You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

Katie and Eric Knox are parents to Devon, a young, talented and ambitious gymnast with Olympic aspirations.  Devon has sacrificed her childhood in exchange for hard work and dedication to her craft while Eric and Katie have sacrificed their personal lives and finances to help Devon realize her full potential.  As Devon approaches the age where she can compete for a spot in the coveted senior elite level, a few short steps away from making the national Olympic team, a death in the family of Devon’s coach not only completely upends the gym, it sets in motion a tidal wave of increasingly horrifying events that will threaten Devon’s future.

Abbott does a fantastic job shining a light on a young woman who has only known one goal, one purpose in her brief life.  Through constant drills and competitions, Devon’s body has been sculpted into a hard, gymnastic tool complete with a robotic, sociopathic brain to boot.  As the story progresses, Katie begins to wonder what kind of child she and Eric are raising, something that is then twisted into a sign that Katie doesn’t believe in her daughter’s ability, creating a rift in the Knox family.

With Devon’s mother Katie as the central figure throughout novel via a closely played third party perspective, Abbott manages to keep her in the dark while the drama unfolds and dark secrets begin to surface.  As Katie continues to learn more, everything her family has built becomes impossibly fragile as it builds toward a pretty memorable ending.

Throughout You Will Know Me, Megan Abbott was able to keep me on the edge of my seat which made putting the book down a damn near impossible task – I even had to sneak in a few chapters at my desk during work!  If there’s one thing that Megan Abbott does well, it’s ripping up the clean, white carpet of everyday life to reveal the rotting wood floor that lies underneath.