What I Did

by Kayla Krantz, Claudia Englert (Editor), Fire Quill Publishers (Cover Art)

A friend. A dangerous situation. A choice between life and death. What would you do to survive?On the surface, Jessica is your all-American woman-blonde, young, and pretty-but there's something off in her subconscious, something that draws her to horror movies and true crime. Living with a mix of social anxiety and agoraphobia makes maneuvering the world outside of her mother's apartment tough, but her job at the local grocery store is something she can manage.That is, until she gets swept up in the crossfire of an active shooter. In order to survive, Jess must tap into the growing darkness inside of her and cross a line there's no coming back from, committing her first murder.

Genres: Thriller

308 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2020

About the author

Kayla Krantz is an international bestselling author of dark fantasy, psychological horror, and supernatural thrillers. She is fascinated by the dark and macabre. Stephen King is her all-time inspiration, mixed in with some faint remnants of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. When she began writing, she started in horror, but somehow drifted into thriller and fantasy. She loves the 1988 movie, “Heathers.” Kayla was born and raised in Michigan, but traveled across the country to where she currently resides, in Texas.

Reviews

[Yvonne (the putrid Shelf)]

This book isn't what the synopsis bigged itself up to be. Honestly I think the main character only killed because of situational circumstances. Way too frustrated with the plot when the writing was so good.

[TIQA02]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review*

Where do I start? I don't think you can call this book a psychological thriller because there are no elements of mystery, action, or any palpable paranoia.

1. The main character is supposed disturbed and has anti social personality disorder and yet I could not identify a single marker of this diagnosis as part of her character!!! She wasn't manipulative and she wasn't cunning.

2. She literally kills people for self-defense!! Am I delusional or is that something that makes you human and not a psychopath?!! You can literally attribute her actions to being scared/ in shock more than you can to her being some sort of mentally disturbed person.

3. The reader is told over and over again that there's this darkness in her. How come I never saw said darkness?!! She honestly seems to me like an emotionally repressed teenager. Literally a character like Samuel fits her diagnosis more than she does.

4. Also at the beginning of the book we're told that she was diagnosed with every mental illness possible, however, this is not consistent with her character!! Also what does that even mean?!! When you're writing about mental illness I think it's important to do your research instead of generalizing. And I just think this book lacked research.

I feel like if I was much younger I would've liked this book a lot more because I would've been much more ignorant.

[Kj (Spilt Coffee)]

First of all, I'd like to thank the author and the publisher because I was given an early e-book copy of the book- my first ever. It is also because of this reason that I am writing my most honest review of the book.

Before I even read the book, I expected it to be dark and interesting because the description of the book insinuated that it's a story of the birth of a cold-blooded murderer - her journey from an ordinary life spiraling to the dangerous life of a criminal. That's basically my cup of tea.

However, as I was midway through reading it, I realized that it wasn't at all what I was expecting. The description was misleading. My disappointment though did not just come from that but in several other things. Firstly, Jessica (the future killer) was gloomy the entire time. Although she did have strange hobbies and interests, there wasn't much to make her an interesting lead who was about to turn bad. There wasn't growing evil inside her, just anxiety and paranoia. The tone that was set from the start was just depressing, and I think that affected the entirety of the book, which didn't help.

Personally, I love thrillers, mysteries, and, crimes and the reason why I love those is that they make me think. This book did not. It was very much predictable from start. There wasn't anything new, no new angles to merit a surprise. No mind-boggling plot twists. For many hardcore thriller fans out there, I do not recommend this at all. However, I do recommend this to people who want to try their eyes on thrillers.

Honestly, I wanted to stop reading the book somewhere in the middle, but what made me finish it was how well the writer wrote her sentences. It was a fast read, which I like so much. Although I do not agree with the tone and atmosphere of the book, I found that the consistency of it was spot on.

Read at your own risk.

[Nicole Yatsushiro ( AquariaReads_ )]

I was lucky to get an ARC for free , and to express my gratitude I would be respectful by giving an honest review..

this book is about Jess who is an introvert, gore-loving female who thinks that she is not like other people because she has more darkness in her than most, she lives her life around school-work-home and rarely does she go out for socializing only when her friend keaton asks her to hang out, but everything changes after a fight-or-flight situation which would either show her true self or she would be able to suppress who she is.

