There’s nothing like the love of a mother. Although I found this somewhat predictable, I enjoyed the “twists” and complexities of a mother-daughter relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC audiobook!

Thanks to Netgalley for the audio book in exchange for a honest review.

Like other reviewers mentioned, the book starts out slow, but Pekkanen was able to keep me interested.
As someone who listens to a lot of psychological thrillers I thought I was pleasantly surprised by this books uniqueness. Not exactly your typical psychological thriller which for me was a nice change.

I liked this one!! There were a lot of secrets being kept between Catherine and Ruth & at times I just wanted to scream at them to talk to each other, but I totally understand that that’s what makes this book so intriguing. I love a happy ending & I’m happy for how things turned out for Catherine.

🪟 Gone Tonight - Sarah Pekkanen

4 ⭐️ - Wow, this was twisty! This one has a slower start but definitely picked up and had my blood pressure rising. Sarah Pekkanen knows how to keep me on my toes!

I enjoyed this one more than I thought. I was super excited to see Sarah Pekkanen was releasing a new book, but this was my first solo of hers! At first, I was a littleee confused about who the characters were and who they were telling this stories too, BUT as it went on, I totally got the hang of it and was hooked. I was dying to know how the changing POV (my fave) between a mother and a daughter was going to turn out and unravel. I had some guesses that were correct and I saw coming but others I totally didn’t see. Definitely recommend if you’re a Pekkanen fan!

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan audio, and St. Martin Press for the early ARC and LRC! This thriller is out 8/8/23!

Read if you like:
👩‍👧Mother & Daughter Relationships
⏳ Past and Present Timelines
🤐 Secrets & Lies
📝 Journal Entries
2️⃣ Two POV

This was a more slow paced domestic thriller/mystery that swapped POV between Mother (Ruth) and Daughter (Catherine) throughout the book as Catherine begins to uncover lies and secrets from her mother and her mother begins to write out the truth of her past for her daughter that she has never shared before. This all comes out as Catherine is about to embark on a new journey moving away from her mother, but Ruth just can’t let that happen for reasons unknown to Catherine and the reader.

As someone that grew up with a mother that had secrets and lied often this one definitely struck a cord for how Catherine decided to dig and try to figure out the truth for herself of what was going on.

I loved Kate Mara’s voice with the audiobook but she didn’t do any voice work to distinguish between POV which made this a very hard to listen to audiobook with the change in POV but without the narration changing to identify the different characters.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Easy 4 stars! Interesting storyline. Good character development. Quick paced summer read for me! Audiobook was great, love the narrator, she always does a great job. Don’t hype anything up too much and you won’t get so disappointed. These authors work hard, take a breather from just consuming fiction and then jump back in! I promise that break helps you come out of some of that desensitization!

4.25⭐️

Ruth Sterling and her daughter Catherine have always been close. But even the closest mother and daughter can keep secrets from one another. In this way, at least, these two are definitely no exception. As Catherine begins to suspect something isn’t right with her mother, she finds herself on an expected and dangerous journey, and we the readers are along for the ride.

What a ride it was. These are well-drawn characters, in a suspenseful and well-told story that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to jaw-dropping conclusion.

Kate Mara provided the perfect voice to narrate the audiobook as well.

Thank you Sarah Pekkanen, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Mother and daughter, Ruth and Catherine, have an incredibly close bond but when Catherine is ready to move away for a new job Ruth will do anything to stop her. Catherine has largely accepted that her mom's past is a closed book. However, snippets from Ruth's past slowly start to materialize making Catherine wonder, what does she really know about the woman who raised her?!

Told in alternating POV- this is an exciting read that definitely kept me guessing. There were some points where it seemed to drag a bit, but overall really enjoyed it! Thanks to the published for this ARC.

Mom Ruth and daughter Catherine have a close relationship, but as Catherine is ready to leave home, Ruth will do anything to stop her.

I really enjoyed this one! The dual POV was great as we get both sides of the story as Catherine tries to learn about her mother’s past and Ruth does whatever she can to keep it hidden. Without giving too much away, the story is unique and I loved watching it unfold. There were some tense moments where I didn’t know if I should stop listening while home alone at night.

I enjoyed the audio narration, though I wish we had two narrators to alternate the POVs as they were hard to separate early on. Overall a great suspense to add to your summer reading list!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my advance listening copy.

Gone tonight is an addictive story told by both a mother, Ruth and her daughter, Catherine. Each characters’ thoughts alternate between chapters and are told in both the past and present. There are three parts to the book.

The first part of the book is a slow build-up about how they got to where they are in the present. It was interesting to read how and why Ruth chose to hide her past life from her daughter. Previously they shared a very close, loving relationship, but as Catherine grows older and starts to realize things aren’t what they seem, the tension in their relationship builds to a dangerous level. The second part focuses on how this dynamic plays out between them. Finally, the third part unravels the terrifying consequences of the the deception.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through the story. Especially at the end when the secret is revealed. Both mother and daughter are in danger and I was holding my breath to see if they would make it out alive!

