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Never Have I Ever: A Novel
Never Have I Ever: A Novel
Never Have I Ever: A Novel
Audiobook13 hours

Never Have I Ever: A Novel

Published by HarperAudio

4/5

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About this audiobook

New York Times best-selling author Joshilyn Jackson — ”an admired writer who deserves to be a household name” (Kirkus Reviews) — displays her masterful talent in this dark and deliciously addictive tale of domestic suspense.

In this game, even winning can be deadly....

Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it — teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited 15-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book-club night.

Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way - a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.

To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.

A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateJul 30, 2019
ISBN9780062933546

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4/5

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  • 4/5
    This is the first book I have read by this author, and the first book I received through Early Readers. It took me a little bit to get into this book and I can't say that is was "couldn't put down", but I did enjoy this book. Roux blackmails Amy over something happened 20+ years ago and threatens to destroy the life that Amy biult. Amy hits back but Roux aways seems to be one step ahead. I couldn't figure out who Roux was or how she found out about Amy's past. And although I'm not sure we really find out who she is, you can't help but be hooked.
  • 4/5
    Amy is content, living in Florida and working as a dive instructor. She has a husband, a teenage stepdaughter, and an infant son. Life is good. Until the day a new neighbor, Roux, drops in at book club and stirs things up. She somehow knows things, and she knows some of Amy's secrets from her past, secrets which no one in her current life know anything about. When Roux begins to blackmail Amy, Amy must decide whether to give in or to try to beat Roux at her own game. I've read quite a few of Joshilyn Jackson's novels and I'd probably have to say that she ranks up there as one of my favorite authors, or at least one that I enjoy returning to again and again. Most of her books have a nice mix of dysfunctional, southern craziness while exploring fairly serious subject matters. In this one, however, she branches more out into the thriller genre. So there's less crazy, but more suspense. I wasn't pulled in to the story immediately, but the further in I got, the more invested I became, and then I was hooked. Unlike many thrillers, some of the secrets were revealed early on, but there were still enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I wouldn't say this was my favorite novel of Jackson's, but it was good enough and fairly impressive for her first foray into the thriller/suspense genre.
  • 4/5
    This book starts slow, with a lot of repetitive inner monologue from Amy, our narrator. By midway, the story hits its stride, and from there I was hooked.For me, this book has three major strengths. First, the characters are believable, relatable, and interesting. They feel human and I enjoyed getting to know them all.Second, the plot is something I could see happening. We have depth and just enough complexity to keep us on edge.And, finally, the twists are a touch of brilliance. I'm not sure if my jaw literally dropped but I felt sucker punched a few times, and I mean that in the best sort of way. Jackson doesn't give us one big reveal at the end. Instead, she slams us with something surprising, lets us adjust, and then throws another curve our way.I don't want to say more, because I don't want to spoil a thing. Don't let the slower pace at the beginning lull you into complacency. This story is full of surprises!*I received an ARC from the publisher, via LibraryThing.*
  • 5/5
    A secret from her past and someone who happens to show up that may ruin everything.During their regular, monthly book club meeting a knock on the door brings a new member who as the evening wears on definitely isn't welcome.Roux knows something about Amy and innocently suggests they play a game called Never Have I Ever.

What dark secret could Amy be hiding, how does Roux know about it, and how did Roux find Amy? Roux demanded money, and Amy had it. 

Who would have thought after all this time someone would find out and take the time to look into what Amy did as a fifteen-year old?

Roux did just that, and she was pretty clever, but Amy was pretty clever too so the game gets intense for both of them, but who has the most to lose?

Both women are strong and determined. Both know how to play games, but will the winner take all or will both players lose? 

A tiny bit on the slow side at first, but not for long. Ms. Jackson took a nightmarish incident that could very well happen and turned it into a story line that will grab you and will have you wondering how someone would even think about doing something like this to someone and how they were able to acquire the information they found or how they even found the person.

