Didn't finish this, was not at all what I expected from the synopsis. Certainly not bad, but don't feel that we need this in our collection.

Maybe 2.5? This felt like the outline of an interesting book, and the story itself was certainly intriguing. It’s also a fast read. The problem is I didn’t care at all about the characters. It just felt like a lot of moving from point to point where there was no emotional context. I get some of it was meant to be vague but it never really hit the emotional depth I would expect with this kind of story.

Sorry this took me so long.

Creepy and cult like. I wasn’t sure what I had read when I was finished! The grooming of the girls are such a young age had me feeling all kinds of cringe.

Where you end by Abbet Keeller is a Book about twins were one got in an accident and must learn everything about their life from the other twin Jude is the one teaching cat everything she forgot but when cat starts to find contradictions and things that just don’t seem kosher to Judes other stories she goes off investigating it for herself I really thought I was going to love the story but sadly I did not after reading the authors nonfiction book Eden undone I really thought I was in for a great ride there were some parts that are out and out confuse me and didn’t make sense to the overall art of the story which is sad because once you read the whole book all you think is that could’ve been a great read but sadly it was not. I want to thank the publisher for my free ARC copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I was really excited to get approved to read this but I think I expected something different. This isn’t a negative reflection on the author or this book – if the synopsis sounds interesting to you, definitely check it out – I was just expecting something much more twisty and fast paced. However, I think fans of cult-themed suspense and slow burns will really enjoy this one.

Netgalley ARC

The first part of this book caught my interest and I quite enjoyed the relationship between Sab and Kat. However the plot as well as the rest of the book felt very predictable and flat for me. I didn’t warm to the main characters even though the things they went through were horrific.
Don’t know that I would read more from this author. The best thing for me was the cover! I love rabbits!

QUOTE: “the pain of her own presence hits her acutely.”

A haunting tale that explores the fragile boundaries between memory, identity, and the shadows of the past. The premise is intriguing but the execution occasionally falters, leaving gaps in tension and pacing.
Many thanks to Henry Holt & Company and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book. Unfortunately, it was a little slow for me but it was enough to keep me engaged and I was a little confused at times.

I liked the concept and how I was trying to guess what was going to happen but couldn't figure it out.
Eerie and creepy and I am really into reading about cults so that was a great piece!

A great fictional debut novel for this author!

3.5 stars - Initially, this was a slow start and was kind of confusing, but about 50-60% in, things start making more sense as the story unfolds. I wouldn't really describe this as a thriller; it honestly felt more like a family drama. There are touches of horror as one of the main characters uncovers the truth, but unfortunately, I wasn't super wow'd by this book.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠, 𝙞𝙨

Well that was a strange book. It was so slow that I thought about DNF a few times. It moved back and forth in time and between both the sisters perspectives I was getting a little confused and in some cases I think it was purposely done to confuse us with who was who. It got much better in the middle and the ending was fitting.

I love books with twins and mirror twins especially seem pretty creepy. The idea that you could lose your memory and rely on someone else to fill in the blanks and that person may not be telling you the truth is really dark. I did like the idea of the book but I wanted more from it. There were times I wasn’t completely sure what happened.

Even though this wasn’t my favorite, I’d be curious to read another book by this author again.

Read if you like books about twins, sister relationships, dual timelines and cults.

Thank you Henry Holt for an advanced copy!

I was so incredibly excited to read the book's dedication and realize that this book is set in nearby Norristown. Most importantly, Corropolese's tomato pie gets a mention. The more people who know about and get to experience this local specialty, the better!

The book opens with a car accident in which Kat Bird loses all memory of her life -- with the important exception of her twin sister Jude's face and name. The book then alternates between first person "Now" chapters from Kat's perspective as she works to reconstruct her life based on the information Jude provides for her, and third person "Then" chapters tracing Jude's experiences of their upbringing. The girls were raised in a cult-like atmosphere called The Plan, and Jude seems to be trying to insulate Kat from some details. But, feeling unmoored and deeply betrayed by Jude's lies, Kat sets out to rediscover the truth of her personal history for herself.

The story idea of Kat and Jude's upbringing and the eventual consequences was an interesting and compelling one. However, the way that the flashbacks were arranged with the present narrative didn't always work for me. I wish that the book had maybe instead been constructed with a more linear plot rather than get tangled up in the amnesia plot. The journey that Kat and Jude take was interesting enough to me without needing to be hidden behind the plot twists.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for providing me with an advance reader uncorrected galley of this novel post-publication in return for a review containing my honest thoughts.

