The rich white boy who was responsible for Emily Gardner's death got away with it, and Emily's mom, Camille, is out for revenge. She joins an online group of women who call themselves The Collective, and she's forced to figure out just how far she's willing to go on her quest for vengeance.

I have a bottomless well of love for vengeance stories (specifically ones with women going after terrible men), and this was a great one. I especially enjoyed the ending. I thought it was going to turn out one way, and I was getting irritated, but then Alison Gaylin twisted the story in an unexpectedly wicked direction, and it was perfect.

This was my first book by Alison Gaylin, and I'm extremely excited to read her backlist and anything else she writes in the future. Perfect for fans of They Never Learn, The Missing Hours, and Never Saw Me Coming.

Also: this book had the best epigraph ever: "Hate is a bottomless cup; I will pour and pour. - Medea (Euripides)"

(review will be posted on IG @leavemetomybooks & link will be updated)

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Collective written by Alison Gaylin

PUB DATE: Nov 2, 2021

This is an additive, fast-paced psych killer, I mean thriller! At the heart of this book is what grief can do to a desperate mother & at what lengths she will go through to rectify & exact vengeance.

For the past 5 years, Camille Gardner has been heavily grieving her 15-yo daughter’s tragic death. She’s lost everything and barely holding on and she’s obsessed with the privileged young man who is responsible for her daughters’ murder & his family who enabled him all these years. She has not been able to move on – she refuses to move on. All she ever wanted was to destroy him the way he & his family has destroyed her & her family.

Then, she gets invited to join a cult-like role-playing secret group of women called “The Collective” on the dark web where mothers share violent scenarios of how their child’s killer will die & the perpetrators are held accountable for their actions. They all have a role in the well-orchestrated complex plots & Camille becomes deeply enmeshed & it actually makes her feel better…but are they only games? Definitely a twisted and dark story of mob mentality, deception, lies & the desire for revenge.

Thanks @williammorrowbooks @netgalley for the ARC!

Original! Scary!

Your child is killed, the accused is set free with little or no repercussions. Justice has not been served! Would you or could you take matters in your own hands and make sure the killer pays for what they did? Karma!

A group of mothers grieving together on a Facebook site. Daydreaming out loud about making their child’s killer pay. Then, you are invited to join a highly secretive group on the dark web, where Karma is given out, but at what price.

This book is original, and so realistic and far reaching enough that I so could see it happening, especially in this day and age. Story is well written, you can feel the pain of the characters, especially Camille a grieving mother whose world is upside down and inside out at the death of her teenage daughter. She’s angry. Makes heartfelt and vivid comments and is led to the dark world of The Collective, where she is sucked in and karma is dealt out methodically and meticulously. Very well written. This story kept me reading well into the night. The ending was a heart pounding surprise! I look forward to reading this author again.

Thanks to Alison Gaylin, William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

Wow….despite the book starting kind of slowly I could not put this one down and I absolutely devoured it. This was a unique thriller that truly explored what revenge really means. And can your good deeds out weigh your bad? The main character Camille’s daughter was killed and she has not been able to let go. This is largely because the frat boy who brought her underage daughter to the party, got her drunk, and raped her got off completely because of his family’s money and assassination of her daughter’s character. Camille is barely hanging on when she gets an invite to a facebook group of women who lost their children. Women like her who are angry and want the vengeance that is their due. But Camille gets in deeper than she knows and figuring out what is going on and what she has really done may take more time than she left.

A huge thank you to the publisher @williammorrowbooks for my gifted copy!


💭💭 𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫3.5/5

Camille Gardener, the MC, lost her daughter 5 years ago. Camille is grieving and having a hard time accepting the loss. Camille believes that the accused killer, Harris Blanchard, got away with murdering her daughter, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to make him pay for what he has done.

Camille is disgusted to find out that Harris is being awarded at his university. She turns up at his award ceremony, confronts him, and she makes such a scene of doing so which is aired then plastered all over social media.

Camille is then introduced to the dark web via a chat group called The Collective. The chat users are all anonymous but like Camille, they are all grieving, angry mothers who want justice. This group of women share stories of their loss, their grief, and plan ways to take revenge on those who they believe must pay.

For Camille, this group is a way for her to express her grief and anger, until one of the groups revenge targets ends up dead. Camille begins to question if she has gotten involved in something far more sinister than she had thought. This book begs to question if revenge is always sweeter?

This is a mix between drama and thriller. Although it did start off a little slow, it was quick to pick up the pace, and once it did It was an enjoyable read.

I will say that it was hard for me to connect with any of the characters, especially the MC-Camille. None of them were likable nor did they have any depth to them. However, this did not keep me from being totally invested in the plot and finding out what happened next.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Camille is not having an easy time with life after losing her daughter five years ago. She meets a group of women online who are experiencing the same kind of loss she us and want justice. This book kept me on edge from the start.

