This Reese's Book Club Thriller Is A Clear Reader Favorite

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There's nothing quite like finding a satisfying read. Sometimes, it's all about a genre title that scratches an itch; other times, it's about losing yourself in prose so beautiful that it's otherworldly. For instance, we've recently been self-soothing with readers' favorite Read with Jenna book club pick, a collection of nature poetry that hits deeply. But one thing we can never resist is the lure of an emotionally resonant thriller. These books have everything: intrigue, conflict, and maybe even a little romance.

If you're looking for a top-tier read that ticks all of these boxes, "Big Little Lies" actor Reese Witherspoon has you covered, as her monthly Reese's Book Club recommendations often feature grade-A thrillers. And if you haven't read it yet, we know exactly where you should start: "Broken Country" by Clare Leslie Hall. Punctuating what could have been a standard murder mystery with gripping threads of love, grief, remorse, and forgiveness, this haunting narrative captivates readers from start to finish.

Someone has died in rural England, and someone else is on trial for it. But from page one, readers don't know what happened, why it happened, or who is involved. No cookie-cutter whodunnit, "Broken Country" pairs a page-turning mystery (we don't even understand the crime at first!) with a masterclass on the highs and lows of the human experience. At the story's core is a fractured love triangle between Beth; her husband, Frank; and her first love, Gabriel. Through artful time skips and flashbacks, we slowly build a full picture of their complex dynamic — a history fraught with passion, secrets, and more than one tragedy.

Not only does the nuanced plot line in "Broken Country" leave many readers guessing about the true series of events, but it also pulls mercilessly at their heartstrings. "It made me feel every feeling I'd ever had about love and regret and loss," Reese Witherspoon said, sharing a snippet of conversation with author Clare Leslie Hall on Instagram in March 2025. "Young love is so powerful, and we dismiss it a lot, but it's so important. So formative," she added. Readers seem to agree with the "Legally Blonde" star, sharing their own visceral reactions to the novel's serpentine plot.

"Broken Country? More like broken heart! But in the best way. I loved every second of this book and this beautiful story," wrote one reviewer on Goodreads. Another opined, "This is what reading is all about. It's been a very long time since a book has captured my attention the way that 'Broken Country' has. ... I was filled with every raw emotion available. There was love, heartbreak, grief, anger, intensity, and sadness. In fact, have tissues handy because the ending will probably leave you needing some."

Reading is subjective, and we can find a little kernel of joy or curiosity in almost any text. But a single positive review doesn't always point us toward reads we'll truly love. So, what's a better sign of a book worth adding to our ever-growing to-read pile? Multiple, consistently high ratings — a proving point that "Broken Country" offers in spades. Among the book's more than 70,000 ratings on Goodreads, almost 39,000 have awarded "Broken Country" five stars. In other words, more than half of all readers give the thriller a perfect score.

Furthermore, 35% of readers give it a respectable four stars, and taken altogether, this culminates in an impressive 4.43-star average. In fact, "Broken Country" boasts the second-highest reader rating of any book that Reese Witherspoon has selected, beaten only by the best Reese's Book Club pick of all time, historical fiction novel "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah. Excuse us while we quickly grab copies of both — and maybe a few cozy mystery books beloved by Kindle readers to help us reset afterward.