#YouWillKnowMe #MeganAbbott #Review

Katie and Eric Knox have dedicated their lives to their fifteen-year-old daughter Devon, a gymnastics prodigy and Olympic hopeful. But when a violent death rocks their close-knit gymnastics community just weeks before an all-important competition, everything the Knoxes have worked so hard for feels suddenly at risk. As rumors swirl among the other parents, revealing hidden plots and allegiances, Katie tries frantically to hold her family together while also finding herself drawn, irresistibly, to the crime itself, and the dark corners it threatens to illuminate.

This is the first Megan Abbott novel I have read and she clearly has a huge following and fan base judging by the excitement over her books and the glowing reviews.

The story starts with introducing us to the Knox family and their daughter - a gymnastics prodigy. There is a lot of dialogue and interaction between the family members so that the reader understands the sacrifice, commitment and personal and emotional investment of the family in Devon's future as an Olympic gymnast. There is no doubting how involved every member of the family is and how important Devon's gymnastic training, heats, practices and anything else are to them all and how it dictates their routine and family life. The scene setting and discussion or description about the gymnastic side of things is very detailed and very well researched. It is easy for the reader to gauge the stakes, risks, fears and dreams of parents and children in this situation. This becomes more significant as the novel continues.

Katie is quite an anxious parent but then her daughter has colossal potential and to some extent she has to live her life through Devon's so it does make sense. Devon seems more grounded but dedicated. Abbott establishes the family dynamics and also the relationships between the Knox family and their peers and friendship groups well. Although fast paced from the outset, it is easy to grasp the important details and build a picture of the key characters.

Then everything changes. The sudden, dramatic and tragic death of one of the students has a huge impact on the characters and hits them all hard. From then on things begin to unravel and spiral out of control. As I said before this is a very fast paced novel that rattles along, always moving the action on and focussing on events and repercussions of the student's death. I would say this book was perhaps more plot driven than character driven.

There is plenty of tension and drama and I'm sure Abbott's fans will relish this latest read. I'm afraid for me it didn't quite hit the mark as I found the characters a bit grating and a little underdeveloped so I didn't quite engage with them but for people who like a page turner this could be the book for you!

You Will Know Me is published by Little, Brown on 26th July 2017.

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