I Know You: Book Review

I Know You is a fantasy, time-travel fiction, written by Russell Govan, (who kindly gifted me this book as an ARC, thank you so much!), which comes out on June 1st 2023. In I Know You, we follow Eilidh, (pronounced Ay-Lee) a 17 year old from Kilmadden, Scotland. Eilidh has just finished sixth-form and plans to go to university to study history in 2019. Before this can take place, Eilidh's life gets flipped upside down, when she suffers a head injury, which somehow causes her to travel back in time. Throughout the next 48 hours Eilidh travels through the past, making connections of why she has gained this power.

Introduction

Wow, there is honestly not a bad word I can say about this book! Off the bat, the story had me hooked, with short chapters and relatable characters and experiences filled with emotion. The story didn't seem to drag at all and the writing wasn't overly elongated, you could easily sit down and read this book in one sitting, as it is super cosy in my opinion. The dialogue was super realistic and relatable to UK conversations, with the constant asking for cups of tea and toast, as well as the family diversity. One unique point about the dialogue, was the use of emojis in the book, when Eilidh was messaging her friends. I found that edition unique and relatable, as it is in the point of view of a teenager. All the characters in this book have a story with them and are fully fleshed out, which I love to see, my favourite characters of the bunch being Eilidhs two brothers, Scott and George, because they remind me of people in my family and also of myself in a way. The point of view does change throughout the book, usually when entering a new time period, which in turn gives more hints to why and how Eilidh is travelling to these time periods, aswell as hinting towards important characters in the future, (or past!). The overall idea of the book is really thought inducing and has you thinking about time travel and the many opportunities life can bring, especially the ending of the book, which can be taken as a bad or good ending, depending on your perspective and opinions. There are so many mysteries within this book, but also a lot of love and emotion, which almost had me in tears on occasion. What I would love to see is the other paths Eilidh could have taken within her life, as I think it could be so interesting to explore!

Pros

• Great characters, dialogue and scenes, that are fleshed out and explained well throughout. No detail is left out!

• Realistic situations throughout, with the added fantasy aspect.

• Many ways this story can be viewed!

Conclusion

To conclude, this book was a wonderful and engaging, cosy read, that I couldn't put down! The trigger warnings for this book are: death, talk of sex,  swearing and slurs, dementia and health scares, (particularly talk of cancer and/or brain injury), so if you feel you might be effected by any of those triggers right now, I wouldn't recommend. I would recommend this book to a wide variety of ages from teenagers and up, as there isn't any gore and it is a very easy to read book! Overall, I do rate this book a 5/5 stars, as it was a really refreshing read, filled with friendship, love and choices with a time travelling, fantastical twist.

To anyone wanting to read this book, I hope I helped you come to your decision. I would greatly appreciate if you would consider following and sharing my blog, joining my book club group if you liked this post, and contact me with any requests or questions you may have. Also feel free to follow my social pages, linked at the top of this page, for more bookish content!