Megan Miranda has become a go to author for me in the past couple of years. She knows how to write to keep us readers entertained and on the edge of our seats. I couldn’t wait to read The Girl from Widow Hills and it didn’t disappoint. This book is intriguing and kept me guessing about what happened. As always, I look forward to reading more from this author.

Not a bad story, but not super thrilling. Sort of unreliable narrator, everyone is a shady character, people reemerge from the past, different directions. This book has a lot of points hit as a thriller, but it also didn't develop many characters and relationships. I had a lot of thoughts about where the story would go and what each character was thinking/what their motives were. But in the end, I sort of got ahead of Olivia/Arden and saw where it was going and ehhh. It was just ok.

The Premise: A 6 year old Arden sleepwalks and goes missing in the night only to be found 3 days later in a storm drain. The story was so extraordinary, her mother cashes in on it and writes a book. The pressure of it all eventually gets to Arden, so she changes her name and disappears. Flash forward 23 years and Arden is now 30 years old and going by the name Olivia. Suddenly she starts sleepwalking again only to find a man's dead body. Who is this person? How did he die? How is he connected to Arden?

WOW!! Now that sounds like one heck of a mystery!

The Reality: This book sounded like it was going to be a great and twisty thriller, and I was so excited to read it. However, I was pretty disappointed. There was a lot of unnecessary exposition and that made the pacing slow. (Seems like it took me forever to get through this one).
The mystery itself was fairly blah. There were many characters (all of which were pretty uninspiring) and red herrings introduced to throw the reader off. Despite that, the ending was predictable and a bit boring.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon&Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well told thriller! This is a book that keeps you up at night! This is my second book I have read of hers, and it did not disappoint!

This was a very well written and well crafted thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat and entertained. I’ll suggest this one for purchase.

As a child, Olivia disappeared one night while sleepwalking, only to be found safe days later. After years of enduring fame, Olivia moved away and changed her name. With the 20th Anniversary of her miracle rescue coming up, she starts sleepwalking again, only to wake up to the dead body of someone she used to know. An edge-of-your-seat thriller, I couldn't get enough of this mystery. With well-rounded characters and surprises that just keep coming, it's on my shortlist for one of the best books of the summer.

I have to admit I really struggled with this book. The description really drew me in but while reading it I felt that the plot just felt disjointed somehow, like it was just thrown together. Sorry, but this isn't one I can recommend.

This was a decent read with a surprise ending. It centers around Olivia, a mid-twenties hospital administrator in a small NC town, trying to escape her past. As a child, Olivia was a national story after being trapped in a storm drain for 3 days as a child. As soon as she was able, she changed her name and moved away, trying to escape the media attention. But now it's coming up on the 20 year anniversary and odd things keep happening to her, culminating with her stumbling upon a body in her yard while sleepwalking (something she hadn't done since she was a child). The rest of the book is around her trying to figure out what happened.

The premise of this story was really unique an interesting. However, I think more could have been done with the book itself. Firstly, the character development was not strong- I don't feel like I really got to know Olivia, and I really didn't understand her relationships with any of the other people in the story. I also felt that the other characters, like Bennett and Elyse, were completely undeveloped. There were also some threads of information, around her thinking the sleep specialist had a problem, to what happened to RIck's wife, that were never followed through. My other issue with the plotline is that though Olivia wasn't sure if she was involved in the murder since she stumbled on the body while sleepwalking, she didn't ever seem to be under suspicion by the police- that seemed like a miss.

On the good side, this was a fast read, and the pace picked up greatly after the first half. The ending was a surprise, and showed a little more of Olivia's personality than I had seen up to that point. I thought it was a good ending.

Overall, I'd say this book was just OK, but probably worth a read to fans of the mystery/psychological thriller genre, and of Miranda's other books. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Megan Miranda book. I've heard great things about her writing, so I decided to request a copy of this one to decide for myself. Unfortunately, The Girl From Widow Hills just didn't click with me. Nothing was really wrong with it per say, it was just lacking something that I can't put my finger on. The plot was unique and interesting - something that hasn't been overdone already, which I appreciate. The writing was simple, easy to follow, and it was an overall quick read. But I didn't care about the characters or what happened really. I read on to find out the mystery and provide myself closure. I never got invested in it.

