Member Reviews

A bit of an unusual setting/story on a commune, with flash backs to two years prior throughout the novel. Sometimes these flashbacks transition back to present day, without an obvious change which led to a few confusing moments. Unreliable narrator which I always find intriguing.
There were several twists I didn’t see coming - especially towards the end of the novel.
Overall, good writing, intriguing story and setting, with a good build up of drama/tension.

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**A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Sara Shepard for the opportunity to review an ARC of this book**

I was not a huge fan of this.
The women's commune that Lenna is invited to by her reappearing friend Rhiannon felt very cult-like and I am usually not one for the cult trope.

Also, for women suffering with mental health issues and marriages and children and motherhood, they act like children. They fight like middleschoolers and talk like preteens.

I expected more developed characters

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Great story with fascinating characters. I love a book that keeps me guessing with complex characters.

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Many thanks for this ARC, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton. This book was a completely different concept than anything else I have ever read. I thought it was an incredibly interesting concept. I did notice that this book was a bit hard for me to follow, and I did a lot of flipping back and forth in my book. I found majority of the characters to be unlikeable, but I think that this was to be expected. I loved how this book ended, though.

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Overall, this book was enticing and had a really good story. I liked the dual timelines and POV, but I did find that the book dragged in some parts, too much left hanging in a row before a big reveal. I also did not like how open the ending was.

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4.5 ⭐️

“Because out in the desert, friend, no one can hear you scream.”

Lenna, a new mom harboring dark secrets from her past, reconnects with an old friend, Rhiannon, in hopes of getting closure on their friendship ending - and, some much needed support. Lenna feels isolated and frustrated with her husband’s lack of engagement (with both her and the baby). So, she takes Rhiannon up on her offer to tour her commune in the dessert under the pretense that she’ll get all the rest and support she needs.

“Takes a village, right? There’s no reason for mothers to be so isolated.”: A compelling offer that’s hard to refuse. But, this reconnection opens up old wounds, uncovers secrets, and makes Lenna doubt all of her decisions. Was coming here the right choice? Did she put herself and her baby in danger? Do they know what she did? Can she trust Rhiannon - can she trust ANYONE?

Immediately hooked. This book was creepy and weird, I didn’t know who to trust until the end. Some parts of the plot/back story felt a little extra but I get why the backstory was important. Overall, I loved this book!

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The story of G and L and S and R - or as they're known, Gillian, Jenna, Sarah/Sadie and Rhiannon. 4 girls who are intertwined by a few secrets, and a women's commune in the desert. I admit I wasn't sure of the direction the story was going in the beginning, but it made a lot more sense once the view of the story was told by someone else half way through. It touches on the hardships of women, IVF, etc yet also on friendship that can grow and come from nowhere. This was a great quick read by Sara Shepard.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I was originally drawn to this book because I have read quite a few of Sara Shepard's books in the past, and throughly enjoyed them. This one was no different. The story itself was so interesting to begin with! I really enjoyed the plot and the main characters Rhiannon and Lenna. Their dynamic was very captivating, and I was eager to learn more about them. Just like every Sara Shepard book, this is loaded with plot twists that you literally will not see coming! I was shocked at some of them!! The epilogue was also intriguing to me, because Lenna goes through a huge character arc that I was not expecting!

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At times well-paced, but at other times slow, this cult-based book was intriguing in concept but lacked in delivery. Wasn’t my preference but may have been good for readers who like bizarre situations.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the opportunity to read this ARC.

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3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Great premise and setting. I loved reading about a cult for women in the desert. The female friendships that turned toxic was another interesting point. Great plot twists that kept me interested.
I just found it difficult to relate to the characters and wanted a bit more background/development on them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This is the first book I’ve read by this author. The premise was really good, but I wanted a lot more out of the whole setting. I liked the toxic, female friendships, but I feel like I could’ve gotten a lot more out of the story. I feel like the development of this book was lacking a bit and that, it lacked the depth that I wanted out of it.

