A gripping read right from the very first page, the past hides many secrets. I listen to this on the audio book format, the narration was excellent and it is great insight into life in a small American town.

It took a while for me to get into the story as I found it quite slow paced at first. It was still a very good read.
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this copy.

Dark, chilling, and immersive, this was definitely more mystery than thriller but was atmospheric and intriguing, as we follow two crimes that may or may not be connected. With the small town setting, super unreliable narrator, and focus around grief, loss and trauma, it was definitely gripping but was just missing something I couldn’t put my finger on.. particularly when I thought back to how much I adored THE ROANOAKE GIRLS by Engel.

[𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 (𝘐𝘎), 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩.] —— 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🦇

I would say that this book is more of a mystery with suspense elements than a thriller. Based in a small town in mid USA. A second set of murders has taken place and our main character Greer has returned to add her ideas and knowledge to unravel the mystery. Given the revelation later in the book, I can't quite understand why some of the earlier behaviour and conversations occurred, except to keep us guessing. I suppose that's the right of the author but I therefore found that for me the ending fell a little flat. Frankly by then I didn't really care! Overall its an OK read but not a favourite.

I absolutely loved this!!! I was fortunate enough to listen to the audiobook and found the narration absolutely perfect - kept me super engaged

It was a really interesting and unique plot point with great pacing throughout. I couldnt stop listening!

I really enjoyed this read. Amy Engel has a way of telling a tale and keeping the reader invested.

I read The Roanoak Grils and it was one of my favourites of the year and this did not disappoint either.

The main character is drawn back to her hometown after being away for years after her sister was murdered. Two teenagers are murdered the same way and she returns home to try and make sense of the tragedy as the original killer has been executed.

I Did it For You is a solid murder mystery which I very much enjoyed. The narration is excellent and I look forward to reading another by Amy Engel.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️



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Thankyou netgalley for the copy of this arc for a honest review.

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Im quite 50/50 about this book.
It started out very interesting up until the sparks is gone. I keep on fast forward it as it was too slowburn story .



❤️shaye.reads

I read The Roanoak Grils by this author when it came out back in 2017 and enjoy this one nearly as much as that.
If I didn't know who wrote this book, I would 100% be able to tell you it was the same author, her voice is so consistent and distinct.
Following our main character as she is drawn back to her hometown after new murders happen in the same way her sister was murdered. It focuses on small-town secrets and friendships and wonderfully portrays the suffocation that growing up in a small town with your childhood friends causes.
I did see the ending coming, and without giving away the ending, that in itself could be a large topic for discussion. The secrets upon secrets did leave me somewhat frustrated and I couldn't at all times keep track of the cast of characters. But I listened to this in a day and it was a good solid mystery. 3.5 stars

3.75*

There is a lot going on in this fairly lengthy novel. Dora’s story is told from the present looking back over the years of WW2, when Rhodes was under Italian rule, with German invaders. Her family is Jewish and many members were shipped off to concentration camps, leaving her to bravely fend for herself and a very young woman.

Her story comes to life through the medium of diaries, which her granddaughter Naomi has read and now feels the need to pass on to her sister, Rebecca, who is with Fritz, living in Bromley, London. There has been no contact between the sisters for more than a decade, ever since Rebecca announced her marriage to Fritz, who is of Teutonic descent. Dora took against him because he reminded her of the war years and the suffering she had to endure in her homeland.

In London, Rebecca is going through rounds of IVF which is inevitably putting a strain on her couple relationship. One day she receives a package, which, although addressed to her, she assumes it is for her husband. But when she does in fact open it, she is horrified to discover the contents (I thought it unlikely that the contents could have been sent through the post?). Anyway, shocking as they are, she understands that she must pick up contact with her family on Rhodes and start to read Dora’s diaries, and in this way she will discover the exact nature of her grandmother’s life during the terrible years. Dora was a brave soul, who stoically fought for her country and bore a child. She suffered a high level of loss, during and beyond the war years.

In present day Rhodes the family is fighting for the right to reclaim a property that was illegally taken from them during the war, and if they win their case, it would set a precedent for all those who lost their rights to their own properties during the war years.

I found it a compelling and at times heart wrenching audiobook (beautifully narrated by Lucy Paterson), which offered a lot of insight into the history of Rhodes and of the people and traditions. However, the novel felt overly long and the dramas that plague the characters – right up to the end when a ship capsizes – seemed rather excessive, and the drawn-out ending caused a bit of an eye roll.

This was an intense study into the life of a family after a killing in the family in small town America which has far reaching impacts of the town. I found it very well written (and narrated) at start it was slow so I found I had to be in the mood to listen. Each of the characters were well developed and I knew enough about their different perspectives to enable a full rounded read.

Overall very good and will be looking for more by both the narrator and author

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

Great thriller with a few twisty bits and a lot of red herrings to keep you guessing. Although I found the ending 'twist' quite predictable that didnt take away from the enjoyable story. I listened to the audio version and couldn't fault the slow deep voice and southern drawl of the main character, really fitted the mood of the book. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this, my review has been left on Goodreads and Bookmory.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was my first by this author and it won’t be my last. I Did It For You was a slow burn (more suspense than thriller) read with a great cast of characters.

Expect an emotional pull and lots of twists. I listened to audio and the narration was wonderful. The author cleverly and sensitively explored the impact of death to family left behind.

