#ATBR2019 Review: I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney @flatironbooks @alicewriterland @jessmapreviews
I Know Who You Are
by Alice Feeney
Thanks so much to Flatiron for these copies!
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publish Date: April 23, 2019
Hardcover
304 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Psychological Thriller
l Know Who You Are is the brilliant tale of two stories. One is about Aimee Sinclair—well-known actress on the verge of being full-on famous. If you saw her, you’d think you knew her. One day towards the near-end of her shoot on her latest film, Aimee comes home from filming to find her husband’s cell phone and wallet on the dining room table. He never goes anywhere without them. But he’s nowhere to be found. She’s not too concerned—they had a huge fight the night before. They both said things they didn’t mean. He might have done things he didn’t mean, things she can’t forget. Even though she has a history of supposedly forgetting. After all, she’s a very good actress.
The next morning she goes for her morning run and then goes to her favorite coffee shop. But her card is denied. When she calls the bank they say her account has been emptied of $10,000. She immediately suspects her husband. But they say no, it was Aimee herself who closed out the account. And thus begins a bizarre rabbit hole into which Aimee finds herself falling where nothing is at it seems.
Alternating with Aimee’s story is that of a little girl who wandered away from home. We always tell our kids not to talk to strangers or bad things will happen. Well, bad things happen.
In I Know Who You Are, Alice Feeney proves that she is a master at brilliantly complicated plots and twists after twists.
My Review:
After I read Sometimes I Lie last year and LOVED it, I was beyond thrilled to get a copy of her sophomore book, I Know Who You Are and guess what... it's JUST AS GOOD! Dang, Feeney.. now I'm dying for the next one and see if we can go three for three!
Aimee Sinclair.. a woman on the verge of becoming a very famous actress as well she should be considering her whole life has been pretending to be someone else. Acting and lying come more naturally to her than breathing. But one day her husband disappears and she is the prime suspect (isn't it always the spouse?) and even she is unsure if she's innocent or not.
There are two timelines going on - we get Aimee's past and the perils she went through as a child with Maggie and John. She's definitely never had a normal childhood and no matter where she landed, it was at some cost. Then there's the present where she feels she's going insane. Did she? Didn't she?
This book moves at a break neck speed and zoom zoom zoom y'all - don't blink or you just might miss something. I certainly wasn't expecting a few of the twisty turns that was going on and I feel a bit whip lashed because of it. I did have a bit of an issue with ONE big reveal.. HOWEVER, I DO NOT CARE! This is the type of book that I love when it comes to psychological thrillers. Fast paced, the most unreliable of all narrators and I'm A-OK with suspending some reality because c'mon now.. it's FICTION after all. (But you know, I do have my limits sometimes... *wink*).
I highly recommend you put this on your list. But like her last one, I do think this might be a bit divisive within the thriller community and personally, I think that's a great sign.
★★★★★
Aimee Sinclair.. a woman on the verge of becoming a very famous actress as well she should be considering her whole life has been pretending to be someone else. Acting and lying come more naturally to her than breathing. But one day her husband disappears and she is the prime suspect (isn't it always the spouse?) and even she is unsure if she's innocent or not.
There are two timelines going on - we get Aimee's past and the perils she went through as a child with Maggie and John. She's definitely never had a normal childhood and no matter where she landed, it was at some cost. Then there's the present where she feels she's going insane. Did she? Didn't she?
This book moves at a break neck speed and zoom zoom zoom y'all - don't blink or you just might miss something. I certainly wasn't expecting a few of the twisty turns that was going on and I feel a bit whip lashed because of it. I did have a bit of an issue with ONE big reveal.. HOWEVER, I DO NOT CARE! This is the type of book that I love when it comes to psychological thrillers. Fast paced, the most unreliable of all narrators and I'm A-OK with suspending some reality because c'mon now.. it's FICTION after all. (But you know, I do have my limits sometimes... *wink*).
I highly recommend you put this on your list. But like her last one, I do think this might be a bit divisive within the thriller community and personally, I think that's a great sign.
★★★★★
Jessica's Review:
I absolutely loved Feeney's debut novel, SOMETIMES I LIE, last year. So needless to say, I was super excited to receive a copy of her sophomore novel. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE did not disappoint! Another thriller that keeps you on your toes and it had me guessing until the twist.
I can't really say too much without giving away spoilers and the twists. Aimee is an actress on the rise and her career comes first. She comes home one day from working on her latest film to find that her husband, Ben, isn't there. Not too out of the ordinary, but his phone, wallet, keys, and even his shoes are still there. She reports him missing and so begins the spiral of events. She becomes suspect number one and she begins to doubt herself - did she do it?
We also bounce back to her childhood in 1988. She had what you would call an unusual childhood. There was nothing normal or routine about her life with Maggie and John. Being diagnosed with a form of amnesia as a child she claims to have not remembered certain events, but that was a lie. But was it? Why can't she remember exactly what happened the night Ben disappeared? Is she losing her mind?
I will always love an unreliable narrator. I know it can be overdone in the genre but when done right it's one of my favorite elements. I wasn't sure what to believe throughout the book and then that twist! I did not see that coming. I read this in two sittings (damn you adult responsibilities!) and would highly recommend this to any thriller fans out there.
5 stars
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