The good: Stacey Abrams is an absolute genius. The level of knowledge required to craft such a cunning killer is evident throughout the book. Her prose is beautiful too! Its easy to see she is a talented writer and a freaking smart-as-hell woman (I mean, duh).

The bad: This book switches character perspectives so often that it made my head spin. It's one thing to go from chapter to chapter from a different point of view, but this literally switched back and forth between paragraphs and made the plot more difficult to track than necessary. We even got the POV from a random, one-time cabbie at one point --- but why??

The worst: Erin Abbott, the genius female protagonist, is the key behind these seemingly random string of murders. Her love interest, reporter Gabriel Moss, can clearly see early on that she is suffering from a difficult past and does nothing at all to make her feel more comfortable in his presence. Did not like him for her, at all. Some major TW for abusive situations to beware of before reading as well.

The 1st chapters were a little awkward with transitions, in fact they were at times repetitive. The plot was engaging. Better than average in "mystery", several suspects but never sure who actually done it. Hot chemistry between the hero & heroine.

I'm just not sure about this book. I guess it is a mystery turned romance? The main characters are unlikeable which makes it hard to root for anyone. For me, there were too many bad gender stereotypes. At a different point in my life (when I was younger), I may have enjoyed reading a book like this. However, I just don't enjoy that for adult reading.

Also, the writing style is just... a lot. Using so many complex words and phrases to describe the simplest things had me bored. It just didn't grab my attention. I do feel like there is an audience for this type of book and I am just not a part of that audience.

I wanted to like this because Stacey Abrams wrote this, but ultimately I couldn't recommend this book., It was just too unoriginal and dated for me to enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was super excited to read Stacey Abram's rerelease of Never Tell, a mix of mystery/thriller and romance. Unfortunately, I felt. like this book was pretty dated and fell flat at times. I really enjoyed the linguistic aspects of the book and twists and turns but didn't love the ending.

3.5 rounded up


Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Stacey Abrams and NetGalley for providing a copy for review!

I decided very quickly on in this book that I would not be able t make it through this book without the agonizing and slow process of reading a book I don't like and that just wasn't meant for the type of reader I am. I think this book could be good, if you're in the specific target audience. but I, unfortunately, was not. I found the book to flip between extremely boring and extremely intense within a matter of pages, with no real build up to the extreme bits. I decided to DNF this book because I really can't push myself to read a book I'm not going to like right now, maybe I'll come back to it again one day in the future.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book Erin has a secret that she wants to stay buried. She starts receiving cryptic notes from someone who knows what she did. This book kept me glued from the beginning

Abrams creates characters we want to follow, situations that are believable and tells us the tale with brilliant pacing. I'm looking forward to the next one

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. I was really excited to read this since it’s my first time reading Stacey Abrams’ work and I was not disappointed. Chapter 1 had me super interested in the book and I could not put it down. I am giving the book 4 stars instead of 5 because the climax of the story was underwhelming despite not being predictable.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Stacey Abrams, and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I adore Stacey Abrams. I've never seen her without a smile on her face, even in the presence of real adversity. That being said, I did not "Love" this book. It is a re-release from 2004, so some parts are dated. Erin Abbott is a brilliant linguist who has escaped from another brilliant linguist, who adopted her at a young age and verbally and physically abused her for many years. In trying to escape him, she has killed him, and with the help of her friend Sebastian, hid the body. When there are several murders around New Orleans, where Erin has relocated, she soon realizes that the murder of her former mentor has caught up with her and she is next. Enter Gabriel, a reporter and love interest, and the story picks up. Gabriel is your typical alpha male and Erin, at first, is not interested. Their dynamic is interesting, if not somewhat unbelievable.

This book is definitely stuck in time, but appealingly drags you in. It is a slow burn, so for those looking for a romance, it's a long wait. It is a romantic thriller, heavy on the thriller side. I found it suspenseful, but dragging in some places. One thing that I did not like is Sebastian, Erin's best friend from childhood, who is talked about as if he is the nicest guy, but shows up at the very end and is a jerk. That was confusing to have him show up for such a short period at the end. I am giving this book three stars as I enjoyed parts, but I felt it was wordy.

I was so excited to read a novel by Stacey Abrams! This thrilling romance was full of tension and the ending was great and satisfying! The suspense was enthralling. I would recommend this one and will definitely be reading more by her.

Proud fan of Stacey Abrams! Having recently read her latest “When Justice Sleeps” and now this one, unfortunately not as great a fan of her writing. This book was originally published in 2004 and is being re-released in early 2022 given her popularity as a politician & author—this is being done more widely for authors and I find it somewhat deceptive.
As far as the story, I enjoyed the thriller & intricate plotting more than the overdone romance.
With thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this ARC copy—always a treat!

I liked but didn’t love this one. I think it’s the genre mash up that didn’t hit for me. I enjoyed the author’s mystery/thriller When Justice Sleeps and I like romance, but maybe not together. The romance slowed the pace of the mystery and felt a little cloying.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the arc of this book! I don't read romance novels, but was intrigued with the serial killer premise! I liked this intelligent thriller. The linguistic theme was interesting and Erin was a great character. She was damaged, caring, and smart. I thought the parts about what she had gone through were hard to read so I had to skim through some sections. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

It took me awhile to get into this book, but then I did like the mystery part of it and how they figured out who the killer was. The romance felt overdone to me so I couldn't take it seriously. Also I was wrestling with my expectations given it was written by Stacy Abrams so I had something else in my mind, when I started it

St. Martin Press
Thank You for this amazing eARC!

Never Tell
By Stacey Abrams

Mini Review:
Dr. Erin Abbott is a Criminal Psychologist who wants to live a peaceful life.
No craziness, no risk and certainly no dating.
She believes a serial killer is on the streets of NO she is suddenly with the only man who can help her.
Journalist Gabriel Moss....
And his needs to find the next big story.
His instincts tell him that Erin knows more than she is sharing.
The duo comes together to try and find this killer.
As they get closer secrets could be revealed and if so Erin's life could be ruined forever!

This was such a fascinating storyline and it was compelling,
I couldnt put it down.
It was unpredictable and kept me guessing all the way through.
A perfectly put together story with great characters.
Lots of twists and turns in this one!
This book had suspense, intrigue, romance and a crazy storyline!
And a bit of a who done it! It was a wonderful book and I couldn't get enough of it!

Thank you again Publisher, NG and Stacey for this ebook copy!

This book had lots of suspense, intrigue, action and some heart pounding moments! I recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!