Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Knopf for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Multiple POVs, past and present timelines, chaotic mother daughter dynamics

Honestly, I'm conflicted. It was slow, fast, exciting, and not so exciting. The characters were mostly unlikable, but the women were strong. There were so many layers to this story. I couldn't put it down. I recommend it!

There is a lot going on with this book. Frankly, at times, there was too much, particularly with the added therapist's notes, transcripts, emails, and texts in between the chapters. It got to be a bit too much. The writing style does grab the reader's attention. The characters are realistically drawn. The author attempted to do a lot with this book, but it might have benefited from having a sequel, as it just felt like some parts been thrown together. I did enjoy the multiple POVs, as well as the unexpected ending.

This book was slow for me the first half, but the second half was so good!!!! Omg I was so shocked by the ending,I didn’t see it coming at all.

This is my first book by Kimberly McCreight and I actually enjoyed this book and the way it was written in 2 POV's. Quick read that made you want to keep reading and find out what happened. I will be checking out this authors other books and giving them a try as well. I see mixed reviews for this one but for me it was easy to read and I related to it.

We follow 2 POV's, one is the daughter Cleo and the other is the mother Kat. Cleo comes home to find food burning and no sign of her mother, but she does find a bloody shoe under the sofa and knows something terrible has happened. Cleo's point of view is from discovering all of this and trying to uncover what happened to her mother. Cleo thinks her mothers this happily married, successful corporate lawyer.... only to find out her mother was more then that, she's her firms fixer.

Kat's point of view is leading up to the event her daughter finds her missing. Letting you understand what she does and what led up to this disappearance. She had a rough childhood growing up in a dangerous group home. Leading up to her disappearance Kat is getting multiple threats demanding money and trying to blackmail her. Aidan the soon to be ex-husband is also needing money from her for his work project. Cleo had no idea that her parent's weren't these happy couple she thought.

Cleo and her mother haven't had the best relationship due to Cleo dating the wrong people and making bad decisions. Kat is trying to fix and get involved in Cleo's life in the wrong ways. You can tell Kat cares about Cleo and who she involves herself with but children don't always know or think that their parents are just trying to help. They butt heads and have a rocky relationship which I can relate to but with my father.

This book had some good twists in it and I enjoyed how it ended and all made and came together at the end which I love in books. This book I felt like wrapped up well with emotional suspense, and to find out the truths we avoid. Having a child of my own I can now understand what it's like to be a mother and only wanting to help and support your child the best you know how. We are all determined to save the one's we love before it's too late and you can see that with these two.


I want to say a big thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor/Knopf for providing me with the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book will be published July 9, 2024 so keep an eye out for it then and grab yourself a copy.

4 motherly love stars

This writer does a great job writing about mother/daughter relationships. I first noticed this when I read “Reconstructing Amelia” and it’s confirmed in this one.

The daughter, Cleo, is a student at NYU. She has a difficult relationship with her mother and always feels like her mother expects perfection. It’s true that she hasn’t made the best choices recently.

The mother, Katrina, or Kat for short, works at a law firm. She loves her daughter, no matter what Cleo thinks, and she goes to great lengths to protect her.

The book alternates between Cleo’s point of view and Kat’s. There are also brief snippets from a court drug case and transcripts from counseling sessions.

A pivotal moment happens early when Cleo arrives for dinner with her mom (they’ve been estranged for a while) only to discover dinner burning in the oven and blood on the counter. It looks like something terrible has happened and where is Kat?

The rest of the book recounts Cleo’s desperate race to find her mom, checking with old friends and work colleagues and digging into her mother’s past. She discovers that her mom has many secrets and isn’t perfect. This alternates with Kat’s timeline from a few days before the pivotal incident.

Cleo’s father seems desperate for money, and he’s keeping many secrets from Cleo and the police.

The tension definitely builds in this one, I was rooting for Kat to be found, but things weren’t looking good. I had a few hunches in this one, but lots of red herrings.

I expected to be swept up in this novel like so many reviewers, but that just didn't happen. The relationships between Katrina, the disappeared one, her daughter and the husband Kat's divorcing. Then there's the guy she met online dating who Kat is interested in. Everyone's lives are messy and their relationships filled with rancor

Fast-paced and tense, this novel is narrated by a mother (before the crime) and her daughter who is trying to solve the mystery.
Enjoyable, but there was a point where the character learned too many things too easily. It took me out of the story.

