Book Love: Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Fiction doesn't pop up here in my Book Love very often, the last one was 8 months ago!  I don't know why I'm generally more compelled to share non-fiction titles than fiction, even though I read quite a bit more fiction than non.  Maybe I have higher standards for fiction?  Non-fiction is also, usually, pretty obvious what it is about.  They usually have long subtitles that spell out the general gist of the book and if it is a topic I am interested in that has gotten good reviews from people I trust, then I am in.  Fiction feels a lot more personal though.  I may like historical fiction, for example, but exactly what types of historical fiction and who is the person recommended and so on.  I also read more broadly in fiction than non and it's hard to know who shares the same wide reading tastes!


So, all that said, here is a fiction book that took me a bit to get into but then I couldn't put down.  Or had to put down so I could process all that I had just read and maybe was at times a little nervous to pick-up, nervous for the characters and what they are getting into.

I've heard Joshilyn Jackson described many times (mostly by Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy) as a writer of Southern Lit and since my love of sweet tea makes me feel, at times, that I would fit in well in the South, I have been interested in her books.  I haven't read nearly all but this one has me reconsidering even though it's a different genre than her earlier books.

You may have noticed that I am a lot of words into this "review" without yet giving a plot summary and that's because the plot is so darn hard to describe without giving anything away.  Just to cover the first chapter or two...

Amy is living a pretty normal suburban life in Pensacola, Florida.  She is married, living with her husband, teenage step daughter, and her small son.  She is hosting book club on behalf of her friend and neighbor, Charlotte, because Amy has more space for it.  It's a neighborhood book club and most of the usual people are there but then a new lady shows up.  She is staying at a short-term (Air BnB) rental in the neighborhood and while that house is usually rented out, the occupants don't usually come to book club.  This lady introduces herself at Roux (pronounced like Roo) and gets herself into book club.  She a bit domineering from the start.

Like many book clubs (or so I hear), they only talk perfunctorily about the book and this one takes a sharp turn.  It turns into a late night with more alcohol than usual and many members head home.  Amy is left (because this is her house), Roux, and a couple of others.  Roux gets them to play a game of "Never Have I Ever" where, in her version, you are supposed to say the wildest thing you've done in the past day, past week, past year, past decade, etc.  Amy feels like Roux is there for her, to get Amy to confess to something she's tried so hard to bury and forget about.  It feels very personal.  Except she has no idea who this Roux is, where she came from, and what her game really is.

That's all in the first chapter or two.  And then more things happen but part of the delight for me of this book was where it went and it was never where I thought it was going.  Maybe if I read more suspense books I'd be more accustomed to twists but I usually don't so I wasn't.  I was completely surprised, more than once.  Once I got into the story I was rushing through it, wanting to see how it would all play out but also a little worried for the characters.   It was suspenseful but only in a few places did I think it was a bad idea to read this right before bed. 

A heads up on content - there is a little bit of language and I wouldn't give this to a teenager to read for various reasons (or at least teenage me to read).  And not just for the language.  But this isn't a graphic romance novel by any means. 

I finished the book last week but I'm still thinking about it.  It packed a lot into 340 or so pages.  If you are interested in a slightly darker but engaging read with complicated characters, this might be for you.

Goodreads | Amazon

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