This was ok. An interesting story, predictable, without very lovable characters. I liked the idea, but I didn't get into it.

Women Like Us by Katia Lief

I wasn't aware of this when I requested this ARC, but Women Like Us is the second book in the Invisible Women Series.
In the first book, set five years earlier, Joni kills her (abusive? it wasn't clear to me) husband by putting antifreeze into his cocktail. He's found at the base of the stairs, and it would appear that she's gotten away with his murder; everyone seems to at least agree that he deserved it.

After spending time hiding away in Bali, Joni now runs Sunny Day Productions with her daughter, Chris, and her best friend, Val. This part of the storyline explores the complexities of female friendships, which I found to be the strongest aspect of the story. There is a simmering tension between Joni and Val, as Val at least suspects that Joni killed her husband.

Joni's brother, Marc, resurfaces after a twenty-year estrangement. Joni wants to believe that he will be different now that he is older, but Val remains skeptical. Marc ultimately betrays Joni and her production assistant before fleeing and stealing Joni's dog. A private investigator approaches Joni, leading her to discover the hidden truths about Marc's past. As she learns more, Joni starts to believe that psychopathy may be a family trait.

Women Like Us is marketed as a literary thriller/mystery, but it doesn’t quite fit that description; the thriller/mystery elements felt weak. I enjoyed the story overall, but I found myself needing to re-read the ending a couple of times because I thought I had missed something, only to realize I hadn't. My ARC copy of the book didn't include cover art, so I was surprised to see the cover design, I'm not exactly sure how hula-woman fits with the storyline, but I like the idea of it.

Mild thumbs up.

Body Count = 1 (in this book).

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for this eARC.

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Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy to honestly review.

In "Women Like Us", Katia Lief delivers a piercing and emotionally layered literary thriller that explores the murky depths of family, friendship, and the legacies of trauma. As a follow-up to Invisible Woman, this novel stands confidently on its own while offering deeper context for returning readers.

We meet Joni Ackerman at a crossroads—five years after her husband's shocking murder. Now a successful television producer navigating midlife alongside her daughter and her closest friend, Joni is forced to confront ghosts from her past when her estranged brother Marc reenters her life. What unfolds is a psychological unspooling of secrets, betrayal, and questions of trust that feel painfully—and compellingly—real.

Lief’s greatest strength lies in her character work. Joni is intelligent, flawed, fiercely loyal, and achingly human. The dynamic between her and the other women in the book—particularly her daughter and best friend—captures the nuance of intergenerational trauma and female solidarity with rare honesty. The book resists tidy resolutions in favor of emotional truth, making the suspense feel earned rather than manufactured.

Stylistically, the prose is clean and cinematic, with a steady build that balances psychological depth with plot-driven momentum. Lief does an exceptional job using the thriller format not just to entertain, but to examine how women—especially women "of a certain age"—are often underestimated, misunderstood, or expected to stay quiet. The story nods subtly to the #MeToo movement, but its message goes beyond headlines—it’s about the quieter, lifelong process of reclaiming power.

Bottom line: Women Like Us is a gripping, thoughtful thriller that celebrates the strength and complexity of women who refuse to be defined by the worst thing that’s ever happened to them. Smart, suspenseful, and unflinchingly honest, it’s a standout novel for readers who love character-driven mysteries with emotional depth.

2.5

The rating unfortunately reflects the point at which I fell out with what I thought began as a promising thriller.

Women Like Us starts out as a fast-moving story about Joni Ackerman. Joni is the CEO of Sunny Day, a production company which was founded by her late husband, Paul. Joni is just as successful as her husband had been although she is not prone to the same urges that led to Paul's untimely death when he was being investigated for sexual abuse of various young women.

As Joni is getting ready to head to New York to do work on a new project she is surprised by her brother, Marc's, reappearance. However all is not as it seems when she meets up with her business partner, Val, only to discover that Marc is just as shady as she remembered him as a child. Joni panics knowing she has left her beloved dog with a man she knows may be a monster.

And so begins an extremely drawn out search for her brother whilst trying to keep her own secrets intact and worrying about just how far she will go to protect herself.

As I said, this book lost me at the point that Jodi turned from a woman who was afraid of her past catching up with her into one who kept going on about what a terrible person she could be and whether psychopathy runs in families. Pretty sure it doesn't, Jodi, or it'd take the Police about 5 minutes to track down murderers.

The whole story descended into farce after a promising start and the denouement of the search for Marc was utterly ridiculous.

All in all, a miss for me.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the advance review copy.

From the cover and the synopsis I thought this book was made for me. Unfortunately, it was not my favorite. I enjoyed the main plot line but there was a lot of filler that threw me out of the story. All of the stuff about the film, dating, and work in general felt pointless and really did not lead anywhere. It ended up making the story clunky and hard to lose myself in. However, everything with Marc was super intriguing so I didn’t stop reading.

