I have never read a romance novel that touches on the same tropes and themes as The Disappearance of Lindy James. The religious trauma and cult mentality was really interesting to read about and I found Lindy and Quincy to be likable and sympathetic characters.

3.25 Stars. This was a bit of a tough read, as it is about a woman and her family dealing with postpartum depression/psychosis. Then, she and her kids are effectively kidnapped by a religious cult and hidden away for the duration of the book. It is a lot. I think it will work for most people - and it is important that postpartum depression is taken seriously as it is treatable.

This isn't a slog of a book, the plot is well paced and it keeps you turning pages. There are actually three different perspectives, but two of them come from the titular character's point of view. It's jarring, but I believe it is intended, as it gives a physical presence to Lindy's psychosis. This actually works, even if it is a risky move to do that with a character. The plot is mostly told through Lindy's wife's point of view, and as a reader, it was hard not to feel empathy for Quincy. And that's kind of where it falls a part a little for me. Quincy is dealing with mind numbing loneliness and pain after her family just disappears on her and yet you don't see her breakdown much at all. I don't want to revel in what Quincy is feeling, but there are times where it feels like Quincy's feelings are taking a back seat to what is happening to Lindy.

This is a drama that I had to be in the right headspace for - it deals with some topics that are actually kind of topical: women's healthcare - specifically ailments that women are more likely to get or folks who can get pregnant get (like post partum depression) and predatory groups latching on to and exploiting vulnerable people. A lot of this book upset me, because this crap happens in real life to varying degrees and it just hurts so many people. I couldn't enjoy the experience, but I do recognize how well written it was, with only a couple of issues. This is an experience that I will most likely not forget.

*I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book and I really rate Ms Maiorisi as a writer having read her series with Chiara Corelli. This book has a different slant from the usual lesfic and isn’t easy to pigeonhole and I liked that. I like books that go against the tropes in some way. For some reason though, it didn’t completely win me over. I have no experience of post partum mental illness and even less about religious evangelical cults but the characters are well developed and I especially liked the hard working Quinn.

I maybe felt that with Quinn working long hours to provide for her wife and family, that some of the other characters (and there are a few) could have been more aware of Lindy’s problems. But then there wouldn’t be a story and this is after all a story. It is well told and well written with enough angst and pain to keep you turning pages.

The ending seemed a bit quick and there were a few places I stumbled (no spoilers) but if you like Ms Maiorisi’s writing and an intelligent look at a different world than the usual lesfic, then give this one a try.

I was given a copy of the book by Netgalley

This read takes us inside the head of Lindy as she deals with mental illness, specifically postpartum psychosis. Oh my, what an unsettling read that had me on an emotional rollercoaster with her and her wife Quincy. The reader also had perspectives from Quincy as she dealt with guilt of not realizing what was going on with Lindy. As the story unfolds, it felt so real and possible. I am glad I read the first book because it help me to understand why Quincy hung in there (which I am glad she did). It also caused me to think about relationships/marriage and the determination to stick with it no matter how difficult the situation may become. I also thought is there a time when it is time to leave. With children in the mix, the decision is even more difficult. Not a romance but a look at a relationship after a number of years. I also enjoyed the side story with neighbors and friends.

Wow! The Disappearance of Lindy James by Catherine Maiorisi is one intense novel. At times it was really hard to read, but I’m glad I did.

This is not a romance. It is the story of a loving family that is almost destroyed by untreated mental illness (in this case postpartum psychosis) and an extreme religious order that manipulates the victim (Lindy) and spirits her and her children away from her wife, Quincy.

In this tale we see the evil that can happen because of religious fanaticism…the destruction of families and especially the lives of those involved. The author did an excellent job of showing these evils. What the author also did in the book is show the healing power of unconditional love, especially when it is also paired with mental health options as well as help from friends and the community. I fell in love with Quincy. She is so devoted to her family and especially Lindy. She really is my hero in this story.

This novel needs a trigger warning. There is a lot in this novel about religious cults and the fanatical views they have. There is also talk about how these cults view LGBTQ+ relationships and people.

This is a well-written novel that showcases serious issues about how we deal with mental health and religious cults. It also shows the power of love which makes this a great story to read.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

4.25 stars. I’m a fan of the Corelli mystery series, however this is such a completely different theme, so I was curious to see how it would work for me. It was a tough read, but surprisingly good! Like in the mystery series, Maiorisi is not afraid to show the ugliness of the world, but in the end this book is about unwavering love.

