✨Book Rec✨
Someone Knows by Vi Keeland
Stand-alone

1st person dual POV
Spice: 1/3🔥

Sometimes a thriller just hits the spot. Vi’s thrillers are always phenom and this was no exception. I couldn’t put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next. This was enthralling in the best way. So good!

What you’ll find:
- psychological thriller
- trauma
- twists and turns
- check triggers

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
At under 300 pages, this is such a great fast paced thriller. Take it to the beach with you this summer! Vi Keeland truly is the queen of jaw dropping twists and delivers an ending that will leave you saying WTF. This book had me guessing the entire time, and I never once felt like I had it all figured out. Some parts were really dark and heavy, so be sure to check the trigger warnings, but it kept me on my toes. I love a good academia setting, and this one delivered. If you enjoyed The Unraveling by Vi Keeland, definitely add this one to your TBR too.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
👀Psychological thriller
🖤Morally complex characters
📖Book within a book
🌶️Some spice
🔄Dual timelines
👩🏼‍🏫Academia setting
🏡Small town vibes
😳That ending!

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault

👀𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾👀
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💕Q U O T E: "𝐼𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒'𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝒸𝓇𝑒𝓌𝑒𝒹-𝓊𝓅 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈."

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Vi Keeland for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕

A tension-filled thriller with unexpected turns that kept me guessing incorrectly throughout.
Elizabeth begins receiving chapters from an anonymous student that eerily mirror her life from 20 years ago, causing her world to spiral. This leads her on a paranoid and chilling quest to uncover who the sender is, their motives and why now.
The ending was unexpected, hinting at the possibility of a sequel.
One downside for me was how the main character's involvement in BDSM was directly linked to her childhood sexual trauma. This isn’t what I would typically consider a "sexy thriller."
Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to read this complimentary advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Suspenseful and fast paced!

Elizabeth is an English professor at a New York college. It took a lot of gumption to get where she is today after leaving her small Louisiana town with only $600 in her pocket, the will to better her life, and escape the poverty and addicted single mom who raised her. But all that is threatened when she receives a creative writing sample from a mysterious student. Because Elizabeth left some demons behind in Louisiana and ‘someone knows’. Someone is trying to resurrect the ghosts and sins from Elizabeth’s past and it could cost her everything.

This was so gripping and intriguing, it was impossible to put down. I have really enjoyed this author’s past two thrillers and will continue to read whatever she comes up with next. This novel does contain some spicy scenes and please check triggers if you’re sensitive.

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on June 17, 2025

Thank you Vi Keeland,Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the digital ARC!

I devoured it. I liked every minute of it. It was fast paced, heart breaking, gut wrenching, but so so good.

Everyone who reads it, please check the trigger warnings, because there are some very harsh topics here.

I cannot wait for the next novel. I dont care it that is a romance or a thriller again :)

I felt it was a slow-ish to start but once it got going, I was well into it.

Elizabeth Davis was a complex character shaped by her upbringing and her experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns in the story and became invested in the outcome. I was fascinated by Elizabeth's psychology and just when you think she's come to terms to with her history and life, that ending was half-expected and half-humdinger! Definitely worth a read!

📚Someone Knows by Vi Keeland

⚠️CWs for child abuse, emotional abuse, sexual assault, rape, cancer, alcoholism, death of a parent, child death, and more

Rating: ⭐️/5

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 💖

It physically pains me to rate an ARC this low, but I didn't really have a choice. This was...bad. I don't know how else to say it. I honestly should have just DNFed, but I decided to stick with it since it's under 300 pages and I was weirdly optimistic that things would improve somehow by the end. Spoiler alert…things did not improve.

I’m going to have to be super vague with my thoughts since I want to avoid spoilers (and don't want to ruin things for people who actually want to enjoy this book). The main reason why I wanted to pick this up in the first place was because I was intrigued by the setup and was hoping for a fun and twisty thriller about lies and secrets. I was gripped by the first few chapters (especially because the chapters in general are super short and allow you to fly through them), but then I quickly started thinking…what is the point of this?! The genre itself was very ambiguous. The synopsis alluded to it being a twisty thriller in that the fmc is a professor that starts receiving cryptic emails from a “student” alluding to her bloody secret she has kept hidden for 20 years. But then it would suddenly become a romance without the romance, meaning it would just get super sexual out of nowhere for no apparent reason. And the “romance” itself made no sense and was incredibly contradictory for obvious reasons. The first big plot twist was both predictable and incredibly anti-climatic. I mean, the fmc herself also seemed to find it inconsequential considering it didn’t really change anything about her outlook or her objectives. I was also annoyed about the direction the mystery ultimately went, especially because there were multiple criminally underrated characters and plot lines that could have been utilized more effectively to create a more engaging story. And the last chapter was so unnecessary!! The author was clearly trying to be mysterious and dramatic, but it didn’t make sense and clearly contradicted a good chunk of the book.

