Cleo is an entitled rich daughter who is coming home from college to have dinner with her overprotective and overbearing mom Kat. However Cleo quickly changes her tune when instead of finding her mom she finds burned food, and a bloody shoe in the house, but her mom is nowhere to be found. What follows is the mystery of where Kat is and what happened to her. The story is told in dual POV between Kat in the past, and Cleo in the present with texts and lawyer proceedings and documents sprinkled in. As the story progresses Cleo comes to realize that there is so much she didn’t know about her mom. The story was pretty fast paced, with some interesting twists and turns and character growth, but the multiple POV’s and jumping around in time made the story a bit confusing at times. An interesting fast paced thriller. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

3.5⭐️

After months of ignoring her mother, Cleo arrived home from college to find food burning on the stove, no sign of her mother, Kat, and a bloody shoe that was clearly her mother's. This starts a chain of events that lead to Cleo investigating her mother's disappearance and she discovers that her mother had been lying. Her job, about her childhood, about her relationship with Cleo's dad, none of it was true. And now it seemed that her past was coming back to haunt her.

I'm going to premise this review with the fact that I hate overbearing mothers, no matter how justified it is (hi mommy issues). So I really did not like the character of Kat. There were a lot of her actions that just seemed so over the top and almost unbelievable even if she was a "fixer." I did appreciate that she had this whole secret life and how she'd been able to hide so much from her family. Trying to figure out what was true and what wasn't made for nice tension.

I did really like the character of Cleo and how she immediately dove in to try to find her mother. Everyone in her and her mother's orbit seemed suspicious and I was a bit worried that she wasn't asking enough questions. It really showed how much her mother had sheltered her to protect her from how hard Kat's own childhood was and that Cleo didn't automatically assume the worse in everyone. The twist of how Cleo and Kat were like mother, like daughter was really well done and unexpected.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf publishing for providing this ARC to me!

Kimberly McCreight delivers another well-written emotional suspense novel in her soon to be published (July 30, 2024) novel entitled "Like Mother, Like Daughter."

Intertwined with all of the twists and turns and false leads inherent in any suspense thriller is an engaging study of the trials, tribulations, joys, and heartbreaks whose name is mother-daughter relationships! In this, McCreight's writing sparkles with astute observations and depictions of the love/hate dynamic at the core of the relationship. Unconditional love does not come without some cost to both women.

I am grateful to the author for her craft, the publisher for their support, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book prior to its release.

#LikeMother,LikeDaughter
#KimberlyMcCreight
#NetGalley

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book before publication! The review will be live on my blog on 7/11/24. I will also feature the review on Instagram that same day and post my review to Goodreads, The Storygraph, Fable, and retail sites.

Review:
Several years ago, I read (and loved) Kimberly McCreight's "Reconstructing Amelia." I have (but have yet to read) her other novels, but when I saw this on NetGalley, I scooped it up after reading the very intriguing synopsis, and I wasn't disappointed.

In this book, Cleo, an NYU student, agrees to meet her lawyer mother, Kat, for dinner. The two have had a very rocky relationship, and Cleo isn't exactly excited about it. When she arrives at her mother's Manhattan home, she finds the door ajar, a bloody shoe on the ground, smashed glass everywhere, and her mother missing. Cleo knows that she should let the police do their job, but after finding some questionable clues on her mother's laptop, she decides to do some investigating of her own. Soon, she will discover things about her mother that she never could have guessed were possible.

Kat wasn't just a high-powered lawyer - she was a fixer for the firm - saving people's reputations and companies through whatever means necessary. But when Kat begins to receive threatening messages from an unknown number, telling her that they will expose a deadly secret from her past unless she pays a hefty sum, she may need to pull in a few favors from her connections. The problem is that Kat doesn't know where the threats are coming from. Are they from the pharmaceutical company that may be behind the death of one of Kat's acquaintances? Is it someone from her past? Is it the temperamental client Kat has been working with, or is it her estranged husband? Who was threatening Kat, and are they behind her disappearance?

McCreight's writing is fast-paced and gripping. It pulls you in from the very first page and doesn't let go until the shocking conclusion. What I especially loved about this book is that there weren't a bunch of red herrings and ridiculous twists, just a few misdirections that eventually came together. A lot happens between these pages, but it all comes together nicely in the end. It was also nice that I didn't figure out who was behind everything until a few chapters before the reveal, which made it all the more exciting.

The characters in the book are not just real and complex but also remarkably relatable. Cleo, with her reckless behavior and overflowing emotions, is a stark contrast to her seemingly perfect mother, Kat. As Cleo delves deeper into her mother's hidden world, she uncovers a web of deception, threats, and long-buried secrets that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Cleo always thought she and her mother were polar opposites, but the further she digs, the more the reader sees how similar they are - especially in their tenacity to discover the truth. What helps is that we get alternating viewpoints from both characters' points of view, hearing from Kat in the days leading up to her disappearance and from Cleo as she searches for her mother. Peppered amongst the narrative are text strings, journal entries, and a few court documents that help flesh out the story.

