This is a great story about a woman who reinvents herself and buried her secrets only to have them come back to haunt her years later. To what lengths would we all go to protect the happy simple lives we enjoy? Great characters, fast-paced storyline, and unique premise and twists and turns!

Never Have I Ever hooked me from the first chapter. It opens at a neighborhood book club meeting. The meeting is taken over Roux, a new neighbor who invited herself to the meeting. She does, however, have a secret agenda. She is trying to blow Amy’s life apart. And she comes so close to succeeding. There are many twists and turns to the story. So often I can predict what is going to happen in a book. Not in this case. The ending was completely unexpected. The main characters are dynamic and well thought out. Although the book came to a natural conclusion, I was sorry to see it end. If keeps you engaged for the entire book. Love this book!

Wow! This book seriously packed a punch. Twists and turns on every few pages. In Never Have I Ever, the author takes a departure from her other works but it's done so skillfully, you'd think she'd been writing crafty suspense for years. I really loved the character development in this book and the way it drove the plot forward. 4 stars!

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson is full of suspense and twists that I never saw coming. There were moments while reading where I was holding my breath while waiting to find out what would happen next. I had to force myself to not skim ahead and ruin the suspense. Often, twists in this genre can be predicted but halfway through my head was spinning from something I had not even thought might happen. Read and enjoy!

Amy lives a comfortable life in suburban Florida. She’s married to a wonderful man, has a charming stepdaughter and the cutest 8-month old little boy. Her best friend, Charlotte, keeps her sane and they are each other’s “person.” But Amy has a secret, one she never wants anyone to find out about—this secret could ruin her perfect little suburban fantasy.

One night at Charlotte’s book club, a new neighbor shows up unannounced—a woman named Roux, who from the start rubbed Amy the wrong way. She acted like she owned the place and all the other neighbors quickly became enamored by her. But when Roux starts playing an innocent enough party game—a twist on the classic “never have I ever”—Amy’s blood runs cold. She has the feeling Roux can see through her, see her deepest darkest secret. And now Amy’s past might be coming back to haunt her.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson was an unexpectedly addicting domestic thriller! I’ve heard high praises about this upcoming release, but I don’t always love hyped books, so I wasn’t expecting to be as impressed as I was. I ate this book up so quickly! The twists were perfectly timed and cleverly crafted. I didn’t see the twists coming, which is refreshing. I don’t want to give the plot away, so I’ll stop here, but run—don’t walk—and get yourself a copy of this book! 5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and Joshilyn Jackson for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy of "Never Have I Ever". I have never read anything by Joshilyn Jackson so I am very happy to have the opportunity. This was a well written book. With suspense and twists. A real page turner til the very end!

Exotic, mysterious, and charismatic, Angelica Roux breezes into their book club meeting one night and brazenly takes control. Most of the ladies see her as a breath of fresh air, an alluring change from the humdrum of everyday suburban life.  She starts up the game, and the women fall in...laughing, bewitched "It's a blast.  You should play.  It's like Never Have I Ever, but for grown-ups.  We skip the coy denials and go right to confession...." But for Amy Whey, Roux is a threat. And her game is anything but a game.  Because Amy has a secret, one that threatens to bring her world crashing down if brought to light.  Somehow the mysterious Roux seems to know her terrible truth and will stop at nothing to reveal it.  Thus begins the cat and mouse game in Joshilyn Jackson's latest book Never Have I Ever. 


Oh, how I loved this book!  It had a wonderfully tense atmosphere to it...two strong female characters, circling each other, sizing each other up, preparing to pounce.  It made for such a fun read.  I found myself biting my nails, wondering who would "win".  And the twists!  Just when I thought I couldn't be taken by surprise again, another twist would come along, and I would gasp aloud (much to the amusement of my fellow beach-goers I'm sure).  This book kept me hooked, and I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn't reading.  This was a  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me.  Thank you, Netgalley, for this ah-mazing ARC!

⭐️Book Review ⭐️
Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
5/5 Stars

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.**

This was my first Joshilyn Jackson novel- I’m hooked. She has built amazing characters that you can connect to right from the start.

Book Club newbie Angelica Roux comes into town willing others to divulge their secrets. Little do they know she already has major dirt on Amy Whey.

Amy grew up very wealthy and very overweight. She only had one friend- Tig. Tig was from the wrong side of town, underprivileged and Amy’s closest confidant. Only they hold each other’s secrets from the past. Or do they?

