Sharp Storytelling, Biting, Dark Humour…
A group of young University students, a secret clinical study and a Campus setting for this engaging and entertaining suspense. The clinical study is centered around psychopaths and the group of students? Each one a psychopath in their own right and classed as highly intelligent. Whilst it’s accepted that most psychopaths may not be criminals, it soon becomes a fine line when murder stalks the halls. Sharp storytelling and told with a keen eye together with biting, dark humour this is a fascinating and compelling tale. A promising debut.

This book centres around a university at which a group of the students are secretly there on a scholarship, their fees paid because they've agreed to take part in a secret study with the psychology department. Chloe, Will and the other members of the study are all diagnosed psychopaths, and the programme is about helping them integrate and studying their behaviour. Things go awry when study participants begin to be murdered, and it falls to Chloe and her fellow psychopaths to find the killer. It's a clever idea, and manages to steer away from a lot of stereotypes associated with psychopaths - but because all the main characters are psychopaths, they're kind of hard to relate to (which I suppose is a good thing). They're detached, easily bored, and don't react to things in the way other people would. All of which means, I think, that they're well written and that the author has done their research, but also that it's kind of hard to understand their motivation or feel connected. So reading this is quite a detached experience, and I couldn't quite get into it.

I felt this book suited a young adult genre, or maybe I’m just an old fogey?!
Seven psychopaths in a college, one of whom has a vendetta against another person in the college but there’s someone out there gunning for her too.
I found Chloe altogether too scheming, everything had an angle, but maybe that is the way of psychopaths.
I really enjoyed the character of Charles, and I’m sure there’s more to Andre waiting to be uncovered.
An enjoyable enough read which is give 4/5 ⭐️.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance read.

Okay, so an exciting story of psychopaths and experimenting with them is a great premise, however, this isn't really built on for me. It almost feels a bit surface level - 'ooh, these students are all psychopaths' without delving into what makes them the way they are. I'm not asking for degree level explanations but just a little depth behind the reasoning. For me, if you took away the psychopath part then you're left with a thriller that is a little too young adult for my taste. I guess that's the issue - this novel just wasn't for me. The writing was well done, the characters a little naive for my taste and, maybe, i'm not the demographic for this. Still an okay read and I would keep an eye out for what comes next from this author.

Thank you to Random House UK and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

7 university students take part in a study and in return are given the opportunity to receive free tuition. The catch? The study is only open to psychopaths.

7 psychopaths, multiple POVS and a killer. This book was a slow start but stick with it I promise it’s worth it. This is a twisty physiological thriller that will keep you guessing.

A solid 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

This is an entertaining murder mystery about a group of students who each receive full scholarships to a college in Washington in exchange for becoming participants in a behavioural study. The group all have one thing in common, they are all diagnosed psychopaths.

This story is geared a little more towards young adults than I was expecting but I still enjoyed the book a lot and I really liked the main character, Chloe. Recommended

A page-turning and gripping thriller about highly intelligent college psychopaths - what's not to like?!

Chloe is a freshman at college. She is also a diagnosed psychopath.

Andre is a freshman too, and a diagnosed psychopath.

And Charles? Well, he’s a junior. But, yes, also a diagnosed psychopath.

Because the college they attend has a unique programme, offering free tuition to students who participate in the Psychology department’s long-running study of psychopathy. And then, not long after Chloe and Andre start college, subjects in the study begin to die…

The over-arching premise of Never Saw Me Coming felt pretty far-fetched, and the characters - Andre excepted - aren’t ones I immediately clicked with. In fact, I almost marked this as a DNF but as the story developed I became increasingly gripped, and ended up staying awake late to finish it with my heart racing as the narrative reached its peak.

A good holiday read: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

We are used to think of psychopath as serial killer and the villains of stories, this book has a different take on this persons as their role is investigating or being victims.
The blurb was really exciting and couldn't wait to read this story, I was hooked since the first pages and met Chloe, a highly functional psychopath.
There's plenty of dark humor and i laughed a lot but there's also suspense, a lot of twists and an excellent descriptions of the characters.
It's a gripping and highly entertaining read, I liked Chloe and her lists.
The author is a talented storyteller and the character development is excellent.
I think there's going to be other books featuring this characters but it could wishful thinking on my side.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A US college psychology research study is looking into psychopaths and gives grants to a group of students who are diagnosed as such. But then somebody starts to murder the psychopaths..
Three of the students form an uneasy alliance to hunt out the murderer but who can you trust when everyone’s moral compass is off and lying comes naturally..
A clever and engaging premise with gruesome deaths,, plenty of suspects and a first person narrator who has her own murder to commit.

An interesting new idea,put a bunch of psychopaths on a free ride through college and monitor them.
Chloe is our main character,and she arrives ready to live college life,and kill a guy named Will.
I'd have liked the reveal of the what's and whys of her desire to kill Will a bit earlier.
The whole thing turns on its head when someone starts hunting those in the program.
Twisty and turney enough to keep you engaged to the end,but I never really cared for the characters,so some of the book felt a bit flat.
To be honest though,you're not supposed to like psychopaths are you?

