Like Mother, Like Daughter kept me engaged and wondering right up until the ending- the dual timelines really kept me intrigued. I appreciated that small pieces of information were revealed gradually and it all unraveled really well.

This one started right into the action & then had a couple of chapters of what felt like an info dump, so I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but then it caught itself right back up.
Told in two first person narratives (daughter and mother) & during two different timelines (before and during), we get a lot of shocking twists. I loved how it all came together - though I do feel like somethings needed more explaining - and loved how things seem to be connected weren’t & some who seemed not to be connected were.

Thanks NetGalley for this advanced copy of Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight.

I don't know if I am burnt out from thrillers about mothers and daughters but I just could not get into this one.

I ended up DNF'ing it at 42%.

I think it would probably be good for someone else just not for me at this time.

Thanks again.

College student Cleo and her mom Katrina have a strained relationship. After months of estrangement, Cleo reluctantly agrees to come over for dinner. When Cleo arrives at the house, she finds food burning in the kitchen and blood on the floor. Her mom is nowhere to be found. As the police investigation gets underway, Cleo sets out to find her mom on her own.


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I liked how the dual POVs and multiple timelines in this book revealed what happened to Katrina. I wasn’t completely surprised by how things turned out, but I enjoyed the story.

Cleo and her mother Kat aren't on the best of terms at the moment. But when Kat asks Cleo to come and have dinner with her, Cleo obliges. When she arrives home, there is blood on the floor and her mother is nowhere to be found. Who could have hurt her and why? Where is her mother now? Kat has been keeping a big secret from her family. Will they be able to find out the truth in order to find Kat before it's too late?

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As I was reading I thought I would know exactly where the book was going to go. I was surprised around every corner about the events that took place. The relationship between a mother and a daughter is always a complicated one from the time they hit double digits. When both are hiding things from the other, that makes it even more complicated. This story left me on the edge of my seat from the start to the finish. I had to know what was going on with Kat and how it would change the relationship with her and Cleo.

Like Mother, Like Daughter was a face paced mystery/thriller that had a lot going on. At first, I thought its plot could be compared to a braid, but as I got further into the novel, it was definitely more like a French braid, where more plot threads were always being pulled into the main storyline.

The story begins with Cleo (the daughter and now a college student), arriving at her mother's house for dinner finding not only her mother missing, but her mother's bloody shoe left behind. There are so many factors that figure into Cleo trying to investigate and uncover her mother's disappearance.

First, Cleo and her mother, Kat, have had a rocky relationship for several years. Figure into the picture a drug dealing ex-boyfriend of Cleo's. Oh, also, Cleo did not know that her mother and father have been separated for several months...surprise. Cleo wasn't aware of her mother's true occupation...she thought she was a patent lawyer whereas she is actually a "fixer" for corporate problems. Cleo also didn't know much about Kat growing up in a home for orphans and troubled teens.

Even though Cleo and her mother have been practically estranged because she thought her mother was too controlling, Cleo is going to do everything she can to find out what has happened to her mom. In the process, she uncovers many shocking aspects of both of her parents' lives. The reader is presented with many twists and turns as chapters alternate between Cleo's and Kat's voices, flashing back to different time periods before Kat's abduction or disappearance.

The book is a wild ride with multiple surprises. Thank you, NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing, for this exhilarating thriller. 3.5 Stars

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Knopf, and Kimberly McCreight for an ARC of this book!**

Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life...and a secret life.

Although recent life events have created a wedge between them, Cleo knows her mother Katrina better than almost anyone else...so when she gets a call to return home to have dinner with her at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she figures she'd best show up. After all, despite their problems, nobody can question the unshakable bond between mother and daughter. When she arrives, however, the room is eerily quiet, and Katrina is nowhere to be found. All that remains is remnants of the burned dinner...and Katrina's bloody shoe. Terrified, Cleo has no idea what happened and despite her frustrations with her mother as of late, she is desperate to find her...and hopes that she isn't too late to save her.

It is Katrina's private AND secret lives, however, that Cleo should be exploring...rather than being blinded by the perfect sheen of her public persona. Although Kat seems to have it all as a posh, successful corporate lawyer with a handsome, dedicated husband Aidan at her side, all is not as it seems. Cleo is unaware, but Kat's marriage is on the rocks, and her job is far more dangerous than it seems at first glance. Kat is her firm's 'fixer', a designated lawyer whose job it is to make problems go away...meaning she deals with some of the ugliest scandals in corporate world...and the shady characters naturally follow. But has Kat finally found the one scandal she CANNOT fix...without exposing her role to a dangerous foe? With husband Aidan aching to get his hands on Kat's money to finance a film, did his desperation lead him to an unspeakable act of violence? Or is Cleo's drug dealing ex-boyfriend the one with a vendetta against Kat for taking Cleo away from him...a vendetta strong enough to end in kidnapping...or even murder?

