I loved the premise of this book: a group of psychopaths get a free ride through college in return for constant assessments, surveys and tracking via a smartwatch. Chloe, one of seven students on the programme, is looking for revenge on Will; however, her plans are derailed (ever so slightly) when someone starts killing the other students who are taking part in the study.

The story is told through three of the participants' points of view, and I found it interesting that the author brought out their psychopathic characteristics in different ways. It didn't feel cliched at all. The leading three are fully formed, well-rounded characters.

However, there were a few things that made the book feel like a chore towards the end: 1) whenever a character was 'revealed' to be something shocking or not what we expected, I struggled to remember who it was. There are a lot of characters introduced at the start and it felt a little overwhelming. Secondary characters struggle for attention. 2) the plot really weakened towards the end. Once Chloe's self-imposed deadline ticked away, the actual ending almost seemed like an aside or a coda. 3) the romantic angle was a stretch to me - I could have done without that and it might have seemed a bit more dynamic.

I can see this being a brilliant TV show or movie, but the pacing of the book just seemed a little off to me. I'd recommend to anyone who liked Pretty Little Liars or You, but I don't think it would be something I'd tell everyone to read. It seemed quite YA to me.

Never saw me coming by Vera Kurian is an interesting story about Seven students who are all diagnosed as psychopaths win a scholarship to John Adams University, providing that they join a program where they are logging their day to day lives using some smart watches and also doing some experiments to show they can lead ordinary lives. But Chloe Sevre has other ideas. Also, some of the members are suddenly ending up dead.
Thank you, Random house for a copy of Never saw me coming. I did like premise of this story. It was original concept and think it would make a great film. I just thought that there was a lot of characters, and I couldn’t keep up who is who and was expecting more of the ending. 3 stars from me.

Of all the books I’ve ever read about psychopaths, this is by far the most unique. It’s just totally bizarre, and considering it’s focused on a psychopath trying to outsmart a serial killer, it’s actually just a really fun read.

Chloe is definitely one of a kind, and reading from her POV was really interesting, as the author managed to avoid any of the cliches and tropes you normally get when reading about a psychopath. I loved the opportunity to read from the perspective of a few of the different psychopaths in the study, as it showed so many different elements of the disorder and how it can present in different ways depending on the person.

The plot was completely wild, so many twists and turns, and it managed to stay funny the whole way through, never taking itself too seriously, and just being what it is - a fun, quirky read that you’ll love every second of.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

This one started out so promisingly. However it took too long to hook me in. The first suspenseful event doesn't happen until many chapters in. The more I read though, the more I lost interest. I don't think I was the right audience for this book. Hopefully others will enjoy it more!

A flawed character, psychopaths, unreliable narrators, a gripping macabre plot? What more could you wish for? The voices in this novel are very distinctive and the approach to flawed characters and psychopaths is refreshingly clever.
Overall, a very satisfying read. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc.
Would recommend for fans of suspense.

Never Saw Me Coming has such an interesting premise – a thriller told from the perspective of three psychopaths participating in a college clinical programme (well, two psychopaths and one pretending for a free ride).

The story largely follows Chloe Sevre as she plots revenge against fellow student, Will Bachman, who harmed her many years before and remains unrepentant.

Her plans for vengeance are, however, derailed when a serial killer begins to murder other students taking part in the psychopathy study and Chloe (along with her friends Andre and Terrible Charles) may also be in danger.

We follow the trio as they try to investigate the research team and their fellow group members (including each other) further and solve the murders, all while being hunted by an unknown force.

I found the perspectives of the three characters really interesting, comparing the approach of the two psychopaths to Andre’s more emotional response, as they encounter the same events. Charles in particular was fascinating with his cold clinical way of thinking and his complete lack of fear.

This book has a lot of twists and turns and I found myself suspecting half of the characters at different times (it’s difficult to find the culprit when most of the characters are shady!).

A little slow in places but all round a really great thriller and a unique concept!

Such a fun read, if you find murder and psychopaths in a campus setting fun that is. I really enjoyed the characters in this book however some didn't seem to add to the plot. I liked the perspective of a female psychopath as that is something I've never read from before. I look forwards to reading more from this author in the future!

Chloe Sevre is the quintessential American girl — pretty, intelligent, outgoing. She also happens to be a psychopath. She attends John Adams University for two main reasons, take part in the psychopath study which paid for her tuition fees and kill Will Bachman. But when the psychopaths in the study start being killed off one by one, Chloe has to figure out who's behind it before they get to her and stop her from completing her task.

I love stories with flawed characters so to have psychopaths as the main characters and victims really worked for me. The main voices in this novel are very strong and really hook you, especially Chloe's. The author also uses the different characters to highlight different aspects of psychopathy and stayed away from the main stereotype.

The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that I felt some of the points of view in the story were unnecessary and didn't add to the story. They could have been dropped to instead spend more time with either Charles or Chloe.

A great read for those who enjoy a strong voice and unlikeable characters that you can't help but root for.

Thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for my free e-copy in return for an honest review.

This was a story that follows a group of students within a psychopath scheme being run at an American University.

There was a lot of knowledgeable information on the subject of psychology and serial killers that I found very interesting and was a well researched book on the subject.

It really explored the university and student scheme with fraternity's, hazing and parties too.

You find out pretty early on that something happened to Chloe one of the main characters and you find out whether this is a new a killer or being connected.

I really enjoyed the book and will recommend to other thriller fans

I wanted to love this book, but something just didn’t click completely with me.

A fantastic premise - grad students are given full scholarship in return for enrolling in a psychology study. These students are fully functioning, socially integrated psychopaths. Then one of them are murdered.

