I read The author's first thriller and loved it. So I plunged into this one with high expectations. Unfortunately they weren't altogether met. A bit choppy and hard to follow. But that said, it is a fun read and I would recommend it to others because it is definitely worth a read. Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

Just barely 3 stars. There's something about Megan Miranda's approach to story telling that doesn't really click with me. I didn't love All the Missing Girls and I'm feeling the same about The Perfect Stranger. There's something breathless and overly suggestive about the way the plots unfold. Her protagonists are caught in a dark atmospheric dreamlike headspace that makes me feel a bit claustrophobic. That said, The Perfect Stranger didn't feel like a complete disaster because it was a decent story with a few clever twists, especially toward the end. Leah moves to a small town in Pennsylvania. She is lured there by her old friend Emmy, who convinces her that moving away will help both of them escape from bad situations in Boston. Then Emmy disappears. Then it's not really clear who Emmy is or if she even exists. Miranda does a good job of creating uncertainty -- always shifting the ground for her readers. But I just wish she did it in a bit more of a calm dead pan manner -- it would be more effective and feel less manipulative. That's my view. She may just not be my cup of tea. Read other reviews. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I'd really enjoyed Miranda's debut and was a little less convinced at the start. However, as the story unravels and we start to piece bits together I could see just how clever this was.

I couldn't put this mystery thriller down! Leah Stevens, a journalist who was forced to leave her job because she was accused of unethical behavior, has moved to a small town with her old friend, Emmy, and become a high school teacher. When the body of a woman who looks a lot like Leah is found nearby, and Emmy is missing, Leah is determined to find her roommate and find out what happened and what is going on. There are plot twists and many mysteries in this fun to read story.

Secrets and lies are always good as the basis for a thriller and this was no exception. Leah is not the most likeable person in the world but she's really thrown for a loop by Emmy, who she thought was her friend. Good characters, some twists and turns, and a story telling style adds up a pretty good page turner. I do wish publishers would stop comparing all suspense novels written by women to Gone Girl and/or Girl on a Train. This isn't those, it's a novel on it's own terms. I liked Miranda's first book but this one less so -but I'll definitely look for her next. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for the free book in exchange for my honest opinion.

A 3.5 for me. I found the story line intriguing, but for some reason, as much as I wanted to know how it ended, I found my mind wandering throughout the middle of the book. My curiosity was peaked enough to follow it to the end and I enjoyed the way it ended, but I really wanted to enjoy it more than I did. It was good, but not great for me. Whether it is the writing style or something else, I am not sure. If you enjoyed her last book, you will likely enjoy this one. I would say it is worth reading, but I cannot say it was a favorite that will stay with me.

After being forced out of her job as a journalist, Leah Stevens runs into her former roommate, Emmy, who just got out of a complicated relationship and wants to start over. Together they decide to move from Boston to a small town in Pennsylvania where Leah finds a job as a high school teacher. But Leah's past catches up with her when a woman who looks like her is assaulted and Emmy suddenly disappears. Leah starts investigating with the help of detective Kyle Donovan and slowly uncovers the truth about Emmy and their friendship.
The story is told from Leah's point of view and I liked how she approaches everything as a journalist investigating a story. By telling the story in first person, I knew Leah's feelings, her weakness, her fears, but, unfortunately, I didn't get a sense of the other characters, some of which didn't seem to have much of a personality. Nevertheless, I was completely absorbed in this novel from the first to the last page. The story is full of secrets and the author does a great job creating suspense as Leah's past slowly unravels and twists and turns kept me guessing until the end.

While I haven't read Miranda's highly acclaimed ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, I heard enough good things that i was anticipating her newest release. However, I found myself confused for the majority of the novel and mildly disappointed by the end.

Miranda plays with format and structure in this novel, just as she did in ALL THE MISSING GIRLS. Miranda's main character, Leah Stevens, is running from a mysterious past involving a lost job and a mysterious death. Leah is deliberately ambiguous about her involvement in both events, calling her reliability as a narrator into question throughout the entirety of the novel. I found myself spending most of time reading trying to figure out what happened in Leah's past and if I could trust her.

However, the main plot of the novel is the disappearance of Leah's roommate, Emmy. After two deaths in their small town, Leah quickly becomes concerned that she hasn't seen Emmy in almost a week and reports her as missing to the police. Thus begins a long string of events to determine where Emmy is and if she even exists. I found this plot boring and nearly irrelevant. Trying to figure out Leah's reliability took up so much of my time that I didn't really care what happened to Emmy. Leah herself seemed so consumed with her past that Emmy's plot seemed like more of an afterthought on Miranda's part. This made it difficult to invest in the stakes of the novel.

