‘”I’m not like that” Chloe said, wide-eyed. “I’m like a good psychopath”.’

Never Saw Me Coming is a great premise, told from the perspective of Chloe, a psychopath enrolled in a psychological experiment programme at her University. However, when people start dying it’s up to her and the others in her programme to work out who is responsible – but who can she trust?

I enjoyed the unique perspective of this book, with the psychopath element it felt like you were unsure of the motives of any of the characters, no matter how much you thought you knew them. This kept me off-balance throughout the book although it also heavily sign-posted a big twist to come near the end. I also liked how the book switched perspectives between Chloe, Charles and Andre who are all in the programme, however I did find that it was quite hard to tell whose perspective the chapter was written in at the beginning of chapters as each of the narrative voices sounded very similar. I think there could have been a benefit to adding their name at the start of each chapter.

Although the book did keep me guessing I felt like it dragged a lot in the middle and could have done with a sharper edit to keep the pace high. As we got towards the end, I guessed the final twist a lot earlier than it revealed as well, although I do commend the author on a good idea for the twist. There’s also a side-plot element which the whole book is leading up to (there’s a count down timer at the top of each paragraph), but then when it finally happened I just felt that it was put on the backburner and forgotten about which was a little odd. As the story is set in a University there are some cringy expressions, a lot of uses of cliché phrases and some really badly written romance elements as well which I thought let down the book.

Overall, Never Saw Me Coming is a great premise, but let down by slow pacing issues and some odd narrative choices. Thank you to NetGalley & Random House UK, Vintage and Harvill Secker for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is actually a good read. Storyline maybe a bit convenient in places, but it works well enough I guess. Something's missing here to give it 5 stars, not quite able to work out what, but it's well written and an enjoyable read. Many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, publisher and author for opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Apologies this was a DNF at 11% no other reason than the book was not for me,after a good start lost interest in it

"Never saw me coming" is a thriller that plays with some tropes I'm usually not a fan of but that I enjoyed in this novel.

We start by following the POV of one of our main protagonists, Chloe. She is the only one who has a first-person POV, which I thought helped a lot with maintaining a good level of mystery and doubt when it came to the rest of the characters. Also, being a psychopath, her first-person POV was very interesting and the ultimate unreliable narrator.
With the introduction of Charles and Andre as the other main protagonists, we could also see the nuances in the people with this type of diagnosis, which added layers to the story.

The mystery bit was well done from the beginning. The story caught my attention immediately. Halfway through the book, I felt like there was too much going on and the trope of miscommunication was being used more than I would prefer. However, keeping in mind that we follow the story through the eyes of psychopaths, it makes sense to use the miscommunication trope. But I still feel like the plot got a bit too twisty at the end,
I did enjoy the ending, though. And how it sort of wrapped up the characters' arc while allowing us to imagine what happens next.

An interesting idea, but I really struggled to get into this book. This is a problem for me rather than the author though, as I'm obviously not part of the target audience, an life on an American campus was so difficult for me to follow and understand that I gave up
.Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book

Never Saw Me Coming is a fun American college story with psychopaths and a murder or two. Chloe is a freshman pre-med student, just embarking on her college career with a full scholarship because she’s a psychopath and enrolled in an academic psychological study. She’s planning to work hard, have a full social life and to kill Will Bachman before the end of term.

Chloe spends the novel scheming and trying to work out what other people are planning - are the other psychopaths lying to her? Which one of the group is dangerous (other than her of course)?

An enjoyable read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

I really liked the premise for Never Saw Me Coming. Set in an American University, there is a small group f students who have been hand-picked to take part in a clinical study. They are supposed to be unknown to each other. What makes these students different to the others is that they are psychopaths.

The author builds up a good background for each of the main characters, they are introduced one by one and as such this makes it easy to remember them. Chloe is the main focus, as the synopsis tells you, there was a murder, she wants answers and she also wants to carry out her own personal plan.

I like how the author delved into the various different aspects that make up the mind of a psychopath. As someone who enjoys crime reads this was one that definitely caught my eye. The story does feel that it has some research and this does come across in the story as character traits are explored and as their stories emerge.

The author has blended crime and mystery as well as a psychological thriller style. It is not heavy reading and there are some good twists. I like how the synopsis suggests that the hunter becomes the prey and this added an extra edge. As Chloe has her own agenda she not only has to be careful of her own actions, but she's also balancing study, and trying to keep ahead of her own stalker/ hunter.

