I am very intentional when selecting my reads. I try to match up books to my current mood and state of mind simply because I know these elements are relevant to my enjoyment of the book I choose. Never Saw Me Coming ended up being one of those "the right book at the right time" selections for me. I love psychological thrillers but I needed something a bit more offbeat and quirky and this story definitely delivered in that regard. I should also mention that as a reader I usually don't care how "likeable" characters are as long as I am connecting to the story but I have to admit that Vera Kurian got me rooting for psychopaths in this one!

Chloe is starting a new chapter in her life as a freshman at a Washington DC college. Except that unlike most other freshmen, Chloe is a psychopath accepted to her school as part of a study into psychopathy conducted by a psychologist who dedicated his career to this specific area. Of course the study is conducted under the veil of secrecy and the rest of the college is unaware of it taking place. Psychopaths are unable to experience certain emotions such as guilt or fear but more importantly they struggle with concepts of empathy and ability to see things from another person's point of view. And not all psychopaths are created equal. As wonderfully portrayed in this story. Not surprisingly, Chloe is at this specific school with her own agenda but all her carefully laid out plans get derailed when someone starts killing subjects in a very secret study.

This was one of those "just one more chapter" reads for me. I loved the unconventional premise in a "conventional" setting without the usual clear distinction between good/bad protagonists. I also realize that for fans of the genre a lot ends up riding on "unpredictability" of the big reveal at the end but the reality is that there is always a finite number of possibility and though the ending might not have been earth shattering, overall it was a very engaging, enjoyable read for me. I will definitely be keeping an eye on any future releases from Vera Kurian.

This book popped on my radar thanks to love it's been receiving from many of the bookstagrammers I follow and now I'm jumping on that bandwagon before its release as well. My gratitude goes to NetGalley, Harlequin and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, wow, well this surprised me in a good way. I was never sure what turn this book was going to take. I would think one thing and then be proven wrong on the next page. This is a hard to predict thriller and I am all about it. It is also absolutely fascinating. I was reading this and alternatively researching psychoanalysis and, in particular, psychopathy. I was intrigued every step of the way by the characters and what was happening.

This was an interesting read to pick up not long after finishing Brianna Labuskes' A Familiar Sight which also tackles psychopathy, although it is more focused on sociopathy. These would make great companion reads honestly. But back to this title, there is so much that happened here that I would love to talk about with others. I think this would make for a fabulous book club choice, especially if your book club likes thrillers. I think there would be some animated discussion over this one.

Also, I am slightly obsessed with the dark academia theme that is popping up in thrillers of late and I am here for it. There was a main plot that kind of became a side plot. It was brushed too easily away I think so I ended up being slightly confused about the focus of this book. That said this book really was thrilling in the kind of "let me ignore life and just remain absorbed in my book" best kind of way. Really, at the end of the day, that is all I want in my thrillers.

The Story: Chloe Sevre is a freshman of John Adams University and she has only one reason for choosing this university. She is there to kill Will Bachman. She and other six students are also part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths called the Multimethod Psychopathy Panel Study, led by a renowned psychologist. Soon after, two students in the clinical study are found murdered. Someone is targeting them. Can she trust her fellow psychopaths to stop this killer without risking her plan to kill Will?

My thoughts: The psychopath element in the book was really intriguing. I don't think I've ever read any premise like that before!

I enjoyed the intense story build up and the suspense and mystery behind Chloe's motive to kill Will kept me invested in the story.

There are a lot of characters in the story and it did take me some time to get used to them. These are unlikable characters. They are psychopaths. It was interesting to get into their minds but overall, I felt the characters are lacking the psychopath vibes.

I really enjoyed the first part of the story. It was interesting getting to know these characters and I was excited to see where the story will go. However, the main plot (Chloe's plan to kill Will) faded into obscurity halfway through while other subplots took the main stage. So in a way, the story did feel a bit draggy.

Overall, I am still glad that I've read this book. I enjoyed most of the story and looking forward to reading this author's next book!


Pub. Date: Sep 7th, 2021

***Thank you HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada), Park Row and NetGalley for this gifted review copy to read and review. All opinions expressed are my own.***

I personally think that this book had a lot of potential but did not deliver.
Book thrillers with multiple POV are some of my favourite books to read since as a reader you usually learn a lot about each character, I didn't think the multiple POV helped the story and most of the story was repetitive.
I was very excited for the countdown to Will's last day, unfortunately nothing really happened during the countdown and the day of seemed to fall flat.
There was nothing that made me gasp, ultimately this book was not the thriller book I hoped it would be, I think people who enjoy Young Adult thrillers will potentially enjoy this book more than I did.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Killer Crime Club for the arc.

