You Will Know Me

There is an element of Greek tragedy in the narrative, exemplified by Drew developing scarlet fever and Katie's worry that she is living in a "sick house". The tension within the family is amplified by the other gymnasts, coaches and parents at BelStars, who become more ominous as the story unfolds.^[9] Desire appears as a theme throughout You Will Know Me and Abbott's other novels.^[10]

Abbott often writes about teenage girls, as it is an age that she describes as "the most thrilling and most awful period in one's life".^[11] In an interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books, she explained that she found it to be an age when girls spent a lot of time thinking about themselves.^[11] There is a focus throughout the novel on the female body and the way that young gymnasts bodies are controlled and analyzed, a dynamic that Abbott described as "In some ways [...] every nightmare of adolescence and in some ways it strips adolescence from the equation".^[2] This is a theme that has often appeared in Abbott's novels as puberty symbolizes teenagers' distance from their parents.^[3]

You Will Know Me was well-received by critics, including starred reviews from Booklist,^[12] Kirkus Reviews,^[6] and Library Journal.^[13] Booklist called the novel a "dazzling tale" that "explor[es] the agony and urgency of their desire, the unknowability of others, and the burden of expectations laid on the gymnasts. It’s vivid, troubling, and powerful—and Abbott totally sticks the landing."^[12] Library Journal highlighted Abbott's strength for creating unpredictable plotlines, noting that "the plot consistently confounds expectations with its clever twists and turns."^[13] Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Abbott proves herself a master of fingernails-digging-into-your-palms suspense."^[6]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette echoed Kirkus's review, writing, "Rather than curve balls in the plot, it’s the chilling emotional twists that make the story so intriguing."^[14] The New York Times continued Abbot's praise for plot and suspense, saying she"is in top form in this novel. She resumes her customary role of black cat, opaque and unblinking, filling her readers with queasy suspicion at every turn."^[15]

Multiple reviews also highlighted a common theme in Abbott's novels: psychosocial relations. NPR's Maureen Corrigan called the book "a masterful thriller that also offers an eerily precise portrait of the way teenage and parental cliques operate."^[16] Shelf Awareness continued, "Abbott is working at the top of her craft, and You Will Know Me is a crime novel where the crime is only a catalyst for an accomplished exploration of ordinary people's unraveling when they become obsessed with the extraordinary among them."^[17]

Publishers Weekly focused their review primarily on the book's characters: "Eric usually sounds uptight and anxious, and when he and Katie are alone, a little furtive. Devon is brimming with entitlement, impatience, and intolerance. Her fellow gymnasts are humorless, snarky, soft-spoken or arrogant. All are almost as driven as their parents, for whom Olympic excellence is all that matters in their lives."^[18]

In reviews, Abbott's writing skill in You Will Know Me was likened to literary giants Richard Yates,^[19] John Cheever,^[19] and Stephen King.