Told from the perspectives of some of the participants, their lives are revealed and I enjoyed understanding their individual reasons for signing up to the program.

With twists and turns, to surprise me: I liked this book, just didn’t love it.

**Listened to the audio book, and followed along with the electronic copy too**

The premise of this book is great. Sounded right up my street, and was super intrigued.
Unfortunately the book didn't live up to the excitement i felt before going in.

One of my main problems was the pacing, it just felt really slow and repetitive at times. I was hooked from the beginning, and the book started really strong, yet the longer it went on, the less interested I became. The excitement trickled away for me. I think the book would have read better if 100 pages were cut. The book was very visual and when reading I kept thinking it would make a great tv series!
In terms of the audiobook, I really liked the narrator. At first I thought she was a little annoying with her american accent - but actually she really helped make our central character Chloe all the more sinister and intriguing.

Overall, I did like this book - even if it did drag in places. I expect this book to be picked up by Netflix, and would put money on this becoming a tv series within the next couple of years.
I look forward to seeing what Vera Kurian does next as I did enjoy her writing.

I really enjoyed this book.

I wanted to read it as soon as I saw it on the Vintage Showcase of upcoming books and I was privileged to get an ARC via NetGalley.

The premise of a serial killer killing Psycopaths as a campus mystery has not really been done before and so I was interested to see how it would end up.

While I didn’t like any of the characters (maybe Andre) I enjoyed the story and the mystery kept me going throughout and I never guessed the killer at all till the end.

Overall, this is an enjoyable twist on the traditional campus Murder genre and I’d recommend this book.

The premise of this book was great - Seven psychopathic people getting free college tuition in return for taking part in a study, then one of them is murdered.

However, it felt like there were too many characters and plots going on; Chloe’s revenge that she’d been plotting since she was 12 seemed to become a sub plot, and it became tricky to keep up with all of the students who didn’t have discernible personalities apart from being psychopaths. The frequent perspective changes were interesting at first but seemed to hold up the pace of the plot as it went along.

Overall it was one that I had to push myself to finish and by the end I didn’t have any strong feelings or reaction to what happened. It didn’t hit the spot as a thriller for me, although I see from reviews that many others loved it.

I read to the end of this book to find out the ending but it wasn't really for me. Another reviewer said it read more like a YA book than an adult mystery with the college life and teen relationships. I agree with that. The characters seemed silly and made childish desicions. Maybe that's what college kids do but i didn't warm to any of the characters.
I thought the premise of a college program for psychopaths a bit far fetched and it just didn't work for me.

This book is Brilliant.

Just imagine having a group of physcopaths all in one place. Yes there they to get an education but also to learn how to be normal, and control their 'crazy'.

Chloe as the main charachter is great, because she's so clinical its hard to feel anything for her but I still found myself wanting her to get her version of a hppy ending. Shes clever, calculating and rarely impulsive. She shouldnt be likeable but is. The backstory and her obsession with Will is a strong storyline. It almost helps justify everything she does.

Charles is a little different, I want to empathise with him for trying to do the right thing but I just cant. Its clear he can tell right from wrong, he just doenst really care.

Along with a handful of others this book follows the investigation into several student murders. Are these students to blame, is one of them taking out the others?

Its a hard one to work, they all lie, really well. Most of the people you could fully accept were the killer. What if theres more than one killer?

This is a must buy for anyone who loves some calculated drama!

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review**

I've been on a crime reading binge lately and I couldn't resist this one. Psychopaths are fascinating, the idea that someone can be so charming on the outside but completely dark on the inside is completely terrifying.

We meet a group of students at college (University) who have been given their places in exchange for taking part in a study into their psychology and behaviour. They don't know who the other members of the study are but someone killing them off, one by one, encourages the others to find each other and work together to work out who is the murderer. Some of them also have their own agendas, including Chloe who is determined to avenge a tragic event in her own past.

Lots of twists and turns along the way in an enjoyable read. I'm certainly going to look at some of my friends in a different light ;)

This is the first book i have read by Vera Kurian and i was seriously impressed, straight from the beginner our main character has dark undertones and is very blunt with her thoughts and words. Very good twists which i didn't see coming, all the characters Pov were written really well, usually i don't like too many Pov's but in this book i actually really likes the different thoughts and decisions of the other characters.. some characters i really liked as well as some i wasn't really sure on. Set in a university with fraternity background and living in a dorm, very well worth readings as i thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend. I can't wait to see what else the author comes out with in the near future.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC book.

This is a very unusual book. Cleverly written for the most part, with very dark undertones.

This is one I am going to have to read again to get a better understanding as at times, I felt it difficult to understand which character you were following.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I love the 'dark academia' genre, I love thrillers, I love women taking revenge on terrible men. So why did this fall flat for me?

Possibly the problem is having multiple narrators. The voices weren't differentiated enough (it sometimes took me a few paragraphs to understand who was narrating), and it also took away a lot of intrigue about who you can and can't trust, which you really need in a thriller. Charles' narrative perspective was the most interesting, which is a shame because his was the most lazy characterisation (handsome rich white guy psychopath, not exactly groundbreaking).

I loved the set-up but the conclusion was confusing and anticlimactic. I also found the writing in general to be more YA than adult thriller - it's understandable, since it's set in a college and narrated by college-age characters, but it's not inevitable.

There's a lot of potential here, though, and I liked the overall tone of the book.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

A good idea which feels unachieved. A psychopath research program in an American university sounds like the perfect premise for a good thriller, and with the addition into the mix of a story of revenge and the hunt for a killer you should have an explosive book which grips and chills you at the same time. Unfortunately, this book felt generic and the character development box standard. The intrigue is quasi inexistent and extremely predictable. This book is a promise unfulfilled.