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

I’ve read so many of Vi Keeland’s romances, as well as her first thriller released not long ago. I’m a huge fan of the romance, but didn’t connect with the previous thriller (though I thoroughly enjoy the genre).

That said, she had me completely at the edge of my seat this time around - there was so much intrigue and excitement that I couldn’t put the book down! She kept my attention with every word and I think that the only thing which would make it better would be an incredible narrator (I normally listen to audio but I read the ebook this time)!

So many tiny little things added up to one giant wallop of a surprise slap at the end, that I sure didn’t expect and I don’t think any reader will guess - bravo, Vi! And I’m not just talking about what out main character Elizabeth learns as we get closer to the end about her mysterious friend, but the actual, very, very end (don’t you all go reading the last page and spoiling the entire book for yourself, now!). Whew! What a crazy revelation!! So, now I have to re-read and figure out what actually happened! I think I’m left with more questions after the last sentence than I had figured out before the last pages…

A brilliant read that will definitely mess with what you believe is reality - but be careful if you have triggers related to the subject. Could be an issue. Otherwise, it is absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend it!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advance copy. This is my honest opinion.

I was excited to read this, because I have enjoyed Vi Keeland’s romance work, and was interested to delve into a book by her in another genre. This book had me hooked from the beginning. There were dual timelines, but done in a really creative way. There were some really well done twists, including one where my jaw hit the floor. This is a perfect read for this time of year - it’s a great length and really propulsive.

Elizabeth is a successful professor of creative writing in New York City, when she has a student submit a strange series of chapters. Strange because they tell the story, in great detail, of an inappropriate relationship between a high school student and her teacher. One which happened twenty years ago, and lead to the teachers demise. At her hands.

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the ARC.

Whoa! This book was twisty and fast moving. It held my attention and I was invested in Elizabeth’s journey. There were things I didn’t see coming (some I figured out right before they were revealed) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was literally left with my mouth ajar at the very end. This thriller was well done!

4 Stars!
Elizabeth Davis is a college English professor at Pace University in New York. She’s been teaching for about fifteen years, and her career is her main focus. She’s a thirty seven year old strong, independent woman who doesn’t trust easily. She’s been through a lot, and her childhood and teen years greatly shaped the person she is today. She’s excited to start the new semester teaching her creative writing seminar. Then a student begins submitting chapters to a story that mirrors her past. It’s been twenty years since she thought all her secrets were buried. Now she’s reading every detail, and it’s not just similar, it’s her life. Someone knows what she did, and she needs to find out their identity before they ruin everything for her. She decides to return to her hometown in Louisiana to look for answers to who is tormenting her. Her world is suddenly extremely complicated as she realizes no matter how many years have gone by, she can never escape her past.

Someone Knows by Vi Keeland is an addictive, small town, age gap, chilling, sexy, psychological thriller full of mystery, intrigue, secrets, suspense, temptation, unexpected connections and romance. I really enjoyed this story. It was unique and with all the twists and turns, I never knew what was coming next. I loved how the story keeps you guessing, and adored the ending! :))

I wasn't quite expecting this to be as dark as it was, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless.
Elizabeth is going through it
there's the creepy chapters she keeps getting, going back to her hometown, trying to figure out who she can trust and, biggest of all, who knows her deepest secrets???
she's a mess. and she only spirals worse as the story goes on.

I enjoyed the twists and turns this story took, and definitely was not expecting the one we get around the 60% mark nor the ones near the end of the story either. I had fun reading it! The chapters were short and punchy, and kept me reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the eARC!

Someone Knows is a fast twisty thriller with a fantastic plot twist at the end. I think this is a great summer thriller. Overall I really enjoyed this one and read it in only a few sittings.

Review:

This book had me hooked from page one — and I knew Vi Keeland was going to wreck me a little in the best way. 💔🔥



Someone Knows blends slow-burn romance, emotional baggage, and a mystery from the past that lingers like a shadow over every page. It’s about love, yes — but also about truth, forgiveness, and the pieces of ourselves we try to protect. The main characters have such intense chemistry, but there’s also tenderness underneath all that tension. I rooted for them the whole way through.



The pacing is perfect — just enough simmer before everything boils over — and that twist? 👀 I didn’t see it coming, but it made so much sense emotionally. Keeland really leans into the idea that the people closest to us often have the biggest secrets.



💬 A swoony, addictive read with heart and depth.