Now what I like about this book is the consistency of the depressing atmosphere the author had set for the book.

As that being said, everything fell flat. The characters was one note, and reading the mind of Jessica was utterly tiring.

I honestly thought that this was a story of a birth of a serial killer or a psychopath especially when I read the summary saying
"murders are like potato chips. You can never have just one."
It was pretty misleading, because what happened to the story was all just circumstantial. It was not even her plotting or yearning to kill again like wanting to eat another potato chip when you had one.

thus rating this 1/5 stars.

but all this is probably because I am used to reading thriller/mystery books plus I love when the story is really full out psycho and if you're not like me, then I would still recommend it.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads]

Talk about dark rivers of the heart.
This was hard for me to read, I've had to do some hard things to surive, and somethings I'm not proud of.
I've been in so many trainings for active shooters, and while I'm prepaid, are any of us ever really prepared?

This book kind of felt like when I realized, there's more then just a girl, walking around, reading books inside, there's something else, that you sometimes wrestle with and think, does this make me bad, or does this just make me human?

I did not want to use the cliche old line, there are two wolves inside you, but I mean THERE ARE!

This is going to weigh on my mind, and is something everyone should read at least once.


Also I definitely want to read Th Residency now, which was down my list of tbr but will be moving waaaay up

What I did
Kayla Frederick
4/5 stars

[Rachel Browning]

“What I Did” by Kayla Frederick is a true edge-of-your-seat thriller. I couldn’t put it down—the suspense kept building, and just when I thought I had it figured out, the story took a turn I didn’t expect. It really made me question what any of us might do to survive. If you love a story that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat until the final page, this one is for you.

[Rebecca Hock]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it very easy to read. The story flowed quickly. I found I really started to like the characters and wanted to find out what happened to them. All in all a very good read and one I would recommend that others read.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (9/15/2022)! 🎁

[Ali O]

What I did by Kayla Frederick
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This is a really good dark thriller book! There’s lots of emotions throughout the entire story with the different characters, and some graphic murder scenes as well.
The main character Jess, has a lot going on in her mind and the reader gets to see into her dark thoughts. The relationship she had with her mom was a rather strange and confusing one. The story is suspenseful and overall I was sucked into it. The book is well written and the author did a great job. This is a fast read and one to definitely check out!

Thank you to Kayla Frederick for an e-copy of this fantastic book!

[Carrie Shields]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫?

Another backlist languishing in KU purgatory that I freed today. Jessica has always felt a little different. She's a loner, rarely dates, and likes her space. She's not happy to be living with her mom, but her job at the grocery store doesn't pay enough for her to live on her own. She's learned enough to pass for normal, but she knows something is inside her that's more than depression, but she's learned to keep it buried.

One day at work, everything unravels when she's caught in the horror of an active shooter situation and faced with a dire choice when she comes face-to-face with the shooter: running means certain death, but staying means there's a chance to let out her primal side. This was the only place in the book that was a little uncomfortable, and it wasn't the brutality of the act that got me, it was the intimacy. She's hailed as the hero of the day, but Jessica knows that she's living a lie. And once that Pandora's box has been opened, there's no way to close it again.

I was really surprised to see several low ratings, and after reading them, I think the issue was they were expecting a thriller with twists and surprises. I wouldn't characterize this book as a thriller. It was a slow burn, which I rarely enjoy, but there was something about Jessica that made me want to keep reading. The world is filled with people like her, people who have darkness inside them but also refuse to give in entirely to it. No one can say with certainty what would they would do in the situation she found herself in unless it actually happened.

I'm glad I finally got to this one two years after adding it on KU. Backlist November continues!

[Mark taylor]

I got What I Did by Kayla Krantz from BookSirens for a fair and honest review


To Look at her on the outside, Jessica is your all-American woman, blonde, young and pretty,but examine, her subconscious, something in there, draws her to horror movies and true crime.

Having to Live with a mix of social anxiety and agoraphobia makes maneuvering the world outside of her apartments bubble tough.

