I didn't know what to expect going in to this book. I had read a few books by Mrs. Jackson previously but I knew she was straying from her usual genre by writing a suspense novel. I feel like this book is proof that good writing can cross genres and still keep the reader engaged.

A stranger named Roux shows up to crash a suburban book club at Amy's house one evening. Roux tries to get everyone drunk and spilling secrets but the secrets she really wants are Amy's. Roux seems like a temporary renter, just passing through with a bit of a brash personality but she is there for a distinct purpose and it's to play a high stakes game with Amy's past. The power struggle between these two women is the central story of the book with either of them trying to gain the upper hand in a game of knowledge and secrets.

The story was strong and the main characters were multi-faceted. The typical suspense/thriller tropes were played with a little but turned on their head just enough that the twists were unfamiliar and surprising. I felt like the pacing was a little slow at times but it always picked up before I was too bogged down to stop reading. It was not only a fun book but did make you think about what is worth risking to keep your secrets and do secrets even have to stay secrets forever? I love that the main character, Amy, did decide that the life she had built was real and valuable to her regardless of what it was built on and that was worth more than whatever shame and loss she might experience should her past come to light. There were times that I didn't like Amy but I am firmly in the camp that not every character has to be likeable ALL the time, just like most people in real life are very unlikeable at times.

I have already recommended this read to so many of my friends because it was so well written and different from other suspense novels I've read recently. Joshilyn Jackson is absolutely a fabulous author who knows what she is doing with a good story.

If this one isn’t on your summer beach reading list, put it there now! I promise you will be glad you did.

This book is not for me- I tried reading it, but it felt too off for me. I know this book is getting a lot of buzz, so I will not be posting a review on Goodreads as I was unable to finish it. Thanks for the opportunity to try it!

A neighborhood book club is hijacked by a newbie and that is just the start of Amy Whey’s nightmarish encounter with her new neighbor Roux. Amy has worked hard to move on from past mistakes but that is all about to come undone when Roux threatens to expose all of her secrets. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.

I’ve enjoyed Jackson’s previous books but this one did not completely hit the mark for me and I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps it’s because I found the characters to completely despicable and impossible to relate to. I have no problem reading about sociopathic tendencies but something about these characters I just did not connect with and I found my mind wandering at times while reading because I didn’t care too much about what happened. The story was good and fast-paced, but I was not completely drawn in and I felt that certain parts were implausible. Unfortunately, this was not my favorite but it was definitely a worthwhile read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow and Joshilyn Jackson for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was so good. It took me on quite the journey. I was hooked from the very first page until the end. This was my first book by this author although I have others by her on my "to read" shelf. I gathered from the acknowledgments sections that this is her first foray into thrillers. I hope she writes more because she nailed it!

Lies. Secrets. Temptation. Betrayal. Love.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson has all of these elements and more. When a new neighbor attends the monthly book club meeting, Amy Whey has no idea that a new kind of evil will be unleashed. Happily married, with a new baby and a loving step-daughter, Amy has tried to put her past behind her. The interloper, who calls herself Roux, makes a game of ferreting out and then revealing people’s deepest secrets. And Amy’s secrets will devastate her family and friends if they are uncovered.

At first I found this to be a difficult book to engage with. The cadence is a bit different from most domestic thrillers and, unlike many other books in this genre, it is told only from Amy’s point of view. By choosing to tell the story in this manner, the author reveals the backstory in pieces innuendo, thus slowly building the tension and suspense.

The pace picks up in the later half and there are several twists that I didn’t see coming. The ending is smashing. It is well-written, well-plotted, and the characters are very well done. I enjoyed it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This is a story about games and people who play them, especially in regard to the worst thing you've ever done (and more than one character has a dark secret). Having read Jackson’s last novel, The Almost Sisters, this title is something of a departure for her. Probably 20 pages of baby chores could have been omitted (feeding the baby, changing the baby, checking the baby, etc.), but unlike Ruth Ware’s The Lying Game, the baby conversation doesn’t hijack the story. Several good plot twists kept me turning the pages.

This was such a page-turner! I really enjoyed the characters (even the unlikeable ones) and was gobsmacked at the twists and turns this story ended up taking. Bravo to the author for dipping her toe into the suspense genre! I've always loved Jackson's work - this book, however, is a complete departure from her usual family/domestic drama and IT WORKS. Highly recommended!