Although I've been eager to read Reconstructing Amelia, for oh, 5 years now, I STILL have only read two Kimberly McCreight books up until this point...and both of them were definitely 3 star reads. (One I have no recollection of reading whatsoever, but according to Goodreads I did: guess that speaks for itself!) But for some reason, the title of this one and mere curiosity won the day in this instance and I wanted to give this law school graduate author another shot, since lawyer-turned-thriller writers can be some of my favorites to read (I'm looking at you, Julie Clark and David Ellis!)...and for the MOST part, I'm glad I did!

At first, this felt like a bit of an 'everything but the kitchen sink' read - too many characters, too many plots and subplots, and a bunch of what felt like extraneous information (told via news articles, therapist interviews, etc.)....but by the time I got to about 60%, I found myself JUST engaged enough to want to start tearing through the second half. The setup is a bit lengthy here, and overall there is more time spent developing the through lines than there is REALLY digging into the psyches of Cleo and Kat. At the same time, though, I felt that I was able to glean enough about them through their actions rather than simply their thoughts to get a good sense of character and I kept WANTING to learn more about the backstory, when and if Kat was going to 'fix' the scandal at hand, and just exactly WHAT was so great about Cleo's ex-boyfriend. (And no spoilers, but the jury is still out on that one, I've got to be honest!)

The timelines in this one also kind of reminded me of one of those boards that detectives use with pushpins and pieces of string that zigzag back and forth in a seemingly random way, so don't expect to feel entirely settled with what day or time it is at ANY point while reading. As someone who prefers linear storytelling overall, it was a bit of a stretch to try to parse together the then, the now, and the in-between....but at the same time, I never quite got to the point of frustration with any of it, so I think McCreight's attention to detail is all there...it just may be more readily apparent on a plotting diagram than it is for a reader trying to follow along. But while I wouldn't put this in the category of popcorn thriller because of the plot's intricacies, it is an easy ENOUGH read for glossing over the 'messy' bits, if you so choose.

The true heart and soul of this one and the reason I think McCreight wanted to write this particular book, however, was more as a commentary on mothers and daughters, and THIS is the reason the narrative shines. The discussion is at times fairly subtle, but Kat often reflects on sort of the bum rush that mothers get, both in the workplace and at home, the way no one can TRULY prepare you for motherhood, and the complicated ball of emotions mothers experience on a daily basis, from joy to frustration to worry...and back again. Throw in a college-aged daughter and HER perspectives, and the lines become even blurrier between what is right and wrong, expected and not, and what level of duplicity and secrets is appropriate between mom and daughter...and what is a step too far. Some of these quiet and poignant observations and also the more obvious parallels between the duo were what took this from a more run-of-the-mill thriller and gave it a bit more depth and impact...and also got me FIRMLY on board to check out another novel from McCreight!

And while I won't give anything anyway, there IS a reason they say mother knows best: you'll just have to read it before you believe it!

4 stars

Thank you Knopf, partner for the advanced e-copy of Like Mother, Like Daughter in exchange for my honest review.

This is such a clever, multi-layered story that kept me on edge the entire time. I loved all the different plot lines that the author was able to weave together along with the different themes she brings to the plate. While I am not a mother myself, I still felt that the relationships she crafted between mother and daughter felt real & very relatable. It’s that balance McCreight is able to walk between a well-thought-out mystery and the emotional pull you feel for the characters that really keeps you invested here.

This is a great book. The writing grabs your attention from the first page. The plot is riveting. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that propels you to keep reading. This book belongs on every reader’s TBR list!

Cleo McHugh returns to her family home in Brooklyn to have dinner with her mom. She and her mom have a troubled relationship. Cleo quickly comes to see that something is terribly wrong in the house. She finds blood, her mother’s shoe, a pot burning on the stove, and her mother no where to be found.

The story unfolds in dual points of view and timelines between Cleo and her mother, Katrina. Cleo’s search for her mother uncovers secrets her mother and father have been keeping.

There are many possible suspects in Katrina’s disappearance. This is a story of the search for a missing person. It is more importantly the story of a mother’s love for her daughter, and a daughter’s love for her mother.

“People don’t have to admit the whole truth to reveal the part that matters.”

Interesting well developed "emotional thriller" with believable characters good plot progression.
The story opens as Cleo, a NYU student, arrive at her mother's home for dinner and finds that her mother is not there, the chicken in the oven is charred, and the freshly cut green beans on the counter, But her mother, Kat, is not there. Cleo finds a bloody canvas shoe lying beside a pool of blood on the carpet and is worried. Kat is a fixer for a high powered legal firm, and is recently separated from her husband.
The book is written in alternating points of view with Cleo's parts written in the days following the disappearance, as she tries to figure out what happened to her mother. While Kat's parts written in the week leading up to the incident. It was a tale well told, and involved many characters who created a good deal of tension - and very few clues to what actually happened.
The book developed the mother daughter relationship with all the complexities inherent in it. I liked the respect that she showed the characters in their difficult and complex relationship and the homage to motherhood in the beginning of the book - Don't worry, you will love them (your babies) more than you thought possible...just because you love them without condition does not obligate them to love you back. So true!!!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Knopf and the opinions expressed are my own.

