This was an interesting thriller. Touching on toxic friendships and navigating past traumas, it was heavy but very intriguing. I enjoyed the way this book was formatted where it started as single POV but at the start of part 2, it starts a multiple POV format. The chapters were long which isn’t something I usually enjoy because I feel it tends to make the book drag a bit. The ending made it worth it because I definitely didn’t see it coming.

Friends, enemies, betrayals, and secrets is how we meet Lenna, Rhiannon, Gillian, and women in a woman’s compound that lives off the grid. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for a review

When Lenna abruptly leaves her husband, taking her young son along, she embarks on a journey to reconnect with her estranged friend Rhiannon. To her surprise, Rhiannon now resides in an off-grid commune called Halcyon, alongside her own son. Lenna's main intention is to mend their friendship and confess a secret in hopes of reconciliation. However, Rhiannon seems elusive, always out of reach whenever Lenna seeks her out. As the plot unfolds, it becomes evident that there's more to Halcyon, Rhiannon, and their past than meets the eye.

While a bit lengthy, Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard offers a bit of mystery emphasizing on the complexities of adult friendships intertwined with secrets. I'm giving it 3 stars because, although the book held my interest throughout, I found the ending to be too implausible for my taste.

I would like to thank PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

Don't get me wrong here. I grew up with PLL and I ate the shit outta them books. So I'm not a hater of this author. I have enjoyed her books.
This one however was a dud for me. The writing was good. The plot had me for a minute but the drama and characters were not it.
The mystery/thriller part was not it. I got bored and wanted to put it as a dnf so many times.

A captivating read that will appeal to fans of mystery and family drama alike. Shepard's masterful storytelling and compelling characters make this novel a must-read for anyone looking for a gripping and memorable story.

This one didn't entirely hit the mark for me, but I think others will really enjoy it.

I liked the idea of the book. Lenna gets a call one day from an old friend of hers, inviting her to live with essentially a cult of mothers. Things go downhill quickly as Lenna starts to suspect the group's real motives.

Thoughts -
I can't put my finger on it, but the story felt a little slow to me. Things were happening, but I kind of got lost in the cattiness of the women and it felt more about friendship drama than a deeper foreboding issue for too long. I liked the way the book was told with dual timelines and multiple POVs but I got a little lost in it all and was kind of confused by the end.

Overall, it wasn't really for me, but I would be interested to know what others thought because I didn't altogether dislike it.

I am usually not a fan of cult type books but this one had me hooked. Quick, easy read that fits all boxes of a good thriller.

Nowhere Like Home is another recent thriller that ended up being largely underwhelming to me. Lenna is a new mom who is struggling with probably post partum. She gets a call from an old friend. Rhianna who invites her to join a community of women in the desert. When she gets there, she quickly realizes, something is not right about the place.

As I said, I was fairly underwhelmed by this one. First, I think maybe I am in the minority here, but I am getting tired of reading about female characters who only whine and don't ask for help. I couldn't get behind Lenna and her choice to just leave her husband. It wasn't fair to him. If she needed time she should have told him before leaving. Maybe I got the wrong impression, but he didn't seem like a bad guy. The entire first half of the book was really slow and I probably should have DNF'd it. The ending was satisfying and I did like the twists, so I'll give it that. But they weren't enough to save it for me.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Sara Shepard for providing a digital ARC of this novel through NetGalley!

As a huge fan of Sara Shepard's "Pretty Little Liars" series, I was excited to jump into the story of these new women. The character development of Rhiannon, Leena and Gillian went deep and I found myself not wanting to put it down.

The premise of a commune for women in the desert with culty vibes is a genre that will always peak my interest and this was one of the main draws for me to start this book. The mystery and intrigue surrounding the women on the commune kept me reading.
I usually very much enjoy a flashback sequence through the story, but there was quite a bit back and forth through this one, as it was essentially two full stories written in tandem. It was a bit odd to move through two different spaces of time so much. It took some time to get used to but I see why it was written this way because it did give us information that we needed as the storyline continued.
The ending was frustrating to me, as I felt like we had such a huge work up to a great ending, then it fell flat. I was hoping for more.

Overall, I was grateful to have been given the opportunity to read this ARC!
#netgalley #somewherelikehome

Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard is all about that drama drama and gave me serious cult vibes. Told in 2 timelines, this slow burner took a long time to get into and was hard to stay attentive to it.

Thanks NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I don't know how I really feel about this one. It started very slow and boring with references to things in the past but not a hint as to what that could be. I was starting to get annoyed when it was finally revealed what the history is between the two girls but it took too long to get there. I wish that there had been more interesting plot and it kept me more entertained. Also the book seemed pretty out there and unrealistic in that who randomly goes out to a compound with her baby after hearing from a friend who has been missing for a good amount of time. Just seemed a little far fetched for me.

If you're thinking heading to the desert to a compound with people you don't know with your baby in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception is a recipe for disaster, then you would be right. Sara Shepard is the master of disguise and deception when it comes to friendships. <i>Nowhere Like Home</i> is everything I expected. There were so many unreliable characters but the pull to keep reading was a strong one. I loved the element of suprise that these twists provided. Just when I thought I knew what was happening, I found out something new that made me question my theory. How well can you really know someone who you thought was your best friend, especially if you only knew them for 2 years before they disappeared? When they came back out of nowhere to invite you to an all female community for a break and to clear your head, would you go?

The perfect mystery if you love twisty thrillers! Nowhere Like Home transports its readers to the desert and easily draws them in from the first chapter. Doesn't every new mom dream of a village of support, especially when she has so little of her own? Lenna is drawn in by Rhiannon's invitation to come visit the fabulous community she's living in. Off the grid, away from society, men, and solely focused on helping women. Seems too good to be true, right? You guessed it, nothing is as it seems at the ranch and it's definitely Nowhere Like Home.

This books was hard for me to get into at first. I wasn’t quite sure where the story was going and it just felt really slow. It kept referencing something that happened between the two main characters, but took forever to find out what actually happened. Then the plot twist just threw me for a loop, but also wasn’t my favorite. It felt kinda of far fetched.

Thank you to Net Galley, Dutton books and author Sara Shepard for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Nowhere Like Home” has an interesting premise in that it revolves around a commune of mothers.

For fans of slow burns and toxic friendships, this is the book for you.

As a fan of the Pretty Little Liars series growing up, I was excited to read Sara Shepard’s newest work. However, I ultimately ended up having a hard time connecting with the characters and didn’t really find myself rooting for any one in particular.

I still firmly believe that people who enjoy cult-like stories, would enjoy this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for this advanced copy.

This was really compelling and twisty and pulled me in from page one. Not like anything I have read before. Highly recommend! Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for approving me to read and review this ARC. I cant wait to read more from this author.

Lenna has secrets in her past that always haunt her, even as she tries to make a new life with her husband and son. When she gets a call from her old friend, Rhiannon, who had suddenly disappeared years before, Lenna is pulled into her vortex again and finds herself leaving all she knows behind to visit Rhiannon at the commune she’s living at. Halcyon is a community of women living in the desert in Arizona, but everything isn’t as it seems in this community. Lenna finds this out when she decides to visit Rhiannon, she’s trying to escape the secrets of her path but instead she might be walking right back into their clutches.

Whenever I see a new book by Sara Shepard I am intrigued. I loved the PLL books and really enjoy the stories she weaves. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed. I liked how this story twisted and turned, jumping back in time in places, to form this thriller that was hard to put down. There were a lot of the characters that I didn’t care for, but I liked Lenna and enjoyed following along with her while she experienced everything, past and present. Overall I thought this was a good twisty thriller that kept my attention and laid out a story I didn’t see coming in the beginning.

This book was quite the ride! I really like how topics like social anxiety, bullying, toxic friendships, and motherhood were represented. Told in multiple POVs and time jumps that built suspense and kept me interested in finding out how it would all come together. Even though the characters were older, some of the dialogue between them made it seem like they were in their teens. It also made it a bit difficult to connect with the main characters. Overall, this was a quick and entertaining read that I'd definitely recommend.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved how developed the characters were - I understood what motivated their actions, the dialogue was well-done, and the dual timeline and perspectives gives the reader just enough information at the right time. This book had me hooked right from the beginning, and the suspense/creep factor was high throughout. The ending was satisfying, and overall, I really loved this book!

Nowhere like home starts with a young mother disappearing in the early morning hours, running away to meet a friend at a "momune," a group of women living off the grid and raising their kids in their own safe setting. Leanna takes her young son to meet an old friend, Rhiannon, who had disappeared years before. Rhiannon tells Leanna there is a safe place for them with other moms, and Leanna spontaneously makes the trip to the Arizona desert to meet her friend and the rest of the moms. Told from present time at the group compound and the past friendship between Leanna, Rhiannon, and Gillian, the mystery of why Rhiannon disappeared and why Leanna felt the need to run away come to a head. Combined with the unknown pasts of the women of the group, it's not easy to know who to trust in this novel.

Overall, this story started out slowly for me, but picked up with the flashbacks to the past. I enjoyed learning about the "old" Leanna and Rhiannon and their friendship with Instagram influencer Gillian. I would recommend this book to friends and will look forward to the next from Sara Shepard!