Review: The Never List by Koethi Zan

The Never List by Koethi Zan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Never List is a fantastic psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my seat for the entire novel! What a page turner this one turned out to be! I stayed up late into the night, not wanting to put it down!

I loved how Koethi Zan really examines the psychological impact of the very harrowing experiences of the women in this novel. I felt that the story delves into each of their individual reactions in a very realistic and honest way. This helped to really give the novel a sense of realism. It is the realism that really helped me to care about the story and the characters! Each of these women felt real to me, in part because of the fact that they are flawed and experiencing things in very unique and believable ways!

I was surprised to learn that this is Koethi Zan's first novel. She definitely writes like a seasoned writer in every way! This is a very well written novel with excellent (and effective) pacing. Pacing can be such a difficult balance in this sort of novel. But, Zan effectively plays with tension in a way that keeps the plot moving forward while keeping the reader interested and inquisitive. The twists and turns that this story take are fantastic! There are several revelations along the way, but the final revelation was fantastic for me! I really enjoyed that final twist and how the novel ended which is often not the case for me with these sorts of books. I found this ending to be quite satisfying.

Although this is certainly a dark novel, I think that the author handled the violence very well - making it's existence real but not gratuitous! I think this is a novel that would actually be enjoyable to readers of a variety of genres, not just the thriller genre! I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what Koethi Zan brings to us next!

NOTE: Thank you to Viking/Penguin for providing the ARC for me to read and review.

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