Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Never Have I Ever

I think I might have liked this book better not as an audiobook. It was long, and very tense, and relentless. The adversary is such an over the top creepy psychopath that she felt unbelievable.
Excellent descriptions of scuba diving. <Spoiler>there is an absolutely terrifying underwater rescue scene during which I chewed off a fingernail. If confined spaces underwater, diving accidents, or psychopaths make you nervous, maybe try another one of her books. <Spoiler>

Content Warnings

ambermarie's review against another edition

Go to review page

Normally I try to give books more of a chance before deciding to move on, but I could not get over the narrator’s description of her body

Content Warnings

lomesia's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

siobhanward's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a decent read, but I found it didn’t grip me. I do have to stay though, that while it seemed like it was going to be similar to a lot of books I’d read in the past, there was enough different that it really engaged me. However, I found that despite so much happening, it often felt like nothing was happening. A lot of time was spent focused on Amy binge-eating, rather than moving the plot forward.

There were also a lot of characters introduced who wound up playing no role whatsoever, or only very tiny ones. I think this book could have been a bit cleaner, and it would have helped a lot.

However, there were some unique elements for sure. In my list of “weird careers that female thriller protagonists have that you would struggle to pay your bills with in real life” scuba diving instructor has not come up yet! I honestly really liked that element. I’m tired of all these thriller protagonists who are bloggers/cupcake artists/gallery curators, so Amy being a scuba instructor (and that actually playing a role in the plot) was cool.

Content Warnings

jenren1010's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

kait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I just finished this within the last fifteen minutes, and...it’s a book? Overall, it was okay, but the more I think about it, the more I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s just too...disjointed, I suppose. The story didn’t feel smooth, but instead felt like many smaller stories that didn’t fit quite right in the grand scheme of things.

For example, there is a significant subplot about the main character’s (Amy) weight/body image/eating disorder (huge trigger warning for that, by the way, I was not prepared for it) that...never really gets resolved? A bit connected is the subplot with the main character’s friend from her childhood that, again, didn’t really resolve itself. It basically ceased to exist once Amy got what she needed from them.

And that ~twist ending~ about 5-10% before the end of the book had me reeling, and not in the good twisty kind of way. To me, it was there purely for shock value, and like the other components of this book, it didn’t fit well with the overall plot.

Going back to Amy for a moment, I do want to emphasize that if you’re sensitive towards anything to do with body image and eating disorders, I’d definitely be aware that the book is told from the first-person perspective of someone who deals with both, both in the present story and in their childhood. Like I said, I definitely wasn’t prepared for it, and even as someone who never personally dealt with an eating disorder, it made me feel uncomfortable at times.

I will say that while I didn’t like most of what this book tried to do, I was pretty interested in the scuba diving aspect — as someone who never did it, it was definitely different, and I enjoyed everything about it! Everything else? Meh, not so much.

Content Warnings

More...