This was a different kind of a story - I initially thought I knew what was happening and who the 'baddie' was, and , indeed, who was the poor victim, but boy was I wrong! Fantastic book, with a crazy twist that comes out of nowhere! Do be aware, that this contains some hard to read stuff though.

Thank you Bloomsberry Publishing - Raven Books, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return of my honest review.

Five Well Deserved ⭐️ ‘s. I don’t often read thrillers but when I do I want one that is going to take me on a psychological ride., this book did just that. More than once I was swiping ahead of where I was at to make sure I could safely continue reading the next few pages !!

If you are looking for something to read when you should be doing an important project instead, read this, it is so worth the procrastination.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this wonderful book, I can’t wait to read others from Joshilyn Jackson now.

WOW!  Never Have I Ever is a very dark, dangerous cat and mouse game (think Tom & Jerry on Crack Cocaine!) which will thrill, grip and entertain fans of psychological thrillers everywhere.

Amy Whey is a first time mum living in quiet, comfortable suburbia with her husband Davis and his teenage daughter.  She runs the neighbourhood Book Club with her best friend Charlotte, teaches the locals to dive and is currently enjoying her maternity leave.  Enter "Roux" a glamorous, confident single mum who has just moved into the area and gate-crashes book club, causing utter mayhem and havoc in her wake.

Told through Amy's point of view Never Have I Ever is a seriously addictive, fast paced thriller featuring two brilliant protagonists, both equally strong alpha females determined to out play the other regardless of the effects it has on their lives and the lives of their family and friends.

There were so many twists in this book that I seriously didn't see coming and a couple of moments where I had to stop, regroup and ask myself how as a lover of psychological thrillers I hadn't worked it out before the twist.

I can only liken this reading experience to getting in your car for a long journey, setting your Sat-Nav as you kind of know where you are going and about halfway through the drive you realise you programmed the wrong address in.

Clever, gripping, addictive and thoroughly entertaining.  5 stars from me.

3.5*

I was lucky enough to be granted permission from the publisher to read an advance copy of the opening chapter well in advance of its release. At that time, I said: “If the purpose of releasing an opening chapter is to get people wanting to read the full book, then this absolutely succeeds.” The start really does suck you in.

Amy's first-person narrative gives us a number of insights into her small mommy community, which is suddenly burst open with the arrival of newcomer Roux. And we're in no doubt as to what this arrival might mean for Amy because she is remonstrating with herself on page one that she could so easily have let such a force into her house, saying: "She didn't look like my own destruction to me."

Tate, Charlotte, Panda, Lavonda and most of all Amy sense that Pandora's Box has been opened as we start to see what kind of high-stakes game Roux is playing...

So, it’s a pity when the confession is so simply, as she puts it “peeled” from Amy; so easy it’s like a loose orange skin being removed. I’m a big fan of a fast-moving plot but I wanted Amy to hold out a bit because this just felt a bit too convenient. There were also a few twists that literally made me guffaw. At certain points, I also felt I knew Amy well enough to know she wouldn’t be accepting the terms given to her, following Roux’s second gambit in the “game”.

There was, however, a very moving section in the middle of the book which explored the depth of feeling we tend to have for our first loves and this was all very well captured and well-written.

Overall, a book that you can power through very quickly because it’s fast-paced and there’s new information coming at you all the time. I would recommend this for Summer holiday reading!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Raven Books and Joshilyn Jackson for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This was an enjoyable, twisty, albeit slightly far-fetched, domestic thriller set in a middle-class suburban neighbourhood where everyone knows everyone, or do they?

Never Have I Ever begins when mysterious new neighbour, Angelica Roux, crashes Amy Whey and her best friend’s Char’s book club. A few glasses of wine and light banter later, the compelling Roux lures the mothers into a drunken game revealing long hidden secrets. Amy isn’t so willing to let hers slip. However, Roux already knows about her dark secretive past and is determined to make her pay. Maybe Amy’s life isn’t so straightforward after all.

I loved reading from Amy’s perspective. Here we have a realistic middle-aged suburban mother revealing the dark secrets of her past. She is a guilt-ridden woman who is willing to do anything to protect her beloved ordinary life and all its intricacies. Is she prepared to risk it all to save herself?

As the days went by, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated with Amy. Through her repetitive internal monologue, she reveals her abhorrence for lying, especially to her loved ones. Despite this, she continually made decisions which always involved doing just that. Considering the traumatic accident of her past, I expected she would have learned that lies only grow deeper and come back with a vengeance. Nonetheless, the cat and mouse chase between the two scheming women was so addicting and I was itching to see who would eventually come on top.

This book is a spider-web of secrets, relationships, tragedy, teenage love, motherhood and everything in between. Never Have I Ever is a twisty thriller which kept me on the edge of my seat right until the very end.

I loved this book. Despite the bonkers plot twists this was just the best ride I've had in awhile. Two amazing lead characters, perfect protagonist and antagonist. A brilliant cast of small town middle class suburban mamas, papas and their kids with an assortment of secrets and lies, this novel is like Desperate Housewives crossed with Killing Eve over the course of one week!

When mysterious new neighbour Roux crashes Amy Whey's suburban book club, a quiet evening with friends results in long hidden secrets coming to the fore. But Amy is prepared to protect her hard-earned life at all costs and proves a worthy adversary to the sociopathic Roux. There's an amazing scuba-diving scene that almost made me miss my stop on the train. With unexpected twists and reveals and a shocking and horrifying end, I was absolutely gripped and plan to read this author's other novels asap.

Highly recommend for your summer holiday reading list!

Wow. What a fantastic novel. Full of twists throughout and really fast paced. Didn’t want to put it down

So I am a huge fan of Raven Books. I think they publish incredible and twisty titles and I always look forward to reading everything they publish. Unfortunately I wasn't entirely convinced by Never Have I Ever. It has a promising start and the plot itself plods along quickly and is certainly very gripping. I also enjoyed the amount of research and time that went into scuba diving in this story. This may be because I am a certified diver myself, so I found it very entertaining and familiar. I feel like the extended amount of time spent underwater in this novel might actually put off anyone who is less familiar with the world of scuba diving. Particularly when it comes to technicalities before and after the dives. I share a love and appreciation for the ocean, as does this author, so I understand how wonderfully enchanting the sea can be.

I found myself very frustrated with the protagonist in this book. Her motives and decisions were all rather silly and I really wasn't a fan of her continuing to lie to her family, even in the end. She should have learned that lies only grow deeper and more deadly. However, I did love the twist in the end because I did not see it coming at all. I feel like the neighbourhood (considering it's set in suburbia) could have been fleshed out far more. I was expecting a lot more from this book, based on the title, the publisher, and the blurb, so I haven't been entirely convinced by the story. I'll still continue to read books by Bloomsbury Raven.

A strong 3.5/5! Never Have I Ever is addicting and I wasn’t able to put it down until the end. Following Amy and her cat and mouse game with her new neighbour Roux which was highly entertaining but it was the twist at the end of the book that made me gasp. Absolutely shocking!

A very interesting read . Twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Wondering which way the author is going to take it. Nice and easy to read. Flows well. Enjoyable to read