What I didn’t realize is that this is actually the second book in this series (duology). The romance of Quincy and Lindy is described in “Taking a Chance on Love” the first book in the series. The present book is not a romance, but it does show the importance of love in an already established relationship. Lindy and Quincy are together for 6 years now and have two children. While this is a sequel it can be read as a standalone, but if you are interested in reading both books I think it’s best to read them in order. I didn’t read the first book and had no problems reading this, but some things that (I think) happen during the first book are summarized in this one. Another thing I recommend is to skip reading the blurb, it gives too much away in my opinion.

Quincy works two jobs to get enough money for the down payment of their dream home, while Lindy is slowly deteriorating, suffering from postpartum psychosis. They rarely see each other and Quincy notices too late how bad the mental health of her wife has declined. In this fragile mental state Lindy is influenced by religious fanatics and ends up in a religious community and Quincy has no idea where Lindy and their two kids have disappeared to.

To see things from Lindy’s perspective, really see her thoughts when she was experiencing mental problems, and the helplessness and frustration Quincy feels after discovering, this sucked me right into the story. The creepy atmosphere in the religious community made me hope for Lindy to see reason and heal (mentally speaking), but there is no easy way out.
It is a rollercoaster of emotions, and I liked this part of the book best as it also has a suspense element, an unknown factor. Later, I think around 60-75%, the book focusses more on the healing process. Healing is a very important aspect, mental health issues do not disappear overnight, so in that sense it was very well done, but I did find my attention to this part of the book slipping when compared to the first part of the book.

For me, without a doubt, the POV of Lindy was most interesting, I really felt her confusion and I didn’t understand her reasoning, but I guess that’s what mental instability could feel like. Quincy also experiences a lot of emotional stress, I felt her frustration at the start of the book, but later she has a breaking point, which I didn’t really see coming, so there could have been a bit more attention to her emotional state along the way. There is a secondary storyline in the book with Quincy’s neighbors that I enjoyed and I could definitely read a book about Kate.

This is not an easy read and contains many triggers concerning religion in combination with homosexuality, so this might not be for everybody. It is a book I will remember though, it’s very well written and I thought the insights in postpartum psychosis were very interesting and well done (to my limited knowledge on the subject) and their love for each other is something you can really feel even during the darkest parts of their relationship, which is quite exceptional. Recommend!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The author took her storyline beyond the well known postpartum depression condition into the much more dangerous postpartum psychosis disorder. Lindy was a very friendly outgoing wife and mother. About four months after giving birth to her and Quincy’s second daughter, she noticed changes within herself. So she voiced her concerns to her obstetrician, but he quickly dismissed them.
As her condition worsened, Lindy was losing touch with reality. Her symptoms included hearing voices, paranoia, insomnia, loss of appetite, anxiousness, thoughts of deaths, reduced interests in activities, and suspicion of others. To make matters worse, she befriended a threesome of religious fanatics. They took advantage of her mental state planting the idea that her love for her wife was sinful and if she continued along this path, Lindy would be condemning herself and children to eternal damnation. She needed to find a safe place for herself and children, but ultimately Lindy’s safe haven became a living nightmare.

The story was told from the viewpoints of both Quincy and Lindy. This was very effective in pulling the reader quickly into their mindset as their lives unraveled and their emotional levels were in a constant flux. Quincy, a detective, was racked with guilt. She thought she should have seen the signs that Lindy was struggling with everyday activities such as cooking or even taking care of their daughters. But Quincy always believed her wife’s answer that she was fine, until an incident occurred that Quincy could no longer ignore.
It was interesting to note that at times Quincy was upset and angry at her wife but she still loved her. She knew something was wrong with her and needed help. So she chose to keep that love for Lindy strong. Lindy, in her confused state, both feared and loved Quincy. It was like she had the devil on one shoulder voicing the sinful ways of being married to Quincy, and the angel on the other shoulder proclaiming Quincy’s love for her and their children. With everything going on with these women, it appeared that an underlying love was always present. As the story developed, the author took the reader right into the depths of her characters’ despair, hopelessness, confusion, heartbreak, and loss. Some of these chapters were difficult to read because they were so well written and realistically portrayed.

The secondary characters were a good mix of diverse personalities. The author allowed her reader to experience the loving and supportive ways of Quincy’s friends and then just as quickly feelings of anger and rage were directed toward Lindy’s evil threesome and their polygamist community. I also liked how the author introduced another Christian community, one that followed the teachings of Christ that accepted all and offered support to those in need.

