I hate writing a bad review for a book because I don’t enjoy bashing an author’s baby. I enjoyed Miranda’s previous book and looked forward to reading The Perfect Stranger, but it just wasn’t for me.

Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston. When her old friend, Emmy Grey, proposes they move so both women can start over, it seems to be the perfect solution. But their new start is threatened when a woman is assaulted and Emmy disappears days later. Determined to find Emmy, Leah investigate her friend’s life for clues and begins to wonder: did she truly know Emmy?

Whenever I approach a book review I want to balance out my good feelings with my bad feelings, but I simply can’t think of anything positive to say here. Perhaps my issues with the book are that alone … mine. Perhaps the things I didn’t like, someone else will have no issues with at all? It took me 3 days to read this book, which is average, but it felt like it took sooooo much longer. The story didn’t flow, but rather felt all over the place. I don’t feel like I knew anything about any of the characters. There was so much going on that I felt my brain would explode with information overload. And to make matters worse, I didn’t see a connection with some of it to the overall plot. The ending? I’m not quite sure I even understand exactly what happened.

Fellow readers, this book wasn’t for me and I can’t recommend it. However, we’re all different. Perhaps you’ll love it?

The Perfect Stranger is a gripping psychological thriller. Well written with a plot that has many twist and turns to keep the reader guessing. If you enjoy good thrillers I recommend this book.

Fans of Gillian Flynn will love this twisty suspense novel! Everyone - and I do mean everyone - in this rural Pennsylvania town has a secret and the way they intersect will blow your mind. I was captivated by Emmy and Leah's relationship and desperate to find out what mistakes Leah made in the past that brought her where she is-- and just how culpable Emmy might have been. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the author threw in another surprise. If you like your stories dark and twisty, THE PERFECT STRANGER is a sure winner.

After Miranda's amazing All the Missing Girls, I had high hopes for this book but I'm just not sure that the mystery stuck the landing in this one.

The story follows Leah Stevens, a Boston journalist turned rural Pennsylvania high school teacher after publishing a controversial story in the news. Leah needed to get away - luckily, so did her friend from college, Emmy Grey - and the two set off to the small town as roommates. Soon after she starts teaching, a woman's body is found down by the river. The attempted murder shakes the entire town, but especially Leah, because the woman looks just like her. Then, when Emmy doesn't come home for days, Leah reports her missing. Upon investigating, she soon finds out that there is no trace of Emmy anywhere, and that she may not even exist.

I'll leave the plot at that because there is a lot more to the story but I don't want to spoil it.

This book had all the makings of a great thriller. Small town cops, shady gym teacher that everyone thought was great until he was questioned, etc. The storyline is so complex that it reels you in, you want to know ever detail and figure out what is really going on. But I think that is where this story starts to fall apart for me.

The plot is just too complex.

Usually, I can handle something like that because, in the end, everything is explained. But I just felt like, in this book, you never knew what was going on even as things were being explained. And I don' think that's Miranda's fault in writing style or anything, I just think the plot was so ambitious it was extremely difficult for anyone to pull off.

I think another part of the problem I had with this book was there was literally no one to trust. In most cases, that's not a big deal and doesn't matter with the story, but I feel like in this book, there was no one to verify information and you never knew what was true.

Part of me feels like I didn't like this book because I am comparing it to ATMG, and maybe I shouldn't - after all, they are two very different thrillers. But I think my larger issue with this book is the over-ambitious plot that just doesn't wrap up well.

Overall, as much as I wanted to love this book, I just don't think it worked for me.

3.5 stars


Suspenseful psychological thriller with a lackluster ending.

Pushed out of her reporter job because she goes too far with an investigation, Leah Stevens flees Boston to Western, PA with her former roommate, Emmy, to start a new life. After a woman, who happens to look a lot like Leah, is attacked and Emmy goes missing, Leah begins to question how much she really knows her roommate. As Leah begins to investigate Emmy, more and more questions emerge about her mysterious roommate. At the same time, those around Leah begin to question her sanity.