I did appreciate Miranda's reluctance to spell out her conclusions—a frequent frustration of mine in this type of fiction. Miranda trusts her readers to connect the remaining dots and determine what really happened. Yet because this novel is steeped in ambiguity to begin with, I did want a little bit more definitive closure near the end. There were too many dots for me to connect on my own—though I recognize that this could be a problem with my specific reading style and not the novel itself.

Overall, I would recommend this book for readers who are fans of mysteries that require them to put things together on their own, though I find the conflicts in plot to be problematic.

I was given a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Megan Miranda has become an author I know I'll be able to go to for a good thriller. I loved her first thriller, All the Missing girls, and also enjoyed this one. this book has a lot going on and a lot of twists and turns. At times i felt a little bogged down by all the different characters and sub-stories. I think some of that could have been removed and the story wouldn't have suffered. otherwise, a great read.

What if a friend you knew really well wasn't who you thought she was? It happens quite a bit but most people don't adopt a false name or create their own "past". Just who was Emmy?

Simon & Schuster let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published May 16th.

Leah had to walk away from her last job as a journalist. What she printed was true but she could give no witness names. The article made the man singled out commit suicide. The paper wants her gone before they have to face a huge lawsuit.

Her mother is unhappy with her, her boyfriend was the one who got her in trouble at the paper, and she moves far away to live with a college roommate from the past. No one will know her in the new small town and no one will know about her shame. She signs up as a schoolteacher and a different trouble emerges. The coach starts hitting on her. He's married but he doesn't care. She's not interested but he's not listening. She tries ignoring him.

Emmy didn't come home as she should have. After several days, she reports her missing. That's when she realizes most of what she knew about Emmy was a lie...

The cops begin to take it more seriously when they find a dead woman in the woods. The woman looks a bit like Leah. She's not Emmy. But why would she be killed near Leah's house? Was the coach the killer?

Everyone in this story has baggage and troubles of their own. Trying to piece the truth together will take its toll on Leah. It also won't leave her with many of her own secrets.

What you do realize after reading this story is that trusting someone you don't know well can be a risk. Do you want to take that risk?

This book actually gave me chills and had me hiding under my comforter while I read in bed. What a great thriller! I couldn't wait to get to the end and figure out what happened :D

When Leah runs into Emmy, an old friend she hasn't seen in years, it seems perfect timing. Having had to quit her job as a journalist in Boston and with a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit hanging over her, she is grateful for Emmy's invitation to move to rural Pennsylvania with her. But starting anew as a high school teacher isn't that easy in a town that seems full of people looking for a fresh start. Megan Miranda did a great job of creating a host of characters that all seemed to be untrustworthy. When Emmy goes missing, Leah has difficulties convincing people that Emmy actually existed at all.
The Perfect Stranger was a decent enough mystery. Maybe I had set my expectations too high because I was mesmerized by Megan Miranda's suspenseful and uniquely told All the Missing Girls last year. The Perfect Stranger dragged a bit in parts. There was a lot going on, plenty of threads to keep straight, but nothing much seemed to be happening and there was no real depth to it. Not sure that makes a lot of sense, but that's how I felt. I also never really warmed up to Leah, and as the entire story was from her perspective, it made it more difficult to become really involved. I was expecting something more from the ending as well. It was anticlimactic.
Overall, this was alright, and I would certainly read more books written by Megan Miranda, but this one just felt a bit too safe.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

Miranda's masterpiece 'Perfect Stranger' may keep you up at night
By SANDY MAHAFFEY FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR Apr 29, 2017
Megan Miranda’s “The Perfect Stranger” is a masterpiece of psychological suspense. I must confess I was hesitant to read it before going to sleep at night, it is that impactful.

Leah Stevens is a journalist in Boston who is forced to leave her job after the publication of a story she refuses to substantiate by revealing the name of her source. As she struggles to determine her next move, an encounter with Emmy—who had come to her rescue eight years ago, shortly after Leah’s college graduation—leads her down a very rocky path.

They randomly decide to head to a small town in Pennsylvania, where Leah teaches high school English and Emmy takes on odd jobs. But who is Emmy really? Leah realizes that she knows very little about her, not even her last name, after Emmy mysteriously disappears. The location of an isolated house in a rural community affords the opportunity for plenty of fear—cats under the house, coyotes howling, knocks on the door in the middle of the night, unidentified shadows, phone calls with only heavy breathing.

