After a difficult time during her teens and twenties, Amy Whey seems to have got her life together and made a new start in Pensacola Florida. Married to divorced professor Davis Whey, she gets on well with his teenage daughter Maddy, has a young baby boy and is looking forward to returning to work as a scuba diving teacher. She is friendly with many of their neighbours and hosts a regular book club run by her best friend Charlotte. Then into her quiet, orderly life, storms Angelica Roux, an charismatic new arrival in the neighbourhood, who walks into book club and hijacks the conversation, encourages them all to get drunk and spill their darkest secrets. Roux likes nothing better than to play games and seems to know a lot about secrets in Amy's past that she has never told anyone.
This is a very engaging and original read with two intriguing characters pitted against each other. While Roux is used to winning at the games she plays, using her brash confidence and sharp wit to outsmart others, she hadn't counted on Amy being less compliant than expected, even turning the tables to play Roux at her own game. These two soon become locked in a battle of wits and wills as Amy fights to hold onto everything she has built up. The plot builds slowly initially but hurtles towards the end as Roux becomes more and more desperate to win. Original and compelling, this is one of those books that's really hard to put down once you become invested in the characters, because you just need to know how it will end.
Never Have I Ever: A Novel
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 6,624 ratings
Price: 23.62
Last update: 01-10-2025
About this item
“Wonderful - suspense and surprises, real characters, and a scary, ominous backbeat. This feels like the book Jackson was born to write.” (Lee Child, New York Times best-selling author)
Named a Best Book by USA Today People The Wall Street Journal Time Entertainment Weekly Bustle and many more...
From New York Times best-selling author Joshilyn Jackson, a twisting novel of domestic suspense in which a group of women play a harmless drinking game that escalates into a war of dark pasts.
In this game, even winning can be deadly....
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 15-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.
This audiobook includes an episode of the Book Club Girl Podcast, featuring an interview with Joshilyn Jackson about Never Have I Ever.
Top reviews from the United States
carolynfromoz5.0 out of 5 stars A devious and ruthless game
RSW Kindle Customer4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars!!
I LOVED this <b>4.5 Star</b> psychological thriller! It was a total cat and mouse game which kept me on the edge of my seat, reading way past my bedtime.
<b>SUMMARY</b>
Amy Way loves her life! It's a fairly simple one; she's a dive instructor in Pensacola, FL, very happily married, step mom to spirited15 year old Maddie and mom to eight month old Oliver. She lives in a middle class, family centric neighborhood and has many mom-friends. She has a very tight bond with her BFF, Char, who is one of her favorite people in the world.
Life is pretty nearly perfect except for a secret Amy has kept buried in her past. It is both her hidden shame and biggest regret. Although it happened more than 25 years ago, she still thinks about it almost every day.
One evening, a beautiful stranger, who has moved into the one and only neighborhood VRBO, shows up for Char's book club meeting. This stranger, Roux, manages to hijack the meeting, get everyone to drink too much and then, after most of the women leave, she convinces the remaining drinkers to play a version of <i>I Never</i>. Amy finds this very unsettling. Although she works hard to avoid answering any questions, she feels she has been singled out by this game. Maybe it's just guilt over her secret, but Amy feels Roux trying to corner her. Additionally, she finds out a few things about her neighbors that she really would rather not know. Pretty soon it becomes clear that Roux is not what she seems.
Told from Amy's POV, the story flips back and forth between the past, recounting Amy's secret, and the present as she and Roux face off against each other in a battle for everything Amy holds dear.
<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>
I really loved Amy! She was the kind of main character you wanted to see win in the end. As an overweight, marginalized teenager with an unrequited crush on her handsome BFF, it was so darn easy to sympathize with her. I desperately wanted her to find moments of happiness and of course I wanted the BFF, Tig, to love her back as more than a friend. Their personalities just clicked, it could have been great! Then, as the adult Amy; the one who had lost the weight, found herself and found the real love of her life, I wanted her to be able to hold on to this life. I loved how she managed to match wits with slippery Roux and hold her own. I loved how fiercely she loved not only her own baby, Oliver, but also her step daughter, husband and BFF Char. I completely admire that type of loyalty and the ability to love fully. She has definitely made a HUGE irreversible mistake or two in her life, but she knew it, she lived with it and suffered deeply from it. She really did try to set things right. It was one horrible mistake in an otherwise quite decent life.
I also loved Maddy. She was a spunky fifteen year old girl who called her step mom her "step monster" or just "monster" for short and it was truly a term of affection. I have an admiration for spirited girls both in literature and real life. They are just more fun.
The next best part of the book was the suspense. I kept thinking it was close to being done but then another twist would come along and I would realize there was more to come. I actually had to force myself to stop reading one night / morning when I realized it was 5 a.m.! I kept waiting for a good stopping point and never found one. I could not stop!! The ending was not at all what I expected!!! It took me by surprise!
<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>
There was one part near the very end that was pretty disturbing. I could have been just fine not having that in my head. Yuck. I don't want to say anything else about that because it leads to a big twist and it would be a huge spoiler.
<b>OVERALL</b>
Minus the part I mentioned above, this was a great story. It would make a fantastic book club selection; so many themes, moral and ethical grey areas to discuss and the characters would be so fun to dissect.
<b>SUMMARY</b>
Amy Way loves her life! It's a fairly simple one; she's a dive instructor in Pensacola, FL, very happily married, step mom to spirited15 year old Maddie and mom to eight month old Oliver. She lives in a middle class, family centric neighborhood and has many mom-friends. She has a very tight bond with her BFF, Char, who is one of her favorite people in the world.
Life is pretty nearly perfect except for a secret Amy has kept buried in her past. It is both her hidden shame and biggest regret. Although it happened more than 25 years ago, she still thinks about it almost every day.