With that being said, it's not a bad book. I know Megan Miranda has a lot of fans and it's worth a shot if the plot sounds interesting to you. This one just wasn't for me.

3 stars.

I want to thank Netgalley for giving me access to an advance reader copy of this book.

Megan Miranda delivers a thrilling story of secrets, lies, and a tragic past that isn't what it seems.

Arden Maynor, now legally known as Olivia Meyer, has been running from an incident in her past since she was young. Known as "the girl from Widow Hills," Arden was carried off by heavy rainwaters while sleepwalking as a child. She was missing for three days before she was discovered hanging onto a grate covering a storm drain. The entire town and surrounding areas were involved in the search and rescue, and every time a milestone anniversary approached, she was harassed by reporters looking for new information; information that Arden does not have because she can't remember anything from her time underground. Not this time, though. Olivia Meyer has managed to cover her tracks in her new life where no one knows her true identity. She was doing alright until she received a call telling her that her mother had died of an overdose. She was doing rather well until the night terrors that plagued her as a child returned. She was getting along just fine until she awoke from sleepwalking outside and tripped over a dead body in her backyard; the dead body of a man who knew her from her past as Arden Maynor. Now someone is watching her, and it's not just the police. Now everyone in her new life will know her true identity. Now Arden/Olivia will uncover the truth about what really happened underground.

Thank you @NetGalley and @Simonbooks for my arc of The Girl from Widow Hills
A Novel by Megan Miranda

I love gripping psychological thrillers and this definitely gave me the chills. I can relate to the main character who just wants to live her life and not be hunted by her past. I love that I am also making assumptions and all that while I am reading it and though I was almost right at some point, the author did her trick and made the twists which left me shocked.

This is the first book I’ve read from Megan Miranda even though I had every intention of reading all of her other thrillers...this did not disappoint.

This is a solid and gripping mystery of a woman named Olivia, who has left behind her old life (and old name) in an attempt to move on from her past. When she was a 6-year old, her name was Arden, and she became famous for going missing while sleepwalking and found 3 days later. On the 20th anniversary of this event, Olivia may not be able to stay hidden when she literally stumbles upon a body...someone connected to the event that occurred in 2000.

I was gripped throughout this mystery, and found myself surprised by the turn of events. Miranda does a great job of fleshing out her characters, but also leaving mystery with each one so you don’t necessarily know who’s honest and who isn’t. I think it would also make a great movie (with a great title). I look forward to reading more from from Miranda...both past and future.

Thank you to Author Megan Miranda, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an ARC.

Megan Miranda’s books have always been hit or miss with me and, unfortunately, this one was a huge miss.

My main complaint with this book is that it was SO SLOW. Almost nothing happens in the first 25% of the book, and we have to wait until about 85% before the true “action” happens. Toward the end I found myself skimming just to get to a part where something happens. The entire plot twist was so drawn out that instead of being exciting or shocking it was more like “yeah, pretty much what I figured was going on”.

The characters were not flushed out at all....besides the main character, I honestly found myself wondering which characters were even crucial to the story. I felt like we got started on storylines with each side character and then...nothing. Their storylines just wrapped up with zero action or surprises and they were gone.

Overall, probably one of my least favorite of Megan Miranda’s books but I’ll still give her books a read in the future.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have to admit this is the first book by this author that has fell short for me! And I truly , truly hate saying that being a fan of hers! Although her writing style was on point like always, I couldn’t relate at all with the main character. Quit frankly there was not one character in this story that I actually liked. That being said, her story line was pretty intriguing so I would definitely recommend others to read it and see for themselves. It definitely doesn’t deter me from looking forward to books to come from her!

