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A review by shari_russell
What I Know by Miranda Smith
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
“My brother was thirteen the first time he tried to kill me.”
These first chilling words in Chapter one are really effective in drawing the reader in and teasing of what is to come. This thought from Della provides a good lead in to that also:
“And that’s when I saw him, standing in the doorway. His eyes looked through me and everyone else, as always.”
2 years later Brian tried to drown her.
The entire book is a 1st person narrative as seen through Della’s eyes.
Alternating timelines provide a detailed storyline of Della’s past growing up with her psychopath brother, Brian. The past is seamlessly weaved into the present where Della Mayfair, a school teacher is now triggered with the trauma of that horrible time by Zoey Peterson, a new student who she senses has that same darkness in her that Brian had. The attention to the parallels between the past and the present make for an intense story.
Zoey makes quite the impression on Della on her first day by making ”off the wall” comments about the book they are reading in English class. Della feels that Zoey is challenging her authority and she’s dissecting the story and extracting the goriest parts. She seems to enjoy causing a scene which is the same thing that Brian used to do. When Zoey drops a curse word, Della is quick to give her a warning. Things start happening that continue to set off alarm bells about Zoey. She is caught with a knife but that is blown off as an accident by the principal and other teachers.
Unfortunately, Della is the only one that suspects anything. Apparently, Zoey is the perfect student for the rest of the staff. When another student, Darcy is attacked while passed out, Della knows within her gut that Zoey had to be involved. The attack on Darcy is an obvious trigger that unlocks dormant memories for Della about Brian. Adding to Della’s increasing concern about Zoey, someone turns in an essay explicitly describing the attack on Darcy. Of course, Della is convinced that it came from Zoey. Della starts to unravel and cross the boundaries of her role as a teacher in her mission to get proof to back up her claims about Zoey. She puts her career in jeopardy and her happy marriage with Danny is threatened.
“What I Know” is different than the thrillers that I have been reading lately in that there weren’t any
major twists or big shocking surprises. I started reading the book assuming the pace and level of suspense would be faster and more “edge of your seat” Instead, the plot unfolds with gradual reveals along the way. This makes the direction it’s going fairly obvious but at the same time allows you to focus on the chilling details driving the plot.
Once I realized that this structure of story telling could be effective for the themes involved, I became invested in the plot and characters and the flow of the story. It’s definitely not a fast paced rollercoaster ride type of story but it is structured for escalating tension. The plot keeps moving as things from the past merge into the present to create a dark and entertaining tale filled with apprehension and suspense.
People always return to this debate: nature vs. nurture. Did horrible parenting make the kid do this monstrous thing, or was that evil inside the kid all along? This is a main topic to consider in this book, but it’s an age old question that we may never find the answer to.
Guilt, regret, suspicion, denial, and manipulation are some of the feelings that Della had to experience growing up with a brother who turned out to be a psychopath.
“I knew what Brian had done and dreaded what he was capable of, perhaps, doing again. No one believed me then, or in the years that followed. No one believed me until it was too late.”
Those feelings are still with her and seem to be the reason for her unbalanced decisions. This statement that Della made is very telling of why she is so determined to prove that Zoey is bad.
“ You know what happened last time because I didn’t act fast enough!” I cry hard and fast, realizing all these years later I still haven’t forgiven myself. “How can we live in a world that recognizes danger and does nothing to prevent it? Why do we wait for lives to be ruined? For lives to be taken?”
This is very indicative of the deep guilt that Della has held onto all these years.
All of this trauma that Della is trying to work through combined with the unethical choices she’s making made me question her character over and over again.
At times she seems very competent and sure about everything. However things started to happen that made me wonder if she might be an unreliable narrator. She is very adamant that Zoey is disturbed and dangerous but nobody believes her. The more the others shut her down with a reasonable explanation of Zoey’s behavior, the more Della starts to doubt herself and wonders if she is projecting her thoughts about Brian onto others. She says she’s done that before.
“Is that what I’d done with Zoey? Was this my way of bringing a dose of excitement into my life? ringing back the flutter of the new?”
I realize now that this did give me some of the surprise and cliffhanger moments that I had been looking for. Even though I thought I knew where the plot was going, this doubt in my mind about Della gave me the possibility of things going in a whole new direction.
For the most part I enjoyed this book and thought that the writer did a great job with character development and a well paced plot that was gripping and easy to follow.
There were moments however that seemed to drag a little bit and I really needed something unexpected to happen. I still missed the twists and turns and shock ending that I have come to expect in a psychological thriller but that’s my personal preference. A lot of people really like this kind of story structure which is evident in the highly rated reviews for this book. These few things determined my rating of
4 stars.
Recommended for the storyline, subject and
characters that keep the story intriguing and flowing. If like me you really need a rollercoaster ride and twisty turney, shocking surprises, this isn’t that. I still enjoyed the book with it’s captivating theme but just wanted that little bit of extra.
