Lenna is an overwhelmed new mom who feels like she's lost herself in her new trek with motherhood. She is extended an invitation to join in a secret community. A "mommune," by Rhiannon, an estranged friend of hers who she parted ways with on not the best of terms 2 years prior.

Rhiannon explains that the mommune is a community composed of only women and children who work together within the community off the grid.

Rhiannon believes Lenna would benefit from staying on the commune.

Feeling lost, on a whim, Lenna books a flight and takes off to the commune with her 6 month old son, leaving her husband behind with only a brief apology note to be found.

Upon arriving, Lenna becomes suspicious of Rhiannon and believes she has ulterior motives for inviting her.

A twisty story about friendships and betrayals set in a dual timeline of the present and 2 years prior.

This book kept me entertained. I typically read 2 or 3 books at once, and I was drawn to this book more so than the others I was reading. Always a good sign!

The author does a good job of keeping interest for the need to find out what happens next. She writes in a way as if the answer to the mystery is right on the tip of her tongue but draws it out until it all is brought to the surface. slapping you in the face. Just the type of thriller I enjoy!

Thank you, Dutton books, and NetGalley for the advanced copy! This book is set to release on 2/20/24.

I read all of Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars series books and of course watched the show, but I had no idea she’d started writing adult fiction novels as well so when I saw this one I was so excited to read it! It definitely didn’t disappoint and I enjoyed it thoroughly overall. I’m always down for a cultish/commune style mystery/suspense and this was an addictive, wild and pulse-pounding ride! I loved the dual timelines, multiple POV and the Instagram posts sprinkled throughout which gave a glimpse into Gillian’s thoughts and reasoning. It was very hard to put down with all of the twists, turns, secrets and betrayals in true Shepard fashion! I can’t wait to see what’s next from her as well.

Sara Shepard's work is phenomenal and Nowhere Like Home was no exception.
I really enjoyed this story! The story kept my interest and I was on the edge of my seat to find out what happened.
There are enough twists and turns in this novel to keep one guessing and the ending was also well done. I found it to be very well written, fast paced, and captivating! It was unputdownable, completely full of lies and secrets, and kept the tension and suspense paced perfectly!

Thank You NetGalley and Dutton for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

"Nowhere Like Home" by Sara Shepard is a gripping adult novel that explores the complexities of friendship, trauma, and secrets within a mysterious commune. With expert twists and suspenseful storytelling, Shepard keeps readers hooked until the very end.

Super solid thriller. I was never bored, good twists, and interesting plot. To be fair, I dont' know that this will stick with me long term, but sometimes that's ok. I was entertained and that's what I was looking for!

Thank you Dutton Books for the #gifted copy of Nowhere Like Home!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐝
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)

I LOVED the Pretty Little Liars novels and was so excited when I heard Sara Shepard was writing an adult standalone thriller. A group of mothers living in a “mommune,” each running from something? Yes, please! I could not stop reading and listening to this one and was so invested in what was going to happen next. There were twists that I did not see coming and I really appreciated the format, with flashbacks and multiple POVs, which really added to the storyline. This was an addictive read and perfectly paced.

Posted on Goodreads on February 18, 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
**Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around February 18, 2024: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on February 20, 2024
**-will post on designated date

I thought this one was quite interesting with the “mommune” of a group of moms living in a secluded place helping one another. That is until things started to get crazy and my antennas started to fly up. I loved that we got multiple POVs giving background on the main moms. However, it did at times feel a bit disjointed in the way it was set up. I loved the element of surprise as we get the full story of what happened with the friendship of Lenna and Rhiannon and how each mom got to the Halcyon community. Also, the ending was a surprise for me, and it did add more to the overall story! It did give Lifetime movie vibes which I love a good Lifetime movie! And… I didn’t realize that this was the author of Pretty little Liars. I loved that TV series!! Instead of twisted teen friendships, this has twisted mom friendships with crazy pasts!

Thank you for the ARC!

Loved pretty little liars so decided to give this one a try ! It did feel like a slow burn at first but once you keep reading it does get better! Loved the setting and characters !

I found the mystery intriguing. Multiple characters had secrets so the story kept me engaged. Interesting commentary on friendships. Unexpected reveal at the end.

I’m pregnant and found the content too triggering. Perhaps I’ll give it a try in the future! The concept sounds intriguing, but I requested it before finding out that I am pregnant.

This one really kept me guessing the whole way through. Did not expect that ending!

An exciting story of betrayal and the struggle to confront the past.

