I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I was captivated from the start and couldn’t put it down. It’s a psychological thriller that actually focuses on psychology, primarily abnormal psychology. Although a few parts were hard to believe I was able to move past it easily and was infested with the story and the mystery and intrigue. Overall I’d recommend this book for others.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this arc honestly.

Never Saw Me Coming is an academic thriller with psychopath narrators which caught my interest. Seven college students are diagnosed psychopaths and are currently participating in a supposed blind clinical study in exchange for a scholarship to the school. Our main narrator is Chloe who seems like a normal coed, going to class, partying, and plotting to kill an old friend named Will. We get to follow her in this study as she figures out which other students are participating...and who is blackmailing her.

The plot sounded good, but the story was a little incomplete in parts. It was pretty good for a debut!

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was so good.

I wasn’t expecting 87% of what happened to go down. I loved the premise and the execution was top notch. The twists were so unexpected and I loved that. Would highly highly recommend.

From the moment I saw the short blurb describing Never Saw Me Coming, I was torn— part of me was intrigued by the (admittedly intriguing) concept, and part was extremely dubious of it. Turns out the dubious part had more merit.

There was maybe a promising bit in here about the effects of trauma ……… but overall I was not a fan. In my opinion, the premise was a stretch, the characters were paper thin, and the plot itself went from 0-100 at an insane pace while still managing to run in circles for quite some time. I did not care for main character and “psychopath” (not a real diagnosis, which was my bone to pick from the start) Chloe— she was not even necessarily unlikeable, she was just really flat.

1/5 stars ⭐️. Thank you to Park Row and Netgalley for the eARC :)

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

This book was fantastic! I loved the premise and found the characters to be fascinating and enjoyable.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

3.5 stars

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book…but it was an entertaining read. What do you get when you mix a bunch of university aged psychopaths and a murder mystery? A whole lot of quirky fun. This story left me simultaneously horrified and giggling. There were some comical moments because of course the MC’s are psychopaths and the author did a brilliant job of highlighting their deficiencies in a relatable way. However, there were also some instances of gore and creepiness because of course the MC’s are psychopaths so there’s no limits to what they might do.

This isn’t your usual book about psychopathy. This was a unique take on psychopaths and how they relate to each other. I wish the plot had been a little more suspenseful. It lacked tension and build up. It focused more on the characters’ personalities rather than the mystery aspect. I think readers looking for a mystery with a dash of horror that is unconventional will enjoy this one.

Thank you to Harlequin and NG for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book had me so intrigued. It sounded suspensful and exciting with such an original plot, but unfortunately it felt short of that. The book almost read like a YA.

I had this book come across my notice a few times and finally I snagged it up and started it. I happened to listen to this book on audio rather than read it traditionally and I am not disappointed. The narrator did a fantastic job. But that aside, lets talk about how insanely good this book was.

I want to start by saying this is unlike any other book I have ever read. It’s about a group of diagnosed psychopaths in college who get free schooling in exchange with participating in a study about psychopaths. Like, what!? I was instantly interested. Author Vera Kurian did not disappoint me. Weirdly I loved the main character Chloe. While some of her behavior is obviously questionable, she was fun to read. Her thought processes made me laugh at times because she really had no empathy and no thought about how certain actions may affect others. I liked how occasionally we got to read a chapter from someone else’s point of view, which was nice to see how some of the other participants in the story were.

I will admit the ending got me. I am usually pretty good at guessing the ends of books at least a little before it happens, but I got nothing. I was bamboozled just like the characters. The story had a good flow and even with the jumping around and flashbacks here and there, I felt like it was easy to follow. Kurian’s writing style is probably one of my favorites. She gives the information, but leaves enough to keep you guessing. I’m a hardcore fan of Kurian now.

To wrap it up… I love this book. It’s SO good. The storyline is incredibly unique and you will enjoy it. A great psychological thriller.

I couldn’t finish this fast enough, but I did feel like there were some obvious red herrings that stuck around even until the very end. There were a lot of characters who were possible suspects and I feel like it got confusing at some points. But it still kept me guessing until the end.

Psychologists say that we all know psychopaths in our lives, but that we often have a difficult time identifying them due to their uncanny ability to manipulate and charm, giving back to us what we want to receive in a relationship. Vera Kurian’s debut novel is about those “plainclothes psychopaths,” the ones that you “never see coming.”

Kurian spins a murder mystery around the unique concept of seven psychopaths being invited to participate in a study at a D.C. college in exchange for a full ride at the university. They only have to agree to be evaluated and participate in a variety of “tests” designed to get into their unique minds. Things go astray, however, when someone begins murdering the psychopaths. Is it one of their own or has someone lifted their veil of anonymity, targeting them for what they are?

Never Saw Me Coming is told from multiple POVs, following three students from the study. The star of the novel is Chloe, who specifically chose to attend Adams University because it is where her nemesis Will goes to school. Chloe is clever and arrogant, and she WILL kill Will for what he did to her when they were kids … she only has to find him and manipulate him first. Then there’s Andre, whose parents wouldn’t be able to afford to send him to college if it weren’t for the study. The only problem is he hasn’t actually told him that he is IN the study … they think he won a scholarship to the university, which complicates things when he literally finds himself running for his life. Charles was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A psychopath with unlimited means born into a toxic family could be dangerous in the wrong hands, but Charles tries to keep himself grounded through his long-term relationship with his girlfriend. When the murders get too close for comfort, Chloe, Andre, and Charles team up to uncover the culprit who is picking off the psychopaths one by one, but will they figure it out whodunnit before their number comes up?

