2.5 stars

New mom Lenna has recently reconnected with her old friend Rhiannon, who is now living in an off the grid commune in remote Arizona. Lenna decides to join Rhiannon for a trip to the commune. Once she arrives, her past with Rhiannon, socially awkward Gillian, and others emerges it’s ugly head.

I thought this book was rather slow. I was waiting for things to happen, and nothing really happened until the end. There is a pretty big twist. Prior to that, though, it was pretty predictable.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton, Sara Shepard, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel

Thank you to netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton for allowing me to read Nowhere Like Home
by Sara Shepard. Shepard is one the best when it comes to writing thrillers and this one didn't disappoint.

I really loved this one and didn’t figure out the twists until the very end! Such a great setting at a commune out west. Every has secrets and no one is telling. Great storytelling. The ending felt a bit rushed to me but other than that I thought it was fantastic!

I was so excited to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Dutton. The concept was something that really interested me as I'm always saying that I want to buy a huge plot of land and make my own little commune.

I’m going to start with the negatives. There wasn’t much focus on the ”mommune”, which was the reason I was so excited for the book. Also, the twist, while unexpected, was not as jaw dropping as I have grown accustomed to.

Positives: it definitely held my interest, and I loved the way the author wove together the past and the present, as well as multiple character POV’s.

All in all I really enjoyed this book, and now I want to read more by this author!

This is my first return to Sara Shepard since Pretty Little Liars and I loved it. The toxic female relationships, the lies and secrets. I was hooked from the start and it flowed easily with alternating povs between past and present. It was a game trying to figure out who I could trust. I highly rec adding it to your tbr!

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I finished it and the ending does help, but this wasn’t for me.

Interesting premise focusing on women that have joined a cult-like farm. Is it their saving grace or worst nightmare?

First off, thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review! For fans of Big Little Lies and of course, Pretty Little Liars, this is for you!!

Nowhere like home had me HOOKED!! Definitely not a lot of downtime while reading this book, so naturally I finished in a day. There were so many mysteries, you never know which character you can trust. The setting is unique and the non-linear story line worked strongly in the plot’s favor.

While this is definitely a thriller, it’s also a story about women, motherhood, and the extremes people will take to find security. 4.5/5 stars!

New mom Lenna receives a call from her estranged ex-best friend Rhiannon, inviting her to a “womans only” commune hidden in the Nevada desert. Lenna, still puzzled over her breakup with her friend, accepts the invitation, hoping for a fresh start. But when she arrives, she starts getting strange vibes from the other women at the commune, and when a familiar face arrives, Lena’s terrified that long buried secrets will come to light. Nowhere Like Home has a soap-opera feel to it, not surprising considering the author, but the story flows nicely with enough suspense to keep you engaged, despite some of the heavy doses of drama and Lena’s constant angst. A few interesting twists and surprises fuel the plot and make this a recommended read. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This Arizona desert mystery definitely requires some thinking! The plot was twisty and sometimes a bit far-fetched but aren’t the best thrillers sometimes a little wacky? I found this novel enjoyable and I think it will be a hit spring/summer book for thriller folks.

Intriguing and suspenseful! Lenna travels with her fussy baby to the middle of the Arizona desert in search of an escape retreat with a women’s community She is drawn to this commune by an old friend, Rhiannon, and Lenna is anxious to patch up and rekindle their friendship. But Lenna will soon learn that not is all as it appears and her “mom break” becomes quite sinister when someone is murdered and everyone seems to be lying. Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Group Dutton and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on February 20, 2024

The author of Pretty Little Liars brings us her next adult book. Lenna get a call from a childhood friend who had disappeared years ago, inviting her to come live with her and a group of women in their community. As she approaches the community, she wonders who they are and why she was invited? Next comes the rules she must follow to stay and another new community member. Is Lenna and her child in danger?

Not at all what I expected, Nowhere Like Home focused much more on “home” than the creepy mom-commune in the Tucson desert. Focusing on complicated friendships, motherhood, and family dynamics, this was a fun twisty read. I did feel like the commune setting was underutilized and (spoiler-ish) didn’t factor into the story as much as it could have. Ultimately it had very little to do with the story at all! But it was a unique and engaging setting, so points for that. Overall this was a fun read, would certainly recommend to others. 3.5 stars.

2.5 stars. This thriller focuses on the complicated relationship between two women, as they are brought back together to reconcile at a women’s only commune in rural Arizona.

Short chapters, multiple POVs, and different timelines make this a quick and engaging read, but ultimately the plot got too convoluted and hard to follow. I’m not even sure if some plot points were genuine twists because it was challenging to keep track of so many characters. There were some interesting ideas in here about motherhood, adult friendships, and social media but they got lost in a book trying to do too much.

Many thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for sending the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you enjoy a cult/commune story, this book will be for you. I was very excited to read from this author, but the story missed the mark for me. I never felt attached a character and a bit of the story seemed too unbelievable, which made me feel disconnected. Maybe if I was a mom, I would have felt more connected to the characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. It was just an okay thriller. 3.5 stars

I've never read anything by this author, but I've heard good things about her. However, this one missed the mark for me. Many plot points were confusing or too far-fetched and left me shaking my head. The ending seemed rushed, and I never really connected with or cared for any of the characters.

Ugh I am just so disappointed with this book. Growing up, I was a diehard Sara Shepard fan and devoured every PLL book out there. I had such high expectations for this one, but it fell so flat. Nothing about this story was believable, though some parts kept me somewhat interested. Not for me.

As a full-blown teenage PLL fanatic, I was stoked to see Shepard release adult fiction.

In classic fashion, the novel takes place in a paradisiacal area where everything looks lovely on the surface, but something sinister lurks beneath the idyllic exterior. Fast-paced, twisty, and thrilling, it had all the makings of a Shepard title.

The story lost me in the end - it was a little too far-fetched, too confusing, too "red string on a corkboard". I couldn't follow who was related to who, and how, and when everyone met. It was a fun, fast read but I couldn't bring myself to cheer for anyone.

Nowhere Like Home is supposed to be a fast-paced thriller that focuses on lies, secrets, friendships and a commune. Theoretically, we get most of that, but I feel like it was less of a fast-paced thriller and more of a slow burn that ended with a bang. Lenna, Rhiannon, Gillian and Sadie are some of our main characters that tell us this twisted tale. The multiple POV was perfectly timed and made me have to keep turning the page to get to the next plot twist, and there were plenty. I thought I had it figured out after about half way through, but I was pretty off (which I love being wrong in this case). Each POV added a new question to the mix and it just worked well. I think Sara Shepard did a great job of painting our narrators to be pretty unreliable at times which made you really question who you (and our MCs) could trust. Overall, I enjoyed this one and think that it was well-written and put together nicely. Rated 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton, Dutton Publishing and Sara Shepard for the eARC of Nowhere Like Home in exchange for an honest review. Publication date for Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard is 20 February 2024.

I did not really enjoy this book the summary sounded great but as i read i didn't get attached to any of the characters . i also did not enjoy the ending i felt like it was rushed, there were some interesting things that happened but over all i didn't get attached to any characters .