I really enjoyed this book. Read it in 2 days. I thought it was a different plot and I enjoyed the story line and characters. It pulled me in and I just wanted to keep reading.

3.25 stars

This new novel NOWHERE LIKE HOME by Sara Shepard is categorized as a thriller, but it comes across as overly long and not suspenseful - at least to me. I know Shepard wrote the young adult PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, and I've read at least one or two in that series. It did get a TV adaptation that I didn't watch, but I seem to recall that involved zany, soap opera-like plotlines.

Anyway, back to this one. The characters in this are fairly young (early 20s), so I'd say this is more of a new adult novel. The dialogue and plot lines might be tedious for people in their 40s or older. That's a likely holdover from Shepard's YA specialty.

What I did appreciate in this novel was that, while the characters were young, men didn't feature in the vast majority of the book. Women were bickering, but not really about men. This passes the Bechdel test! That part was refreshing. It did introduce a "mommune" (commune of moms), which was an interesting concept. However, it didn't delve enough in it to be immersed or fully capture what it's like to live in this mommune. I think the novel had some interesting things to say about friendship, but that didn't come into play until very late in the book.

The plot mainly focuses on the quasi-friendship among four women two years ago and today. Lenna is the main character, and she met Rhiannon at work. Lenna also met Gillian, who works in the same office building and struggles with social anxiety. Gillian basically is living at Sadie's house. I could never understand why Sadie, a doctor, is letting Gillian live with her when she doesn't seem to like her very much. Gillian gives out some creepy, manipulative vibes for sure under the anxiety facade. It was interesting to see her social media posts, which is how she wants others to see her.

As I said above, this novel is drawn out and I thought leaned more into tedious territory than a page turning thriller. There was a final action scene that did have that "grand finale" feel, but other than that the book plodded along at a slower pace than you'd expect for a thriller. There were some redeeming features, but I'm not sure it's going to hit its target thriller audience like the author and publisher might think.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lenna and Rhiannon have a history, and some parts aren’t worth reminiscing about. They also had a common friend, Gillian, who fell to her death while hiking. They’ve been estranged from one another for years, when suddenly Lenna gets a call from Rhiannon asking to meet.
The end result: Leena takes her baby, who is colicky, ignoring that she's showing all the symptoms of postpartum depression, and travels across the country to visit a new age home for mothers.
Getting the reader to this point in the book is a little slow and scattered, but once Leena gets to the compound, the tense reading speed shifts to high gear.It’s clear that something isn’t quite right with the group home. It’s isolated, fenced-in, no phones allowed and absolutely no visitors. Leena quickly begins efforts to return home, but undoing what she’s agreed to isn’t so simple.
As the various residents display odd and unusual behavior, the tension grows to a fever pitch.
I enjoyed the character building, the atmosphere in a roasting desert, and the twisty ending. Ms. Shepard never fails to entertain with her tales of scheming, sneaky young women.
Thanks so much to Penguin Group- Dutton for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date is February 20, 2024.

This was just okay. The writing was good and easy to read. There were some good twists, but I felt like I knew where the story was going the entire time. Although I was half right, the shocking twist didn't really shock me that much. I love Shepards writing, so I will continue reading her future books. This one just didn't do it for me.

Thanks netgalley for this title. This book was a quick read for me which I love. I love reading about female friendships and how powerful they can be. It can be more meaningful than romantic relationships and stay with you forever. But friends can also damage you and make it hard to trust anyone. This book had both of those. The ending was a little odd when you find out who’s behind everything. They are overly protective of someone they don’t even know. It wasn’t how I imagined book to end.

Give me a cult or commune thriller and I'm immediately in. Lenna has had a lot of struggles with friendship. When her old friend, Rhiannon reaches out to her with life news, Lenna feels obligated to see for herself. A commune for women and children only, no men. What could possibly go wrong. When Lenna finds out she shares a connection to another member though, things take a turn for the worse. Is it a set up or could her worst fear come back to life?

This was a solid read. The setting was great, the main characters had flaws that made you feel for them. There were quite a few names in the story though, most of the women at the commune. Sara writes a quick book, grabs your attention and keeps you hooked. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

I loved this book! As someone who reads only thrillers the majority of the time, I couldn’t predict the ending of this book which I appreciate. I love a story with different view points and this was written perfectly to give you a good understanding of each perspective. Also I loved that this book focused more on female characters. I feel like in so many books a romantic love interest ends up being a huge story line no matter what the book is actually about. It was refreshing to read a book that mostly focused on female friendships and the relationship dynamics. This has me planning to revisit the PLL series (I think I’d still enjoy it as an adult!) and check out other titles by this author.

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.

**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

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.