Nowhere Like Home is a fast paced, thriller that centers around a cult-like commune and long-lost friendship. The novel focuses on three main women; Leana, Rhiannon and Sarah. We do get the viewpoint of a fourth woman, Gillian, through her Instagram posts, which was an interesting way to get her POV. Switching between the POV of each woman really helped reveal a new layer of the mystery. I never knew who quite to trust throughout the book, which only made me want to stay up late to finish! I thought I knew how it was going to end, but I was wrong. Overall, I enjoyed Nowhere Like Home.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nowhere Like Home was a big win for me. First, it's a cult/commune story with lots of suspense. Secondly, motherhood themes added a layer of emotion to this book. It also raised the stakes. And third, the twists are well-done.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a nail-biting thriller. Thanks for the advance review copy.

Twisty, mysterious, and thrilling! I stayed away from the mixed reviews on this one, and I´m so glad I did. Sara Shepard, known for ¨Pretty Little Liars¨, hits hard with this one, particularly for those of us who are in the momming hard phase. They call it the ¨mommunity¨ on this cultish/ commune where they live; mothers, children, animals, and all sorts of anxieties to fuel their personalities. After leaving her husband, Lenna takes her young son to this place. Now after witnessing the rules, which get increasingly insane, all she wants to do is leave—lots of lies, twists, and an ending I did not see coming. Read if you like cults, secrets, female friendship dynamics, and women-driven POVs.

This is the first novel by Sara Shepard I have read, but it definitely won’t be the last! I loved it. The characters were all interesting and flawed. I’m usually able to guess fairly accurately how things will turn out, but I was so wrong on this one. The twists and ending really surprised me. It was a super enjoyable read!

I have always love Pretty Little Liars and couldn’t wait to read this book by Sara Shepard. This book is twisty and suspenseful but not quite what I thought it would be. The small twists were pretty obvious for someone who reads twisty thrillers on a regular basis and the characters were a little young for me to relate to. It felt more YA Mystery than Adult Mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!!
This was the first book I’ve read from Sara Shepard and I loved it! This kept a face pace, little bits and pieces were revealed along the way that kept me reading and reading to find out more! The storyline of a commune of females only that all had a messed up past and no one knew what that was of each other was a great base!! This kept me interested from start to finish!! Loved it!

**3.5 stars**

I was super super excited for this novel because I love both The Lying Game and the Pretty Little Liars books by this author and was curious to try out an adult mystery by her! This story primarily follows Lenna in two different timelines, one in the present day that opens with her arriving at an eerie “mommune” and the other that begins a couple of years prior, with the start of a new friendship. I personally love the majority of dual-timeline books I read and this one was no exception! I believe both the setting and the format the novel was told in were fantastic and worked really well.

There were times when I had issues with the pacing and the timeline though. Maybe this book just needs one more round of editing because there were a few little things out of place and that element kind of took me out of the story at times. I also was able to easily predict all of the “small” twists leading up to the big one. This, for me, is simply a sign that the author is successfully leading the reader to a conclusion through the clues though, so I am not bothered by this element. It never felt too incredibly obvious or boring, and that final twist was not what I expected, even being able to predict the others.

I believe that many casual mystery readers or fans of Shepard’s other works would enjoy this one! It may not be for you if you need everything to be super shocking and out-of-nowhere crazy, but if you love a suspenseful mystery that builds over time with a twist of an ending… than I certainly recommend Nowhere Like Home!

"Nowhere Like Home" by Sara Shepard is a captivating exploration of small-town secrets, family dynamics, and the quest for redemption. Shepard, known for her gripping storytelling, crafts a compelling narrative as her characters return to their hometown, where buried truths resurface. The plot weaves together mystery, romance, and intricate relationships, keeping readers hooked with its twists and turns. Shepard's skillful character development adds depth to the story, making the struggles and triumphs of the protagonists relatable. "Nowhere Like Home" is a page-turner that combines suspense and emotional resonance, showcasing Shepard's prowess in creating engaging tales of intrigue and self-discovery.

This was my first read from the author and it…did not make me want to read any others from her. The entire cast of characters was very unlikable, I truly struggled to get through the book. Everyone was behaving like bad teenagers and it really did not cast a good light on these women. Wouldn’t recommend.

