All Kat has ever wanted to do is protect her daughter, Cleo. She might have been a bit harsh with her growing up but Kat has lived through trauma no one knows about. She is positive she doesn't want Cleo to experience anything like what she had to deal with growing up so she sets limits, shows no emotion when dealing with punishment and plays the bad guy as opposed to her soon-to-be ex-husband who always seems to play the friend.
Now Cleo is in college and Kat can not protect her so much anymore. Cleo can't stand her mother. All her rules and regulations growing up just made Cleo want to run. She is so happy in college and speaks to her mom as little as possible. One night she is talked into coming home for dinner. Cleo is running late and by the time she gets there, there is a pot burning on the stove and a bloody shoe but Cleo isn't seeing her mom anywhere. She freaks out and runs to the neighbor who was like a mom to her growing up. They soon call the police and report Kat as a missing person. Cleo knows she should leave the investigation to the professionals but the little clues she finds make her more and more curious about who her mom really is and if she can trust anyone she loves.
This book started off with a BANG! I couldn't put it down the whole time I was reading it. Although it was over 500 pages, I really didn't notice how long it was because the chapters weren't long and there was constantly something happening to keep my attention. I loved Cleo as the main character. She is a strong female protagonist who goes from a snotty teenager to the primary character you love. She had many layers and the author did a great job slowly showing the reader each one. Kat was also a relatable character. Being a mom myself, I understood many of the things she had done even when they were on the extreme side. She was just trying to protect her kid. With twist and twist, I would definitely check out this bestseller by Kimberly McCreigh as soon as you can. You will be missing out, if you don't.
From the New York Times best-selling author of Reconstructing Amelia: A daughter races to uncover her mother's secret life in the wake of her disappearance in this "breathless, shocking thriller." —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times best-selling author
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.
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