Member Reviews

I had a fun time reading Never Saw Me Coming, a mystery centered around a university program studying psychopaths. I was initially intrigued by the premise, as I've not read any books before this regarding psychopaths and I thought it would make for a high stakes tense read the entire way through.

Firstly, I enjoyed having two main characters who you viewed from multiple angles through various third person points of view, as well as being inside their heads. I thought that was a really good way to frame the book and give the read the best picture of the story. I did find it hard to spot when it switched povs at times, but that could have been due to listening on audiobook and not reading phyisically.

The stakes were high throughout the book, no doubt, and we did take a few turns I wasn't expecting. Overall this was a fast paced fun read, and I would reccomend it to anyone who likes a mystery/thrilller.

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I love a story that has a good psychopath, if it happens to be a female more the better!

Lots of twists and turns in this one, hold on to your seats!

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I really enjoyed this!
I’m a true crime junkie and psychopaths are an intriguing topic for me. This was a very engaging storyline and the narrators were perfect for the audiobook.
I found myself connected to all the characters and I’d love to see a sequel! Where do we go next?!!

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This book had an absolutely ridiculous plot and I bloody loved it! I thought that the interactions between all of the psychopaths in the program was really well done and I thought Chloe was a fascinating protagonist to follow. Being in the head of someone so morally grey was really good fun and while a lot of the decision making was very questionable, I feel like that was the point. Overall, I think that if you enjoy Samantha Downing plots, you should definitely give this one a try.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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I wasn't a huge fan of this to be honest, sorry! Just didn't find the storyline captivating enough to begin with.

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I was intrigued by the idea but this didn’t work for me. Chloe is seeking revenge on Will for an historic wrong he’s done to her which sounds a great plot but I just couldn’t get invested in the story. I tried the ebook but also downloaded the audio - I did get further with the audio but still didn’t finish it. For me it was a no unfortunately.

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Chloe is just starting college and seems to be fitting in perfectly. She’s studying hard, making new friends with her roommates… and perfecting her plan of revenge against a fellow student, following their history. However, plans change when students start being mysteriously killed, and Chloe herself may be in danger. But when you are a diagnosed psychopath, and the university that you attend is running a secret study involving psychopaths, how do you narrow down the suspect list? Can Chloe find out who any of the other study participants are and work together with them to find out who the murderer is, and can you ever truly trust a fellow psychopath?

I really enjoyed this story and thought it was interesting, and well paced with good characters. I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator was good, and told the story well. There are lots and twists and turns to the story, but it kept the story moving at a good pace and there were just enough red herrings to keep it interesting, without there being so many that it felt pointless trying to pay attention to details. I thought the concept of the story was interesting - I’m sure many universities would love to be able to carry out an in-depth study of diagnosed psychopaths, but it would have to be kept secret, and it would bring a large element of risk into that university environment. The characters were good and it was interesting to have the three main characters from different backgrounds, although I feel like we didn’t learn too much about Chloe’s own background, and there was potentially some unexplored aspects of Andre’s background, but it maybe was slowing the story down to have that involved.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would look out for other books from this author.

I received this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I read this book forever ago and I put off writing a review because I just didn’t know how to word how I felt about it. It’s been months and I am in no better a position to do so now and so I’ll just say that this was such fun and a really excellent set up and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, but I think that even though these people were under the care of a psychiatrist (? Or some sort of therapist?) some of the time we forgot that ‘sociopaths’ as we know them are real people and are largely not super scary murdery folks?

I also felt that the tension built up with the MC going after the person who wronged her was cut short by dealing with that problem too quickly (I don’t wanna spoil so I’m being vague) We then immediately move on to a different, bigger problem which became the focus of the book, relegating the initial problem, the one mentioned in the synopsis, to a side plot! It was a bit of a let down?

HOWEVER I otherwise really quite liked the story and would definitely read from this author again. I loved her writing style even if this particular book didn’t 100% work for me. The audiobook was excellently narrated as always and added so much to the story! Would def recommend to audiobook listeners.