Vera Kurian has a Doctorate of Social Psychology, and she skillfully applies her knowledge to Never Saw Me Coming. Kurian has shared that psychopaths come in all shapes & sizes, and she demonstrates that through the vastly different Chloe, Andre, and Charles, who provide us with a broad scope of psychopathy in multiple forms. Her characters are vivid and intriguing, albeit a bit stereotypical when it comes to race and privilege (Chloe and Charles are white and Andre is black, neither of which is Kurian).

Chloe, the standout psychopath from this novel, quickly steals the show and sucks you into her sinister, twisted world. Because Chloe puts on a charming, smiling face to the world, you “never see her coming,” but we as readers have the unique opportunity to go behind the scenes of a psychopath’s mind and delve into what’s really going on in there. Despite her nefarious intentions, Chloe is darkly humorous and razor sharp in wit. She makes for a highly entertaining protagonist, albeit one who is not quite right in the mind.

Never Saw Me Coming is pretty great up until the point where we start to figure out just who is killing psychopaths at Adams University. The pay off at the end of the novel wasn’t satisfying to me, and I found myself losing interest. I was hoping the ending was as clever as the rest of this book, but found myself disappointed. Nonetheless, the overall reading experience was enjoyable, and I recommend this book to those who love Caroline Kepnes’ You series, due to both works getting into the minds of the unhinged and deranged.

Absolutely tore through this incredible debut by Vera Kurian. In NEVER SAW ME COMING, we get a fascinating look at young sociopaths in a long-term college study. They've been sought out and recruited for this school, and compensated with free tuition, so that the professor in charge can study them for their entire undergraduate career. They're meant to be unknown to one another, but as first one, and then another of the students in the study is murdered, Chloe wants to find out who's doing this. As does the fraternity brother of the one guy Chloe's been quietly plotting to kill. So they team up to investigate, but can they trust each other? It's a fantastic read, and really fresh. Loved it.

4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this. It was creepy as hell, and I actually locked my bedroom door after finishing it, haha.
I loved the different POVs and the aspect of not knowing who I could trust. And also seeing the idea of killing someone through the eyes of a psyhopath. No guilt, no empathy. Bone chilling.
I had a blast.

This fast-paced thriller will appeal to readers who like edgy suspense. The story centers around a chosen group of college students participating in a secret program for psychopaths. As students turn up dead, these students wonder if there is a killer amongst them. On a race to find the killer the students are challenged to trust and rely on each other, traits so far removed in psychopaths. Will time run out and who will be left standing? Thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for this ARC. This is my honest review.

3.5 stars.

Never Saw Me Coming is quite the wild ride. Interested in taking a deep dive into the mind of a vengeful collegiate psychopath? This is the book for you! However, despite the interesting premise, it wasn't a home run for me.

Chloe and Charles were the best part of the book, by far. Both are psychopaths in the clinical study, but they each have unique personalities and motivations that make them stand out. I loved reading from both of their perspectives. The other characters were decent, but they weren't as fun to follow IMO.

The downfall of this book is due to its length and its pacing. I believe it easily could've been edited down a bit to reduce redundancy and improve the pacing. Honestly, the middle of the story is pretty slow-moving, but then the last fourth has too much going on too quickly. Unfortunately, the ending was quite a letdown, and I really didn't like who the killer turned out to be. The motive behind everything was a bit wacky.

However, I can't deny that this was a compelling read and still pretty fun overall. If you're looking for a more unique thriller, I'd say give it a shot. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book. (Apologies for the delayed review!)

A very good debut with a whole host of unreliable narrators (something I love but am often picky about). A really satisfying thriller that I wish I could read for the first time again!

*CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS ONE*

This is an academic thriller with multiple psychopathic narrators, all attending a school where the professor is studying psychopaths in exchange for a full ride scholarship. A group of psychopaths should be called a chaos, because that's what ensues. Murders of students in the program start happening, and each of our characters is trying to get to the bottom of who-done-it before they end up dead themselves.

It switches between multiple POVs, mainly Chloe, Charles, and Andres. This was a bit confusing at first because the chapters don't have names attached to them, so you usually figure out who's speaking by context and I got a little lost in the beginning.

Chloe is on a revenge mission against Will, who has a video of a crime committed against her and she wants to exact her vengeance for her younger self. I loved being inside her head because she's calculating, precise, and devoid of emotion. It makes the crazy things that happen around her seem larger than life because she's so nonchalant about it all.

Charles is the narcissistic son of a very wealthy politician who is using the program to truly try and better himself. There are many moments he has that allude to the idea that psychopaths can be cured and it makes for an interesting dynamic. There are slivers of care he has for others, and sometimes he acts on them against our preconceived notions of him. I found him the most interesting character of the bunch and def had a soft spot for him.

Out of the three of them, I found Andres the least compelling. He was a non-psychopathic in the psychopath program, using the program to get a free ride. I see what the author was trying to do by making you question whether he was a psychopath in denial or actually sane, but it wasn't as interesting as the actual psychopaths' storylines because being inside his head is fraught with paranoia.

I loved watching all of them grapple with their suspicions of their friends, their classmates, their professors, and each other as this serial killer closes in. One of the better thrillers I've read this year and reignited my love for the genre.

This character driven psychological thriller was quietly clever. I loved the college setting. I loved Chloe's humour. And the fact that she's one of seven students that are at the college as part of a clinical study for psychopaths was very interesting. An impressive read for me!

I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.