You will be on the edge of your seat as you turn the pages and anxiously await how this game goes.

 5/5This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
  • 4/5
    I enjoy Joshilyn Jackson's stories. They are a good blend of likable characters who are usually slightly flawed, with plenty of dysfunctional family dynamics thrown in to make it an enjoyable 'chick lit' read. But this book was a surprise because it had a dark and twisty mystery thriller component that made you glued to the story. If you're looking for a psychological thriller with some very clever plot twists, then you'll like this book!
  • 4/5
    This was a different genre than I usually read but it did keep my interest. There were many twists and turns and was able to keep my interest all the way through. The main character Amy had done unforgivable things in her past and someone was about to make her pay.
  • 4/5
    It starts when s new member shows up at the book club. A game, Never have i Ever, a secret kept for many years. What if someone knows your secret? Is willing to do anything to win the game, and get your money? Would you know how to play? Could you find a way to win?I've read this author for years, has the undeniable knack of creating fully realistic characters. Women and situations that could be taken out of the newspapers, maybe even our own lives, our neighborhoods. These women seem real because they are multilayered, not all good, not all bad. I found this story, absorbing, addicting. Times I thought I knew where it was going, how I felt, something was revealed that I didn't see coming, and my feelings changed again. Couldn't wait to see how this was going to end. Both women had much to lose, so who would come out on top? Such a spider web of s story, expertly plotted, and expertly executed. Step, by step.ARC from Book browse.
  • 5/5
    Amy has a comfortable life with her loving husband, stepdaughter Maddie, and baby Oliver. Then one night at the monthly neighborhood book club meeting a stranger threatens her life as she knows it. Amy has a secret that she has kept hidden…until now. Roux knows what she did and wants retribution. But Amy has too much to lose so she fights back. But as it says on the cover of the book “In this game, even winning can be deadly.”This book is a departure from Joshilyn Jackson’s usual Southern women fiction. However, Jackson brings to her debut thriller aspects of her previous novels that her fans love – the strong female friendships, the witty bantering, and the characters you love to hate. She brings us two equally strong women who are ready to do battle – a battle of wits. Both with secrets they will do anything to keep hidden. Her mastery of this genre-flip may well attract readers not familiar with her previous works. The story quickly grabbed me and took me on an exhilarating ride. It kept me on the edge of my seat as their cat-and-mouse game was played out. I do hope she will write more books of this genre.Thank you to BookBrowse and William Morrow Books for the advance copy. Opinions expressed here are totally mine.
  • 3/5
    I wanted to like this, and at first I did. Jackson portrays a typical suburban neighborhood, including a book club for moms, with juicy tensions. Then the plot took a couple of unrealistic turns, and I found myself losing interest.
  • 4/5
    Until I saw Joshilyn Jackson on a book tour in Wichita years ago, I had dismissed her work as chick lit - not my genre. I was so impressed with her wit, compassion, and storytelling skills that I became a lifelong fan. My guess is that even her grocery list is entertaining reading!This is the story of Amy Whey, a thirty-some young mom and diving instructor with a secret in her past, and a beautiful devious newcomer who threatens to exploit it and ruin everything Amy holds dear. A fast paced, twisty plot makes this book hard to put down. Recommended as a great beach read!
  • 5/5
    I’m a big fan of Joshilyn Jacksons’s writing. Her sassy, southern style is completely unique and unmistakable. This story was a little different from her usual, but still written with her signature complex, flawed southern characters and witty southernisms like only she can do. I learn so much from her writing. Her main characters usually have some interesting career or hobby that I learn about and in this book it was scuba diving. I also love how her books make me think about all the grey areas in life and see different points of view on important themes like justice and forgiveness. Her writing speaks to me in a way like no other—when I’m reading, I’m thinking she knows me and she gets me. Her characters feel like family and her books feel like home. Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewer program for a free copy in exchange for review. I will still be purchasing the audio version when it’s released in July so that I can hear her tell the story in her own voice. If you have never listened to Joshilyn as a narrator—you’re missing out!
  • 4/5
