I am a huge fan of Megan Miranda and was excited to get my hands on a copy of her new book. As expected, she has once again created an unexpected and very intriguing storyline.

I was hesitant to start The Girl from Widow Hills since I wasn't really a fan of her last book that I read.

I'm not sure but this probably should have been a DNF for me but I always have a hard time putting books down and think that the ending will come back with a bam. But, this unfortunately didn't do it for me. I found myself not caring about the plot, storyline, or any of the characters. The mystery/thriller aspect was very light as you can see and fell flat for me.
Although, I felt that the ending was wrapped up nicely and feel that fans of Megan Miranda would enjoy this one.

For me, I have read way to many mysteries and thrillers and this is just another one that was nothing special to me.

2 stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this! I loved the unreliable narrator, the creative way of how the story was told through newspaper reports, voice mails, etc. and even though this was a slow build story, it kept interested the whole time! An awesome read. Thank you NetGalley!

I am a fan of this author, so I requested this one based on my previous knowledge of her books and the blurb of this new one.

What I Liked:
There were no characters in this book who felt like "good" people. I love how Miranda makes all of her characters ambiguously moral. Even the ones who seem like they are going to be the good guys have details that make them questionable, which I think is very true to life.
The twist ending doesn't feel guessable, at least not to me. There is a certain appeal that comes from reading a book and not knowing where it's going until you get there.
Each chapter rounds out with information about what happened to Olivia in Widow Hills. There are excerpts from 911 calls, the book her mother wrote, and newspaper articles. This adds some development and also breaks up the formatting a bit, which I really liked.

What I Didn't Like:
The ending wasn't guessable. While I think it's great to have something that's not too predictable, I did feel like this twist came out of left field. I wonder if there would have been a way to structure the narrative so that there were more hints, without it being completely obvious what was going on.
I spent the first 10-15% feeling like I didn't really know what the story was about. Once the plot picked up, I was sucked in, but the first little bit left me feeling like I had no idea what I was about to read. I had to push through that to get to the good stuff.

I did enjoy this book, will continue to pick up Miranda's books, and would recommend!

I loved the girl from widow hills!!!!!! Megan Miranda has another bestseller out in the world!!!!! It has her signaturestyle of keeping you guessing from the first page and wondering who done it.

Sometimes I scroll through my list of books read at Goodreads and see a book I absolutely loved but haven't read anything else by that author. That is how I discovered Megan Miranda's newest novel The Girl from Widow Hills. I saw All the Missing Girls on my shelf and remembering what a thrill that book was (it reminded me of another favorite author, Chevy Stevens), I went to Netgalley to see if Miranda had anything new coming out.

Have you ever been presented with two characters, characters you know little about but quickly decide if one has to the killer you hope it is one over the other? I did with Olivia and Rick. It is early on in the book, where we are still learning who these characters are. However, I had an instant connection with Olivia, and while I liked her next door elderly neighbor, I would prefer if the killer was Rick. However, it is a few agonizing (in a good way) chapters later before the reader can be fairly certain it wasn't Olivia (though there are still hints that she could still be the killer - she's a sleepwalker so who knows for sure!).

There is a lot of delicious tension as other characters and suspicious information are introduced to the story. Olivia's paranoia keeps the reader on edge. "She's just paranoid, right? Or could she be right about that person?" kept running through my head.

For all the tension I felt throughout the novel, I found the ending to be a bit anti-climatic. Sometime about it just felt flat and I felt deflated. There was no Oh my! moment. It was more of an "oh *shrug*" moment. It was the ending that kept me from giving the book 5 stars. It gets a solid 4 stars because the journey was well worth the read.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday, June 16 - http://www.girl-who-reads.com/2020/06/the-girl-from-widow-hills-by-megan.html

Megan Miranda does it again!

This book was awesome and thrilling. It wasn't high-octane, heart-pounding, it was a slow burn of thrill and it keeps the reader guessing until the last chapter.

