3⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advanced copy of Where You Belong.

Julia and her husband and their two kids move to an idyllic new community called The Haven for her husband’s new job. Julia has bad vibes from the beginning. She starts to realize this place feels more like a prison where you are being watched than a futuristic community. The more questions she starts to ask the more she puts a target in her back. She starts to wonder if she can even trust her husband?

This is definitely more of a dystopian book than a mystery/thriller read. I usually really enjoy dystopian books but I struggled with this one because it felt very slow moving and there were a lot of different characters to try to keep straight. Overall it was just an okay read for me.

Where You Belong by S. J. King was a Brilliant book from start to finish and a must read. This was a book that gripped me from the beginning till the very end and had me up to the early hours of this morning. I could not stop reading it especially as it was a great page turner and creepy in parts. I loved it.

I highly recommend this book and this is the first book from this author - WoW an excellent book!

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my ARC.

Domestic thrillers are my favorite and this one is right up there as a good domestic. However, I was so frustrated with the characters it brought my rating down a bit. Julia and James need a fresh start. Julia has put her career above her family, especially her husband. Now it is her husband's turn to put his career first and drag his family to some remote island. Supposedly he is getting a huge salary, but at what cost. I was disappointed in Julia as she seemed like a strong woman to start but then she agrees to be isolated from friends and family just for the sake of her husband. This felt like Stopford wives meets a cult of some kind. Will Julia be able to escape this island, will her kids be safe, what will become of James and his new career. Lots of questions to be answered that will keep you turning the pages.

Julia has the chance for a fresh start. She can leave behind her stressful job as a psychologist and focus on her young family. Julia's husband, James, receives a job offer that comes with a beautiful home in a luxurious gated community. No one seems to come in and out of the community. There are no cars or visitors. One night at a party, one of Julia's neighbours is found dead in the pool. The death of her neighbour starts raising some serious questions for Julia. What is this community? How come everyone wants to keep secrets? And how come the family that lived in Julia's house before her suddenly vanished?

Ok this needs to be a TV series or movie (or a great Black Mirror episode!) Super crazy plot, gorgeous imagery, and intriguing characters. I was genuinely surprised where things headed. This was a really unique plot, which can be difficult to do for a thriller! Really draws some shocking parallels to today's society and where our world could be heading. I raced through to finish because I just had to know what was going to happen. The author created a great sense of unease and paranoia thought the entirety of the read. This is a novel that will sit for you for a while once you finish.

An excellent debut novel! Well done SJ King!

Thank you Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fresh starts might not be all that they are cracked up to be! It was meant to be a fresh start in a beautiful setting, in a beautiful home, with friendly neighbors! That is what Julia, her husband James and their two children were hoping for. But everyone is a little too happy, a little too put together, a little too invested in earning gratitude points! Is this gated community really Where You Belong???

I have to agree with other reviews who have mentioned the movie "Don't Worry Darling" Where You Belong does give those same vibes and then some! The men seem to be in control and the women do as they are told and make sure to wear their bracelets so the app can measure how they are feeling. Julia begins to see and feel the cracks in this gated community’s picture-perfect facade. She beings to question, look for answers, and buck the system.

This was an interesting and quick read which has a dystopian type feel to it or does it? We have so many apps on our phones to track our steps, our heart rates, our sleep, our spending, our book quotas, etc. Having an app to track mood was not such a stretch. I applauded the author for adding that into this book.

I also enjoyed the tension, the dread, and especially that trapped feeling that I love in books! This book also has a creepy vibe, and I felt for Julia and wondered who things would turn out. This was an impressive, well thought out, thrilling, debut book which moved at a nice pace and kept me fully invested.

Thank you, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for letting me review this book.

This was a crazy ride! I was drawn in from the beginning, until it started to get a little too far-fetched for me and too many important plot twists toward the end. Too much was shared within the last part of this novel, that really could have been distributed throughout the book. Such as a “Then” and “Now” but leave the reader guessing.

This was very well written however. The characters and the main characters, Julia, James, and their two sons, move for a great job opportunity. It is pretty interesting. Everyone has to wear a band on their wrist which registered bio factors, and depending on the level of this band (which you can move up the levels through gratitude.) The higher the level, the better the benefits and it unlocks more features for you.

Although, when stranger things than usual started happening, Julia started to ask too many questions, and the people in the community, the Haven, did not like this, even her husband. Was Julia the only one that thinks things are not what them seem? Or is she just crazy? This book was worth the read. I just wish the ending didn’t hold so much of the plot than it did throughout the book.

But, wow! I felt like I was there. I would have asked the same questions as Julia, especially after people start to disappear and a person is found dead. I recommend this book if you want a wild ride!

Julia Ford, a very successful Chief Engagement Officer and clinical psychologist has it all. She has an amazing career, a husband, kids and all the accolades she deserves. But one day her husband decides to relocate them from Boston to Amsterdam because he landed the dream job and a home in The Haven. However, certain discrepancies begin to bother Julia. She isn't allowed to work, she isn't permitted to drive, she can't leave the community without her husband's permission, the school is only interested in teaching boys to be men and girls to stay at home, her housekeeper is off, and the tenants are just not right. Julia tries to blend in and join them in their perfect community with their perfect weather until she discovers a dead woman floating in the pool. This incident sends Julia through the roof and knows that something is completely wrong and scary with the community because no one helped the dead woman and everyone pretends like nothing happened. Julia's inquisitive mind will guide her to the truth, even if she must sacrifice her own mental sanity,  her two boys and the man who swore his inconditional love to her.

