Review: The Never List by Koethi Zan

Book: The Never List

Author: Koethi Zan

Pages: 303

I read it on: My Kindle

I read it in: 3-4 hours

Plot Summary: For years, best friends Sarah and Jennifer kept what they called the “Never List”: a list of actions to be avoided, for safety’s sake, at all costs. But one night, against their best instincts, they accept a cab ride with grave, everlasting consequences. For the next three years, they are held captive with two other girls in a dungeon-like cellar by a connoisseur of sadism.

Ten years later, at thirty-one, Sarah is still struggling to resume a normal life, living as a virtual recluse under a new name, unable to come to grips with the fact that Jennifer didn’t make it out of that cellar. Now, her abductor is up for parole and Sarah can no longer ignore the twisted letters he sends from jail.

Finally, Sarah decides to confront her phobias and the other survivors—who hold their own deep grudges against her. When she goes on a cross-country chase that takes her into the perverse world of BDSM, secret cults, and the arcane study of torture, she begins unraveling a mystery more horrifying than even she could have imagined.

What I Liked: Quick list:

• The premise of The Never List is very interesting- the story of two paranoid and cautious friends, who in a cruel twist of fate get kidnapped and held by a maniac, who tortures them and does all kinds of creepy experiments on them. One of the girls- Sarah- manages to escape but her friend- Jennifer- is not that lucky. Today, Sarah is a paranoid recluse, living a quiet life in NYC... and the news of her captor coming up for parole galvanizes her into delving into her past and finding out what became of her friend- Jennifer. 

• This is a very fast paced book. There is a lot happening and a very interesting mystery, which makes the book hard to put down. We get to see Sarah's present day life as well as her flashbacks to when she and her friend, Jen, were held by a maniac in his basement. 

• The depiction of what happens to women who have been held captive for years- how do they cope with it, do they ever get over it.. etc. is done really well. We get to see three ex-victims deal with their ordeal in three very different ways and that in itself makes this book worth reading! 

• Sarah was a likable character, one that anyone can relate to. She, in her own way, moved on with her life and managed to have a job and a good enough life, given the traumatic experience that she went through. She was also someone who took a stand to do something when she saw the bigger picture of her kidnapping and subsequent ordeal. 

What I Didn't Like: 

• The BDSM angle was not really necessary. Also, it was not well incorporated into the story.. there were some clues and an attempt was made to connect the BDSM lifestyle to the sick man who kidnapped Sarah and Jennifer. It seemed like the author was just trying to capitalise on the buzz around the whole BDSM term and just added it for the heck of it! 

• Also, the big twist was disappointingly obvious! We guessed it and kinda hoped that we were wrong because it was SO OBVIOUS! I wish there had been a different explanation for what happened to Jennifer! 

• The end was very rushed. It is almost like the author got bored and quickly ended the book. 

• Also, the author never really clarifies what exactly was being done to the girls who were being held in the basement. There were hints and some details but it was not mentioned what kind of experiments were done on them. Now, while I am not keen on reading details of torture, leaving everything vague and up to the readers' imagination is also not ideal. 

Rating: 3/5