This story has a nice edge to it. Part of me wants to say this is a YA thriller due to the college-age students but is also a good one for adults as well. There are times when I felt like this was more mystery than thriller, but there is definitely a darkness to it.

I did enjoy this and I actually enjoyed the student life aspect of the story as well as the obvious mystery side. It is one that would suit readers of various genres, but maybe not so much the hardcore psychological thriller ones. I would happily recommend this one.

7 psychopaths taking part in a study which sees them integrated into student life - what could go wrong? Well a lot.
This is a great premise, although it may be a culture gap I found the 'gilded' lifestyle of the wealthy, high powered frat dudes hard to buy into - it's just a stretch for me that American university life is like that, but that's from a Yorkshire lass!
The story dragged a little in places and one major twist was easy to see coming, but overall this is a fun read - if you loved "The Girls are all So Nice Here" this will be right up your street.

I love a good psychopath. And I love glancing inside their heads. So this book sounded right like my cup of tea. Chloe is a freshman student and she got into a university with an unusual and secret program for psychopaths. They should learn how to behave like normal people and so be able to live a normal life. But Chloe has another reason for being at that particular University: she is seeking revenge for something a boy did to her some years ago. And this boy happens to be at there as well. But soon a student is found dead and Chloe gets involved with her fellow psychopaths and they start looking for the killer.

At first I was engrossed into the story. But I could not connect to the characters and Chloe is not one of those characters you love to hate. I just did not like her. She is the most uninteresting character in the story although she is the main focus. The story itself drags a bit in the middle. There is not much happening. There are also so many characters I sometimes lost track who was who. For me the story was a bit all over the place and sometimes I just missed how it got from one point to the next. It was a bit confusing. And to be honest, sometimes it just did not make sense. I also was a bit annoyed about that unnecessary love story between Chloe and Charles. It gave me some unwanted YA vibes. Both are of course handsome and charming. There are obvious only two kinds of psychopaths: the beautiful and manipulative ones and the weird awkward ones. Very stereotype. While the story was never really boring it also failed to deliver. I was always waiting for more.

This is not a bad book but it is also not a great one. It kept me reading but after finishing it left me unsatisfied. There are much better books out there who gave me a better understanding of how a psychopath mind works.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Random House UK, Vintage, for the electronic copy.

Well, this is "entertaining" - I couldn't put it down; the storyline is so unusual; it's fairly fast-paced, especially the first-person narrative from the main protagonist, Chloe, and I found her "reasoning" really made me smile.

What happens when you have 7 students enrolled onto a special psychological programme - specifically for PSYCHOPATHS - mixing with the general population of a university campus?

The story centres around Chloe Sevre, a first year student at John Adams University in DC. She's on a mission - in 60 days she intends to kill Will Bachman. She's followed him there; she's researched everything about him and, gradually, she inserts herself into his circle of friends. Along the way she inadvertently crosses the path of Charles Portmont - who is very rich, charming and good looking.
Andre Jensen has lied to get himself on the psych programme; getting all his fees paid, but begins to regret it when he discovers a fellow student murdered. Andre is obsessed by true crime, especially serial killers, and specifically has researched how he should answer the Programme's questions if he were indeed a psychopath.
Within weeks another student in the programme is gruesomely murdered.
Cloe, Charles and Andre join forces - if there are only 7 people on the programme, 2 are murdered, there are 3 of them - who are the other 2? However, all psychopaths are liars - it could still be one of them, hunting down these students. Could they ever trust each other? But Chloe has to stick to her timetable, her own agenda.

Are psychopaths born or made? Ah, the eternal question.

An absorbing read with twists and mis-directions - and a touch of black humour along the way.

This turned out to be yet another 'premise sounded right up by street but then didn't deliver enough'.
A psychopath student in a university study, while plotting to kill someone?
I couldn't wait to start this audiobook and it started off really strongly. I was invested, I was gripped, and was so excited to see where it went.
For me, it seemed to not go anywhere for a lot of the middle section, and I would frequently lose my concentration while listening and had to start the chapter again. I seemed to like the narrator's voice, so I'm thinking the plot was just too slow during those middle sections.
I just wanted so much more from this!

