You Will Know Me

4.5 stars!

You Will Know Me is my first book by Megan Abbott. It will not be my last.

My on-line friend and author, Randy Chandler, recommended her work to me, and I filed it away under "authors to investigate." Then I ran across Ms. Abbott's intro to Ed Brubaker's [b:Fatale: Deluxe Edition, Volume One|20299680|Fatale Deluxe Edition, Volume One|Ed Brubaker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396174697s/20299680.jpg|28133252], and I liked her style, (AND I LOVED that incredible graphic novel), so when I saw You Will Know Me available at my local library on audio, I hopped on it.

In listening to this book, I experienced so much tension and apprehension, I couldn't wait to get back to it after being forced to, you know, work and feed my show more family. The narrator was fantastic and so was the story. I thought I had it all figured out early on, but I was only partly right. To me, it wasn't the mystery that appealed to me the most, in fact you might guess it right away. It was the way in which this tale was told that got to me; the family dynamics, their sacrifices and resentments all rang true, as did the characters of the family friends and fellow sports parents. (Gymnastics play a big part in this story and the parents of the children...well, some of them were just the worst.) Having dealt with similar parents when my son was growing up and playing baseball, all of this just felt like superior, honest, storytelling and to that I say BRAVO!

Highly recommended! show less

That was unsettling. And very good. Abbott takes you on a psychological journey to the underworld of repressed desire and jettisoned dreams that echo our own overturned wishes.

Sixteen-year-old Devon is an elite gymnast with a shot at the Olympics, and everyone and everything in her life revolves around that goal. When someone she knows is killed by a hit-and-run driver, this carefully constructed world starts to unravel.

The story is told from the point of view of Devon's mother, Katie, and what I found most interesting about it was not the thriller aspect but rather the family dynamics that develop with a child has enormous talent. Family is a bizarre thing--you may not know the people you live with nearly as well as you think, but still you find yourself doing the unthinkable just to protect them. It is not only Devon's family that comes under the microscope here, but the families of the ancillary characters show more as well: her coach, the wealthy gym booster, the other gymnasts' parents. It feels deliciously uncomfortable to be peering into these families' lives and realizing that what is holding them together isn't necessarily love, as we would assume, but something much darker.

The other thing this book made me think about was the nature of childhood. To compete at an elite level in gymnastics--and, I presume, in many other realms--a lot must be sacrificed, including childhood. I found myself wondering at which point her Olympic dream became Devon's and not just her parents', and whether she was actually able to choose that path, since she had to begin training at such a young age. Her younger brother, also, was being deprived of a childhood in service of her dream, not through his own choice, although he does go along with it. Is it really worth it? It somehow seems so artificial and, ultimately, damaging.

Not so much a thrilling thriller as a glimpse into a world that I don't often see and a book that did make me think. show less

Megan Abbott’s latest novel about a young girl with Olympic-sized talent and the dreams to match immerses you into the world of competitive activities with stunning accuracy. In You Will Know Me, not only do does she show the total commitment involved in such activities, but she also shows just how crazy some parents get when it comes to their children’s dreams. It is a chilling portrayal of wish fulfillment at its worst and the very definition of a novel that you cannot stop reading.

Told through Katie Knox’s eyes, you see her struggles to balance her daughter’s Olympic dreams – and the time and money associated with fulfilling those – with the needs of her other child. You see her insane schedule with forty-minute one-way show more commutes to the training center, chores, fundraisers, weekend-long competitions, school, and her own work-from-home business. Her husband is very present and shares equally in the burdens of transportation, training, homework, etc. It is a lifestyle most people would do everything to avoid but one which the Knoxes gladly accept given her daughter’s dreams and potential. As the mother of a dancer, one who will never make it to a professional level but for whom dancing is her life right now, it is a lifestyle with which I am all too familiar.

However, behind the camaraderie and sense of community are serious divides that sharpen when the unthinkable happens to the gym. Suddenly, the rumors become more vicious and pointed, and the parents’ cutthroat nature rises to the surface. This is the point where the novel truly takes off into the spectacular. Ms. Abbott shows that gymnastics parents are just like dance parents. They may cheer for the other team members and wish each other well, but at the end of the day, they are searching for any method possible for their daughters to get an edge over the other girls.

The murder mystery is equally fascinating. Ms. Abbott releases clues slowly and with such precision that the answer alludes you until the moment Katie realizes the truth. The drama behind the death, the gym politics involved, and what it reveals about those involved are a great reminder that love does not make the world go round as much as we would like.