I was loving The Perfect Stranger until I got to the ending. Things were moving along swiftly, tension was building, the unreliable narrator was making me question everything, and I was so excited to see how things were going to play out. But then I got to the ending...and it all kind of just fell apart. I was waiting for a twist or something big to happen, but I found the ending to be anticlimactic and I was left with a lot of questions. It’s not a bad read, but it didn’t live up to my extremely high, and slightly unfair, expectations. I would still recommend for an entertaining, suspenseful read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"Emmy's car was on a flatbed truck now, and a news crew had arrived. Most spectators had left the area, but not all. This was the gritty part, the grisly part. This was the part you didn't report-that turned people away. The truth. The gut-wrenching truth that only we bore witness to."......

Leah and Emmy move to a small town in Pennsylvania. Leah running away from a mistake, and the boyfriend who ratted her out. Emmy leaving a bad relationship. Things start to turn when a girl resembling Leah, is found beaten near her home.

Emmy hasn't returned to pay her share of the rent. The police are asking questions where Leah is teaching at the local school. Everything is not as it seems. You could feel that something isn't quite right undercurrent as soon as you start reading this book.

This mystery, thriller, was a page turner. I had to see where this was going, and find out what happened to Emmy, and if Leah is going to survive the whole thing.

Who beat the girl near the lake? Did they arrest the right guy? Is someone stalking Leah? Will Emmy pay the price for Leah's mistakes? Small towns can be a terrible place to hide your secrets. Someone is always watching.

Does Emmy even exist? Leah is having a hard time with the truth. The detective on the case isn't about to go easy on her. Great ending! I love a book where all the unanswered questions come to light. The kind of story that sticks with you. Characters you'll love or despise. A few surprises along the way. A great read!

Thank you Megan Miranda, Netgalley, and Simon and Schuster Publishing.

Adored this! I'll be back with my full review soon!

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as well as I did Megan Miranda's first book, All The Missing Girls. This book seemed to drag out for me and I lost interest in the final conclusion. Leah, is forced to resign from her job as a reporter in Boston and moves to a small town to start her life over. She moves with her old friend Emmy. Emmy steals her identity and we are left to wonder if Emmy really exists. I found myself not engaged in this story or any of the main characters but will certainly give Megan Miranda another try as I enjoyed her first novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

After reading All the Missing Girls, I was dying to read another thriller by Megan Miranda. I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Perfect Stranger.

I can tell you that I was invested in the story from the first chapter. The pages of the book pretty much turned themselves. The Perfect Stranger was full of mystery, suspense and a sense of thrill surrounding the main characters.

The story:
After a bad decision, Leah Stevens loses her career, boyfriend, and her life in Boston in a blink of an eye. With her life ruined, she knows she needs a fresh start. When she bumps into Emmy, an ex-college roommate and she's offered the chance to start over in a small town in Pennsylvania, she doesn't think it twice. Her new job as a high school teacher is different than her prior career but she's getting used to it. Everything seems to be going well until a woman is found beaten not too far from their home. Worse, she soon realizes her friend Emmy is missing too.

Kyle Donovan is the detective in charge of the investigation. He wants to get to the truth but even though Leah seems helpful, he knows she's still hiding too many things. Leah for her part is performing her own investigation in regards to her friend's disappearance when she realizes the police are doubting Emmy was real, to begin with.

Megan Miranda gives you whiplash with the intrigue she sets up in The Perfect Stranger. I was doubting everyone's motives. I jumped to too many conclusions and changed my mind constantly trying to keep up with the different outcomes. The one drawback for me was the ending. I guess I was hoping for a much more crazy outcome.

Overall, I did enjoy it and I know I want to read her next book.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good fast read. A very engaging psychological thriller. The characters are well developed but they all have their secrets that are not revealed in the beginning of the book.

