Bronte needs to escape. She never knew a drunken rant on social media about her cheating boyfriend would be so damaging. Now it has taken over her entire life, as it seems like the entire world has seen it and she's even recognised in public.

The backlash has become not only toxic but scary, with all sorts of threats aimed at her. Deciding to leave it all behind and hide for a while far from home in the city, she takes up a HelpX position near the rural town of Bathurst. Outback Australia would've been even further and probably better, but Bathurst will do. Her main job will be looking after an elderly woman and keeping her company. Much easier than the other HelpX farm jobs on offer.

She's collected from the railway station by her host named Veda. It's Bronte's 2nd mistake - again not entirely her fault. Flashing blue and red lights on the drive to her home alert Bronte and Veda to the police behind them on the road. To Bronte's horror, Veda just speeds up ignoring the wailing police car.

When Veda does finally stop, a tirade of abuse comes from her at the officers - about rights and a plethora of other legal jargon Bronte has never heard of. Veda is taken away, leaving Bronte in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully the police know where Veda's home named Gwendolyne is, and they drop her off.

Bronte's feel of unease remains with her as she realises that Veda, her husband, and another woman working for them are devout believers of personal rights that mean that the government, police and other places of authority have no power over them. Luckily, her elderly charge is much easier to be with. But she does seem to have a fixation on the farm dam.

Bronte learns that years before, an ex of Veda's vanished from nearby. Discovering not one but two panic rooms inside the large house also makes Bronte wary. Somebody walking around her caravan at night also puts her on edge.

Things become even more tense as the welfare of her elderly charge is being questioned by local authorities and Veda and her anti-establishment group are lashing out at them.

Things soon come to a head and Bronte now knows that the social media hate that ruined her life isn't the worst thing that can happen to her. But maybe can social media help get her life back?

When Brontë makes some bad life choices, she decides it’s time to disappear for awhile, so she accepts a volunteer position as a carer for Nell, a dementia patient. Nell’s daughter, Veda, runs what she calls a rebirthing center. She has a few people who follow her beliefs such as their claim to sovereignty, but it seems like they are more conspiracy theorists than anything else. Brontë doesn’t like being there and finds the people odd, but where else can she go?

This is a suspenseful read and easy to read. I liked it but didn’t love it. Thank you, NetGalley and Text Publishing for the eARC.

firts thank you net galley for this arc. ok this story is about a women named bronte who make a post that goes viral and she need to lay low.so she take a volunteer job at a spirtual birthing retreat. looking after nell. but something is going on with nell. i thought the story itself was ok,but why was it formatted the way it was, no chapter heading or page numbers.

This book was very interesting. I like how we focused on themes of isolation and loneliness. I do think the main character was a bit whiny and complained quite a lot. I do like how this book was a thriller, and how it had a suspense feeling built into the writing.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!