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A review by the_joyful_book_club
Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight
5.0
When I tell you I read this book quickly, I mean I devoured it in an afternoon. I know we hear the cliché of "unputdownable" and whatnot, but I truly could not stop reading this.
Sometimes, keeping the secret is worse than the secret itself.
The action starts immediately, with Cleo finding burning food and a puddle of blood in her mother's home. Cleo and her mother, Kat, have a tenuous relationship, mainly from normal mother/daughter dynamics but also from secrets they both keep, some big and some small. There are also misunderstandings and not understanding each other's intentions.
This book has a bit of a dual timeline, but it's primarily the week leading up to Kat's disappearance, and Cleo in the present day, trying to find out what really happened to her mother. We also see a few snippets of journal entries from Kat's childhood, transcripts of therapy sessions, and articles regarding a lawsuit that Kat is working on. I hesitate to truly call this a "dual timeline" since I would consider it fairly minimal as the timelines are primarily all present-day.
The characters are well-developed, and it's interesting to watch Cleo's character evolve rapidly. She has this very strained relationship with her mother, and a more rosy dynamic happening with her father, Aiden. But then as secrets are revealed, we see Cleo take off the rose-colored glasses. What she sees is more terrible than she ever imagined.
What makes this story clever is there are so many shady characters. Not necessarily all bad, but certainly not good, and the severity ranges as well. There are affairs, business dealings, secrets, betrayals, etc. It keeps the reader guessing because you just never know where someone is heading or how they play into the bigger picture. Even our main characters, Kat and Cleo, get caught up in misunderstandings.
I would highly recommend this book. The writing style kept my attention, the story is relatable, especially from the overview of mother/daughter relationships and how small misunderstandings can have big consequences.
Sometimes, keeping the secret is worse than the secret itself.
The action starts immediately, with Cleo finding burning food and a puddle of blood in her mother's home. Cleo and her mother, Kat, have a tenuous relationship, mainly from normal mother/daughter dynamics but also from secrets they both keep, some big and some small. There are also misunderstandings and not understanding each other's intentions.
This book has a bit of a dual timeline, but it's primarily the week leading up to Kat's disappearance, and Cleo in the present day, trying to find out what really happened to her mother. We also see a few snippets of journal entries from Kat's childhood, transcripts of therapy sessions, and articles regarding a lawsuit that Kat is working on. I hesitate to truly call this a "dual timeline" since I would consider it fairly minimal as the timelines are primarily all present-day.
The characters are well-developed, and it's interesting to watch Cleo's character evolve rapidly. She has this very strained relationship with her mother, and a more rosy dynamic happening with her father, Aiden. But then as secrets are revealed, we see Cleo take off the rose-colored glasses. What she sees is more terrible than she ever imagined.
What makes this story clever is there are so many shady characters. Not necessarily all bad, but certainly not good, and the severity ranges as well. There are affairs, business dealings, secrets, betrayals, etc. It keeps the reader guessing because you just never know where someone is heading or how they play into the bigger picture. Even our main characters, Kat and Cleo, get caught up in misunderstandings.
I would highly recommend this book. The writing style kept my attention, the story is relatable, especially from the overview of mother/daughter relationships and how small misunderstandings can have big consequences.