Review by vereadsbooks - Tell Me What You Did

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vereadsbooks 's review for:

Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson

1.0

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

This book, quite frankly, wasted my time and bored me to death.

Tell Me What You Did has an excellent premise: Poe Webb hosts a popular true-crime podcast, inviting people to anonymously confess their crimes. One day, a stranger appears on the show and admits to murdering her mother years ago. However, Poe knows something no one else knows: her mother's killer is dead.

The book is divided into three parts, with very short chapters and a fast pace. Initially, the story builds suspense and captures interest, but then loses momentum.

The first and second parts are interspersed with transcripts of the live stream between Poe and her mother's killer and chapters that show the days leading up to the interview, where the plot lays out the past without much mystery or nuance. Then, in the last part, the book takes a more monotonous turn, where it's clear that the author tried to stretch the story as much as possible.

Tell Me What You Did is a book that revolves exclusively around the plot. Poe's protagonist is uninspiring; she's a one-dimensional character with a somewhat brash attitude but no distinctive voice. She's also far from sensible. The decisions she makes are questionable. Who in their right mind would decide to confront the killer without saying a word to anyone?

Furthermore, the killer's actions were obvious from the beginning. I sensed who he could be and what his next steps might be.

The book includes three QR codes that allow readers to view scenes from the police evidence. I thought it could add value, but it became repetitive to read the scene only to watch the identical scene immediately afterward.

While the book serves its purpose of entertainment, it simply wasn't for me.

By the way, my reading experience this year is a roller coaster. After two fascinating books (one became my all-time favorite), I ended up with one of the disappointments of 2025.

Content Warnings