I read through this book so fast, it was so easy to read and hard to put down. I especially like how it was told through the POV of both mother and daughter and mixed media (therapist transcripts, news articles, text messages). I did figure a lot of the twists out early but the ending twist, I had no clue. This book is full of information and red herrings, you never know what is actually going on. From the beginning, the book pulls you in and the momentum never slows down. I went into this one blind and really enjoyed just how crazy it got. I f you enjoy super twisty mystery/thrillers, a troubled mother/daughter relationships, and some crazy family drama, you'll definitely want to check this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cleo, a student at NYU, has been summoned to dinner by her Mom, Katrina, and although the two have been at odds for many years, she can sense that this request is important.

But, when she arrives at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she finds a chicken burning in the oven and green beans chopped on the kitchen counter but no sign of her mother, Kat.

UNTIL SHE FINDS HER MOM’S BLOODY SHOE UNDER THE SOFA

Katrina is a “buttoned up” patent attorney at Blair, Stevenson-what could have possibly happened?

As it turns out- a lot.

Kat isn’t just a lawyer; she’s her firm’s fixer. And in the days leading up her disappearance, Kat has become aware of multiple threats: a cover up at one of her firm’ s most important clients-Darden Pharmaceuticals, demands for money from her unfaithful “soon-to-be ex-husband”, evidence that Cleo may have slipped back into a dangerous relationship and menacing anonymous messages from her past, demanding money.

The book is told from the alternating first person POV’s of both women, with news articles and transcripts from therapy sessions peppered throughout.

Opening the DAY OF the disappearance, when Cleo arrives home, her chapters count the hours and days following her discovery, while Katrina’s chapters begin EIGHT DAYS BEFORE her own disappearance, with her chapters moving toward the actual day she goes missing.

This is a MULTI-LAYERED story of “emotional suspense” (as the author coins it) which offers up MANY suspects and keeps you guessing until the very end.

But, what makes it SO GOOD is how Kimberly McCreight perfectly captures the LOVE/HATE (think she hates) dynamic between mother and daughter. Cleo will learn she is more like her mother than she realizes, as she searches for the truth and a positive outcome for her Mom.

Surprisingly, my favorite chapters were CLEO’s although both narratives were strong.

AVAILABLE on July 9, 2024 this is a book I can definitely recommend that you add to your SUMMER TBR!

Thank You to Knopf for providing a gifted ARC through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

Wow this was quite a ride with a lot of twists and turns and characters to keep up with. A lot going on from a missing mom to a boyfriend dealing drugs to a dad who may or might not be trustworthy. It kept me turning pages to get to the end. A really good read and am thankful for to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

Kat, a fixer for a law firm, is estranged from her daughter, Cleo and getting a divorce from husband Aidan. Trying to mend fences with her daughter, she coaxes her into coming for dinner. When Cleo arrives, she finds the dinner burning, a broken glass, Kat’s bloody shoes, and her mother missing. Oh, but there is so much more to this story…..

There is a lot going on in this book and sometimes it seemed all over the place. There are multiple characters and different POVs as well as transcripts of therapy sessions, journal entries, text messages, and legal filings. Various timelines move back and forth but are not difficult to follow. A couple of different storylines centering around Kat give the reader a number of possibilities as to who might want to harm her. There are almost as many red herrings here as pickled herrings found in a jar in a delicatessen!

The denouement went very quickly and at least one loose end was left hanging. Despite this, it was an engrossing, fast paced read.

"Like Mother, Like Daughter" by Kimberly McCreight is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, secrets, and the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her child. McCreight, known for her skillful plotting and suspenseful storytelling, delivers a tense and immersive narrative that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

The novel follows the intertwined lives of two women: Kaitlyn, a teenage girl grappling with the sudden disappearance of her mother, and Jo, Kaitlyn's estranged mother who vanished without a trace years earlier. As Kaitlyn embarks on a desperate search for answers, she uncovers shocking revelations about her mother's past and the dark secrets that have haunted their family for years.

