Never Have I Ever – Joshilyn Jackson

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It starts as a game at a book group one night. Never Have I Ever… done something I shouldn’t.

Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it—teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbours, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-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 humour, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

New York Times Bestselling novelist Joshilyn Jackson is the author of gods in Alabama, Between, Georgia, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, Backseat Saints, A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, Someone Else’s Love Story, The Opposite of Everyone, and The Almost Sisters. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages, won SIBA’s novel of the year, three times been a #1 Book Sense Pick, been the Target Book Club Pick, and three times been shortlisted for the Townsend prize. A former actor, Jackson reads the audio versions of her novels; her work in this field has been nominated for the Audie Award, was selected by AudioFile Magazine for their best of the year list, and garnered two Listen Up Awards from Publisher’s Weekly.

She lives in Decatur, Georgia with her husband, their two children, and way too many feckless animals.

MY REVIEW

WOW!  Never Have I Ever is a very dark, dangerous cat and mouse game (think Tom & Jerry on Crack Cocaine!) which will thrill, grip and entertain fans of psychological thrillers everywhere.

Amy Whey is a first time mum living in quiet, comfortable suburbia with her husband Davis and his teenage daughter.  She runs the neighbourhood Book Club with her best friend Charlotte, teaches the locals to dive and is currently enjoying her maternity leave.  Enter “Roux” a glamorous, confident single mum who has just moved into the area and gate-crashes book club, causing utter mayhem and havoc in her wake.

Told through Amy’s point of view Never Have I Ever is a seriously addictive, fast paced thriller featuring two brilliant protagonists, both equally strong alpha females determined to out play the other regardless of the effects it has on their lives and the lives of their family and friends.

There were so many twists in this book that I seriously didn’t see coming and a couple of moments where I had to stop, regroup and ask myself how as a lover of psychological thrillers I hadn’t worked it out before the twist.

I can only liken this reading experience to getting in your car for a long journey, setting your Sat-Nav as you kind of know where you are going and about halfway through the drive you realise you programmed the wrong address in.

Clever, gripping, addictive and thoroughly entertaining.  5 stars from me.