The ending was special and made me cry. If it would have ended there, that would have been enough, but a shocking revelation was added in an epilogue! What an incredible story! I look forward to reading more from Sarah Pekkanen.

Triggers: sexual abuse and violence

Many thanks to MacMillion Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen.

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for my gifted book and audiobook.My thoughts are my own.

Catherine is a nurse at an assisted living facility in Pennsylvania. However she has just accepted a job at the prestigious John Hopkins Hospital and she is ready to go. When her single-mom, Ruth, receives a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s, Catherine puts her plans on hold. Catherine and Ruth have always enjoyed a close relationship.

What Catherine doesn’t know is Ruth is hiding secrets and will stop at nothing to protect her daughter. As Ruth’s secrets gradually unfold, Catherine starts to lose trust in her mother. The truth will ultimately try their relationship.

MY THOUGHTS:
This slow-burn novel is told through alternating perspectives of mother and daughter, and the truth is gradually revealed. I guessed the ending early on. I enjoyed the print version much more than the audio version. Though I usually enjoy this narrator (Kate Mara), I felt she used a monotone voice and it was difficult to tell the difference between mother and daughter.

Read this if you:
*Have enjoyed this author’s previous work
*Enjoy slow-burn suspense
*Enjoy family drama

This book started off a little slowly, but by the halfway mark I was totally invested in finding out the family secrets. Catherine and her mom both have impressive skills when it comes to staying alive and I could easily see this as an thriller/action movie. I listened to the audiobook and it's a great way to experience the tension and mystery in this novel.

Ruth and her daughter Catherine have always been close. It’s always just been the two of them. Now that Catherine is in her twenties, she is starting to explore the world more. She’s ready to leave the nest for a job offer in another city. Ruth is starting to panic. How far will she go to keep her daughter close and the past hidden? The more Ruth clings to Catherine, the more Catherine wonders why.

Sarah Pekkanen tells the story from both Catherine’s and Ruth’s point of view, alternating between the past and the present. Pekkanen develops two very interesting and well-rounded characters. The suspense and wanting to know what will happen next will keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more. The twists are shocking and keep you wanting more. My favorite part was learning all about Ruth’s past leading up to the reason why she feels she has to keep her daughter so close.

The narration on this one was amazing! Kate Mara did a great job. The only thing that could have made it better would have been different narrators for Catherine and Ruth. However, I didn’t have any trouble following along as Mara used slightly different voices for each character. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys psychological thrillers. I give it 5/5 stars.

Gone Tonight tells the story of Ruth and Catherine Sterling, a mother and daughter who think they know everything about one another. But when Ruth is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Catherine starts to notice some cracks in the stories her mother has told her about her family and her past. Leaving Catherine to wonder if she knows her mother at all. As Catherine investigates her mothers past she accidentally uncovers secrets that put both of their lives in danger.

This is the first solo novel I have read by Sarah Pekannan and I was not disappointed with it! This novel is told through the alternating perspectives of Ruth and Catherine, both of which are interesting and strong female characters. The way the author only reveals tiny bits of the backstory at a time creates a high level of suspense and makes it impossible to put this book down!

I enjoyed the narration by Kate Mara. Her voice was perfect for this novel and I loved the way she brought the story to life!

I listened to this book in one day! I couldn’t turn it off! Gone Tonight would make a great addition to your summer reading list!

Sarah Pekkanen created a brilliant story with “Gone Tonight” that captivated me from the very beginning. The truth of this family history spirals out of control while the wholesome balance of this mother-daughter relationship begins to crumble.

I found myself nervous with excitement while the story began tying up loose ends. The little side road the novel takes at the tail end of the story is also perfectly crafted.

I also want to shoutout the narrator of this story. She added an extra layer of flavor to this masterpiece, for sure!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read all year! It had similar vibes to Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter (in the very best way). I loved the mother daughter dual perspectives and there were so many twists! The narrator did a fantastic job with both voices too.

This was a great read. A fast-paced story between a mother and daughter that shows how far a mother will go to protect her daughter.

I like a good domestic thriller and I think if you are looking for a beach read, this one would be perfect. Solid storytelling though I do think that the narration would have been helped with having separate narrators for each point of view. I will say that the whole "miscommunication or failing to communicate" trope gets to be a little tiresome for me personally, but I think that the book is entertaining and I would recommend it.

This book was a huge surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started because I had previously read only one book by this writer - The wife between us - which I really didn't find to my taste. Unlike that book, Gone Tonight dives deep into the plot and delivers a twisty and intense psychological thriller that you'll remember for a long time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the audiobook arc.

I love this story of Ruth and Katherine - the mother daughter best friends forever - they know every detail about each other and share the best relationship - or do they?

Loved that this story was told chapter by chapter alternating mom and daughter as it really helped fill in all the details, yet kept you wondering as it one story "ended" when the others started.

I love Sarah's writing style always - and this book did not disappoint with its twist!