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Emily May's Reviews > Tell Me What You Did

Tell Me What You Did by Carter   Wilson
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it was ok
bookshelves: mystery-thriller, arc, 2024

After reading the starred review from Kirkus and the blurb presenting this as an exciting and twisty thriller, I had some pretty high expectations of this book. But Tell Me What You Did was a letdown on almost every level.

First, the main character is flat and completely uninteresting. I spent over 400 pages with Poe and I still can't say I know her very well. She seemed to swing back and forth between being someone with a moral compass who is capable of feeling guilt and a BADASS BITCH who's going to take you down, mofo, and lose no sleep over it.

It is also slow and boring, probably made more so because of how little I cared about any of the characters (naturally, the dog and cat are the exceptions). It felt like we already had all the information in the blurb-- Poe's mom was murdered, Poe killed her murderer (or thought she did) but now she has a guy on her podcast claiming to be her mom's killer --and so this whole book is just us waiting on a twist... that never came.

Well, maybe it was supposed to be a twist. But it was genuinely the first thing I guessed at.

Then there's just the very weird and, for me, unbelievable way Poe talked on the livestream. I know he asked her to describe in detail, but she described it like an author enjoying herself, not someone being forced to do something under duress. Like why would she volunteer information on losing her virginity to this guy when it has nothing to do with anything and he didn’t ask?

And I'm pretty sure some things were never explained?? Like how he got past her security cameras?

Add to this the fact that, at the climax, Poe acts sooooo stupid. There is no reason for her not to call the police then and there. No reason except she wanted to risk her own life, and her loved ones' lives, for the sake of some drama.

Looking back, is two stars generous?
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Reading Progress

November 16, 2024 – Shelved
December 8, 2024 – Started Reading
December 11, 2024 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)

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message 1: by Mary (new)

Mary Dang, I was hoping to read this one. Thanks for sparing me!


the_scottish_reader_ Very Interesting review! Glad I'm not reading it


message 3: by Julie (new)

Julie Great review and thanks for the warning!


message 4: by Michaela (new) - added it

Michaela Stricchiola Hi! Is this told in first person?


Emily May Michaela wrote: "Hi! Is this told in first person?"

Yes, and interview transcripts :)


message 6: by Sarah (new) - added it

Sarah Appreciate your review as always, Emily! You mentioned a cat and a dog, I'm sensitive to animal abuse - can you tell me if I should avoid this one based on that?


Emily May Sarah wrote: "Appreciate your review as always, Emily! You mentioned a cat and a dog, I'm sensitive to animal abuse - can you tell me if I should avoid this one based on that?"

Thanks, Sarah! I can confirm they are safe :)


message 8: by Veronica (new)

Veronica Thanks for letting us know the fur babies are ok!!! :)


Gail Polivy Just finished and completely agree with you! I also gave it a generous 2 stars.


Daniel J I respectfully disagree with your review. Perhaps the “twist� at the end was predictable or unexciting but I’m not sure how else you’d tie everything together. And Poe’s swinging between someone with a moral compass and being a bad b!@&$� isn’t that the experience of one’s own mind? Most people don’t go back and forth about the merits of murder but good fiction books take you beyond the edges of reality. For a weekend read, I found this to be very entertaining which is all I was hoping for.


message 11: by Lisa (new) - rated it 2 stars

Lisa Agree - this was a huge letdown as I generally really enjoy Kirkus starred thrillers. I’m not sensitive to swearing but seriously every other word out of Poe’s mouth was an f-bomb. It just felt lazy. All she did was drink and drop F bombs


Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews they did disclose how he got past the security system, but it was closer to the end after he was in her house on camera with her.


message 13: by Cori (new) - rated it 3 stars

Cori Papuga I was honestly annoyed she didn’t like the cat and it was all downhill from there


Emily May Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews wrote: "they did disclose how he got past the security system, but it was closer to the end after he was in her house on camera with her."

What did he say? I was waiting for it, but clearly missed it.


Emily May Cori wrote: "I was honestly annoyed she didn’t like the cat and it was all downhill from there"

Maybe that was it 😂


Megan Stanton The cop said something about a camera being placed on her porch that pointed straight towards the security system that she put her password in. So he was watching her through that camera.


Emily May Megan wrote: "The cop said something about a camera being placed on her porch that pointed straight towards the security system that she put her password in. So he was watching her through that camera."

No, I know that. How did he not appear on her cameras?


message 18: by Tom (new) - rated it 3 stars

Tom Laverick Every decision she made was infuriating


Theresa Witt I agree with you 10000% it was incredibly boring. I had to skip some chapters to get me to the end of the book


message 20: by Haley (new) - added it

Haley I thought "the twist" was going to be that her boyfriend (Kip?) was going to be in on it because he kind of sucked and I really couldn't understand why she loved him so much. We didn't know anything about their relationship, really, but we're supposed to believe she's super in love with him when they hardly even interact in the whole book.


Tristin Agree I’d also like to know what Alice meant by the ominous “don’t trust anyone� thing � by those words I was expecting Kip or the dad to be in on it. I expected the dad suggesting they take off the dogs collar being the way he got past security cameras or some kind of twist like that. I also expected alice to be either their previous victim or a family member too bc she specially mentioned Alice’s eyes like she did the killer and Ian. Also expected kip when she didn’t hear any voices and walked in and said “there they were� I thought they’d be sitting together waiting for her or something. Or him always insisting she was hiding something was because he knew she committed murder or SOMETHING and not that he “was just good at reading people� Idk I got the last page and I was like wait did I miss something???


Tristin Okay excuse my typos top it’s late and this book pissed me off lol 🙄🙄🙄


message 23: by Sanda (new) - added it

Sanda I’m so glad I’m not the only one who felt this way. I was excited until about 1/3 in and after that point NOTHING happens, the supposed “twist� is so obvious and the plot just felt so repetitive. I kept reading just to make sure Bailey and Grimm make it out ok 🤓


MsMaddyMax Yes! She volunteered so much information. It made no sense! Also the way she spoke to the person was not believable. Would you consistently and repeadetly call a psychopath who seems to know everything about you (and you don't know anything about him) a POS to his face every chance you get?


message 25: by Cam (new) - added it

Cam Arrakis The book can't be that bad?


Jackie I said EXACT same. Slow. Repetitive and why didn't she call for backup. Stupid.


Deena Yes! All this.


message 28: by Cat (new) - added it

Cat Underwood This is legitimately the worst book I have ever read, and I’ve read a lot of Riley Sager. This book was highly recommended all over TikTok and Instagram, and even the clerk at B&N was like ‘omg I couldn’t put this book down!� I kept waiting for it to get good but it never did. Poe was truly insufferable in every way 😂


Carrie J Agreed.


Melissa At first I guessed Hindley was related to Hutchins but then as time went on I also thought Kip was in on it somehow but then at the end when Alice visited Poe in prison I always got a weird vibe from their interactions I was thinking maybe she was related to the brothers but nope. And like everyone else said, Poe was super one dimensional and a lot of book was fluff.


message 31: by Marta (new) - rated it 1 star

Marta I sped it up to 125% and skipped a few chapters towards the end. Blah is basically how I feel right now.


message 32: by Tammy (new) - added it

Tammy Felt the same as your review. I didn’t even finish because the story felt so lame. No regrets.


Oscar Herrera I’ll describe this books as boring. I had high expectations and it even started interesting but as I kept reading I felt nothing but boredom. Even though the chapters are small and even easy to read, the book for me felt looooong


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