You Know What You Did: A Novel

by K. T. Nguyen

In this heart-pounding debut thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell and Celeste Ng, a first-generation Vietnamese American artist must confront nightmares past and present. . . .

Annie “Anh Le” Shaw grew up poor, but seems to have it all now: a dream career, a stunning home, and a devoted husband and daughter. When Annie’s mother, a Vietnam War refugee, dies suddenly one night, Annie’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she thought she’d vanquished years ago, comes roaring back—but this time, the disturbing fixations swirling around in Annie’s brain might actually be coming true.

A prominent art patron disappears, and the investigation zeroes in on Annie. Spiraling with self-doubt, she distances herself from her family and friends, only to wake up in a hotel room—naked, next to a lifeless body. The police have more questions, but with her mind increasingly fractured, Annie doesn’t have answers. All she knows is this: She will do anything to protect her daughter—even if it means losing herself.
 
With dizzying twists, You Know What You Did is both a harrowing thriller and a heartfelt exploration of the refugee experience, the legacies we leave for our children, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.

• ISBN10: 059347385X
• ISBN13: 9780593473856
• Publish Date: 16 April 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Dutton / Signet
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593473856

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

On the surface, Annie (Anh Le) Shaw has it all. She's got a beautiful home, a doting husband, a teenage daughter, and the dream job (as an artist). But when you begin to dig below the surface, you realize the paint is cracking.

Annie struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. She thought this was in the past, but a recent tragedy and trauma brought it all rising back up. Worse, it seems like everything is crumbling – and Annie isn't sure if it's all her fault or not.

My Review:

I knew right away that I had to read You Know What You Did. And I'm glad I did. If you have ever wanted to learn more about what OCD can look like (remember, it comes in many forms, so there is no one universal story), this a great book to read. K.T. Nguyen alerts readers that she put some of herself into Annie's struggles with OCD, and it feels so read because of it. Sometimes, it's too real.

For representation alone, I loved You Know What You Did. I also adored Nguyen's way of describing characters and settings. She has a way of bringing everything to life – the good and the bad. Some scenes slap in the face because of it, giving readers a visceral reality check.

That said, I didn't love the thriller/mystery elements as much as I would have liked. For starters, Annie is pretty much the only character I liked in this book. Her husband is garbage, and her daughter is spoiled. Likewise, while seemingly quite twisted, the plot becomes clear soon enough.

Overall, You Know What You Did is a solid read. More importantly, I'd say to watch out for K.T. Nguyen's future works—I have no doubt that this author will continue to improve and wow readers.

Highlights:
Unreliable Narrator
Twisted Threads
Dark Thriller

Trigger Warnings:
Gaslighting
OCD
Animal Death

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[chymerra]

The main storyline of You Know What You Did centers around Annie. Annie’s mother, a compulsive hoarder, was found dead by Annie. That death pushes Annie’s mental health to the limit. Annie suffers from contamination-based OCD, and she finds herself spiraling into routines that she hasn’t done in years. With her employer’s disappearance and the death of a man she barely knows pinned on her, Annie finds herself losing grip on reality. What is going on? Did the death of Annie’s mother set her off, or is there a more sinister reason? Can Annie figure out what is going on?

Annie had a time for it in the first half of the book. Her mother dies, and then she catches her best friend’s husband getting pleasured at the school carnival; the husband then starts sending threatening texts/pics to Annie. Tabby (her daughter) is awful and leaves for horse camp; her employer disappears, her dog dies, and Duncan leaves to cover a story in Syria. Her stress level was sky-high, and the pressure just kept mounting. I got stressed just reading about her predicaments.

Speaking of her relationships, I wasn’t a huge fan of Duncan or Tabby. Duncan came across as condescending or a jerk while he was with her. I could picture the tone he used with her; that imaginary tone made me grumpy (I don’t like condescending people). He also seemed to be undermining her parenting of Tabby. Everything she said or did that concerned Tabby was immediately challenged or changed by Duncan. As for Tabby, I understood she was a teenager and had that attitude, but she still aggravated me.

Annie’s relationship with her mother was also a massive part of the storyline. But, there was also a disconnect for me. I wanted to see more of her and Annie’s interactions when Annie was growing up. I wanted to know what caused such a massive rift between them. I also wanted to know more about her time in Vietnam. The author did go back to 1978 and explain a few things-like hoarding.

I liked Annie, but she was a very unreliable narrator. There were times during the book when I couldn’t figure out if what Annie was saying happened. She had vivid dreams about people that seemed to come true (which was freaky). Even her mother’s death was suspect in my eyes. Even after an explanation was given (and this goes with the twist I mention below), I still couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe she wasn’t all innocent.

The mystery angle of the book was terrific. I thought I had everything figured out, and then, bam, the author throws in a huge twist. This twist I did not see coming. All I could think was that that person had done an insane amount of planning to accomplish what they did.

I also like the book’s horror element. While it wasn’t subtle, it wasn’t in your face. Reading about Annie’s spiral into her OCD routines was both heartbreaking and frightening. But watching Annie’s mind become more and more fractured was truly horrifying. Lost hours and memories, on top of her OCD routines, set the tone for the last half of the book.

The end of You Know What You Did was terrific. I liked how the author revealed what was happening and who was behind it. As I said above, I was beyond shocked by who it was. The epilogue wrapped up the other storylines one year later, but I still couldn’t figure out what happened during the final fight in the carriage house. It was alluded to, but since Annie was so sick (mentally), I couldn’t tell if it was real. And folks, that is what made this book so good to read!

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton, NetGalley, and K.T. Nguyen for allowing me to read and review this ARC of You Know What You Did. All opinions stated in this review are mine.