Revenge is a powerful motivator. - Marcus Luttrell

What do you do when the murderer of your fifteen year-old daughter goes unpunished? You think constantly of revenge if you're Camille Gardner, whose daughter was left to die after being raped five years ago.

Camille lives a life obsessed with thoughts of revenge and filled with anger and finds a group of like-minded mothers on the dark web who are willing to follow through on their revenge plans.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I tend to like stories about vengeance, revenge, and justice. I am a bit bloodthirsty. I highly recommend this book if you feel the same.

I received this book from Custom House Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

When we meet Camille, she is divorced, drinking, and popping Xanaxes after her teen daughter was found frozen to death in the woods near a frat party. Seething each day that the guy responsible goes on as if nothing happened and finding no one who understands, Camille finally finds some solace in an online group for mothers in similar situations. However, the group is on the dark web, and the thoughts shared in the group are quite violent. Wouldn't it just be perfect if somehow these women could join together to even the score against the predators that have ruined their lives? But who would really do that, and what is the cost of revenge?
While slow to start, this book had a really cool concept with a chilling ending.

What does the word revenge mean to you? Have you ever had something so terrible happen in your life, that's all you wanted.... at any cost.... any means? And what kinds of acts or people deserve that kind of deep, dark act of revenge? After reading this thriller of a novel, you might just have to think a bit more about your answers.

Camille is our main character, introduced to us while she's attending an awards ceremony of a local boy, receiving a prestigious humanitarian award. Camille looses her mind during the ceremony, and in today's age of technology, everyone has their phones at the event and quickly Camille finds herself highlighted in the next viral video for all to see. What could bring on this type of rage? Readers are quick to find out, Camille's daughter Emily died 5 years earlier, at the hands of this local boy, now receiving an award, acting as if the experience never happened. Understanding the distress Camille was in, a strange lady places a card in Camille's hand, with an intriguing group name listed. Upon further investigation, Camille learns the pathway leads to the dark web and an underground secret society, seeking revenge, lead by a group of women, mothers who have all lost children. Real names are not to be used and sharing any detail about the group is not allowed. But if you're looking to hold someone accountable, seeking justice, when the criminal system won't do it for you, this is the place to be.

Readers will be amazed at how easy the author unfolds the goals of the collective and how precise and exact the group stages the "disappearance" and "suicides" of those they target. This is a page turner, that will leave you up late at night, wondering if and hoping you've never made anyone this mad in life... This original novel, with undertones of "The Chain" and secret society vibes of "Fight Club", will leave readers haunted, even after the turn of the last page. I'm pretty sure the Collective is real and out there. Watch your backs, readers - I'm hoping not to run into the gray-haired lady, handing out an invitation to this club.

The idea of joining a group to help with your grief only to find out you have been targeted and manipulated to do something you are not sure you should do. This is the idea of this book. It is an interesting, psychological twisty story that keeps you wondering what will happen next. While I didn't think it ended with the bang it could have, it was still a decent read.

The story begins with Camille, who is grieving the loss of her daughter, Emily. She is bitter and angry at the one person she feels responsible. She feels he got off easy and would like nothing more than to see him pay. She soon receives an invitation to join a group of mothers who are in the same situation. They seem to understand her point of view more than anyone else. Could this be the answer to her troubles?
This was my first book by this author. The book starts a little slow. I actually put this one down a couple of times and almost didn't finish, but something pulled me back in. While it isn't a page-turner or "keep me up all night" story, it was good and did keep me interested. It isn't a complete edge-of-your-seat thriller, but did have some thriller elements, which I liked. It is a bit of a mystery, as you wonder what the group really is.
Most of the characters were not likeable, but that is the point with this one. It is a little all over the place with the characters and their backgrounds.. The lack of names (they are given numbers in the group) did make it a little hard to follow at times.
I didn't care for the ending, but overall it was good.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when a group of rage-filled mothers who feel cheated by the legal system take justice into their own hands and dish up revenge? This chilling page turner had my jaw slacked and my eyes heavy from no sleep, but I was hooked! Full of twists and turns and a blindsiding ending, it checked all the boxes for me.

The protagonist is introduced to a group of like-minded mothers on the dark web. Are their actions part of a game or are they real? As the story unfolds the protagonist grapples with moral ambiquity and ultimately whether revenge will restore her inner peace. Thought-provoking themes of privilege, patriarchy, karma, grief, and more are woven throughout, making this a perfect choice for bookclub discussions.

This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading more. Thank you NetGalley, Alison Gaylin, and Harper Collins Publishers for the Advanced E-reader copy. I am writing this review voluntarily.