Basically I am still not sure of my feelings and I will probably not review on goodreads because this is just a rubbish review isn’t it? haha! sorry! 🙈

Massive thank you to the author, the pub and to netgalley for the advanced listening copy of this one!

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The narration worked really well for this audiobook - it definitely wasn't the plot I was expecting when I started it,which to be honest was basically just another thriller, but it was much more than that!!! The psychopathic narrator's gave it a different dimension and this was honestly so good!!!

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So obviously dark academia is having a bit of a moment right now, and this book is the perfect example! Despite this being a thriller I actually found it quite hilarious at times - turns out that a book narrated from a teenage psychopaths point of view is very entertaining. Whilst I wouldn’t call Chloe especially likeable, you do find yourself rooting for her despite yourself, and I suppose that’s the sign of compelling narration and character development. I just really loved the fresh perspective and original idea of this novel, and found myself totally hooked! The ending wasn’t necessarily the biggest plot twist, but I didn’t mind that because the rest of the story was just so addictive and clever.

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I liked the idea of psychopaths in a study attending college (what could possibly go wrong). I found the variety/spectrums of psychopath made this more interesting, and hearing about each character's struggles and also their prompts to try an be 'normal'.

You get to know the characters and because of this you do question did they, didn't they. Review will be vague as i don't want to give anything away as that is part of the suspense.

I enjoyed listening to this and the narration was really good and kept you drawn in.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for allowing my to listen to the audiobook for an honest review.

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I LOVED this!!! Super super gripping, BRILLIANT narration (all those different characters with such distinctive voices!), and a great plot too. A really unique storyline, I've never read anything like it before. It felt like the ending was left a little open as well, so hopefully that means a sequel!

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My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook of ‘Never Saw Me Coming’ by Vera Kurian in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook was narrated by Brittany Pressley.

This novel is set on a university campus in the District of Columbia, USA. We are introduced to Chloe, a first-year student. On the surface she’s an ordinary girl-next-door type. Yet in actuality Chloe is a diagnosed psychopath with an IQ of 135. The publishers reveal: “her hobbies include yogalates, parties, and plotting to kill Will Bachman.”

So who is Will and why the private vendetta? All is revealed in due course. Meanwhile, we learn that Chloe is in receipt of a full scholarship as she has been invited to be part of a secret clinical study of young psychopaths run by the university's Psychology Department. Then a series of murders on the campus brings a new focus to Chloe’s life as she partners with fellow participants in the study to uncover the truth.

I always enjoy a well written campus novel and in addition this proved an unusual whodunnit. Aside from the usual twists, red herrings, and body count, there are threads of wry, dark humour running throughout the narrative. Most of this was provided by Chloe, who may be a psychopath but is quite a charmer. There are also contributing chapters from the point of view of Andre, another participant in the study. Andre provides a different perspective on events as well as on Chloe.

With respect to the audiobook, Brittany Pressley is a prolific narrator with over 300 titles listed. I have previously enjoyed her reading of various books over a variety of genres. I felt that her narration was excellent. Her voice carried me along and I quickly found myself immersed in the narrative, which is what I look for in the audiobook experience.

Overall, I was very impressed by this novel. It’s also amazing that this was Vera Kurian’s debut. In addition to writing, she is a scientist with a PhD in Social Psychology and this background clearly informed her narrative.

Definitely recommended.

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A group of diagnosed psychopaths and a murderer. What more could I ask for in a thriller?! Brilliant cat and mouse chase story set on a college campus. A group of students take part in a programme designed to help psychopaths before they can become a danger to themselves or society in exchange for college scholarships. Chloe is one of them, but has another reason for going to Adams college - that reason being revenge on Will Bachman, who attacked her as a child. As the murders begin, Chloe begins to hunt for the killer, along with other members of her cohort, including Charles and Andre. But can they be trusted?

I enjoyed this so much! I really got Chloe's personality - she totally lacked any empathy, she was selfish, she knew how to be popular, she had no qualms about using her looks to get her what she wanted, and she definitely knew how to get her own back. I didn't like her at all but I think that was the point. I listened to the audio version of Never Saw Me Coming and I think it worked really well. I sometimes get put off listening to books if they have too many characters or if the story line gets a bit convoluted but this was perfect. I listened to it over the course of a few days and thoroughly enjoyed it.

