I found this book to be well written and the idea of having a group of young, psychopaths attend college with a free ride in exchange for being studied by the psychology department drew me in. At the same time I had trouble keeping my focus on it. I found the characters to be unlikeable and flat but since they were supposed to be psychopaths it would be odd if they were too likable. The plot was twisty which made up for the flat characters.

This book reminded me of Veronica Mars if Veronica were a psychopath who is trying to solve a murder while plotting a murder herself. I enjoyed this book because of the dark humor and the premise of a bunch of college-aged psychopaths working together, but the thriller aspect fell a little flat for me. I never felt like I was on the edge of my seat, it was more like, oh, someone's getting stabbed, hmm. I think you will like this if you like teen horror movies/books such as Teaching Mrs. Tingle, The Craft, or Scream.

This was just a lot of fun. I could easily see this as a mini series. A bunch of college age sociopaths trying to solve a crime? Yes, please! I thought they all had very distinct personalities and traits which I felt could have been a downfall of the book but wasn't. I'd totally read a sequel, it just really worked and I loved the non-sociopath guy and the idea that the one guy told his girlfriend he was one and she didn't care. I want a book about her!

Never Saw Me Coming, whoa! Loved this one! It was compulsively readable, I didn't want to stop because I needed to know what was going on and who was responsible. The premise was really exciting, a bunch of psychopathic students in a study and they start being killed one by one. However, this was just a bit of what was happening in this book, there were so many side stories but all were equally as engaging and I read on to find on waiting to see how they played out and if they were interconnected. Overall, a really great read, thank you for giving me the opportunity!

A delightful & wicked read that-- dare I say it?-- has taken The Secret History's place as my new favorite campus novel.

Definite YA vibes for this one but I’m sure the setting and main characters’ ages played a big part in that.

This story had a fantastic premise and pretty interesting characters, but it attempts too much and, in doing so, loses focus. There are some twists and the big reveal but they weren’t exceptionally satisfying, just ok. This had more potential but that’s not a bad thing for an author’s debut (at least as how I see it).

All in all, this was highly readable and I did enjoy it. I will look out for the next by this author and would recommend this one to a younger audience who isn’t an avid thriller/mystery genre junky.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and HARLEQUIN -Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) for a copy in exchange for a review.

Chloe is attending Adams University for free. She and six others have been enrolled in a secret program to help them become productive members of society. They have been diagnosed as psychopaths. Chloe has gone to this college where Will is going. Will did something unspeakable to Chloe and she is determined to get even. When she arrives at the University, she signs in to her program and gets a special watch that can get them information that may give them that she is experiencing an emotion. When a student is found dead in the psychology building, a dangerous game may be starting. Who killed the student. Was it one of the psychopaths in the study or someone else? The next day another student is murdered. Will Chloe and her “friends” be able to find out before they are killed?

The suspense runs throughout this novel. I couldn’t stop reading the book. There were twists and turns in the story some misdirected me. This novel is not what I would consider just as a mystery but also a thriller. It is well written. I recommend this novel to anyone with an interest of psychopaths and/or a thrilling mystery.

Never Saw Me Coming takes place at John Adams University, a college with a special program devoted to studying psychopaths. When someone begins murdering the subjects involved in the study, Chloe Sevre, one of the psychopaths, becomes determined to track down the killer.

This book was a really fun, original thriller. It started a little bit slow for me, but I ended up really enjoying it. The psychopath angle led to some really interesting characters and lots of suspects.

One school.
Seven psychopaths.
One murder.
Have fun!! LOL
This is a wonderfully original novel.
I’ll be looking for Vera Kurian’s next book!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great 'popcorn read!'

SUPER QUICK and sucked me into the plot almost right away. Books set in a school or university just jive with my vibe (yes, I did type that on purpose. Just go with it).

This is a super quick read, and doesn't fall into any of the super annoying ticks of "unreliable narrator". There are only a couple of characters that are really likeable, but all of the characters are interesting, and how the interact is really well crafted. I did find some of the transitions annoying and difficult to follow, and as though sometimes the author was impatient to get to the interaction at the expense of atmosphere- one small example of many in the book is when a character is going to meet another in a bar, and it just describes the person chewing watching the tv- there is no description of what the person is eating. It's a small nit-pick, but there are enough transitions like this that it does get a bit annoying. Mainly what I really enjoyed about this book is I felt like I was given a glimpse of what living in D.C. might be like- I think everyone already experiences the news as a constant background, but the reality of having protests etc. basically in your backyard, the observation that even college politics are taken more seriously in the District (paraphrasing that), it just gave a very real feeling to the book. The book also mentions real cases, and while not necessarily listing studies in the same way that an actual research paper would, seems to fairly accurately give summaries of a lot of current trends in abnormal psychology. It also mentions "the gift of fear' which is a great non-fiction book. Some of the story felt more implausible- the idea that book had never been written about a prolific serial killer- there's ALWAYS a book, even if it's not written by someone close to the case. And other things- you kind of have to accept that it's a work of fiction to even accept that these things would occur the way they did- a study putting an entire student body at risk, and then having some of the participants murdered- most universities would handle two murders in less than a week very seriously and have taken action well before anything else. Another troubling facet- the killer seems to have inhuman abilities to stalk multiple people at the same time, and completely disguise who they are until the end. I don't want to give spoilers, because I think this book is worth reading and a great read for October. Ultimately, it does a unique thing- makes you care about otherwise unlikeable characters. You don't expect it to end the way it does, and it keeps you entertained until the last page. You also just have to suspend your sense of "could this actually happen" on a number of levels. But it's fiction, it's fun, and it is a unique contribution to the thriller/mystery genre.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian.