Jessica though can cope her job at the local grocery store.That is, until she gets swept up in the crossfire of an active shooter.

To survive, Jess must tap into the growing darkness that is inside her and cross a line which has no coming back from, committing her first murder.

This book is a dark thriller as the only way you see the world is through Jessica’s eyes and mind, with all her dark thoughts and trying to deal with her issues which the writer handles, well, with sympathy and care.

The reason I say that Jessica was written well, is because with her issues with Anxiety and what novel is about, it would have been easy to make her unlikable, which in turn would have made the book unreadable.

Another thing that the writer did well in my opinion was the ending, while most of the lose ends of the novel tied up neatly, there was the odd one left hanging,which as a reader may bother you, but they where minor and I thought worked well.

I would recommend this book to peoplr who like crime stories, but those mainly written through the eyes of the killer, as well as those readers who like to be able to get in to the mind of a character they would not normally be inside of.

If your reading tastes match those stated previously, or you are in to books that are on the darker side, then I would recommend Kayla Kantz book What I Did

[Krystal]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jess, a mentally disturbed young woman who lives in an apartment building with her drug addict mother, has a fascination with death and serial killers. She spends her days in monotony, travelling from home to work, work to school, and home again. When an unexpected mass shooting occurs at the grocery store where she works, she is shocked to see who was behind the gun. Caught between fight or flight, the move Jess makes may have been her biggest mistake.

Kayla Krantz's What I Did, is a psychological thriller that dives deep into the mind of an introverted, mentally troubled young woman. The first few opening chapters contain slightly graphic "thoughts" which shows us some insight into the dark mind of our protagonist.

I was immediately intrigued by the way the author wrote the subconscious thoughts of the main character. I like the way the story was laid out; the pacing was nicely spread. There was a certain part in the book where there was a nail-biting scene and the suspense was marvellous. I liked the overall story, I liked the characters, the events were relevant and to the point and I enjoyed reading this novel. I don't have any dislikes, so that's always a good sign and so I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars

I recommend this book to persons looking for something slightly disturbing, fast-paced, and psychologically thought inducing. This book is worth your time and I would grab a copy if I were you!

There are a number of graphic scenes and narratives that may not be suitable for all readers. I suggest you skip this book or proceed at your own risk, as you may be triggered by thoughts of animal cruelty, thoughts of brutal murders and murder scenes, some profanity, drug references, etc.

[Rucha]

Big thanks to Goodreads, Kayla Krantz and BookFunnel for my e-ARC :)

What I loved: Chilling plot and really strong, well thought out characters. Kayla has spent a decent amount of time building up the main characters, and keeps the plot tight with no unwanted filler dialogues or any plot holes, which I really liked.

Kayla has a way of articulating intense emotions without being corny. She also creates some very tense scenes, building up the suspense without being anti-climatic, and I had some genuine ‘gaah!’ moments, which was perfect, so brownie points for that!

Although it seems pretty obvious who were going to be Jessica’s victims, I think the shock factor lies in the moment when the reader realises that Jessica is fully aware of what she’s doing, still does it, and then continues to self-analyze!

What didn't click with me: I did however, find it a bit anti-climatic that Jessica was almost willing for herself to be caught, the way I saw it, if she’s shown to be someone who loves to delve into the psyche of serial killers and literally studies forensics, you’d imagine she’d be doing more to cover up her track– examples : decides not to destroy victims face, simply dumps laptop into the dumpster (!).

Conclusion: I wasn’t expecting to see a remorseless serial killer, because that is not how Jessica is shown to be, but I think I did expect to see a smart killer, one who would do more to avoid getting caught.
It was potentially also because, I did love Jess’s character and would have loved this to be trilogy / thriller series. Maybe... Jessica, with Keaton as her side kick! ;)

[Ronni Adams]

I received an ARC from Book Sirens in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wonderfully written dark thriller.

Our main character is Jess, on the surface, your average teen. She has a fondness for the darker things in life, not only horror movies, but also the true crime chat rooms on the internet.

Jess suffers from deep social anxiety and agoraphobia, her safe place being her apartment. She manages to work in a convenience store and has one person she considers a friend.

