Never Ever Tell is an emotional read with an ending you won't see coming. If you want to read something that will tear your heart right out of your chest and stomp on it, this is the book for you.
It tackles the tough subjects of domestic abuse, rape, bullying, and suicide, so be warned if you're a sensitive reader.
The story follows Vanessa, a woman who has been dealt a crappy hand at life thanks to Mark, the boy she liked in high school. The only bright spot is her son Wren. Vanessa will do anything to protect Wren, and Wren seems to be a bit of a mama's boy as he gets older. Once he hits high school, though, he befriends two other boys and starts dating a new girl. That's when things get bad. Really bad.
I found myself relating to Vanessa in some ways in this book. But there were other times when I though she was a bit annoying and/or frustrating. And by the end, I absolutely hated her.
The characters in this book are all well-written and fleshed out. It has a very real, relatable feel to it. It's something I can imagine happening in a small town (and definitely does more often than it should). I found myself crying. I found myself smiling. And I found myself seething with a white-hot rage. All at different points in the story, of course. But that ending... That ending made me go "WHAT?!" and want to throw my Kindle out the window.
If you're looking for a suspense thriller that will have your emotions all over the place, give Never Ever Tell a go.
4 stars from me!

Holy moly this was such an intense vivid read, very descriptive narrative, not for the faint of heart.
I always find books which such intense topics hard to review.
The authors writing style was able to suck me right into the story, through her vivid descriptions of the events that occurred the character developed was also very well executed. I could feel the pain, sorrow, and hardships that the main character faced in the fight to escape the life with her abusive husband. It was very interesting to see how her story evolved once she got out of the house and how the abuse continued to appear and disrupt her life.
In the second part of the story we got to find a little more about her son's life, and the events that lead up to some huge tragedys that shock the main character to the core, where she made it her mission to get to the bottom of what happened to those two teenagers to get to the devastating place they both ended up.
You could see family was always her main concern but at what costs to her current life can see endure.
This was such a hard read, but you were able to see how beaten this women was and how she put her kids and family always above her needs.

What can I say about this book? Well it certainly wasn’t an easy read that’s for sure. The book broke my heart and it made me feel extremely uncomfortable and took me right out of my comfort zone. However I am happy that Vanessa Sawyer managed to find love and happiness for part of her life.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

***TRIGGER WARNING*** Scenes Of Domestic Violence & Rape.

Vanessa had a crush on her best friends boyfriend, Mark. But Vanessa had sex with him and he tells her he will break up with Maggie. But he doesn't. Not until Vanessa is pregnant. Her parents tell her she must marry him before the baby is born. She has a son and calls him Wren. Mark doesn't like the name. An abusive marriage evolves. One day Vanessa meets an old flame who wants to help her escape her abusive husband. They eventually end up in a relationship nd Vanessa has another son. But tragedy is about to strike.

This is an emotional roller coaster read. I found it hard to read in places but the content needed to be written to make the story work. It's well written and the characters are complex but believable. Even though the plotline was harrowing, I was caught up in the story and read it in one sitting. This is my first read by the author but it won't be my.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author Kirsty Ferguson for my ARC in exchange for an honest.

Kirsty Ferguson is a new author for me, and I am so pleased to have read this book. I loved it and will definitely look out for more of her work. Five stars from me

There's nothing worse than bring married to someone that destroys who you are physically and mentally thru abuse except trying to raise a child too. Vanessa probably would've committed suicide or pushed her husband to the breaking point so he'd kill her, but she had her beautiful baby boy to keep her going. He was her whole world and she'd do anything to make sure he was protected, but how much can you really protect someone? It's amazing to see what a mother will go through and how much they can take.
The ended was far from anything I was expecting. I was completely shocked and don't think there was anything that I could've read that would've made me figure it out....even a little.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Ohhh this book was right up my alley full of suspence and I had no idea where it was going. I love that in a book so for me a solid 5 STARS!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the Arc of this book!❤️

Also thank you to the author Kirsty Ferguson in writing this page turning book!❤️

Follows a girl named Vanessa who had a crush on her best friends partner Mark, they ended up having sex (technically Rape) in the back of a van, Mark said he was leaving Maggie for Vanessa but the next day he acted like it never happened until she got pregnant with his baby, Maggie found out and left him then her parents told Vanessa that she must marry him before the baby was born.. so they did... She had the baby called Wren, Mark didn't like that name.. the abusive marriage started.. until one day she finds an old flame from whom she went to school with who wanted to help her escape her abusive marriage by helping her move into a place he owns, and they then end up together she ends up having a second child called Ty, then towards the end her first child Wren dies which completely wrecks her...