Would recommend to: anyone who loves a romance with a side of suspense and real emotional stakes.



📌 Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Vi Keeland for the ARC!

Tautly paced thriller. Elizabeth is a complex character, with both past and current problems. She has trust issues (rightfully so) and a traumatic past. Several good twists and turns along the way, and the ending is fun!

"As a college English professor, Elizabeth looks forward to the start of each new semester teaching her creative writing seminar. At least until she reads chapter one of The Reckoning, a tale about a high school senior who has an affair with her teacher. To anyone else it would be the beginning of a great page-turner, but to Elizabeth it is the beginning of the end.

She knows this story. It’s all familiar because she lived it. The girl in the story was her best friend Jocelyn, and Elizabeth knows exactly how the story will end—with the professor dead. Because she was the one who killed him.

Someone knows what Elizabeth did twenty years ago and her secret is about to be exposed, but who is the mystery student submitting the chapters? In an effort to find out, Elizabeth returns to her Louisiana hometown where it soon becomes clear that no matter how many years have gone by, she can’t escape her past."

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

I’m going to keep this short bc there’s not a lot of positives for me with this one and I don’t like to say a bunch of negative things when someone works for ages to write a book and I appreciate that. But this didn’t work for me. The chapters were clunky and the pacing was all over the place. The “villain” was predictable from the minute they were introduced and every new character that was introduced was just for the FMC to distract herself with sex with or to be suspicious of or both amd that was annoying really fast.
And there are lots of triggers-grooming of teen, alcoholism, miscarriage, drug use, homicide just to name a few.

Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

First, i'd like to thank Netgalley, The Publisher, and The Author for giving me the ARC of this book.
And here's my honest review..

This book got me hooked almost instantly with the engaging and the reasonably fast-paced writing. This book has an exciting plot with a good storytelling. The tension between characters, the mysterious and thrilling settings, were all so good. Not to mention THAT plot twist i somehow didn't see coming. At least, not from that character.

The characters were all very suspicious at the very beginning, though after some chapters, some got more suspicious, and others got less suspicious. And i somehow believed the wrong character, just nearly the very last few chapters before i got hit by the plot-twist. Just because that one character was gentle towards the FMC when she was having her breakdown and that character was also handling her rage so well. And that immediately made me believed him that he was innocent. And here is the very interesting part, 'cause.. turned out i was wrong. And that plot-twist made me staring at the ceiling at 2.30am for about 5 minutes straight. Thinking how stupid i was for believing him. Because i have been believe no one for 90% of the story, and BAM! That character blew it for me and made me realized that.. "oh.. i didn't know i was this easy to manipulate.."

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for this ARC! For 20 years Elizabeth has been keeping a secret. She’s an English professor and likes her life; but she starts getting chapters in her on line class that mirrors her secret, she must find who knows her guarded secret? With many head spinning turns; you won’t be able to put this book down, read within a day!

This book was a perfect palate cleanser for me and was just what I needed. When Elizabeth starts receiving chapters from a student, she’s torn between feeling like it’s a strange coincidence, or her past is finally coming to haunt her. Suddenly, everyone around her becomes a suspect, even those closest to her. At times, I felt like I was in the story with her and my heart was racing as I to piece together who was behind the chapters. This was perfectly paced and gripping, and even had a little dash of spice thrown in, was the cherry on top! Complete with twists, turns, and loops I never saw coming that had my jaw on the floor at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to have received an early copy. My review is honest and voluntary.

I loved the idea of this story and felt like the pacing was pretty good. I also love a book with short chapters, I actually end up reading more quickly because I know I can knock out a chapter even if I only have a few minutes. I feel like I didn’t really like any of the characters, sometimes that’s okay, but this time it just made me less interested. The first twist I saw coming but then the twists after…a little shocking, and a lot confusing. Maybe it was me and I missed some hints, or maybe it just felt over twisty for the ending. I enjoyed it and would recommend if you like quick thrillers, but not an all time favorite.

This was my second book I’ve read by this author. This book did not disappoint. I truly enjoyed it! Can’t wait to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

An English professor receives an assignment from an online student that seems to contain too many details from her own past to be a coincidence. She returns to her hometown to find out who knows the truth about her connection to the beloved high school teacher who was found murdered years ago. Over the course of her investigation, she begins to question who can trust and how accurate her own memories are.

