This thriller kept me guessing until the end. There were so many possibilities in this book it made it really enjoyable. I really liked the snippets of news articles/interviews that were interspersed. This book is an interesting web of social connections, and with Olivia's lack of memory it makes you question everything and everyone. The second half of the book is when it really starts to ramp up and things get really interesting and dark. Thrillers are one of my favourite book genres, and this one definitely delivers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Miranda and Simon & Schuster Canada for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read most of Miranda’s novel and I usually enjoy them overall, but this one sucked me in right away! I loved Olivia right away and I love the sleep walking aspect to this one. I did keep wondering how it was that someone could survive the accident that she went through and was really curious if that was actually the way it went down. This novel was definitely more of a slow burn, but had lots of amazing twists peppered throughout. I found it quite the page-turner and I loved the perfectly shocking ending! I would definitely recommend!

Out June 23rd!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for a DRC of this novel in exchange for an honest review .

New names .. New identities ... secrets ... a girl who sleepwalks ...a past that continues to haunt ... a present that is shrouded in mystery ... a dead stranger ... a dead friend ...a dead mother ...

Told in the first person from Olivia’s perspective, who has recently started sleepwalking again and wakes up next to a dead body, this story kept me guessing until the end. Like where did that come from ?? 🤷‍♀️

Book Raring: 4.5 ⭐️

When Arden Maynor was 6 years old she sleepwalked in the middle of the night into a storm that swept her into the storm drainage system. Arden's mother knew something was wrong when she woke, and soon a 3-day search for the missing girl took place with national coverage of the event. Arden was found clinging onto a storm grate by Sean Coleman, it was a miracle. In the events after Arden sustained injuries and had to have her arm reconstructed. Her mother landed a book deal and people donated money to the family in the aftermath, setting them up for life.
But this type of thing always brought some bad. People suspected the story and events that took place didn’t quite add up, Arden was bullied and harassed by people who believed the event to be a hoax in which they didn’t deserve the money that came their way. They moved around a lot, and when the 10 year anniversary came around the media wanted interviews. Arden's mother was eager, Arden was not. She hated and resented the fame that this one traumatic moment in her life in which she has no memory of has brought.
And so we are with Arden in the present day, she changed her name to Olivia, lives in a new town and works at the hospital as an administrator. But strange things begin to happen, Olivia is found by her neighbor Rick outside in the early hours of the morning sleepwalking - something Olivia hasn’t done since she was a child.
A few nights later it happens again, only this time she stumbles over a dead body in her backyard. A man she would come to find out she has connections to in her past. Soon a police investigation ensues, and Olivia isn't sure how that man ended up dead in her yard, or if it was by her own hand.

While we have some interesting plot points, I didn’t really enjoy this book until the end. The beginning is super slow, nothing really picks up until halfway into the book.
Olivia is a likable character in a scary situation. It was interesting to learn about events that took place when she was 6, however, I would’ve preferred to have had more of a flashback type of POV instead of news releases. It would’ve made the book better in my opinion, but I get why the author went the route she did.
While some of the plot twists were shocking it didn’t make up for what was ultimately an average book. I don't necessarily hate anything about it, nor do I love anything that it did. It was very middle of the road for me.

3 stars

**ARC provided by Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda sweeps you up in the mystery of what happened to a young girl who disappeared and is found three days later in a storm drain. Years later trying to hide her identity to get away from reporters Arden/Olivia starts to sleepwalk and seeks medical help at the hospital where she is employed in an admin position. The chapters move from past to present and we read the harrowing ordeal and the publicity that ensued. Where this story falls flat is the cast of characters. So many to keep track of. When the ride is over; and it is a good ride, the story ends with too many loose ends. In Agatha Christie style...where everyone is guilty; it is difficult to tie all the characters and their part in the events that occur. So much time is spent on developing a story line for the characters...and then they die or simply disappear.

This book was so good, from one page to the next you had no idea what was going to happen.

For me this is only the second book that I have read by this author, I read the other one as it was a Reese Witherspoon book club read and I really enjoyed the intensity of this authors writing and how she gets you hooked from page one.

