Psychological Thriller Review: Nowhere Like Home | Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard’s newest psychological thriller Nowhere Like Home explores female friendships and toxic relationships all surrounded by the glittering world of print media and a remote women’s commune.

About the Book | Nowhere Like Home

Told in two timelines, the story follows a woman named Lenna who is a new mother. In the present timeline, Lenna receives a call from a former friend Rhiannon, who she had a close but troubled friendship with, she can’t help but feel relieved. Rhiannon and Lenna haven’t spoken in some time after a falling out; Rhiannon later disappeared in the wake of their fight and Lenna has never known what happened to her.

Rhiannon invites her to come to a women’s community called Halcyon where Rhiannon (also a new mother) has been staying. Lenna leaves without talking to her husband (she does leave him a note but takes their baby) and arrives at Halcyon which is in the middle of the desert. It doesn’t take long for Lenna to be suspicious of this “mommune”. There is barely any cell service and the commune operates on a firm set of rules that include no phone calls, no texts, and no asking about the other members’ pasts. The latter rule is particularly strange, since it seems that most of the women have a secret they are hiding. Lenna is also keeping a secret from her past that she hopes no one discovers…

The past timeline follows Lenna and Rhiannon’s friendship and falling out. Lenna also had another close friend around the same time named Gillian. We aren’t aware of where Gillian is in the present timeline (however, when Lenna’s story from the past catches up to the present we learn a lot more about Gillian). Sprinkled throughout the book are social media posts from Gillian’s Instagram account and responses from some of her followers. Gillian shares about her life and friendships as well as her struggles with anxiety. What happened between Lenna, Rhiannon, and Gillian in the past? Where is Gillian now? And why has Rhiannon reached out after so long to invite Lenna to this commune?

Review | Nowhere Like Home

Many know Sara Shepard from her young adult books (hello, Pretty Little Liars fans!), but her adult novels have been making a splash in the psychological thriller world over the past several years. Having read both her young adult and adult books, her adult books still have a young adult charm that I can’t quite explain since the characters are grown ups. The best way to describe her adult books are that they feature stories about adults who have never fully shed the insecure teenager inside, and explore how that influences their lives and relationships as adult women (I can relate!).

This story has plenty of twists and turns along the way, particularly in the past storyline (which I personally found more interesting for most of the book). Lenna is not honest with us in the present day with what exactly happened with her friendships with Rhiannon and with Gillian. This made me sometimes question Lenna and how reliable her narration is. She’s keeping a secret and eventually we learn what that secret is and how it influences everything that is happening.

Initially I was most interested in Rhiannon, but the further I got, the more I was fascinated by Gillian. She is a very different character and her social media posts enticed me. They sometimes seemed at odds with the person in Lenna’s past. The characters in the present timeline are all struggling with the fallout of whatever happened to fracture their relationships, and this was an enticing premise. It is human nature to wonder what would happen if we could replay a moment and make a different choice. Would we always end up in the same place, or would it change everything?

If you’ve read any of Sara Shepard’s work, she writes toxic friendships that are captivating and terrifying in equal measure. One of her skills is getting the reader to root for the friendships to work out, no matter how unhealthy it may be. Another thing I’ve noticed in her writing relates to how the reader perceives the characters. Shepard is able to change how we feel about a character multiple times throughout the book, and that means that the reader is always kept guessing on where the story will end up and who is responsible for everything that happened.

A twist-filled psychological suspense novel that will have your mind spinning.

Thank you to Dutton Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She has lived in New York City, Brooklyn, Tucson, Arizona, Philadelphia, and now lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Sara’s Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia’s Main Line.

 Official synopsis | Goodreads

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars Sara Shepard’s next adult novel follows a group of mothers living in a mysterious “mommune,” each of whom is running from something

When Lenna gets a call from her old friend Rhiannon, she is startled; Rhiannon disappeared years ago without a trace. But Lenna is even more startled to learn that Rhiannon has a son and that she lives off the grid with a group of women in a community called Halcyon. Rhiannon invites Lenna, a new mother herself, to join them. Why suffer the sleepless nights by yourself? It takes a village, after all.

Lenna decides to go and hopefully repair her relationship with Rhiannon, but as she drives into the desert and her cell service gets weaker, she becomes suspicious. Who are these women and why did Rhiannon invite her here? And that is before she learns about the community’s rules (no outside phone calls, no questions about people’s pasts) and the padlock on the gate that leads out to the main road. But Lenna has other concerns, secrets from her past she is terrified will come out. When a newcomer arrives in the community, Lenna’s worst fears are confirmed—she was brought here for a reason. (Synopsis from Goodreads)