The Collective is a revenge story with some shocking twists. It was impossible not to empathize with Camille. Her daughter Emily's death at the hands of a callous college rapist completely destroyed Camille's life. Five years later, she's divorced, drinking too much, popping pills, and barely holding it together after the tragic death of her beloved therapist. When learns the young man she holds responsible for her daughter's death is receiving an award, she decides to crash the event. This leads to her being invited to join The Collective, a group of mothers who gather anonymously online to plot the deaths of those who killed their children.

Camille's relationship with the recipient of her daughter's donor heart added a poignant and emotional touch to the story. I also liked how she questioned everything, a trait that repeatedly got her into trouble.

This book was like a wilder, crazier version of Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith, in which two men trade murders. Yes, The Collective itself was wildly improbable, but the book did a good job of showing how the women amplified each others' rage until The Collective as like a fire burning out of control.

A wild ride, compulsively readable, but the ending was unsatisfying. Camille loses her daughter in a tragic incident and seeks revenge as part of The Collective. Camille is a great narrator and you root for her all throughout, and her strong character helped me to overlook some holes in the plot and give the book 4 stars overall. Enjoyable and will recommend to friends.

The Collective was a propulsive read that is at once disturbing and thought-provoking. The protagonist in this book abandons her moral compass to get revenge, something most of us would never consider doing. Could I ever kill someone if he or she had intentionally caused my child’s death? Could I play a role in the murder of a person who had caused the death of another mother’s son or daughter? Heck no—I can barely step on a spider. But reading about women who plot to do it was morbidly fascinating. Gaylin has written an intense, first-class novel that will have you wringing your hands to find out what happens next. Yeah, I liked it. 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this book! It was definitely a vengeful story of a mother who's daughter was murdered. She had been living life having to think about how her daughter's murderer got away with it. She stumbled across a site on the dark web where many other parents were anonymously seeking revenge for a death from the past. The book was pretty intense and pretty graphic in some parts, but overall, I ended up not being able to put this book down!

This book was everything I hoped for and more! The protagonist is a gutsy and desperate grieving parent that will not rest until she avenges her child that becomes embroiled in a group of other vigilante mothers until she realizes they may give too far in their quest for justice.

When I started this book I thought this could be similar to The Chain, if only.. I wish it was but alas it's nothing like that. Camille is a mom who is grieving over the violent death of her daughter and wants revenge against the guy she holds responsible but he was not held accountable. Enter the collective, a group of anonymous women who will devise plans to make everyone that should pay with their lives. Camille is not a likable character. She comes across as privileged herself so there is no feeling sorry for her. She has a very uncomfortable relationship with Luke, the guy who received her daughter's heart. It borders on creepy. Camille is naive throughout. If she doesn't believe what one person in the group is saying why does she believe everything the other person is saying. You think if you had doubt you would doubt the entire makeup of the collective. In the end Camille got what she deserved thinking that she could be a vigilante herself.

I loved this book! I am a big fan of feminist revenge and this book has it all. It will also pull at your heartstrings. Thick with suspense and I will be recommending it to all my thriller loving friends!

The Collective by Alison Gaylin is about Camille, a mom whose daughter was killed several years ago. Her teen daughter went to a fraternity party with an older young man and was found dead in the snowy woods, sexually assaulted and violated. The young man was from a wealthy family and never paid the price for the death. He got off with no punishment. Camille's life mission after this is to bring him and his family down.
After an embarrassing viral video makes the rounds of a drunken Camille confronting her daughter's killer at an awards ceremony, she has hit rock bottom. A random woman hands her a card with a facebook page on it. When Camille checks it out she finds a group of grieving moms. Soon after she is invited to a secret group on the dark web called The Collective. They fantasize about killing the people who killed their kids. Camille loves typing out her darkest wishes for the man who killed her daughter.
I don't want to get too much more into the plot. This was such a fantastic and original story! I read it at a breath-taking pace and was sad when it was over. Please do yourself a favor and read this book!
Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Wowza!!!! I had to read this book to see what the fuss was all about. It was everything and more…I was immediately drawn to the story of a mother who lost her child to a violent crime., The tone, the prose, the suspense was right up my alley as far as thrillers go. It was dark and gritty, just how I like it. As a mother, you question what are your limits as to how far you would go to avenge your child’s murder. There were times, where I was sickened by her actions and other times, I was rooting for her. Camille is complex and she had me questioning my own belief system. the entire time. The old cliche, “Do two wrongs make a right?” This book definitely had me on my toes the entire time and probably was one of the fastest page turners I’ve read in some time.