Jess finds herself in a terrible situation, being hounded by the press after a work colleague goes on a shooting spree at their place of work. She is accused of being either an accomplice, or a cold blooded killer herself, after the shooter dies at the end of her knife.

Her alcohol and pill dependant mother manages to pull herself together for one day to be present for Jess, but then soon slips back to the comfort of wine and pills.

Jess's one time boyfriend, if you can call him that, after one miserable date, was also employed in the same store as her and the shooter. Since the failed date, he, Samuel has gone out of his way to make things difficult for Jess.

After an eventful confrontation between Jess and Samuel ends badly, Jess finds herself and the rest of her work colleagues being questioned regarding her relationship with Samuel. As his absence continues, a search party is organised. Things happen, and to find out more, you will need to read the book for yourself.

If you are a fan of dark, thriller type books, you will really enjoy this one. It is extremely well written and the story flows at a good pace. Well worth the read.

[Kaye]

🔪🔪ONE UNNERVING THRILL🔪🔪
Off the deep end! Kayla brought out the bad in horror, wiped the floor with terror, snapped the blade for nail-biting, waylaid shenanigans, sank the boat in twisted, rigged up the C4 of intense, blasting this bad boy to another realm, binding it together seamlessly. A swirling vortex of vexing circumstances and unbelievable mishaps, horrendous trials and challenging tribulations, noting the shocking twists and startling turns, testing our characters in ways they could have never anticipated. Fumbling through a minefield of deadly peril, chilling danger, nerve racking intrigue and heart pounding suspense, maneuvering through the dark twisted manipulations of evil incarnate and malicious intent, wrapping this gem up sleek, shiny and tight. Anarchy runs rampant and deception is rife, rolling out the drama, turmoil, intrigue, secrets and terrifying situations, you have one mind-blowing masterpiece. Braided, bound and tightly banded, exposing the crazy quirks and defying bents, putting our characters through their paces. The complexity of the characters are realistic, authentic and original with relatable qualities and individual traits adding depth and diversity, transform into formidable personalities. The scenes are strikingly sharp with abundant details and descriptions that feel as though you were transported to ground zero with them. Remarkable job Kayla, thanks for sharing this little jewel with us.

[Jao Wonders]

There are books that demand a lot out of us to reach certain level of satisfaction or enjoyment and while I love them I do need breaks from it. And this book is just what I needed. A fast read that delivers to you what it promises and more. ⁣

⁣

Jessica finds herself in a situation where she needs to decide quickly, to either let the predator be one or fight back. "𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭" (from Mad Woman) ⁣

And fight back she did. ⁣

⁣

I was reading this last night and was in a major scene when I asked myself this:⁣

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦? 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦? 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩?⁣

⁣

I then asked my best friend the same question and what a conversation we had. Thanks, ate @Dubistakeso 🖤⁣

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I enjoyed this a lot and recommend it for someone who loves a quick, fun read. I gave it four howls of approval!⁣

🐺🐺🐺🐺⁣

⁣

Go check it out now and give it a try!⁣

**I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review**

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🖤🖤🖤⁣

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Here's more lyrics from Taylor Swift's song Mad Woman:⁣

⁣

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺⁣

𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺⁣

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?⁣

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺⁣

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯⁣

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥⁣

𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯⁣

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵⁣

⁣

⁣

𝓙𝓪𝓸

[Paula Phillips]

I was attracted to this book first from the cover, it is so creepy that it's awesome - the only downside is that the title and author's name are a bit harder to read. The other thing that drew me to this book was the fact that I love murder mysteries and with the main character being a teenager, I was hooked. This book introduces us to Jessica who on the outside looks like your average all-American girl - blonde, pretty but on the inside she is different. You could call her a sociopath - as her personality reminded me strongly of Dexter from the Jeff Lindsey series. Jessica works at a local grocery shop and has a stalker in Samuel and her best friend at work is Oscar. Lately, Oscar has seemed a bit off and I have to admit when the incident happens, I did see it coming as you just know. When Jess kills Oscar saving others, she is praised as a hero but Samuel isn't going to let it go as once, she rejected him, he wants to expose her as the b___ and sociopath she is and we read as he continues to stalk her until one night, he takes it too far. Soon he disappears and Jess is the main suspect, can she throw the police off her trail or will her dark secrets be exposed? Find out in this YA read which reminded me of the 90s type slasher films e.g. I Know What You Did Last Summer / Scream- What I Did by Kayla Krantz.

