This was an enjoyable read, lots of twists and turns to keep you entertained. I think some parts were a little lengthy and it could have done with a bit of condensing, there were a lot of conversations that went on longer than they needed to. Once you're at the end you sort of start to realise how many of the plot twists are quite unfeasible but it was still enjoyable and I think it's a great holiday read.

When a new neighbour turns up at book club, Amy's life is irrevocably changed. Roux seems to know something about Amy, something Amy has tried her best to bury for many years.
This is a fabulous book, I was hooked from page one. It is such an atmospheric book and has so many twists and turns. Highly recommend!!

Thank you to net galley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Overall I enjoyed this one it was fast paced and had a good storyline and plot. I’d definitely read other books by this author in the future.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Throughout I kept swapping the location from Florida to Monterey to try and visualise how the story would turn into Big Little Lies Series 3.
Some very good twists to keep you hooked although I did find one or two sections rather stretched e.g. diving was in too much depth (pun intended!). Still never enough to detract from the book.
I just wish that the ending did not include a 'Hollywood' gun and violence. The book is a superb example of how words and simple actions and reactions can keep the reader enthralled. Surely a tense build-up ending of primarily words would have been more in keeping with the book
Still definitely well worth reading

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The storyline is captivating and I couldn’t put it down. I would definitely recommend it.

You know when you just don't click with a book but can't pinpoint exactly why? On paper, Never Have I Ever has everything I like: a suburban setting where lots of characters have more to them than meets the eye, a lead character (Amy) with a meaty backstory and the all-important mysterious antagonist, Roux (who I actually pictured as Angelina Jolie while reading) who comes along to shake things up. But, but... I just found I was never excited to pick it up and read it, the promised tension / reveal in the story wasn't to my taste. I'm pretty sure this is just personal preference (maybe a little thriller fatigue, time to switch up genres for a bit) and other people will have a whole different reading experience from this book. As a thriller it IS good, just not one for me!

Overall this is a good read. It did not live up to my expectations. Sorry. After reading the first few chapters and the synopsis I thought that the rest of the book would be along the same vein. The story turned out to be different than I thought it was going to be. It turned into a story that was predictable in places and I struggled to keep reading to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I loved this one!
So suspenseful , kept me guessing and I really loved the writing style it was so easy to get right into and kept me hooked! I will definitely be buying a copy for me and one for my friend when this is out! So we can have a read along together and discuss. It was just so cleverly done and I really enjoyed everything about it!

After being drawn in by a synopsis eluding to the ‘never have I ever’ drinking game, I was eagerly anticipating an unputdownable read.

I wavered initially feeling it all too American and suburban for me to relate to (being neither!) So glad I persevered however. It came together beautifully long before I’d moved into serious swithering territory.

As a lover of books that pack a punch in the ‘twist’ delivery department I wasn’t disappointed - I can honestly say I didn’t see THAT twist coming!

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for the opportunity to read and comment on this new publication.

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley for an honest review

I haven't read any of this author before but I certainly will in the future

I absolutely LOVED this - great characters, well written

This is a tense, suspenseful thriller - can't rate highly enough - only sorry I can't give it more than 5 stars

Well I nearly put it down a time or two, couldn't grasp the story or the connection with the charecters, but didn't take long for it all to come together, a really great read that in the end I struggled to put down

This was my first Joshilyn Jackson read I can see why she is popular, this was a very well written book with some great multi layered characters in it. My understanding is Jackson is generally a more contemporary women’s fiction writer; so this turn at the domestic thriller is a bit of a change and I hope she keeps with it as it’s refreshing to get a really well written complicated protagonist in this genre.

I started off pretty unsure if I was going to get into it as we are in the world of American middle class suburban housewives and for me that generally is a big fat yawner of a world. I was getting ready to get the big old eye-rolls out but it wasn’t necessary just as I thought I knew where the book was going it went somewhere else and then proceeded to just get better and better.

Amy Whey is living in suburbia with her husband, step daughter and new baby. She has her neighbourhood best friend Charlotte (but I do wonder who the hell really abbreviates that to Char!?!) all in all very nice and normal life until the mysterious Angelica Roux moves into the neighbourhood and starts to pry into the past. As we learn more about Amy I went through constant shifts in my feelings to the character, meanwhile Roux is a full on hardcore manipulative bad ass and the constant back and forth is pretty tense.

A very compelling page turner of a thriller.


My thanks to the author, publisher Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis of this book had me gripped. It sounded like a fresh new thriller with plenty to get my teeth into.

Whilst the overview is of course correct in terms of plot, I did struggle a little bit to connect with the story. It did take a while to get going and there is a lot of backstory thrown in early on whereas I’d have preferred the more gentle unravelling through conversation and expression. For these reasons, I struggled to engage with the first half of the book. It’s a personal taste thing though and the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things.

The second half of the story picks up and that’s where it started to get my attention. The plot is interesting and had plenty to get your teeth into.

A dark, mysterious tale full of suspense and shocks!

This was my first book by Joshilyn Jackson], and I really enjoyed it! I will be definitely looking out for other books by this author in the future.

So imagine you are sitting in your cosy little book club, deep in suburbia, when a new neighbour shows up uninvited. Imagine she gets everyone drunk and charms you all, only to start playing a wicked game...

