Layne Fargo’s They Never Learn is a dark, intoxicating dive into vengeance, morality, and the power of women who refuse to stay silent. Blending the razor wit of Killing Eve with the haunting tension of How to Get Away with Murder, this novel explores what happens when justice fails and when women decide to take it into their own hands.
At the center of the story is Scarlett Clark, an English professor who moonlights as a meticulous serial killer. Each year, she identifies the worst man at Gorman University the abuser, the predator, the manipulator and ensures he never harms another woman again. She’s clever, calculating, and methodical, her kills clean and untraceable. But as her body count rises, the university begins to notice a troubling pattern. To cover her tracks, Scarlett inserts herself into the very investigation that threatens to expose her. What follows is a chilling yet exhilarating dance of deception, as she balances her double life and navigates a dangerously intimate connection with Dr. Mina Pierce, the woman leading the inquiry.
Parallel to Scarlett’s story is that of Carly Schiller, a freshman trying to escape the control of her abusive father. When her charismatic roommate Allison is sexually assaulted, Carly’s quiet rage begins to boil over. Her transformation from timid observer to avenger is one of the most striking arcs in the novel, and Fargo weaves her story together with Scarlett’s in ways that are both shocking and deeply satisfying.
The book is unapologetically feminist, painting a portrait of a world where violence against women is normalized and accountability is rare. Some readers might find its message blunt, but that bluntness feels deliberate. They Never Learn is not a subtle book it’s a scream against injustice wrapped in the velvet of a psychological thriller. Fargo takes familiar genre tropes and twists them, turning the female vigilante into something more layered: a reflection of systemic failure and personal rage.
Scarlett herself is fascinating. She’s as charismatic as she is terrifying, a character who feels part academic, part executioner. The writing captures her precision and poise while hinting at the deep fractures beneath. Carly, meanwhile, represents the next generation young, angry, and learning what it means to take power back in a world that tries to strip it away. The moment their paths converge delivers one of the book’s most memorable twists, a reveal that redefines everything you’ve read up to that point.
Fargo’s prose is brisk and propulsive, with just enough atmosphere to evoke the dark-academia aesthetic without slowing the pace. The dialogue crackles with intelligence and bitterness, and the emotional undercurrents grief, fury, sisterhood run deep. The book’s queer representation also adds nuance and heart, grounding its rage in moments of connection and tenderness.
If there’s a flaw, it lies in the heavy-handedness of its message. Some readers might wish for more restraint, for more subtlety in its depiction of “bad men” and the women who punish them. But for others, that boldness is exactly the point. They Never Learn is cathartic, bloody, and unapologetically angry a mirror held up to the ugliest parts of our reality.
In the end, this novel isn’t just about revenge. It’s about reclamation of voice, of power, of justice long denied. Fargo crafts a story that’s as addictive as it is thought-provoking, forcing readers to confront the blurred line between hero and villain, justice and vengeance, victim and survivor.
🔥 Final Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. Dark, smart, and fiercely feminist, They Never Learn is a sharp reminder that when the system fails women, some will stop waiting for it to change and start making change on their own.
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