This was my first Kirsty Ferguson book and I totally loved it, if your a fan of Adele parks etc you'll love this

It's a captivating gripping thriller but emotional and features abusive marriages, escaping them and rape so be warned❤️

I definitely recommend 💫
5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Kirsty Ferguson I loved this book!

Will review else where once published!?

Vanessa Sawyer knows all about pain
When she got her baby called Wren he was the love of her life
When he grows up he’s hiding a secret from her
I had an ARC from Boldwood Books

Never Ever Tell sucked me in after the first chapter. This book is about the life of a girl that got pregnant at 17 and ended up marrying just out of high school. It was an abusive relationship and she is finally able to escape the marriage. However, unbeknownst to her the damage was already done since her son witnessed the abuse.

My only issues with the book are at the beginning when it went from finding out she was pregnant and then within 24 hours the boy was told and the parents were all told and then they were getting married shortly after that. I felt it was a little too choppy. Maybe it was an editing issue. Also, at the end, the main character figures out what is going on quite easily without having reason to jump to a certain conclusion. Again, could be something that happened during editing.

All and all the book was a quick read that held my attention.

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood for the chance to read this book in turn of my review.

Book started slowly with the normal scenario of girl and bad boy having sex in his van at the school end of term party etc etc and her getting pregnant of course and them getting married before baby is born. Husband turns out to be a loser and mistreats her , all something I’ve read many times before. You read about her life over the next years which includes a second child , meeting an old flame who saves her and she leaves her husband. All very predictable.
The second part of the book changes her life tremendously and the final twist, which is where the title comes from, is a real surprise and totally unexpected.
Well worth a read.

Never Ever Tell made me sad. How much tradegy can one story hold? Spoiler - more than you think!

I was left wincing on nearly every page, the pages not filled with violence are filled with hatred. That’s only the first part of the story! Don’t get me wrong it has its lovely moments where you think everything will be okay but my god this was extreme. I personally wouldn’t pick this up knowing the high level of torture on the pages. Just not my thing. Not a bad book and I liked the final twist.

3.5/5

I never give up on a book, but this one had me constantly checking how much I had left to read. There was too much violence, too much abuse, too much death and way too much hate in this book. It should come with a trigger warning right on the front page. The first part of the story I was able to get through, the second part was where I lost it. I would not recommend this to anyone.

*Trigger Warning*** Extreme domestic violence and rape.

Now that I have the trigger warning out if the way...Never Ever Tell is the first book I have read by Kristy Ferguson. While I found it a little difficult to make it through the first part of this book, Ms. Ferguson did a good job at painting what it is like to live in a violent marriage. A heartbreaking story and a revolation at the end that would shock anyone.

Thank you NetGalley for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own.

I wasn’t a big fan of this book. It felt like there was too much all packed in. The action started right from the first page and didn’t stop until the last page. While that sounds like a good thing, it meant that there really wasn’t much character development... it just jumped from one event to the next. Because of this, I had a really hard time caring about any of the characters. I also felt like so many of the storylines were just left hanging. Most of them were not wrapped up, people and events were just mentioned briefly and then not talked about again for the rest of the book. If there would have been more time spent on making the characters relatable instead of trying to throw in 47 curveballs throughout the book, I think it would have been a much more enjoyable read.

There are 2 parts of the book, and the second part is what really pulled me into the story, and is what made me love it so much! It was a heartbreaking, yet courageous, story that I’ll never forget! I highly recommend it!

Although I couldn’t relate to the women in the abusive relationships, Kirsty Ferguson did a fantastic job making me feel like I really knew them. It took me a little while though before I actually liked them.. Having never been in an abusive relationship, it seemed like the women were whiney and overly dependent on others. I couldn’t understand why they would stay with someone who was so abusive, especially once they had kids. I can somewhat imagine how terrified I’d be if I was threatened my loved ones if I left though. It seemed, in my opinion, that both women took an easy way out, but that didn’t have a negative impact on how I felt about the book. Despite it taking a little while for me to like those two characters, the story was phenomenal! If I was in a relationship like theirs, I think I would be fearful of the same thing; would my child have seen so much that he/she would grow up to be the same type of man/woman, or would he/she break the cycle?

