Reviews

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

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hypevoy's review against another edition

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i will come back to this someday

effaly's review against another edition

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2.0

They Never Learn could have easily become one of my favourite books. I mean, a bisexual character who hunts down sexual predators? That sounds like something I would love! But as you can see from my rating, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would.

The Good:
+ The writing style. It was an easy and fast read. While scenes are detailed, they're not overly detailed and focus on the important parts.
+ Short chapters. I just love short chapters!

The Neutral:
o The representation of bisexuality. I'd put it into "The Good" category if she wasn't like "eww, men. Unfortunately, I find them attractive."

The Bad:
- Every man (except the gay one) is a douchbag in this book. Every. Single. One. The author should have chosen a bigger setting if she wanted to show us so many kinds of predators and their schemes, instead of choosing a relatively small school. It feels cramped and over the top.
- Carly's POV was more of a high school drama and felt very YA. Every high school story chliché you can imagine was there. That's not something I want to read about when I'm reading an adult thriller, thank you very much. It also didn't really help the plot. Only at last few chapters from her POV were relevant for the overall plot.
- The POV change. In every chapter, the POV was switched from Scarlett to Carly. Like I mentioned before, nothing but drama happened in Carly's POV most of the time, which was even more frustrating when something interesting happened in Scarlett's POV and then it switched back to teenage drama. Ugh.
- Instant Love.
- A certain problem near the end of the book is way too fast resolved for my taste.

Spoiler

Honestly, Mina is just like "A thought 2 hours about it, and honesty, I'm fine that you're a serial killer. WHAT?!

I really wish the author would have scrapped some of Carly's chapters and given this problem more time.

It's a shame. I really wanted to love this book, but there were too many things that annoyed me.

ebac622's review against another edition

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4.0

Dark and twisty serial killer vibes … only complaint is that you have to suspend a little belief in order to buy into how it ended

alinkapralinka's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 rounded up

this one lacked some nuances but no matter, it was such a pallette cleanser and well enjoyed the men hunt. cathartic.

bookedmybook's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dfriend12's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5 ⭐️

Similar to Yellowface, I very much enjoyed this one without really liking a single character. Everyone is a bit too much of whatever they are but it works. The amplified emotion from the POVs you read make everything a little extra heightened and it works. The exaggeration to the point of killing.

Loved the twist about halfway through the book. Made it much more interesting to see the full story come together.

Content Warnings

ashhopk's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.75

Promising young woman vibes! Good story that keeps you captivated and goes back and forth each chapter. Each chapter left you wanting more from that story being told.