I Know You Remember

By: Jennifer Donaldson

Narrated by: Grace Experience, Imani Parks

Jennifer Donaldson is back with another twisted thriller perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Sadie.

Zahra Gaines is missing.

After three long years away, Ruthie Hayden arrives in her hometown of Anchorage, Alaska to this devastating news. Zahra was Ruthie's best friend--the only person who ever really understood her--and she vows to do whatever it takes to find her.

Zahra vanished from a party just days before Ruthie's return, but the more people she talks to, the more she realizes that the Zahra she knew disappeared long before that fateful night. Gone is the whimsical, artistic girl who loved books and knew Ruthie's every secret. In her place is an athlete, a partier, a girl with secrets of her own. Darker still are the rumors that something happened to Zahra while Ruthie was gone, something that changed her forever...

As Ruthie desperately tries to piece together the truth, she falls deeper and deeper into her friend's new world, circling closer to a dangerous revelation about what happened to Zahra in the days before her disappearance--one that might be better off buried.

In her stunning follow-up to Lies You Never Told Me, Jennifer Donaldson once again delivers a propulsive thriller with a masterful twist, skillfully creating a world where nothing is quite as it seems.

Critic reviews

2021-2022 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee

"Gripping and unsettling." --Kirkus Reviews

"A suspenseful, surprising story with a vivid sense of place." --Publishers Weekly

"Donaldson's novel is a fast-paced investigation of all the people who might want to hurt Zahra, with a massive twist at the end readers will not see coming." --Booklist

"This story with its mounting plot twists and unreliable narrator is an intriguing page-turner." --School Library Connection

"Well-drawn details of Ruthie’s Alaska and its multi-faceted characters embed the reader into Ruthie’s world." --VOYA

Excellent twist on the genre

If you’re a fan of the game Alice is Missing, or teen ya mystery/thrillers in general, this is 100% worth checking out.

Meh then wow

The beginning and middle were ok but kinda boring. It set the main plot points and characterization, but a lot of the writing was more focused on the author’s personal views rather than telling a good story. Some parts were just lecturing and I had to skip forward. The narrator for Ruthie has limited range, and most of the characters sounded the same.

The ending was twisted and totally shocked me; it made the rest of the book worth the listen. The narrator for Zarah was fantastic, using different tones, pacing, and intonations to set the mood and differentiate the characters.

Overall, you could probably skip over a decent chunk of the book and still enjoy the ending.

A passable easy listen, not too exciting

If you've read enough thrillers you will see most of the twists coming, but it was good for a quick listen to occupy my brain while doing some tedious work. The majority of the book does spend a lot of time on information that ultimately was not at all useful, bogging down the clues to what's going on.

The ending is weird

So the whole story was good until the end. The plot twist was weird because they were never any real signs of it in the story.

Strong YA novel

A definite 4 - 4.5 as a YA novel but for adult psychological thriller, I have to say a 3 MAYBE a 3.5. Way too much teenage angst for me at this point in my daily life.