The reader spends about half of the time following Leah’s narrative of a puzzling, rather terrifying string of events, and the rest of the time in Leah’s head as she wonders, rationalizes, hypothesizes and deftly stays one step ahead of the police as they who try to solve a murder and find the missing Emmy. One gets a real insight into her thought processes with such lines as, “We forced the pieces until they fit what we thought we knew.” Her perceptions and conclusions lead the reader to not only wonder who Emmy is, but also to wonder if Leah is sane or brilliant, while also trying to interpret the clues as they appear. The deft portrayal of Leah and her thinking reveals Miranda’s incredible skill at presenting a very complex story without losing the reader’s attention. My interest only grew as the plot spiraled.

I can understand why many reviews tend to have gifs to describe their thoughts and feelings in a review. My face contorted in so many ways. At times I was so into the story, led by the pacing. Other times, I set the story down and read something else. I can't define where it worked and didn't work for me because this is not a a linearly told story. It bobs and weaves within the twists and turns. At points I feel it's brilliant. More often I feel like I needed the scene to be placed elsewhere. Despite my highs and lows, this is an interesting tale where women can be conniving and villainous, but in turn can do it for the greater good. Hmmm...lots of thought.

First, let me give a disclaimer - DO NOT read this book if you have any plans on your calendar. This was the hardest book to put down that I have read in a long, long time. The story was interesting and intricately woven. It kept me guessing and interested from the first page to the last. All of the characters were very well developed and relatable - even very minor characters. The writing was beautiful, which honestly is very uncommon for this type of book. I found myself highlighting passages because they were poetic or profound. I will definitely be reading as many of her books as I can get my hands on moving forward.

I read Megan Miranda’s first adult novel All the Missing Girls and really enjoyed it. This suspenseful story is another winner - it was a compulsive read from beginning to end. So many things to wonder about along the way besides whether a missing girl named Emmy is real or imagined. Does Leah, our unreliable narrator and friend of Emmy, have some serious psychological issues? Is she a driven investigative journalist who won’t acknowledge boundaries? Or is Leah a pawn in someone’s complex game? My theory kept changing. It was such a good story and Leah’s character wonderfully complex. I was a bit confused with the ending though. Too many puzzle pieces come into place too quickly. Despite this one ding, I do highly recommend as it really kept me on my toes all the way through.

Simon & Schuster and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Perfect Stranger. This is my honest opinion of the book.

Failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston and an old friend, Emmy Grey, provides her with the perfect solution. They move together to rural Pennsylvania, where they both can begin again. When a woman is assaulted and Emmy disappears, the police come to certain realizations with Leah at its core. Will Leah be able to uncover the truth about Emmy before her reputation and her career are shattered for good?

The Perfect Stranger is a good, solid psychological thriller. I found the book entertaining, prompting me to linger over my morning coffee in order to finish. The only parts of the story that I found to be lacking was in regards to Emmy's background and the reasons behind her actions. The author did not delve deeply enough into these areas, in my opinion. The plot flowed well and I was fully satisfied with the conclusion. The Perfect Stranger is a book I would recommend to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers.

Grade: DNF

Leah Stevens is a disgraced journalist who decides to move to PA with an old friend when things get too hot for her in MA. Creating a new life, she becomes the suspect in a rash of murders when her best friend disappears and no information can be found on her. Leah’s investigation to prove her innocence forces her to confront her own secrets and the stranger within her.

This story starts out strong with a nice introduction and background set up on the protagonist. I read something similar to this premise years ago and loved it. The suspense and intrigue were intense. In here, we start off on a good foot. The pace is brisk and the narrative strong. Miranda is obviously not a victim of the sophomoric slump. As the story progresses though, it becomes extremely verbose and begins to falter as it loses its focus. Multiple plotlines build up leaving this read a little confused as to what exactly is happening, It doesn’t help that I had a very hard time connecting to the protagonist. Leah is not a likable person and she is an unreliable narrator which made it hard for me to move forward with the story. I found myself growing increasingly irritated with Leah and the story and not longer enjoying. Once I hit a certain scene, I knew this book was no longer for me and decided to cut my losses. Perhaps in the future, I will try again but for now, it’s better we go our separate ways.

A fascinating kaleidoscope of a mystery. When turned, the pieces fall into an arrangement, all perfectly aligned, all looking as if their is no other way to imagine they *could* be aligned. But then you give another turn, and… Creepy and satisfying at the same time. The story hooked me in and kept me enthralled to the last pages.