This was a well written story. It was engaging and informative. I know about postpartum depression, but not much about this mental illness. So I researched this topic after I finished this book. Some of the stories were even more heartbreaking and frightening than Lindy’s, and unfortunately, some outcomes were not the same. Similar to other books I read by this author, she doesn’t shy away from including difficult but important topics in her storylines such as child abuse. I applaud the author for tackling and bringing attention to another important topic that will hopefully result in discussions and more awareness of this severe mental illness.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

This book is family drama and general fiction, quoting the author in her acknowledgments. Lindy is married, has two little girls and lives in NJ. She is also experiencing a psychotic break. Quincy, her spouse of six years is concerned, but doesn't know the extent of her mental illness. Lindy takes off for what she believes will a religious retreat across the country. Quincy is a detective and tries desperately to find her family.

This is gripping reading. Told from both viewpoints, Lindy is clearly confused and hallucinating. Thanks to a doctor she gets some help but still doesn't trust her mind. Quincy is dogmatic and presses onward. She has support from friends and is always hopeful of being reunited. While the story is compelling I felt oddly detached reading it. Quincy collapses from the strain at one point but we don't know the extent till much later in the book. I expected to have more of an emotional breakdown with her. Her friends intervention shows their concern, but I felt a step removed reading it. I would think there would be legal ramifications, such as custodial interference or something, but that fizzles from the plot. Lindy for her part is scary when her mind isn't well. I'm glad the author chooses never to put the children at real risk. I live in a state that has rural polygamists communities and that part of the book rings true. Although I don't know about others outside of the community recruiting people to join them. Also I like the author educating about postpartum psychosis.

This is for those that don't mind a heavier read. There is nothing light and fluffy in this story. Thank you to Bella Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. (3.5 stars)

Sequel to “Taking a Chance on Love”. Quinn and Lindy have been married for some time now and have 2 children. This tells of Lindy’s reaction to postpartum psychosis (more severe than depression) added to some stressing situations not long after the birth of her second child. The lack of help from her doctor (not gone into in any detail, just a reference that she had recognised all was not right and tried to get help). Also not exactly lack of help from Quinn but that Quinn was working 2 jobs to try and get the money for a down payment on the house they wanted so was not around to see what was happening till too late. And of course people ready to take advantage of someone’s unfortunate situation. So I see Lindy’s disappearance as not only physical in so far as Quinn is concerned but mentally to Lindy herself.
I really liked the first book and also this one. It brings home how some women are affected after childbirth and should not be dismissed out of hand if they are tired, off colour etc. but should be taken more seriously.
Also good to see how a couple is coping after their HEA ending in a story.
Hoping for a follow up story about Kaitlin.

This book has received good ratings so far so if I'm going to be honest, I'm a bit nervous to write my own. As I've probably said hundreds of times, I hate giving any sort of negative review. I'm alarmingly aware that not every book or writing style is going to be for me and I'm pretty sure this book is a good example.

Now the story line is definitely interesting. It follows Lindy James, a lesbian mom, being led into some sort of poly Christian cult after months of brainwashing and suffering from postpartum psychosis. As her wife, Quincy, strives to find and help her. The books gives us dive into both of their heads as they go through a tough time filled with unimaginable pain.

See? Interesting story line. However in my respectful opinion, it was followed by a lackluster execution.

The story picks up immediately from the first page with Lindy preparing to leave. Quincy notices her wife is acting strange after being so distracted by working double to afford a house they have set their eyes on. Quincy notices too late though as her wife is already in the process of being whisked away by her new Christian friends to an isolated religious community in Arizona.

There's a minor moment where Quincy takes legal matters in her own hands and fights for custody of the kids with the argument of her wife being unfit. This is where I started getting a bit less interested in this story. Not only does the judge instantly dismiss Quincy's concern but this case itself was pointless to the whole story. The pacing of it was unbelievably unrealistic as well. They ended up having joint custody and Lindy fleeing the state should've made her a fugitive but she wasn't really treated like one. (At least I think so, not too updated on American Law).

Instead the way the situation was treated was highly underwhelming. She basically kidnapped her two kids and I can't help but feel like the way Quincy and her friends/ colleagues dealt with this to be weird. This whole time Quincy still views Lindy as an angel and her lover. Now this could just be a character detail, maybe she was just so trusting of Lindy even though she had questions about her sanity, but that just does not make much sense to me. If my wife was telling me all that crap about the devil and not wanting our kids to live like that, I'd be more worried about the kids. Now I'm not saying she was just supposed to stop caring about Lindy but she let this whole situation go too easily.

It felt more like the author painting a fairytale of true unconditional love which in my opinion, was not the best move for the impact of this story. How am I supposed to feel for Quincy when she barely feels for herself? The love to me, felt forced.