What would you do if your child was murdered and the killer got away with it?

In The Collective, a group of angry moms take justice into their own hands since the justice system failed them.

Amazing. Read it.

Wow this book is amazing!!!!! This is a wild ride of Justice that turns dark quickly. This book had me turning the pages as fast as I could read them to find out what happens next. I have to binge read Alison Gaylin's other books now. I highly recommend this book.

A roller coaster ride of a thriller! What happens when your daughter dies at a fraternity party? How far will you go for revenge? Full of gripping twists and turns! I loved it.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎.

In Greek mythology Niobe was the prototype of the grieving mother, weeping for the loss of her children. According to The Iliad by Homer, Niobe boasted of her twelve children to the Titan Leto, who only had two children. As punishment for her hubris, Apollo killed her sons and Artemis killed her daughters. Her children lay unburied for nine days, and on the tenth day, Niobe was turned into a rock on Mount Sipylus, which continues to weep as the snow melts above it.

Just like Niobe, Camille is a grieving mother. Five years prior, she lost her fifteen-year-old daughter and cannot stop her burning rage over the privileged young man she believes is responsible, especially when he was exonerated in a court of law.

After an incident lands Camille in jail for the night, a woman hands her a business card with a single word printed on it...Niobe. She does her research and finds out who Niobe is, and she thinks again of her daughter lying undiscovered and unburied out in the cold, all alone. The card leads her to a group on the dark web filled with women who are also grieving the loss of a child. Camille loses herself in their stories, comforted that she is not alone, when one day she receives a private message. Just how far will she be willing to go to avenge her daughter's death?

This book spoke to that animalistic, primal part of me that would do anything to protect my child and the hellfire and vengeance I would inflict upon anyone who dared to harm them. This book is a powerful look into a mother's love but also a grim reminder that when planning revenge, we should often dig two graves. Highly recommended!

Camille is still grieving her daughter whom was murdered 5 years earlier. When a stranger approaches her and hands her a one word business card, Camille is slowly drawn into the ‘collective’.
A great psychological thriller by a new to me author, Alison Gaylin. A fresh and unique storyline that explores the lengths a mother goes to avenge her daughter’s violent murder. It kept me guessing until the end! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital arc of this book.

I read this in one day. I hadn't read a thriller that kept me this interested in a long time. The topic was unexpected and pushed the boundaries, but not unbelievable. I was in it all the way, but did not expect the ending.

The Collective by Alison Gaylin is a thriller, but it sneaks up on the reader. Camille, Cam, is the mother of a girl who died five years ago. Emily, 15, had been raped and then left to freeze a short walk from the fraternity house. There had been a trial, but her got off scot-free. He being Harrison Blanchard. Today she had gone to the ceremony honoring him with a humanitarian award. She had lost in and caused a scene. They police came. She called Luke, one of her few friends. Of course, her came. Luke had received Emily's heart after she died. She could still hear it beat in his chest. The woman at the scene had slipped her a business card with a website on it. She logged in and found herself in the midst of women just like her. Women who had lost children and no one ever paid. She was home. No one telling her she would get over it; that forgiveness was the only way; that she needed to remember the good things. On thing let to another and she found herself on a site on the dark web. It was a much more serious site. One where they got things done.

Cam is in a dark place and it gets darker. She chooses the wrong people to trust. A lesson to us all, maybe. Do not trust people who encourage you to be miserable. This was an amazing book. I never saw it coming. Until the very end, Cam can't believe what she has done. The plotting in this book was extraordinary. Carefully planned and executed. I saw no holes, although maybe they were there and I just got sucked in to the whole thing. Cam was an amazing and ever-changing character. She grew as the story progressed. The pacing was perfect. I was on edge, praying for a good outcome. Amazing book, but not pretty.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Collective by Harper Collins, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #harpercollins #alisongaylin #thecollective

This is the best book I’ve read all year. Hands down. My jaw hit the floor. And it is well rounded with a compelling plot and a character you just want to know more about.

Camille is still grieving five years after her daughter’s death. She was taken too soon and the suspected murderer gets off and continues to live his privileged life. You just become so immersed in her pain. I could feel the grief and even shed a tear or two in the early part of the book. Then she is contacted by the collective and they offer a way for justice. She isn’t sure if it is real or a game, but it offers enough of a distraction that she is willing to play along. And then the book gets really interesting.

It’s a unique take on the genre. It is t a pulse pending thriller, but has little mysteries running through it. And you get to know so much about Camille and are really rooting for her to find peace. And as I read, I really thought about justice and what it’s cost really is.

I don’t want to go any further for fear of spoiling anything, but if you are a fan of mystery/suspense/thrillers, you need to add this to your TBR list.