100 pages in I was hooked! The twists and turns were unpredictable throughout the story. I really enjoyed the original plot of the book and HAD to know how it ended. I read alot of mysteries and just when I thought I had things figured out? I was SO wrong. That ending! Such a great read, this one had me up way too late finishing it on a weeknight with work the next morning. But it was worth it. !

fast-paced, fun, well-written thriller with interesting vibes and a TON of twists that happen throughout. would recommend. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

5⭐️s - Buckle up for this fast paced thriller! It was so addicting and I could not put down. Twists I did not see coming with jaw dropping ending. Great cast of characters and entertaining to sit back and see how everything unfolded. I can tell this author is a romance writer too - little darker spice sprinkled in this book. Highly recommend to thriller fans out there and this will be a top pager turner summer read for 2025!

Expected release: 6/17/25

✨Special thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for this complimentary digital advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

College professor gets a paper from a student that is supposed to be a fiction chapter. Turns out to be exactly what happened to her (the prof) when she was a teenager. Kind of a cat and mouse game with a very surprising ending!

First off, I would like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for giving me this eARC to review. I appreciate it so much.

The story is about an English teacher who teaches at a college in NYC. Elizabeth Davis.
You realize pretty early that something traumatizing happened to her which made her leave her small town in Louisiana.
20yrs after the trauma occurred, Elizabeth starts receiving Chapters from a "student" from one of her classes. The chapters depict in great detail of a event she would want forgotten.

The novel is a whirl wind of events and more or less a discovery of who she is as a person and trying to solve the mystery of who is haunting her with the chapters.
I'd say that I liked reading this for the most part, it's a fairly quick read and not to complicated to understand
The plot was good, from beginning to end was good but some things in the middle didn't sit right with me.

Here's the issues I had with the book:

1. When Elizabeth went to visit Ivy, she mentioned that the events were exactly as described by their friend Jocelyn. Ivy agreed with that. In a later scene when something is revealed, that conversation therefore didn't make sense anymore.

2. At some point Elizabeth put her phone in the kitchen to attempt to get some sleep. In the next scene the phone was beside her when she woke up.

3. Certain characters were mentioned and never heard from again which really makes their presence to be kinda pointless to the story and some characters were only there briefly to further the plot a little and then also not seen again. I.E; The Chief of Police, Lucas.

4. I found that Noah was the obvious choice the whole time, so the end chapter didn't really surprise me.

As much as I liked the story itself, I felt how it got to the ending was a bit of a mess. Respectfully, it seemed like the author was trying to much in a short time. Not the worst thing I've read though.
Very quotable and a great writing style.
I still enjoy Vi Keeland's work and want to read their back list someday.

This thriller with a spicy twist is the definition of bingeable! Short chapters, keeps you guessing, twist after twist, and less than 350 pages. I audibly GASPED at a couple of the twists and the end was definitely a SHOCK. My only gripe is that I wanted a little more, there were some storylines/characters that seemed to be left hanging and would have really added to the story and main character. But overall I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend!

Note: there are some trigger warnings that may be difficult for some.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for my advanced copy! Vi Keeland is becoming a quick favorite for her twisty, sexy thrillers!

I have been a huge Vi Keeland fan for years and I am loving the fact she has branched into new genres. I enjoyed this book very much and had a few surprises I was not expecting at all. Excited for others to read this book this summer.

Wow. Didn't know what to expect going in but I read this in one sitting. New fave for sure. I know Vi is new to this genre but she smashed it⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really really enjoyed this one! It had me guessing until the end and while I guessed some of the twists, there was still a shocker or two! After loving The Unraveling, I knew I would love this one too and I'm so glad to be able to say I did. This was definitely a page turner and I loved how the chapters were structured with being in the present and having chapters from the book being written by a character.

Wow wow wow. She knocks it out of the park again.

I thought the beginning was a little slow but it picks up quick. Once it picks up, I couldn’t put it down. So many twists.

My one word for this book would be: engaging. I was so intrigued and excited to keep going. I will also say that I'm typically a person who is pretty good at guessing the end? And this one got me good. I had no idea!

English college professor gives students a creative writing assignment. Once they’ve turned in their first chapter she read one from the bunch that terrified her.

4.5 ⭐️This is the first thriller I’ve read by Vi Keeland and I loved it. This was so suspenseful I was at the edge of my seat. There were some parts of the story where I truly felt scared and worried for the characters. I will say I am a horrible guesser and truly didn’t see the ending coming. 😂

If you’re in the mood for a psychological thriller you may want to give this book a try. 🖤

I loved this so much! I binged the whole thing in one sitting and it literally had be mindblown by the end 🤯