I Thought I Knew

By: Melissa Trombetta

Narrated by: Catherine Hein Carter

It's 1995 in Upstate New York, and Nicole Doherty is days away from her college graduation—that is, if she graduates—ready to move into her own apartment and start a new job in a prestigious accounting firm when an unseen assailant attacks her, only steps away from the safety of her dorm, changing her forever. Nicole is desperate to move on, vowing never to tell anyone what happened to her, but her past continues to follow her and pull her back. She's forced to relearn how to trust herself and thrive in an uncontrollable reality, navigating relationships, old and new, often left wondering, who was her attacker? Could it have been a complete stranger or someone she knows? And do you ever really know someone?

©2024 Melissa Trombetta (P)2024 Melissa Trombetta

Great listen

I Thought I Knew is a poignant, gripping story about overcoming trauma and abuse in more ways than one. It does start off with a heartbreaking scene, it really got to me. It can definitely be triggering so make sure to check trigger warnings. As I kept reading though the message of this book became very clear and the author did a phenomenal job of conveying it. This is not a whodunit, we sort of know who the attacker is, but it's the whole point of raising awareness that usually it is someone close.

Nicole the FMC is such a strong, resilient woman. She just wants to take back control of her life after the attack, but one can imagine how hard that is. The author did a fabulous job at conveying the emotions and feelings that a person goes through after suffering such a traumatic event (will not go into details but I can relate is all I will say). I felt so seen, heard and understood while reading this book. The female empowerment was amazing and the character growth beautiful to see.

The writing was descriptive, captivating it held my attention throughout the whole story. The pacing was great, I loved that there were many side characters that we got to see their POV's as well, it added to the storyline. I loved this book even if the subject matter is a hard one ! It's worth the read !

🎧 The narration by Catherine Hein Carter was really good. She held my attention all throughout. Her tone was great, her emotions were felt in her voice and she conveyed the message perfectly !

✨️ Thank you to @melissatrombetta for my gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting Listen

This is a little bit different genre than what I normally read,however, I really enjoyed it! I think it perpetuates the cycle of what actually happens when women get taken advantage of, the inner feelings of nervousness to tell people and low self worth. It is not a super heavy read as I anticipated but I found it very insightful. Definitley recommend!

Real and raw

As a survivor of sexual assault, this book deeply moved me. It follows a young woman dealing with the aftermath of her attack—most books that I’ve read that explore the topic have felt very surface level, or like the real effects aren’t understood fully. Neither was the case here. This was very real and raw—and had a twist that felt like a gut punch. It was a very empowering and validating read. I think it’s a great read for survivors, and those who love survivors and want to understand the ramifications better.

Empowering from a survivor of domestic abuse myself .

To be honest I picked this book up because my daughter referred me to it knowing the authors daughter and I love to read .
I just need to say reading hundreds and hundreds of book this was a very emotional and empowering book.
The first chapter starts off with a heartbreaking scene . Continuing on it’s becomes pretty clear who the attacker is and the author does a great job conveying it. I loved all the characters development and relationships in this book and she did a great job throughout the entire book till the end .
I feel every young woman should read this book and has hit so many powerful women stories . Being a survivor after reading this book has put a tremendous impact on my life again today that we have the power to survive . And I raised two beautiful strong empowering young women along the way .

Positivity

This book makes you feel so empowered! I’m so happy I read this book! Thank you Melissa!