The Collective:

“All of us will experience loss in our lives. We will cry until we have no tears left and then we will hurt even more. Even for the luckiest of us, life is mostly pain, with moments of happiness thrown in just to keep us vertical.”

I honestly don’t think I’ve ever yelled, “are you freaking kidding me” as many times as I did listening to The Collective. Vivienne Leheny is an amazing reader and really captured the hate and sadness of these mothers. I’m excited to listen of more from her.

So many of my friends said it was a quick read and I wouldn’t put it down until I finished. They were right. I started at work and finished running in one day. Did I want a different ending? Yes. Am I okay with the ending I received? Yes.

Overall, this was shockingly amazing. This vigilante justice was every thing I wished for and more. Thank you so much WM for the gifted copy. The Collective is out now.

A twisted women's empowerment/revenge novel based on loss of a loved one without justice. Cam is a woman still deep in mourning for the loss of her 15-year-old daughter from five years previous. Left for dead after an assault, she whispers her assailant's name into Cam's ear before dying. Cam is consumed with rage toward the young man responsible but even more so as he continues to live his privileged life with no remorse or consequence.
Cam stumbles across a social media platform for women venting their rage and desires for revenge (in graphic detail). She eventually makes contact with a nameless person who seems to head another sub-group - The Collective. This group is not about venting; it is a group lead to secure justice for the victim using the rants as a blue print for the consequence/death.
The Collective draws you into Cam's rage quickly. But within that rage, when the reality of what is happening becomes clear, doubt creeps in and makes Cam question the righteousness of the revenge. The moral of two wrongs making something right is explored. There are twists and turns enough to keep you turning pages all night.
Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced ecopy of The Collective by Alison Gaylin. This book was so fast-paced I almost got whiplash reading it. It was a dark thriller based on grief turned into rancid vengeance. As a thriller, The Collective was perfect in that it was unputdownable. As a story, I felt so many mixed emotions. I am a mother, so I can only imagine what grief over losing my child might do to me. However, also as a mother, I am looking at the lead character in this novel, Clementine, and thinking if she were my daughter or mother, I would be begging her to get some help. The rage that her daughter's alleged murderer was living a happy life was understandable, but to basically have decided to reside in that rage for the remainder of her years and have no interest in turning it around was hard to read. It almost felt like reading about a drug addicted person who everyone else around them can see how messed up the situation is, but the person themselves cannot. A secret group of grieving mothers who take vengeance on those who hurt their children sounds like the worst kind of support group. As I was reading the novel, as invested as I was, I kept thinking there is no way this ends well. When these women are acting as judge, jury, and executioner for their objects of wrath, when will the bloodlust stop? Who determines if the harm to one's child is worthy of death? The Collective was interesting in that even as a reader, I started out thinking I understood why a grieving mother might be drawn into such a group, then the more I read, the more I realized the Collective itself was horrifying in that there is no way out and no way to end its need. I could even imagine that it could be a reality as well, which turned the book into sort of a horror almost. Can you imagine if everyone who felt wronged started dispensing vigilante justice? I felt very stressed reading it, but mostly in a good way. I will definitely be recommending this book to my thriller-loving friends and will be looking for future thrillers by this author.

