I love a good thriller and was very excited for this one! I got very into the first 2/3 of it - but the rest fell a bit flat for me. The ending felt quite convoluted. In an attempt to really shock the readers with a big reveal, it felt a bit undercooked to me.

It was enjoyable enough but I wanted to like it more.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced copy of Nowhere Like Home, this book released on 2/20. This was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read for me, it was good but not great. My main flaw was that I really couldn’t connect with the main character Lenna. She felt a little flat to me, this was also lacking in cult details. I was expecting a full blown thriller escaping a cult but it just lacked a lot of what I wanted. However I really enjoyed this one, I loved unraveling the mystery but just found myself wanting more! I also just realized that this author wrote pretty little liars and mostly YA so maybe that is why it felt a little lacking in detail!
*

🔲NOWHERE LIKE HOME by Sara Shepard was a fast-paced friendship suspense that had me guessing!

The book starts out with Lenna and her baby heading out to an intentional living community of all women, or a "mommune." As the story unfolds, we meet Rhiannon, the friend Lenna followed out here and their spicy history shown in chapters from two years ago. There is clearly more going on in this sketchy group, but Lenna isn't sure who to trust and it all comes barreling at her one fateful night.

I had a difficult time with Lenna. There was a weird dependency about her that made me as uncomfortable as the other characters by whom we are supposed to feel unnerved. I was glad that this changed by the end, but it took a bit.

I did enjoy the tension and suspense that built throughout and maintained even in the end. It was a bit far-fetched, but by the time I felt this, I was being entertained enough that it didn't bother me a bit! It felt like the dramatic ending was fitting and would make for great television.

I would recommend this story to those looking for a quick, friendship centered suspense/thriller. Thank you to @netgalley & @duttonbooks for this entertaining read that was published February 20th, so it is out now!

I picked this book up for two reasons: the premise sounded interesting and I'm drawn to books with cult-like communities, and Sara Shepard. I loved Pretty Little Liars -- both books and TV show. This started out promising with the three women characters all displaying a little unreliability. I wanted to see where it was going to go. The middle of the novel dragged for me quite a bit. I knew more was going to happen, it just didn't happen fast enough for me. Once the action started, it rolled on like a snowball down a hill -- gathering speed until the crash ending. What an ending it was. I gave it less stars because the middle made me want to give up. I'm glad I didn't though.

Nowhere Like Home is a twisty drama/crime novel that is an entertaining read. There is an intriguing cult premise that fell a little bit flat for me, but the attention to detail and the twists are what kept me reading. There are multiple points of view from multiple somewhat unreliable narrators. While the timeline, attention to detail and some of the twists kept my attention, the conversations and the characters left me wanting more and I felt quite disconnected from the story at times which caused the story to drag a bit.
Overalll an entertaining read. Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

With an intriguing plot and written in multiple views, Shepard’s newest book will have you guessing until the end. Toxic friendships abound and everyone has a secret. Everything comes to a head at a “mommune” in the desert. With rigid rules and no outside communication what could possibly go wrong🤷‍♀️While the narrative seems young at times, this book took us on a journey of unexpected twists and turns and keeps the reader hooked until the very last page. Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I wasn’t a fan of this one. I found it to be a bit juvenile and a little boring.

I am so disappointed in this because I had high hopes.

I do not recommend.

I don't think I really expected what this book would be. Lenna, struggling as a new mother, gets a message from her old friend Rhiannon. Rhiannon wants her to visit her at the commune where she's lived since being let go from her job at a gossip magazine. Lenna catches a last minute flight to Arizona to the woman only commune located out in the middle of the desert. Run by a seemingly beatific matriarch, Lenna soon finds cracks in the idyllic veneer and wants to leave. But she finds herself blocked at every turn.

This book was twisty and turny, and quite the departure from most of Shepard's books, which deal with the privileged and bitchy. There were some parts that didn't make a lot of sense, as the time between the present time and the time jumps into the past is less than 2 years. The gap in time feels much further, so every time 2 years is mentioned, it's jarring. There needed to be a lot longer time period between the past and the present, because 2 years is a fight, not an estrangement. It feels like it's been years since Rhiannon and Lenna last spoke, not 18 months. I have friends that I go longer without talking to!
But I did relate quite a bit to Lenna, who is struggling with a colicky baby and a husband that means well but really only makes things worse. Lenna's husband seems reticent to help out with the baby, almost afraid of him, while Lenna feels like she's drowning in a sea of sleepless nights. I think at some point most of us wish we could just...run away and never come back when our kids are babies that never stop needing us. Lenna...actually does.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, more than I expected when I figured out it was some sort of weird cult like thing going on. Those books can be really really good, or really really bad. Thankfully this was a good one!

