This book had a strong start and then petered off at the end losing me in the process. The hook was good, but the execution wasn't always ideal.

I am very tough on thrillers, but I really enjoyed this one. Chloe heads to college and is part of a secret psychology experiment involving students who are diagnosed psychopaths. Part of her reason for attending the school is to get revenge on an old childhood friend, Will, who wronged her. The experiment requires Chloe to wear a smart watch to track her movements and her emotional responses. But when two students are murdered on campus, Chloe gets pulled into trying to figure out the identity of the murderer. And is she being hunted or is she the hunter. I will be siting for Kurian’s next novel. The twists in this one were not predictible.

I loved this book! it was so interesting, I loved the main character and all her "quirks." following the students in the study was so interesting. i kept rooting for the character to finish her goal, even though it wasnt the most normal thing. I could definitely read more about Chloe and her psychopath friends.

A main character I should dislike immensely but found myself rooting for. Not sure I could include it in my high school library because of some of the content but I'm definitely considering it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Overall this novel is definitely worth reading because it contains a very unique plot. Just don't give up in the middle when it starts to drag, stick with it for a satisfying conclusion.

An intriguing premise, Never Saw Me Coming focuses on Chloe, a college student in a special program at her school. That program is following her and 6 other psychopaths. With their whereabouts and moods tracked, that doesn't stop a murder from happening to one of their own. Chloe's focus has been on plotting her revenge on someone who wronged her, but trying to keep herself alive with a killer on the loose becomes her main concern.

This story brought forth some interesting a-ha moments. First off, I came into the story having an idea of what psychopathy was but soon realized that there's a lot I didn't know. I think the representation of the diagnosis is important here. I thought it was well-paced at the start, but it got slower for me through the middle. I enjoyed Chloe's POV the most. I thought it added the most depth to the story and helped it move along.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a welcomed change of pace in my reading repertoire, and I would be happy to pick up something by this author again!

While billed as a fast moving thriller it read slowly for me. Wanted to engage more with the plot and characters from the beginning and it just didn’t hit those notes. Thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book had me intrigued, but I struggled with the various points of view/narrators and felt that the "twist" had more potential than it was given. For me, the book was worth finishing but wont make it to my favorites list.

I phenomenal read that I thoroughly enjoyed! Highly recommend and will purchase several physical and digital copies for library collections. Thank you!!

Chloe Sevre is not your typical college freshman. Sure, she goes to classes, attends frat parties, and hangs out with friends – but she’s also a diagnosed psychopath, on a full ride scholarship as part of a psychology study, and she’s secretly plotting the murder of a fellow student who wronged her years before. Before she can exact her revenge, however, one of the other students in the psychopathy study is murdered.

Thank you for the e book copy of this book. A definite page turner! I am looking forward to reading their newest book when it comes out!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's not normally a setting or age group that I read but there was something about the characters that had me wanting to find out more.
I'm glad I gave it a chance, glad that I read something by this author.

My project of getting through neglected mystery / suspense ARCs by checking out audiobook copies via work continues, this time with Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian. I think this is another one I may have downloaded thanks to a NetGalley promo email and just like A Likeable Woman, y'all I've been burned. This is a book that's long on clever premise and not much else.

Chloe Sevre looks like the picture perfect college freshman. Young, pretty, and an honors student to boot. She also happens to be a diagnosed psychopath. Chloe knew one thing when she started to apply to colleges, she had to be in the Washington D.C. area. She ended up at her first choice, John Adams University, receiving a full ride to take part in a unusual clinical study on psychopathy - Chloe is one of seven students taking part and none of them know who is who. But the study, the free ride, those are incidental. No, Chloe is at John Adams because that's where Will Bachman goes to school, and Chloe plans to kill Will Bachman in 60 days.

Chloe gets to work right away, but her plan runs off the rails almost immediately when a student is found dead in the psychology department. A student who was taking part in the psychopathy study. Then a second student ends up dead, another one taking part in the study, and it becomes apparent that someone is hunting down the psychopaths.

Into Chloe's orbit enters Charles, another psychopath running for student body president and Andre, also taking part in the study but turns out - he's a faker. Andre's no more a psychopath than I am the Queen of England, but he saw his opportunity for free college and took a shot. In between her plans to kill Will, Chloe now is "working" with Charles and Andre to find out who is killing the psychopaths because obviously, well she's in danger. But "working" together for this girl is one part manipulation and two parts staying ahead of the curve.

See, clever premise. So what's the problem? Well for a book about someone murdering psychopaths there's an appalling lack of tension in this book. Like none. No edge of my seat. No OMG I have to find out what happens next! Nothing. In fact I really only kept reading because I kept thinking I was going to get some sort of "twist." More on that in a minute actually....

The story is also told from multiple points of view and honestly? It's a big reason for the lack of tension. Chloe, Andre and Charles. That's all we need. Do we need chapters told from the lead shrink's perspective? From one of his grad assistants? From one of the detectives? No. No, we do not. In fact they don't really add anything other than page count.

But the real issue I disliked this book? Chloe. Thanks, I hate her. And hating her has nothing to do with the fact that she's a psychopath. No, she's one of those characters who thinks she's smarter than she actually is. Lord is this girl a dumb bunny. She bungles her plan with Will early on, she manages to fall prey to another psychopath in the study (who hacks her webcam) and, most importantly, she can't tell Andre is faking it. For that matter, neither can the shrink or the grad assistants running the study - which who the hell gave this guy a ton of grant money? God bless America.

The whole thing lumbers along, Wendy keeps waiting for the twist, and then we get the frenetic ending that ugh - makes me regret not DNF'ing this stupid book. Our twist here is no twist at all (I saw it coming the minute the plot element was introduced) and is straight up schlocky B horror movie - or like a romantic suspense novel from the 1990s. And because I'm so annoyed, I'm spoiling it:

Spoiler: One word. Twins. And of course the eviiiiilllll twin is the one who seems normal.

I've been reading suspense novels since I hit puberty, so it's possible I'm being entirely too cranky about this one. This debut was nominated for an Edgar Award (Best First Novel) and was named a New York Times Best Thriller of 2021. But honestly, who ya gonna believe? Them or your Auntie Wendy, who's always looking out for you.

Oh what might have been with this clever premise if Andre had been the one driving the bus. Missed opportunities y'all. Missed opportunities.

Final Grade = D

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

Really pleasantly surprised for a debut author. I loved this book. The study about psychopathy was an interesting topic and I was there for it!

A unique story line with a study group of psychopaths as the victims. The characters must decide what is real and what is just a symptom of their lack of emotions. Definitely worth a read.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Decent thriller set on a college campus, where there exists a program to study psychopaths. Students are being murdered, while other murders are being planned, and no one (not even the reader) is certain who to trust. I liked the characters a lot, but they seemed overly mature and calculated for teenagers. I also felt like I missed some of the motivation of the revealed killer. But as a GW University alum, I loved the setting!!!

Perfectly average mystery/thriller that reminded me heavily of 90s-era YA paperbacks. Bold move using actual greek organizations in the narrative! I know this is a novel and I should suspend disbelief, but how did this study (individuals with psychopathy get college tuition covered in exchange for participation) get IRB approval?