“People say, I don’t know how she lives with herself, but every single one of them was living with their own worst thing, just fine. No one walks around holding their ugliest sin in the palm of their hand, staring at it.”
Amy lives a contented life with her baby Oliver, her step daughter Madison and her appropriately cautious husband Davis. She is a good friend and excellent wife. Amy's idyllic life is interrupted when a new mom in the neighborhood moves in. This new neighbor seems to know more about Amy's secret past than any of her closest friends and family. Amy will do anything to keep her past hidden, and this new stranger is banking on that desperation!
I don't even know where to start with this one. I have this hierarchy of thriller-reads in my mind. imagine a March Madness Basketball bracket but with Thriller Genre books instead of Basketball Teams. At the top of my mind-bracket sits the winner, Gone Girl. Gone Girl blew my mind when I read it the first time. There was a page turning mystery, unreliable narration, so many complicated characters with complicated relationships with each other and, an ending that felt perfect to me. Gone Girl is damn near flawless in my opinion and nothing has even come close dethroning it as "the best of the best"... Until Never Have I Ever.
Never Have I Ever reminded me of Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game! Instead of a hunter hunting a human, imagine two Suburban mom's trying to win a battle of wits in order to keep their secrets concealed. I mean, COME ON!!!! HOW IS THIS NOT AN HBO ORIGINAL ALREADY??????? If Big Little Lies and Gone Girl had an illicit affair, Never Have I Ever would be their deliciously dark, love-child. I do think readers that hated Gone Girl's ending will feel much more satisfied with the way this book wraps up. This felt a little lighter in tone than Gone Girl up until the last couple chapters too, so don't write this off just because I compared it to Gone Girl.
The beauty of this novel is slow to reveal itself. At first it seems like a fun page turner that feels beach read worthy. Very slowly this book emerges and the reader begins to see the complicated relationship of a "victim" who proves to be a worthy opponent. The symbiotic relationship between the plot and the characters was something I have never experienced in a book before. The characterization fed the plot as much as the plot fed the characterization and this created both an original plot and an incredibly original relationship between the hunted and the hunter.
Prepare for me to recommend this non-stop. This had the juicy goodness of an un-put-down-able read with a dense sustenance of complex characterization I could sink my teeth into. Even if thrillers aren't your usual cuppa, you have to check this out. It won't disappoint.
🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅 5/5 gold medal stars
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