Narrators: Olivia Campbell,
Cassandra Campbell
Random House Audio
ISBN: 978059353642
Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, Anchor
Publication Date: 07/30/2024
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
From the New York Times best-selling author of Reconstructing Amelia: A daughter races to uncover the truth about her mother in the wake of her disappearance in this "breathless, shocking thriller" (Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times best-selling author).
“Kim McCreight’s thrillers are smart, propulsive and impossible to put down.”—Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told Me
When Cleo, a student at NYU, arrives late for dinner at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she finds food burning in the oven and no sign of her mother, Kat. Then Cleo discovers her mom’s bloody shoe under the sofa. Something terrible has happened.
But what? The polar opposite of Cleo, whose “out of control” emotions and “unsafe” behavior have created a seemingly unbridgeable rift between mother and daughter, Kat is the essence of Park Slope perfection: a happily married, successful corporate lawyer. Or so Cleo thinks.
Kat has been lying. She’s not just a lawyer; she’s her firm’s fixer. She’s damn good at it, too. Growing up in a dangerous group home taught her how to think fast, stay calm under pressure, and recognize a real threat when she sees one. And in the days leading up her disappearance, Kat has become aware of multiple threats: demands for money from her unfaithful soon-to-be ex-husband; evidence that Cleo has slipped back into a relationship that’s far riskier than she understands; and menacing anonymous messages from her past—all of which she’s kept hidden from Cleo . . .
Like Mother, Like Daughter is a thrilling novel of emotional suspense that questions the damaging fictions we cling to and the hard truths we avoid. Above all, it’s a love story between a mother and a daughter, each determined to save the other before it’s too late.
My Review
Kimberly McCreight returns following Friends Like These with her latest hit, LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER. In this twisty yet emotional and thought-provoking page-turner, the author brilliantly explores the complex relationships between mother and daughter—ultimately, a powerful love story.
There are lies, secrets, and the truth.
Which is more dangerous?
About...
Cleo is a student at NYU, and upon arriving home at her childhood brownstone home in Brooklyn, she is shocked to find her mother, Kat, missing with her bloody shoe under the sofa. She is not the type to disappear.
What has happened to her mom? She immediately calls her father.
Kat is a powerful corporate lawyer, but does she really know her mother? She is a perfectionist, strict, and overprotective.
Cleo, a college student, is rebellious and impulsive. Kat, her mother, is not just a lawyer, but the firm's fixer. Their relationship is strained due to Cleo's rebellious nature and Kat's overprotectiveness.
We learn about a high-profile pharmacy case impacting people's lives.
Then a ghost from the past threatens to resurface.
Aidan, a husband in need of money. How far will he go?
Cleo and her mom were at odds because Kyle (a trust fund drug dealer) had gotten her mixed up in drugs. Kat made the problem go away.
Nice corporate law partners did not show up with cops making illegal threats. She was not winning any medals with her daughter, but she needed to keep her safe. That was all that mattered.
Alternating between two timelines:
Cleo frantically searches for her mother while unraveling secrets worried her mom may be involved with dangerous people.
In the alternate timeline, it begins eight days and a countdown to before Katrina's disappearance and the events leading up to the present.
We also get transcripts of recorded sessions with Cleo and her therapist that her mom insisted on due to the drug dealing and info about the pharmaceutical company and drug reactions.
What happened to Katrina McHugh?
My thoughts...
LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER is an electrifying exploration of the intense relationship between mother and daughter. Get ready for a wild roller coaster ride. It's a captivating, suspenseful, and emotionally gripping journey that draws you in, making you feel deeply connected to the characters.
I enjoyed learning about Katrina's past. She is tough and wants the best for her daughter. Cleo has no clue what her mom has gone through. Multi-layered, the author keeps you turning the pages with the gripping alternating dual POV that will have you on the edge of your seat!
Character-driven, this fierce mother-daughter domestic thriller showcases Cleo and Kat's strengths and love for one another! Get this one on your TBR list. I'm a big fan of the author; she always delivers smartly written thrillers.
Recs...
For fans of the author and those who enjoy women's domestic fiction and psychological thrillers with a legal twist. Fans of authors, Mary Kubica, Michele Campbell, Wendy Walker, Jodi Picoult, Heather Gudenkauf, and Megan Miranda will enjoy.
Audiobook...
I also listened to the audiobook narrated by my favorite narrators, Cassandra Campbell, and Olivia Campbell, for a suspenseful, riveting, and engaging performance, making the characters come alive!
Special thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a gifted digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: July 30, 2024
Praise
“Captivating. . . . Clever red herrings add to the suspense, and McCreight weaves in moving insights about intergenerational trauma as she orchestrates the plot to its satisfying conclusion. . . . This should please McCreight’s existing fans and win her new ones."