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This book surprised me, it started weak and finished stronger. The start a little bit of a drag to listen to, I wasn't enjoying it however the pay off came in the last 40% of the book. I enjoyed it! I had to listen for long periods of time to see what was going to happen next and how it all unfolded. to conclusion. I guess the set up of the characters took a long time. I enjoyed how unreliable the characters were, and in a crazy way I was rooting for Chloe to get her revenge on Will! Andre was my favourite character. It feels like you could return to these characters in future in a sequel which would be exciting.

With regard to the narration of the audiobook at first I thought the narrator was annoying but I settled into her voice and as I say, the rest of the story picked up considerably in that last 40% of the audio.

I think this book would make an excellent movie.

Thank you Penguin for my review copy. I would be happy to read more from Vera Kurian in future.

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I loved this book, was completely different to anything I have read before, the narrated was amazing and really brought the character to life, I felt connected to the characters and was completely addicted, loved the twist aswell definitely a 5 star

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I must say that even though it wasn't the psychological thriller I was expecting I did enjoyed this book
It centres around Seven students who are all diagnosed as psychopaths they are part of a programme held at a University where they have all won a scholarship.
As part of the programme they have to take part in experiments led by a renowned psychologist, Dr Leonard Wyman, the programme requires them to wear smartwatches that track their moods, movements and other biometrics as well as attend mandated counselling. Hoping to prove that a psychopath can lead a normal lives.
Then one of them is found murdered soon the bodies and the suspects start to pile up

Thank you, Random house & Netgalley for the audio copy of Never saw me coming.
I did like the the description of this story and as I said I was expecting a thriller but it never quite got to the thriller stage, I even liked some of the psychopath characters .I also thought the ending was missing something but it could also lead on to a sequel.so rating this not quite a 4

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A different and unique read! Very dark and also amusing at times.
The story is about a group of psychopaths enrolled in college and also taking part in a psychological study , Murders take place on campus and the victims are members of the research group, is someone trying to kill the psychopaths one by one?
Chloe the central character also has an agenda of her own , and as well as being a selfish character she is also quite comical in a dark way.
The narrator was a annoying initially, but I soon got used to her voice and enjoyed the story.
A deliciously dark and funny read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Audio.

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This audiobook was great fun! I know that sounds weird for a book about psychopaths and a serial killer, but I loved it!
Chloe Sevre was such a great character, and just as the synopsis above says, I couldn’t help rooting for her! Even though Chloe was up to very dubious things, I really didn’t want her to get caught. I didn’t quite always agree with her, but I could understand why she wanted to kill Will Bachman!
As well as wanting to murder Will, Chloe got caught up in a hunt for a serial killer on campus. She had to decide whether to join forces with some of the other psychopaths on the same programme, looking out for each other. This was really interesting, and I really couldn’t decide if I could trust them. I mean one of them could’ve been the killer they were trying to find! 😱
There were some really tense chapters, when I really thought the worst was going to happen, only to realise that it was just all in my mind! Phew!
Brittany Pressley’s narration was absolutely superb! Her portrayal of Chloe was perfect, as were her voice talents for the other students and minor characters. I will definitely be looking out for other audiobooks with her narrating.
I highly recommend this one on audio if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

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Going to college is an exciting time in anyone’s life… new friends, parties… a serial killer on campus?!

Chloe is not your average student. In fact, she’s a certified psychopath. But she’s not going to hurt anyone… at least not anyone who doesn’t deserve it…

Being a psychopath gets her a free scholarship to study at Adams University, as long as she agrees to take part in psychological studies, and that suits Chloe just fine. She is exactly where she needs to be and the countdown is on for revenge.

But when a series of murders rock the campus, and all clues point to the psychology department, can Chloe figure out who’s responsible before she’s next?

The audio production of this academic thriller was so addictive and I couldn’t stop listening, desperate to unravel more of the story.
I kind of saw the twist coming but not until quite close to the end and it was hugely enjoyable throughout.


Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my feedback.

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