This seemed really long to me - maybe because I realized very quickly what it took the main character an eternity to get. At one point, I was like why am I still reading this?

I liked the writing, but the storyline was tough in spots. It was hard to connect with or have sympathy or empathy for anyone in this book.

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had previously read We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley and was anxious to read her follow up novel, The Goddesses. In this one, we follow Nancy and her husband Chuck, and their two twin sons on their move to Hawaii from San Diego. It is supposed to be a fresh start for them, Chuck has a new job with Costco, and Nancy is a relatively happy homemaker, although Chuck admitted to cheating on her, hence the fresh start. Nancy enrolls in a yoga class, because well, that's what one does in Kona. There she meets Ana, and the manipulative roller coaster ride begins. Ana starts to take over Nancy's life, inserting herself, and generally becoming an overwhelming force. Ultimately, she even moves into Nancy's home, which I found absolutely amazing, but Nancy would do anything for Ana. Mistake,mistake, mistake. This was an okay book for me. Right at the start, it was fairly obvious that Ana was a highly unstable, manipulative character, much more nuanced and complicated than Nancy. I felt Nancy was under-written, she didn't have much personality at all. But maybe that was the point. She was completely moldable. It sort of felt improbable that a grown woman could be so easily manipulated and played by another grown woman, but alas, it happened in this story. Just so-so for me.

If you’re going to start over, you might as well do it in paradise. After Nancy’s husband cheated on her, she’s had a hard time feeling anything but anger and distrust. The move to Kona, Hawaii has been good in some ways. but Nancy and her husband sleep in separate rooms and their twins are acting up to get attention. Desperate for a connection, Nancy befriends her charismatic yoga teacher Ana. The two begin spending all their time together, Nancy senses something, a strength in Ana that she is drawn to. Soon, they are spending all their time together, and Nancy’s husband and children take a distant back seat. The two woman are inseparable and as Nancy falls ever deeper into Ana’s thrall, the only question that remains is – what does Ana expect in return? This is a slow burning novel of suspense and betrayal that readers won’t be able to put down