This book has been on my TBR for a few years. It was gifted to me by a friend so it honestly should have been read a long time ago. The synopsis of this book used one of my favorite key words “cult” so I was really excited to be reading this as my first spooky book of the season.
“The problem with having a fairy-tale relationship story was how much other people were invested in keeping the fairy tale alive. It wasn’t just our story—it was everyone’s.”
Lucinda Berry, When She Returned
About The Book
Author: Lucinda Berry
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published Date: October 15th, 2019
Page Count: 239 Pages
Main Genere: Thriller
GoodReads Rating: 3.97
Format: Physical
“It’s just the small-town mentality of people not liking change and being resistant to anything that doesn’t fall within their traditional ideologies.”
Lucinda Berry, When She Returned
Synopsis
Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.
Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.
While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.
“Once you’ve told a story so many times, it just becomes the truth.”
Lucinda Berry, When She Returned
Rating
Review
I have read one other book from this author “The Perfect Child” and that book was a 5 star read so I was really hopeful this one would be ranked high. But sadly I was actually wrong.
While I did enjoy the fact that this book was centered around a cult, I did find the plot very predictable.
I was struggling to find enough interest to keep me turning the page. I found my phone more interesting which really sucked! When I sit down with a thriller I am looking for a page turner, a book that I just can’t put down!
We had four main characters whom I liked enough at the beginning and understood the motivations behind them but towards the middle of the book I was finding the characters to be a bit annoying. I felt like we kept having the same conversations over and over again with nothing too exciting to add each time.
The best parts of this book were the “Then” flashbacks we got. I truly didn’t care for the “Now” Sections. Maybe I just want a full on cult book haha. But honestly I haven’t really liked dual timeline books in the past so I guess I am not that surprised.
Ultimately I probably will pick up another book by this author as I hope this was just an outlier in their writing or maybe my busy schedule just got in the way.
“One of the worst things you could do to someone in the midst of tragedy was to give them a cliche because the intensity of the loss was too big.”
Lucinda Berry, When She Returned
World of Bai 