I'm definitely up for reading more Kurain in the future.

3.75⭐ rounded up

I really liked this one, I did find it took me 100 pages or so to really get into it but once the story gets going I was really intrigued.
Because we follow a group of pshycopaths you really dont know who to believe, I think I suspected them all at one point.

The characters were one of the best parts of this book, the main character Chloe had me laughing at quite a few points throughout.

The only criticism I have was the ending was a little bit disappointing for me, I felt like it was a little bit anticlimactic and was over a bit too quickly - I like the endings of my thrillers to really shock me and I found this one didn't.
But overall a really well written and plotted book. I would definitely try something else from this author.

I really enjoyed this book and fell in love with our anti-heroine, Chloe, immediately! She is so bad, it's good! The story was great although I felt it went on at times and could have been shorter, but a great story that kept me guessing the whole way through!

What happens when you put 7 diagnosed psychopaths into a clinical study while they all attend the same college? A whole lot of fun and a fair few murders apparently. Give me a well written psychopath in a book and I'm there for it. It's a fascinating concept to see how an authors minds work with that of a psychopath. Throw 7 of them into the one book and it's like Christmas.

Going into the opening chapters I was a bit apprehensive that it may not work out, surely Kurian couldn't write 7 well fleshed out psychopaths with differing elements to their personality all within the same book. Turns out I had no need to worry. These 7 psychopaths are perfect! Or are they?

What I particularly loved was that rather than follow your stereotypical trope where the psychopath goes killing people for shits and giggles Kurian looks at some deep seated motives for the events which occur. She also goes further by showing the cases where psychopaths aren't just what you see in the movies. Charles is a perfect example of this and is probably one of the strongest characters in the book.

There are plenty of neck breaking twists to keep you guessing through out with several little smaller storylines woven into the main plot. I switched between audio when I was driving and my kindle at home and both worked perfectly. Brittany Pressley had the perfect amount of sass and often whininess when needed.

A gripping and dark read that pushes the boundaries of the psychological thriller genre.

I did feel from the beginning of this book, this was going to be a good one. Beginning in Chloe's perspective and her way of getting to know people who would be useful to her end goal as we begun was a really good way to set the scene here, and this book carries on being a book that puts you in the shoes of others so well but also really allows the characters develop.

Though the many perspectives for me felt confusing at times, I did feel like the characters were really well built and developed throughout the story. The story is a slowburner and maybe to an extent some of the perspectives at times didn't really need to be there however this book really does build to a really good conclusion in my opinion, the last seventy pages had me hooked.

A book that kept me hooked at the very end, I really would like to see more from these group of characters and see them maybe investigate something doesn't involve themselves, I just would find that dynamic interesting and how they would work together. Compulsive and character driven, I really enjoyed this book.

I enjoyed this rather different story - an interesting take on a murder mystery told from the perspective of a rather likeable psychopath. It was stimulating and intriguing and I enjoyed all the characters and the twist at the end - although it left some legal and moral challenges, it was an interesting read.

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian.

⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Blurb: "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."

Pros: I was really impressed by this thriller/murder mystery by debut author Vera Kurian. I don't often read in this genre but Kurian's writing was very accessible (I'd almost call this YA for it's accessibility) and fast-paced throughout.

Cons: I did guess the ending within the last 60 pages of this book, which left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Also, the justice system in this novel had characters getting away with things I just can't see happening in the real world. 🥴

I've been having a bit of a reading slump lately and this book definitely helped me get out of that. It kept me on my toes and my copy is FULL of highlighted paragraphs and notes on my thoughts. It's a really engaging read which had me turning the pages and flying through to get to the next chapter. With this book, the author has mixed psychology with thriller (even with some horror movie tropes like a college Halloween party) and made me feel like I was watching a teen slasher movie at points. If you've read My Sister, The Serial Killer and liked it, this is one for you to read.

This book will be published on September 9th 2021. Thanks to @vintagebooks @harvillsecker for approving me to read a copy via @netgalley.

#NeverSawMeComing #VeraKurian #reading #netgalley #books #bookrecommendation
#bookreview #bookstoread #books2021

I saw the description for this book and was super intrigued so I reached out to the publisher for a copy and i’m so happy I did. I’m not the most well versed in thrillers but I do think this is a great one for people wanting to be introduced to the genre.

I was hooked with Chloe from the first page and you truly are rooting for her. Although as the reader, her nonchalance in high tension situations has you worried for how things will progress. I think Kurian did a fantastic job with explaining characters different reactions and why they act the way they do/ why their thought process is the way it is without seeming info-dumpy or making the reader confused on why things are different.

This book was full of twists and turns and just as you think you have an idea of how things are going to play out another spanner comes into the works.

There are a few times I expected stakes to be higher/ subplots being a higher priority but I also see why it’s done the way it was.

Whip smart, very sharp, thrillingly sassy.

What a refreshing take on the psychopath. And how much did I enjoy learning about the evolution of such a personality disorder from grassroots level… and where it might… or might not lead.
A brilliant read; unusual, clever and one-of-a-kind.
Just like Chloe.