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
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Three young people at Adams College who all seem like the usual partying college kids, but they all have a secret in common. They have all been diagnosed as psycopaths. And when someone starts killing other students, who can they trust? Is it one of them?
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What I liked:
-I loved that the POVs were college students who were diagnosed psycopaths. Each of them were so different and bought something new to the story.
-Chloe was probably my favorite character and I enjoyed being in her head very much. (Which should maybe concern me 😅)
-This was such a great setting, being on a college campus gave it such a great suspenseful vibe on its own.
-I could not guess this one! It surprised me!
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a great psychological thriller. Thank you Netgalley for my digital copy. Pub date 9/7/21.

Never Saw Me Coming is kind of two books in one. A teenage psychopath looking for revenge and a serial killer slowly picking off the psychopathic participants of the research program.

Chloe got a full scholarship to Adams just for being who she is - a psychopath. That’s not her prime motivation. She’s a girl with a plan for revenge against a boy who wronged her. She quickly finds she has another problem - being a target of a killer who’s killing the other psychopaths in her program.

There are many twists and turns in the book as she is trying to meet her goal and not be a victim in the process.

Charles and Andre are other main characters in the book. Both program participants with interesting back stories. It does get a little confusing here and there with jumping from POV of characters but what it brings to the story is worth it.

I enjoyed the book. It was a fast paced read.

I don't know if I just had too high of expectations, but this was kind of a flat read for me. I was intrigued about a book with a group of diagnosed psychopaths college students at the core, but I was really just bored for most of the story and I didn't connect with the story or characters at all (a fun bit of irony, at least). Three primary characters got focus: Charles, Andre, and Chloe and were distinct enough, but the narrative was unbalanced, with Chloe - the least interesting to me, getting the most focus. The pacing did a good job of propelling the story, but I didn't really care who the killer was, so it didn't make me want to keep reading.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian: this psychological thriller is about Chloe, a first year university student who has ambitions just like any other freshman, except with an added twist- she plans to kill Will, an old “friend” who wronged her many years ago. She is also one of 7 students who are diagnosed psychopaths and are a part of a clinical study designed to understand their mindset. However, as members of this group start getting murdered, Chloe’s plans to kill Will become just as important as identifying the killer that’s after her…but who can she trust? We all know you can never trust a psychopath…
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This was a wild ride! It has such an interesting premise- a group of diagnosed psychopaths all together in one campus and I mean, of course there’s going to be murder! It was so interesting being in the minds of these students…who feel no remorse, sadness, disgust….it’s psycho! (Get it, get it?)
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While I feel the book my have been a teeny tiny bit too long for my liking (it diluted some parts of the story that I wanted to know more about) I think it’s a great debut novel and one that thriller lovers (or even people new to the genre!) would enjoy.
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Thank you @ for this advance copy!

Chloe is a psychopath. She is also a beautiful college student on a free ride because she has agreed to participate in a study of psychopaths. It’s just so happens that she now goes to college with Will, the very guy she hates lost in the world and wants to kill. Whole Chloe is plotting against Will she meets other people in the study and together they have to figure out why people around them keep dying and who is responsible. Can you ever really trust another psychopath?

As a person who loves psychology and learning about the way people think, this book was right up my alley! Add in a good mystery and some aspects of thriller and I am all in! This was a page turner from beginning to end!

I really enjoyed this book and it was such a fast paced read. The story is unique. It focuses mainly on Chloe, a diagnosed psychopath who’s taking part of a special study at a university. But Chloe has schemed her way into this program because she has an ulterior motive to commit murder. The mystery was solid throughout and I couldn’t figure out who the true villain was. I love unreliable narrators and Chloe definitely was one. Although this is told mainly from Chloe’s POV there are a few third person chapters from other characters as well. I highly recommend this if you’re looking a fast paced, unique, gripping thriller.

Chloe gets a free ride to college-the catch is she’s basically an experiment involving other psychopaths. Her and six other psychopaths have to wear watches that track their emotions and report for sessions within the psychology department. She is also here to stalk out and ultimately kill Will, a guy from her childhood.

Unfortunately this was a real chore for me to read. The main narrator Chloe was really juvenile sounding. One line in particular that really bugged me for some reason was when she thought she saw a hot guy in class, but then he turned around and she saw his “horse face.” I didn’t think this was pitched as a young adult book but that would make more sense if it was so.

There’s a lot of names to keep up with which was confusing at times, but some of the psychopaths in the study were more interesting to read from in their POV than Chloe who just seemed immature. I think if this wasn’t set in a college setting but with older adults working around a psychopathic personality I would have enjoyed it more.

