Category: Dutton

You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton

Date of publication: April 16th, 2024

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Adult, Suspense, Contemporary, Mental Health, Murder Mystery

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

AUTHOR NOTE
Personality-wise, I’m not much like my main character Annie Shaw. However, we do have one big thing in common: we’re both recovering from obsessive compulsive disorder. Through Annie, I describe some of my lived experience with disgust-driven, contamination-based OCD. The imagery is raw and vivid—and very necessary to realistically portray how this chronic disorder can affect people’s everyday lives, how it can make you feel like a prisoner in your own body. To learn more about OCD symptoms, treatments, and resources, visit the website of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF dot org). —K.T. Nguyen

First Line

Annie Shaw held her mother’s hand one last time.

Important details about You Know What You Did

Pace: Alternated between medium and fast

POV: 3rd person (Annie)

Content/Triggers: You Know What You Did contains themes of mental illness, animal death, death of a parent, infidelity, body horror, gore, grief, violence, car accident, murder, death, emotional abuse, racism, fire and fire injury, gaslighting, injury and injury detail, animal cruelty, body shaming, domestic abuse, panic attacks/disorders, physical abuse, self-harm, sexual assault, toxic relationship, police brutality, stalking, abandonment, alcohol, war, classism, death of a child, rape, refugee experiences, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, gun violence, attempted murder, and *genocide. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.

  • Annie’s mother escaped Vietnam by boat in 1978. She was pregnant with Annie and had escaped with her six-year-old son, who tragically died the day before she was rescued. There are references to the Vietnamese Boat People throughout the book.

Language: You Know What You Did contains graphic swearing and language that might offend some people.

Sexual Content: There is mild consensual sexual content in You Know What You Did. There is also a somewhat graphic sexual assault scene during the last couple of chapters.

Setting: You Know What You Did is set in Mount Pleasant, Virginia. There are also chapters set in Grace Falls, Ohio (while Annie was growing up), Hong Kong (in the early 2000s), and Vietnam (in 1978).

My Review:

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.

If you enjoy reading books similar to You Know What You Did, then you will enjoy these books:

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton

Date of publication: March 5th, 2024

Genre: Horror, Vampires, Queer, Fantasy, Gothic, Lesbian, LGBT, Fiction, Historical Fiction

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.

It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet.

In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother’s terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back.

With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

First Line:

The day is white; its glare burns if you look straight at the sky.

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

Important details about Thirst

Pace: Medium

POV: 1st person (Maria and Alma)

Trigger Warnings: Thirst contains themes that include the death of a parent, blood, murder, terminal illness, death, suicide, violence, suicidal thoughts, grief, body horror, chronic illness, gore, physical abuse, sexual violence, medical content, suicide attempt, pandemic, confinement, sexual assault, medical trauma, child death, racism, and classism.

Language:  There is moderate swearing in Thirst. There is also language used that might offend some people.

Sexual Content: There is graphic sexual content in Thirst.

Setting: Thirst is set in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Maria’s (the vampire) backstory is set throughout Europe, but she ends up in Buenos Aires reasonably early in the book.

My Review

Thirst is a dark book. It starts dark (with Maria’s mother giving her to her Maker) and ends dark. Usually, this would put me (I do like a bit of light showing up in my horror/gothic books). But in this case, it worked. I finished this book more disturbed than when I started it.

Thirst’s storyline is separated into two parts. The first storyline follows Maria. The storyline explains how Maria became a vampire, her exploits across Europe with her sisters, her fleeing Argentina, her killings in Buenos Aires during several periods, her friendship with an immigrant, and her deal with that immigrant. I did enjoy this storyline. I found it well-written, and it scared me at times. It also showed that Maria did have a little bit of humanity left in her. But it also showcased what a monster she was.

The second storyline follows Alma. This storyline focuses on Alma, her mother’s illness, and how it was affecting her and being a mother herself. I did sympathize with Alma. She had a lot going on in her world and was losing control. This isn’t a gradual descent into depression; the author plunged us in with her. Her feelings of motherhood were interesting (I related to the dentist scene because I had been in that exact situation with one of my kids).

The storylines merge when Alma accidentally releases Maria. She doesn’t know what she did except that something happened in the vault, and Alma couldn’t account for a few hours. It isn’t until Maria makes herself known that Alma puts two and two together.

The horror angle of the book was terrific. Again, to reiterate, this is a very dark gothic book. The author kept the vampire myth very simple, and in that simplicity, she was able to write a truly terrifying story. Maria didn’t glitter, she couldn’t daywalk, and she wasn’t exactly beautiful (Alma’s first good look at her likened her skin to corpselike). But the horror also extended to Alma’s mother’s terminal illness. During Alma’s storyline, her mother went from being bedridden and at home to being hospitalized with tubes coming out of her. It was terrifying for Alma to see and witness.

