You Will Know Me

I had high hopes for this novel. It caught my eye several times when searching through books to read and I finally gave it a chance. I wish I had not wasted my time, to be honest.The characters fell very flat for me and I can't say that I understood or cared about any of them by the end of the book. It is mostly told through the mom, Kate's, perspective and I could never understand if she was mentally unstable, or just really paranoid, protective parent. She alludes to not remembering things from the past, having false memories, other people remember events differently than she did... but in the end none of those innuendos came to mean anything, which was highly unsatisfying. It rang false as if the author just wanted to set up an unreliable narrator or a fuzzy story she could alter as needed. The author also threw in strange visions from the younger brother, who was told he just had bad dreams all the time and was dismissed as usual with these very odd claims just left ignored.It seemed as if we should feel sympathetic toward these parents who dedicated their entire life to make their daughter a gymnastics phenom... but I was actually more disgusted by them. They raised a girl who was also not likeable, behaved in very questionable ways, kept secrets, sacrificed their younger child, and only made love in the middle of night when half asleep?? Strange...The unfolding of the mystery was slow and painful. I just wanted to get to some answers and even when I got them, I felt let down.It was interesting to learn a bit more about the world of competitive gymnastics, but again it was also depressing to learn about it. Note to self: never let my children go into gymnastics!

I admit that my expectations for this book were high. Maybe too high. When this book was good, it was very, very good. But when it was dull...it was truly dull. In the end, the dull outweighed the good.The characters were unique, the setting had potential, and the subject matters covered a lot of taboos. But, I didn't like it.At one point, the mother in the book states that she lives in a "sick" house (double-entendre). It is an honest statement about the fractured and pathetic home in which she has built for her husband and children. The ending for me was expected and held little surprise. A lot happens to this family and it appears they learned nothing from their mistakes. I hugged my own girls a little tighter tonight after this nightmare of a fictional family.

'Less than five feet tall, a hard, smooth shell of a body. Hipless, breastless still, but the way she’d transformed her body in the last two years, thighs like trunks, shoulders and biceps straining her tank-top straps, staggered Katie.'Abbott has hit a rich groove of material in exploring the darkness at the heart of girls' lives. She has sought out the noir inherent in their feverish, hidden worlds so now you look at cheerleaders with a bit of awe and maybe some fear. While teenage gymnast Devon is the center of this book, the story is told through her mother Katie's eyes. In classic noir fashion, what the narrator doesn't know fuels as much suspense as what she does know -- and wishes she didn't.'Some people would always be jealous of Devon, the way they were jealous of all beautiful and brilliant things.'It was brilliant that they released this in the midst of the Olympics while Simone Biles soared to victory. The contrast between the cheering crowds and the sordid small town life behind it give this story its power.'“The greatest day of our life,” Devon said, and everyone laughed at the our, except it was true, wasn’t it?'It's one thing to say a family makes sacrifices to get their child to Olympic level competition. It's quite another to see how far-reaching their are, from Katie's worry that she's neglecting Devon's little brother to her own isolation and fear. She watches the changes in her daughter obsessively, but there are changes in her husband Eric, too.'It was such a power, one she could never match. Even more good-looking as the years skipped by, his features settling on himself, the hot gaze of booster moms and dads transforming him, he was always able to convey the feeling that he believed firmly in all the right things.'It's a commonplace to say parents live through their children. Abbott shows how much they can lose themselves in that pursuit. Katie's own fears and body horror arise in her reactions to Devon's career. When they meet with the coach she blurts out the lurking shame and fear with such unconscious alarm that it shocks even her.'“Devon’s going to get breasts, Teddy,” Katie blurted. “And hips. And everything else. She’s going to be a woman.”'The tensions underscore the entire novel: the murder, but even more so the hidden truths and fears that people reveal, sometimes without realising that's what they're doing. I figured out the 'solution' to the crime by chapter nine, but honestly, that is only a small part of what compels you through the book. As Katie begins to dig into the events leading up to it, what she increasingly discovers is what she doesn't know.'That’s what parenthood was about, wasn’t it? Slowly understanding your child less and less until she wasn’t yours anymore but herself.'And yet we make assumptions, so many assumptions. The horrible weight Katie feels from joking about her daughter's 'Frankenfoot' conveys so well the power of the stories we tell ourselves. Devon's own counter-narrative shows that point of view is everything in a story.Abbott manages to slip in Vonnegut, Dylan Thomas and Joseph Heller without ever making the references feel laboured because Katie's voice feels authentic. We know more than she does, we put clues together, and yet each new revelation shows us there's so much more.'Something was wrong, wronger than it even seemed. She just wasn’t sure what it was.'Dive in: you will know her. You might not like what you see, but you won't be able to look away.'She hadn’t learned, no one had taught her...that the things you want, you never get them. And if you do, they’re not what you thought they’d be.'