Thanks to the publisher for a gifted ARC

This was my first read by the author and I was instantly hooked! What started out as a super close, almost soul mate friendship turned into a journey of self discovery and personal growth with a nice revenge mystery and dash of murder thrown in. Lenna, in the midst of a bit of a life crisis gets a random call from a friend whom she thought long abandoned her after she betrayed her and their friendship. Rhiannon was the perfect friend, until all of a sudden she left on a mysterious trip, lenna thought she had abandoned her so she decided to get a little revenge with the encouragement of a new so called friend. Lenna figures out too late this new friend isn't quite who she seems. After a brutal confrontation, lenna thinks she has done something unthinkable. After trying for quite sometime to put her past behind her, rhiannon pops back into her life with an inviting offer to get away to a secluded but supportive group of women. But the minute lenna arrives, she knows something is off. By a few days end, she could never imagine how wrong she has been about her past, her friendships and even a secret she's been keeping from everyone. I never saw that ending coming even as I was reading it! And I absolutely loved how in the end lenna and rhiannon did clear the air about their friendship, but lenna had grown enough to know she needed to move on from this friendship and from her first love. This was one of the best thriller/mystery I've read in a while and can't wait to read more by Sara shepard

The author of Pretty Little Liars, yes please! Took me back to my teen years of reading. I actually did like this book, it was pretty good!

Nowhere Like Home
by Sara Shepard
Pub Date: Feb.20, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
Nowhere Like Home tackles themes of complicated friendships and trauma but all with Sara Shepard’s expert This was a slow start for me and unfortunately, I never got into the book. I think it would work better for her target audience though. I felt the writing could have been improved and the ending was whack.
3 stars

I’ve been in the cult chokehold here lately between twin flames and mother god. So this book got in perfectly.

This book is about a woman (Lenna) who has had a falling out with her good friend. So when she gets an out of the blue call from said friend she's thrilled. She’s been having a really hard time with her new baby so her friend asks her to come visit.

Her friend lives on a compound in the middle of the dessert and says the fresh air shoukd help her and her baby. So Lenna decides to make the trip, but she’s barely arrived anf things are already going awry.

Who can she trust when lies are on everyone’s lips.


I loved pll growing up and Shepard is still going strong with the toxic characters. She’s also still great at the carrot bit, giving us just enough to keep us reaching for the next chapter.

This book was so good and I loved it because I loved the pretty little liars series and it reminds me of that. It was so fun to read.

As someone who loved the PLL series, I was excited to read Sara Shepard's newest "adult novel" Nowhere Like Home. Overall, I loved the plot and the setting. Sara Shepard did an excellent job of fully developing the characters -- it truly hooked me until the very end. A great way to cap out my 2023 ARCs!

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was good, so so good …it sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. There was some less descriptive writing and dialogue that would be fitting of a YA novel, but I was able to look past that. This was on its way to 4.5 stars (lost points for the writing)…. But the ending, oh the ending.
While creative…the execution lost me.
Then there was the never ending epilogue of verbal information that was not imperative whatsoever.

All in all, I enjoyed this book despite what I believe to need improvement.

This one was a bit all over the place. Don’t get me wrong - it kept my attention - but the resolution as well as the chronology were a bit whack. The crazy reveal at the end felt very much in line with how absurd the reveal was at the end of the PLL liars book series; like yeah sure I guess that makes sense but cmon. If you like crazy explanations and stories of misplaced female friendship, this books for you!

Started a bit slow and confusing but when I figured out who each character was and how they related to one another, I was very into it. The concept is different from other thrillers, which I enjoyed. The whole communal life situation. Very much potential for thrills.

How desperate would you be to keep or gain a new friend? That is all that Lenna, Rhiannon, Sadie, and Gillian think about as their lives intertwine and revolve around each other. This book made me think of the Peter Gabriel song, 'Games without Frontiers'--"Rhiannon plays with Lenna, Lenna plays with Gillian, Gillian plays with Sadie, and Sadie is happy again."
Sadie and Lenna are lured to a 'women's only' commune in the desert of Arizona for new and existing mothers who just want to get away. Because, lets face it, who doesn't at that stage of your life. Believing this will be a new way to bond with their children, and share in the child rearing duties with other exhausted like-minded mothers it turns out to be just that at first. Then they find out they have something in common about their past, a past they want to keep hidden. But whoever brought them here knows what really happened and they must be punished.
So many of these characters were unlikeable and made really bad decisions when put in these circumstances. However, I went along with it as the author is very good at increasing the level of suspense as each new twist is revealed, more shocking than the last, and some not so believable. This does read like a young adult book, which some of her earlier books are. The women in the this book are in their 20s I would guess but act as if they are trying to win over the popular girl in high school. Most women that age would not go to the extent that some of these girls do, just to be back in touch with their alleged best friend. So many red flags go unseen that when the final pronouncement came, I thought 'well what did you think would happen ladies!!!'. Still a good thriller with several surprises so kept me entertained throughout.

I couldn't get into this story. I think the target audience could like it though! I was thrown off by the main character almost having my name and one of my good friend's name. The story didn't grab me. I know the author is popular for teen stories, so I wanted to give it a try. It wasn't working for me, unfortunately.