Interesting points: murder mystery, “mommune”, alternating perspectives, dual timelines, new mom struggles

Unfortunately, I can't recommend reading Nowhere Like Home. I kept holding out for the book to get better but I was just plain bored throughout. I had high hopes for this book but it didn't hit the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I haven't read or watched Pretty Little Liars. I'd even forgot this was by same writer and for a lot of this book wondered if this was her first or second work as a book author. At least now I know she's been a professional writer for so long, I don't need to hold back.

3+ because a lot of the story did get me involved.

Lenna is invited to this community of moms by an estranged friend with whom she wishes to reconnect, but getting there everything feels off, she feels watched, her things disappears, and she's afraid it might even bring to surface the trauma she's worked so hard to bury.

The book is told from four points of view, in two different times. One will take us to the source of Lenna's trauma and distance from Rhiannon, one will show us when she finds Rhiannon again after two years and visits the closed community where her old friend lives. I don't like how the story forces us into thinking this or that of people, it more than once made me suspect being manipulated. Not just that it was hiding things from me, we want that when reading these types of book, but that it was lying to me. I didn't want to go back and check because I actually enjoyed the book.

For a lot of the book, it builds very toxic relationships and it makes you curious about how the toxicity happened and where it will lead to. When you think you've been saved, you realize it wasn't really that. Or was it? For maybe the first half of the book, this was well done, enticing. Please, tell me more! But then it becomes too much. For some time I wondered if the writer had a kink for twisted characters and privileged those over a believable plot. However, the book derailed even more as we get to the climax and it just felt like a soap opera plot they had to come up with due to some contingency. Really, I even ask myself if the person who planned the basis for the story is the same who gave it the conclusion, because this story could have gone so many more interesting places. Or at least a less convoluted explanation—I'd have preferred the predictable. Moreover, the ending... it never ended! I definitely wasn't invested enough for all those extra pages.

Unfortunately, the way it developed made the part about toxic friendships lose meaning to me, but it was still delicious to read while it lasted. I'll probably carry good memories of this read because there's a big chance I'll forget all the complicated explanations the second half brings us.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Lenna has been enticed to an off the grid women’s community by her former friend Rhiannon, who out of nowhere gets back in touch. But this community soon reveals its intense set of rules, and its connections to Lenna’s past.

This book was slow starting out, and kind of kept being slow to the very end. I never really got as invested in the characters as I wanted to. The ending really picked up and got me invested, which upped the rating of the book for me. I would recommend other Shepard books, but not this one.

DNF - really could not get into this one - not for me.

Thank you to netgalley and publisher for this

Nowhere Like Home felt like an adult condensed version of Pretty Little Liars, which makes sense considering the author. It began with Lenna venturing to a remote part of the desert to a commune where Rhiannon lived and invited her to see. Lenna struggled with guilt over how their friendship ended, guilt over being a bad mom, and frustration over her son’s constant crying.

The story flashed back to 2 years prior when Lenna and Rhiannon worked together for a magazine.

Except other characters also mattered and ineracted with Lenna in the past and maybe they somehow mattered in the present? Suddenly, she started feeling weird about this commune and why Rhiannon didn’t seem to want to talk about the past.

I enjoyed the twists and the drama overall. It was a quick read if you enjoy a good friendship/betrayal/secrets vibes and the possibility of a cult.

I definitely recommend this one.

This was an interesting thriller but you have to do quite a bit of suspending disbelief. I didn’t really like any of the characters (except the children), but the story was good. I liked that you get the story from several different perspectives and I liked the format through which we saw Gillian’s perspective. This story is told in two timelines, the present and about 2 years ago when the characters’ stories started to converge, although they didn’t know that at the time. Lenna hasn’t seen her friend Rhiannon since she disappeared a couple of years before but she reaches out and asks Lenna to visit her at the “mommune” where she lives now. Lenna is struggling with being a new mother, and she decides that going and reconnecting with her friend may help her move forward. But Lenna soon realizes that she is not the only one with secrets. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars. I thought the story was a little cheesy but interesting and it’s a quick read.

This is probably Sara Shepard's best adult fiction yet and I did appreciate the take on how hard friendship- and motherhood- can be. It's just a little too long and there are a few too many characters, but it's entertaining and twisty enough.

I loved the concept of this one but the execution fell very flat. The dialogue did not read well for me and I didn’t connect with the characters or the plot.

I always pick up Sara Shepard's novels, so when I received an ARC for her latest one, I was thrilled. The only problem is I am always let down by them. The endings always come out of left field and I am left disappointed. This time, I think I will stop while I am ahead and just DNF.

This is mostly because it circles around two things that I do not enjoy reading about, children and cults. In hindsight, I should not have asked for this book as the synopsis clearly states that this book would involve children. It seems as if this was leaning towards women being forced to have children which is not something I currently want to read about as the state of America is already requiring such duties of women. Thus I sadly will not be finishing this book.