These first chilling words in Chapter one are really effective in drawing the reader in and teasing of what is to come. This thought from Della provides a good lead in to that also:
“And that’s when I saw him, standing in the doorway. His eyes looked through me and everyone else, as always.”
2 years later Brian tried to drown her.
The entire book is a 1st person narrative as seen through Della’s eyes.
Alternating timelines provide a detailed storyline of Della’s past growing up with her psychopath brother, Brian. The past is seamlessly weaved into the present where Della Mayfair, a school teacher is now triggered with the trauma of that horrible time by Zoey Peterson, a new student who she senses has that same darkness in her that Brian had. The attention to the parallels between the past and the present make for an intense story.
Zoey makes quite the impression on Della on her first day by making ”off the wall” comments about the book they are reading in English class. Della feels that Zoey is challenging her authority and she’s dissecting the story and extracting the goriest parts. She seems to enjoy causing a scene which is the same thing that Brian used to do. When Zoey drops a curse word, Della is quick to give her a warning. Things start happening that continue to set off alarm bells about Zoey. She is caught with a knife but that is blown off as an accident by the principal and other teachers.
Unfortunately, Della is the only one that suspects anything. Apparently, Zoey is the perfect student for the rest of the staff. When another student, Darcy is attacked while passed out, Della knows within her gut that Zoey had to be involved. The attack on Darcy is an obvious trigger that unlocks dormant memories for Della about Brian. Adding to Della’s increasing concern about Zoey, someone turns in an essay explicitly describing the attack on Darcy. Of course, Della is convinced that it came from Zoey. Della starts to unravel and cross the boundaries of her role as a teacher in her mission to get proof to back up her claims about Zoey. She puts her career in jeopardy and her happy marriage with Danny is threatened.
“What I Know” is different than the thrillers that I have been reading lately in that there weren’t any
major twists or big shocking surprises. I started reading the book assuming the pace and level of suspense would be faster and more “edge of your seat” Instead, the plot unfolds with gradual reveals along the way. This makes the direction it’s going fairly obvious but at the same time allows you to focus on the chilling details driving the plot.
Once I realized that this structure of story telling could be effective for the themes involved, I became invested in the plot and characters and the flow of the story. It’s definitely not a fast paced rollercoaster ride type of story but it is structured for escalating tension. The plot keeps moving as things from the past merge into the present to create a dark and entertaining tale filled with apprehension and suspense.
People always return to this debate: nature vs. nurture. Did horrible parenting make the kid do this monstrous thing, or was that evil inside the kid all along? This is a main topic to consider in this book, but it’s an age old question that we may never find the answer to.
Guilt, regret, suspicion, denial, and manipulation are some of the feelings that Della had to experience growing up with a brother who turned out to be a psychopath.
“I knew what Brian had done and dreaded what he was capable of, perhaps, doing again. No one believed me then, or in the years that followed. No one believed me until it was too late.”
Those feelings are still with her and seem to be the reason for her unbalanced decisions. This statement that Della made is very telling of why she is so determined to prove that Zoey is bad.
“ You know what happened last time because I didn’t act fast enough!” I cry hard and fast, realizing all these years later I still haven’t forgiven myself. “How can we live in a world that recognizes danger and does nothing to prevent it? Why do we wait for lives to be ruined? For lives to be taken?”
This is very indicative of the deep guilt that Della has held onto all these years.
All of this trauma that Della is trying to work through combined with the unethical choices she’s making made me question her character over and over again.
At times she seems very competent and sure about everything. However things started to happen that made me wonder if she might be an unreliable narrator. She is very adamant that Zoey is disturbed and dangerous but nobody believes her. The more the others shut her down with a reasonable explanation of Zoey’s behavior, the more Della starts to doubt herself and wonders if she is projecting her thoughts about Brian onto others. She says she’s done that before.
“Is that what I’d done with Zoey? Was this my way of bringing a dose of excitement into my life? ringing back the flutter of the new?”
I realize now that this did give me some of the surprise and cliffhanger moments that I had been looking for. Even though I thought I knew where the plot was going, this doubt in my mind about Della gave me the possibility of things going in a whole new direction.
For the most part I enjoyed this book and thought that the writer did a great job with character development and a well paced plot that was gripping and easy to follow.
There were moments however that seemed to drag a little bit and I really needed something unexpected to happen. I still missed the twists and turns and shock ending that I have come to expect in a psychological thriller but that’s my personal preference. A lot of people really like this kind of story structure which is evident in the highly rated reviews for this book. These few things determined my rating of
4 stars.
Recommended for the storyline, subject and
characters that keep the story intriguing and flowing. If like me you really need a rollercoaster ride and twisty turney, shocking surprises, this isn’t that. I still enjoyed the book with it’s captivating theme but just wanted that little bit of extra.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, and Murder
Minor: Child death