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Suspense/thriller with cult vibes and moms. I really wasn't sure where this one was going when I started it and that definitely keep me interest and made me want to continue to read. Some of it I for sure had to suspend disbelief but all in all I thought this was a pretty good thriller and would recommend. Rated it 3.5 rounded up to 4 I liked the idea of the setting in the desert and the cult/commune vibes though I didn't really connect to the characters and had a hard time always understanding their motivations. Worth the read though and would read more from Sara Shepard. I want to thank NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

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3.5 stars rounded up. I live in the desert of Arizona and not many books I read are set here. For that reason I was really looking forward to reading Nowhere Like Home. However, there are many inaccuracies which I tried not to let bother me as it is fiction after all. I am more of a plausible person and while the ending did have a great twist, a lot of it just wasn't plausible to me when you know the desert and what it entails. Perhaps for someone who doesn't live here it will be more enjoyable. If one is not as informed the story could be more believable because certain things are quite exaggerated. With that being said, I did enjoy the intriguing cult premise. The multi-perspective narrative kept a good pace. The twists were well executed. It took me a bit to get into the storyline, but when I did I have found myself thinking about this book for days after.

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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DNF at 42%

As much as I loved Sara Shepard's YA series, this adult thriller did nothing for me. Although I was intrigued by the premise and even more so by the author's name attached to the book, the cult-ish premise and the odd choice of pacing deeply off-put me. The book got repetitive at times, and I couldn't become attached to any of the characters.

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This is a soapy, domestic thriller with cult vibes. It felt like Shepard was trying to do Pretty Little Liars, but with moms. I think it worked for the first half, but the ending lost me a bit. Overall, enjoyable!

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I spent too many a night to admit glued to Pretty Little Liars (long past when I should have been in the show's target demographic), so I'm always excited to see a new Sara Shepard novel come out for adults. I enjoyed this, but like other reviewers, I think it delivered less on the cult side of things and spent more time exploring toxic friendships between women outside the compound. It was a good read but didn't give me what I was looking for when I picked it up based on the novel's description.

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I'm a big fan of cultish stories- how one becomes part of a community that blindly follows a leader without questioning the red flags around them. How lost does one need to be to leave their whole life behind and start fresh with promises of finding new purpose.

Nowhere Like Home finds a group of broken, damaged, and lost women looking to start new, to leave their secrets behind and start over with people that don't know what has brought them there.
Rhionnan, after abruptly leaves her job and life in NYC without any notice, leaving her best friend Alex to wonder if she is to blame, resurfaces 2 years later recruiting Alex to Halcyon where matriarch Marjorie has created a community of women who only rely on each other in their desert Oasis.
Alex is still reeling 2 ;years after a tragic event, a secret she's been keeping all this time, even from her husband. When Rhionnan comes back and asks her to give Halcyon a try, she figures she has nothing to lose.
However, once at Halcyon, Alex realizes she can, indeed, lose everything.
A story rife with complicated, messy, imperfect women with imperfect lives. There are secrets and betrayals. There are missed signs and ignored red flags. The setting- 5 miles in the desert with only one way out through a locked fence where you need a closely guarded code to open- provides tension on how there is any possibility of escape.
The ending moved into more of an unrealistic scenario. I feel the final reveal could have been just as explosive without an actual explosion (that is not really a spoiler.) However, the overall pace and tension of the story kept me flipping the pages late into the night!

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If you love books with cult vibes and messy female friendships, this is for you. I really enjoyed this and reveled in how f***ing messy these women are.

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Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

This book was bananas. I had to keep reading to see how things were sorted out…but I cannot get over how legit bonkers it was.

I like the plot idea of a cult/commune where it seems everyone has a secret but this novel was a wild ride.

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Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

I am not quite sure what I thought of this one. This was the first one I’ve read by Sara Shepherd who is quite the writer! This story made me think about people and how you never really know what is going through their minds, causing them to behave the way they do.

The friendship between Lenna and Rhiannon and then Lenna and Gillian is a toxic one from the get go but when Rhiannon disappears, Lenna is beside herself but opens up to Gillian. Then Rhiannon reappears in Lenna’s life asking her to come to a commune where she has been living.

There is a lot of manipulation and lies between these “friends” which made you feel bad for them but wonder why neither one of them could step away from their toxic friendship.

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