[Chrissy]

The one thing that I like about this book is the way in which it flows. Jessie is a solitary kind of girl. She prefers her own company and only really ventures out to go to work. She does however have a bestie named Keaton who does her best to get her friend to go out. Jessie works in a grocers store and does have a friend or ( acquaintance) as she would call him named Oscar. Oscar seems to be just like Jessie, keeps his head down and doesn't say much, which suits Jessie. Apart from enjoying her own company Jessie does like horror movies and had a strange interest in serial killers, I think she would like to know why they do what they did. Jessie does go to school as well in the evening. Jessie did have a date with one of her co workers, but he didn't live up to her expectations as he was a Netflix and chill kind of guy which is definitely not her type of guy. One day while at work something happens which will change Jessie forever. To find out what that is you will have to read the book 😅.

I received this book as an advanced copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Dawn]

What I Did by Kayla Krantz is a dark and somewhat graphic psychological thriller. The main character, Jessica (Jess) takes you on a ride through her dark thoughts and interactions in her limited world. Jess is a student and a part-time employee but has few friends and interactions with anyone in “the outside world”. She prefers to isolate in her apartment with her substance abusing and absent mother and explore her dark thoughts. Due to a lack of empathy and connectedness, Jess feels she can’t relate to or understand other people. As the story unfolds, a shooting then a murder or two occurs. Details begin to emerge and the trail of lies twist and turn. In the end, one is left to wonder if Jessica herself is evil or does she just attract it? A good read as long as you are okay with some graphic details. I was given an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion. 4/5 stars.

[Saundra Wright]

One of the things I love about Kayla Krantz writing is the deep psychological introspection of her protagonists. It adds so much depth to the story without ever slowing down the plot. In What I Did, you meet a budding psychopath and follow along on her ride to an inevitable downfall.

Jessie is an introvert to the extreme. She has a job, cashiering at a local grocery. She even goes to a forensic class a couple times a week. What isn’t typical is that she has just one friendly acquaintance at her job, another misfit. If it weren’t for her best friend for years, Keaton, she would just stay cocooned in the comfort of the small home she shares with her mother.

But Jessie has made an enemy at work. She had one short date with him when she first started her job. But after just this one short date, she brushed him off. Definitely not someone she wanted to get close to. Since he has made it his mission to torment her. But how far will he go in his search for vengeance? And just how far can Jessie be pushed before her dark side intervenes?

[John Schindele]

First, the story. I enjoyed the story for most of it. The main character's choices seemed to make sense given her mental state throughout the book, and hearing her unravel seemed quite legit and scary. Some of the events seemed a bit questionable, but I can give that a pass as it was still entertaining.

Secondly the writing. The storytelling in this book was superb, as was the writing itself. I can easily get turned off of a book because of awkward writing, but this one didn't have anything that stuck out to me (even from a grammatical standpoint, not that I'm a student of grammar, but oddities stick out like sore thumbs, and this one had NONE!!)

I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.

[Jesse Bollinger]

This was one heck of a psychological thriller. We follow our main character Jess. Jess feels like she has darkness inside her. She’s a big fan of horror movies and everything dark. She gets put in a situation where she has to make a drastic choice to survive a situation. later on she finds herself in that same position and makes a fatal choice yet again. The story is about her. wrestling with the effect of her actions on her psyche. even though she’s done wrong things we still root for her and want her to succeed. She’s not necessarily a bad person just someone who is caught up in the craziness of life. i’m trying to be vague this review not to give away any spoilers. This was a great book with a heck of a lot of tension. My anxiety was through the roof.

[Nikki B.]