Pick up Where You Belong if you want to be captivated by a phenomenal story with questionable characters and a beautiful cult like haven.

Thank you Netgalley and Storm Publishing for this super intense, adrenaline driven book!

From reading the synopsis I was excited to dive right into this book. I like the concept of this book, but I think something was missing. It's well written. The characters and plot fell flat for me. I lost interest in this about halfway through. The ending was meh. The main female character should have seen all the red flags about this community from the start. She isn't a very good psychologist.

Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, & the author for this ARC.
*All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

My favourite genre is definitely psychological thrillers so to discover a new author of this genre is always exciting. An excellent debut novel that gripped me to the end. Thanks Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Where You Belong
by S. J. King
Pub Date: Mar 04 2025

"Where you Belong" is a debut book for S. J. King. It was an excellent thriller, the thrills just kept on coming. I didn't want it to end, but I desperately needed to keep reading! The ending I did not see coming. Definitely a 5 Star book!

Synopsis: This was meant to be our fresh start. It’s turning into a nightmare. When a neighbor’s body is found floating in a pool during a party, the other wives say it was a tragic accident. But there are also whispers about the family who lived in our villa before us—just vanished one day, they say.

Many thanks to #NetGalley #WhereYouBelong #StormPublishing #SJKing for providing me with an E-ARC of this 5 Star Thriller!

This was such a thrilling and intense read for me right away as we explore to secrets and lies that can tear a community apart.

4.5 Stars. Thanks to Storm Publishing for the E-ARC. This book had me on the edge of my seat and was a total mind f&$k in the best possible way. This is going to be a book that lives rent free in my brain for a long time. Julia decides to move with her husband James and 2 children elsewhere for his job where he will now be the bread winner and everything is "perfect".....but of course everything is never perfect and the more Julia digs the better the book gets....could not put this down.

3,5 ⭐ rounded up

julia’s world is turned upside down when her family moves to an exclusive, high-end neighbourhood called haven. she soon realizes that their new home comes with restrictions, isolating them from the outside world. as she uncovers the secrets about her marriage, she also becomes entangled in a chilling mystery. the seemingly perfect surroundings start to turn into a nightmare.


i liked the book, even though it was definitely far fetched and just too unrealistic for the thriller genre. i'd say it gives off more dystopian vibes and I would consider changing the genre to sci-fi/drama or something like that.

the first part was a bit slow paced and i found it hard to get into the book, but over time, it got more interesting.

as for the characters - i really liked julia. she was a good mother and knew what was best for her boys. i admired her resilience and how she was able to stand up for herself.
and james - his attitude was just irritting, and he was really manipulative.

the ending felt a bit rushed, and at times, the book seemed to drag on. it could have been much shorter, but still, i was invested in the story.

overall, i'd say it was a good debut novel by s.j. king. i'm open to reading more from this author.



*thanks to NetGalley, S.J. King and Storm Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t read an SJ King book before but I will definitely keep an eye out for more of his books. I’ve been having a hard time getting into thrillers recently and I think this one has put me back on track! King’s storytelling is both engaging and thought-provoking, making it a perfect read for anyone who loves books that leave a lasting impact. The pacing is perfect, and the prose is beautifully crafted, making it impossible to put down.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC!

I was hooked on this book from the start. It wasn’t like any other I have read, alittle originality, but written very well. It kept me turning pages and the end was really good. Fast paced and tense which built suspense throughout

I can’t imagine living in the world of Radiance.

Highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing

This compelling psychological thriller will take you on a wild ride. The tension and suspense reverberate off of the pages.

This beautiful gated community seems safe and perfect, but there are secrets hiding behind all of this opulence. The creep factor was high, which helped keep me spellbound as I raced through the pages.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

i felt unease right from the start. i dont know how authors do it. have you becoming suspicious of every character just be creating that eery sense throughout the pages. you along with the characters are starting to question even the most biennale movements. or maybe this is just good writing of suspicious characters!
Julia, her husband and children move to a gated community( always reminds me of desperate housewives these places so im automatically on the suspicious foot). but Julia feels something is off from the start. there is certain acts that you have to perform to be part of this community and the neighbor's all seem a bit off. and would definitely have me running for the nearest estate agents.
then a body turns up and she realizes she needs to leave. but how when she is locked in. and how when her husband is making her feel slowsly more uncomfortable of his intentions too.
great books. it has suspense and that creeper feeling right from the off. and has that smiley smiley evil neighbor feeling when really they are plotting to kill you!

Wow! This book reminded me of the Stepford Wives. So good I couldn't put it down. Definitely a good read.

Wow what a book. Had me hooked and I had to keep reading. This was very different to my normal psychological thrillers. Julia leaves her high end pressurised job to go with her husband to a new life in a lavish community. All is not what it seems, is it too good to be true. Real gripping, twisty storyline that keeps you reading. Will definitely recommend to others if you enjoy psychological thrillers that are a bit different.

Thank you to Netgalley, Storm the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion

This felt like a book/film I already knew and I have to say that at least 2/3rds of the book felt like that. I was questioning myself as to whether I’d already read this book. Having said that I persisted and now can give a review based on having finished the book. It’s not bad …. But it’s not great. Sorry SHKing but it’s not your best work. If this is a reader’s first delve into this genre, then great - but I think there are better examples out there.