Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the ARC of In the Clearing by JP Pomare.

Amy is a teenage member of a cult, living in the Clearing. Adrienne and Adam, the cult’s leaders, have instructed her to participate in the kidnapping of their brothers and sisters in order to acquire the perfect 12 children. She is the eldest and must take on a lot of new important responsibilities in order to keep the family safe from the Blue Devils. When Asha, the girl she helped kidnap, rebels against the cult, a set of actions are put into motion that will forever disrupt life in the Clearing.

Freya fears that she and her son, Billy, are being watched. She has taken the necessary precautions by installing a sophisticated security system on her house, such as metal shutters on the windows and panic buttons. She also owns Rocky, a trained attack dog. When Billy disappears, Freya must confront her past in order to figure out who has Billy and to get him back.

This book started out a little slow for me, but soon picked up the pace and I couldn’t put it down. It is not for the faint of heart, as it includes scenes of kidnapping and all types of child abuse, such as metal, physical, and sexual. I thought that I had the plot figured out fairly early, and did guess correctly at one aspect, but it continued to twist and turn and keep my guessing all the way until the end. There are so many layers to this plot, that constantly challenge the reader to put the pieces together. This is the first book that I have read by Pomare and I will definitely read Call Me Evie as well.

4/5 stars

Amy has only know life in the clearing, strict rules and punishments and above all, to protect the queen. When a new girl joins their “family”, Amy is handed the responsibility of settling her into their way of life. But as the young girl rebels and finds ways to escape, Amy’s life is about to take a drastic turn.
Although Freya finds ways to act normal, she is anything but. Living in her remote house with all the security measures one could think of, she takes care of her young son while always looking over her shoulder. When a child goes missing and someone from her past suddenly shows up, all of her worst fears are about to surface.
It’s hard to say anymore about this book without giving too much away. The time line switches between Amy and Freya until their stories collide with some shocking twists and revelations. I really like his writing and this book was atmospheric with a great mix of mystery and intrigue. The characters were well developed and I was dying to know their stories. But with each page, I still had no clue. I think this one is worth a read.

J. P. Pomare’s latest takes readers to the Australian bush. Amy lives in a very sheltered cult in an isolated area known as “the clearing.” Freya and her son live in sprawling house on the edge of a national park. Alternating chapters are narrated by both women and draw readers into their two very separate worlds until (tada!!), everything connects. There are multiple plot twists, most of which I did not see coming. Both characters are extremely complex, which is understandable given their circumstances. I found the plot to be both original and captivating and highly recommend this to fans of psychological fiction.

"In the Clearing" was an intense and tautly plotted, fast-paced novel of suspense. I couldn't put it down!

This novel alternates between chapters in the present and in the past. Freya (Amy) is trying to raise her young son Billy on her own after her divorce and loss of custody of her older son Aspen. The chapters in the past are suspenseful as Amy was raised in a cult run by Adrieene, the Queen and Adam. I found these chapters difficult to read as Adrienne and Adam kidnapped young blue eyed blonds for their "Family of 12". Lots of abuse, starving, youth labor etc. were the ways the kidnapped children were brought up and I skipped most of these chapters after the first two or three. Personally I didn't enjoy reading this book and skipped from about 25% to 89% because of the abuse. All though suspenseful I didn't care for the final ending either.

I was all for this book! Any book about cults- sign me up!!!
This was seriously creepy and didn’t disappoint at all. Told in alternating perspectives that flowed quickly. I flew through this one.
This is my 2nd JP Pomare book and I’m hooked!
You don’t want to miss this book, thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

Thank you to @ne galley and @mulhollandboos for the eARC of In The Clearing by J.P. Pomare in exchange for an honest review.


I loved Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare. When I made the connection that In The Clearing was written by this author, I was hoping I would like it just as much. In fact, I think I liked In The Clearing just as much if not better. It exceeded all of my expectations!

The chapters in this book alternate between Freya and Amy. There are also a few chapters told by “The Watcher.” Freya lives with her youngest son, Billy. She lost custody of her older son Aspen years ago. He now lives with his father; Wayne. Freya is starting over and doesn’t want to make the same mistakes with Billy that she did with Aspen. Amy lives “in the clearing”. She is one of the 10 children who live in a cult lead by Adrienne (her mother) and Anton. It’s the only life she has ever known. The book begins as the cult kidnaps a young girl and takes her to the clearing. Their family is almost complete; however they need 1 more child and Adrienne wants it to be a boy.