The end of Thirst was interesting. I understood Alma’s decision and what she asked of Maria. And I also understood why Maria said yes. It wasn’t a happy ending. I mean, for Alma and Maria, it was. But for everyone else in Alma’s life, what she asked would have long-reaching repercussions. And that made me so sad for all of those people.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton, NetGalley, and Marina Yuszczuk for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Thirst. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoy reading books similar to Thirst, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Marina Yuszczuk

Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard

Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton

Date of publication: February 20th, 2024

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Adult

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars Sara Shepard’s next adult novel follows a group of mothers living in a mysterious “mommune,” each of whom is running from something

When Lenna gets a call from her old friend Rhiannon, she is startled; Rhiannon disappeared years ago without a trace. But Lenna is even more startled to learn that Rhiannon has a son and that she lives off the grid with a group of women in a community called Halcyon. Rhiannon invites Lenna, a new mother herself, to join them. Why suffer the sleepless nights by yourself? It takes a village, after all.

Lenna decides to go and hopefully repair her relationship with Rhiannon, but as she drives into the desert and her cell service gets weaker, she becomes suspicious. Who are these women and why did Rhiannon invite her here? And that is before she learns about the community’s rules (no outside phone calls, no questions about people’s pasts) and the padlock on the gate that leads out to the main road. But Lenna has other concerns, secrets from her past she is terrified will come out. When a newcomer arrives in the community, Lenna’s worst fears are confirmed—she was brought here for a reason.

Nowhere Like Home tackles themes of complicated friendships and trauma but all with Sara Shepard’s expert twists that you don’t see coming.

First Line:

It’s hard to sum up this place.

Nowhere LIke Home by Sara Shepard

Important things you need to know about Nowhere Like Home:

Pace: Medium to Fast

POV: Mainly 3rd person (Lenna, Rhiannon, and Sarah). There are some chapters told from the 2nd person (through Gillian’s Instagram posts) and one chapter told from the 1st person.

Trigger Warnings: Nowhere Like Home contains sexual assault, murder, pregnancy, toxic friendship, abandonment, kidnapping, violence, and the death of a parent. If any of these trigger you, I suggest not reading the book.

Language: There is mild to moderate swearing in Nowhere Like Home. There is also language used that might offend some people.

Setting: In the Present Day chapters of the book, Nowhere Like Home is set on a momune just outside of Tucson, Arizona. The past chapters of the book are set in Los Angeles, California.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Present Day: A new mother with a colicky baby and a husband isn’t helping, Lenna is drowning. So, when an old friend surfaces after two years and tells Lenna about a momune in the desert outside Tucson, Lenna jumps at it. But, once she gets to Halycon, Lenna notices that there seems to be something off with the commune. From barbed wire and padlocked gates to outrageous joining fees to cell and internet service being blocked, Lenna begins to think this paradise is more of hell. Only when she sees another familiar face from her past does she realize someone brought her here for a reason.

Past: Lenna is stuck at a dead-end job when she meets Rhiannon, a bright and vibrant editor at a well-known magazine. They instantly click and become the best of friends. But, when Rhiannon unexpectedly leaves, Lenna becomes friends with Gillian, who works at another magazine in the same building. But Lenna’s friendship with Gillian is strained, shadowed by Rhiannon’s absence. And Gillian starts to act more and more unstable in the passing days. Everything comes to a head one rainy afternoon, and the aftermath leaves Lenna, who already suffered from anxiety, a mess.

What happened that day? What is Lenna’s secret? Why did Rhiannon make contact with her out of the blue? Is the momune a place where Lenna can find peace? Or will Lenna be forced to face what happened two years ago?

My review:

I was intrigued when I saw that Sara Shepard had written this book. Like millions of others, I have watched Pretty Little Liars on TV. While I wasn’t a big fan of the show (it wasn’t up my alley), I did like the thought behind it. So, when Penguin Group Dutton sent me a widget containing this book, I decided to read it. Having read it, I was a little disappointed.

Nowhere Like Home has dual storylines. The first follows Lenna, Rhiannon, and the momune residents during Lenna’s first few days there. The second storyline follows Lenna, Rhiannon, Gillian (via her Instagram posts), and Sarah (who comes later on in the storyline). Both storylines were well-written and well-fleshed out. The momune storyline felt flat to me. It was less fleshed out than the storyline that takes place in the past. But they kept my attention focused on the book, and I didn’t get lost following the characters, which was a plus.

The storyline with momune did strike a chord with me. I have three children (as most of you know from my blog’s bio). My oldest had severe colic (it was discovered that she was lactose intolerant later on down the road). My SO was like Lenna’s husband; he couldn’t handle the crying. And sometimes, I wished I had a village of women to help me with her. I liked that the author also showcased how Lenna’s trauma over what happened to Gillian affected her. The not knowing and keeping it affected every aspect of her life, whether she knew it or not. I was surprised at who was behind everything and how that person connected to Rhiannon and Lenna.

The storyline that takes place two years before everything did explain a lot. It showed how Rhiannon and Lenna met and how Lenna and Gillian met. Rhiannon was a little shifty and kept things from Lenna (but, when it was revealed what, I was surprised). Rhiannon taking off was unusual for her, but the reason was surprising. The only thing that even bothered me was Lenna’s friendship with Gillian. Right from the beginning, I didn’t like Gillian. She was creepy, so I wasn’t surprised when what happened to her was revealed.