Plot: Vanessa and Maggie grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone else’s business,. They were best friends throughout school. Although Vanessa has always had a secret crush on Maggie’s boyfriend, her friendship with Maggie meant more to her. In a moment of spontaneity, Mark tells Vanessa that he’s breaking up with Maggie because he has liked Vanessa for a long time. She felt the heat and passion of the moment, and lost her virginity to him. While she felt awestruck and in love, and was terrified of telling her best friend Maggie what they had done, she knew that she and Mark were meant to be.. However, the next day at school Mark acted like it had never happened and was hanging onto Maggie as much as he always had. A few months later they told Maggie, but only when Vanessa felt forced into marrying Mark because she was pregnant. That’s when the abuse began. Mark worked at a bar, barely gave Vanessa and money to pay for the bills, and couldn’t have cared less about her or their son, Wren. She and Wren had the most beautiful and treasured relationship;however, she was still afraid that he witnessed too much in the brutal beatings. He had grown up watching his mom, Vanessa, suffer at the hands of his father, Mark, so Vanessa always worried about how it would impact him too. Many years later, Wren was thrilled when his younger brother Ty was born. To say Mark was uninvolved and uninterested as a father is an understatement. Vanessa’s one true adult fan and supporter was her mother. Although she had previously had a good relationship with her father too, she witnessed something so hurtful that they didn’t talk for years. Her mom was always there for her though.

Finally, Vanessa left Mark, and celebrated on the day that she actually divorced him. Since she stayed in the small town, it was only a short mater of time before he found her. She still felt tremendous guilt over what she had done to Maggie, and tried to make amends, but Maggie was unforgiving. Maggie did not believe that Mark was the way Vanessa said he was either since he’d been all to caring to her in their relationship when they were in school.

Evidence of Mark is a constant threat and she cant seem to get away from his violence, but at the center of her heart were her boys; Wren and Ty. There isn’t anything she wouldn’t have done for them. Wren was always her true ally, best friend, and protective son. Despite her fears of him witnessing the abuse from his father, she felt certain that he wouldn’t grow into the same type of man. She felt equally certain that Ty wouldn’t either since he had been too young to remember. She had also heard that Maggie was pregnant over the years, and tried yet again to talk to her. Unfortunately Maggie had found herself in the same predicament as Vanessa, so however painful it was, they were able to rekindle their friendship as a result. When Vanessa learns some tragic news, she is shocked to her very core and is forced to face her dad again for the first time in many years. She finds the strength to move on though, and does her best to continue to take care of and support her boys.

In part 2 you start to learn about a young girl who is Wren’s age; Olivia. Olivia’s father is a principal at a high school and has moved to several different schools. Olivia Started writing in diaries after her mother died, and has continued to write diligently. After having recently moved to town, she meets Wren on her first day at school and is certain that this was the fresh start that she needed. In a short amount of time, she and Wren have both fallen madly in love with each other. Wren is just the all around great guy. He is fun and popular, and is friends with two other popular guys at his school who he has grown up playing soccer with. Although Olivia is still somewhat shy, and the new kid in town, she decided to go to the party anyways because she knew Wren would be there. Life is never the same for any of them ever again, and the ripple effects it has on all of the other characters are undeniably huge. The party was the beginning of a catastrophic whirlwind of pain, truths, regrets, and revelations that forces everyone to reconsider who they really are and how well they really knew one another.

Thank you Kirsty Ferguson, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this free copy. My review is voluntary, and reflects my honest opinion on the book. I highly recommend it!

A tense thriller about a mother protecting her child. My heart was in my throat the whole time. Thrilling and exciting. Highly recommended

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

I thought it was just ok. Definitely creepy but in no way special or extraordinary
Eh.

Thank you for this advanced copy. I couldn’t get into this book. Too dark. Skimmed ahead a few times and still didn’t hold my interest

With its graphic descriptions of abuse and rape this book won't be for everyone. Even though it wasn't pleasant to read by any means, I was able to stomach those scenes. What was harder to accept was how everyone in this story behaved. I struggled to understand why everyone in this book acted the way that they did, especially to each other. Because of this, even though I was interested enough to keep reading, I struggled to connect with any of the characters.

Having escaped an abusive relationship myself, I completely understand how hard it is to leave. Until I was in my own nightmare I couldn't fathom why people stay with abusive partners. So when I say I don't understand the characters' behavior please understand that Vanessa's refusal to leave for so long is not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to the other interpersonal relationships and how everyone in the town treated each other. It was often quite contradictory and confusing.

I've never lived in a small town so maybe that's part of it, but overall I struggled to believe that most of the people in this story would reflect real life counterparts. It was just a bit too dramatic for this reader without enough substance behind it to make it believable.

It's a good story that gives insight to what it is like to be trapped in domestic abuse so for that alone I'm rating it higher than I would have otherwise. The basis of a good book is there, I just think it needs to be fleshed out a bit more.