I had mixed feelings about this book, it was slow to start but did pick up about halfway through. I didnt really connect to the characters though and found it a little unbelievable in parts

This is a fantastic novel. It's a chilling, eerie tale told from the perspective of two women with completely different lifestyles.

I don't know how to say much more about this book without spoiling it, but I will say that it left me shocked.

If you are into psychological thrillers, I definitely recommend this one.

Amy may not know that the Clearing is a cult, but it is. She just knows it’s up to her to make her elders happy and calm, it’s all she’s ever known. But when a new girl joins the group things are suddenly out of sync. The girl doesn’t fit in and she wants out. She’s causing trouble. A seriously creepy story about cults and brainwashing and just how easy it is to take control of people (witness recent elections in the US and UK)

This is a demanding book to read and hard to review because of its subject matter. It is set in the Clearing,an estate controlled by a cult near to Melbourne which abducts children and subjects them to physical,sexual and emotional abuse. The aim of its devious founder is to acquire twelve children. The story starts with the kidnapping of a small girl happily making her way home from school. The book moves between descriptions of the experiences of those who are forced to live in the Clearing and following the life of the much disturbed Freida who has a son,Billy,who disappears. As the story unfolds every main character is shown to be duplicitous and psychologically damaged. As a plot,the book holds the readers attention by the gradual revelations of who each character really is. It is noted in the afterword that the idea comes from a cult that actually existed from the 1960's. My difficulty in recommending this book is the choice of a story based on child abduction and abuse.

The Review
This is a difficult story to synopsise, for fear of leaving spoilers all over the place. Essentially, we follow the life of Freya, a middle-aged single Mum who, for some reason, is living in a constant state of high alert. She lives in the woods, has no friends, has begrudging contact with her Mum, installs panic alarms in her home and has a trained attack dog.
Then there is Amy, a young girl living in what can only be described as a cult.
Freya becomes increasingly concerned when a local girl goes missing; whilst Amy adjusts to the appearance of a new sister in her community. What follows is a story told from both the present and the past, with the two stories intertwining throughout and coming together for a monumental climax.

However, for me it just doesn’t entirely work. It was great, and really well written, but I felt like the author was trying to be too clever. All of which meant that in parts it felt a bit confusing when it didn’t need to be. There’s only so much smoke and daggers you need going on before you just have an urge to cough.
I also had a couple of questions that I felt weren’t fully answered by what, to all intents and purposes, seemed like a bit of a rushed ending.
The Stars
A solid four stars. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, a clever and well thought out story, but ever so slightly lacking. I’d definitely read more from this author though.

After scooping international acclaim and accolades for Call Me Evie, a nerve-jangling and claustrophobic psychological thriller infused with literary flair, JP Pomare avoids any sophomore stumbles with In the Clearing, an excellent novel that cements the Melbourne-based Māori storyteller as a fresh and interesting voice in mystery writing. It addresses some similar themes to his debut – identity, psychological manipulation, and responses to trauma – while being more expansive in scope.

A seven-year-old girl is snatched in the Australian countryside as she walks home from the bus stop. Under strict orders from her ‘family’, teenager Amy holds a dosed rag to the younger girl’s face. Her new sister; successfully collected. Freya is a single mother both running from her past and looking to atone for parts of it living on an isolated property with her six-year-old son. She hears news of a child abduction, then stumbles across trespassers frolicking on her property. Later, there’s a van parked by her road. Sinister omens, or her mind playing tricks?

Pomare does a terrific job keeping readers guessing throughout In the Clearing, via both a twisting storyline and the narratives of his main characters Freya and Amy. Both protagonists seem incredibly candid at times – but can we really trust everything they say? Through Amy’s narrative and diaries we learn about ‘The Clearing’, a rural cult with a messianic mother figure that utilizes violent punishments to ensure obedience and ‘realign’ the children in its community back onto the path of ‘the Truth’.