I guess my ultimate problem with this story would be the pacing and just a tiny bit the writing. I felt like the writing did not exactly fit the mood. The pacing however was honestly a bigger mood killer though. There's a moment where Quincy is so stressed she passes out but we see nothing building up to that. I struggled so much to connect with all of these characters.

My three stars of content stands for three things. One, the storyline, as I said it was very interesting, the whole religious cult aspect specifically. Two, the depth to that religious cult storyline. Three, the mental health aspect, specifically Lindy's.

I found the inclusion of postpartum psychosis to be an admirable one. It is something that isn't really talked about because it's assumed to be rare when in reality its just overlooked. As much as many things having to deal with women. So I did enjoy that.

But all in all, I did not enjoy this book. I will leave it to you to decide if you wanna read. Perhaps read other reviews to get other views.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for a honest review

The book opens with Lindy James having an episode. She hear voices, feels overwhelmed and distraught and is touchy and fearful. She vacillates between love for her wife and children to believing that the basis of their entire relationship is wrong. As Lindy experiences more and more breakdowns, she disappears, together with her children.

Told from the point of views of Lindy and Quincy, this book was an intense and riveting read. For a couple who have been together for six years and do love each other dearly, the crumbling of their relationship and stark contrasts in mental states was glaring and painful. The feeling of helplessness and loss of control was keenly felt from both characters and relatable regardless of which side you are on. Catherine Maiorisi took readers on a steep cliff and placed them right on the edge with Lindy’s battle with postpartum psychosis. She did not shy away from the brutality of the condition, and in all honesty, no one should downplay any form of mental issue and the book rightly highlights that awareness is key. The ending was extremely pleasing as the hero Quincy shone through with her understanding, patience, love and support and anyone battling such conditions need one, or even a handful of Quincys.

I just reviewed The Disappearance of Lindy James by Catherine Maiorisi. Thank you NetGalley and Bella Books for the ARC.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


The author does a great job of showing how mental illness can affect you how you struggle to overcome it especially when it’s not treated and your vulnerable to be manipulated.

Lindy and Quincy are happy but with Lindy feeling not her self you see inside her head and feel the anguish she feeling and with her friends telling her she living in sin she afraid her and daughters are going to hell she flees to a religious community. Quincy been working hard to buy their dream home but she hasn’t really been seeing what’s going with her wife until she finds out Lindy and her daughters are gone. You feel for both characters it was a engaging story.

Quincy and Lindy love is strong as they both fight for each other. I enjoy this read it was torment and scary it’s amaze me how people can use religious to justify what their doing. I tend not read anything with religious in it.

This is not your typical Catherine Maiorisi book. 
It is a deeply involved fictional look at mental illness and how it affects the life, family and friends of Quincy, Lindy and their two young daughters. 
The story is told through two narrators, Quincy and Lindy. We are inside Lindy’s head as she devolves and it is a scary place.  As well we are privy to the emotional ride Quincy faces as her family slips away. This is by no means a light read.
The writing is solid with exceptional moments when describing the inner workings of Lindy’s mind as she loses touch with reality. The storyline is intensely interesting as Quincy and Lindy’s lives diverge. 
The sense of community is illustrated as both supportive and loving on the one hand and manipulative and false faced on the other. The dichotomy is displayed convincingly as we follow both narrators. I could not put this book down. And although this may be a challenging read for some due to triggers, this is an engaging story.

I received a free advance review copy from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗺, 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲.

Okay, wow! I swear I've never been so tense reading a book before. But it's gripping and it's scary and it shows us how mental illness and religious fanaticism can be a lethal combination when put together. It tells a story of how a happy family can be destroyed in a heartbeat by religious manipulation and how revolting brainwashing can be. It shows us what goes on in the mind of a person with untreated postpartum psychosis and what a loved one goes through.

At the same time, this book also shows us what unconditional love looks like and I fell in love with Quincy. Quincy who never gives up on her wife, Lindy, on finding Lindy and their daughters back. Quincy who loves Lindy despite Lindy's mental breakdown and the horrors that Lindy puts her through. This book shows us what healing is like and the journey that Lindy and Quincy take to recover.

This is nothing like I've read before. It's a memorable read and it's so good. It isn't a romance novel but it shows us what true love is, and I love that part of it. I also think Maiorisi has done an incredible job depicting mental illness and dealing with mental health issues. At the same time, this story hit me hard because I have absolutely no respect for people who use religion manipulatively and on a vulnerable person no less. This book needs to come with a trigger warning as homosexual relationships are labelled as sin multiple times, so be warned.