    Amy Whey, 42, feels lucky to have a solid, loving family with her husband Davis, stepdaughter Maddie, and her eight-month old baby Oliver. She has a nice home and a best friend in Charlotte Baxter, who has a little girl of her own. But Amy has a secret past that isn’t so nice. She thinks there is no way anyone will know, until a newcomer, Angelica Roux, comes to her neighborhood bookclub, and hints that she knows all about Amy. Amy’s world, that she thought was safe and protected, is about to be upended, unless she can come up with a way out. But “Roux” as Angelica calls herself, brings pathological skills and hard-core experience to this game she is playing with Amy, and Amy fears she will lose everything good in her life.Amy is much like the characters we are used to from Joshilyn Jackson - full of overflowing, nurturing love for family and friends. But Amy does have a dark past that takes this character beyond the more quotidian flaws of previous protagonists. Roux, on the other hand, is something new for Jackson: a repugnant and remorseless spider who snares everyone she can into her web and then coldly devours their lives.Tension and twists keep readers on the edge of their seats until an unexpected revelation about Roux changes the nature of the game.Evaluation: The writing is as good as usual for Jackson, but some of the characters are beyond despicable, so it’s hard to say I “liked” the story. I’m also still not sure how I felt about Amy’s past. Somewhat ironically, since the story begins with a book club meeting (gone bad), a (normal) book club meeting is exactly where I would love to dissect this story and hear the thoughts of other readers.
  • 4/5
    I was really excited to read this book! I’m not sure it lived up to my expectations. This is a suburban mom thriller - what if someone threatened to reveal your worst secret, how far would you go to stop them. It might be that this just wasn’t the perfect book for me but I wanted more nuance from the reading experience. The storyline went back and forth: the two protagonists would spar, then the threatened one would take care of her baby, make dinner, and come up with a strategy, then repeat. The secondary characters were not well developed, maybe no one was? There were some clever twists and turns but overall this was not a totally satisfying read.
  • 3/5
    As a longtime fan of Joshilyn Jackson, I was both excited and a little wary when I saw that she had a new novel coming out (the former) and that it would be in the mystery genre (the latter). Never Have I Ever has Jackson’s signature cast of female characters who have clever and biting personalities. In other words, women I’d like to befriend. But unlike her previous novels, character development and family entanglements take a backseat to a propelling plot. Jackson takes on the current trendy psychological thriller novel rather than a procedural mystery. And, although she does fall into the genre tropes a bit, Jackson, it should be remembered is not bad at handing out a good twist whether or not a mystery is at the core of the plot or not. Although it takes a bit for the book to get off the ground, and the title proves to be a burden to the narrative (yes, there is a game, and no, it’s not quite “Never Have I Ever”), Never Have I Ever, ultimately, is a page turner with feisty female characters and some unexpected twists that made me gasp and cheer with equal relish.
  • 4/5
    I have long been a fan of Joshilyn Jackson's books, so was eagerly anticipating this one, especially since it was advertised as being "different" from her others. It is indeed different, with the dark twist of the stranger Angelina Roux threatening to reveal Amy's secret and well-hidden past. The settings, character development, and writing style are reliably familiar, however, which for me is a good thing. I was engrossed in the plot, and thought that the denouement was rather predictable, but still interesting. This is definitely a book worth reading, though not quite so compelling that I could give it a 5-star review.
  • 5/5
    This was recommended to me as a thriller for my book group and wow. It starts off with a harmless mom's book group when this "new neighbor"mom shows up, inserting herself into their getting like she has been there forever, starts this game that's intended to get them drunk and makes them divulge secrets about they're lives, so she can blackmail each of them to further fuel her own secret life, she doesn't want anybody to know about. Tons of plot twists. This would be better to read, but being I didn't have the ebook or the physical copy, I listened to it and wished there hadn't been any reason to have to pause this
  • 5/5
    By far one of my favorite books!! It was great!!
  • 5/5
    Well, well, well, this is not the Joshilyn Jackson that I had read before! Great big kudos for going all out and doing something so very different. This novel starts at a neighborhood book club, enter in a new visiting member and things start jumpin'. I won't dare leave spoilers. I will say the author's writing on diving was very beautiful causing catharsis! You like intense? Buckle up! If ever there were two sides of a coin then it came right out of Joshilyn Jackson's mind. I'd love to see this author do a parallel universe novel as her main character Amy kept flirting with.
  • 4/5
    Glad it came out of the slush pile!

