I Know You by Annabel Kantaria #BookReview

You trust me.

You shouldn’t.

That picture you just posted on Instagram? I’ve seen it.
The location you tagged? I’ve been there.

You haven’t been careful enough, have you?
Because I know all about you.

But when I meet you, I won’t tell you that.
I’ll pretend. Just like you do.

You’ll like me though. You’ll trust me enough to let me into your life.

And then I’ll destroy it.

 

After a disappointing read last week where I struggled to even finish the novel, I’m very happy to have picked up a book that had my attention from the very first page and didn’t let go. I Know You is a cleverly written novel where the threat is unmistakenly present but hidden from view. Who exactly is lurking in the shadows, checking every trace, every picture and every comment on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, effectively getting to know someone better than you can imagine? It’s a complete mystery and a very creepy one indeed.

What I loved about this book is that not only you don’t know who the voice is in the chapters labelled I Know You, you also don’t know who they’re keeping tabs on, and best of all, the character in the novel that is the center of all the attention is completely unaware as well.

The novel creates a false sense of safety at first and almost reads like a contemporary novel with Taylor looking to make a friend after her move with hubby Jake from the US to the UK. She meets Anna at the local walking club and they hit it off right away. Taylor and Anna, Anna and Taylor, they become the bestest of friends and I was delighted with the blossoming of their warm friendship. There are other characters surrounding them, friends they make at the local walking club and book club, namely Simon, Sarah and Caroline, but they all have something about them that seemed off meaning one of them might have an ulterior motive and could be that menacing voice that starts to pop up. These extra chapters were brilliant and didn’t leave room about the evil intentions of this mysterious person. What the anonymous voice intended to do was kept for the very end though and not something I had foreseen. Every time I read these chapters dispersed throughout the novel my thoughts drifted off to my own digital footprint and I was examining if I didn’t leave too much information about myself too. Yes people know which restaurants I visit and what books I like to read, but I hope I’m doing a better job at keeping the rest to myself and I sure hope nobody is interested as much as well. 

Who’s after who? Who’s the false friend, and are they after Taylor or after Anna, or someone else entirely and why? The author made it very difficult to be sure about anything because most of what was revealed could be applied to both women. Very very slowly I started to have an idea though where the why was perhaps a little easier to determine than who. I can’t say I had anything to go or any hard proof to build my case but I thought I had figured out how this particular puzzle fit together. I was still quite surprised when I found out I was right though, although the shock one of the characters gets when finding out that someone’s keeping an eye on them was probably a million times worse.

This novel might very well be a wake up call to many about what you post online and what a window to your life it can be and for that (and the great story too) I highly recommend it!

I received a free paper copy of this novel from the author. This is still my honest opinion. 

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