Props to you if you enjoyed it, but this

Elizabeth is a college professor with a sordid past that she ran from 20 years ago. When her summer creative writing class receives a submission that includes details about her best friend's abuse by one of their teachers, she knows that she will be implicated in future chapters. She becomes concerned about associating with the policeman she's casually involved with and decides that she needs to return to Louisiana to contact her only friend who knows about her past.

While she's in Louisiana, she learns that her mom has terminal cancer. Through assisting her mom with doctor appointments and rides to church, she encounters many people from her past and sees that they're all interconnected due to the small town. Then, she is paranoid about everyone: her mother, her random hookup at the bar, her friend from high school, her former classmates, etc.

I was very curious to find out who was tormenting Elizabeth and I definitely did not anticipate some of the twists. I've enjoyed Keeland's other fiction, but I was really impressed by her versatility in this thriller. If you're looking for a somewhat dark and twisty suspenseful read, I recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

If you’re looking for a fast paced, thriller this is it! Read it in two days and enjoyed it! A professor at a college receives a paper that reveals a story that is very similar to hers when she was a teen. She doesn’t know what is going on, only that someone knows things that shouldn’t be known. A death occurred while she was in high school that involved her friends. They have tried to keep it a secret for the past twenty years.

She goes back to her childhood small town to take care of her dying mother. While she is there, she’s gets more chapters of this story emailed from her mysterious student. Whi is sending her these stories? Who knows her secrets? In this small town, secrets don’t quiet for too long.

Someone Knows by Vi Keeland is a jaw-dropping, twisty thriller. This book grabbed me by the throat from chapter one and did not let go. The suspense? Relentless. The secrets? Buried deep. The ending? Let’s just say I’m still picking up my jaw up from the floor. I went in expecting tension and drama, but I didn’t expect my heart rate to spike and my brain to spiral into “trust no one” mode. And I LOVED every second of it. Vi, please never stop writing thrillers. Someone Knows by Vi Keeland is one of my top reads of 2025.

Someone Knows was such an interesting book! This story had so many twists and turns I was on the edge of my seat wanting to solve the mystery. I needed to find out what was going to happen! This story is an intense, dark, and suspenseful, page-turner. I would highly recommend this story!

4 🌟
Spice: open door
Format: audio

This was exactly what I was expecting and yet somehow not at the same time. The story itself was super intriguing if not predictable. I figured it out pretty early on, but it didn't ruin anything for me. Having it take place in Louisiana was a selling point for me. I love a good down south thriller. Not quite a romantic suspense, but there is a sexual relationship that is a part of the story. Definitely should be some trigger warnings for what Jocelyn goes through in Hannah's chapters!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I never know how to review a thriller because I don't know if I am giving away too much or not giving enough. Someone Knows, the latest thriller from Vi Keeland, takes us through the bone chilling story of Elizabeth when the ghosts of her past come back to haunt her.

It all starts when Elizabeth starts getting submission from one student called Hannah Greer. She is a Professor of English now. The story is eerily similar to a crime she was part of. So who knows that she killed her friend Jocelyn Burton's abuser and their high school teacher Mr. Sawyer? It has heavy psychological themes as Elizabeth's mind is paranoid and fractured and lost. She goes back to her home town and it makes thing even messy rather than giving her answers. Her alcoholic mother at death's doorstep, her old friends, Mr Sawyer's son Noah...anyone and everyone can be the enemy.


The author did a brilliant job of layering the characters and leaving the crumbs. I was glued to the page. Elizabeth's character isn't a perfect one. She is a very real and flawed person, driven by human feelings and instincts and trauma. I liked the spicy parts. I did guess the real antagonist though the author made me confused for one moment at the end. I am still terrified for Elizabeth. She has been through so much and she definitely deserves some peace. And if you read it, you will know why I cannot rest easy.

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily

Synopsis: A college English professor’s world begins to crumble when a student submits an eerily familiar story in her creative writing seminar.

Thoughts: If you’re looking for a bingeable, fast-paced summer thriller, run to get this book! I flew through this one in basically one sitting. I loved the suspense, the twists, and the overall storyline. The characters were somewhat unlikable, and there’s a romance aspect that gave me the ick - but it’s a thriller and it worked through that lens. I don’t want to say too much so I don’t give anything away, but this book is a wild ride with so many jaw-dropping moments. Definitely recommend!

