Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for this digital ARC. It’s set to be published on July 30th.

Amy lives an ordinary, but perfect life. But then the new neighbor, Roux, shows up. Although Amy has just met her, Roux somehow knows Amy’s deepest secrets and threatens to tell everyone unless Amy pays up. In order to keep everything and everyone she holds dear, Amy needs to be Roux at her own game.
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From what I’ve seen, this book isn’t Joshilyn Jackson’s usual genre, but I really think she should start writing more of them! This book was so great!
I liked Amy a lot. She’d made an enormous mistake but she was trying to put it all behind her and live her best life. She was a sweet and relatable character I could root for.
And Roux? I just loved hating her. Haha! She was conniving, mysterious, dangerous, and just plain evil.
The story was suspenseful and kept me guessing. And once again, one that I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish. It was frustrating (in a good way) because this Roux chick was relentless. There was also a big twist I didn’t expect at all and a heart-pounding ending.
I’d definitely recommend this book!

How far would you go to keep your darkest secret safe? And exactly how deep are these secrets? How long have you kept them bottled up and have they shaped you into the person you are now?

This book is rare in the way that is is so great but so heavy that I didn’t want to finish reading it. Joshilyn Jackson positively weaves a story and characters so full of life that they practically jump off the pages that I nearly did not finish because I was afraid of what the ending might entail and I did not think I could handle it.

Our main character Amy is a housewife with a hidden past. She has buried her secrets and packed them away in a box shut and sealed away but when Roux moves in next door, she is the dungeon key and Pandora has opened the cursed chest.

All of the characters were well rounded and believable. I wanted to absolutely throttle Roux because of all of her little conniving games. She is one of the most disgusting, infuriating villains I have ever met so well done to the author for creating her

Amy’s relationship to her family is amazing. I loved Maddy and her calling Amy her step monster. Adorable all around. It was nice to see the parenting of a stepchild and the different dynamics of all kinds of family.

My Thoughts:
This is a fantastic book. It is very heavy and deals with a lot of issues that need a trigger warning such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, and eating disorders. Joshilyn Jackson is an amazing author and tells a fantastic story where characters that are well rounded and flawed. The ending will leave you breathless and have you cheering and you’ll second guess if you should really play games such as Never Have I ever. You know know what secrets somebody is harboring

Thank you very much to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own. Please visit my blog for more reviews such as this; https://aelilyreads.home.blog/

I loved this book. It is a fun thriller where I found myself thinking about the antagonist and protagonist even while I was out running errands! I didn’t want to stop reading. Amy is the protagonist and she’s got long buried secrets to hide. No one knows the “real” Amy. Her life and buried secrets are going along smoothly until Roux knocks on her door. Oh she is just awful. You will hate her and find yourself saying- just shut the door on her Amy. Don’t let her in. I don’t want to say too much- but just do yourself a favor and read this book. Lots of great twists and turns. Don’t blame me when you’re up reading past your bedtime.

I could not put this book down! The story starts with a meeting of the neighborhood book club, normally quiet and run by a strict schedule. Until today, when the woman in the AirBnB shows up to join. It's clear from the start that she seems to have an agenda, and she gets to it quickly, by getting the ladies tipsy and playing a game where the winner is the one who has done the worst thing out of the group. Roux is digging for secrets, and Amy clearly has some thing to hide.
Fantastic, twisty story where none of the characters seem completely good or bad, and breathlessly races to conclusion.

When I started this book I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. I thought I had it all figured out. But Jackson threw me curve balls I never saw coming. I ended up very much enjoying this mystery and watching as each character grew in depth and backstory.

I enjoyed this a lot, and felt like it was written well. That being said, I was left with a somewhat lackluster feeling. There was a few too many twists and changes of direction, with left the message feeling chaotic. I couldn’t decide what the author really wanted to say about these characters.

Jackson writes a book full of twists and turns. It drew me in from the first page. It also kept me guessing until the last page.

It is the story of a woman, Amy Whey, who has it all...a loving husband, two great kids and a job she enjoys. She has the life of her dreams, but on this night her past comes back to haunt her as a new member shows up to the neighborhood book club. The new member, Roux, seemingly innocently begins a game of Never Have I Ever that exposes some dark secrets of the neighborhood and sets into motion a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Amy will be forced to fight for the life she has built and ultimately will have to decide how far she is willing to go to keep her past hidden.

It is a story the reader quickly will dip into and find themselves caught up in the plot twists. A good read by Joshilyn Jackson.

Could not put this one down. The resolution was not easily predicted and it keeps the reader engaged to the very end. Highly recommended!

5 glorious stars.

Everyone has secrets. Everyone has instances in their past that they aren’t proud of. Everyone has moments from the past that they don’t freely share with others.

While at a book club meeting, Amy meets her new neighbor Roux. Roux has the ability to sweet talk others into sharing their deep3st, darkest secrets. Even though Amy puts and end to the game before she shares too much, Roux somehow knows Amy’s biggest, deepest, darkest secret. Readers the. Witness how Roux came to know details from Amy’s past, and the lengths Amy will go to keep her secret safe.

Just enough twists and turns to keep me interested, and none of these twists were predictable. This is a book that I read at every opportunity. Highly recommend!

I've been a huge fan of Joshilyn Jackson ever since I got to hear her speak at the Festival of Faith & Writing in 2010. That was my first festival, and I'd never read one of her books before but she was so funny that I picked one up right afterward and have been reading her books ever since!

Never Have I Ever is Jackon's latest and like all her books, there's a strong female lead, tons of wit and snark, and there's a twist that I just did not see coming.