This is a great thriller with an eerie tone and confusing characters. Olivia is a survivor of a terrible incident that earns her public attention. She spends years trying to escape the public and start her life over. Suddenly a man is in her new hometown looking for her, she begins sleepwalking again after several years (sleepwalking is a scary element in a thriller), and then a dead body is found. The story unfolds with details about what happened to Olivia in the past and what is occurring now. Some of the twists I guessed early on but some I never saw coming. It is hard to know which characters to trust and although there is something questionable about Olivia’s backstory, I trusted her point of view. I couldn’t wait to see how all of the pieces of the story came together and I was not disappointed. I have really enjoyed all of Megan Miranda’s books and this one will definitely be on my recommendation list this summer.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another win for Megan Miranda. The Girl from Widow Hills is a gripping psychological thriller. This unexpected favorite will keep you on the edge of your seat. This heart pounding, suspense filled story will cause you to question all that you read and the cast of characters. Follow Olivia from childhood trauma into adulthood where she can’t escape her past. As the 20th anniversary passes, she will face her fears and confront the experience that shaped her life.

I have loved every one of Miranda's books. Her writing is great. She keeps you guessing until the end. I did not see this one coming at all! Will definitely recommend to all of my thriller loving friends.

I loved the set up of this book and really enjoyed the reading experience. I thought the characters were well-drawn and I liked the incorporation of the backstory through transcripts and interviews and news articles. I thought for the most part the story was fast-paced and there were enough suspicious threads to keep me reading.

I wanted to know what happened and read more about the dynamics between all the characters and I had major suspicions about what really happened to the main character when she was a kid, which turned out to be somewhat right and somewhat wrong. So overall it was a fun read!

However, one big issue I had was that I didn't think the general public would be as invested and swept up in a little girl who disappeared during a storm only to be rescued 3 days later as the book would suggest. While I was whipped into the story and was very much into all the present drama, I couldn't quite get over that the big dark secret of the book had to do with something that happened 20 years ago to a little girl in a small town. At the conclusion of the book it didn't quite track to me that the main character wouldn't want the truth to be known of what really happened, once she herself knows what the truth is. Like the secret itself wasn't actually terrible in the grand scheme of things, and it was pretty unbelievable that the main character would capture the public's attention to the point of being hounded for decades and thus want to keep it a secret, if that makes sense.

It was also interesting because this book wasn't exactly full of twists and turns, but more like waiting for one big twist to reveal itself while mired in small town drama, which I actually liked a lot. And I didn't manage to guess the major twist, but the reveal made sense and looking back it wasn't totally out of left field. So it was a very satisfying final twist.

This one was a tough one, because while I didn't believe in the overall concept of the story as mentioned above, I really enjoyed every other aspect of it. So, if you're the kind of person who can suspend your disbelief and still enjoy a story, you should dig in.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia Mayer, a hospital administrator, left behind a troubled past to start life over only to have her past resurface. Very compelling novel.

This book will release June 2020 and I'd definitely categorize it as a pretty good summer thriller. I am a fan of Megan Miranda's writing; however, I didn't find this novel as "thrilling" as some of her previous works.

The plot centers around Arden Mayor, a young woman who changes her name to Olivia in an attempt to disassociate herself from her childhood. Arden was involved in a horrific incident as a child that made national headlines when, while sleepwalking, she was swept away by a heavy rainstorm and found alive, clinging to a storm drain. This incident becomes the framework for the rest of her life. In order to escape it, she changes her name, attends college, and stays far away from the town (Widow Hills) where it happened. Everything seems to be going well for her until she finds out her mother is dead and receives a box in the mail with the last of her belongings. Olivia begins sleepwalking again and everything unravels from there.

One thing that I liked about this book is the storyline itself. I feel like it's very interesting and I'd love to hear more from Miranda about how she even came up with it. Olivia herself is pretty one dimensional until she starts sleepwalking again and I like how Miranda brings her past to life in the pages. I would love to have seen more interesting characters alongside Olivia in the novel. Maybe it's because she's kind of a loner that she doesn't have many friends, but the ones that she does have fell flat to me. Without spoiling the novel, aside from Olivia's mother and the guy next door, I couldn't figure out the purpose for having them there as they didn't seem to really fit into the storyline.

There's definitely a plot twist at the end, which I highly enjoyed, but I just wish there were more along the way.