It quickly becomes clear that Roux is a master at manipulating, threats and blackmail.

How far would you go to keep your past buried deep?

I always struggle with domestic thrillers- I love the genre, but there aren’t very many that my highly sensitive nature can handle! This was the perfect balance for me.

Never Have I Ever is so incredibly bingeable- it’s fast paced with lots of twists and turns that constantly kept me guessing. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! It’s got some good creepiness to it without getting too disturbing. There was one big thing that bothered my sensitive nature, but it didn’t effect my enjoyment of the book as a whole (and I can’t really say anything without giving spoilers).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- I really liked it. If you’re a fan of domestic thrillers and/or Liane Moriarty I highly recommend this.

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This one was a huge surprise for me, and not a book I expected to give four stars to. But wow, what a twisty, fierce, and unpredictable little shock of a book! It's about secrets and fresh starts, lies and making amends. And a whole lot of "how far can you push someone before they crack?" For better or worse, I tend to figure books out fairly early on. This one kept me guessing from literally beginning to end, which I loved. I really liked Amy's character, and I loved her relationships with her family, particularly Maddy. I had a couple of small issues - first, there were a LOT of different smaller storylines, which made the book feel a bit "crowded." There were also a number of different things that felt pretty unrealistic and far-fetched to me. But I think that's pretty common in mystery/thriller books, so I can deal with that.

I have a lot of Joshilyn Jackson books on my "to read" list, but this is the first I've read. I can honestly say it won't be the last! Really enjoyed this and would highly recommend!

This was a bit of a departure from the author's usual style, still I enjoyed it very much. Your worst nightmare come true, and you invited her into your home!! The new neighbor crashes the neighborhood book club and completely takes over steering the book discussion into a 'game' of "never have I ever". Soon friends are spilling all of their secrets to a stranger who will soon be using them in cruel and unusual ways. This book had me on the edge of my seat.

4+ stars for this chilling new suburban thriller. Amy Whey opens the door on book club night and finds evil incarnate on her doorstep. The woman introduces herself as Angelica Roux and proceeds to dominate the evening, leaving Amy with this: "Come by my place. Soon. We have a lot to talk about." Thus begins a high-stakes game of chicken with an epic conclusion. Amy is a deep sea dive instructor which adds an interesting dimension to the plot and her story. Would make a fabulous read for book groups.

A big thank you to Harper Collins for a paperback ARC as well as the access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

The following book review was just posted on my blog, oakcitybooks.blogspot.com as well as my goodreads and instagram account. I'm excited about this one!

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson was a suspenseful book. It was very different than anything I've read in awhile. I quickly found myself pulling for the teenagers at the beginning of the book. The overweight, teenage girl from a lot of money never felt good enough. The dirt poor, teenage boy with the brains with a guitar. Of course, they had a friendship that didn't need defining. Tragedy changes the course of both of their futures at the very start of the book. Secrets they paid their individual prices for as teenagers come back to haunt them years later as adults.

Amy has learned over the years that scuba diving is the only thing that allows her to release the feelings and secrets that haunt her. When she meets someone who says they have information the police may want, you can almost hear a clock ticking in the background. Amy stands to lose everything she has worked so hard and pushed so hard to feel deserving of in this cat and mouse chase.

5 STARS for this one. Joshilyn Jackson is a mastermind, clever, and fast-paced with lots of turns and unexpected details. She didn't forget anything with this one. I made my husband drive everywhere this weekend so that even while we were running errands, I didn't have to miss a beat. I finished this book in 2 days. I hated putting it down last night after reading into the wee hours of the morning but my eyelids couldn't keep up with the pace, and I wanted to treasure the details and not miss a thing.

As always, thank you to @netgalley for an amazing platform where all of my favorite publishers come together and give me the opportunity to do what I love best. And, thank you to @harpercollinsus for sending me this amazing summer read to review. We wouldn't have anything to discuss if it wasn't for @Joshilyn_Jackson and her dedication to building some amazing characters that I felt connected to from the very beginning. #neverhaveiever #joshilynjackson #summerreads #booked #bibliophile #bookreview #5stars #thriller #bookworm #netgalley #harpercollins #readmorebooks

Fantastic book!