Soon Freya starts noticing strange things happening. There’s a van parked on her road. A strange man comes to school and strikes up conversation with Billy on the playground. Someone is leaving flowers on her doorstep. The father of her oldest son shows up and accuses her of taking Aspen. She has no clue what he is talking about. She fears that something is going to happen to her younger son next; she is right. Billy disappears.

So many twists and turns as Freya searches for Billy. Will she find him? Will her older son Aspen be found? What happens to Amy? Will she escape the cult or stay? And who exactly is the “The Watcher?”

In The Clearing gets 5 stars! It will release on 9/8/2020

Ok. I’m a sucker for anything about a cult. That said, this went above and beyond my expectations. I won’t give to much away, because towards the middle of the book you see things in a different perspective. It made me want to reread the beginning with a new understanding. But this was so well written, and I’m so glad I found it!

Mulholland is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishing houses. Their 2020 lineup has put out some stellar titles, and In the Clearing is definitely on my must-read list.

Freya is an anxious mother determined to protect her son from her troubled past. Amy is an unwitting member of a cult led by a charming, manipulative woman and an abusive, sadistic man. As children begin to go missing, both women must deal with the consequences in order to survive.

Protect the Queen.

Told in alternating POVs, this story is gripping from page one. Freya's voice is strong in its execution, authentic in her struggle to balance wanting a normal life and protecting her son from the very real dangers of her world. Amy is a complex character with layers of doubt and confusion. I found her story arc to be especially compelling, and to avoid spoilers, utterly engrossing in her struggle to right her moral compass. Pomare does an excellent job of weaving together these two narratives seamlessly while maintaining the fast pace that this plot requires. The writing was swift and pointed, and my favorite moments, perhaps, were in the examination of the Blackmarsh Cult. I could've read about their absurd and dangerous behaviors all day; in fact while I wanted more of the rationale behind the twelve perfect children, I loved that the ambiguity mirrored the realistic parameters of actual cults, in that there are far fewer answers that make sense than questions. I've read quite a few cult narratives this year, and this one held my attention the entire read.

Additionally, I loved the underlying metaphor of the structure of the cult. The leader, the queen bee, and the children, the worker bees. Pomare portrays Hive Mentality in the literal sense, gaining the trust and admiration of the children through rote memorization of beliefs, intimidation, and fear of the outside.

At its core, In the Clearing is a story about accepting the past and all the pain that comes with it. It's about a mother's love and mental health--the stigma that sometimes surrounds postnatal depression and the isolation young mothers can feel. It's about manipulation and innocence and the ruinous power of blind trust.

And it's fantastic.

Overall, In the Clearing is a smart, twisty, thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.
Big thanks to Mulholland and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

I had mixed feelings about this book. It was compelling, no doubt, and the main character is fascinating - brittle, strong, determined to live a safe private life with her son, Billy - and a classic unreliable narrator. Which was part of why my feelings were mixed. There was a bit too much three-dimensional chess going on with revelation after revelation. I guess I find unreliable narrators to be a bit manipulative of the reader's trust.

That said, it's a well-constructed narration, with parts from a girl, Amy, who is being raised in a noxious cult in rural Australia (the Clearing) and whose mother is convinced she is the chosen one who will save the world once she has gathered twelve children to be the survivors of a coming apocalypse. She has collected adherents around the world, giving speaking engagements, while back home a former-physician sidekick and a group of what are essentially guards keep the kids in line, quite brutally. (This will make the book difficult for people who avoid anything involving cruelty to children.) They are always hungry and live without any knowledge of the world outside. And then, as they add to their number on their way to completing the dozen children needed, they kidnap a girl, and things don't go well.

In the other strand of the story, there's another kidnapping - Billy is taken, and his mother is a suspect. Only a former detective believes in the mother's innocence and she eventually has to evade the authorities and take the investigation into her own hands.

It's gripping and disturbing and the Australian setting adds interest. The author has real skill, and I look forward to reading more from him, though my preference, quite honestly, is not psychological manipulation or cults.

This book was an eye opening view into the world of cults and now I'm even more terrified of the whole idea. This book takes you on a troubling journey, a journey that you absolutely must take to fully understand.

Amy may not know that the Clearing is a cult, but it is. She just knows it’s up to her to make her elders happy and calm, it’s all she’s ever known. But when a new girl joins the group things are suddenly out of sync. The girl doesn’t fit in and she wants out. She’s causing trouble. A seriously creepy story about cults and brainwashing and just how easy it is to take control of people (witness recent elections in the US and UK)