Thanks to NetGalley & Grove Atlantic for the chance to read this book

Had a little trouble keeping up the pace with this one, nothing wrong with it just not my genre or the type of book I normally read. So just took me a little longer than I like to read one book, felt like it dragged on a bit, I did not read the first book so maybe that's why I wasn't as invested as i should have been in the characters stories, other than that it was well written. IMHO I think the Blair part fell flat for me, I mean i didn't love her as a character anyway but then she was just gone and they kept bringing her up with the main storyline but I just felt I didn't really get enough of her part of the story or maybe some more back round on her might have helped.

*Did not finish*

Women Like Us is the second book in the Invisible Woman series, set a year after Joni Ackerman gets away with her husband’s murder. The premise really intrigued me, and I was hoping (and expecting) a messed-up and perhaps feminist interpretation of one woman's life after those events. To be fair, I wasn't aware this was a sequel, and reading the first book might have changed my perspective.

I struggled to connect with Joni. Her voice felt flat, and I found it hard to understand or care about her decisions. Not to mention a bunch of other characters that I couldn't keep up with. Meanwhile, the plot was confusing and hard to follow. Her brother, Marc, seemed like an interesting character, but it still felt quite disjointed rather than suspenseful.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I appreciate the opportunity!

Joni’s husband, Paul, died about a year ago. It was supposed to be by suicide but she knows she is the killer as she added antifreeze to his cocktail.

Paul was the originator of Sunny Day Productions but when Joni learned that he had raped and abused young women, she could not take it anymore. Joni is now the CEO and Executive Producer of the company along with their daughter, Chris.

When Joni’s brother, Marc, knocks on her door, she is shocked because she hasn’t seen nor heard from him in many years. He says he has been working as an IT specialist on cruise ships and is ready to settle down somewhere. Skeptical of him as their childhood relationship was not good, she invites him in to stay for a bit. He gets along with her daughter, Chris, and Joni’s beloved dog Stella.

When Joni and Chris need to head to New York for a few days, Marc promises to take good care of Stella while she’s gone. However, his promises blow up when Joni learns more about his past that shows he has been lying. They’ve left him with Stella!

This is a very tense book that brings up the old saying: “He Needed Killing.” That certainly holds true here. There is a lot of angst and guilt expressed in this book. The characters are well developed which makes for a tense and scary story here. I enjoyed it and hope other readers will as well. My favorite character? Of course that would be Stella, the GoldenDoodle.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for this free ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

I once again enjoyed Katia Leif’s writing style and this story, however this book was a bit disappointing. There were many loose ends left at the end, which I think might have been set up for a book 3. I would’ve liked a little more resolution to what happened because at this point I am not sure if I would be interested in a third book in the series.

As always i enjoyed the nuanced takes on feminism, internalized misogyny, and female friendships. Joni continued to be an unlikable character but kept me interested.

Overall the experience was enjoyable but not as much as the first book.

This is a 3.5. I liked it a lot, but a little less than the first in the series. Why? Well, hopefully for something that someone else caught while reading a galley and fixed before pub date. But it was a small something that really bugged me. (I might try and check out a final copy and see if has been corrected and if so change my review.) Also, like the first in the series, I felt like I knew exactly where the story was going. Sure this one took a little detour but that just seemed to slow down the inevitable. I think I like a little less transparency in my books. But, I also loved the inclusion of the history of Caedmon Records! Yes, this woman owned/run studio really existed! I do love when I learn something even while reading fiction. I wonder where book three will take us?

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for an ARC of Women Like Us by Katia Lief in exchange for my honest review.

I read Katia Lief’s 2024 novel, Invisible Woman, a page-turning psychological thriller when it first released. When I saw that this author had a sequel to that book, I was curious because it seemed like Invisible Woman ended in a good place. Naturally, I had to give Women Like us, releasing June 3, 2025, a read and see how the author followed things up.

For the first 20% I had no idea where the book was going, even having read the first book. Sadly, at least at the beginning, the sequel did not have that page-turning quality for me that Invisible Woman did. I almost DNF’d, but decided to push through a little further. Things did pick up around the 25% mark, and by 30% I was fairly invested in the plot, mainly because of the protagonist’s dog, Stella. Unfortunately, that little bump in excitement I felt around 30% did not pan out as I continued on. There is a mystery at the core of this novel about friendship and family, actually a few different mysteries, but the writing never fully captured my attention. This book is definitely an example of tell vs. show, which made the reading experience rather plodding and clunky.

I appreciated the ending. But as with Invisible Woman, I felt there were some plot points that were never expanded upon and completed. As a reader, having experienced this with two of this author’s books, I found that rather frustrating.