The harrowing abuse involving Amy and her ‘siblings’ is even more chilling given Pomare took inspiration from notorious real-life Australian cult The Family. In the Clearing is a disturbing yet compulsive read, with a snap to its prose and an arresting sense of people and place.

I really enjoyed the story and the authors way of writing . Entertaining and twisted , everything I love In a book !!I would like to read more by this author !!

Oo I was very surprised with this book! I definitely give it two thumbs up. A great thriller and will keep you guessing!

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me and I gave up on it at about 30%.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The only life Amy knew is the life in the clearing where she is brought up away from any othersapart from the other children and the minders, she thinks her Mum is God recarnated and Adam is close in stature but he isn't nice.. So basically Amy has little in knowledge of the real world, In the other story line Freya has a lot going on in her life a wonderful son Billy 7 y/o, there are her Yoga classes that she teaches and just life in general only she seems unsure of what's happening and has a feeling something bad is about to happen to Billy if not her but is convinced it is Billy that she needs protect as she has all his life.
On the surface Freya's life seems idealic a secure home with only one neighbor Derick a older gentleman, she is close to a river she can strip of and swim in with very little chance of being seen. But as you can guess things are never as simple for anyone specially in a thriller otherwise it wouldn't be a thriller more a borer. This is 100% not a borer but a twisting and turning thriller that had me hooked from the start and the end twists are brilliant in a this is a great thriller way.
This is in my opinion a great book one that as I said grabed me from the start and it never let go. There are some great villain's but it's hard to tell who is and who isn't. in the way of any great thriller trust no one, all the characters are on the surface as you'd expect in life so it's very believable which makes you think and relax with them but the question as always should you will be in the back of your mind. Some are just that normal healthy characters that you can trust. So now I have confused you completely you will need to get this book the make sense and you won't regret it I promise.
I have given this book 5 stars which I feel it definitely deserves.

Great read!
This has kept me guessing and I haven’t wanted to put this one down.
This hasn’t been predictable which often books can be. I have really enjoyed this one.

This is quite a novel! If you like novels about cults and the inner workings of them, the reasons people start and join them and....shudder..this is inspired by the real life cult The Family who lived in rural Australia many years ago and had several children who they would keep isolated from the world.

It's quite a roller coaster read and there are some OMG moments that's for sure. There's really very little you can say about this novel without giving a hint of something away. There's quite the journey here - who do you believe?

Insightful.

Wow wow wow I picked In The Clearing up to read a few pages and wound up reading late into the night.A book about a cult with so many twists and turns it will shock.Grab-this book.#netgalley#inthe clearing

Thankyou to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and the author, J P Pomare, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of In The Clearing in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I thought the author has written a very intriguing read. I started reading the moment the download had finished. I was hooked.
Very chilling and realistic. 3.5 stars
Worth a read.

A great page turner that kept me on the edge till the end.
It's a gripping, poignant and engrossing story that made me turn pages as fast as I could.
The author is an excellent storyteller and I loved how she managed the two POVs and the great plot, full of twists and turns.
The characters are well thought, the mystery is solid and the plot full of twists and turns.
An excellent story that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This will be a bestseller for sure! A brilliant read, from two different points of view. Set in rural Australia, everything changes when someone new comes into a cult. Really well written, I don’t want to go into the story at all. The blurb attracted me... and will attract a lot of readers who I’m sure will enjoy as much as me.

I really enjoyed ‘Call me Evie’ but I think this one is even better, gripping my attention like a vice from start to finish. The story alternates between Amy in The Clearing and Freya who anxiously and even obsessively keeps a protective eye on her young son Billy. Amy lives in a cult in an area known as The Clearing, Adrienne is their ‘mother’ and The Queen Bee who they all must protect. Amy keeps a journal which graphically depicts the indoctrination. Freya ‘acts’ her way through life, she feels watched and seeks to protect herself and Billy with a guard dog and security measures.

