The book was a little slow at the beginning however became more exciting as I read. I would recommend this book to fellow readers.

Allison Buccola’s *The Ascent* is a gripping psychological thriller that blends past trauma, maternal anxiety, and the mystery of a disappearance. It follows Lee Burton, who survived a cult that vanished, and has spent years trying to lead a normal life—until a stranger shows up at her door, claiming to have answers about her past.

Buccola really knows how to create a sense of creeping dread. From the start, we dive into Lee’s fragile state of mind as she deals with postpartum anxieties that make it hard to tell what's real and what's not. The pacing is nice and steady, revealing the mystery a little at a time, which keeps you hooked with juicy twists along the way.

If you enjoy thrillers that dig into identity and the impact of the past, like *The House in the Pines* by Ana Reyes or *The Push* by Ashley Audrain, you’ll definitely want to check out *The Ascent*. Its haunting story and unexpected turns will stick with you even after you finish it.

This book has everything you look for cults and lawyers. It started little slow but 25% in it picked up. I liked the alternating perspective of the past and present and It had combined thriller with heartfelt moments. Overall it was a outstanding novel that I would recommend to anyone. Thanks so much to netgalley for an advanced arc for a honest review.

We follow the POV of our MC Ophelia (Lee) Burton. She was the only known survivor in the disappearance of The Fifteen (basically a cult) decades ago. She changed her name and started over with her husband Theo and daughter Lucy. Her husband doesn't know about her past, but that all comes crashing down when a woman shows up at her doorstep all these years later claiming to be her sister.

This was a pretty solid domestic/cult thriller. The writing style flowed very well. I liked the glimpses into the past. I liked the slow burn leading up to us finding out what really happened. There was some far-fetched stuff that ended up happening (if you know, you know) at the end, but honestly it was a twist I didn't expect, so I guess I call that a win. The mental health struggles blending with reality seemed realistic and ultimately made me feel connected to Lee.

Overall, this wasn't anything groundbreaking, but honestly, it was the palate cleanser I needed. I enjoyed this book. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you Allison Buccola, Random House, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Wow! What a crazy good story! This had one of the most twisted endings I have ever read. Did not see that coming at all. This poor woman who escaped a cult when she was young and how she tries to forget but at the same time longs for answers that haunt her.

This was a good book. It had a great mystery. All of us are familiar with cults and how odd they can seem. Lee is a very sympathetic character. However, she also drives you crazy. In some ways, she is not very likable but she is an unhealed trauma victim so some of her actions may be understandable. In the end, more is happening than you realized and Lee also gets her peace. I would hesitantly recommend it. Some great elements mixed in with some not so great ones.

A doomsday cult domestic thriller? Say no more I'm in a I went into this book completely blind & loved it
Ophelia's story had me hooked from the start, turning pages till 3AM € I don't want to spoil this book for anyone it was that good. So just read it because if you're into cult theme then you will definitely enjoy this as much as l did plus it had very relatable motherhood struggles.
AND holy sh*t I did not expect that shocking twist, I am still flabbergasted!! well done
The only thing I would say I needed was another characters POV that's all and honestly I think that is just what I personally prefer.
Thank you to @penguinrandomhouse & @allisonbuccola for the E-ARC

What would you do if you woke up and everyone you lived with had disappeared?

Ophelia (Lee) was 12 years old when her life was turned upside down. No one believed her when she said she did not know what happened. There were no bodies found at the commune she had lived with her mom and sister. Lee is sent to live with a loving Aunt, but some less than receptive cousins.

This story is told in “current” day life of new Mom Lee, with flashbacks to her original trauma, and to traumatic incidents in her life. Lee is very protective of her child due to her traumatic childhood. Unfortunately, she has not been open in sharing her experience with her husband. As the story unfolds, you are left wondering about the sanity of Lee. The ending was mixed bag. How her husband reacted to Lee’s story and his actions were surprising.

This story is engaging, and suspenseful. Twists and turns I did not see coming.

Thank you to Net Galley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was amazing. I would never have guessed the ending even after reading over half of it. A real surprise. The story is a different twist on stories about cults. It starts with the entire group missing during the night except one young girl they left behind. From there the story follows the young girl's life through her childhood and her adult life through marriage and motherhood.

An excellent read and I do recommend it.

This one I couldn’t put down and ended up reading in two days. The Ascent is a story about a woman who grew up in a cult that one day mysteriously disappeared and were never to be found again. She was the only survivor and witnessed nothing that night they disappeared. Fast forward to today, she is a new mother with an infant who she is terrified to let out of her sight for fear she’ll be taken or that her daughter will think she’s never coming back because TRAUMA. Her husband doesn’t know about said cult and a documentary has been produced about it attempting to unravel all her secrets.

Very enjoyable read altogether and good twists. The characters were all kind of annoying but I love a good cult book!

Allison Buccola has earned a new fan. Me! This was an excellently composed book with many twists and turns. Although it moved back and forth across time periods in Lee’s life, I was never lost or confused. Allison created each of the timelines with skill and a seeming understanding about how to build both parts of the story without sacrificing one to the other.

Great characters abound; Lee/Ophelia, Theo, Mona/Maria, even Jacqueline were strong in their roles as they carried their part of the story. Did I like them or hate them? Some of both for each depending on where the story took us.