This book is all about Arden and the past that she is trying to leave behind catching up with her, but is the past really the easy to escape from and when secrets are brought to light it puts a whole new twist on things. Twists and turns on every page will leave your head spinning till the very last page.

A must read for sure

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: June 23, 2020

A compelling drama...

PLOT SUMMARY:
Olivia thought she had left her past behind her. As a young girl, known then as Arden, she was swept away in a storm while sleepwalking and was missing for three days. A massive search was undertaken, with everyone fearing she was dead. But she was miraculously alive and once she was rescued, the intense scrutiny from the press and unwanted attention from almost everyone else forced Olivia to leave this girl behind...and become someone else. As the twentieth anniversary of this event nears, someone knows who she was...and soon the secrets from that night will be revealed...

PROS and CONS:
Olivia is a great character - tortured by her past and afraid to trust anyone with her truth. She has been damaged but still she fights for a normal life, where she can just be a regular person and not a miraculous story to fill the newspapers.

There are a few twists and turns, and enough possible suspects to keep you guessing. There is no plot element that keeps you on the edge of your seat, still, I was interested to keep the pages turning quickly!

It’s a well thought out story, with flashbacks to newspaper articles and interviews to fill in the gaps as to what happened on that fateful night when Arden got swept away. It’s a good story, and one I enjoyed reading.

YES or NO:
It’s always a YES when it comes to Megan Miranda - I’m a fan and she’s one of my favourite go-to authors.

4 Stars

Another winner from Megan Miranda!! This book is a thriller in every sense of the word. This book kept my on my toes, gave away nothing as I read, and truly made me even scared as I read and worried for certain characters! If you love a good mystery, with some suspicious, spooky elements, then this book is a must read.

Character and plot development played out beautifully, giving the reader bit by bit - just as much as was needed to allow the story to unfold and keep the intensity throughout the story.

I highly recommend ... 5 stars here!

This is my first Megan Miranda, although she's been on my list to check out for a long time., and I was definitely not disappointed. This is a creepy thriller with lots of fascinating characters and surprising twists. I felt off-kilter the entire read, not sure who to believe and who to trust, including the narrator. It was a little slow in places, but mostly moved along at a great pace. I loved the use of newspaper articles, 911 call transcripts, and voicemail messages in between the chapters. Can't wait to read my next Megan Miranda!

Thank you Netgalley and Simon Schuster Canada for the advanced copy of The girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda. When Arden Maynor was 6 years old, she used to sleepwalk and one night she was swept away by a flood of rainwater during a storm. The search and rescue put her and her mother in the limelight, but provided them with money and fame for their future but by the 10th anniversary Arden had had enough ; so she changed her name and moved away, leaving her mother, her identity, and everything else behind her.
At the twenty year anniversary, Arden, now a hospital administrator named Olivia, is still fighting with her past, to overcome her fears of tight places, her fears of being discovered, but she is determined to guard her privacy, until one night she sleepwalks again and wakes to find herself standing over a dead body.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; although not fast paced, the mystery and suspense kept me up all night reading.

This is my first Megan Miranda book, and it has an interesting plot: Olivia Meyer has tried to re-start her life after a traumatic childhood event, in which she went missing for three days, was discovered in a drain pipe, and became the focus of a media event. However, Olivia doesn't remember any of it. Coming up to the 20th anniversary of the event, people from Olivia's past invade her new life and force her to come to terms with her missing memories.

This was an interesting book and a departure from thrillers I have recently read. I found the pace refreshingly slower - I really loved this! It was not full of crazy twists and turns throughout, so I actually read it at an enjoyable pace. The character development was decent, although I think some of the characters could have been more fully developed. I did not love the ending, but overall, it was a good book. A solid 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for review.

The Girl from Widow Hills by Miranda Megan is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Simon & Schuster Canada, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Twenty-six year old Olivia Meyer is sleep-walking again.

When she was six, when her name was Arden Maynor, she used to sleep-walk too.  One night she got swept away in a torrential storm.  She was found three days later, clinging to a storm drain.  Ever since, she's been known as "the girl from Widow Hills".  She doesn't remember any of it, but everyone else knows her story.  Her mom wrote a book about it.  But Arden grew up, moved away and changed her name.