I can't say anything else about the novel without giving away major plot spoilers. I can just recommend that you read it!

I really enjoyed two of Megan Miranda's previous novels so I was really excited when I received an ARC of The Girl from Widow Hills. But as I began reading, I was quickly disappointed. I found her latest effort to be slow and at some points, boring. It honestly felt like the author rushed to complete this story as there wasn't the same level of care in the crafting of both the characters and plot that I have seen in her previous novels. For me, 3/4 of the book felt like they had been written by someone else. It was only the last quarter of the book that I enjoyed as Miranda tied all of the pieces of the story together in a satisfying ending.

I wanted to love this one but it didn't work for me. I do think that many readers will enjoy it so don't let my review dissuade you. I am still a Megan Miranda fan and I look forward to her next book. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review : This is an interesting story , from the time I read the synopsis , it grabbed my interest. There was a lot of build up, a lot of speculation, but I was honestly let down. I was expecting more. I wish there was more felt to the characters and a but more history to make everything make sense .

Summary: Fleeing her home town and her connection to her family, Olivia changed her name and turned her back on everything she know , in order to create a band new life for herself . Everything has been going good so far, until a man from her pass ended up dead , and her hands covered with his blood.

Olivia can’t run anymore and the truth of who she is, , is coming to light. She’s The girl who survive, the girl who’s rescue was a miracle , the girl who’s disappearance shook up an entire town, She though she could shed that that image , but someone is after her , and she needed to get to the bottom of her story in order to save herself.

I liked the structure of this book. It made the story very suspenseful. I enjoyed reading as the protagonist came to terms with the truth about her past. And I loved Rick!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Megan Miranda for an advanced copy!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks NetGalley and Simon & Schuster!

Olivia, formerly known as Arden, has a past she wants to keep in the past. But one night she awakes from sleepwalking to a corpse in the yard. The life she's built seems to be unraveling all around her.

This book was GREAT! I stayed up way too late because I couldn't put it down. And after reading it, I had this creeped-out, completely unselttled feeling and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was completely surprised by the end.

The Girl From Widow Hills is the kind of psychological thriller that has a slow and steady build up before the story sucks you in. From this point forward it’s a quick read with all the different layers unraveling on the way to its conclusion. Once I got to the half way point I didn’t stop reading until the end, because I needed to k ow how it all played out. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

Summary:

Olivia, formerly known as Arden, is famous. As a young child, she used to sleepwalk. One night she sleepwalked outside in the middle of a flood, disappeared for days, and was miraculously found due to a town-wide search that caught national attention. The story made her mother rich, but Arden never wanted the attention, and she has changed her name to escape from it all, leaving her past and her mother behind.
Now she learns her mother has died, and she starts sleepwalking again for the first time in decades. When she wakes up standing over the dead body of the man who found her all those years ago, panic sets in, and the investigation that follows leads her to question everything she thought she knew.

Review:

Megan Miranda's books tend to be hit-or-miss for me. While the stories are always unique and intriguing, they never quite grip me in the way I want from a thriller. When I read a thriller, I want to be dying to figure out what happened. The Girl from Widow Hills definitely had me wanting to know what happened, but more in a "this story makes no sense" way than anything. What's brilliant is that the story is supposed to not be quite believable. It's supposed to have holes. There are so many lies, so many red herrings, and the final twist is one that I absolutely did not see coming, which is ultimately why this book is getting 4 stars instead of 3.5 for me. Overall, while it wasn't the most exciting thriller I've ever read, it was interesting enough to keep me going and ended strong.

Arden Maynor was a six years old when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a storm. Shockingly, she was found alive, clinging to a storm drain several days later. Her mother cashed in on their sudden fame—much to Arden's dismay. Years later, living hundreds of miles away from her hometown and answering to the name Olivia, Arden has put her past behind her—until she begins sleepwalking again. And this time, she wakes outside, in her yard, with the corpse of a man she once knew at her feet.