Thank you William Morrow for gifting me an eARC of this novel to review. If you're into thrillers, you're DEFINITELY going to want to check this one out! It hooked me from the beginning and didn't let go until the very end, which I found so satisfying! This book is available now.

Random funny nugget the author included - It's January 2020, and a group of college kids are headed back to campus from winter break and "can smile knowing that there will be a spring of 2020, and that, for them, it will be a glorious one."

How far would you go to wreak revenge on the perpetrator of someone you've lost? That's the question being asked in Alison Gaylin's newest novel. Camille is angry over the sudden and unexpected loss of her daughter. She unknowingly gets herself involved in a secret club located on the dark side of the web. This collective begins to ask more and more of her. Will she get in too deep? Read and enjoy!

The Collective is a gripping, well paced tale of a mother's need to avenge her daughter's death. This book hooked me from the very beginning and definitely kept my interest all the way to the surprising ending. I flew through this one in one day and would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys revenge stories.

I loved this book! I was a bit hesitant to read it due to the subject matter of (children passing away) but I am so glad I read this one! It's a twisty ride and a very unique storyline. And I did not see the ending coming. I'd love to see this on the beg screen.

A social thriller with a contemporary focus on maternal anguish and rage.

Camille Gardner has lost just about everything. When her daughter died because of a wealthy frat boy, she spiraled into grief and depression. Camille and her husband divorced so now she lives alone in the house that once held her happy family. She's obsessed with the boy and his family and seeks some sort of retribution and punishment for him. That's when she's introduced to an online group on the dark web -- they call themselves "the collective." In this secret chat thread, the women share stories of the loved ones they lost at the hands of those perpetrators who were never held accountable, subjected to a penalty, or brought to justice. This group, however, does more than talk about their pain. The collective has a means to plan and enact revenge as each woman does her part. Camille soon finds that this group is definitely crossing the line as she becomes an active member.

This was a great premise but somehow it just fell a little short from being the exciting, fast-paced thriller I was hoping to read. I found it difficult to relate to Camille despite my empathy for her situation and had to suspend a lot of disbelief over some of the coincidences and activities. In the end, it was a story that focused on the question of morality and the concept of "an eye for an eye" with the women serving as judge, jury, and executioner. I anticipated the ending so I was a bit surprised at the twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-book ARC to read and review.

A mother’s grief can be very strong and when combined with others looking for vengeance it can be deadly. Camille’s daughter was raped and drugged at a college party. The accuser said it was consensual and denied any fault. He escaped justice. Now Camille has found a group on the dark web that seek justice for their children. She doesn’t know what she is getting into but will do anything to stop the grief. A hair-raising ride that doesn’t let up.

Thank you netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. I loved it so much I had to buy a copy of my own to have.

Just how far will a grieving mother go to right a tragic wrong?

Camille Gardner is a grieving—and angry—a mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.

When her rash actions attract the attention of a secret group of women—the collective— Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss as well as their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability and perpetrators emerge unscathed.

I knew I had to read the book after reading the blurb. What a great premise and the book doesn't disappoint either. It keeps you hooked from the start.

Camille Gardner isn't a likeable character and yet you understand her motivations and thoughts. Alison Gaylin has done a great job with her character.

This is a pacy, dark, well-plotted and crazy thriller with great twists. Alison Gaylin is an auto-buy author for me now.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a Digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5

The Collective was an emotional page turner with an interesting premise - grieving mothers gone wild.

I loved Gaylin's writing style. The protagonist was fleshed out and relatable. The story was well paced and there were even some surprising twists. This was definitely one of the better thrillers I have read this year.

Not only was this novel unputdownable but it dove into some deep topics. Where is the fine line between justice and revenge? Is justice well served if there is collateral damage? How do you gain power back over your life when it has spiraled due to grief?

The Collective is an easy recommend. I have never read Gaylin previously but I bought one of her backlist titles after finishing.

I want to thank William Morrow and NetGalley for advancing an ecopy in exchange for an honest opinion.