Thank you to Park Row Books for my review copy and letting me take place in this blog tour.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Premise: a group of students diagnosed with psychopathy attend a DC university for free to be a part of a psychology study on functioning psychopaths.

Plot twist: someone is murdering members of the study, and several of the study members are trying to solve the mystery of who-done-it

Things I liked:
•The psychopath study, it’s what drew me to the book to begin with
•The 3 focal characters: Chloe, Charles, and Andre. Andre was kind of a meh character, he didn’t really belong and only existed to further a plot point that didn’t come to play until MUCH later in the book. I loved Chloe because she’s determined to murder this kid she grew up and when we finally learn why, I’m totally on her side. & finally a Charles… He’s just great 🤣

What I didn’t like:
•The additional characters and the extra POVs… like why?
•The murderer… This is where Andre comes into play, his love of true crime brings to light who the murderer is, which is fine, but the person is literally in like 2 chapters until the big reveal… Which leads me to…
•The ending—it felt like the author wasn’t sure where to go with it and threw a dart and chose the ending that way. Plus the final chapter… Is there more to come of these two characters? Will they end up together? What now?

Overall I really enjoyed the book until the last 75-80% and that’s when things got muddled.

What a fun, dark academia, thriller. Twists and turns throughout. The title is aptly named. It didn’t take me long to read this one. It was the page turner I had been craving. Highly recommend to anyone who has an interest in psychology, psychopathy, and all that entails. It will definitely keep you on your toes

The premise of this book intrigued me from the start - a college based clinical study with psychopaths. Chloe, a college freshman, is new to the program and she mainly came to the college to get revenge on Will, a guy that wronged her in the past. But when one of the other students in the study is murdered, she starts to feel like someone may be stalking her and possibly others in the study. As Chloe discovers others in the study, they decide to work together to figure out who is hunting them... but as psychopaths, can any of them really be trusted?

If you like stories set on college campuses and psychological thrillers, this is definitely a book to read. It has some long, drawn out parts that slow down the pace of the book, but overall a unique story.

Fast paced page turner!!!
Psychopaths at college but it’s not what you think. These kids are trying to fit in but someone is murdering them. Great characters, creative plot. This novel will have you keep turning pages to find out who’s behind the murders.

posted on Goodreads:

This book is a fun ride! Lots of turns and twists, and I was guessing until the end. I love the concept too--a pyschopath on the hunt with a serial killer on the loose--and Chloe/Michelle as a pov character is a gas. If you're a fan of thrillers and campus novels, pick this up!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

"Never Saw Me Coming" by Vera Kurian was a wild ride and exactly what I look for when I am looking for something new in the suspense/thriller genre. Main character, Chloe, is a freshman that has received a free ride to college.... for being a psychopath. She, along with six other diagnosed psychopathic students, are enrolled in a program by the school's psychology head in order to study them and try to ensure that they will become productive members of society while maintaining what appears to be an ordinary college lifestyle. Yet, Chloe's main goal is to enact a perfectly timed murder at the college. When another psychopath student is murdered before she gets a chance to enact her schemes, everything slowly starts to unravel.

Having a cast of unreliable, confident, and arrogant college students made for an interesting book. For every time that I thought, "wow, what horrible, unlikable people"- I was also reminded that that was the point of having a psychopath as a main character. The book is told from a few different perspectives, which helps get into the headspace of a few different characters when trying to solve the mystery.

For mysteries/thrillers, I think the most important aspects are to have good pacing and a plot that is well-formed and finishes without loose ends. I felt I got both of those things with "Never Saw Me Coming," and more because of the interesting interactions between characters. I read this book in a day- forget sleep!- I needed to know how the story would end!

Thank you to Netgalley and Park Row books for an advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. "Never Saw Me Coming" will be published on September 7th- this is a great choice as a book club read and I hope to see more from this author in the future.

An excellent addition to the crowded thriller genre. A recommended purchase for collections where suspense is popular.

I loved the concept of this one.
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Chloe is your average college girl. She’s the hot girl next door who carefully calculates her looks. She’s an honors student and also a Psychopath. You did not read that wrong. She’s a psychopath. Her and six other students are part of a program at a DC college that provides full tuition if they participate in a secret study. The psychologist gives them all smart watches that track their movements and moods.
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When one of the participants are murdered Chloe asks the age old question can you really trust a psychopath. Spoiler alert you cannot.
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This book gave me a bit of #Dexter vibes as she tries to act normal just as he did. The ending was not what I was expecting. I think this would definitely make an interesting tv series.
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Thank you @netgalley and @parkrow for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I was not a fan of this book. The premise sounded good, and the beginning started off well, but then I lost interest.

Rec'd arc from Netgalley.