As always, Kimberly McCreight crafts wonderful prose and a well-paced story. The plot itself was a bit over-complicated and muddy at times, and the ending fell a bit flat for me.

This book was an okay read, but it just tried to be too much all at once. Too many plot lines in a single story.

Recommend: No

One of the best books I’ve ever read. It had all the elements of a great read. I was shocked, humored, upset, and melancholy, all at the same time!! I will definitely read more of the author’s books!!!

Five stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I loved the dual perspective with the daughter and mother — right off the bat. I feel like it added a layer of depth quickly and effortlessly. The two different timelines allowed you to relate back and forth between the two, but it fell flat for me with how predictable it was.

The writing was great. This authors ability is great — this book just was not it for me and I will need to seek out their other works.

I could not for thr life of me get into this one. I picked it up and put it down 100 times. I tried audio vs digital ARC. Ended up DNFing at 25% because I just had no connection to it.

This was overall a good time. I didn’t love it but I did enjoy the two perspectives and the alternate timelines of mother and daughter. I felt like the beginning was really strong but then it got weaker as we went on.

This book is so freaking good. I was drawn in from the start. The character development was so well established I couldn’t put it down. I would really like a part 2

Solid mystery/thriller. Strengths in the nuanced and strife-filled mother-daughter relationship. Weakness in that I wasn't surprised about any of it. Worth reading for a great writing.

College student Cleo and her mom Katrina have had a tumultuous relationship. Cleo feels as if her mom tries to control every aspect of her life, and Kat has been more than appalled at some of the choices Cleo has made. When Kat asks Cleo to come for dinner and says she has some thing important to discuss, Cleo reluctantly goes. Yet when she gets there, she finds dinner burning in the oven, signs of a struggle, and a pool of blood. What Cleo begins to find out about her mother shocks and surprises her, and it's a race against the clock to find out what happened to Kat.

There are some aspects of this story that fell flat, but I liked that Kat's timeline is told from the past forward and Cleo's is told from the present day forward. The more that Cleo finds out about her mom's past and what she does in the present helps Cleo to reframe and really think about past interactions with her mom. She's able to understand the motivations behind her actions.

That said, I thought Kat's behavior towards Cleo was totally over the top, and it definitely was controlling. Camping outside of her dorm to watch for her, following her around, that was ridiculous. The armchair detecting by Cleo was not my favorite either, I'm never a fan of that in a book. And sometimes in the story things were moving slowly, and then sometimes there were too many things happening all at once.

Overall, I liked the book and it was well worth reading, especially for the mother-daughter aspects.

This was not for me. I struggled immediately with getting into this one and it never got better. I was not engaged with any of the characters. Just not for me.

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight is a thriller about how college student Cleo comes home for dinner one night to find her mom missing. There are clues that something bad has happened, but she's not sure what. This book kept my attention because I wanted to know what happened to Cleo's mom, but there were so many bad decisions being made that it was a little frustrating at times to read. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight was just an okay read for me. I appreciated the use of multiple points of view and the back-and-forth timelines, which added some intrigue to the story. However, the protagonist’s life seemed bogged down by an excess of “convenient” problems that felt contrived rather than realistic. This made it difficult for me to fully connect with the story or the characters. While the premise was compelling, the ending lacked impact and left me underwhelmed. Overall, it had some strong elements, but it didn’t quite come together for me.

I wasn’t really feeling this book at first which is why it took me so long to finish it. We meet Cleo who is a student at NYU! Cleo heads home one night to go have dinner with her mother, Kat. But when she’s arrives, her mother isn’t there but her bloody shoe is. What happened to her? There are lots of twists and turns. So many secrets!! I’m glad I didn’t give up on this book! There was a lot going on so it was a little overwhelming but I couldn’t stop turning the pages! Thank you NetGalley, Kimberly, and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC!

NYU student Cleo, a college student, heads to her parent’s home for dinner with her mother, Kat. But when she arrives, her mother is nowhere to be found. There is a chicken burning in the oven and blood on the floor. Then she finds a bloody shoe under the sofa.