—Publishers Weekly
"Bestselling McCreight (Friends Like These) expertly orchestrates mother-daughter dynamics to build additional layers of tension onto a fast-paced and twisted plotline. Pair with Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter."
—Library Journal
"A smart, complex domestic thriller."
—Kirkus Reviews
“McCreight expertly shifts time frames and points of view between mother and daughter and brings in a cast of vivid supporting characters. . . . [A] keenly plotted and magnetizing tale of strong women seeking truth and justice and the demands and joys of mother-daughter relationships.”
—Booklist
“Intense, thought-provoking and completely unputdownable.”
—BookPage
“Gripping and bingeable, Like Mother, Like Daughter revolves around a realistically complex relationship between a mother and her estranged daughter. I rooted for Cleo and Kat as they raced to save each other from menacing exes, a tragic past, and a dangerous present. I had plenty of theories reading it yet the ending caught me totally off guard!”
—Ana Reyes, New York Times best-selling author of The House in the Pines
“The love between a mother and a child is ostensibly fierce—but how far would you actually go to protect your daughter? McCreight’s latest explores motherhood in all its complexities—wrapped up in a breathless, shocking thriller I could not put down.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times best-selling author
“A deeply satisfying nail-biter that is, at its heart, a beautiful love story of a mother and a daughter who must dig through each other’s secrets to find true connection and save each other. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Angie Kim, international best-selling author of Miracle Creek and Happiness Falls
“Both hauntingly suspenseful and deeply moving, Like Mother, Like Daughter explores the complex relationships within a family, and the bonds that endure, above all. A tense and twisting tale that will leave you wondering which is more dangerous: the lies, or the truth?"
—Megan Miranda, New York Times best-selling author of The Only Survivors
"I am a huge fan of Kimberly McCreight’s books and she has done it again. A gripping thriller that explores the challenging complexities of the mother-daughter relationship and the immense pressure that society puts on mothers to do and be all things, Like Mother, Like Daughter is as suspenseful as it is thought-provoking. I couldn’t put it down."
—Greer Hendricks, best-selling co-author of The Wife Between Us
"Once again, Kimberly McCreight has assembled a dizzyingly delicious page turner. But Like Mother, Like Daughter isn’t just a twisty mystery; it’s also an exploration of the family dynamics that we can’t quite quit, no matter how hard we might try. Perfect for the beach or the book club!”
—Janelle Brown, New York Times best-selling author ofI’ll Be Youand Pretty Things
“Like Mother, Like Daughter is a stunning thriller, perfectly capturing the naked vulnerability and open wounds that result from being someone's mother and someone's daughter. Within the hairpin twists and turns of McCreight's writing is a cathartic story of maternal love where mothers are never martyrs, they're fighters.”
—Chandler Baker, New York Timesbest-selling author of Whisper Network
"In Like Mother, Like Daughter, the sacred yet fraught bond between Katrina and Cleo is tested as they are challenged by interlopers, the pain of the past and the revelation of long-buried secrets. Kimberly McCreight takes the reader on a roller coaster of thrilling twists and wild turns. Brava!"
—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times best-selling author of The Good Left Undone
“Captivating. . . . Clever red herrings add to the suspense, and McCreight weaves in moving insights about intergenerational trauma as she orchestrates the plot to its satisfying conclusion. . . . This should please McCreight’s existing fans and win her new ones."
—Publishers Weekly
“McCreight expertly shifts time frames and points of view between mother and daughter and brings in a cast of vivid supporting characters. . . . [A] keenly plotted and magnetizing tale of strong women seeking truth and justice and the demands and joys of mother-daughter relationships.”
—Booklist
“Intense, thought-provoking and completely unputdownable.”
—BookPage
About the Author
Kimberly McCreight is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, including Reconstructing Amelia, which was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Alex Awards and was called Entertainment Weekly’s Favorite Book of the Year. Reconstructing Amelia has been optioned for TV by HBO, Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films, and David E. Kelley. A Good Marriage was named a Best Book of the Summer by the New York Times, People, and Publishers Weekly. It was also an Amazon Best Mystery of the Month. A TV adaptation of A Good Marriage is coming soon from Amazon and Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films. McCreight’s most recent book, Friends Like These, was named a Good Morning America Buzz Pick and an Amazon Best Book of the Month. It will be adapted for TV by Amblin Television.
Her next novel, Like Mother, Like Daughter, is forthcoming from Knopf in Summer 2024.
McCreight is also the author of The New York Times bestselling young adult trilogy The Outliers (The Outliers, The Scattering, and The Collide), optioned for film by Lionsgate.
She attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her two daughters. WEBSITE