You Will Know Me is an all-around fantastic mystery with an intimate behind-the-scenes look at Olympic hopefuls and what they put themselves through to get to that magic event. The characters are well-developed, and the details are exacting and vibrant. Ms. Abbott places you into the very heart of the gymnastics world with all of its highs and lows and reminds you that behind every successful athlete is a parent or guardian who would do anything to make sure his/her child succeeds. show less

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott introduces us to the Knox family. Daughter Devon is a gymnast, her dream is the Olympics and that has become her parents dream as well. The cost of practices, equipment, travelling to meets and membership at an elite gym are paid by second mortgages and cutting back. The family’s life revolves around Devon and her ambitions.

Devon’s mother, Katie and father, Eric realize that they have an exceptional child and are willing to put the time and effort into developing her talents. When a family friend, a young man gets murdered by a hit and run, the Knox’s are convinced that they should not get involved in the hype surrounding the death. Slowly however, mother, Katie comes to realize that someone in her show more own family knows much more about this murder than they are letting on.

Megan Abbott is an author that I have come to love over the years. In this book she tackles powerful themes as she brings us into the cliquish world of gymnastics. Her exploration of the claustrophobic and secretive, world of female adolescence would have been more than enough but she has added a murder as well. With compelling, layered and taunt writing this story comes alive on the pages. You Will Know Me is a great mix of crime story and family drama. show less

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott is a highly recommended thriller set in the competitive world of young gymnasts.

Devon Knox is exceptional. Everyone knows it. Despite a childhood injury to her foot, Devon, daughter of Eric and Katie Knox, is on the Elite training path at the BelStars gym to, hopefully, be an Olympic gymnast. Devon is the star of the gym; her innate talent is both revered and resented by the other parents. The family, including her younger brother, Drew, has sacrificed a lot for Devon's dream. Eric is obsessively involved with the boosters and fundraising efforts to help the gym and he and Katie have a second mortgage on their home just to keep Devon's dream alive. It is, of course, the whole family's dream (except for show more poor neglected Drew) but one that can only be fulfilled by Devon.

When a young man, Ryan, is tragically killed it sends ripples of gossip and rumors through the close-knit group of parents. Coach Teddy Belfour hasn't been to practices because Hailey, his niece and the tumbling coach at the gym, was dating Ryan and is devastated. There is gossip that he was going to propose to her, but who knows if that is true. The answers to all their questions aren't that simple. Now, while the police are trying to determine what happened to Ryan and who is responsible, Katie needs to find out some answers on her own and protect her daughter.

Even if you know little or nothing about gymnasts, you will recognize the overly involved parents who are obsessed with their children's activities. These parents feel the success of their children reflect upon them, which goes hand-in-hand with the belief that the abilities of their children are greater than they are in reality. (Sports, academics, etc., oh, the real life stories I could tell about others of their ilk!) These misguided parents are determined that their children will succeed - if they have any say on the matter - and most of them are overly optimistic about their true abilities of their children. Honestly, the parents are mainly annoying sheeple or, in the case of one obviously reprobate financier, controlling and overbearing.

You Will Know Me is an unsettling, compulsively readable family drama. It is very well written and had me hooked from the beginning, when you know that a young man will die, but don't have all the information or the back story yet. Abbott does an excellent job setting up the story and allowing the truth to slowly unfold and reveal itself. I found it thoroughly enjoyable even though I did figure out the direction the story was going to take long before it went down that path. My heart broke for young Drew, who has his own interests and gifts that are neglected in favor of Devon's goals. What would you sacrifice to support your child's endeavors and dreams?

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes. show less

YOU WILL KNOW ME takes to reader into a world that few of us know much about - that of competitive gymnastics.This is a world of sacrifices, where the family's whole life is dedicated to one goal, and even Katie and Eric's son Drew is affected by the need to give everything to Devon. It strikes you that this is what must happen in the lives of so many elite sporting hopefuls.

But then an apparent hit and run results in the death of a popular member of the gymnastic community and most are only too willing to blame someone who has been in trouble before. All important gymnastic trials are only a few weeks off and nothing must be allowed to disrupt final preparations.

The novel asks some serious questions about the nature of sacrifice and show more explores the social and psychological pressures behind what is, after all, a sport. What lengths will parents go to to achieve their daughter's potential, but what is actually their own ambition?

A very good read. show less