On the surface Amy Whey has the perfect life. A loving husband and step daughter, a cute newborn, an amazing best friend, and a job she loves as a diving instructor. BUT she hides a dark secret, and Angelica Roux knows what it is. How far will Amy go to protect the ones she loves? To keep her long held secrets?!

I loved this book! It was full of twists, and was so dark, and yet the characters felt so relatable?! I love it when an author doesn't just have good and bad characters, but morally grey ones! This book was full of flawed characters in all shades of grey.
Every time I thought I had the plot figured out, I would get a shock. Just when I thought I had read the big twist, there would be other revelations. I liked that! I liked that the author didn't make me wait until right at the end until it revealed their hand, but gave me continual surprises throughout the book.

I did enjoy the diving aspect of the book too. There were lots of great metaphors used, and one particular scene had me on the edge of my seat.

If you saw my updates, you might have seen me get to a scary bit where the character was going to do something, and as the reader I was biting my nails yelling noooooooo! Obviously I put the book down, looked at some happy things and then went to sleep, putting the scene off for the next day because I am a giant coward! But this is what I was thinking;

Overall, an enjoyable book which I would recommend if you like domestic psychological thrillers.
[book:Never Have I Ever|36679186] is published on July 30th.

*Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for sending me an uncorrected proof of the eBook in exchange for an honest review*

I started reading this book with high expectations as I liked the blurb and certainly the 50pages had me gripped - unfortunately as I carried on I slowly began to lose interest in what was initially a great premise. I felt it all became a little too predictable. The final twist rather than being a good shock left me feeling a little repulsed and if I had known that was in the book I certainly would not have wanted to read it.
The 'secret' the main character had was well done though and the little twist that came about about her best friend - Charlotte - was handled well - although I have to say I thought it was pushing it a little that Charlotte did not have a clue who Amy was - the author missed a trick there and a great twist would have been that Charlotte knew all along and had forgiven her.
Its a perfect Richard and Judy book, very commercial but left me a bit 'blah' but I can certainly see that it has appeal.
Not sure the title is the best as in the UK not sure we play Never Have I Ever very much - have seen it in lots of USA movies though so knew all about it.

Amy is living the dream - until Roux gatecrashes a bookclub evening in the suburbs and really sets the cat among the pigeons. What a story - smart, clever, twisty and genuinely unputdownable.. Edgy characters, great plot and superb ending. This was my first experience of a Joshilyn Jackson book but I must say I was impressed. The writing was taut and intelligent, with well developed, distinctive characters and locations. Fantastic read and one I'd highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This is a well-written book with a gripping plot. The main character, Amy, is quite strong and I particularly like the relationships between her and her step-daughter, baby and husband. A threat to the family comes with the arrival of Roux to the area, who threatens Amy with secrets from her past. But Roux has secrets too and Anna fights back strongly. This is not my favourite genre but I did enjoy this as all the characters were so strong.
(Coincidences: the last book I read - Four by Andy Jones, had a game of never... in it and I see that there is another book due to be published this year with the same title. Don't play it - it can lead to all sorts of trouble!)

Amy Whey is married with a step daughter and a son. She loves her life as a diving instructor and loves her husband.. She has friends and is a member of a book club. She is respectable but she has a secret.
Then Rouxe walks into her life with her son. Rouxe knows her secret and starts to blackmail her. However, Amy isn't prepared to give up her life and her family. How far is she prepared to go to keep her secret safe?
It is a fast paced book with a twist at the end and I couldn't put it down.

Never Have I Ever is an engaging and dark thriller which I couldn’t seem to put down. I was also surprised to find that it really resonated with me on an emotional level and I really related to the main character, Amy Whey. Usually, I don’t always relate to characters in thrillers as there’s not always room for a lot of character development but somehow Joshilyn Jackson manages to balance a well written plot with some interesting character work too.

The novel is focused on Amy, who has a picture perfect live on the outside, doting husband, newborn son as well as a step daughter who loves her to bits. She also has a circle of friends who meet up for book club every week, with no disruptions, that is until the mysterious and sultry Roux moves into the neighbourhood and hijacks the evening. While at first everyone is taken in by her beauty and charisma, she puts Amy on edge once she starts digging into everyones secrets through a game of Never Have I Ever. Except this game seems more than just a game, Roux knows Amys biggest regret in life and she plans to use it against her…

From the plot alone, I was interested in reading this book and I’m glad to say that it was every bit a great story. The tension and mystery behind Roux’s sudden appearance in town and then her behaviour towards Amy specifically is such a great start to this compelling novel. From there it moves to a battle of wills between Amy and Roux with high stakes and with so many twists and turns, I didn’t know what would come next!

As I mentioned above, I was surprised to find that I had such an emotional response to the novel. Specifically the flashbacks to when Amy is a teen and suffering from insecurities about her appearance and an eating disorder. There were so many lines of thought and dialogue which just hit so deeply as these were things I had also thought or said regarding myself. I found I could relate to teen Amy and I just wished I could have given her a hug. I also found the friendship between Amy and Tig, who was also her first love, so bittersweet. I desperately wished there was a chance for them but sadly it wasn’t meant to be.

Overall, Never Have I Ever is so much more than just a straight forward thriller, it has depth, compelling characters and an explosive final section which ramps up the tension even further.

I LOVED this book. The mysterious Roux enters the inner sanctum of a reading group but soon gets control over individuals, as she’s very good at getting them to tell their secrets through the game of Never Have I Ever. This book was gripping and impossible to put down. I thoroughly recommend it!