'Never Saw Me Coming' is a psychological thriller from Vera Kurian. The story focuses on a group of students attending university - students who have a common secret. They have all been diagnosed as a psychopath. And are now participating in a secret clinical study run by the university's Psychology Department. First up we meet Chloe, a genius, psychopath and possible killer - well, she is certainly planning to get her revenge via murder at any rate. Shortly afterwards, we meet Andre and Charles, two other participants of the study and learn about their issues and points of view.
When series of murders occurs on campus, Chloe has no choice but to trust the other members of the study. But who is behind the deaths and could one of the participants be responsible.
I love the unusual premise of this book and it is an absolute rollercoaster of a ride that grabs your attention from the opening page and not does let up until the very end. Highly entertaining. Add to your 'to be read' collection today!

Take seven psychopathic students, one of whom is hell bent on revenge, a secret research project, a couple of murders, mix well and you have Never Saw Me Coming.

This is a good debut novel ideal for the YA market. It's darkly entertaining with intriguing characters. The pace is just about right and the plot is creative. The narrative is told by multiple POVs as the characters try to establish who they can trust. I enjoyed the quirkiness of their personalities. There is a clever process of elimination as they work out the identity of the killer.

In summary, this was an entertaining read which I'd recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
Pub Date 9 September 2021
Gripping! With a college campus setting, charming psychopaths, and a bitingly clever voice, Never Saw Me Coming is a dazzling debut from a bold new talent
I've never met someone like me, but when I do, eventually, I think it will be like two wolves meeting in the night, sniffing and recognizing a fellow hunter.
Meet Chloe. First-year student, ordinary, legging-wearing, girl next door...and diagnosed psychopath with an IQ of 135. Her hobbies include yogalates, parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman.
Chloe is part of a secret clinical study of young psychopaths run by the university's Psychology Department. Most psychopaths aren't criminals, but when a string of murders on campus causes upheaval, Chloe's private vendetta is sidelined. Partnered with fellow study participants, she can't trust - and distracted by typical university life - Chloe has to walk the line between hunter and prey.
Never Saw Me coming is a sharp, electrifying and hugely entertaining thriller with an antiheroine who will work her manipulative magic on you.
This is an unusual story with grisly deaths and many suspects. It was ok, but the author didn't seem to know which direction to go with the plot. It was part YA horror and thriller. Sadly, it all gets a bit too complicated and left me cold.
I want to thank NetGalley, Random House Uk, Vintage, Harvill Secker and author Vera Kurian for a pre-publication copy to review.

Such a different book! Psychopaths are normally the villains in stories, so to have them as the protagonists, hunted down, is truly original. Vera’s managed to make her main characters believable and likeable, despite their nature. A very intriguing read.

"Meet Chloe. First-year student, ordinary, legging-wearing, girl next door...and diagnosed psychopath with an IQ of 135. Her hobbies include yogalates, parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman. Chloe is part of a secret clinical study of young psychopaths run by the university's Psychology Department. Most psychopaths aren't criminals, but when a string of murders on campus causes upheaval, Chloe's private vendetta is sidelined. Partnered with fellow study participants she can't trust - and distracted by typical university life - Chloe has to walk the line between hunter and prey."
I found this an interesting read, it felt a bit YA thriller, probably because they were all college students, but there were enough twists and turns to keep it compelling. A great premise, how does the reader determine a murderer from amongst the psychopaths? Told from multiple points of view, you do need to stay on track with who's who, overall, a good read!

Sorry I really couldn’t get into this book , couldn’t identify with the characters and found it really hard work . I gave up a quarter of the way through . Sorry not for me

A most unusual story set in an American university with their culture so different to those in England. It starts with the new first year intake centring on a those recruited as part of an experiment on a study of psychopathic tendencies, where the professor wants to develop treatment to cure them. However why the selected students agree to join is another matter, one was even there to murder an upper year student who had sexually abused her when she was an underage young girl. However, it seems that the professor had recruited a witch’s brew so when two students are murdered one after another, thoughts of revenge take second place to staying alive and finding the killer in a situation of not knowing who to trust. A psychopath turned detective, who also gets away with murder. What a story!!

Sadly I could not identify with the book and it's characters and this may be because of the setting on American campus. I found the plot was not engaging. Thanks to Net Galley for the chance to try a new author.

This is an easy page turner thriller, ideal for readers who enjoy getting inside inside heads of baddies and psychopaths. It's really fun!