This is my first encounter with Ms Abbott, and I must say I’m mightily impressed. You Will Know Me is no bog-standard psychological thriller. It is deeply atmospheric, agonizingly tense and a beautifully thought out, multi-layered narrative—one of those novels that tugs at your consciousness long after you’ve turned the final page.The context itself is fascinating: the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a girls’ gymnastics community, where focus, sacrifice and slavish dedication are the order of the day. At its heart is 16 year-old Devon Knox, the best athlete the club has ever seen. Tipped as a future Olympic champion, Devon is the club’s talisman; the girl destined to bring glory, fame and fortune to the club and to the town. Then, just weeks before the defining Senior Elite trials, a terrible event rocks the small community and threatens to undermine everything it has worked for.Abbott’s prose is almost forensic in its observation of people, places and emotions. She picks out details that, while insignificant on their own, combine to create images and feelings so vivid and compelling that they take your breath away. Her characters stir up a myriad of emotions: pity, of course, for Devon, for her hard but deformed body, closed, single-mindedness and weighty burden of expectation; frustration at her parents and their blinkered world view; and sadness for little brother Drew, who sees and knows too much but sits forever in his sister’s shadow.The mystery of the identity of the hit-and-run driver is masterfully plotted, the narrative unfolding slowly, but with relentless suspense: a hint here, a twist there. When it comes, the big reveal is shocking but at the same time utterly believable. Jealousy, pride, deceit, guilt, acquisitiveness: they all play a role in the actions of the community and of the Knox family. But it is how these baser emotions clash with truth and morality that makes this novel what it is: a haunting, thought-provoking, lingering presence. I can’t wait to read more from this fabulous author.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. You can find more candid book reviews on my profile page.

You Will Know Me is a marvellously nuanced and compelling page turner. Megan Abbott is the mistress of the disturbing hint and as the story becomes more and more menacing you may, like me, experience an uneasy sense of complicity with something very sinister.In Abbott’s previous novel, the brilliant Dare Me, she shone a light into the dark heart of competitive cheerleading. This time it’s another group of obsessive teenage girls vying to enter the world of elite gymnastics. The Olympics is their ultimate goal and their parents are equally determined that whatever happens the star of the group, Devon Knox, will make it. But then a violent death threatens everything the group has strived for.At the gym an outsider would see gravity defying leaps and glittering leotards, but for an insider, like Devon’s mother Katie, the overwhelming atmosphere is one of fear. Fear of a stumble that will ruin a crucial routine and above all fear that the arrival of puberty may unbalance a physique and a mind honed by years of toil and sacrifice.We follow the lead-up to a make or break competition mainly from Katie’s perspective and it’s clear that the whole family has made many sacrifices for Devon’s talent. But has their dedication cemented her parents’ marriage or locked them into it?They are far from rich and, although it’s mostly the mothers who push their daughters to succeed, Katie’s husband, Eric, is even more involved with Devon’s ambitions than Katie. But we have to wonder if his determination is powered by fatherly love, by a desire to make sense of his own disappointing life, or by guilt that his moment of inattention caused the nightmare accident in which toddler Devon lost a toe.And then there’s Katie – the devoted mother who refers to her daughter’s injury as her Frankenfoot. An illuminating and poignant moment comes when Katie visits Devon in school. Amongst the other tiny bundles of muscle and taut nerves at the gym Devon is the focus of admiring eyes and all aspirations. Yet her classmates, blossoming into adulthood, view her as a freak.Katie sees her family as one body with steely perfectionist Devon as its heart. But is that body the thing of beauty that Katie imagines or has it become a monster? It’s a mark of Abbott’s brilliance that she leaves the reader to decide.

You have to hand it to Megan Abbott though. She knows people. The dynamic relationships in You Will Know Me are spot on. The (slightly) pushy but proud parents, the determined teen, the hopeful coach and spiteful parents all make for a read that really pulls you in.The real beauty is in the easily overlooked details in her writing. A line or two here or there that makes you stop and do a double take. That makes you question your opinion of certain characters."She was the most dangerous thing in her own life. Her body, the only dangerous thing.”The story is told from Katie's perspective. She tries to portray an image of strength, to be a pillar of support for Devon as she works her way towards a place in the Olympics but it's clear from the foreshadowing at the start that she is fragile. Constantly obsessing over Devon's childhood accident.Other readers have said that they found Devon's brother Drew to be interesting but this is where the audiobook fell a little short for me. The narrator gave him a lisp. I found it slightly cringey and it often distracted me from his words-which turned out to be quite prophetic in the end.Young girls often dominate Megan's books but here they mostly take a back seat. Everything we learn about Devon is leaked from her mothers thoughts and actions. It really worked here as the characters are so well developed. This book is about sacrifice and it's often the parents who need to make sacrifices for their children's dreams to become a reality. Katie thinks (as all parents do) that she knows Devon completely. It was very interesting to see this slowly unravel as the story progressed.“That’s what parenthood was about, wasn’t it? Slowly understanding your child less and less until she wasn’t yours anymore but herself.”As this was an audiobook it's hard to talk about the pacing but what I will say is that this book never bored me. It held my interest the whole way through.I had put off rating this book for a while. On one hand it was really well written but on the other I found the story quite predictable. I think Megan Abbott has found a formula which works well for her. This leads to a satisfying read but ultimately, an ending that I saw coming from the first few chapters.If you've never read a Megan Abbott book before then you'll more than likely love and rave about this. If you're a long time you'll probably still enjoy the dynamics even with the predictable ending.

Is it a thriller? Is it literally fiction? “You Will Know Me”, Megan Abbott’s new novel, is a bit of both and a lot more. Set in the world of gymnastics, this book tells the story of Devon, a young gymnast with a promising future in the sport - a future on which her parents have pinned all their hopes and committed all their finances. But this is no uplifting sport success story, and within the first chapters, a character death occurs, setting the tone which will keep this novel hovering between whodunnit and psychological drama.“You Will Know Me” is without a doubt a page-turner as well as a scary and yet fascinating exploration of the of the darker side of human ambition.

There's something about Megan Abbott's writing that draws me in. This is the third novel of hers that I've read. They all focus in some way on school girls who are masters of deception. This one is a dark tale of the controlled and claustrophobic world of competitive gymnastics, and the extreme measures the characters take in order to achieve their aims. The action revolves around Devon, a 15 year old Olympic hopeful, who's carrying the heavy expectations of those around her. You know early on it won't end well. It kept me guessing all the way through.