Chloe is just an average college student looking for a good time. She's excited to go to parties, date cute boys and have the full college experience. But Chloe also carries a giant secret. She is a psychopath, and she plans to kill Will, a boy who hurt her many years ago.

But Chloe isn't a lone psychopath. Due to a study being done at her university, her and other students diagnosed with psychopathy have been granted scholarships to attend. But in order to do so, they must be willing to participate, including being tracked, and taking various tests. Everything seems normal until one of their fellow study participants winds up dead. It turns out someone is targeting their group, but who and why?

A great premise, but I just couldn't get into this one. There was so much flipping between who could and couldn't be trusted, who was and wasn't a psychopath, and the surface level relationships they all had with each other that caused me to lose interest. None of the characters was compelling enough for me to ever get invested. Overall, not my favorite.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with a digital copy of never saw me coming for the Girly book club.

I really enjoyed never saw me coming and found it to be a fantastic premise. Psychopaths being haunted but by themselves or is there someone else. Ironically I guessed the bad guy but enjoyed it just the same.

Never Saw Me Coming is a psychological thriller about a college girl who participates in a study at her school. The study is unusual, it's for psychopaths and this girl, Chloe, is a psychopath. It's told in 1st person POV from Chloe's perspective and some 3rd person perspectives as well. Chloe is an enigmatic narrator, I was drawn to her from the beginning. The study was interesting! This was definitely a compulsive, can'- put-it-down read! There's some wild and unbelievable parts of the book- but it's about psychopaths! Yes, why I love to read about this is beyond me but I do and I wanted to read about Chloe. There's a true mystery when someone in the study is targeted for murder!
Couldn't put it down, a bit unbelievable, well developed and well liked characters, a compelling read- Pick it up!
3.5 stars

This was the first book I read by Vera Kurian. I will definitely read more of her books. The characters were very well developed and engaging. I really felt I was inside the mind of a psychopath. It took multiple chapters before Chloe's motive is revealed.
I loved Vera's writing style. Even with many complicated characters, I felt I was able to keep up.
This is a must-read thriller.

As someone who reads thrillers non stop, I was excited for this one. It took me forever to finish because I just didn’t enjoy it. I think the storyline had potential but fell flat very fast.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book with a different take on psychopaths. This was an interesting read. A little unbelievable but still enjoyable. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I enjoyed it. I would recommend it as a rainy day type read. It's like a B thriller movie. I thriller with a unique test.

I'll definitely try this author again.

I love thrillers, especially psychological thrillers, so I was really excited to read this book. Sadly, this book was disappointing and not competitive for its genre. There are so many really great authors and books in this genre, so it's hard not to compare it to others I've read.

There are lots of characters in this book, none of which are likable and most of which are complete psychopaths. You will learn a lot about of psychopathy by reading this book as well as get a sneak peek into the mind of a psychopath.

This book has all of the elements of a solid thriller, and while it's not bad, I just can't say it's great either. No one can be trusted. There is no "good guy." It's twisty, but a little predictable. I can't say I will remember this book in the future, nor would I recommend it to any of my bookish friends.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A definite page turner! Vera Kurian's Never Saw Me Coming was a psychological thriller for the times! Social media trolling, clickbait, spyware, stalking, revenge plots, liars, geo-tracking, fights breaking out, murder, hostages, AND it all surrounds a college study about psychopaths!

With multiple points of view, Never Saw Me Coming is the story of several psychopaths, all lured to the same college, their tuition costs covered, so long as they agree to be part of a secret graduate study on psychopathy. But when psychopaths are the narrators, how do you know who's telling the truth? Who can you trust? What alliances are real?

It took a little bit to get into the meat of the story, but once there I couldn't stop reading. So many high stakes moments, the problems becoming more and more severe. And then there's the issue that you, the reader, are rooting for psychopaths! It all comes to a head with some fascinating character changes as well as thought provoking ethics around humanity and psychopathy.

If you're in a reading slump, Never Saw Me Coming may be the character-driven psychological suspense story to shake up your shelf! Alluring premise, well-paced, and mind-racing evil deeds.

Unpopular Opinion Alert 🚨:

I was super intrigued by the summary of this book & was excited to read a fast paced thriller featuring a psychopath😵‍💫.

However, I was 100% dissatisfied and disappointed. It took me over two weeks to finish and honestly it became a chore. The storyline was creative and although it had so much potential it just fell flat.

𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑎𝑤 𝑀𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 could 100% fall into the young adult genre. The young adult genre is not for me- young adult lingo makes me cringe (friends, I’m 30- I’m sure 10 years ago my opinion on young adult lingo would be different) the characters & personalities drove me nuts.

Let me just say that although I really did not enjoy this, it still had a creative & unique story line. Also those who adore the young adult genre might really enjoy this.

SYNOPSIS: “Meet Chloe Sevre. She is a freshman honor student, a legging-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman- a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.”

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