The writing was reasonably engaging and fast-paced. That said…

The big plot twist fell short for me. I guessed it within the first chapters. Although, in my guess, the main character was lying, not mentally ill. I can’t say I’m a fan of using trauma and mental illness as the big plot twist that reveals the narrator to be unreliable. Additionally, while I understand that people dealing with trauma don’t always make the best decisions, I was baffled by the continued romantic pursuit of Noah. I was also highly perturbed by the ambiguous ending. Is she trying to set up for a sequel? Is it a joke? Does the author just like to annoy her readers?

Listen, I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book. I liked the premise (and still do) but in addition to the complaints I mentioned above, there was a lot of sex. It felt like every chapter or two Elizabeth was hooking up again. And while I can appreciate that it made some sense character-wise, I do not care for graphic sexual content, and so found myself skipping about a third of the book. This is totally on me, because if I had taken two seconds to Google the author, I likely would have realized that her work is probably not my cup of tea. So, in an effort to be fair, I have given this book two stars instead of one.

This book deals with some very heavy topics, and not with a great deal of sensitivity. I think readers who enjoy mystery/thrillers and dark romance might find this more appealing than I did.

Content warnings: graphic sexual content (some involving minors), language, child neglect/abuse, and violence.

Someone Knows by Vi Keeland review

I have been a huge fan of Vi Keeland's books over the last five years. Her numerous stories have been in the genre of contemporary romance. She has recently ventured into psychological thrillers and the stories are just as good, if not better.

This book was written so well that I was hooked from the first page. Stayed up till 3 am to read the first half of the book. The rest of the day was spent in adulting and counting down the hours when I could get back to the book. I finished the book in 2 nights and loved the way the story developed and kept me engrossed.

This is the story of Elizabeth and Ivy who were involved in a criminal act in an attempt to help their friend Jocelyn, twenty years ago. The girls made a pact to never talk about the incident and went their separate ways. They seemed to be living successful lives for all intents and purposes but the past has a way of casting long shadows. It's up to Elizabeth to figure out what's going on and who could be privy to their darkest secret.

Highly recommend 👍🏻

Elizabeth is an English professor who teaches a creative writing class. As she’s reading chapter submissions from her students one mysterious submission sticks out. It’s a disturbingly tragic story from Elizabeth’s past that has been kept secret for the last 20 years. Someone knows and Elizabeth is desperate to find out who and why now.

This fast pace thriller with a slice of sexy romance had me hooked. I could’ve easily ignored my responsibilities and read this in one sitting. There was plenty of twists, drama, suspense, and even a little spice to keep me engaged and coming back for more. I am a little bummed that there were a few things left hanging and unanswered, but overall this was a great and entertaining read.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for eARC!

In March 2025, I had the pleasure of reading an ARC of Someone Knows by Vi Keeland, and wow, what a story! I devoured this book in a matter of days!

There are multiple plot-lines woven into the FMC Elizabeth’s world that make it an enthralling read. When this college professor assigns her creative writing students an assignment and the submissions start rolling in, Elizabeth’s world explodes when she reads the first chapter of her own life, twenty years prior . . . a life she has tried like hell to forget. But that isn’t happening anymore—and the mystery begins because someone clearly knows.

But who is this student? This Hannah Greer. Elizabeth has no idea.

There are many suspects as the story progresses, right to the very end . . . and exploring all the avenues of this mystery, consumes Elizabeth’s world of this engaging and page-turning story.

Someone Knows has it all: mystery/suspense/who-done-it, including a mysterious and enticing MMC. It was definitely a 5 ⭐️ read for me. In fact, I’d love to read it again just because there are so many layers to the story, that I know I’d enjoy delving into it again. Well done, Vi!

The easiest 5 stars and beyond!
Riveting, dark and suspenseful this book grabbed my attention and had me on the edge of my seat from page 1 until the end!
When our female lead gets a mysterious email with an attachment I swear I felt her gasp and the increase in blood pressure as she began to wonder if this was an innocent coincidence or a far more sinister message from exactly 20 years ago the day of the email.

Secrets, and unfinished business are just some of the factors to be considered when this story begins its methodical development. Everyone becomes a suspect as she attempts to discover who’s behind these mysterious emails and why.

The title gives the biggest clue to this juicy story that had a little bit of everything, and kept me guessing if the clues were real or just reading nuggets.
Oh this author layed out a smart clever and complex story that had an edgy romance drizzled in that added to the overall story!
The ending chef’s kiss delicious!
What happens you’ll have to read and find out