Title: NEVER HAVE I EVER
Expected publication: 8 August 2019
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple
pleasures that come with it—teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new
neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her
greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited
fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the
steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins
to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep
one book club night.
Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way—a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.
When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.
To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.
A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.
Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way—a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.
When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.
To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.
A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson’s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.
My musings:
What an emotional roller coaster this book turned out to be!
Amy is a housewife and new mother to a small baby son, and
stepmother to a teenage daughter. Her life is in order. She bakes cookies,
cleans the house and works part time as a dive instructor. Once a month she
hosts the Brain Dead Mummy’s Book Club, run by her best friend Charlotte, whose
life is just as ordinary and unexciting as Amy’s. Until the new neighbour
invites herself to their latest book club meeting and takes over proceedings.
Exotic and extrovert, Angela Roux pours the drinks and invites the tipsy
neighbourhood mums to play a game of “Never Have I Ever”, revealing their
deepest darkest secrets. Amy is alarmed. It’s not just that some ugly truths
come out that the women will surely regret sharing, but Amy herself has been
harbouring a deep dark secret she has hidden for years. She is sure that Roux
knows things about her that no one else does, not even her husband. But how?
And what does Roux want from her?
There is nothing more delicious than dark family secrets,
and the length people will go to in order to keep them hidden. Soon Roux and
Amy are entangled in a dangerous twisted game where there can only be one
winner – and one person who has a lot to lose. And neither woman is prepared to
be that person.
For me, the strength of NEVER HAVE I EVER lay in its
characters, who drove this story for me. Amy may initially seem like a mousy
housewife, but we soon get to know how strong and determined she can be when
her future is at stake. And Roux – well, she was just plain evil. This was one
of those books where I was constantly putting myself in the main character’s
shoes, thinking: what would I do in her place? What would be the best course of
action? As Amy becomes more and more entangled in Roux’s web, I feared for her
and absolutely couldn’t put the book down. What a page turner!
I loved how the battle of wits between Amy and Roux became
more dangerous as time went on, each woman determined to win. Both characters
were well drawn and fascinating in their own right – the housewife with a
secret and the blackmailer. I was firmly in camp Amy, but I secretly admired
Roux’s confidence and her audacity. Who hasn’t met women like her, the sort of
person who owns the whole room as soon as she enters, all eyes drawn to her,
the extrovert, the life of the party. Confident and cocky. Unstoppable. Ruthless.
Apart from this battle of wits, I also enjoyed the side
stories the author offers here – the friendship between Madison and Roux’s son
Luca. The stunning dive scenes. Amy’s and Charlotte’s friendship. There were
quite a few twists along the way I did not see coming, and a more sinister and
disturbing one at the end that shocked me pulled the rug out from under me.
Summary:
If you love character driven mysteries that are based on
secrets, lies and deceit, and enjoy a good battle of wills then this book is
definitely for you! Despite the slower pace that the term “character driven”
suggests, the underlying tension and menace overshadowing the story had me at
the edge of my seat the whole time whilst reading this book, and I could not
put it down. It’s definitely one of my favourite thrillers this year, and one I
have no qualms recommending to all lovers of the genre. I look forward to
reading more from this author in future.
Thank
you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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