They Never Learn
Page turning
Suspenseful
Thrilling

They Never Learn

Layne Fargo2020
From the author of the “raw, ingenious, and utterly fearless” (Wendy Walker, USA TODAY bestselling author) Temper comes a dynamic psychological thriller about two women who give bad men exactly what they deserve. Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder. Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself—but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure. Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay...and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality. Featuring Layne Fargo’s trademark “propulsive writing style” (Kirkus Reviews) and “sinister, of the moment” (Chicago Review of Books) suspense, They Never Learn is a feminist serial killer story perfect for fans of Killing Eve and Chelsea Cain.
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Reviews

Photo of Harlee K
Harlee K@harleemai
5 stars
Aug 13, 2024

LOVED this book! The dual perspective set up is so gooood and you think you know what the twists and turns are but then more just keep coming. Love this authors voice too. Female authors writing about women’s rage is just so good. Love the ending too!

+8
Photo of bee
bee@majesticbi
2 stars
Jul 24, 2024

bisexual woman killing abusive men. that's hot.
even though i rated it 2 stars, i still recommend this book.

Photo of chloe
chloe@parttimesoulmate_fulltimesandman
3.5 stars
May 31, 2024

easy read. ending felt a bit rushed. a little cringe at times but it's alright

Photo of E
E@pyschoes
4 stars
Apr 9, 2024

an enjoyable read, but very farfetched, especially because every guy you meet (aside from a gay couple) appears to be a rapist or a misogynist making this book more of a misandrist serial killer story than a feminist serial killer one

Photo of Kyra Cracchiola
Kyra Cracchiola@kyrareads
5 stars
Jan 22, 2024

THIS. WAS. SO. GOOD.

listened on Spotify audiobook?? Lol weird flex. Anyway this book was so gripping!! Spicy!! Shocking!! The way I didn’t pick up on things like at all until the plot THICKENED!! Usually I don’t like back and forth chapters on audio.. but this just made sense!! AGAIN SO GOOD

+5
Photo of Syahla Aurel
Syahla Aurel@owhrel
4 stars
Jan 10, 2024

I'm a monster, just like the men I kill This book is an epitome of girlboss.

Photo of Kim
Kim@kimlipse
5 stars
Jan 9, 2024

so good.

Photo of Karen E
Karen E@karenisnothere
4 stars
Jan 8, 2024

Este libro fue todo lo pensé que sería "Promising Young Woman".

Photo of Geoffrey Froggatt
Geoffrey Froggatt@geofroggatt
4 stars
Nov 29, 2023

Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder. Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. But as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year – and her crush on her roommate, Allison. When Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay. Content warning for sexual assault and murder. I’ve seen this book described as a bisexual female Dexter, which is accurate. This book is for fans of female serial killers, revenge stories and dark academia. I loved both Scarlett and Carly’s perspectives. The story was medium-paced but I was engaged during the entirety of the book, from start to finish. I put together the twist fairly early, but it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story. I liked how the twist was subtle and it really enhanced the story overall. I loved how this story depicted female rage and darkness. It explores rape culture in a way that isn’t overwhelming to the reader. This would make an excellent movie. I rated this book four stars as I felt like it was above my usual three star reads. The story is simple and fun, and I think readers who enjoy reading about dark female characters will love it.

Photo of Valentina Williams
Valentina Williams@valentina99
3 stars
Oct 30, 2023

Female rage fr

Photo of elissa
elissa@el1ssam
3.5 stars
Oct 22, 2023

Almost stopped reading at the first few chapters due to the overly descriptive writing style reminiscent of 2014 wattpad BUT I was able to look past it bc not only do I support women’s rights, but more importantly, women’s wrongs

+3
Photo of Nouran Hazem
Nouran Hazem@nouranreads
5 stars
Jul 1, 2023

I just love murderous women

Photo of Nessa Luna
Nessa Luna@octobertune
3 stars
Jun 3, 2023

I was very much intrigued by the premise of this story and I enjoyed the dual perspectives. The writing kept me on the edge of my seat and I just could not stop reading every time I picked up the book. I'll probably pick up this author's other book as well, and hope that is just as thrilling as this one. (view spoiler)[The main thing I didn't like, though, was when it was revealed that Scarlett and Carly were the same person, sixteen years apart. I mean I loved that reveal, don't get me wrong, I just wasn't a fan of the moment it was revealed. I totally get why it happened at that point, but I think it might have been more shocking if the reveal had been towards the end. This is one of the reasons I didn't rate this book higher (the other is just simply that I didn't like Scarlett as a character at all. She was kind of alright when she was Carly, but as the story progressed I started to dislike her even more). (hide spoiler)]

Photo of Nouran
Nouran@nouran2003
5 stars
Apr 19, 2023

I just love murderous women

Photo of irmak
irmak @irmak23
3 stars
Mar 5, 2023

3.5

Photo of Caitlin Wellham
Caitlin Wellham@cwellhamxx
4.5 stars
Feb 6, 2023

female rage is my favourite thing about this book! Usually don't like extreme man-hating but I couldn't blame Scarlett at all- an icon

+4
Photo of Alexa M
Alexa M@alexasversion
4 stars
Feb 6, 2023

this was just such a good thriller! we love female psychopaths yes queen ;) no but this was very well written and the dual POV plot was so engaging. every time i thought i knew what happened, the author would spin the plot in a way that made me doubt myself and i love that. overall, so fun and quick to read.