Thus begins a hectic search for answers. They’ve had a complicated mother-daughter relationship, and it soon becomes obvious to Cleo that there is more to her mother than she could have imagined. Kat’s role at her law firm is much more than a patent lawyer, and it’s a role that puts her in danger. (I’m being deliberately vague) Moreover, Kat has a traumatic past that Cleo knew nothing about. I really loved the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship and this is where the story shined. The title is apt!

The layers to the story, the dual timelines and POV, as well as the list of potential suspects (just about everyone) made this a page-turner. It can appear at first that there’s perhaps too much going on but the subplots are compelling and the author brought it all together flawlessly.

• I received a digital copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Kimberly McCreight is such an underrated mystery author! I need more readers to discover her books. She writes twisty, but not cheesy, stories that keep you intrigued, but the pay-off is there. These are not popcorn thrillers, they are smart, literary, and enjoyable. Can't wait to share this with others so they can experience the brilliance too!

I really enjoyed this twisting turning thriller. So many suspicious characters and questionable behavior, you have no idea which way its going to go until the very end.

Kat is a high powered lawyer in NYC. Type A personality who likes to control everyone and every thing. Cleo, Kat's estranged daughter, is beyond frustrated with her mom and her controlling. Why can't her mom just let her live her life and make her own decisions even if there are some mistakes along the way, isn't that what growing up is supposed to be?

One day Kat finally gets Cleo to agree to come home from college for dinner but when Cleo arrives, Kat is no where to be seen. A pot of water boiling, a cold glass of water, and a bloody shoe left behind send Cleo reeling. Where is her mom?

In this book you follow Kat in the days leading up to dinner with Cleo and Cleo after she gets home not finding her mom there.

Not only was this book very twisty and left me questioning where this was going until the very end, but I really loved getting both Kat and Cleo's perspective. Hearing Kat describe her love of Cleo and desire to protect and take care of her while hearing Cleo talk about the controlling and judgement she always felt from her mom was so interesting. I really enjoyed reading the love this mother and daughter had for each other and how each work to protect the other.

This story had my attention from the beginning. The mother/daughter relationship can be very emotional. I was brought back to my rebellious days as a teen. But now as a mom I can relate more to Kat, as she tried her hardest to protect her daughter. I didn’t guess it, which is a good sign! It was a great read.

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for my honest review.*

Mom - Kat, Lawyer, divorcing her husband, worried about her daughter.
Daughter - Cleo, student at NYU, dating someone and keeping it from her mother.

Cleo goes home to have dinner with Kat and finds the house empty, food burning in the oven and a bloody shoe so she knows something bad has happened. From there, it is a jump back and forth between Cleo's and Kat's POVs along with several time lines. Cleo is looking for Kat and finding all of the lies that Kat has told. Kat is doing her best to keep her secrets and protect her daughter from herself. And seemingly unrelated articles are sprinkled throughout that leave you wondering what it is all about.

This was a great read and kept me tuned in although there don't seem to be a lot of likeable characters and there is definitely a lot going on that Cleo isn't aware of and Kat is dealing with in her own way. But wanting to see some of the characters get their comeuppance was a great reason to keep me going back to it!

I liked the alternating POVs between the mother and daughter with some texts, emails, transcripts and court documents in between. From those details, I was expecting a faster pace and that “on the edge of your seat” feeling. Sometimes it felt like there was too much going on and you’re wondering if the subplots actually connect to the story as a whole. The ending picked up the pace and pieced everything together. An entertaining read I’d recommend to newer thriller readers!

Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf for this ARC!

Like many the storyline did move slowly but the characterization was quite nice. Do know there will be readers that enjoy this.

This is my first book by Kimberly McCreight but certainly not my last! Officially a fan! This is a fantastic thriller mixed with family drama, many red herrings and some banger twists!! Cleo and her mom Kat don’t have the best relationship, but when Cleo comes home from college and finds a bloody scene and her mom is nowhere to be found, she is determined to find her. This book is a masterclass of elegantly weaved storylines from multiple POVs. One from current day forward (Cleo) and one from the time leading up to the day Kat went missing (Kat).

This story had me hooked from the beginning and I could not put it down because I needed to know what happened!

Highly, highly recommend!!!