Having read and enjoyed other of Joshilyn Jackson’s novels, I was eager to read this one — which sounded as though it would be a psychological thriller, a genre with which I would not associate Jackson. Once again, Jackson did not disappoint.

A typical suburban book club meeting initiates all of the suspense and action that follows. New-to-the-neighborhood Roux brazenly takes control of the meeting and begins to get the members to play her game “Never Have I Ever,” with each being required to tell her deeply hidden secrets amidst much wine drinking. Amy Whey, who has a successful marriage, complete with a loving (but perhaps a bit boring) husband, a great step-daughter, and a baby boy, gets caught in Roux’s web. If she is not careful, her darkest secret will be revealed and she stands to lose the family that she holds so dear — and more, including her best friend Charlotte.

As the story unfolds, the reader becomes completely immersed in the tug of war between a very forceful Roux and Amy and who will ultimately come out as the winner of the “game.” Does Amy have the gumption to stand up to Roux and beat her at her own game? Can she out-wit Roux as precious time continues to tick away? Does she have what it takes to save the wonderful life she now has?

Although somewhat slow reading at first, the novel picked up as characters and their backgrounds became more familiar. And, although a few pieces of the plot seemed a bit far-fetched, Jackson’s writing and her carefully developed plot twists and turns definitely kept me reading. All in all, even though I found this novel somewhat “darker” when compared to others I have read of Jackson’s, I really enjoyed it . . . and hope she writes another “psychological thriller” type.

5 amazing stars

This is my third Joshilyn Jackson book. I recall really enjoying the first two I read, but this one is a departure from those! What remains consistent is great, fully developed characters that could step out of the book. Although I would not want to meet all of them!

We meet Amy, enjoying the typical suburban life with an adorable toddler, a handsome hardworking husband, and a teenage stepdaughter. Amy is a dive instructor and I really enjoyed reading about what this is like, makes me want to scuba! She’s got some great friends in the neighborhood, especially Charlotte. Amy hosts the monthly book club at her house and one night they have a new intriguing guest – Roux. She takes charge of the book club and due in part to all the alcohol, neighbors are spilling secrets all over the place.

There are then some flashes to Amy’s past and we learn that she had a very different life before the perfect suburbia setting. Some teenage mistakes changed her life and soon Amy is embroiled in a cat and mouse game with Roux with high stakes. I loved the way Jackson paints a vivid picture of teenage Amy and we learn why she is the complicated person she is in present-day. My heart ached for out-of-place overweight Amy and her teenage crush.

How far will Amy go to keep her past and her secrets hidden? The back and forth with Roux is quite frantic and I wasn’t quite sure who would end up victorious. I rooted for Amy, but Roux is a pro at this game. There were so many twists in this one, my head was spinning! I don’t want to give any more clues, but read this one carefully! There was a powerhouse ending that I had to process.

It bears repeating that the characters in this one are so well done! I even feel like I know the baby. The teenage stepdaughter was so realistic too, I feel like Jackson is a spy at my house. Vengeance is such a perfect motivator. I think this one makes a great summer read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Joshilyn Jackson, and Harper Collins for the ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Joshilyn Jackson and I quickly became a fan. This book grabbed me from the get go. I opened up the book thinking I would read the first chapter and then go to bed. Nope. I read half the book and then finished it the next day, only bc my body betrayed me by forcing me to fall asleep. There were twists and turns and the characters were fun, some of them in a devilish way. Even though the book was a fast, fun read, it also forces you to think about how damaging secrets can be. By the end of the book I had made a vow to never tell another secret again. It's just not worth it. Great book. Can't wait read her other books.

Hoo-whee! What a thriller! It’s fraught with tension triple times! I almost could not read it as it starts out so scary and spine chilling. Just the thought of someone you do not know entering your life and knowing your deepest, darkest secrets and evilly willing to use them against you is chilling enough.
Great read for all you psychological reader buffs.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Never Have I Ever has been a game that people have played over the years, but have you ever played the game this way? Should a game be deadly?

Amy has a beautiful famliy and a life she loves and created. Amazing friends, carreer, and book club Friends as well as a best friend Char.