Photo of celene
celene@recluseperformer
4 stars
Jan 23, 2023

this book really said i respect men’s rights,,,,, rights to shut up !!!

Photo of Sol
Sol@solsticebooks
4 stars
Jan 23, 2023

(4.5/5) I just wanna say that I support women's rights, but most importantly, I support women's WRONGS. That missing .5 stars is because it kinda read like bad Wattpad fanfcition at the beginning with all the descriptions about their hair colour and all that, and even though I later understood the reason behind those and why they needed to be there, I still felt like it was a bit too much. Luckily, that was just the first 10% of the book and the rest was SO enjoyable. Read this if you like a. unredeemable women, b. I Did Something Bad by Taylor Swift, c. complex wlw relationships, d. girlbosses, e. femme fatales, f. all of the above. Also read if you DON'T like a. men.

Photo of Beatriz Aguiar
Beatriz Aguiar@alchemistta
2 stars
Jan 22, 2023

2/2.5? idk... i appreciate the premise but this was a weird book. i was hoping for some dark academia but despite the setting, the aesthetic, the ambiance, the vibe just wasn't there. I could forgive all that and just like the book for the plot but... even though the premise is interesting; female professor who kills men for abusing women, the execution just wasn't it in my opinion. it didn't give what needed to be gave. i could get on board if the book was a bit meta and she knew how outrageous it was to kill men like that orrrr on the other hand if the book took itself too seriously and she was one of those femme fatale's but in the end it was neither. she transpired as a boring person. there was a lot of showing not telling and nothing ever actually felt high stakes. the way the "big" murder was drawn out just made it the more boring and frustrating. i didn't hate the book but i also didn't particularly like anything. it was too scattered and eventually did nothing for me

Photo of grace richards
grace richards@gracerichards11
4 stars
Jan 22, 2023

murderous! women!

Photo of Nicole
Nicole@nicsinlits
5 stars
Jan 22, 2023

this is such a great book!

Photo of Midori Kobayashi
Midori Kobayashi@snortingpages
5 stars
Jan 22, 2023

5/5stars HOLY CRAP???? EXCUSE ME???? WHAT???? This book was so much more than what I thought it would be, but like in the best way possible. It is so fast-paced, so much is happening and I am obviously hooked from the first few pages. They never learn is a dark psychological thriller about a woman who is a college professor by the day and a murderer by the night. But she only murders men who have abused women in the past. This is a very intense, dark, and twisted story that leaves us wondering if giving such men what they deserve and do not get because of the system, is actually okay. Because I have started to feel that it is. And as much as I loved seeing a cold-blooded sociopath murdering disgusting men, my fav part in this book was all the gay panic and tension building all the way from page 1. The bisexual tension between (view spoiler)[ Scarlett and Mina (hide spoiler)] was just *chef's kiss*. Okay, let us actually get to discussing the plot now. As much as i'd like to be a cocky bitch and say I saw the big twist coming from a mile ago. No, I didn't. I absolutely did not see that coming and holy shit. Holy shit. Now that I think about it in hindsight, I should have. I was so deeply invested and engrossed in the (view spoiler)[ two timelines separately that I did not see the bigger picture up until it was right in my face. (hide spoiler)] Oh, and can we take a moment to talk about how royally fucked up the whole thing with the sexual assault report incident was. Women being complicit in rape and assault is a big problem resulting from their a. lack of power or b. internalized misogyny. And we need to talk about that more outside of fictional characters as well. Anyway, moving on. I sympathize with the victim of rape here, but to think that is what was the final straw was our main character was jarring, to say the least. But then again, this whole book is a series of horrifying jarring events and reality checks what men are like. And call me a misandrist or a sociopath, I very well think they only got what they deserved. And I am more than happy with the ending. Killing a man is so much more satisfying than fucking a man could ever be. In a nutshell- GO READ THIS BOOK. RIGHT NOW. AND THANK ME LATER! <3 Although this book has some very graphic stuff. so I would highly suggest looking through the trigger warnings first. This book involves descriptions of- sexual assault, rape, abuse, suicide, and murder (graphic)

Photo of Izza
Izza@m0thermayi
5 stars
Dec 9, 2022

5 stars | this book 🔪💖👌

Highlights

Photo of Natalie Sypeck
Natalie Sypeck @natcatreads

If men like that could learn the error of their ways, I wouldn't have to teach so many of them a lesson.

Pg. 94

Photo of Taylor Crandall
Taylor Crandall@taythebibliophile

“Well, only someone with massive daddy issues could write the shit you do…”

HAHAHAH

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln

His face darkens with a mixture of embarrassment and anger - perhaps the most dangerous combination of emotions in a man.

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln

The few times I've cried in front of guys before, they've always acted panicked, like I'd suddenly transformed into some gruesome and terrifying monster. Which is still better than how my father reacted to tears: as if they were a personal affront to him.

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln

"Men like him don't want a relationship, they want a fan club. The more members the better."

Photo of Lindsay
Lindsay@schnurln

I wish incould disappear, but all I can do is hunch my shoulders again and duck into the flow of foot traffic. If I can't be happy here, at least I can be invisible. After all, anything's better than going back home.