When I heard that Joshilyn Jackson was writing a suspense novel, I immediately took notice. A renowned author of women’s fiction taking a departure to my favorite genre? I am there for that!

In this novel, a book club newbie rolls into town encouraging the others in the book club to reveal secrets. It soon becomes clear that Angelica Roux has some dirt on the main characters, Amy Whey, and isn’t above threats and blackmail.

This book takes twists and turns and the unexpected to a whole new level. Be prepared to set some time aside for this book. I could not tear myself away and devoured it. Soooo good!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins/William Morrow for the ARC of this book.

Really loved this domestic psychological thriller!! So well done with amazing character development and so many unforeseen twists and turns. I was so engrossed in this story that I could not put it down.
Expertly woven drama as lives begin to unravel. How well do we know our own secrets and what will we do to keep them safely buried Deep in our souls.
Highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for this digital ARC. It’s set to be published on July 30th.

Amy lives an ordinary, but perfect life. But then the new neighbor, Roux, shows up. Although Amy has just met her, Roux somehow knows Amy’s deepest secrets and threatens to tell everyone unless Amy pays up. In order to keep everything and everyone she holds dear, Amy needs to be Roux at her own game.
•
From what I’ve seen, this book isn’t Joshilyn Jackson’s usual genre, but I really think she should start writing more of them! This book was so great!
I liked Amy a lot. She’d made an enormous mistake but she was trying to put it all behind her and live her best life. She was a sweet and relatable character I could root for.
And Roux? I just loved hating her. Haha! She was conniving, mysterious, dangerous, and just plain evil.
The story was suspenseful and kept me guessing. And once again, one that I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish. It was frustrating (in a good way) because this Roux chick was relentless. There was also a big twist I didn’t expect at all and a heart-pounding ending.
I’d definitely recommend this book!

How far would you go to keep your darkest secret safe? And exactly how deep are these secrets? How long have you kept them bottled up and have they shaped you into the person you are now?

This book is rare in the way that is is so great but so heavy that I didn’t want to finish reading it. Joshilyn Jackson positively weaves a story and characters so full of life that they practically jump off the pages that I nearly did not finish because I was afraid of what the ending might entail and I did not think I could handle it.

Our main character Amy is a housewife with a hidden past. She has buried her secrets and packed them away in a box shut and sealed away but when Roux moves in next door, she is the dungeon key and Pandora has opened the cursed chest.

All of the characters were well rounded and believable. I wanted to absolutely throttle Roux because of all of her little conniving games. She is one of the most disgusting, infuriating villains I have ever met so well done to the author for creating her

Amy’s relationship to her family is amazing. I loved Maddy and her calling Amy her step monster. Adorable all around. It was nice to see the parenting of a stepchild and the different dynamics of all kinds of family.

My Thoughts:
This is a fantastic book. It is very heavy and deals with a lot of issues that need a trigger warning such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and eating disorders. Joshilyn Jackson is an amazing author and tells a fantastic story where characters that are well rounded and flawed. The ending will leave you breathless and have you cheering and you’ll second guess if you should really play games such as Never Have I ever. You know know what secrets somebody is harboring

Thank you very much to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own. Please visit my blog for more reviews such as this; https://aelilyreads.home.blog/

I loved this book. It is a fun thriller where I found myself thinking about the antagonist and protagonist even while I was out running errands! I didn’t want to stop reading. Amy is the protagonist and she’s got long buried secrets to hide. No one knows the “real” Amy. Her life and buried secrets are going along smoothly until Roux knocks on her door. Oh she is just awful. You will hate her and find yourself saying- just shut the door on her Amy. Don’t let her in. I don’t want to say too much- but just do yourself a favor and read this book. Lots of great twists and turns. Don’t blame me when you’re up reading past your bedtime.

I could not put this book down! The story starts with a meeting of the neighborhood book club, normally quiet and run by a strict schedule. Until today, when the woman in the AirBnB shows up to join. It's clear from the start that she seems to have an agenda, and she gets to it quickly, by getting the ladies tipsy and playing a game where the winner is the one who has done the worst thing out of the group. Roux is digging for secrets, and Amy clearly has some thing to hide.
Fantastic, twisty story where none of the characters seem completely good or bad, and breathlessly races to conclusion.

When I started this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. I thought I had it all figured out. But Jackson threw me curve balls I never saw coming. I ended up very much enjoying this mystery and watching as each character grew in depth and backstory.