What I liked about this book was that Joni, the main character did show some growth from the first book. However, the rest of this story fell flat for me. There were definitely some interesting storylines, but unfortunately for me, they didn’t tie together in a satisfying way. I would have loved richer character development and completed plotlines.

Although Women Like Us, was not the perfect book for me, readers who enjoy contemporary family dramas with a mystery at its center, and want to root for morally grey, feminist characters, might find this an enjoyable read.
2.5 Stars

When like us, is a new innovative type of book. This book will keep you wondering do I like or hate this character. There is no character that I don’t think had a little psychopath in them

This book explored friendship, family, and the secrets we keep in a way that shed light on the complexities of female friendship and the weight of our past trauma,

When Joni’s brother comes back in her life, he seems like a changed man but her best friend isn’t fooled.

This was an interesting suspense that shows the bonds of friendship, how they are tried and how they stay true. There is a dog in it and I lived anxiously through the entire book afraid she would get hurt! While there are a few twists, there pacing is on the slower side. The ending was exciting though and I loved how it all wrapped up.

“Everyone was telling me not to worry. But wasn’t that what people said when there was something to worry about?”

Women Like Us comes out 6/3.

Those who read Invisible Woman will remember Joni's loathsome husband Paul and her friend Val, as well as her daughter. And they will remember Joni's struggles before she offed Paul. But now, she's sober, running her company with the help of Val and her other friends and all looks good until her brother Marc shows up. Marc was a difficult sibling and as it turn out, he is also a difficult husband. When he disappears taking Joni's dog with him, well, no spoilers. This has delightful turns of phrase but the characters, except for the poor dog, are not especially likable. That's ok. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction looking for something light.

Women Like Us had all the ingredients: suspicious deaths, tangled relationships, and yes… even a stolen dog. But instead of building into a tight, twisty thriller, it kind of wandered through its own plot like it got lost at brunch.

There are a lot of characters, and while they’re distinct enough, the story doesn’t seem sure where it wants to go with them. Someone might’ve killed someone. Someone definitely did. Motives are murky, timelines get fuzzy, and by the end, I wasn’t so much shocked as I was mildly confused and a little tired.

That said, the writing has moments of wit and insight, and there’s a certain charm in the chaos — like a group chat full of people with secrets and too much wine.

Worth a read if you’re in the mood for low-stakes mystery vibes with some dark humor… just don’t expect a tightly wound thriller.

I wanted to like this but it just didn’t work for me. So many characters and it felt a little disjointed like it didn’t blend easily. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for read and review

1.25 🌟

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book much. I didn't realize it was a sequel - maybe reading the first book would have helped. However, even Goodreads lists this as the first in the series rather than the second one.

The characters were all flat and highly unlikeable to me. Not in a fun or twisted way, either - just utterly boring. The writing was confusing; I found myself re-reading paragraphs here and there to try to parse out which pronouns were referring to whom. I skimmed the last 40% because I wanted the book to be over with by that point. There's a twist or two, neither of which is surprising. I don't know. This book did nothing for me at all.

I'm clearly not the target audience here, but I'm not sure who that audience would be. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! Murder that isn’t so much a mystery. The characters were well written, the scenes were always very descriptive. There was a major plot twist that I had seen coming but I was intrigued nonetheless 😁

woman like us are certainly going to need to be an "us" in this book as once again Katia gives us a thought provoking and stirring novel. it reeks of the unpleasantness often chucked,strangled and or forced onto woman. and what do they do about it. well in this first book with our character Joni she faced all of that with her husband and what came out about just what type of disgusting man he was. and Joni acted. Joni acted. but dont think this makes her ruthless or heartless. because in this book we very much hear those inner feelings of shame, guilt and lots of other emotions that comes from being a woman, a victim, being close to such a man and then getting rid of such a man. its a hard moral dilemma for both the character and us as readers. but dont ever be fooled of what abusive horror her husband was. and the ripple it continues to weave on anyone who was in his life.
we do have some moving on happening. as Joni has stated making her own different by bigging up woman in her now flying company. she works with her daughter and best friend. things seem to be going well.
there is more getting to know the complexities of the characters in this book. oh and we also have a beautiful dog to add to the mix and well, a dog makes everything better.
but then out of nowhere comes Marc. Jonies husband. he turns up a seemingly changed man. but he wasnt always a good man and this leaves with Joni once again living with trust dilemma. shes questions others and questioning herself.
Out of the blue Joni’s brother Marc shows up to Joni and Chris’s home in Malibu. The two haven’t had contact in years. Marc was a bully when they were younger but he seems to have changed for the better.
but then one day he disappears again. and secrets start bubbling to the surface about who he was.
weve got a story to tell here and it is told so well. its not quick but its ever so smart. its not full of wam bam moments but the shocks reverberate loud enough when exposed.
another brilliant book that feels powerful in its quietness and brave in its raw telling of humans.