It looks like the approaching 20th anniversary of her escape from the drain is coming back to haunt Olivia.  She has run from the publicity before, and hopes that she won't have to do so again.  But she thinks she is being watched...and then she trips over someone in her yard.  Someone from her past.  She knows she is going to have to face this nightmare all over again.


My Opinions:   

The first 30 or 40% of this book moved slowly.  It was interesting, but nothing really happened.  The suspense started around the 40-50% mark, and then it was okay. It just took a little long to get to this point.

The writing was good.  I feel that the exploitation angle was really done well.  Everyone wanted a piece of Olivia and her story.  That was so evident in the writing.

The characters, however, lacked emotion. I didn't feel their excitement or their passion.  I did, however, feel Olivia's paranoia.  Unfortunately, I didn't really like her, or any of the others with the exception of Rick (who I really liked).

I really enjoyed a couple of her earlier books, so I will continue to read her books. I know this is a popular author, and I will probably be in the minority, but this one didn't do much for me.   Bottom line, the story was good, just not great.

This is a new release from Miranda, who is a successful American author. Her previous books include 'All The Missing Girls' and 'The Last House Guest'. In this new book, Olivia owns a home in a rural area and has a good job as an administrator at a hospital. What her friends and co-workers do not know is her birth name was Arden and when she was six she went missing after sleepwalking. It was feared she was washed away down an open storm drain during heavy rains. When three days later she was found clinging to underneath a closed drain further downstream, she was deemed a miracle. She required surgery for a broken shoulder and had no memory of her missing days. She grew up, moved away, and changed her name to avoid the media but now fears that she will be found on the 20th anniversary of the event. When she begins sleepwalking again and finds a body on her property, her secrets once again become public knowledge and she will finally have to figure out what happened to her 20 years earlier. This entertaining thriller is a good recommendation for fans of the genre.

Arden is a legend in her own right as the child who was swept into a storm drain and survived for days. She has reinvented herself to avoid notoriety both good and bad. But her past and present collide and someone knows who she is and thinks the story of the girl from widow hills isn’t all that it seem.
Dark and fraught with twists and turns this book was a must read. Highly suspenseful and well thought out characters make it a fast paced edge of your seat summer thriller!

The Girl from Widow Hills is an awesome read. I was on the edge of my seat with many twists and turns to keep me engaged until the very end. I would recommend this book without hesitation. Skilled writing and fresh ideas.

I enjoyed this book. Interesting, calculated storyline as the reader attempts to solve the mystery of a 20 year old incident that framed the “ the girl from Widow Hills” life. This psychological suspense finds the main character confronted with a murdered body in the grass in the middle of the night and she has no idea how she got there!

I have to say I'm in the minority on this one. I was really looking forward to it as well. The story sounded so interesting, however, this was not the case.

It began slow and just seem to fizzle out from there. I could not get into the story, whether it was the past or the present. The characters were not people I could relate to.

I found for a thriller/mystery it was just meh. I mean a dead body is found on your neighbours lawn and your a sleeper walker ....... this should be more interesting.

This was my first MM book and sadly I think it will be my only.

Oh well cant love them all.

Thanks #netgalley

Megan Miranda does it again! This psychological thriller doesn’t disappoint. Trying to start a new life, in a new town proves to be a challenge for Olivia. Trying to escape her past, she encounters some interesting new friends, and has a challenge to move forward. Some great twists move the story along.

Ardon was 6 yrs old when she sleepwalked from her house and was swept away in a flood. Three days later she was found clinging to a grate in a long forgotten sewer line. Twenty years later, she has moved on and changed her name, wanting to not just be known as the girl from widow hills. But when she finds herself sleep walking again and also finds herself over a dead body, her past comes back to haunt her.
Thanks Netgalley for giving me a copy to read in exchange for my honest option. I enjoyed the book, there were big pieces I was able to figure out before they were revealed, but others that did surprise me in the end. All in all it was a book that kept me wanting to read it.

I found this to be an easy, enjoyable read but not particularly thrilling and I didn't find the twist super exciting.