They Never Learn

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This will definitely be one of my favorite thrillers of the year, and I need to read more of Fargo's books!! Scarlett is an English professor. She’s also a part time serial killer. Unfortunately, she might have to take a break or retire from that career path because the school (where she teaches, hunts, and kills) starts getting suspicious of the growing body count found on campus and opens up an investigation. This has been the year for strong, dominant women seeking revenge in our thrillers. You can definitely add this one to that list. Listen, I'm a simple gal. This had a feminist serial killer, a Sapphic romance, and a lot of fun twists-- that's a 5-star read for me.

a b ぼくたちは勉強ができない 21 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021 . Retrieved March 3, 2021.

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They Never Learn is a sharp, intense, and refreshing read. I loved Scarlett’s character. She is a killer, but it is easy to root for her. Her cold and calculating demeanor had me on edge. Watching how she usurps the power of those who have brutally taken the power of their victims was exhilarating. One should be horrified by Scarlett’s crimes, but given the acts her victims committed, watching them die was beyond satisfying. And Fargo never tempers that rage or darkness. This is a novel that could only be written by a woman, steeped in all of the outrage, disgust, and repressed screams of the wronged. There’s plenty here to horrify—triggers abound—but the ultimate theme is of women reclaiming their power. Former victims reassert their agency and own their narratives, giving a defiant, bloody middle finger to the status quo and calling out the hypocrisies and double standards that consistently favor men over women. This was ultimately a 3.5 read for me — good pacing and enjoyable during, but I found the story a little generic beyond the initial premise.

I did expect her to be punished in some way and might have preferred that, but I'm not at all mad that she wasn't. I can barely remember the plot after just a few days of finishing; the story touches on a lot of interesting subject matters (teacher/student dynamic, victim blaming, sexuality), but they all feel a bit one note and on the surface. Scarlett’s character didn’t have as much depth as we were led to think it did. I would have wanted to explore her dark urges more. I found it an inconsistency the way she was portrayed to have “ snapped” and that’s what led to her discovering she had a taste for “ tit for tat” murderous justice. I felt like the author couldn’t decide if she was a woman who snapped or if she was a serial killer who needed the kill and her vigilante justice was a two for one deal - get rid of the bad guys and take care of the bloodlust. The parts of Scarlett thinking she really craved the murder was confusing because that’s straight up psychopath and has nothing to do with men per se. Layne Fargo writes dark, dramatic stories that support women’s rights—and also women’s wrongs. She’s the author of the thrillers They Never Learn and Temper, co-author of the #1 bestselling Audible Original series Young Rich Widows, and co-creator of the Unlikeable Female Characters podcast on Lit Hub Radio. Her first work of women’s fiction The Favorites is forthcoming from Random House in early 2025. I’ve seen a bunch of friends raving about Layne Fargo's books, so I was excited to win a Bookstagram giveaway of her new book. And after reading it in one sitting, now I’m definitely a fan!

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I also thought, that something bad must happen between Carly and Wes. I was right even though I never expected him to be such an .... in the end. We get it. It’s a radical feminist with a revenge plot meets American Psycho - take on psychological thrillers, if the author screamed it in my face it would have been less obvious.

Scarlett is a college professor who kills men at the University she teaches at...men who, in her mind, deserve it for doing terrible things to women. Everything is fine until her latest kill spins wildly out of control and causes more people to probe into the deaths at the college. Every year for the past sixteen years, she’s honed her skills, plotting, and executing the murders of men she deems deserving, the last seven at Gorman University where she teaches. Whether student or professor, he’s on her list because he’s done something to separate his behavior from that of the typical dreadful men who come across Scarlett’s path. Her preparations are meticulous, so she’s never drawn attention to herself. Even when she was in Chicago, killing on a much larger scale, she went undetected. Now, it’s time to start planning her biggest kill to date, but psychology professor Dr. Samina Pierce starts looking into the growing body count on campus. Scarlett’s come too far to allow anyone, even—or maybe especially—the brilliant and attractive Dr. Pierce to get in her way, so she inserts herself into the investigation, hoping to keep tabs on Pierce’s progress and foil her efforts. Everything’s falling into place until she loses control during her latest murder. Suddenly, her perfectly structured secret life is at risk of discovery.Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.