I Did Warn Her by Sian Gilbert was an engaging and highly entertaining read. While it can be challenging to connect with a story featuring a cast of universally unlikable characters, it worked remarkably well in this case. The tension, plotting, and intricate schemes kept me hooked, and I eagerly anticipated the inevitable unravelling of the chaos—watching characters receive their comeuppance was oddly satisfying.

The luxury yacht setting lends itself well to the locked-room thriller trope. Though this setup can sometimes feel overused, it was effectively executed here, adding a strong sense of atmosphere and claustrophobia.

I listened to the audiobook and found the narration compelling. The use of distinct accents made it easy to differentiate between characters. However, a few of the male voices felt a bit exaggerated. Still, it was a solid performance overall and added to the immersive experience.

Thank you to Sian Gilbert, HarperAudio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. On Sale June 17th, 2025

The story took a while to get started and thus lost me a bit with the overall length, but it was a fun summer read nonetheless. Nothing too memorable in the twists nor the characters

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.


Very good mystery..... got confusing at times... back and forth with times. BUT easy enough to recalibrate where you were. Good ending.. and I usually hate the endings. Recommend


The Ophelia is your typical billionaire yacht: ridiculously luxurious, owned by a ruthless money man, and staffed by a crew whose only job is to indulge the guests’ every wish.

Model-gorgeous Sasha is a last-minute hire for a weeklong Atlantic crossing. She joins fellow stewardesses Jade, Imogen, Euphemia, and Lola. The Ophelia’s stewardesses are almost identical—blonde and model-gorgeous—and all were lured to the Ophelia by high wages and a chance to leave their problems behind when they set sail. But despite its sleek opulence, the Ophelia isn’t as heavenly as it seems. A stewardess on the previous charter died under mysterious circumstances, the guests’ expensive jewelry keeps disappearing, and the crew grows steadily more and more suspicious of one another.

Then the yacht’s owner brings aboard his best friend and two more women, also beautiful. Also hiding something.

When a crew member turns up dead after a night of partying, everyone on the yacht is a suspect. Who is the jewel thief? Who is the murderer? What will happen when the lights go out, and the crew and the guests are finally on equal footing?

Endlessly twisty and delightfully voyeuristic, I Did Warn Her is a whodunnit on the high seas, where the dark secrets of the ultra-wealthy have nowhere to hide.

4.75

ohhhmyyygodd!!!!

This was perfect for fans of below deck. The drama with the twist of murder. The cattiness between the stews, the stew/deckhand triangles, and obnoxious guests.

The characters were all generally unlikeable but sooo entertaining. They were all admittedly vengeful and mean. The stews could not be trusted amongst each other, I actually loved the cattiness. All the drama they stirred up did have me questioning other motives for who could be behind what.

I figured out who was most likely behind the murder quite early but couldn’t figure out why. The why was a little surprising, I enjoyed how it all unfolded and came out. Pretty much everyone on that yacht had something to be guilty for. The conclusion had me 😱😱😱

I always love a full cast of narrators for each POV. I think Jasmine and Effie’s were my favourites.

Thank you HarperAudio Adult and Netgalley for the ARC!

The moment I got this arc I ran to download it. I have been waiting for this book for 2 years.

I genuinely thought this would be a fwp to She Started It....it's not. This is a completely different story. It was fine and well written in my opinion. I will say that I was waiting for the big plot twist but it never came. The ending was anticlimactic and some parts made sense while others didn't.

This book had all the makings of a deliciously dark thriller, murder, secrets, women behaving badly, but unfortunately, it ends up wobbling somewhere between a beach read and a Bravo reality show recap.

The characters? Utterly unlikable. And not in the intriguing, morally gray way that leaves you questioning your own ethics. No, these are the kind of people you’d avoid at brunch. They’re petty, shallow, and often behave with such exaggerated ridiculousness it’s hard to tell if you’re reading a thriller or a parody of one.

Sian Gilbert’s writing is quick and often clever, and there are moments of biting social commentary hiding behind the drama. But just as you start to sink your teeth in, the plot zigs into the absurd. Twists feel more like soap opera stunts than psychological revelations. The tension fizzles into melodrama, and any emotional depth is sacrificed at the altar of spectacle.

Still, there’s a guilty-pleasure energy here. If you like your thrillers with a side of eye-rolls, Instagram aesthetics, and women making impressively terrible choices, I Did Warn Her is your book. Just don’t expect to root for anyone—or feel particularly rewarded by the ending.

