Well, this book sure makes me glad that my book club meetings don't put nasty little dark twists on classic drinking games that ultimately result in PTSD, deaths, and a whole lot of tension.  It's the small things, right?

NEVER HAVE I EVER took me about 40 pages or so to fully get into - I had thought about DNFing.  At the end of the day, these neighborhood women did not really seem interesting enough to me to invest in and I think the appearance of mystery neighbor Roux to their book club was forced and just did not mesh well with any bit of the story.  From then on, however flipsy-flopsy the pacing became, we get to see two women who never stopped playing a game with each other: Amy and Roux.  Roux wants something from Amy.  And Amy is not sure if she wants to give it to her - whoever she is or claims to be.

I will say that the middle of this book had hooked me more than the beginning (the poorly out of place book club turned 7th grade slumber party) and the end (what seemed to be the never-ending scuba dive and plot twist straight out of hell).  I started to care about Amy, her past, and this new future and life she had built with her recent husband, stepdaughter, and their infant son.  All in all, this was a LIGHT domestic thriller (may be more of a drama even) and I like my thrillers with a little more bite.  3.5 stars and I will keep an eye out for more of her works!