What I did was such a compelling story. I was hooked. Jessica lives with her mom who has a drug problem. Pill popping. She sometimes tries to get clean, be mom of the year, but it never lasts. Jessica, is a unique girl. She watches snuff films and is even surprised at her lack of reaction to the dark and gory. I thought this would make her a serial killer of sorts. I was surprised at how she handled those scenarios. Guilt ridden and tormented. In this story, Jessica is faced with some really unique situations. The types you never want to find yourself in. And now she has to face her demons.
The story is well written and easy to follow. The plot is very intriguing. But by the end, I felt sorry for Jessica and doesn't think she deserves what's happening to her. I flew through this!

[Amy Proebstel]

This was my first time reading a book by Kayla Frederick, and while psychological suspense isn’t my usual genre, I’m glad I gave What I Did a chance. The beginning was quite slow for me, but I stuck with it, and I’m really glad I did.

As the story unfolds and you learn more about Jessica’s life and the darkness she’s carrying, everything shifts. By the final chapters, I felt genuine sympathy for her and the hand she was dealt. The psychological depth and the way the tension builds once the main events kick in are really well done.

It’s a dark, thought-provoking read with some solid twists. If you enjoy character-driven thrillers that explore survival, guilt, and the gray areas of human nature, this one delivers.

[M.L. Tompsett]

Another great read by the talented Kayla Krantz. What I Did, is a dark fiction story about a misunderstood girl by the name of Jessica who is into all things with a very fine line between real life and horror movies. Between her job and attending college in the field of forensics, Jessica tries to keep her head down and avoid eye contact with anyone.
Her life changed forever when her friend and work colleague, went on a shooting spree. Is Jessica capable of murder? Can she kill someone and get away with it?
Grab a copy and join Jessica on her journey. Great characters, storyline and world building, this is one dark psychological book you will enjoy if you dare.

[Sukaina Majeed]

What I did takes you in the creepy dark world of Jessica which not only tells us about the loneliness she goes through but also the feelings of what bullying of any kind can lead people to do. Jessica is scary but she is also real. Her mind wanders a lot in the book and you are not able to figure out the truth till the end. The unpredictability of the story keeps you hooked and the thrill of the dark mind of the main character is going to be a delight to read. I wish the author could have written more about Jessica's relationship with her mother. I got this as an ARC from Booksirens in exchange for an honest review.

[Joshua Grant]

Kayla Krantz hits us with a riveting psychological thriller in What I Did! Jessica is trying to manage her life while constantly holding down dark and potentially dangerous impulses. But what was previously a hindrance becomes a benefit when an active shooter attacks the store where Jessica works. Committing her first murder, Jessica finds it’s hard to hold back the dam now that it’s been punctured. It’s a pretty unique setup and fresh new take on psyche thrillers, and I love Krantz’s focus on Jessica’s character and her very human struggle! This one’s dark and chilling, but well worth the dive into its shadows!

[Montse Castro]

Well...I don’t know how to begin this. I was so excited when I started reading, she seemed soo dark and twisted and the something change in the book. While I understand that human nature is complicated and her whole view on mortality and inner monsters change I think the perspective of a legit serial killer would have been quite interesting. It was really slow and some things could have been dropped. I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say what events but I will say I was pleased with the ending. So for me the beginning and end where good...it was just all the middle that I couldn’t get into.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kaitlyn Davis]

I like how it’s LGBT inclusive right off the bat without making it into a sub-plot. It’s slow paced enough to keep readers interested with short enough chapters so as not to overwhelm the reader, it wraps up in a nice way as well. However this would be a book more for people who are just starting to get into thrillers rather then someone who’s a seasoned reader of the genre, I found it predictable and lost the curiosity and spark half way through, the main character seems flat, we don’t get to see enough about her to truly feel for her or connect with her. I would have enjoyed more of her back story as well.

[Kaili (Owl Book World)]

So the premise of the this story is actually really good. I like that aspect of it. However I didn't really like Jessica. To me she doesn't really fit the profile with how the author wrote her. I kind of found her to be weak with the situation she put herself in. Maybe that was the author's intention but it was hard for me to like her because of that reason. Yes I know...not all characters are supposed to be liked especially when they do something that isn't that great. I guess I just like a book better if I can at least like the main character some.
Despite not liking the main character I still did end up really enjoying the story.