Wow oh wow! This book was absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend it and make sure you clear your calendar!

I really enjoyed this book! The premise was interesting and although the pacing dragged at times, it was pretty good for the majority of the book. The flashback format worked well enough, but I felt myself getting more and more impatient to get to the conclusion after the 70% mark. I also couldn't connect to any of the characters except for flashback Lenna. Most of their actions didn't seem rational or relatable at all, but they of course made for a great story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy - I always enjoy Sara Shepard's books!

Thanks to Netgalley & PENGUIN GROUP- Dutton for the E-ARC! I grew up with the Pretty Little Liars series, so I was excited for another book from this author. This was good! Very fast-paced & I actually liked the characters. Definitely a new favorite!

Nowhere Like Home 🏜️🌵🐍🍼🌄
by Sara Shepard
4.5/5 ✨

If you know me, you know PLL and Sara Shepard were my ish in high school. Her writing never, ever fails to disappoint and I can’t seem to put anything down that she does write. Nowhere Like Home wasn’t any different!

This was such a fun spin on the culty idea of mommunes and I was kept guessing until the very end. You’re going to think you’ve got it figured out, but you don’t! I loved the multiple perspectives; it added on another element of surprise in terms of the storytelling. If you’re a fan of Shepard’s previous work, you’ll love this one too.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this ARC!! Be sure to grab a copy of Nowhere Like Home on February 20th!! 💕

This is an interest take on cults/communes where the main character decides to join a "mommune" full of mothers where she hopes to do some healing and repair her relationship with an old friend in the community. But the community is super suspicious and has sketchy rules and as you'd expect, secrets from the past come out and the main characters true reason for being there is revealed.

I should've known from the whole "mommune" thing that this wasn't going to be the type of story to click with me but it's Sara Shepard so I wanted to give it a try regardless. I think this could've worked better if the pacing didn't seem to drag at so many moments. I never got invested enough in Lenna, the side characters, or any of the relationships going on to enjoy this story when nothing much was happening. I found myself putting it down and never having the desire to pick it back up which is not what I want when reading a thriller. I will say that the ending did pick up and there was a twist that shocked me.

Not for me but I could see this working more for people who enjoy a bit slower and suspenseful cult/motherhood/friendship stories.

I was expecting more from the author of Pretty Little Liars. Maybe that is why I found Nowhere Like Home to be mediocre. I don't know. I had a hard time getting into the story. I didn't like any of the characters. I wasn't a fan of the ending... Although, I didn't see it coming. Great suspense... No surprise there. I started showing interest in how everything would pan out when I was 30-40% into the book.

At first I really was into this book. Lenna seemed to be a real sympathetic character even if her reasons for leaving were strange. but I'm not a mother so I felt like I was missing a little in the connection here. The pacing was low and it was quite repetitive.

Sara Shepard is a stellar story teller. I do believe that she typically leans more YA which I am total ok with. Her stories are very plot driven, and this one was no exception! Another great read.

This book had me shook to my core. I loved all of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars books so when I saw she had a new book coming out, I had to read it! The interesting “mommune” setting was something so different from everything I have read. The ending blew my mind!

I remember enjoying some of the PLL books years ago so this author was an instant request for me. I don't reach for YA anymore so I was excited to see she's writing for adults and the description was very intriguing. I blew through the first 30% of the book. The social anxiety is something I think we can all relate to now and needing to get away and have a village is what every mom really needs. Many parts of this story that just hit right. The twists were twisty, the desert setting provided the right amount of claustrophobia, children always make a thriller extra nerve-wracking. The book was super promising based on these points. Unfortunately, the villainess they revealed in the end just fell a little flat for me. While trying to come up with the ultimate twist, as Shepard is known to do, she pulls it just a bit too late out of left field. I enjoyed the read and I'm happy to find a book reminiscent of the show that I'm realizing must have induced my love of thrillers. 😊 Obviously I will have to check out her other adult books. Now to fight the urge to re-watch Pretty Little Liars... Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for this ARC!!

