Reviews

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

joolee0715's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

qkitten's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

tillyjournals's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Amy is a normal suburban mum with a loving husband, child, stepchild and best friend. Or at least that's how things appear, until Roux turns up, and dares Amy to a game that is going to dredge up her past. Who will win this game of cat and mouse, and will Amy need to give up her integrity to win?

This is a decent thriller, I thought more would have been made of the 'Never Have I Ever' game given that is the title of the book, but I suppose there is the ongoing game running through the rest of the book. I loved the little bits of scuba thrown in as someone who is PADI scuba certified. I did not see several of the twists coming, which is a nice change for me because I have read quite a lot of thrillers, and have noticed a lot of the patterns. However I did slightly spoil myself for one of them by reading the content warnings.... 

I loved Amy's growth through this book, and her realisations of who she was,

well at least until a certain thing happened, but you can kind of understand why she did that. But I wish it hadn't undone some (all?) of her growth.

I think the truth of this book is, is that everyone is hiding something, but that something is very different depending on your past, which lets be real, is the truth of life. 

heidilreads's review against another edition

3.0

I'm struggling with this rating and review. The book definitely influenced my mood/life, so does that mean the author is fabulous or was it just a story to which I should not submit myself?

krispe22's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The author was doing something weird in this book. She really wanted the main character to like, respect, and even care about the well-being of her enemy. And it didn’t make sense. And the amount of times that the author wrote things along the lines of “in another situation I could see how we’d be friends” did not make any sense. The villain of the story is a terrible human being with no redeemable qualities. Let that sit don’t try to make us like her. but overall I did like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia

kellerko's review against another edition

3.0

A fairly quick read, but this psychological thriller did not live up to its hype. There were some interesting and complex characters but it really ended up feeling like who can get the most dirt on who the fastest.

bad_dragon's review

Rented from library; had a hard time getting into it before it was due back.

lavins's review against another edition

5.0

This was one good book with lots of twists and a great ending. It surprised me and shocked me a bit.
The action is pretty intense, most of the time, the stories are gripping and there are lots of situations that keep you on the edge.

laurenisallbooked's review against another edition

3.0

Overall, this one wasn't bad for a thriller. I enjoyed the suburban setting, the plot twists, the showing of the ways characters could lie to or sabatoge each other. I think Jackson tried to handle one too many plot lines here which left the book stretched a bit thin. A fun, unsettling read for October or any time you're looking for a thriller, but certainly not a book that will change your life or leave a lasting impression.

hobbiesofstefs's review against another edition

4.0

Overall I liked this book. It has some twists I did not see coming, which made reading the book pleasant.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Amy and Roux. I liked the themes of this book, is the past really gone? Can you overcome the past? Does the past have a factor on your life today?

I could not put it down. I read it as fast as I could. That was the only issue I had with book. It was a harder read. I don’t know why either. It took be about 13 hours, digitally. The voice was clear it was not to descriptive.