One of the strengths of "Like Mother, Like Daughter" lies in McCreight's ability to craft complex and compelling characters. Kaitlyn is a sympathetic and relatable protagonist, whose determination to uncover the truth propels the narrative forward. Jo, meanwhile, is a fascinating enigma, her motivations and actions shrouded in mystery until the novel's chilling climax. McCreight deftly explores the mother-daughter relationship, delving into themes of love, sacrifice, and the bonds that tie families together.

The novel is also notable for its expertly crafted suspense and atmosphere of unease. McCreight skillfully builds tension throughout the story, layering clues and revelations in a way that keeps readers guessing until the final pages. The pacing is relentless, with twists and turns that will leave readers breathless as they race to uncover the truth alongside Kaitlyn.

In addition to its gripping plot, "Like Mother, Like Daughter" also grapples with deeper themes of identity, trauma, and the legacy of family secrets. McCreight deftly explores the impact of past traumas on present-day relationships, and the ways in which the sins of the past can reverberate through generations.

Overall, "Like Mother, Like Daughter" is a riveting thriller that showcases Kimberly McCreight's talent for crafting suspenseful and emotionally resonant narratives. With its compelling characters, twisty plot, and thought-provoking themes, this novel is sure to captivate readers and leave them eagerly awaiting McCreight's next literary offering.

I had no expectations going into this book so color me pleasantly surprised that this mystery gripped me from the very first chapters.

I really appreciated the alternating timelines and POVs, one from Cleo after the disappearance of her mom, and the other from Katrina in the coming days of her disappearance. This layout worked super well for the plot, I was hooked.

Despite their tumultuous relationship, Cleo searches for her mother, gradually unfolding multiple plots of blackmail and family secrets. An underlying story of a mother’s love for her daughter.

I was captivated and entertained throughout trying to figure out all the clues and red herrings, and how they fit into Katrina’s mysterious disappearance. I liked the intrigue of Katrina’s past and her drive to protect Cleo from her shady drug dealer boyfriend. There was a lot to keep track of at times, but the characters and the mother/daughter theme made me keep going. I quite enjoyed the book overall, a solid mystery that I think many book clubs might be into!

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the advance reading copy to review.

“Like Mother, Like Daughter” by Kimberly McCreight is a shocking thriller that explores the secrets and complexities of a mother-daughter relationship. When Cleo discovers her mother’s bloody shoe under the sofa, she realizes something terrible has happened. As the story unfolds, we witness the insurmountable division between Cleo and her seemingly perfect mother, Kat. The novel explores damaging lies, hard truths, and the strong love between a mother and daughter. A riveting read that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the beginning!
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book until about 3/4 of the way through. It was sooo convoluted. To the point where you knew something was a red herring because it just wasn't possible for it to not be one.

The characters were dynamic, and I loved dissecting the overbearing mother - underappreciative daughter lines, but it ended up being consumed by unnecessary characters and plotlines. Less would have been more in this case. With a talented writer like McCreight, she can depend on her characters to carry a lot. I wanted to know more about Haven House or even Cleo's relationship with the drug dealer (only a little bit) would have taken out some of those extraneous webs that just did not need weaving.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book. I enjoyed the characters and their arcs, and found the plot interesting. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Really loved this read! I had a great time reading it and will recommend and share to my followers.

4/5 stars! Thank you for this ARC!

Great story showing realistic portrayals of a modern-day mother-daughter relationship intertwined with all items needed for a suspenseful mystery. The plot had a lot going on, but if you were able to follow it all, you came out loving the book. I definitely recommend!

I think how the chapters were ordered really worked out for the pace of the story. Even though there is a lot to taken in, I eventually started putting the many puzzle pieces together. Around the 70% I couldn’t put it down. The story held my attention from the start, but those last few chapters were quite intense. I also enjoyed the epilogue. I think it wrapped it all up very well.

4.25 - I really liked this one! It brought me in right from the beginning and I loved reading through Kat and Cleo’s POVs. I really liked seeing their relationship and how they both didn’t fully understand each other but watching them work through that. My heart was racing and while I guessed some of the twists, I wasn’t mad about it because the ride getting there was just so fun!