Name: You Did Nothing Wrong
Rating: 4.25 (2 reviews)

CG Drews

You Did Nothing Wrong 

A relentless, horror-inducing psychological suspense for fans of The Push and Baby Teeth by New York Times bestselling author CG Drews.

Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?

Then the one secret Elodie has been hiding is revealed, and no one is safe anymore.

A pulse-pounding, clever take on the haunted house novel, You Did Nothing Wrong examines the complexities of motherhood and the twisted bonds of family as it races to its shocking ending.

You Did Nothing Wrong

Steph

4.5 star OMG this book is absolutely insane. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller you can’t put down, You Did Nothing Wrong is the one. I basically did nothing but read this book in one sitting because I needed to know what was going to happen next. The story follows single mother Elodie, whose life suddenly feels like a fairy tale. She meets Bren—equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome—who sweeps her and her autistic son, Jude, away to his crumbling family house that he’s renovating. She now has a new husband, a new home, and a new baby on the way. Everything should be perfect. But is it? The writing in this book is incredible—so vivid, so descriptive, and deeply visceral. C.G. Drews really excels at horror because every description feels unsettling in the best way. The metaphors she uses to capture fear and unease are so striking and original that they genuinely made my skin prickle. And the plot twists? Absolutely wild. The last 30–40% of the book gave me complete whiplash. There were so many moments where I had to stop and think, wait… am I right about this? Or am I the one losing my mind? That’s how disorienting and intense the story becomes. Telling the story through Elodie’s perspective was a genius move because she’s such an unreliable narrator. You’re constantly questioning what’s real, what’s paranoia, and what’s something much darker lurking beneath the surface. Beyond the twists and horror, the book also explores some heavy themes. At its heart, this is a story about parenthood and generational trauma—how the wounds we carry from our upbringing can bleed into the next generation, and how not everyone is equipped to be the parent a child needs. Side note: maybe don’t read this at night… especially if you’re home alone.

Dark domestic suspense meets haunted house horror in this unnerving adult debut guaranteed to keep you awake for days afterward, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn The walls are closing in on her perfect new life. Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts Golden-retriever-devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect. Until Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it―something strange is going on. The question is, Is it with the house, or with her son? And what is Elodie hiding? "A masterpiece." - Ava Reid "Brilliantly tense, paranoid, masterfully wrought." - Dawn Kurtagich "Prepare to have your heartstrings clawed." - T. Marie Vandelly

A Novel

Not going to lie, I had to put this book down multiple times because of how real the emotions and descriptions were.

Elodie’s story is addictive, you empathize with her right at the beginning. Cheering her on, but also on edge because obviously this isn't going to be a nice happy family book. As the story unravels, it's hard to decide if the house is haunted, or if Elodie is mentally unstable. I'll be honest, I rooted for the house being haunted.

So many of the twists caught me completely off guard, and the ending is perfection. While I still have questions, I think it's just my lack of want for 'you just know what happen' type endings. lol But who knows, could this be a duology? Could we meet up with Elodie 5 years later?

Elodie's parents, and flash back scenes def. hit a cord with my emotions. Mix that with Jude's mannerisms and behavior. These characters are so real. You know them, they're your neighbor. I just can't get over how well done the autistic representation is done. How well the 'favorite child' representation is done. The 'too much' in the eldest daughter, ugh. It's overall just so well written.

You'll enjoy this book, if you love thrillers that fill you with twists, houses with more to be discovered, and deep characters.

Thank you to Net Galley for a copy of this read!

Sabetha Danes

Not going to lie, I had to put this book down multiple times because of how real the emotions and descriptions were.

Elodie’s story is addictive, you empathize with her right at the beginning. Cheering her on, but also on edge because obviously this isn't going to be a nice happy family book. As the story unravels, it's hard to decide if the house is haunted, or if Elodie is mentally unstable. I'll be honest, I rooted for the house being haunted.

So many of the twists caught me completely off guard, and the ending is perfection. While I still have questions, I think it's just my lack of want for 'you just know what happen' type endings. lol But who knows, could this be a duology? Could we meet up with Elodie 5 years later?

Elodie's parents, and flash back scenes def. hit a cord with my emotions. Mix that with Jude's mannerisms and behavior. These characters are so real. You know them, they're your neighbor. I just can't get over how well done the autistic representation is done. How well the 'favorite child' representation is done. The 'too much' in the eldest daughter, ugh. It's overall just so well written.

You'll enjoy this book, if you love thrillers that fill you with twists, houses with more to be discovered, and deep characters.

Thank you to Net Galley for a copy of this read!

thank you to macmillan audio and netgalley for an advanced audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i really hate to say that this disappointed me after cg drews had two of my favorite reads from 2025 but, unfortunately, it did.

i genuinely think that you could remove a solid portion from the middle of the book and still end up with the same reading experience. and i really stand by that i think it should’ve been a novella instead. while i understand this was the point of the book, it was so damn repetitive (frustratingly so). wake, worry about her son, get spooked out more by the house, get suspicious of bren, repeat. i don’t know if it was the goal but i could see the beats of the story from very early on. you’re not meant to trust elodie’s mind but it was just monotonous torture being in with her the whole time. and unfortunately, it’s not like things are really getting objectively worse with the house. it’s more just elodie becomes more unstable, while nothing around her is really changing (besides bren trying to assume some help with jude).

i can see that drews is trying to create this gothic atmosphere, and while it’s worked before for don’t let the forest in and hazelthorn, i don’t think you did nothing wrong had the vibe that would produce a need for a gothic style of writing. while this wasn’t a win this time, i’m still intrigued to see where they’ll go in the adult horror space.

might change the star rating... i need to think on this more. but rtc!

ash (smokedshelves)

thank you to macmillan audio and netgalley for an advanced audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i really hate to say that this disappointed me after cg drews had two of my favorite reads from 2025 but, unfortunately, it did.

i genuinely think that you could remove a solid portion from the middle of the book and still end up with the same reading experience. and i really stand by that i think it should’ve been a novella instead. while i understand this was the point of the book, it was so damn repetitive (frustratingly so). wake, worry about her son, get spooked out more by the house, get suspicious of bren, repeat. i don’t know if it was the goal but i could see the beats of the story from very early on. you’re not meant to trust elodie’s mind but it was just monotonous torture being in with her the whole time. and unfortunately, it’s not like things are really getting objectively worse with the house. it’s more just elodie becomes more unstable, while nothing around her is really changing (besides bren trying to assume some help with jude).

i can see that drews is trying to create this gothic atmosphere, and while it’s worked before for don’t let the forest in and hazelthorn, i don’t think you did nothing wrong had the vibe that would produce a need for a gothic style of writing. while this wasn’t a win this time, i’m still intrigued to see where they’ll go in the adult horror space.


original review

might change the star rating... i need to think on this more. but rtc!

Eleanor 

Domestic suspense meets haunted house horror in this adult debut from the New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let the Forest In.

“Bloody immersive!” — Booklist

The walls are closing in on her perfect new life.

Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts Golden-retriever-devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Until Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it—something strange is going on.

The question is, Is it with the house, or with her son?

And what is Elodie hiding?

"Prepare to have your heartstrings clawed." —T. Marie Vandelly

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press

You Did Nothing Wrong

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