With just the right touch on the pulse of Jonestown, Lee’s childhood and experiences in a cult-like environment shaped her into an adult person with evident insecurities. She had many self-doubts so it was easy to see and sympathize with her mental health issues.

A great ending to a great book!

The writing style with this novel was wonderful. It was so character driven and just in such detail. I loved this about the book. However, the story just was mundane and nothing was happening until the very end of the book. I felt like I was reading more of a story about a new mom's day to day life rather than a story about cults. I got not creepy factor out of this at all, which is what most cult books try to accomplish. I would read more by this author, but this book really needed some pep and things going on.

3.25/5

I want to start off by saying this is a pretty slow thriller, and I’m not sure I would consider it a thriller.

We follow Ophelia who grew up in a cult. She wakes up one day and everyone has disappeared, and no one is able to find out what happened to the Fifteen. The story progresses between modern day and flashbacks of her childhood. One day she runs into a woman who claims to be her sister Mona, and we go down this journey of trying to figure out if she really is, or if she’s an imposter.

Ophelia wants more than anything for this to be her sister, as this might be her only chance to figure out what truly happened that day. Mona is very sketchy, not someone we can really trust, she appears to lie a lot. We also find out that Ophelia is hiding her entire past from her husband.

Really it’s a lot of back and forward with flashbacks and Ophelia questioning if this is really her sister. At about the 80% mark we finally hit a twist. Is Ophelia correct or is she spiraling like she has in the past. This story had a good idea, it just wasn’t executed well. It would have been nice to have more of a background on the cult. The ending also felt lackluster of what truly happened.

The Ascent by Allison Buccola hooked me in from the beginning. Perhaps it was the cult topic or the voice of the character trying to grasp past and present reality. Ophelia the main character is someone that I the reader would like to befriend which is partly why I was hooked to the story. I wanted to know what happens to Ophelia and her family. I enjoyed and could understand the back and forth of past and present in each chapter. You learn slowly about Ophelia's past which comes into play for her present time. The need for answers, or accepting feelings that bubble up while in the present time. I enjoyed all the characters and wanted to know more about some of them but the whole point is to get a glimpse of some of the important people to Ophelia. Her husband Theo is a likeable and you almost feel sorry for him in the beginning of the story and little by little he seems to bully her. By the end of the story I was taken by him and all that Ophelia or Lee as she is also called, that I had no idea what was going to happen. The ending which I will not spoil is not what I expected. I am usually pretty good at figuring out what will happen. Well not here, I was completely surprised and happy for Ophelia. I want to thank Random House, Allison Buccola and Net Galley for allowing me to read this novel.

2.5 ⭐️ (rounded down). I feel really bad giving this book such a low rating because the synopsis sounds so intriguing and I was really excited to get an advanced copy, but sadly it was just disappointing and boring. It was such a SLOW burn…dragged on and on and I felt like it was going nowhere. I thought the story would have been more interesting if it focused more on the cult and her past and I did not like the ending at all. I thought the “twist”was dumb. And lastly, I know this is just a silly complaint but I also got annoyed reading how Lee’s mind wandered when she was with other people. I hate to say this but it probably would have been a DNF for me if I wasn’t buddy reading it with a friend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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4.5 Stars, rounded up to 5 stars.

This took a long time to get going...slowly....but finally, things picked up and BAM!!! I quite enjoyed this. Several twists that I didn't see coming, and we have ourselves a good one, folks.

Will I read more from the author? YES.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Random House for providing the copy of The Ascent by Allison Buccola for me to review. I loved this book right away! The writing style drew me right into the story, and I liked that Lee had been a member of a cult but the book didn’t focus on the details. I loved the fast pace.The different timelines were interesting and Lee was a good but naive main character. The mystery of what happened to the cult members was intriguing and kept me guessing until the reveal! The problem for me was the ending. It was surprising but I’m not sure there were enough clues to make it satisfying soI ws disappointed. You will love it if you love an unexpected conclusion. 4 stars.

4.5. I love books about cults, communes, and religious zealots and this book opens with a now-grown woman who is from the Jacob Hill group that completely disappeared 20 years ago. The group was led by Christopher who dictated the every move
of the lives of its members. Ophelia was 12 at the time when she awoke and all 15 members were gone. Disappeared. She was left all alone. To this day they’ve never been found.

The book alternates between present day and 20 years ago and I jumped in right away so excited to dig deep into this mysterious group and why and how they disappeared, leaving one girl behind.

This book was a crazy fast paced novel that completely sucked me in from the start. The ending was a bit far fetched for me but that did not diminish the ride getting there.

I really enjoyed this book, a psychological thriller with depth and heart. I couldn't put it down. Loved the main character and her struggles to come to terms with her past as a cult survivor and the new life she was trying to build. She was the only survivor of the cult and then finds out maybe her family is still alive. She felt very real to me despite very different life experiences, overall I loved the book. couldn't put it down, very satisfying on a lot of levels deep, powerful moving, I still feel caught in the spell

4 ⭐️ This was a fast paced and ever evolving story dealing with cults, mental health, trauma, and love.

The main character, Ophelia “ Lee” is a a young mother struggling with mental health issues. She grew up in a cult and struggles with reality. What seems to be Lee’s journey to get well for her husband and daughter takes a turn and becomes a mystery thriller with a twist I did not see coming.

Great writing and plot, strong characters, satisfying surprise ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.