I have to start by saying this book had HUGE shoes to fill because Pretty Little Liars was my entire personality for years! IYKYK! I can honestly say this is the adult equivalent of the first PLL book for me. It was well rounded in its offering in trauma evaluation, testing the bounds of friendship, drama, and some wicked twists! There is such an intriguing blend of characters in this book, all uniquely messed up in their own way and trying their best to survive. I definitely recommend to those who enjoy a suspenseful read!

TWs: loss of a loved one, dr*g ab*se, ab*se, abandonment, c*lt behavior, @ssault, bl*ckmail, st*lking, more

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ - 4.5/5

If you’re looking for a culty commune mystery suspense, this book is for you!!!

I do have to say that this read a bit younger for an adult book but it was a fun ride nonetheless 💕

3.25⭐️

⭐️NOWHERE LIKE HOME, out NOW!⭐️

Special thanks to @duttonbooks for the review copy in exchange for my honest review

This was my first book I’ve read by this author. While I do like the writing style, I felt that this story was a very slow burn with not enough action to keep me interested. It took me awhile to get through this one, but all in all I would recommend to others due to strong character development and enough suspense to make the reader need to finish it to know how everything turns out.

This was not the first book I've read by this author, but I think it's the highest one for me.

I like the dynamic and power play of this book. That's what drew me to it, and I wasn't disappointed. An obsessed friend? I live for that trope in thrillers. Live for it. Especially when they disappear.

Was I blown by the twist? Meh, not really, but was it way better than some of my other reads this month? Yes. It really was!

So, all in all, solid 4.2.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement! I definitely did not see that ending coming. I loved how the author jumped from past and present every other chapter because it helped me understand exactly what was going on. I really didn’t like Rhiannon’s character, but I felt for Lenna. Gillian was just the worst. i wanted to feel some sympathy toward her, but she was unlikable from the very beginning. The setting of the book was interesting as well. It was cool to read about a community of women who are totally reliant on one another for their survival. Overall, it was a thrilling and different story!

I really enjoyed this story. First of all, the cover is absolutely stunning. That is what grab my immediate attention. I loved the multiple viewpoints. There was also JUST enough cult life for my liking!

This book started out so well, and I was intrigued by the premise. But the longer everything went on, the less I could take it seriously. By the time Lenna and Sarah/Sadie are in full cahoots, the story becomes almost incredulous. The novel promised one premise but then meandered away from that and went into a completely different direction that didn't really make sense. Worse, when I got to the conflict, I was completely underwhelmed. I felt like I'd spent a lot of time for very little payoff.

Others may like this one, but it's definitely not for me. There are other books out there that are much better when it comes to cults/communes.

Three women end up on a mom-centered commune, but they're surprised know each other from their past. Is it a coincidence, or does someone know their secret? This was an uneven story. Some of it felt like a slog, then some of it was a page turner. It was hard to finish.

I love Sara Shepard. The PLL series was amazing for me. But this one just fell very flat for some reason. I think it started off really good, but lost itself somewhere along the way. It was very nicely paced, but I couldn't seem to really want to root for Lenna. She wasn't my favorite MC and so I think I disconnected from the story a bit.

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.”

Thanks Netgalley and Dutton Books for the eARC!

So I didn’t realize when I requested this one - the cover caught my eye and the premise was intriguing - is that this is the author of Pretty Little Liars! Not gonna lie, learning that made me cringe. I never read the books, did watch some of the show before it got way too out of hand but never liked it, so I was wary starting this one but it is far less problematic in content. It does have strong themes of motherhood, toxic and controlling friendships, anxiety issues and mental health. You’ll find unreliable and unlikeable characters, eerie foreboding, a nonlinear timeline with multiple POVs, psychological suspense, twisty plots and revelations. Content and trigger warnings do include manipulative/controlling relationships, mentions of a rape and murder, some profanity, drugging, and mental health struggles.

All in all, it was a decent thriller and I didn’t predict the outcome. 3.5 out of 5.

I had a good time and that's all that really matters. Sometimes we just need a quick thriller to make us cozy. This one is perfect!

I love a good thriller and was very excited for this one! I got very into the first 2/3 of it - but the rest fell a bit flat for me. The ending felt quite convoluted. In an attempt to really shock the readers with a big reveal, it felt a bit undercooked to me.