Quick summary: In this suspenseful thriller, Cleo returns home to find her mother, Kat, missing, with only a bloody shoe as a clue. As Cleo digs into Kat's life, she uncovers secrets: Kat isn't just a lawyer but a skilled fixer with a dark past. Facing threats from her ex-husband, Cleo's risky relationship, and her shadowy past, Kat has hidden everything from her daughter. "Like Mother, Like Daughter" explores the dangerous truths and lies that bind them.

Simple review/my thoughts: I loved the alternating first-person perspectives narrated by a mother-daughter narrator duo! Like Mother, Like Daughter is a fast-paced, quick thriller filled with twists and turns that will keep you guessing. I loved the alternating perspectives between Cleo and Kat and the layers of mystery throughout the story!

This was just ok for me in general. The story being told from a pissed off young adult daughter and mother with a past held my attention but some parts were really cringey and like this authors past books I didn’t understand the adult relationships, motivations or backstories. It’s just felt like it glossed over major realizations and there was a lot of ick factor towards the end.

LIKE MOTHER LIKE DAUGHTER by Kimberly McCreight was a suspenseful family drama that had me guessing!

After a particular review of the audiobook, my interest was piqued and I added the @prhaudio option about halfway through. I had to chuckle a bit, as I love Cassandra Campbell as a narrator, but for some reason Olivia Campbell sounded too young for this character from what I had in my head. Still, it was a good story for me, even if the audio didn't mesh with the voices in my head!

The story begins with Cleo coming home to find her mother, Kat missing. As the story unfolds, layers of secrets inside this seemingly perfect family are revealed, giving multiple options for who could be after this fixer with a complicated past.

What I did like about this story was a peek into how harmful it can be to keep secrets, and how painful it can be to share them with the wrong people. The mother/daughter relationship was fascinating to see with a mom who is dealing with childhood trauma and a daughter who thinks she knows everything and has no idea. Questions of what and when to share with kids is an interesting one to me, and this was a suspenseful way to do that.

If this sounds like a win for you, go grab it as it came out on July 30th! A huge thanks to @aaknopf for sharing this with me through @netgalley and to @prhaudio for the audio!

This was an okay story. I was entertained but also bored at certain parts. The story was a little predictable which caused that dragging feeling. Overall if you like these types of thrillers you will enjoy. The ending also felt flat.

This book was hard to put down. Omg. I seriously read the first couple pages and knew I was going to be struggling to be a responsible member of society.
It didn’t disappoint.
Cleo and her mom have a strained relationship. She hardly approves of the boys she dates at NYU, and this last one is no exception. Things have been icy between them, but when Cleo agrees to come to dinner and finds it burnt, blood and glass on the floor, and her mother missing, she is determined to figure out what happened.
There is so much going on in this book, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed it. So many suspect options. So many interesting leads. Lots of little weird mysteries a long the way. Loved it. Will totally read more from McCreight.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book officially publishes on 7/30/24!

This book would be great for individuals new to the genre or looking to check it out. For me personally, this was a slow burn; however, I think the twists at the ending make up for it. This book is told from dial POVs with different timelines, which gave the character development a great deal of depth. I’m personally giving this one three stars because the pacing wasn’t on point for me, and one of the MCs I found to be annoying at times. As I did enjoy the ending, however, I will definitely be checking out more books by this author. If you decide to pick this one up, please check any relevant trigger warnings before doing so!

Thanks to Knopf for a copy of Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight. I've loved her other books and writes such great domestic thrillers.

I loved the two timelines -- the current one by Cleo as she's trying to find her mom and Kat's which was leading up to her disappearance. This had me guessing a few times and I liked the twists -- there was a lot going on and it seemed a little unbelievable at times, but I still enjoyed it. This really highlighted the mother-daughter relationships and it was a fun and fast paced book to read.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

I am not a huge fan of mother-daughter books but I wanted to give this one a try since it is hyped. However, I was just not a huge fan. I feel like the characters were not developed and the story just took too long to go anywhere.

I hope others love this one!

Like mother like daughter is a fast paced thriller involving a strained mother and daughter relationship. The book was fun to read with a lot of twists.

The story had a lot going on with too many characters which confused me a little, but I enjoyed the writing style. The author had me guessing the perpetrator till the end. The ending left a few loose ends but it was satisfying. Overall is a fun mystery/thriller.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight. Thank you NetGalley Knopf Pantheon for my #gifted copy! My review is my own opinion and voluntary.

Kat, newly separated and a “fixer” for prestigious law firm has disappeared, discovered by her estranged college daughter, Chloe.

The book flips from past to present as Chloe tries to unravel the tightly weaved web that her mother has left her. Chloe has a list of suspects, including her Dad. With her boyfriend’s help, Chloe digs her way into her Mom’s past and present, discovering things she’d never dreamed of!
Her Mom is not the person she’d thought, nor is her Dad. In fact, most people in Chloe’s life are hiding deep, dark and possible DEADLY secrets.

My thoughts:
☁️☁️☁️
This book had me HOOKED from the start and SHOCKED me with an unbelievable ending! ❤️