From the first scene of Somewhere Past the End, I was hooked. I love cult stories and have always been fascinated by the psychology behind cult leaders and members.

This book gave such a compassionate look at the reasons people choose to stay in difficult or dangerous situations, and I greatly appreciated the way different characters came to different conclusions with the same information. Everyone in this book is doing their best, and sometimes that isn’t good enough.

This novel grapples with motherhood and the desperation it instills in you. It also tackles what it means to be a child of a mother who has made choices that have hurt you deeply. And I think most of all, it’s about forgiveness.

Even when I was beyond frustrated with the characters, I was rooting for them. It’s complex and compelling in equal measure and Alex has a bright future ahead of her after this debut!

I love a cult book and enjoyed the two perspectives. A little slow in spots but worth pushing through those

Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved the title and cover for this book, I think it suits the plot very well. I did enjoy this book but not as much as I was hoping as I think it was less culty than expected. This book has themes of motherhood which I did enjoy but I was expecting more cult action. There is a prophet/leader but I just wanted a bit more cults and why and how etc. I did like the writing style however and flew through the book! It’s a fast and snappy read and think perfect for a long bus or train journey. Definitely worth a read.

(More like a 3.25)

Somewhere Past The End locked me in from the first chapter. The idea of a member of a cult willingly sitting out the rapture, but then watching the rapture actually happen, is extraordinary and allows the reader to think of all the ways the story may continue "past the end." It brings up questions of what the true afterlife may look like, the people who may wait for us there, and what we leave behind in our wake.

The following story answers a few of those questions well, but rarely considers the pivotal "What happened to them?" hook. Instead, we get dual timelines where we learn about a mother and a daughter who grew up in restrictive, unfriendly homes - off and on The Farm respectively - as they make choices for the future of their children. We get the chance to understand how both of these women feel about belonging to the Collective and the people in and out of the tight community.

However, we don't learn about the community as a whole. We know they follow a self-proclaimed prophet who along the way exposed himself to some to be a monster in several ways. Sometimes these moments of cruelty are incredibly scary, but sometimes they're recalled to us at arms length. This lessens the blow and may help certain plot points stick out more than others, but overall is a example where "telling" occurs more than "showing." This may help answer questions, but it's only for the knowledge of what happened rather than the experience of learning it ourselves. There's lost potential in learning more about other perspectives in the Collective, and I feel that this story would have benefitted from even more POVs. There are so many characters that we come to care for, but yet again, we only can care from a distance.

By the time the story wraps up, we learn a lot about motherhood and the difference between making life-changing sacrifices for the betterment of another versus ourselves. But there's something missing in the connection between the individual and the (literal) collective. I would have liked this book to have been another 100 pages so I could learn more about the world these women live in and the lives they are forced to lead. In all, I would recommend this to anyone curious about how they would fall into a cult - and if, knowing that the ascension to heaven *is* possible, they would ever leave.

Thank you for the ARC!

In Somewhere Past the End, Alexandria Faulkenbury delivers a gripping, dual-timeline story about Alice Greene, who plans to escape the cult she was raised in—until over 100 members mysteriously vanish. As Alice reconnects with her childhood friend and faces the truth about her past, she’s forced to question everything she believes about faith, family, and freedom. A haunting, emotionally layered novel about what remains after the end.

i always find the topic of cult both interesting and a little scary. people feel they are so far away from a "cult" but we see it, we see it all the time in our world right now. and we also see the whys. the need to connect. the need to belong. and being manipulated by those who only really want power, then manipulates said people. its all around us. in the social media people get obsessed with and believe anything of. in politics and leaders. in young boys. and in many many works of life. the actual "cults" are just a highlight reel of all those things. maybe its easier to separate ourselves from them.
but they do make me sad. said to read because you can see whats happening to these people from the outside. and half the time you want to shake them and half the time you want to shake the leader. but actually when you sit with it is also very relatable. and many of the people you see fall into cults are just people. people like you and me.
Alexandria does this book so well though. its told from two timelines and you get no feeling throughout of any prejudice or judgements. she just telling us a story and a fascinating one.
this one tells the timelines via two people of the same family. a mother and and daughter one member is so sucked into the cult she believes it when their leader says the end of the world is coming. the other though is feeling churned up. she is sceptical she is fighting against what she is being told. but her loyalties are torn. and brother Richmond hold is strong. i felt uneasy every single time moments of him came up.
as Alice grows she grows the will and strength to leave. shes also pregnant now with a child she shouldnt be having according to the leader. so when she decides the time will be at the time of the "homecoming" she is stopped short by the people she loves actually disappearing. how can Alice leave now. this is the only home she knows. and her family?
this is a really thoughtful and thought provoking novel. but its tender in the writing and i felt the compassion given throughout.
a brilliant book.

This is a good read and quite insightful into the complex world of a cult

Alice is a great character and although she knows things are not quite right she is drawn into the people and their beliefs.

It is told in two lines but 20 years apart so we get to see the befores and afters. Alices life is turning out to be the parrallel of her mothers and to break this cycle she has to leave.

This is a unique and intriguing read and I was really eager to see how it would end..

Brother Richard and over 100 members of the Collective all disappear in an instant. It's the Homegoing that he's been talking about for years. Alice Greene watches as her mother, father and husband vanish in a beam of light.

Alice, who is pregnant with a baby she wasn't supposed to have, quickly learns she's not the only one left behind. Among the remaining is Edwin, Alice's best friend. When Edwin leads the remaining members as instructed by a letter and video left behind from Brother Richard, Alice's plans to escape the Collective are squashed. When she discovers a journal left behind by her mother, Alice learns that everything is not as she was told, and she must escape before it's too late.
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Another cult book...my favorite. Brother Richard is exactly who you think a cult leader would be: Charles Manson minus the murders. Alice, as a character, was smart and someone it was easy to root for.

I DO wish there was some explanation about the disappearance, but also, it's nice not knowing. Sometimes the mystery is better left unsolved.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If you’re ever gone through a cult phase (iykyk) then you HAVE to read this book.

Somewhere Past The End is a story told in two timelines. We meet Alice having to deal with the aftermath of a mass disappearance of the fellow members of The Collective, the cult she was born into, while also getting the perspective of her mother in retrospect journal like entries.

The author shows compassion to both women who, like many, get stuck in the repetitive cycle of a cult. Both of our main characters are smart, thoughtful, and periodically aware of how absurd their reality is but they doubt themselves and stay stuck in the cycle.

Alice, our present tense narrator, tries to grapple with her new reality after 130 of her fellow Collective members suddenly disappear in the “Homegoing” .

Teresa, Alice’s mother, tells us of the struggles that led her to Brother Richmond and The Collective in the first place and the way everything changed for the worse as the years went by.

Written with compassion and in a way that makes both women feel real and understandable while still writing frustrating moments where you just want to shake them, I found this novel incredibly compelling and beautifully written!

Would absolutely recommend!

4+ 🌟


A book about a cult ??? I am definitely in!!

This was an interesting one, told over two timelines, so you could see why the young couple were drawn in, but also why that lifetime member might want to leave.
How the ideals have soured, and loyalties have been tested and often found wanting.
Fascinating how one man becomes leader without (much) question to all.
An excellent book that I'm going to be thinking about for a while.
Also, shootout to the Camerons, who were just the best.