At its core, this is a gripping mystery with well-drawn characters and a compelling storyline. It reminded me of how much I enjoy Kimberly McCreight's writing. She doesn't rely on gimmicks or far-fetched twists, focusing instead on crafting an intricate story with depth and believable characters. If you are a mystery lover, definitely check this one out. You won't be disappointed.

Told in a dual POV format, mother in the past and daughter in the future, plus some intermixed interviews, diary entries, and news articles, this book was a solid thriller. Cleo comes home to visit her mother, Kat, and stumbles on food burning in the oven, a bloody shoe, and her mother nowhere to be found. This starts her POV as she investigates what happened to her mother. Meanwhile, the mother's POV focuses on her past, her relationship with her daughter, and what led to her disappearance. There was a lot to this story. Much of the focus was on the mother/daughter relationship, but there also was a lot of focus on the mother's past and how that relates to her current job as a lawyer. and fixer I feel like the author wanted to include a lot of moving pieces to the story so at times it was difficult to follow how everything tied together. Overall, I would recommend checking this book out.

Thank you to Knopf for the opportunity to read and review.

Cleo, a student at NYU, goes home to Park Slope to have dinner with her mother, Kat, and is shocked to find dinner burning and her mother nowhere to be found. But there is broken glass, and blood in the kitchen. Cleo decides she has to try to find her mother. She feels guilty that she’s rejected her mother recently for being tightly wound and over-protective. After all, Cleo has done some things for her mother to worry about, like being in a relationship with a drug dealer. But Cleo keeps finding more and more things about her mother—past and present—that could have put her in danger. Her mother spent several years in an orphanage that was later the subject of an exposé, and it looks like she might have done something terrible there herself. And in the present, Cleo learns that Kat isn’t a patent lawyer; she’s a fixer, and maybe has come up against some dangerous people in connection with her work. Then there is Cleo’s dad, Aidan, who is separated from Kat, and had some issues with her.

The story is told in dual first-person chapters by Cleo and Kat. Kat’s story covers several days before her disappearance, while Cleo’s run from the time she arrived in Park Slope. There are also some interspersed texts between undesignated persons, some transcripts of therapy sessions, some legal documents. All the jumping around can get a little confusing at times, but overall this is a fast-paced thriller with enough complexity to the plot to keep the reader guessing until the last chapter.

This is a great new thriller about mothers and daughters and their secrets. I enjoyed the different POVs interspersed with different articles and transcriptions. I did guess half of the main twist, but not all of it, and I liked that there were some red herrings to throw you off. All in all, a solid thriller!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read before pub day! ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER is out on July 9th!

TW: rape, sexual assault

This was by no means “bad,” but there was just not much at all that I found investment in inside this story.

There wasn’t anything unique or remarkable about the plot or characters. I just felt meh.

I wanted to like this because I liked others by this author but it fell short for me. It had too much going on and seemed like it didn’t tie in together at some points. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

Very suspenseful book. Everyone is suspicious up to the very end, and many of them have done a variety of bad things but aren't responsible for Kat's disappearance.
I enjoyed watching both Kat and Cleo grow over the course of the story to understand each other better. The title comes from how Cleo is more like her mom than she realizes. I loved how she methodically works to search for her mom, at many times recalling advice her mom had given her or things her mom had said.
Ending was good and wraps up the story. This had good pace, with chapters alternating between Kat at some time before she disappeared, Cleo at some time while looking for her, and snippets of other items like journal entries, legal docs, therapy transcripts, text conversations, etc. An enjoyable read!

Cleo arrives home to her family home in Park Slope for dinner with her mother. They haven't always had the best relationship and Kat seems to be extending an olive branch with this dinner. Once Cleo enters the house, she finds the oven smoking and broken glass on the floor. She also finds one of Kat's shoes with a streaks of blood. Kat is nowhere to be found.

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight is a domestic thriller that has good bones, but does become a bit too convoluted with one too many plots. We have Katrina, the mother, a fixer at a law firm, the missing person. We have Cleo, the college student, the one with the bad boyfriend, the one with the new secret boyfriend. There's a plot with Kat's assistant, one with one of her clients, one with her estranged husband, one with the neighbor, the neighbor's daughter, her daughter's ex-boyfriend, a Sgt in the NYPD, and a whole OTHER story going on with her job.

I thought the twist was good, it did keep me guessing. However, the resolution was a bit odd. I felt like there were a few plots that were left unresolved. What happened to Kat's assistant? What happened with the neighbor?