A dark, deeply haunting, and deliciously atmospheric tale about the secrets we keep, The Girl from Widow Hills is a stellar story about the people who find themselves at the center of viral news stories and the detrimental effects this sudden rush of fame has on mentality. Miranda did a wonderful job establishing this dangerous plot, threading the present with pieces from Arden's past, such as interview and 9-1-1 call transcripts. With well-developed characters and smart writing, it hooks the reader from page one, unrelenting until the final, shocking twist.

A gripping, immersive read, The Girl from Widow Hills is perfect for those who enjoy edge-of-your-seat suspense novels.

I had hoped to like this book. I have been enjoying suspense books a lot as of late. Sadly, The Girl from Widow Hills didn't keep my attention. It was all a little too slow for me. I had to add this book to my DNF list. I do hope that others will enjoy and love this book. It just was not for me.

Another snooze fest for me. This is my third time with this author and I think it’s time to call it quits. The premise of the book was more entertaining than the actual reading and unfolding. The pace was very slow and it made it difficult to want to continue on the journey. I really enjoyed “All the Missing Girls” by this author, and I continue to believe that I will enjoy future work. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my second book by Megan Miranda and I really loved this book.. It had me guessing from chapter one and the twist in it were great. I also loved that you really couldn't trust any of the characters and everyone had something to hide. The writing flowed great and was easy to follow which was great. I can't wait to grab Megan Miranda other adult mysteries.

I thought this suspense novel was completely ridiculous. I don't mind suspending disbelief in my thrillers or suspense novels, but I found The Girl from Widow Hills to be boring yet simultaneously too far-fetched to be believed.

Absolutely loved this book. First, I must confess I am a big fan of author Megan Miranda. Loved her last few books. But this newest book, The Girl from Widow Hills is her best so far.

Six year old Arden Maynor is swept into a storm drain system while sleepwalking. With the help of family, friends and volunteers there is a city wide search for young Arden, Three days and she is discovered clinging to a storm grate. The story of Arden has made her and her mother a national story. Arden's mother writes a book and capitalizes on the story.
As an adult Arden makes the decision to move to North Carolina, change her name and take a job working in a local hospital. Life is good, no one knows her story. She can make a fresh start, and at last she is living a happy life.
On the twentieth anniversary of the day she is saved a man recognizes her. The stress of this has caused her to start sleepwalking again. One evening while asleep she hears the sound of a phone ringing outside her window. She goes outside to a wooded area and discovers a dead body. To her surprise it is the body of the man that discovered her twenty years ago clinging to a storm grate.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review

Four and a half stars, rounded up.

I absolutely loved Megan Miranda's first two novels, and this one doesn't disappoint!

Olivia is the Girl from Widow Hills. When she was six years old, Olivia was swept away while sleepwalking by a terrible rainstorm. She spent three days in the underground pipes before being discovered. Unable to cope with all the media attention, she changed her name and disappeared. Now, twenty years later, she is forced to reckon with the past when a man turns up dead in her yard.

It was so refreshing to read a thriller that did not center around a man trying to harm a woman. I need my thrillers to have strong, smart women and Olivia fits the bill. I didn't see the end coming at all! There were so many different potential suspects.

The fame Olivia gained at a young age certainly played a role in her development. The novel explores how people can feel a claim to you if they've helped in some way or if they've watched your story develop on TV. It also looks at ways we shape the stories other hear and ways our own story can be out of our own control.

Two small quibbles: [I didn't understand if Sean was in on the setup. Nathan seemed to imply that he knew about it when he blackmailed the mom, but it wasn't ever explained why Sean would need to know. Also, I'm not sure if Elyse knew she was supplying drugs used on Olivia unwittingly. It seems like a harsh thing to do to a friend, but I don't understand why she would freak out at Olivia's house otherwise. Did she see Olivia's mom and figure out what happened? Seems like a stretch. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an arc of this book in exchange for a review!