When She Returned

I can't say I didn't like the book but I can't say it was one of my favorites either. At first I felt sorry for Kate, but as the story progressed I started feeling that she was somewhat of a monster. I can't say much about the revelations that were revealed as the story goes forward without giving away the whole storyline...but I had the feeling about halfway through the book that we, the readers...had been cleverly duped into taking Kate's side. The beginning of the book was suspenseful, for the last third of the book had parts that just felt redundant. There were no real shocking moments or plot twists which is what I need in a psychological thriller...and then we have the ending which was way too abrupt.

I loved this book. Anything dealing with cults fascinates me, and I think the author did a really good job of portraying the fact that no matter how smart and well educated you are, you could easily get trapped into cult ideology like Kate did. I also think the addition of the "evil stepmother" (at least in Abbi's eyes) made the story so much more satisfying by the end. Five stars.

Kate Bennett was abducted from a parking lot eleven years ago. She is found in Montana holding a baby, refusing to say where she’s been. The FBI believes she was taken by a cult. After eleven years, her husband has remarried. The five-year-old she left behind is now sixteen. Abbi is eager to reconnect with her mom. Meredith, Scott’s new wife, is trying to be understanding, up unto a point. But there’s something odd about Kate’s behavior…

I found the relationship angles of this interesting. The cult stuff was interesting to a point, although I found myself skimming the “then” sections after a while. There were aspects to the police investigation that felt really improbable. Kate up and disappears and no one thinks to show more question the looney tunes cult she’s being brainwashed by? Wouldn’t that be the first place you would look? This was a quick read that I would call more of a family drama than a psychological thriller as there really aren’t any twists. show less

This was my first step into Lucinda Berry's writing and now that I've started, I will be reading more. I liked the writing style and the pacing of this story. I'm a sucker for a good cult-ish thriller. I liked that the past timeline focused mainly from one character's perspective. Kate was a well done unlikable character that you weren't sure if you should like or not. Scott is a mediocre husband all around, Abbi's personal conflict about her mom, her dad, and her step mom were well done, and Meredith was an interesting character to see a POV from. All around enjoyed it.

I'm giving this book five stars because it drew me in from the beginning and kept me riveted to the book. I did have a problem finding part of it not plausible and that was the family dynamics when the protagonist returned. So as to not give too much away, I will not say more about that.

I'm giving this book five stars because it drew me in from the beginning and kept me riveted to the book. I did have a problem finding part of it not plausible and that was the family dynamics when the protagonist returned. So as to not give too much away, I will not say more about that.

I really enjoyed this mystery thriller but I don‘t want to give too much away. Super short summary is a mother disappears for numerous years to return and find her husband and daughter have a new family. And of course there are lots of secrets involved.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.