I think many people will enjoy this, there are thrilling moments. This one was just middle of the road for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Kat is a "fixer" for her law firm and involved in more than one shady situation, when she goes missing. Her daughter, Cleo, is estranged from her mom and is unaware of what her mom does for a living. Cleo discovers she's gone missing and makes it her mission to try and understand her mom and what could have happened to her.
There is a LOT going on in this book, with red herring after red herring. I really enjoyed it and had certain suspicions, but was still ultimately scandalized by the reveal. Where the author lost me was the epilogue - it felt like everything was tied up a little too neatly, and at the same time one of the plot points I was most interested in was never mentioned. I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, but I will post the thing that's bothering me below with a spoiler warning.
Despite being a little irked by the epilogue, the rest of the book was a great thriller that I'd recommend.
**SPOILER WARNING**
So her ex-husband stole THREE MILLION DOLLARS from her and that was not mentioned at all in the epilogue?!?! Is she just going to let it slide? Really bizarre to not mention that part at all, and I can't really get past it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.
ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A mother disappear and her daughter is determined to find her. This one alternates between Katrina (the mom) in the days leading up to her disappearance and Cleo (the daughter) in the hours after her disappearance.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I think the overall concept was fine, but it was a slow read for a thriller. I think too some of the twists were really obvious to me so I didn’t get that surprise payout. It’s not a bad book by any means, just a little boring and predictable for me.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and the various turns it took throughout. However, I felt the ending was kind of wrapped up quickly. I also felt that some of the larger story points ended up being inconsequential in the end.

This is the first Kimberly McCreight book I read and I loved it.

I really did not know what to expect but it turned out to be such a good book. I love that it kept me guessing, with a solid plot, characters, and pace. Suspenful, with great twists, and an unexpected ending.

Thank you to Knopf and Netgalley, for the Advanced Free Copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, and Kimberly McCreight for the copy of Like Mother, Like Daughter.

This was my first book by this author. The first couple chapters were a little slow for me, but the whole rest of the book was great. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would definitely read more by this author!!

I really enjoyed this book, kept me guessing throughout the book. I really like her writing style and just kinda figured out the whodonit right before it was revealed. Would recommend this book and author

When Cleo’s mom, Katrina, goes missing under unusual circumstances, Cleo starts to uncover the secrets of her mom’s past. This is a literary mystery/suspense that alternates between present day and the days leading up to Katrina’s disappearance. I loved the different POV’s, especially Katrina’s perspective. There were multiple plot lines to keep you guessing as to who exactly is responsible for Katrina’s disappearance. Is it her greedy, cheating ex-husband, a client from her job as a fixer, or her daughter’s ex-boyfriend drug dealer. The story was well written although convoluted and I loved the characterization and the fraught relationship between Cleo and her mom. I would recommend this for fans of William Landay’s All That is Mine I Carry With Me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf publishing for an advanced e-reader copy.

Kimberly McCreight knows how to do emotional suspense. She expertly creates a tight narrative that psychologically hooks you yet also shows a deft understanding of complex human emotions and levers.

The premise and opening of this immediately sucked me in, and for the most part, I was invested from start to finish. This did feel a bit busy with the side plots, some more successful than others at being more than just red herrings, but in the end it did feel like just too many pieces to tie up.

Of course the investigative aspect isn’t meant to be realistic, it’s never believable when a family member solves the crime, but I did enjoy seeing Cleo confront her own emotional demons and also find compassion for her mother throughout the investigation. The mother daughter dynamic was executed so well, adeptly pulling in the emotional ups and downs daughters can all relate to with their mothers, especially those stern moms.

The ultimate reveal sadly didn’t shock me as I did peg the culprit early on, but I did find the reveal to be entertaining and I do think it will surprise readers. Ultimately I could have used another chapter or 2 on the climax, as it all seemed to come too fast and in a bit of a silly manner, but overall it was fine.

I will say that the epilogue in the galley leaves out some key bits of closure that the audiobook galley covered, which while not done well (every other plot is revoked with a sentence or 2) is at least addressed, given some early reviews that flagged this. That said, not EVERY side plot is addressed…which is a bit annoying as it niggles in my head.

Overall, 3.75 stars, an addicting read.

Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight
Release Date: 7/30/24
Format: audio/ebook hybrid
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is only my second McCreight read and I really enjoyed it! This novel feels part family drama, part legal thriller, and part straight mystery! Cleo has a strained relationship with her mother and when returning for dinner from her NYU campus, she finds her mom missing & a bloody shoe left behind!

Let me start by saying, everyone is shady as hell in this book. I trusted no one. I didn’t really like anyone either. But sometimes that makes for the best thriller! McCreight does a great job at developing these characters to a point where even if you don’t particularly care for most of them, you have a certain level of empathy for them anyway.

My only complaint was I felt like there were too many characters and it ended up a little forced/convoluted by the end. I would definitely recommend skipping the audio and eyeball reading for an easier time keeping everything straight!

All in all, I think this is a good and well developed story!