This was actually better than I thought it would be. I enjoyed the multiple povs. They were a bit overwhelming at the beginning but once I learned who each character was and their agenda. I was thoroughly entertained more about everyone’s secrets than I was about the murder so idk what that says about me.

i didn’t enjoy the narrator as they were enjoyable and added little quips to the characters that were cute and funny.

i didn’t like how all the women were just cutthroat and out to get one another. very poor planning in my opinion. and how everyone blamed one specific character?? annoying actually.

and the men were so useless and written as caricatures.

i did want a sharper ending than what i was given but i guess you work with what you got.

I picked this one for the narrators and they definitely delivered! I was completely hooked on this. There were some issues I had where the different perspectives confused me but that is just me. The narrators were distinctive enough that a smarter person will be fine. It was nice. Loved the ending.

This was fun! Sometimes when all the characters are unlikable it makes the book unlikeable but I actually found it worked quite well for this one! All the drama, plotting and set ups where entertaining and I couldn’t wait for all hell to break loose so people would get a taste of their own medicine 😂

Set on board a luxury yacht makes for a locked room thriller, this trope can be overplayed but again I found it worked well for this book.

The cover is very cool it’s giving white lotus vibes!

I listened to the audio version of this book and enjoyed the narration with the different accents distinguishing the characters apart from each other, though some of the “male” voices where a little cringe 😂😂

For me the ending just didn’t have the shock factor I hoped for but altogether it was still an entertaining and captivating read!

Thank you for the gifted copy!

Publishes: June 17th

"Model-gorgeous Sasha is a last-minute hire for a weeklong Atlantic crossing. She joins fellow stewardesses Jade, Imogen, Euphemia, and Lola. The Ophelia’s stewardesses are almost identical—blonde and model-gorgeous—and all were lured to the Ophelia by high wages and a chance to leave their problems behind when they set sail. But despite its sleek opulence, the Ophelia isn’t as heavenly as it seems."

This was an interesting take on the "locked-room mystery" many readers are familiar with. Stuck on a yacht during a transatlantic sailing, everyone is a suspect and everyone has a motive. EVERYONE sucks and is unreliable as witnesses and narrators, and everyone has secrets. There was almost too much going on to keep track of the threads, but realistically, it's probably truer to real life than only one or two characters being suspicious.

I hated everyone and enjoyed it thoroughly!

I received a free audiobook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

3-3.5 stars.
If you are looking for a realistic thriller, this is NOT the book for you.
If you are looking for something a bit over the top and unrealistic, you will enjoy this book.
Sasha left her job as a nurse to become a stewardess. She felt a life of adventure and affluent lifestyle awaited her due to her beauty.
Unfortunately Sasha finds herself in a world of beautiful women. Women who are not her friends, but who are out to get her. She is constantly having to deal with her colleagues trying to get her into trouble. Not just a little bit of trouble, big trouble, as in MURDER.
There are six, yes, six POVs.
The plot is structured fairly well. The pace is okay, I did find myself wanting it to speed up a bit.
The characters are somewhat developed. I felt the female characters were much better developed and more believable than the male characters.
This is a quick and easy read.
This was my second book by Sian Gilbert. I previously read She Started It, and I will say that I enjoyed this book more than the first book I read of this author's. I can tell there has been growth as an author as this book is better.
Thank you to NetGalley, Sian Gilbert, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
Happy Reading!

I Did Warn Her - Sian GIlbert
Pub Date - 6/17/25
Rating - 2/5
Thoughts - Thank you to Netgalley, Sian Gilbert, and HarperAudio for this gifted advanced listener copy in exchange for my honest review. This was a locked in mystery starring a captain, an engineer/assistant captain, 4 stewardesses, 4 guests, 2 deckhands on a super yacht on their way to the Big Apple. Both books by this author so far have included catty mean girl drama, which has been really annoying and makes the characters hard to be relate to/be likable to the reader. The drama between the stewardesses seemed to be overly stretched out and unnecessary at times. While the plot was full of drama and of course murder, the fact that there were so many POVs and that each stewardess looked exactly the same confused me while listening. I couldn't seem to get certain POVs straight, which was frustrating when trying to figure out who was talking and what was going on. All the narrators were great with the exception of Jasmine's who would sometimes speak so softly that it was difficult to hear her. Maybe that was the point since Jasmine's character was disguising her voice, but it made it really hard to understand her. Overall, this book wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins audio for the ARC of this audiobook.

Sian Gilbert is back with her sophomore novel. She is sticking with the Mystery/Thriller genre and the "mean girls" theme that was featured in her first book.

