[Review] Where He Left Me - Nicole Baart

Summary: From Nicole Baart, the bestselling author of Everything We Didn’t Say, comes a twisty, atmospheric novel about a newlywed whose husband disappears, leaving her isolated in Washington State’s North Cascades.

“In every world, I’d find you.”

Sadie Sheridan’s new husband Felix, a professor of planetary sciences, has vowed to never leave her. But when Felix doesn’t return from a work trip, Sadie is stranded at Hemlock House, the remote mountain homestead where her husband grew up. Doubt creeps into Sadie’s heart. Then panic. Where is he?

Scared and alone in a place that feels haunted, Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing husband left behind. But when she catches strangers lurking around the property, Hemlock House instantly becomes both a sanctuary and a prison. Navigating threats from outside and in, Sadie is forced to confront shocking secrets that leave her questioning whether she really knows Felix at all. As a powerful storm bears down, she must decide: is she fighting only for her own survival now—or for the man who promised her the stars? (Pub Date: Nov 11 2025)

This was a thrilling read, no pun intended.

Sadie's husband had to leave her in their new home for a science congress, or rather, new home for her, because it's the same house he grew up in until he left for college only to return now, decades later, as he's using the quiet for a new research. But when it's timed for him to come back, there's no trace of him. Instead, two boys show up, one hurt, the other sick, both certainly hiding things as no one trusts each other. And a big storm leaves them stranded, Sadie's provisions too little to keep three for such a long time.

It's an exciting read that kept me awake even during days I should have been too busy to even read anything. You gotta love when a book does that to you. 

However, I must say the explanation didn't live up to the expectations. It doesn't cancel the fact that for most of the book, it gave me a hell of a time, but I wish it had taken a better turn. Perhaps, the author didn't want to dare and chose the safe route. So I don't think it's a bad ending, it just doesn't correspond how good the book had been until its final act. One example is that for all the talk about stars and cosmic events, it never had any consequence to the story. 

Expect, nevertheless, a book that will grasp you, make you turn pages faster than a tornado.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 4 out of 5.