Book Review: Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson
Podcasts, murders, and lies galore. A literal mind bender of a novel, check out my full review for Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson below!
Book Information
Poe Webb is a true crime podcast host who has become super popular over the years. She invites people who have committed crimes and tells them to “tell me what you did”. She has secrets, though, that make this podcast hit closer to home than anyone knows. Not only that, but when a man comes on her podcast claiming to be the person who murdered her mother more than a decade ago, Poe is thrown into a spiral of mystery, lies, and a lot of danger. The only problem is that she isn’t sure he actually murdered her mother because she (or thought she did) murdered the man years ago.
Review | Heidi Dischler
This was honestly a really fun listen. I decided to go with the audiobook version of Tell Me What You Did because a friend from book club recommended it (he said the audiobook made the novel SO much more engaging, which he was totally right). I really enjoyed the fast pacing of this novel and thought that the setup and continuous storytelling was phenomenal. Some of the things I didn’t like was lack of character development and the ending (unfortunately 🥲).
With the pacing, you’re being told the story from two different timelines. The first is from Poe’s POV as she is interrogated on her own podcast (and an unknown male is being tortured to make sure she tells the truth), and the second is the events leading up to this situation. This made the pacing a CONSTANT race of “what will happen next”, which I absolutely adored. The storyline, too, was so great with Poe’s own secret, her podcast, and her chilling past. It made for a very interesting, entertaining, and engaging story.
As far as character development, I felt like a lot of the characters lacked depth. Kip, her dad, and even Poe herself at times just felt barely 2D. A lot of personality, quirks, and hobbies weren’t there and really made the characters feel like puppets in a story rather than people who could be real. The villain was even a “I’m bad just because I’m bad” type and I REALLY dislike that. The ending, though? Made the whole journey feel slightly unsatisfying.
Spoilers ahead.
So, Poe goes to jail for killing her mother’s murderer. The guy claiming to be her mother’s murderer is actually the brother of the guy who REALLY murdered her mother. A bit confusing in text, but I could see that coming from a mile away. Not only that, but this ending felt way too idyllic for the thriller that it is supposed to be. Yes, the bad guy dies in the end. Yes, Poe goes to jail. Those things didn’t actually bother me. What bothered me was that Poe happened to find her mother’s murderer in NEW YORK FREAKING CITY by going on a date with a guy who had a serial killer as his profile pic. Way too much of a coincidence. It would have made more sense in my opinion to make him the brother of the killer rather than the actual killer. But that’s just my opinion.
Overall, despite my gripes about the characters and the ending, I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars rounded up to a 4 for social platforms. It was honestly really entertaining and thrilling, but I was left disappointed by the characters and the ending, so that’s where that one and a half of a star went. I’d still end up recommending this novel to my friends, though!
Source: Audiobook from Libby Public Library
(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Everand, which gives you one free audiobook or ebook of your choice!)