I didn't necessarily enjoy this book as a whole, but one thing I loved was the writing style. That alone will have me buying Kahler's next fiction book. Weaving the past and present, while mixing up the POVs, kept the story moving at an okay pace. But I found myself wanting to stay in the past chapters, more than the present, because it felt like not much happened for a chunk of the book.

Ultimately, I think the synopsis created certain expectations that were not fufilled. "Threats drawing closer" and "must risk everything" sounds so foreboding... however, it didn't feel that way while reading the book. There were a lot of really great concepts but none were utilized to their full potential. So even though I loved the writing style, everything else just fell flat and felt very underwhelming.

Where You End by Abbott Kahler is the story of Kat and her twin sister Jude. Kat wakes up from a coma and the first thing she sees is a mirror image. She is freaked out and confused. She has no choice but to listen to her but she can hardly believe what she hears. She hopes she explain who she is, where she is and what happened?
Jude hoping she can help her sister with a new past. She weaves a tail of good times, good memories and a very happy life. Kat almost can’t believe what she hears. It sounds like such a wonderful childhood and life. But things aren’t always what they seem and as some memories, creep into the present, she must figure out what is truth and what is fiction.. well that’s only if she really wants the answers. Once she starts to go down the rabbit hole, she can’t stop and what she finds is unbelievable, to say the least. This was a very interesting read. There were some twists and turns and the characters had so many interesting moments. The author did a very good job of capturing the heart and soul of these twins. This was a 4 star read for me. I want to thank Netgalley, Henry Holt & Company & the author for my copy for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read & review this one, it is just the kind of mystery/thriller I like.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC! I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

3.5 stars rounded up

The premise of this book is so good: one twin is in a car accident that leaves her with amnesia, and her mirror twin holds all her memories.

The author was inspired by the documentary on Netflix - Tell Me Who I Am where one identical twin ended up with amnesia and the other made up a whole history that was much better than the one they actually had. Which I watched again after reading this and it broke my heart all over again.

Anyway - so Kat and Jude are mirror twins - which means identical but the embryo separated late and they are mirror images of each other. Which honestly - creepy.

The book is set in 1983 NOW and the late 60s and 70s for THEN. (Which took me far too long to figure out and almost made me DNF because I kept getting confused.) And alternates from each sister’s POV.

Kat trusts her sister implicitly, but some things are just starting to sound suspicious, so she begins to follow Jude to find out what’s really going on.

Review:
Surprise! There’s a cult! Or commune? It seems very Children of God to me. Either way, Jude’s got her reasons for hiding the truth from Kat and as the story goes on, we learn more about those reasons from Jude’s POV during their childhood.

Well plotted and woven together seamlessly. Also the audiobook narrators were fantastic - love a Megan Tusing book.

I felt the second half lagged a bit and was slightly disappointing.

This was an interesting read and would do well with folks who love the amnesia trope.

Wanted to DNF this book about halfway through but stuck it out. POVs from the past and present, but the past POV felt unnecessary…

1.5 stars
Overall 😕

So the beginning of this was creepy mysterious vibes. You're wondering what happened to Kat, is she Kat or is she Jude? who knows... only it DRAGGED ON... I was only 30% through and realized I was NOT enjoying it. With no twists no build-up, just bleh overall. I wasn't connected to the characters. They felt very plain and surface-level because the author wasn't really giving many details at the beginning. I doubt I'd read this again. I was hoping for more of a psychological thriller, but this was lacking for me.

Just finished this. There’s absolutely no way to see the end coming, at all. If you need a deeply weird thriller that feels the slightest bit unhinged and hallucinatory (at least, once it gets going) and doesn’t wrap up in a bow…here you go.

Rating: 3/5

I enjoyed Where You End! I thought this book had a really interesting premise and I enjoyed how it kept me guessing. I was, however, thoroughly confused for a bit in the middle, but that just encouraged me to keep going! I read the entire thing in two sittings.

Where you end is suspenseful with some dark elements, but nothing too overwhelming. I would definitely still check trigger warnings before reading though!

The cover artwork is what really drew me in and I’m happy to say it’s actually relevant to the story!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for giving me the opportunity to read & review Where You End!

I enjoyed this read quite a lot. It took a while for me to get into it but once I was in I ate it up!!

This was not quite for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and the writing. I think it’s a really interesting concept and I encourage other to try it out, it just wasn’t right for me.