It was enjoyable enough but I wanted to like it more.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the advanced copy of Nowhere Like Home, this book released on 2/20. This was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read for me, it was good but not great. My main flaw was that I really couldn’t connect with the main character Lenna. She felt a little flat to me, this was also lacking in cult details. I was expecting a full blown thriller escaping a cult but it just lacked a lot of what I wanted. However I really enjoyed this one, I loved unraveling the mystery but just found myself wanting more! I also just realized that this author wrote pretty little liars and mostly YA so maybe that is why it felt a little lacking in detail!
*

🔲NOWHERE LIKE HOME by Sara Shepard was a fast-paced friendship suspense that had me guessing!

The book starts out with Lenna and her baby heading out to an intentional living community of all women, or a "mommune." As the story unfolds, we meet Rhiannon, the friend Lenna followed out here and their spicy history shown in chapters from two years ago. There is clearly more going on in this sketchy group, but Lenna isn't sure who to trust and it all comes barreling at her one fateful night.

I had a difficult time with Lenna. There was a weird dependency about her that made me as uncomfortable as the other characters by whom we are supposed to feel unnerved. I was glad that this changed by the end, but it took a bit.

I did enjoy the tension and suspense that built throughout and maintained even in the end. It was a bit far-fetched, but by the time I felt this, I was being entertained enough that it didn't bother me a bit! It felt like the dramatic ending was fitting and would make for great television.

I would recommend this story to those looking for a quick, friendship centered suspense/thriller. Thank you to @netgalley & @duttonbooks for this entertaining read that was published February 20th, so it is out now!

I picked this book up for two reasons: the premise sounded interesting and I'm drawn to books with cult-like communities, and Sara Shepard. I loved Pretty Little Liars -- both books and TV show. This started out promising with the three women characters all displaying a little unreliability. I wanted to see where it was going to go. The middle of the novel dragged for me quite a bit. I knew more was going to happen, it just didn't happen fast enough for me. Once the action started, it rolled on like a snowball down a hill -- gathering speed until the crash ending. What an ending it was. I gave it less stars because the middle made me want to give up. I'm glad I didn't though.

Nowhere Like Home is a twisty drama/crime novel that is an entertaining read. There is an intriguing cult premise that fell a little bit flat for me, but the attention to detail and the twists are what kept me reading. There are multiple points of view from multiple somewhat unreliable narrators. While the timeline, attention to detail and some of the twists kept my attention, the conversations and the characters left me wanting more and I felt quite disconnected from the story at times which caused the story to drag a bit.
Overalll an entertaining read. Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

With an intriguing plot and written in multiple views, Shepard’s newest book will have you guessing until the end. Toxic friendships abound and everyone has a secret. Everything comes to a head at a “mommune” in the desert. With rigid rules and no outside communication what could possibly go wrong🤷‍♀️While the narrative seems young at times, this book took us on a journey of unexpected twists and turns and keeps the reader hooked until the very last page. Thank you to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I wasn’t a fan of this one. I found it to be a bit juvenile and a little boring.

I am so disappointed in this because I had high hopes.

I do not recommend.

I don't think I really expected what this book would be. Lenna, struggling as a new mother, gets a message from her old friend Rhiannon. Rhiannon wants her to visit her at the commune where she's lived since being let go from her job at a gossip magazine. Lenna catches a last minute flight to Arizona to the woman only commune located out in the middle of the desert. Run by a seemingly beatific matriarch, Lenna soon finds cracks in the idyllic veneer and wants to leave. But she finds herself blocked at every turn.

This book was twisty and turny, and quite the departure from most of Shepard's books, which deal with the privileged and bitchy. There were some parts that didn't make a lot of sense, as the time between the present time and the time jumps into the past is less than 2 years. The gap in time feels much further, so every time 2 years is mentioned, it's jarring. There needed to be a lot longer time period between the past and the present, because 2 years is a fight, not an estrangement. It feels like it's been years since Rhiannon and Lenna last spoke, not 18 months. I have friends that I go longer without talking to!
But I did relate quite a bit to Lenna, who is struggling with a colicky baby and a husband that means well but really only makes things worse. Lenna's husband seems reticent to help out with the baby, almost afraid of him, while Lenna feels like she's drowning in a sea of sleepless nights. I think at some point most of us wish we could just...run away and never come back when our kids are babies that never stop needing us. Lenna...actually does.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, more than I expected when I figured out it was some sort of weird cult like thing going on. Those books can be really really good, or really really bad. Thankfully this was a good one!