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Title & Author: They Never Learn by Layne Fargo
My rating: 5/5
Publisher: Vintage
Publication date: 3rd July 2025
Blurb:
Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor and an even better serial killer. She’s made it her mission in life to track down predatory men on campus and kill them and she’s preparing for her biggest murder yet.
Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year at college – keeping her head down and focussing on work. But when her roommate Allison is assaulted at a party Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay.
When police start investigating the spate of local deaths, Scarlett starts to realise it’s only a matter of time before her secret life is exposed and everything she’s built comes crashing down with it…
Review:
Layne Fargo can do no wrong. I became a little obsessed with The Favourites when I read it back in January so I was very excited to read They Never Learn, even though the genre is very different.They Never Learn is dual POV with alternating chapters from Carly, a new university student and Scarlett, an academic at the university.
Carly becomes quick friends with her roommate Allison and Allison's childhood friend Wes. She is a bit of a wallflower and doesn't really capture anyone's attention whereas Allison is the opposite.
Scarlett is a serial killer whose focus is on men who mistreat women or abuse their powers. The opening to this book totally gripped me and never let go, right up to the final page.
The two stories come together in a way that surprised me and as someone who doesn't really care for men except my husband, these men made me ANGRY, more so because every single one felt real. These situations are real situations that people currently experience and HAVE experienced for years.
If you are a fan of Dexter but want more queer, feminist, vigilante type women who seek revenge on men, this book is for you. There were moments where my jaw dropped and I had to stare at the wall, the build up and chase had me locked in and the short, plot heavy chapters kept me hooked.
Bravo! (Trigger warnings for murder, rape and sexual abuse.)