Main character Amy Whey is living a #blessed life from all outward appearances. She has a gorgeous house in an upper-middle class neighborhood. She has a loving, if not a little boring, husband. She's a stay-at-home mom to her baby boy and has a great relationship with her teenage stepdaughter whom she adores. She's an accomplished diving instructor, and she helps run a book club with her best friend, the bubbly and rather tightly wound, Charlotte.

But what none of her neighbors know is that Amy's past is far from idyllic. She struggles with overeating and extreme dieting. She's estranged from her family. And she harbors a dark secret that only she and one other person in the world know. Or so she thought.

When the enigmatic and intoxicating Roux and her teenage son show up in the neighborhood, renting the eyesore Airbnb at the end of the street, Amy doesn't think much of it. She'll get over there with some welcome cookies eventually. But Roux beats her to it, showing up unexpectedly at book club one night. And Roux's plans don't involve gossiping over Charlotte's chosen read. Instead, Roux proposes her remixed version of the drinking game "Never Have I Ever," and in the aftermath of what's revealed, the neighborhood is turned upside down and Amy's secret just might be exposed.

Just what lengths will Amy go to keep the past dead and buried?

Jackson goes to some dark places in her books, dealing with abuse, rape, racism, body issues, and the ways secrets destroy, and this book is no exception, delving deep into several of those topics. I've always loved how Jackson can so starkly write to some of the worst aspects of human nature, while still leaving us feeling hopeful and optimistic at the end. It's truly a gift.

Never Have I Ever is a page-turner just like all her others. I could not put it down. The twist at the end was way darker than I expected. I feel like this book needs a trigger warning, but how you'd do that without spoiling the twist (which I'm not inclined to do), I have no idea.

I finished reading this one a few weeks ago, and the story has definitely stuck with me. As with all Jackson's books, this will be one I return to again, looking for all the clues I missed the first time around.

Jackson does a few things really well in all of her novels:
She gives us a badass female lead.
She always has a tense standoff, usually involving a gun and said badass lady.
She creates imperfect characters that are are also easy to root for.

Never Have I Ever has all of these elements, making for a quick, page-turning read. She throws you off by revealing twist after twist before the book is half over.

Recommend for book clubs, beach reads, and fans of her work.

I loved this book! Got lucky and received it right before going on vacation, finished the entire thing in the car. It is a drama with some mystery sprinkled in. Great for fans of women's lit as well as thrillers, which in its own I think makes it a great story.

There are twists and turns that you want from a thriller and dynamic characters and relationships that you want to women's lit.

You know the game. Never have I ever kissed a boy or gone skinny dipping. But when the mysterious Roux shows up to the neighborhood book club, the game takes a sinister turn. Now Amy Whey's whole life feels threatened. For Amy has a secret past, one that Roux is willing to blackmail her over. But two can play at this game. A deliciously fun summer read that kept me guessing until the end (which I did not expect).

When Roux, the new neighbor invites herself into the local book club, the neighborhood is never the same again. Everyone seems mesmerized by Roux' unusual looks and personality. Amy, a mother of an infant and stepdaughter seems to be Roux' target. Roux has a way of getting everyone's secrets and using them for her benefit. Lots of twists and surprises throughout this book will hold the reader's interest to the end. Recommended!

Wow, just wow. This was a page-turner and kept me on the “edge of my seat” more than any other book I’ve read this year.

At what was supposed to be a normal book club meeting, Roux, new to the neighborhood, ends the night with her idea of a game to tell the worst thing you did today, last week, last year, and so on. With things getting out of hand, Amy ends the game and has everyone leave her home, but little did she know that for her, the game sadly has only just begun.

I was a bit apprehensive going into this read as this appears to be the author's first foray into the thriller genre, but, I was very impressed! The thrill of figuring out everyone's pasts and motivations kept me turning pages and while some plot points were a little far-fetched, I was still entertained. I especially enjoyed the author's use of Amy's career as a scuba diving instructor to add symbolism and tension to the story. I'd recommend this one as a quick summer beach read.

Amy lives in your average neighborhood. She loves being a new mom, is just back to work as a diving instructor. The evening she hosts the neighborhood book club the newest neighbor arrives and takes over. Roux introduces a new game that Amy does not like. Amy does all she an to get her out of her house. Soon Roux's motivation threatens to disrupt Amy's entire life and reveal secrets she has worked hard to keep buried. This was a totally different book for this author that was twisty and thoroughly enjoyable!

You know those conversational terrorists who hijack entire conversations?

Now imagine one shows up to your BFF's snoozeville book club and that you are secretly delighted until you realize that she has just equally charmed everyone else in the club and she may know your deepest, darkest secret.

Amy has created a quiet little life with her hubby, step-daughter, and infant son when Roux tornadoes into her life hellbent on destroying it. Why does Roux want to ruin her life and what lengths will Amy go to in order to protect herself, her family and her secret?

This was yummy!

Thank you to Joshilyn Jackson, HarperCollins Publishers, William Morrow and Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed NEVER HAVE I EVER, which is a bit darker than Jackson's previous novels. What happens when a women's book club meeting goes off the rails? In this novel we follow Amy in her quest to protect herself and clear her name. As the story progresses disturbing details from her past emerge. The first few chapters are a bit tough to get through simply because we are learning who's who and what's going on. However, the reader is definitely rewarded by sticking with it. The second half of the book is a compelling cat and mouse race to the finish. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! This would make a fantastic beach read this summer.