The mystery angle of the book was well-written. I was shocked at who was behind everything at the momune. There was a brief hint at it when Gillian got drunk (over two years before). I also got why Rhiannon was forced to do what that person wanted (her lies were figured out).

The author also tackled the mysteries brought up in the storyline set in the past. There was an explanation as to why Rhiannon left and about her backstory. I felt so bad for her, with everything that happened. And I also understood why she did what she did. I also liked that Sarah’s role in everything was explained. It cleared a lot of confusion around what happened that day on the trail.

The end of Nowhere Like Home was cathartic. Everything was explained. But, like Lenna, I wondered who saved everyone in that cave.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton, NetGalley, and Sara Shepard for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Nowhere Like Home. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoy reading books similar to Nowhere Like Home, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Sara Shepard

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

Publisher: Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton

Date of publication: January 3rd, 2023

Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Audiobook, Adult, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Psychological Thriller

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | Alibris | Powells | IndieBound | Indigo | BetterWorldBooks

Goodreads Synopsis:

Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed….

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they’d been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can’t account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer–the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother’s house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father’s book that didn’t stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank’s cabin….

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.

First Line:

Deep in those woods, there is a house that’s easy to miss.

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

The House in the Pines was on my must-read list since I had seen it on another blog that stated they were looking forward to reading it. So, I was beyond thrilled when I got an email from Penguin House Dutton requesting a review. I couldn’t accept it fast enough. I had planned on reading this book as soon as I got it, but life happens, and it got put on the back burner. I finally read it right after Reese Witherspoon announced it was the book of the month in her book club (and no, it wasn’t because of that). I was let down by it. The House in the Pines didn’t live up to my hype, and I was disappointed.

The House in the Pines is a fast-paced book all over the place. It alternated between past and present without giving the reader a heads-up. I get why the author did it. But it didn’t work for me in this case. It only confused me and made me lose focus on what was going on.

This book mostly takes place in my home state of Massachusetts. Unfortunately, I grew up in coastal eastern MA, not in the west. But, I have been to Pittsfield, which is as pitiful as the book described. I have also been to Amherst (I had friends who went to college there), and I lived a quick 5-minute T ride outside of Boston for years (as well as growing up 25-30 mins east of there).

The characters in The House in the Pines alternated between me liking them and not believing their actions. I know it’s a huge difference there, but that’s how it was with me. The only character that I truly liked was Maya’s mother. She was solid and well-written.

  • Maya—She annoyed me for 90% of the book. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t tell Dan that she was going cold turkey from Klonopin withdrawal. He seemed like a decent person who would have helped her. Instead, she was sneaky about it. She is sneaky for almost all of the book and is borderline obsessed with finding Frank and confronting him about Aubrey’s death. But, as much as I disliked her, I did feel bad for her. She lived with the horror of seeing her friend drop dead before her and blamed herself for Audrey’s death. Her mother, who I liked, was vigilant about Maya’s mental health. I will not get into it here, but I blame her mother for pushing her down the path that led Maya to abuse Klonopin and become an alcoholic; what Maya needed after that traumatic event was a therapist, not drugs.
  • Frank—Oh, man, where do I start with him? He was indeed a scumbag, and I believe he targeted Maya because she was innocent. But, at the same time, I think he might have liked her. It was just the vibe I got from their scenes together. I did figure out his deal reasonably early in the book. The video clued me in, as did the book that Frank suggested Audrey read. But I liked seeing Maya’s journey to get to where I did.
  • Audrey—Even though she is dead, she is a massive part of the book. The author formed Maya’s whole adult identity from Audrey’s death. Maya was obsessed with connecting Frank to Audrey’s death and trying to remember what happened that day. The glimpses of Audrey that I got in the flashback, she was a good kid trying to look out for her friend and got caught up in something much bigger than her.

The House in the Pines was a good fit in the mystery genre. I also have it in the thriller and suspense genres, but they weren’t a good fit. I had everything pegged by the middle of the book. Even the twist didn’t take me by surprise. It fell flat for me.

The central storyline with Maya trying to find Frank, remember what happened that summer, and investigate another mysterious death was interesting. But, as I stated above, I figured everything out by the middle of the book. By the end of the book, I was waiting to see if any justice would be served, and I wasn’t surprised by what happened. But I was happy with what Maya was able to do.

The biggest thing that disappointed me about this book was the lack of closure at the end. Everything was left up in the air. I can’t say anything other than that because I am afraid of spoilers.

The end of The House in the Pines was anticlimactic for me. As I stated above, nothing was resolved. Wait, let me rephrase that. Nothing was resolved with Frank. Maya, on the other hand, was able to get some closure. But for the other stuff, everything still needs to be resolved. It was frustrating to read the end and realize nothing more was happening.

I would recommend The House in the Pines to anyone over 21. There is language, mild violence, and mild sexual situations.

I want to thank Penguin House Dutton, Dutton, and Ana Reyes for allowing me to read and review The House in the Pines. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoyed reading The House in the Pines, then you will enjoy reading these books: