Thank you so much for this ARC!

This book had all the elements of a five star read for me - cults, new motherhood and a stranger at the doorstep. Unfortunately, I just cannot finish it. Currently at 63% and not interested in moving forward.

This was really interesting but also really slow - also I’ve been reading a lot about mothers and babies lately and it’s really not my fav topic to read about so others may find those chapters more interesting than I did . At about 60% there is an unexpected twist and then the book gets quite exciting and has a good ending

My rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This release has been on my "upcoming releases" spreadsheets for almost 2 years. The summary had me so intrigued because I love anything cult related. Unfortunately, this was quite the letdown. However, I could see this being recreated as a television series.

Yes, Yes, Yes! All of the Yes's!! I LOVED this book!

Ophelia was the lone survivor from Jacobs Hill. She was part of a cult as a child. The Ascent switches between current time period and during her time in the cult and right after the disappearance of all of the members except her.

Current time period she is married and has a 7 month old. With a baby, she has been struggling with her past and keeping her daughter Lucy safe.
Her sister, Mona, shows up one day and Ophelias husband wants her to be cautious as he believes shes on drugs.

There are a lot of different tropes going on here: cults, mental health, marital issues etc..
But i think it all flows so well.

I didn't want to put this down. It hooked me right away!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Twenty years ago, all the members except one lone twelve year, old vanished into thin air from a cult outside of Philadelphia. Ophelia was left confused and abandoned. Twenty years later Ophelia is now Lee Burton. She has come to terms with her abandonment and has a loving husband and baby daughter. When a stranger arrives on her doorstep offering her answers to her unanswered questions, she’s willing to do most anything to find out those answers and close the door to her past once and for all. Unfortunately, all is not what it seems and as the story progresses, the plot thickens. Who can Lee believe when she’s having trouble believing herself? This book had a great plot with some surprising twists along the way and it will have you staying up way too late to finish! Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this one- at times, I wasn't sure where it was going and more than frustrated with some of the FMC's actions, but I love a cult story and couldn't wait to see how this one turned out! This one definitely wasn't neat and tidy but if you like a slow-burn, try this one!

“The four stages of enlightenment: sleepwalking, an awakening, resistance, and ascent.”

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a cult thriller. But every time I do, I’m reminded just how much I enjoy them.

I really enjoyed this one. My only critique is hard to spell out without spoilers, so all I’ll say is I personally wanted two storylines to converge a bit more. Vague, I know…sorry. 🙈

Other than that, I wholly enjoyed myself. And the very end shook me!!

Cults and a domestic thriller? Sign. Me. Up. This book was super believable and yet, I didn’t guess a single thing that happened which is how you know it was well done. Buccola does the unreliable narrator trope well - you do not know who to believe and it will keep you guessing as the plot moves. I felt terrible for Lee and her struggles which you really dive deep into with the single POV from Lee. I will definitely be checking out Buccola’s first novel CATCH HER WHEN SHE FALLS.

Reading The Ascent felt like climbing a mountain that never had a peak – lots of effort, not much reward. I went in expecting a nerve-rattling thriller about cult secrets; I came out with aching legs and a mild case of disappointment. Turns out, this is one ascent that never really takes off.

Plot: The Scenic Route to Nowhere

Allison Buccola’s The Ascent kicks off with a compelling setup: a woman who survived a cult as a child is now a new mom coping with trauma and paranoia, when a stranger arrives offering answers about her past. It sounds exciting, right? Unfortunately, that premise is a bait-and-switch. The intriguing mystery of the vanished cult takes a back seat for most of the book, replaced by the protagonist’s day-to-day anxieties and domestic drama. I kept waiting for the story to kick into gear, but it just moseys along. And when the big revelation about the cult finally does show up (in the final pages!), it lands with a resounding “meh” – essentially “thrown in like an afterthought”  rather than a thrilling climax. The novel sets up a mountain of questions but delivers only a molehill of answers, leaving me distinctly underwhelmed.

Characters: Unlikeable All Around

It’s hard to enjoy a thriller when you don’t like any of the characters, and here that’s exactly the case. Lee, our heroine, could have been sympathetic given her horrific past, but her constant paranoia and questionable choices make her more exhausting than endearing. She spends most of the story stuck in her own head, vacillating and mistrusting everyone. And her husband? Let’s just say he practically deserves his own 1-star review. He’s a controlling, unsupportive jerk from page one , so unlikable that I found myself rooting against their marriage. Honestly, I wouldn’t grab coffee with any of these people, let alone follow them through 400 pages of supposed suspense.

Conclusion: An Underwhelming Climb

As a thriller, The Ascent ends up surprisingly low on thrills. The ideas of a cult mystery and a motherhood journey had tons of potential, but the execution just doesn’t deliver. By the end, I felt like I’d been promised a rollercoaster and got a slow carousel ride instead. I’m giving this book 2 out of 5 stars – one star for the intriguing premise (it really could have been great), and one because I somehow made it to the end. In the literary hike that is The Ascent, I kept hoping for a breathtaking view at the summit… but all I got was another hill to climb, and frankly, my patience ran out.

This book was way too slow for me. I found myself just waiting for the pages to end. I also get frustrated when all the main character needs to do is ask a question, but they take too long. Thank you, NetGalley.

I really enjoyed reading Catch Her When She Falls.
So I was super excited to start a new novel by Allison Buccola which did not disappoint.
So enthralling and intriguing that I devoured the book in matter of 6 hours, I didn't want to put it down.
I had so much fun reading this book!

Thank you again Publisher, NG and Author for this amazing story!

3.5 stars. A cult, alternating timelines, domestic suspense-all the makings of a great book! Personally I was not on board with all of the twists and felt like the ending wasn’t developed enough. It definitely left me wishing there was more. It kept my attention and had a strong sense of place (Philadelphia) so I had a good reading experience. I recommend for a good summer suspense!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I was absolutely blown away by this book. To be fair, I’m a sucker for anything cult-related, but The Ascent had me STRESSING OUT. The tension, the deceit, the shifting truths... it was all so well done that I could barely put it down.

This is a slow burn psychological thriller with an atmosphere thick enough to choke on, and I mean that as a compliment. The story follows Lee Burton, a woman who survived a cult and is now a new mother, quietly trying to outrun her past. When someone from that buried life shows up on her doorstep, everything she's built begins to unravel. Allison Buccola creates an incredible sense of unease as Lee becomes entangled in a mystery that had me questioning everything, especially Lee herself.

And let’s talk about that unreliable narrator magic. Buccola nails it. I was fully convinced Ophelia was on to something, then just as convinced she was spiraling, and then somehow back again. It’s the kind of mental whiplash I crave in thrillers.

The only reason this wasn’t a full 5-star read for me is the ending. While satisfying and not confusing to me (maybe thank my true crime obsession), it did require a little suspension of disbelief. Given some of the choices Ophelia made, (view spoiler) It wrapped up almost too neatly, which felt slightly at odds with the rest of the book's tight, unsettling tension.

Still, this is a stellar read and one I’d recommend to fans of cult aftermath stories, unreliable narrators, slow-burning psychological tension, and twisty dramas that don’t rely on constant action but still leave your jaw on the floor.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Allison Buccola. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Twenty years ago, the members of a cult outside Philadelphia disappeared without a trace - except for one 12-year-old girl found wandering alone looking for her family. Since then, Lee has been trying to move forward with a new identity, a new husband who doesn't know her full story, and a baby girl. But her past comes out in other ways, because Lee is terrified of letting baby Lucy out of her sight, and it's ruining her marriage. Then a stranger shows up on her doorstep who may have the answers Lee is looking for.

I could not put this book down and thought it was fabulous. Told in dual timelines, both tense and filled with secrets that had me flipping the pages as fast as I could. I liked that there wasn't too much attention paid to the cult itself, but focused more on the trauma afterwards that is carried forward. It also delves deeply into motherhood and identify, and the challenges of those even without extra baggage. I did love the storyline of Anna, Lee's aunt, who took her into her family. This was the perfect blend of suspense and character drama, and I highly recommend it!

I went into this book with zero expectations and it was such a treat. The writing was incredible, I was sucked into the suspense of the story from page one and I was fully engaged until the end. Parts of the book were predictable, but it did not ruin any aspect of the story for me. I found myself struggling to trust any of the characters, making for an "on the edge of the seat" kind of thrilling read. The characters were well developed and the plot was great. Another book taking place in Philadelphia, which is always a win for me. Lee spent the first 12 years of her life living in a cult, until one morning she woke up and everyone was missing. Fast forward 20 years, she is married, a mom to a 7 month old and dealing with some undiagnosed postpartum anxiety. When a woman shows up at her door, claiming to be someone from her past, but also threatening the quiet life she has built. This book takes you on unexpected twists and turns and will keep you up at night turning the pages. If you are looking for a fun thriller, I suggest this one (and I am a tough critic of thrillers!)
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

3.5 stars, rounded up
Really intriguing book overall. Wasn't a huge fan of the main character, but the book kept my interest wanting to know what happened to the people who disappeared.

Twenty years ago, Lee was twelve years old and lived with her mother and sister Mona in a "living community" (aka cult). One day, Lee (known then as Ophelia) woke up and everyone was gone. She searched and could not find them. Now, she is married with a seven month old baby, and has put that part of her life to the side--even her husband doesn't know about her past. But then, a woman claiming to be Mona shows up and Lee desperately wants to know what happened all of those years ago and why she was left behind.

This story is told with multiple flashbacks to Lee's time with the cult and also to the aftermath of the disappearances. I was captivated by the story in the past and was completely invested in knowing what had happened. I liked that Lee's perspective was skewed by her age. It gave the story a more mysterious quality and her reactions and the reactions of those around her really enhanced the plot.

What didn't work as well for me was Lee's intense naivete as an adult, as well as the poor choices she made. She was too attached to her child to even take a shower while her husband watched the baby, yet then a short time later she freely leaves the child with her supposed sister, who she knew nothing about. She didn't push for more information when I feel like most people would have in her situation. Granted, she had a lot of unresolved trauma and likely postpartum depression, but the descriptions of her pre-baby life didn't mesh with the Lee we see in the book.

If you can set that aside, this is an intriguing and surprising novel. I appreciated how the author brought all of the elements together in a cohesive, believable way at the end. There are some jaw dropping twists that I absolutely did not see coming. I know that's a cliché, but I like to be surprised and this one definitely did that!

The uniqueness of the plot helped me to push past my dislike of Lee and her actions. If you're looking for a twisty thriller, this is an excellent choice.

The main character of this novel Lee, grew up in a small cult/commune called Jacob’s Hill. When she was 12 years old, she woke up one morning to find that everyone else had vanished, and no one has ever found out what happened to them. 20 years later, she is married with a baby, but had never told her husband about her past, even though it might help explain why she is so fearful to ever leave their baby daughter. And then a new streaming documentary about Jacob’s Hill starts airing. Interspersed with the present day chapters are flashbacks not to Lee’s time at Jacob’s Hill but to her life afterwards. Lots more happens, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what, as that’s part of the fun of this slow burn suspense/thriller.

And wow, this was a good one, I seriously could not put it down! There’s always something fascinating to me about books about cults, but it was also super interesting how that was less the focus of the book than how the abrupt end to her mostly pleasant life there affected her. Also loved how this book flirted with the question of how reliable a narrator Lee was, while still keeping her a sympathetic character. I really enjoyed Allison Buccola’s first book, but this one was even better - best thriller I’ve read in a while.

"What would you do if the past showed up on your doorstep?"

The Ascent by Allison Buccola is a slow burn but gripping psychological thriller that explores motherhood, identity, and trauma with an intriguing cult backstory.

When Lee (Ophelia) Burton was younger, she was the only person left behind when a cult like group of people, including her mom and sister, disappeared. Now twenty years later, Lee is a new mom who has tried to reinvent herself. When one day a woman shows up on her doorstep, Lee instantly recognizes her as Mona, her sister who disappeared when she was six. But along with Mona's unexpected arrival comes a flood of memories Lee has tried to bury.

This is definitely a slow burn type of novel but trust me when I say that it's worth the wait! The Ascent is not only a cult thriller, but a sharp look at what we will tell ourselves just to survive. As a new mom Lee is already on system overload. Add in the torrent of memories and paranoia that creeps around the edges, and you have this emotionally layered standout! If you are just looking for non-stop creepy cult action, this might not be for you. But if you want to dive into the complexities of the aftermath of living under control then I highly recommend you give it a shot!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Allison Buccola, and Random House for this ARC!! Publication date was May 20th 2025.

I wanted to love The Ascent. The synopsis is incredible - the only surviving member from a cult who went missing twenty years ago is finally offered some answers when a stranger appears at her doorstep.

Unfortunately, I just don’t think this one was for me. It was a very slow burn and I just never connected with the main character. I didn’t realize how much of the story would be focused on Lee’s day to day life as a mother and as a wife. I genuinely feel like if 30% of that had been cut out, the story would have been that much better and wouldn’t have dragged along as much as it did. My favorite parts of the story were the flashbacks to Lee’s childhood and her time in the commune, but these were few and far between and really didn’t add much to the story in the grand scheme of things.

I will say, as of the time of this posting, I’m one of only 4 2-star reviews on Goodreads so this one was definitely just not for me and it shouldn’t be a knock on the book.

2.5 ⭐️, rounded down

Thank you to Random House, Allison Buccola and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book hooked me from the start and happily kept my attention throughout. Ophelia spent her childhood in a cult...and of course all went wrong, and now she is attempting a normal life as a wife and mother. But her past's secrets refuse to leave her alone and she can't escape them no matter how hard she tries. I was invested in trying to figure out what bombshells might be dropped, but I definitely didn't see them coming! And that ending?? I'm still trying to sort it out in my mind.
This is a perfect read for those who want to try a little something different...but of course if you're already into domestic and psychological thrillers. So glad I picked this one up!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC. All opinions are mine.