Nowhere Like Home follows Lenna in a dual timeline. In the past it focuses on her friendships with Rhiannon and Gillian as they slowly fall apart. In the present we watch Lenna reconnect with Rhiannon and follow her to a "mommune" out in the remote desert of Arizona. This group of women lives off the grid and they all seem to be hiding something, but one of the rules is to not ask about anyones past so Lenna has to figure it all out herself and how her secrets might be intertwined with others in this community.

This thriller is somewhat akin to watching a lifetime movie (and that is not a bad thing). It has a lot of tropes in it (i.e. obsessed best "friend", missing memories, disappearances) and while some of the twists were a little more surprising a lot of it was predictable. Overall a quick read that keeps you interested!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced e-copy of this book.

Oh. My. Gosh. Talk about unreliable characters! Pretty much every character in Sara Shephard's new book, Nowhere Like Home, is lying. And I loved trying to figure out what was the truth.

Nowhere Like Home is told through three women's narratives - Lenna, Sarah and Rhiannon. There is a fourth woman, and her narrative is told a bit differently. Shepard did a great creating her characters. I was drawn to one in particular, and could understand the motives of another. But one is downright dangerous. As the book progressed, my opinion about what the final chapters would bring was challenged. I love not being to predict a plot.

Friendship is the driving theme in this book. What makes a good friend? How much of your life would you reveal? Some? All? And what if that trust was broken....

As readers we are privy to some (but not all) of the lies being told. The not knowing the answer as to what the truth, was kept me engrossed from first page to last. There's lots of suspense and action as well. A few plot devices were a bit overboard for me - but just go with it.

Thanks to Dutton & Sara for an advance copy of Nowhere Like Home.

Rhiannon has reached out to Lenna after years without a word and wants to reconnect and repair their relationship. Even better, Rhiannon now has a child and lives in an off-the-grid women & children only community where everyone helps everyone else out. Lenna has been struggling with her own new baby and jumps at the opportunity to get some help and also her old friend back.

However when she gets there, things seem a little bit off. Why was she really invited? What exactly goes on here? Why are there so many strange rules? And then, when someone else from Lenna’s past shows up she starts to believe there was a more sinister reason for her being invited out into the middle of nowhere with no way to contact the outside world…

Nowhere Like Home had a really interesting premise. A ‘momune’ sounds like a great idea in theory, but the reality of it would not likely live up to the idea in my opinion, however it does make for a great setting in a book.

The story unfolds in dual timelines and alternating POVs, so we get some interesting perspectives and explanations for why these characters are the way they are. The timeline was smooth, I was never confused about where or why we were somewhere in the story.

The characters were complex and flawed. I wouldn’t necessarily say Rhiannon & Lenna’s friendship was toxic, but it wasn’t healthy either. It was difficult for a variety of reasons but at their hearts I believe these characters to be good people, just troubled or haunted by their past. Much like her YA stories, the friendships are complicated and secretive, however this one had a little something extra being that it was an adult book that also tied in marriage and motherhood themes.

We did get a good twist, but it felt a little out of left field. I almost find it to be a cop out when the mic drop of the story is something that we could’ve never guessed because there were zero hints or plot points that would lead us to that conclusion until it’s placed in our laps.

I’ve only read a couple of Sara’s books, but I like them well enough to continue to pick her up.

A mommune….novel approach about a commune for women and children. I can see the appeal for some, but basically not a good idea.

My daughter loved the show ‘Pretty Little Liars’ so I thought I’d give this author a try. Could have been my age vs theirs, generation gap? The premise was original, and the writing was good, but the storyline was all over the place so much so that I had a hard time focusing. It does a great job shedding light on mental health issues. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, found them immature and whiney. There are definite twists and turns I didn’t see coming, but overall it was not for me. With friends like this, who needs enemies!

