Review of The Long Way Back

The Long Way Back was a book mash-up. Halfway through the story, The Long Way Back took a turn. You might like that turn … or not. I’m happy to explain it all in my Review of The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart. And what cover does this remind you of? Answers in the post!

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart

To be published on June 13, 2023 by Atria Books. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy for review.

Plot Summary of The Long Way Back

Mother and daughter Charlie and Eva never sought social media fame, but when a stunning photo of Eva went viral, fame found them.

Now, after more than two years documenting life on the road in their vintage Airstream trailer, the duo has temporarily settled in a tiny Minnesota town. Eva is happily finishing her senior year of high school and applying to college, but Charlie longs for the adventures they left behind.

When Eva goes missing less than a week before her graduation, it’s Charlie who is immediately suspected of foul play—not just by their fans, but also by the police and the FBI.

As a fight about one more road trip comes to light, and the truth about their relationship is questioned, Charlie realizes the rosy facade they portrayed online hid a complicated and potentially dangerous reality.

Now, to clear her name and find out what has happened to her daughter, she’ll have to confront her own role in Eva’s disappearance—and whether she knew her daughter at all.

Other Books by Nicole Baart

Nicole Baart has been compared to Liane Moriarty: domestic drama/suspense with a strong psychological underpinning.

Baart wrote the three-book Threads of Change series, as well as Far From Here (2012), Sleeping in Eden (2013), The Beautiful Daughters (2015), Little Broken Things (2017), You Were Always Mine (2018), and Everything We Didn’t Say (2021).

Review of The Long Way Back

The Long Way Back is my first book by Nicole Baart and there were things about it that I really liked a lot. I don’t usually go deep into a plot summary in my review, but I sort of have to do that to explain book’s very abrupt (to me) right turn.

I found the first half of The Long Way Back really interesting. Charlie pulled her daughter Eva out of school during her middle school years because Eva was being bullied. Charlies then started a travel and unschooling program that involved driving around the country with Eva in their vintage Airstream.

After a photo that Charlie (a professional photographer) took of Eva went viral, the two became known as a mother-daughter travel social influencer team. They’d post photos of themselves on all their far-flung adventures. Then they’d post them to Instagram with the tagline, “always take the long way back.”

If you’re like me, you’re thinking: The Long Way Back is a 2020’s Gilmore Girls!

YES. We think exactly alike. I loved the Gilmore Girls vibe of The Long Way Back. Charlie is a young mom, she and Eva are extraordinarily close, and Charlie sometimes has boundary issues.

The book also raised a lot of interesting questions about parents who choose to monetize their children on social media.

Charlie even gets the idea that SHE is a suspect in her daughter’s disappearance. To me, this was plenty of drama and suspense.

But then The Long Way Back takes not the long way back, but a complete sharp right turn into a VERY weird explanation for Eva’s disappearance. (No, it’s not aliens or supernatural, if you are wondering.) But it was odd and (for me) took the book away from the narrative I liked and into one I liked a LOT less.

Now, I have seen people on Goodreads who agree with me. And there are those who say, “no, I liked the second part better.” It IS slightly more suspenseful, just strange and (to me) not very plausible. If you want to know what it is, leave me a comment and I will email you the answer!

Books Like the Long Way Back

So, yes I did enjoy The Long Way Back and will be checking out Nicole Baart’s backlist. As I was writing this post and staring at the cover, I realized what the marketing department was trying to tell me:

Sometimes I think marketing departments get it wrong, but in this case I really DO see the similarities between the two books. A mother-daughter (or stepmother-daughter) bond. Some light suspsense. Some elements that were a little bit out-there.

So if you (like many people) enjoyed The Last Thing He Told Me, I’d definitely try The Long Way Back.