Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and author S.J. King for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

It’s rare that a book ropes me in the way Where You Belong did. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the brilliant psychological thriller that I got. On the surface, it looks like just another smart woman making stupid choices, when in reality, it’s so much more. Part Stepford Wives and part dystopian thriller, I couldn’t wait to finish it.

Julia is a typical career woman in Boston. She’s overly preoccupied with her job, while her husband, who was laid off from his job, minds their two sons, Ollie and Milo. When he gets an offer that seems too good to be true, he jumps at it without consulting her. It means uprooting their lives and moving halfway across the world, but Julia goes along with it, believing it’s her turn to support her husband in his career. It feels like a fresh start for the two of them.

James goes on ahead of her while she wraps things up back home. Six weeks later, she’s traveling with their two sons to some third-world Asian country. The airport she finally lands at is a small one, and all around are guards with automatic rifles. James is there to meet her with a driver. Back in Boston, Julia didn’t drive, but she’s willing to learn. James states that there’s paperwork to be done in that regard, and meanwhile, they have the driver.

They enter a secluded compound where they are scanned in by more guards with guns. James brings her to an opulent house that is their new home. It’s very overwhelming to Julia. She also has a housekeeper. Katharine, a neighbor across the street, welcomes her. All of the people in the compound wear wristbands that sound something like Disney’s “Magic Band,” but it’s also so much more. They keep in touch by phone, and it seems to be sensing what Julia is thinking as the app on the phone sends Julia messages.

There are plenty of signs that something is off, but Julia talks herself out of pursuing them. What could she do anyway? She’s in a foreign country with her husband and two children, and no way to get out of the compound. At times, it’s almost like living in a video game where there are “gratitude points” neighbors collect from each other and levels they have to achieve for different areas of the compound to be available to them. It’s a paternal society where the men all work and the women stay home. With the boys at school and a housekeeper, Julia feels like there’s not much for her to do. What it leads to is her asking questions that no one else seems to be asking.

Where You Belong is a terrific thriller that kept me guessing. At times, I wondered if it was all in Julia’s head. It seemed like she was having a breakdown, and I wondered if her imagination was manifesting this or if she was lying in a coma somewhere. The reveal was slow, but it also grabbed me rather quickly. There were twists and turns I did not see coming.

Were there times Julia exasperated me? Sure. I’ve read books where I want to scream at the lead character as she’s overlooking the obvious and being stupid. Here, though, things are definitely “off,” but it’s hard to figure out exactly what’s going on. That kept me hooked.

I highly recommend Where You Belong. It’s a great thriller that you won’t want to put down. I don’t know if I would put it in the summer reading category, simply because I couldn’t wait to finish it and resented interruptions to my reading it.

Oh, and smash the patriarchy!