The ending, while a little meh, was still satisfactory and I look forward to what Engel brings out next.

Many thanks to @harpercollinsUK audio for an ALC 🎧❤️

Really enjoyed this Audio book
It had lots of twists which is what I like in a good psychological thriller
14 years after Greer’s older sister Eliza was murdered, Greer returns back to her old town as another murder has happened exactly the same way Eliza was murdered is this a copy cat murder as the man who as already died following the death sentence.
Slow to start with but picks up pace. I will certainly look out for more by this author .

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this audio book.

Amy Engel's previous novel The Roanoke Girls has been on my to be read list for ages so when I got the chance to get the audio book of her latest novel I Did It For You then I was super excited to listen to it.

We meet main character Greer, she has been through so much in her life after her sister was murdered and this turned her and her families world upside down.

Having moved far from her home town, where the devastation of her sister's murder happened, Greer is thrust back into the past by another brutal killing that rings similar to what happened to her sister. Greer decides to head back to town and try and figure out what is happening as she does not want this to happen again.

Greer is a very determined woman and I really enjoyed her character. This was a slow burner to start with but very soon quickens its pace. I will be sure to pick up Amy Engel's other novels as I did enjoy her writing style.

Thanks to Amy Engel, Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me an audio version of this novel in exchange for my honest review, 3.5 stars.

This started off strong but just dragged on for way too long with not much going on. I had it pretty much figured out very early on which was a pity. It lacked the usual twists and turns and the overall storyline just fell flat as far as storylines go. Not sure it’ll be one I’ll remember. Unfortunately this one just didn’t work for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #IDidItForYou

Greer returns to Ludlow, her hometown, 14 years after her sister's brutal murder. The murderer was caught and executed for his crimes.....but now, 14yrs later, similar murders have taken place, prompting Greer to head back home and figure out if this murder could possibly be linked to her sister's....

I really enjoyed The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel, so I think I went into this one expecting the same rawness and grittiness.

The book is told only from Greer's POV, with just a brief POV or Diary entry from each of the 4 victims and Roy, the killer who was executed. I did hope we were going to get more from them, but it was a one and done kind of moment.

What I enjoyed was the exploration into how everybody was affected by their grief and how they adapted to get on with life. It was also interesting that it is mentioned in the book how differently the media portrays and also who people choose to focus on when it comes to male and female victims....and especially a pretty young girl. We always remember the pretty young girls....not so much their male counterparts.

The book was interesting...Greer was a reliable narrator, but she was keeping secrets from us that surprised me. I was also interested in Greer's friendship with Dean and I wanted to see how everything tied together once everything was revealed....but while this was suspenseful and I did enjoy how character driven it was, I didn't find it to be a shocking psychological thriller.

Some parts were slow and I found the ending to be rushed and the motive for the murders seemed a bit ridiculous. I expected a motive with more passion.....with more substance. As a reader I definitely did not get all the answers I needed so that ended the book on a low for me so that's the reason I am rating this at 3 - 3.5 stars.

This book was quite unlike many of my recent reads with a twist I hadn’t seen coming. Not the final twist- I had guessed that quite early on, although I couldn’t work out a reason. A good, easy read that doesn’t dwell too much on the brutality behind the murders. Sometimes you just want to follow the clues without all the horror

This was a slow burn of a book, and I found it hard connect the narrator to the characters which was off putting and although was a good story I felt part of it dragged. It did pick up towards the end! I think I might have enjoyed reading this one rather then listening.

Listening to a audiobook version of I did it for you was well narrated by Did it for You by Sean Patrick Hopkins; Amanda Stribling; Jennifer Pickens although I did have to speed up the narration to 1x2 as what I’ve found with most American audiobooks the pace is usually quite slow. The story is a bit of a slow burner it starts with Greer coming back to her small home town and her estranged parents, things haven’t been the same with them all after her sister was killed several years before and when another similar murder takes place Greer and the brother of her sisters killer try to get to the bottom of it together, even though they face opposition from their friends & family. A good novel that delves into family dynamics and secrets.

I really enjoyed this one. The narration was excellent and I found it hard to take my earphones out and stop listening to this one. The narration really added to the mood / vibe of the book.

I Did It For You tells the story of Greer, 14 years ago her sister and her sisters boyfriend were murdered. Greer and and her parents life fell apart. Her mother cleans obsessively, her father drinks obsessively and Greer escaped from small town Ludlow as soon as could to college and then on to Chicago where she now lives a sparse life. Their family has never recovered from the trauma but the killer has since received the death penalty for his crime and there is a sense of closure until a copycat murder takes place in Greer's hometown and two more teenagers are dead. This is the thing that brings Greer home. The latest double murder shows all was not as clear as they thought about what happened 14 years previously and Greer is determined to get answers.


I really liked this, the writing is strong and heart achingly beautiful at times and Greer was a good character , well developed as the book progressed. The suspense element was not the strongest part of the book as there were few characters that could have been involved so the " twist" wasn't hugely surprising, though the author does create some strong scenes that were quite tense. However this doesn't take from the story it weirdly adds to it, the sadness, the nostalgia ,the grief is so well written as is the sense of place.

This one surprised me in just how much I enjoyed it. A step above usual books in this genre and I look forward to reading more from Amy Engel.

4-4.5 stars and 5 stars for the narration, loved it.