The main character, Leah, was a journalist who left town for a fresh start. Her reasons for leaving are not revealed right away. The reader has to piece the information together little by little as the story is told. This style of writing kept me wanted to read another chapter so I could find out what happened.

If you liked “Single White Female” you will like this book.

What an engrossing mystery. I honestly had no idea where it was going and most of the turns surprised me up till its excellent ending. After her life unravels, Leah moves to Pennsylvania leaving everything behind. She is not alone, her friend Emmy is the catalyst for the move. Now Leah is slowly rebuilding her life but, when Emmy disappears, she starts to question everything. We don't immediately learn what's going on. Instead, the author teases out the backstory in little pieces. Why Leah is how she is and why she's running away. Emmy becomes real seen through Leah's eyes but, is Leah really seeing Emmy as she is or is she projecting a picture in her mind? The writing is fantastic, the plot never lags or slows down and Leah is so real that she pops off the page. As a former journalist, she is not a clueless victim and she actually learns many facts that even the police ignore. If you like twisty mysteries, you will really enjoy this novel.

This book proves that Miranda is not a one hit wonder. This story moves with extreme speed through twists and turns and terror. It left me guessing throughout the first half as the full scope of the story seeps into our psyche. I was able to figure out where things were heading pretty early in the second half, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment at all. I'm already anticipating the next book from this new star.

Leah Stevens job as a journalist was on the line as she continued to protect her source on a story and ended up with a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit. Not knowing what to do with herself Leah ends up running into an old friend, Emmy Grey, right at Leah’s lowest time. Emmy proposes the pair move to somewhere new and each gain a new start in life.

Heading off to western Pennsylvania with Emmy, Leah finds herself taking a completely different job as a teacher at the local small town school. Emmy however is still her normal free spirit self and working odd jobs and coming and going at all hours. When a woman is attacked and the suspect having connections to Leah an investigation is opened and Leah realizes Emmy hasn’t been home in several days so Leah has the police begin looking into her disappearance.

Last year I read Megan Miranda’s All the Missing Girls and completely loved the story so when offered a chance to review The Perfect Stranger I immediately knew I had to read this one. After finishing I am certainly happy to be giving another review on another great thriller from Megan Miranda. As with her first book it took no time at all to become completely engaged in the story and characters and not want to put this book down.

With Leah having a background in journalism but losing that job she made the perfect mix of a strong and smart but yet slightly tormented female lead that I quickly became entranced with following her story. The book started right off with the action and never stopped as the story added twists and turns and other crimes and dilemmas for the reader to try to follow and solve. Never a dull moment and really enjoyed reading this one and look forward to picking up any future thrillers from this author.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Last year, I read All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda and couldn’t get into it; I felt confused and mixed up throughout the plot and it didn’t allow me to really get into the story. When #cjsreads decided to take on Megan Miranda’s newest novel, The Perfect Stranger for one of our April reads, I wanted this one to feel different; unfortunately, I consistently struggled with this one as well!

The novel opens with a teacher, Leah, realizing her roommate (and old friend), Emmy, has gone missing. Simultaneously, a woman winds up brutally beaten by their home and police become involved. Leah finds herself tied to the woman by the lake, her missing roommate and soon becomes a target of police questioning. Leah must try and find out the truth about Emmy while battling her own personal demons.

Similar to the last novel I read by Miranda, I felt like way too much was going on. There is the beating by the lake, the missing roommate, a dark past and a romantic relationship with a police officer. I felt as if maybe the author had focused on one of these things, it would have made the plot easier to follow. Instead, I found that all of these things were fighting for the limelight and everything felt jumbled.

I also struggled with the pace of this one; it read very slowly. I prefer a faster paced read and this one seemed to steadily climb and then settle. I didn’t find there was a real climax to the story. I couldn't connect with the characters.

This one was not for me.