Read this if you like:
📝 psychological thrillers
📝 academia setting
📝 small town setting
📝 morally complex characters
📝 binge-worthy reads

Author Vi Keeland has done it again! I am loving how this book kept me on the edge of my seat while reading from beginning to the end. Very good mystery and suspense. Totally a book to get your detective mind working on overtime to figure it all out. Captivating must read!

I've always been a fan of Vi Keeland's romance novels. so I was so happy to find out she's writing my other favorite genre too - thrillers. I'll only leave a 5 star review for a book if I couldn't put it down; in this case, I read the book over just 2 sittings, so it was pretty close! One of the things I love most in a thriller is an unreliable narrator. Keeland knocked that out of the park with Professor Elizabeth Davis, a college writing professor who seemingly has her act together. Because that part of her character was so well crafted, it made the twists and turns of this book so much more unexpected.

Keeland is also so good at leaving the reader guessing. Toward the end of the book, when you think you've got it all figured out as reader, there's a last twist that leaves you thinking about the story long after you've read the last page. "Someone Knows" was a great read and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes romance novels and thrillers!

This is a fantastic thriller! I was familiar with Vi's romance novels but she is also a master with thrillers & suspense. Elizabeth is a college English professor who is happily single and tends to keep men at arms length. She loves her life and teaching her classes. What she never expected was to receive an assignment from someone that details an incident from her past, making her life come crashing down. She goes home to see her mom who is in failing health and she needs to find her best friend from school who knows what happened to warn her that someone knows. I was on the edge of my seat with the twists & turns. There are a few spicy scenes as well so keep that in mind in case you don't like those but you can easily skim over them to get back to the suspenseful parts.

Someone Knows is the first book I’ve read by Vi Keeland. Overall, I really enjoyed it. While it leaned more toward romantic suspense than a thriller, the storyline was fast paced and engaging. Elizabeth is definitely unhinged and the audiobook narrator brought that out brilliantly. Some of the twists were a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the journey and was surprised by a few reveals I didn’t see coming. Definitely recommend picking this up if you’re looking for a binge worthy read!

Someone Knows had such a strong start. Like, genuinely gripping. The premise? Delicious. A creative writing professor getting anonymous chapters of a manuscript that eerily mirrors a murder from her past? Yes. Give me that morally messy, memory-triggered tension. But while it hooked me hard in the beginning, the middle kind of sagged, and the emotional punch I was waiting for never fully landed.

Elizabeth is layered, haunted by her past, trying to build a life post-scandal, and suddenly back in the thick of it when someone starts writing her secrets into fiction. There’s this twisty, breath-holding energy at first, and I was so ready for it to spiral into a full-on psychological chess match. And for a minute? It felt like we were getting there.

But then the tension kind of… fizzled. The romantic subplot (which should’ve added grit and chaos) leaned too soft. Her thing with the son of the man she may or may not have killed? High-stakes on paper, but it played out like a slightly edgy meet-cute. I wanted more edge. More risk. More emotional combustion. Instead, it felt like the thriller and the romance were in two different lanes, running parallel, but never fully merging.

And the pacing? A little uneven. The first third flies. The last few chapters hit hard. But the middle lost me in small-town nostalgia, flashbacks that dulled more than deepened, and a few too many moments where I felt like I was waiting for the next big thing instead of living it.

Still, the twist? It got me. Was it grounded? Debatable. Was it effective? Absolutely. I love when an author isn’t afraid to pull the rug at the last second, and Vi Keeland did not hold back.

If you’re into:
✨ Morally grey heroines with buried secrets
✨ Slow-burn suspense with a literary twist
✨ Murder-y nostalgia and high school trauma unraveling in real time
✨ A low-key romance tucked inside a thriller frame

Then Someone Knows might still be your vibe.

Twisty, bingeable, and full of potential, but emotionally uneven. I stayed up to finish it, but didn’t walk away gutted. Solid read, but not the knockout it could have been.

Thank you to Vi Keeland, Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

This was a fun, emotional read with just the right mix of romance and mystery. Vi Keeland does a great job building tension, both in the relationship and the story itself. The novel is a blend of suspense and romance, exploring themes of guilt, redemption, and the complexities of human relationships. The characters felt real, the banter was spot-on, and the twists kept things interesting. It’s a quick, engaging read—perfect if you’re in the mood for a contemporary romance with a suspenseful twist