Thanks to Penguin/Dutton Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

This book was ok, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It definitely had a mystery that wasn’t easy to figure out but the end was over the top and too far fetched. I didn’t really like any characters. The main character is a cliché. Too many of these psychological thrillers make the main female character weak and easily manipulated, no self-esteem a full on pity party that it is tiresome to read.

Nowhere Like Home” is written by Sarah Shepard and has a publishing date of February 20, 2024 by Penguin Group Dutton. I received an early copy of this book by “Pretty Little Liars” author from Net Galley, thank you.

This twisty turning thriller has many lying and manipulating characters all interested in their self above all else. I found the alternating chapters hard to follow after the introduction of new players and the omission of others. An okay read, but the earlier part of the plot needs tweaking for easier read and less confusion. Could make for an interesting screen play. A trio of girls are hit and miss as they attempt to become friends, jealous of each others lives and other relationships. One woman in particular seems to have an unhealthy obsession with her friends. A confrontation between two of the women, ends up causing life changes.

With that being said the last half of the book was enthralling as secrets from everyone come to light and are tied together. The three main characters expose their secrets that intertwine each other into a series of strange coincidences. We discovered a woman had a child the others knew nothing about and a woman who took a baby from an unfit mother and was raising it as her own child. I enjoyed the last half of the book and can give the book a better recommendation.

Thanks again Net Galley for the ARC.

I rolled my eyes throughout this entire book. I had high hopes for this one being that she previously wrote pretty little liars - books and a show that I adored. However, the writing in Nowhere Like Home felt very juvenile for me. The characters choices and actions all felt very young and unrealistic. I just didn’t enjoy reading this one and I hate that these characters had babies brought into these situations.. felt a bit unnecessary and hurt my momma heart.

TBH, I wasn’t looking forward to reading this book based on the initial reviews. And I get it, most of my review will be negative (sorry lol). But the thing is, this book entertained me. Sometimes that’s all I need from a book. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.

The plot didn’t really keep me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me wondering. I didn’t want to put it down because I wanted to figure it all out. I liked that all the characters were grey — some more flawed and chaotic than others.

What I didn’t like:

I don’t think the social anxiety was addressed properly, and it really wasn’t that relevant to the story.

The characters could have been fleshed out more. I wanted to know more about Lenna’s relationship with her husband. I also didn’t really understand why everyone felt so enamored with Rhiannon.

All in all, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it.

After mysteriously disappearing 2 years earlier, Rhiannon contacts Lenna inviting her to visit the women’s-only commune, Halcyon, in Arizona. Lenna spontaneously decides she’ll go in hopes of reconnecting with Rhiannon. Lenna hadn’t even arrived to Halcyon and she already grows suspicious. She’s quickly immersed into the life of living in the commune and one by one learns of the “rules” the women must live by. Lenna is hesitant about her suspicions until a resident returns to Halcyon, throwing Lenna into a tailspin, worried her past would be revealed.

New and old relationships are tested and you never know who you can trust.

Lenna’s friend, Rhiannon, disappeared a couple years ago, so when Lenna receives a call from Rhiannon, she’s shocked. Lenna is overwhelmed as a new mom and from hiding secrets from her past, so Rhiannon invites her to the “mommune” where she lives—a commune named Halcyon of women and children escaping their troubles and conventional life. However, with the community located in the desert in the middle of nowhere, and with a locked gate at all times, Lenna begins to grow suspicious ands fears she made a grave mistake coming to Halcyon.

The synopsis of this book gave me creepy cult vibes, and I was here for it! This suspense/thriller is full of toxic and twisted female friendships, and touches on mental health issues such as social anxiety. The book is took in a dual timeline, alternating between present day and two years prior, as well as the multiple perspectives {but primarily Lenna’s}. The characters were well-developed, but all are so weak-minded and naive that they drove me a bit crazy. It was a page-turner for sure, but overall I just wasn’t sold enough on the plot/ending, so just an “okay” read for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for my gifted e-ARC!

This book was a wild ride. Friendships, betrayals, secrets and a remote ‘mommune’ in a desert location. This book is told in dual timeline that really helps set up the story and dive into the characters. The first of present day of Lenna arriving at the mommune. The second is two years in the past when Lenna and Rhiannon are friends with Gillian getting to know each of them. I know I kept asking myself who is telling the truth, who is being real and who is being a fake friend. The last half of the book really kicked up intensity and flew by. It’s twisty and different than your typical mystery books. Many thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.