Never Have I Ever: A Novel

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Soon, Roux, has the women drinking shots and playing a game called, “ Never have I ever”. The game starts out innocently enough, but then one of the women confesses something that hits very close to home. Suddenly it doesn’t seem like such a harmless game. Roux says that Amy would win this game hands-down. She seems to be indicating that she knows something about Amy's past. Amy has had enough and tells Roux to get out. As Roux is leaving she tells Amy that they need to get together, that they have a LOT to talk about. There's one problem, Roux underestimated Amy. The domestic goddess exterior is not the whole of her persona and Amy is willing to do anything to protect what is hers. The dynamics of the the book club change when a woman by the name of Angelica Roux (Roux) turns up and decides she’d like to join in. Roux is a single parent with a teenage son and she thought it would be good to get to know some of the neighbours. Before they know what is happening Roux seems to have taken over the book club and the women are drinking shots and playing a game called Never Have I Ever. The game starts off well, but it sure doesn’t end so well and this is where things change amongst the women. Amy Whey is happily married, has a teenage stepdaughter, and a young son. She has a close friendship with her BFF, Charlotte, and lives in a nice home, in a nice community, and enjoys hosting Charlotte’s book club. So now they’re playing a new, deadlier, game, and if Amy doesn’t win, it could cost her everyone she loves.

Amy is a run-of-the-mill suburban mom, although she is in the 1% club. She's a scuba diver. What were you thinking I meant? She enjoys the boring, satisfying routine of everyday suburbia. Amy loves her husband and stepdaughter Maddy, who lovingly refers to her as 'Monster'. She is perfectly content with a perfectly boring life. . . until book club. When everything is turned upside down and inside out. It's as if someone flipped the switch on the dryer to the tumble setting. No more Boring. No more Routine. Here comes your Worst Nightmare. It turns out that Amy is not entirely sunk by Roux’s threat, but rises to the surface, gasping for air and finds a way to shore. The benefit of having kept secrets all her life is having a pretty decent feel for how to go about uncovering the secrets of others. It requires some pretty bold action, but having guts, plus an excellent brain, gives her the wherewithal to give Roux a serious run for her money. I have one gripe about the book. There is a point at which Amy misleads Roux by telling her something that was not true, hardly an unreasonable approach when dealing with the criminal element. But not having been clued in by the author makes Amy, who had seemed pretty reliable, an unreliable narrator. It seemed inconsistent. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. New neighbour, Angelica Roux (call me Roux like the kangaroo) swoops into book club night, and immediately takes over, charming the other housewives. When she suggests a game of Never Have I Ever, the women are or for it, except for Amy, because the secrets she keeps are worse than most.

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A twisting novel of domestic suspense in which a group of women play a harmless drinking game that escalates into a war of dark pasts. When the party is over, secrets have been spilled that could alter the course of all their lives, but Roux isn't done yet with her reign of terror. When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another. New to the neighborhood, renting a dilapidated house that sees many short-term tenants, Roux is carefree and mysterious.

Made me wonder about these women and all their juicy secrets. I think my neighborhood and group of friends would pale in comparison. But then again...I guess you just never know. Overall, with multiple layers and a completely original storyline, I predict Never Have I Ever will be a big hit this summer. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.But when Roux stars a game of spilling secrets…you know the one… Amy begins to learn why Roux is there, and it’s not to play nicely. It turns out, she has dirt on Amy; very real dirt about the worst night of Amy's life. One Amy thought she had successfully buried forever. Additionally, I felt like the pacing was totally off. It took a long time for me to get into it and then it would fluctuate between being interesting and being boring. So, all in all if you like insane plots, “Never Have I Ever” is for you. Though it takes a while to get going, once it does, Wowza! The story is told from Amy’s point of view. Most of it takes place in the present, but we do learn about Amy’s past and what happened that fateful night.