I have to admit I was shocked at how young/annoying the main characters read. I read some of her PLL series a hundred years ago (okay, probably closer to...12 years) but I'm shocked at how similar the writing style and narrative feel of her writing is. This just wasn't as creepy or culty as I was expecting/hoping, and what the story actually ended up being fell flat for me. I could have done with more character development, and I wish the story had really focused in and intensified, but instead the plot just wasn't super compelling for me. It was fun revisiting and author I used to devour as a young teen, but her adult work just doesn't seem to be for me.

Lenna is in the fog of new motherhood, with a baby boy who hardly sleeps and seems to cry constantly. She hasn’t heard from her friend Rhiannon in over two years, but when Rhiannon gets in touch out of the blue and asks Lenna to come visit her, Lenna jumps at the chance. Rhiannon lives in a “mommune” – a cooperative group of women and their children living together off the grid. Lenna feels alone and isolated in her regular life; she’s longing for the type of village the community provides to mothers. But the longer she’s there, the more she suspects that the community is more sinister than it seems.

This thriller has so many things that I love: toxic female friendships, new motherhood, and cultish vibes, so it should have been right up my alley. The writing is solid and the characters’ backstories are interesting, but ultimately it just didn’t quite work for me. The way that these grown women fell headfirst into deep friendships and obsessions seemed very immature, and some of their actions just didn’t ring true. Who takes their infant to an isolated compound deep in the desert just because an estranged friend called – and doesn’t even talk it over with her husband? Just leaves a note and sneaks out? Unfortunately, I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to stay immersed in the story.

Even though this book wasn’t for me, I thought it had a great premise and served up some twisty twists in the end, so if you are better at rolling with some implausibility than I was, definitely give it a read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing me an advance copy of this book.

This is my first book by Sara Shepard. I never read or watched Pretty Little Liars so I had no idea of the author's writing style. I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting, a mommune, cult-like experience. I felt that the 3 main characters were quite annoying and very immature for their age. I stuck with it to see what the outcome would be but I don't think I will be picking up anything from the author again.

Something about this fell flat for me. It kept my interest, but I partially called the twist, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for a little more creepy cult that won’t let you leave, but it was enjoyable.

As a teen, I devoured Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game series. So now, as an adult, I'm grateful to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC of Nowhere Like Home.

Shepard writes duplicitous, untrustworthy friends so well. Truly I was stressed the entire time reading this book. I just wanted to shake Leena for letting these women manipulate her so easily!

I enjoyed the three part structure told from different POVs revealing more and more. And even still, I never knew who I could trust. I could so easily see this book as a mini series; the desert setting added an especially unsettling vibe.

I'll be thinking about this one for a while. Thank you again, NetGalley & Dutton!

3.5⭐

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It has a bit of that "stranded" vibe with some cult-ish undertones. The characters weren't entirely likable, but in a way that helped with the overall vibe of the story. Would definitely recommend.

Now, what could go wrong when a socially awkard young woman, Lenna, has a chance meeting with a confident, dynamic and controlling young woman, Rhiannon, who seems to want to take her under her wing. Add to the mix another socially awkward young woman who blogs about it, Gillian, who wants so bad to be friends with both of them. However, Rhiannon wants nothing to do with Gillian and does not want Lenna to be friends with her either. This story takes so many different twists and turns, but I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC of this very unputdownable book that kept me up late at night.

Nowhere Like Home had an interesting premise with a lot of potential that ultimately fell short. I enjoyed the exploration of the "community" setting, while toeing the line of is-it-or-isn't-it a cult, especially with the added intricacies of female friendship. However, the ending felt a bit random, especially for how long the book was. I wish there could've been a bit of foreshadowing, or even more character development for Coral, to keep the story a bit more grounded. I love a plot twist, but this one did not achieve the intended effect.

Nowhere Like Home, by Sara Shephard, is a riveting account of the interwoven lives of four women, three of whom find themselves thrown into an intentional women's community. Because the story is told from multiple perspectives, the book leads you to believe you know how the story is going to end, but twists and turns surprise until the very end. At first, I enjoyed reading about these women and the lives they were leading (particularly the characters overwhelmed by being mothers), but the suspenseful nature of the book kept me up and reading well into the night. Although I don't typically read thrillers, this is a great book for fans of women's fiction and/or suspense.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC; all opinions are my own.

This one wasn't really for me, but I'm still very thankful to Dutton Books Sara Shepard, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital access before publication day.