One evening, a beautiful stranger, who has moved into the one and only neighborhood VRBO, shows up for Char's book club meeting. This stranger, Roux, manages to hijack the meeting, get everyone to drink too much and then, after most of the women leave, she convinces the remaining drinkers to play a version of <i>I Never</i>. Amy finds this very unsettling. Although she works hard to avoid answering any questions, she feels she has been singled out by this game. Maybe it's just guilt over her secret, but Amy feels Roux trying to corner her. Additionally, she finds out a few things about her neighbors that she really would rather not know. Pretty soon it becomes clear that Roux is not what she seems.
Told from Amy's POV, the story flips back and forth between the past, recounting Amy's secret, and the present as she and Roux face off against each other in a battle for everything Amy holds dear.
<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>
I really loved Amy! She was the kind of main character you wanted to see win in the end. As an overweight, marginalized teenager with an unrequited crush on her handsome BFF, it was so darn easy to sympathize with her. I desperately wanted her to find moments of happiness and of course I wanted the BFF, Tig, to love her back as more than a friend. Their personalities just clicked, it could have been great! Then, as the adult Amy; the one who had lost the weight, found herself and found the real love of her life, I wanted her to be able to hold on to this life. I loved how she managed to match wits with slippery Roux and hold her own. I loved how fiercely she loved not only her own baby, Oliver, but also her step daughter, husband and BFF Char. I completely admire that type of loyalty and the ability to love fully. She has definitely made a HUGE irreversible mistake or two in her life, but she knew it, she lived with it and suffered deeply from it. She really did try to set things right. It was one horrible mistake in an otherwise quite decent life.
I also loved Maddy. She was a spunky fifteen year old girl who called her step mom her "step monster" or just "monster" for short and it was truly a term of affection. I have an admiration for spirited girls both in literature and real life. They are just more fun.
The next best part of the book was the suspense. I kept thinking it was close to being done but then another twist would come along and I would realize there was more to come. I actually had to force myself to stop reading one night / morning when I realized it was 5 a.m.! I kept waiting for a good stopping point and never found one. I could not stop!! The ending was not at all what I expected!!! It took me by surprise!
<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>
There was one part near the very end that was pretty disturbing. I could have been just fine not having that in my head. Yuck. I don't want to say anything else about that because it leads to a big twist and it would be a huge spoiler.
<b>OVERALL</b>
Minus the part I mentioned above, this was a great story. It would make a fantastic book club selection; so many themes, moral and ethical grey areas to discuss and the characters would be so fun to dissect.
Tiffany3.0 out of 5 stars Anchored in the darkness
Sensitivity warning: Briefly deals with matters of child rape. Regular use of f-bombs and other colorful language/descriptions. Some drug use.
This novel was intriguing from page one. Dry humor and wit, combined with excellent pacing. The chapters are long, around 30 mins by the kindle estimations. It didn’t matter though; the length of the chapters made me feel like the story was sucking me into its web of secrecy. What’s interesting is that we learn about one of Amy’s big, bad things from her past in chapter two.
The dynamic between Roux and Amy reminded me of the one between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in A Simple Favor (after Anna Kendrick is wise to Blake’s tricks). If I hadn’t been busy with the holidays, I could have easily read this novel in a day or two.
I had two theories about Roux’ identity. One seemed like too obvious of a choice, but it was explored by the author in a way that I really enjoyed. The choice I was more committed to came to light halfway through the novel, and then was blown away as not an option. I figured then that there would be no twists, just a matter of seeing matters play out. Boy, was I wrong. I had a severe “oh snap” moment at 60% (kindle count).
With all these things considered, this novel would have been 5 stars. However, there’s another twist that’s discovered right toward the end of the novel, and it’s icky. I still would have given 4 stars — but in the end, I felt like things were all just so murky; which is ironic, considering Amy is a deep sea diver. The author does a marvelous job with her descriptions regarding the diving elements. The story is also very smart in terms of understanding exactly how one piece leads to another, and the level of intensity provided to the written word is impressive. But ultimately, I asked myself, “would I recommend this book?” And the answer was no. The reason being that the story drags us down to the bottom of all of Amy’s worsts, but then I felt like there was no light regarding Amy personally to justify me excusing all of her secrets.
This novel was intriguing from page one. Dry humor and wit, combined with excellent pacing. The chapters are long, around 30 mins by the kindle estimations. It didn’t matter though; the length of the chapters made me feel like the story was sucking me into its web of secrecy. What’s interesting is that we learn about one of Amy’s big, bad things from her past in chapter two.
The dynamic between Roux and Amy reminded me of the one between Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in A Simple Favor (after Anna Kendrick is wise to Blake’s tricks). If I hadn’t been busy with the holidays, I could have easily read this novel in a day or two.
I had two theories about Roux’ identity. One seemed like too obvious of a choice, but it was explored by the author in a way that I really enjoyed. The choice I was more committed to came to light halfway through the novel, and then was blown away as not an option. I figured then that there would be no twists, just a matter of seeing matters play out. Boy, was I wrong. I had a severe “oh snap” moment at 60% (kindle count).
With all these things considered, this novel would have been 5 stars. However, there’s another twist that’s discovered right toward the end of the novel, and it’s icky. I still would have given 4 stars — but in the end, I felt like things were all just so murky; which is ironic, considering Amy is a deep sea diver. The author does a marvelous job with her descriptions regarding the diving elements. The story is also very smart in terms of understanding exactly how one piece leads to another, and the level of intensity provided to the written word is impressive. But ultimately, I asked myself, “would I recommend this book?” And the answer was no. The reason being that the story drags us down to the bottom of all of Amy’s worsts, but then I felt like there was no light regarding Amy personally to justify me excusing all of her secrets.