When a new woman on the block shows up to the book club, will this change thier lives? A game they have never through they played before was presented during their meeting and the story unfolds.

This book starts off with a bang and never lets up! I was sucked in from the very beginning when Roux shows up for the neighborhood book club. What is her agenda, really? Not to talk about books, that's for sure.

As Roux's reasons for showing up in the community starts to come out, so do the secrets. And how much are others going to be willing to pay to keep those secrets hush-hush? I don't remember the last time I had such strong negative feelings for a character as I had for Roux. Her part is so well written and she is so evil and conniving—you are going to love to hate her.

Never Have I Ever is a fast-paced, exciting page-turner that kept me on the edge of my seat to the very end. I loved everything about it and may just be my my new favorite Joshilyn Jackson story. I highly recommend it and I'm excited for others to read it!

This was a suspenseful and fast paced book. I hated to put it down. I loved the interplay between Roux and Amy. I real life this situation would be terrifying but in a book it’s fascinating. The ending was definitely a surprise. Terrific book!

I admit I was drawn to the cover of this book first. I know Joshilyn Jackson is a popular author so I was eager to give a book of hers a try before most people were able to read it...so thank you Netgalley for the ARC! It's always better to form an opinion before yours can be influenced by many other reviewers, right?

It's hard for me to say *what* I liked about this book without giving too much away. It was a mystery, but it also was a tale of neighborhood and family and personal growth and development. I liked that it was very layered and not at all what it appeared at first. At first, it seemed like a combination of a ladies book club and filled with just gossip. Once I hit chapters 3 or 4, I was hooked. I read a huge chunk while waiting for a flight and another chunk while waiting to be picked up at the airport. It was on a Kindle, so that was a plus: I just carried it around and read another few pages here or there for two days. It's rare that I can't put a book down, so I almost gave it 5 stars. Parts were a little prosey, but that's my own personal issue; I generally don't go all in on characters or vaguely literary writing. I want the plot to be thick and this plot didn't disappoint.
I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy mysteries OR if you like literary fiction. It's the best of both worlds.

When new-to-town Roux crashes Charlotte’s neighborhood book club insisting on playing “what’s the worst thing you’ve done in the last day, week, month, etc,” Amy finds her world threatened.

I found myself cheering Amy on, hoping she could outsmart conniving Roux.

The book ended in a disturbing way I never saw coming.

The beginning didn’t draw me in, the back and forth between present day and the past few disruptive. But once I got into it, this was a fun mystery.

Thank you to William Morrow, Harper Collins Publishing and Netgalley for the early read in exchange for an honest review.

Never Have I Ever hit all the right notes. The sounds of women as mothers, women as wives, and women as friends were perfect. Joshilyn Jackson wrote about the dives so beautifully that they were easy to visualize.

Thank you to NetGalley for this fabulous read!
I started to see this book posted by friends on our book page and the cover got me right away as I love purple. After reading the synopsis I definitely had to read it asap.

This book reflects upon a woman, Amy, who had a past involving a death and she has buried the trauma so deep, it almost destroys her when a random woman, Roux, comes knocking and makes her relive it. Not only is she being blackmailed by this crazy new woman, but this woman starts to imbed herself in Amy’s life.

Any then has to decide how much her family and best friend mean to her and if she’s willing to risk all her secrets to please Roux.

If sounds like a textbook blackmail story but it’s not. I was enthralled the whole way through and then at the very end there’s a twist you never saw coming and everything suddenly makes sense! Read this book, it’s hard to put down!

Woooooo, Weeeeee. What a ride 😀. I adored it.
I went in thinking it was going to be a cut and dry thriller and boy was I wrong. It’s hard to get really, really in-depth without spoilers so I will post my likes 🤗.
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JJ has brought us some very complicated characters...I am here for it!
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The beginning of the novel with the game Never Have I Ever was a perfect introductory vehicle.
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The twists and turns were unexpected and for that I was so thankful.
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Florida as a setting was perfect. The Southern aspect was subtle, but very well done.
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It was a nice break to get rid of the unreliable narrators that is so prevalent in domestic thrillers these days
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All in all. I will be recommending this novel for those who want a dram filled, page turner!
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