The story revolves around the staff of Ophelia, a luxurious super yacht. The employees on this yacht take workplace toxicity to a whole new level. If being screamed at by your co-workers/supervisors is a trigger for you, I highly suggest you avoid this book as this occurs frequently throughout the novel. The main character is Sasha, who has joined the staff of the Ophelia under mysterious circumstances. As the newest staff member, she is subject to even more employee harassment and cruelty. When the stereotypical rich passengers arrive, things take a turn for the worse.

I have given this novel a four out of five starts. It was a good book and the constant twists and turns kept the plot moving along. I always enjoy an audiobook with multiple narrators, which helped a lot due to the number of POVs throughout the novel. I particularly liked the ending. It provided a satisfying ending (in my opinion) and also included a little shock at the end!

Sian Gilbert's first novel was one of my favorite books of 2023 so my hopes were pretty high for this book as I was anxiously awaiting the next book from this author. Although I did enjoy this book, it wasn't at the same level as "She Started It". Again, this may be due to my expectation levels. Also, there were A LOT of twists and turns in this novel. There were so many that I found it a little confusing.

My "critiques" of this book are very minor. I would (and have) recommend this book to my friends and will continue to read listen to any future releases from this author.

I loved this audiobook. Some likable characters and some not so savory ones. Kind of a locked room thriller but on a boat. We learn more and more about each character as the story goes on. A lot of surprises. A lot of characters to follow and keep track of. The different narrators does help you distinguish them though.
Held my interest and I finished it quickly.

I really loved this author's first book and was really looking forward to reading this one. This book is a great example of a "locked room" mystery. I really enjoyed that aspect of this book and it was difficult to figure out what was going on until the big reveal. The main reason I didn't give this book a higher rating was the many, many POVs. I found it difficult to keep up with them and remember who was who and which background belonged to each character.

If you enjoy a good whodunit, whydunit, with multiple POVs, this would be a really great option for you.

I listened to this on audio which was well done. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Everyone aboard The Ophelia, a super luxurious yacht has a secret. Sasha, is the new stewaedess on Ophelia, upon boarding the yacht she is a bit shcoked that all of the stewardess look the same. All of them have blonde hair and while in uniform you couldn't tell who was who from the back. When one of the stewardess is found dead after a heated arguement only Sasha thinks that this wasn't an accident after all. When another stewardess is found with a head injury Sasha doesn't want to trust anyone aboard the ship. Jasmine is also on the ship, however this time she is not working with the other crew she is a high end escort trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her best friend the year before. This was a fast paced book that will keep you on your toes til the very end. I would like to thank both NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for letting me listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook.

While I super enjoyed Gilbert's first book. "She Started It", I didn't love this one quite as much. There was just too much going on and some of the twists were a little extra, in my opinion. I did really enjoy that there were multiple unreliable narrators and the "Below The Deck" vibes this book had, but it just wasn’t a favorite of mine.

Don't count it out because of my opinion though. The audio was super well done making this a fun and engaging listen. It would make a great beach read.

Thank you William Morrow and Harper Audio for the free advanced copies of this book!

“So many secrets, so little time.”

I Did Warn Her follows Sasha and other crew members aboard the Ophelia, a super yacht setting sail across the Atlantic. Full of murder, intrigue, secrets, and rich people behaving badly, this book is full of twists and turns that will have your head spinning.

My biggest issue was there were too many POV’s and it was hard to follow who all the different characters were. I was often confused and had trouble following their storylines and motivations.

🎧: Thought the narrators were great, but got a little confused about which character was talking. I mostly attribute that to there being too many POV’s.

☆ALC REVIEW☆
Publication date: June 16, 2025

I was so incredibly excited to listen to this specifically because I really enjoyed the author's last book but I was highly disappointed.

I will say, I would have enjoyed it had there been a different narrator. I found this narrator incredibly monotone.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and HarperAudio for an advanced listener's copy in exchange for a review.

Being a stewardess on a super yacht becomes quite an eventful job in this locked-room thriller.

Sasha joins a crew sailing across the Atlantic, and things seem off right away. Why do all the stewardesses look alike? Why don't any of them get along? Things only get worse when one turns up dead, and everyone is a suspect.

There is a huge cast of characters in this book, and most of them have some pretty big character flaws and are tough to like. Gilbert writes catty, mean girl characters incredibly well, and she does it again in this book. I was never sure who to trust since they all lie and trip each other up so easily, making for a situation where anyone could be the bad guy.

The yacht setting was fun and wild to think about, particularly as the situation spiraled down. I didn't manage to solve the whodunnit OR the why of the matter, Gilbert definitely kept me guessing!

The audiobook is narrated by a full cast for the multiple POVs, but I had trouble keeping up with who was who when just listening and had to flip to the book several times to keep it all straight. I'd recommend an eyeball read for this one!