The tension builds so well and at times it’s scary stuff. You really feel Freya’s fear but for a long while you don’t fully understand why she is so hyper vigilant. Some of the revelations are shocking and in other places it’s so creepy it’s hair razing. Then, the plot all starts to fall into place and you fully appreciate its cleverness. It’s very well written and although I guessed some of it I certainly didn’t see it all coming which is a real wow plus!

Overall, if you like psychological thrillers, with plenty of tension, suspense and multiple twists and turns then this is a must read. It’s hard to put down from start to wowza finish. Thank you to J P Pomare for such a terrific read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and particularly to Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC

Told in first person past and present, we uncover a story of kidnappings and cults through the eyes of paranoid mother Freya and child cultist Amy.

Freya lives in the Australian bush with her young son Billy. We know Freya is hiding, we know she lost her firstborn and we know she has something dark deep inside. But now Billy is missing, and to find him Freya will have to unlock the door to her past.

I found Freya hard to make a judgement on, as I think was Pomare's intention. Her twisted mind and behaviour originate from events outside of her control, but does that mean they are forgivable?

Amy is one of ten children preparing for the new world as foretold by her mother Adrienne, the second coming of Christ.
Six sons and six daughters of Adrienne will bring about the change, but when Amy aids in a kidnapping she begins to question the truth.

In The Clearing is filled with misdirection and unreliable character narration, there are twists you'll see coming and some you may not.
Do you ever find yourself shouting at characters on TV? That same feeling will dog you throughout this book, in the most enjoyable way.

I'm always fascinated by the psychology in cult novels and this one held my attention from start to finish. I raced through in one sitting and highly recommend to any thriller fan.

spoiler alert ** 4.5 stars

I won't be the only one to stay up way past bedtime to finish this book.
It draws you in with a slow reveal... so slow that I kept on reading to see what on earth was going on,and how the two stories were connected.
One of an overprotective mother,who hints at having lost a previous child,and one of a child abducted by a cult.
I do like a good cult story.
Then it twists and turns,and has such devious plot lines,that I raced through to the end,just to see how it COULD end.

I put the book down feeling very satisfied.
Excellent stuff.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a review copy of In The Clearing, a stand-alone psychological thriller set in a small town near Melbourne.

Amy is 12 years old and lives in a commune called The Clearing. She can’t remember any other life and knows how to thrive in the one she has until Asha arrives. Asha is 7 and doesn’t want to be there. At the same time Freya Heywood is living her life, trying to keep her and her son, Billy, safe but Freya is not all she seems.

I’m not a big fan of psychological thrillers as I like facts I can speculate on, not uncertainty, implied secrets and unreliable narrators and I didn’t realise just how much this novel would meet all these things I don’t like. As a result I didn’t particularly enjoy In The Clearing and struggled to work up any enthusiasm for the plot. This is not any fault of the author or his plot, which is well conceived and executed, it’s just not a good fit for my tastes.

The novel alternates its point of view between Amy and Freya. I found Amy’s account more interesting as it explores life in a cult although it is more broad brushstrokes than real detail with the overwhelming emphasis on obedience. I think the author does a great job of seeing the world through a brainwashed 12 year old’s eyes. I don’t even know where to start with Freya. The reader has no idea if what she says is true, false or self delusion. There are plenty of secrets there which are only frustratingly alluded to in the early parts of the novel although explanations come as the novel progresses. By that time I couldn’t have cared less as she is an extremely unpleasant woman, paranoid and controlling with no discernible redeeming features.

The novel takes a big turn about three fifths of the way in and changes from teasing and confusion to action and explanations. I guessed this turn much earlier in the novel so it wasn’t as a big a surprise as it might have been but I was pleasantly surprised by the change in tone. Yes, there are still questions about Freya’s reliability and motivations but it becomes a much more interesting and absorbing read. There are further twists, again most of them perhaps more obvious than the author would wish, but the epilogue must be commended as a real twist in the tail.

In The Clearing is not for me but I think any reader who likes a psychological thriller will lap it up.