    Wow I did not see that coming. Anything that catches me off guard is nothing less than impressive. My only real negative or complaint is due to the lul in the middle. I stepped away from it thinking I might not finish but then I remembered the beginning and wanted to press on. Sometimes less is more. I turned up the speed to get through that brief drag. Glad I did. That ending was worth it.
  • 5/5
    This book was amazing from start to finish. It was so hard to put down! I was instantly drawn in and could not put it down. This may be my favorite book of Jackson's to date! I loved the mystery and suspense in the book. It was original and incredibly character driven. I was blown away by how it all came together piece by piece and then had a incredible and unpredictable ending. A must read!
  • 4/5
    Love the resilience of Amy! Listened to the audiobook.
  • 5/5
    4.5 stars. Great read with twists and turns and complicated characters. And Angelica Roux is a hell of a villain.
  • 4/5
    This is definitely in my top 10 books for the year-well written and hard to put down. The writing definitely kept me wanting to keep reading to find out what the secret was and who was involved. I also enjoyed that the story is a bit different than most of what I’ve read recently. Bottom line, if you have a secret watch out for that sneaky neighbor who appears from nowhere.
  • 5/5
    Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn JacksonAmy leads a normal life with her teenage stepdaughter, infant son and Husband. One day during book club a new woman (Roux) shows up. Roux wants to play a strange game, the group plays along and things get tense for the women. Amy is hiding a secret and Roux seems to know this and starts to make demands. Amy will do what ever it takes to protect her family, friends and herself.The plot moves at a steady pace with well developed characters. Although I did figure out part of the story, there were plot twists and secrets revealed that kept me engrossed. Overall I enjoyed Never Have I Ever and do recommend to others.
  • 3/5
    While I enjoyed reading this book, I spent a fair amount of it being angry at the main character Amy, whom I thought made a series of bad decisions. Towards the end, I actually was talking out loud to her, saying how stupid she was. At places in the novel, the suspense was almost too much for me. I don't know why it hit me the way it did. I read it to the end and was happy with the conclusion. It did keep me engaged, but the tension in the books was overwhelming in places.
  • 3/5
    I really like this author so I was a bit surprised that I found the story on the disturbing side...and not in a good way. I’m not a prude by any means but the sex scenes between the woman and the young boy traveling with her was a little too much to absorb and certainly not condone. The “secret” that was going to be reveled happened when Amy was still a child. Admittedly... it was serious enough that she probably should have told at least her husband...but instead she allowed it to became a control that was used to blackmail her. I grew irritated with her for even engaging with this depictable individual. Considering the big build up about the “secret” the ending was really disappointing.
  • 5/5
    Hooked and so didn’t see the end coming. Highly recommend.
  • 5/5
    I enjoyed it .. and this big bomb in the end I didn’t see it coming !
  • 2/5
    I didn’t finish it. Just moved too slow. Didn’t hold my interest.
  • 4/5
    I like that the book was psychological intense thriller .I found this book for $2.99.This is the first book I read by this author.I didn't have a clue about what was going on.It stated out slow at first.This book had a lot of twist and turns that I didn't see coming.It keep my attention to the end.