They Never Learn

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars | 7,461 ratings

Price: 17.05

Last update: 04-25-2025


About this item

From the author of the “raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless” (Wendy Walker, USA Today best-selling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve - perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, Dr. Clark searches for the worst man at Gorman University - professor, student, or otherwise - and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself…but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Dr. Clark insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident - everything Carly wishes she could be - and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

“A gorgeously-written ragestorm of a thriller” (Wendy Heard, author of The Kill Club), They Never Learn is a feminist serial killer story that you won’t be able to put down.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Lynae
    5.0 out of 5 stars So good!
    Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2025
    I don't typically read thrillers or books with violence, not that I mind it but if there's going to be any in а book this is definitely the kind I prefer through vigilante justice! I'm surprised this hasn't happened in real life, maybe it has and she's so good at it she that we don't hear about it. If so, good for her. Too often when people take justice into their own hands they get more time than the predator, it's messed up! If i had pardoning power I'd pardon cases such as these where the defendant was just making the world а little safer! Thank you Layne for the incredible escape! Who hasn't fantasized about predators getting the justice they really deserve? Thank you Layne for writing this incredible story with many of my favorite things. Sapphic love, justice, revenge, badass women who are fierce, dangerous, beautiful, feminine, intelligent, protective, strong, show vulnerability and love other women! Read this book!
  • Shawna
    4.0 out of 5 stars Twisting
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2024
    Grabs you right away! Loved the build up and twists this book has. Twist 1, how the author intertwined the two characters storylines ... Didn't see that coming!! I did get a little annoyed with Carly and her issues and I felt her ending was rushed. Scarlets ending I could see a mile away, except for the twist of who to blame. Over all worth the read, great story, amazing twists!
  • Thicc & Ired
    3.0 out of 5 stars 3.0 / 5.0
    Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2024
    The dual timelines was not clear at first and upset me, but once it settled in and got going I really enjoyed this. The ending was satisfying and the character development is the entire point.
  • Noirgirl
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the year's best thrillers
    Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2020
    Wow, this was an awesome read. In the beginning I thought this was gonna be a solid, four star type read. I am definitely here for a professorial lady Dexter who brings rapists to justice. (Not a spoiler - this is how the book STARTS!) Then there was also a female antagonist (who would normally be the protagonist, were I inclined to want our friend the professor caught), a male lover who might have a little more going on than meets the eye, and an alternate narrator who is a nice girl just trying to get through her first year of college.

    But then came the first of many awesome twists which made this book way more special than I was expecting, and made it stand out in a genre without much originality. Boy are these twists surprising, original, and thrilling. Not only that, this book has a thought-provoking and timely set of topics. The book has something important to say about sexual harassment but it does it in a really entertaining, scary and gripping way. Most of all though this book is entertaining as hell. Tons of twists, but none are wrong for the story or forced. I could not have predicted the ending and I LOVED it. A perfect feminist suspense novel and revenge thrill ride for the #MeToo era. As a feminist thriller reader, and a fan of twists and unreliable narrators, I could not have loved this book more! It was perfectly executed on every level. Side note: Layne Fargo is developing this series for TV! So get in on the book first before it becomes a hit series, like a much better "You." Yep, I'll take Scarlett over Joe any day and I bet you will too.

    Thanks to NetGalley, Layne Fargo and Simon and Schuster for the early copy of this awesome book. Side note, after reading this I immediately purchased Fargo's previous book Temper which I also loved. Check that one out as well - the reviews on it are a little more divisive but I found it to be just as fun as this one.
  • X.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a read
    Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2024
    Really thrilling and worth a read. Actually surprised me.
  • Solid Virtual Business Solutions
    5.0 out of 5 stars will be looking for more from this author!
    Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2024
    Great read! This was my first book by Layne Fargo and won’t be my last. I loved the premise of the novel. Great plot. Twists were unpredictable yet reasonable. Unique writing style. Loved it.
  • Bianca Hochstetler
    4.0 out of 5 stars Must Read!
    Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024
    If you love a good 'woman fighting for vengeance by murdering bad men' this is for you!

    Scarlett is a big wig, super intelligent English professor at Gormon University, who spends her free time murdering those men who feel the need to do 'bad things' and get away with it. - who doesn't wish they could do that?! I mean, c'mon! - Anyway, while she does her 'research' on her next victim you learn she's a little more unhinged than she realizes. You're watching her make these plans but we can see how completely OBVIOUS these plans are going to make her!

    Carly, is a freshman at Gormon University, she made me a little uncomfortable a few different times. (this does all come together and make more sense later & I honestly don't do well with second-hand embarrassment type things hahaha) She catches her roommate being assaulted and she spirals. The whole I was asking my girlfriend, wait is she going to be a murderer?! she's got to be right!? SHE HASN'T READ THE BOOK! hahahahahahah! I was just so invested in 'why are you this way!?'

    The end has Scarlett & Carly coming together in the most twisted way and I FREAKING LOVED IT! The 'gasp' I 'gasped' was so loud my dog jumped :D

    You guys NEED TO READ THIS! Thrillers are my jam and this checked every box I needed it too.

    I gave 4 stars though because Carly's chapters were sometimes.... ehh.
  • angelina
    5.0 out of 5 stars female rage thriller
    Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2024
    enjoyed this book for a quick read

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