I Know You by Russell Govan ARC Review!

 

Title: I Know You
Author: Russell Govan
Publish Date: June 1st, 2023
Publisher: Guernica World Editions
Source: Huge thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC for review!

Eilidh, bright, headstrong and feisty, gets sparkling exam results that confirm her university place. Her boyfriend reveals he has deceived her. In the ensuing argument she is knocked unconscious. She arrives in 1984, in an Ethiopian refugee camp, where she nurses a dying child, then a wounded aid worker before wakening back home in present-day Scotland. Three days later, at an isolated beauty spot trying to come to terms with her ex boyfriend’s betrayal and her experience in Ethiopia, she encounters Walter, who is in the early stages of dementia. He is there because of a tattoo on his wrist that simply states the date and location of the beauty spot. Eilidh recognizes Walter’s symptoms, takes him home and contacts his niece to come and collect him.

Over the following 48-hour period Eilidh finds herself transported to various locations in Europe and North America, and time periods from the previous fifty years. Each episode draws her further into an unexpected and unconventional romance. Eventually she travels to WW2 blitzed Liverpool and meets a fellow time-traveler who explains that Eilidh faces a decision with life and death consequences.

Penelope's Review

I Know You is unexpectedly captivating. The book starts innocently enough, with normal teenage drama and it seems as though one is settling in for a light, easy read. But the layers are deep, and the writing is spellbinding. What begins as superficial, quickly becomes a surprisingly riveting love story that spans time and country.

Eilidh is a time-traveler, though she doesn't know it yet. A messy break up ends with her unconscious and thrown back to another place and time, where she meets Walter for the first time. The ensuing days have Eilidh traveling back and forth to different times, and different places, but always with a common theme. Walter. Over and over, he's there, and as she learns more and more about herself and her relationship, she realizes she has a choice to make. 

I Know You draws you in, and leaves you wanting more. The time travel aspect is unique in that it occurs during the span of a single lifetime. Eilidh and Walter are alive in both the present and the past, but it's written well enough that the reader is never confused. You can't help but fall in love with the characters and root for their happy ending. 

I actually think this book could have been a little bit longer, and that's something I rarely say. Though it is a stand alone, and everything is tied up by the end, I would have loved to see just a bit more. A bit more of present day Walter, and a bit more of the two in November 1969 as that was my favorite time for them, just to name some examples. That being said, I'm happy with the book overall and so glad I picked it up!

Rating: 4.5/5 Devils!