4 mysterious stars!! This one will have you guessing the whole way through!

I am not even going to give a back story to this one because you just need to feel it for yourself and just like the last book this author wrote, the back story is the whole story.

I enjoyed how this book took you from past to present often. And the beginning of this book had me reeled right in. I was excited! Who doesn't love a good mystery?!?! Man I didn't know heads from tails here. Usually I have a pretty good grip on what is going on but I'm pretty sure I changed my theory about every chapter. I had no idea who to trust and even if I could trust Leah. I also enjoyed the bit of romance that was thrown in and of course who it was.

The middle of this book just lacked some for me. It was very descriptive and gave info but it lost me and had me repeatedly putting the book down. But then about 70% it was back and I was ready. I was being thrown little bits to reel me back in. The ending was great!! The author is very good at drawing you the picture she wants you to see.

**I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley and in return gave my honest review**

My Thoughts: How well do we know our friends? Considering most of our adult friends are met outside of their circle of family, is it possible that everything they have told us is lies. Is it possible that one of our friends is actually a complete stranger? These questions are only a few the protagonist in Megan Miranda's new novel, The Perfect Stranger, starts to ask herself when her longtime friend, Emmy, goes missing.

The Perfect Stranger was an amazingly suspenseful novel that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Filled with completely satisfying twists and turns, this story captivated my attention through to the end. The plot was mapped out very well. At the end, I discovered all the little breadcrumbs Miranda had left for me along the way to her fantastic ending. I found the characters to be very developed and believable. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by how this story was not only plausible in real life, but scary. It made me realize I may be just a little too trusting sometimes.

Would I Recommend: Absolutely! It's a great read; one I found myself breezing through in a day because I couldn't put it down. Not having read any of her previous books, The Perfect Stranger has made me a fan and now I want to read her earlier writings. The setting of this book would make it a great vacation read, so with summer coming around, I suggest picking up a copy!

Here is a review by Jennifer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1969378261

An advanced copy of this book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was really excited to read this one. I LOVED her other novel, All the Missing Girls and was hoping this was going to be as good as that was. It wasn't a bad read. Not a bad plot or the way it was written. I really enjoyed the way Emmy, one of the main characters in the story was portrayed. At one point in the book I could've sworn she wasn't real.. but then the plot thickens! She's not who you think she is, but there's no huge plot twist in this book either. If you're hoping this will be like All the Missing Girls, I'm sorry to say, it won't be as good as that.

I feel as though I still have questions. I know not every book has a "happily ever after" ending and every lose end is not tied, but there are pieces of information that I felt you are given, that didn't really get tied back in or have some conclusion to them. I know I have said this about other books before, but you can't throw a big "reveal" about a pretty big event in the book and then not come back and give an outcome or tie it into the way the book ends. I was holding out hopes that because of this reveal it would lead Leah and Paige to become friends again. Maybe even resolve the severed friendship, or not.. but SOMETHING. Something more than the reveal (I'm trying not to spoil anything) and then no other mention of it. In one way, that whole part of the story line - the reason for the friendship split etc. could've been left out and not been as much of a byline in the book as it was. It could've been condensed into a chapter, at most, as a flashback and then moved on. I'm still not sure the whole reason of revealing as much as this byline did and not resolve it in the end.

This was still a good book. Not as fast paced as All the Missing Girls, where I wanted to know the outcome and couldn't put it down, but it has a good plot, maybe premise is more the word I should be using - despite what I said above. This didn't get to be a page turner for me until after Leah started to uncover some of the untruths about Emmy, until she really started realizing that she wasn't who she said she was. I think the scary part in that party of the plot is this could, more than likely, happen. If you like Megan Miranda's style of writing and have enjoyed her other novels, then you will enjoy this one.

A totally engrossing book that had me captured and captivated with each page I turned! Fast paced and a total compulsive read---I just loved it!!! thank you for the advance reading of this title prior to publication.