I had a hard time getting into this one but once I did I was intrigued for the remainder of the story. There were a lot of puzzle pieces that I enjoyed trying to put together. I love Megan Miranda's books and thought this was a good addition to her list of books.

Arden Maynor was the miracle child, the one who sleepwalked into a torrential flood one night and was found alive three days later holding onto a storm drain. Fast forward 20 years and Arden, now living as Olivia in order to escape her sensational past, receives word that her mother has died. And begins sleepwalking again. And finds a man murdered outside her house. Are all of these things connected? Did Olivia herself kill the man? And what really happened during those three days so many years ago when little Arden was missing??

I love Megan Miranda's books so I was extremely eager to read this. It did NOT disappoint. I didn't want to put it down because I was drawn into Olivia's life and wanted to know how everything fit together. Lots of red herrings and questions about the reliability of characters made for a fantastic read.

This was a good thriller and I did not figure it out. This was the second or third one by Megan Miranda I have read and really enjoy her writing!

A new Megan Miranda novel? I don't care what it's about, sign me up, I'm there Day One! However, having now read "...Widow Hills", I feel like maybe I would have enjoyed it more had I not been familiar with the author and had such high expectations. For me this was about 2.5 stars. I felt that the atmosphere just lacked the typical Miranda-woven tension, intrigue, and unreliable narrators. The setup is wonderful as is the idea that these stories we see in the media (Baby Jessica, Amanda Knox, Elizabeth Knox) are real people who have to find a way to live their life while struggling with a media and public who want a piece of their story. But where did it turn from "wonderful" to "just ok"? Olivia herself just felt boring to me. Now how could someone who had been trapped underground for three days when she was six, has a sleepwalking problem, and discovers a dead body at her feet after one such sleepwalking event be boring? I just read her as someone who wasn't necessarily an active member in her own story. There were a few hints that she might not be who she seemed, but I didn't feel like anything truly came of that. The pacing felt slower than it should have been and then all of a sudden it was a high speed ending that just kept going--trying not to give much away, by the final pages I was ready to be done with the story as it crossed over into ridiculous.
But am I still a Megan Miranda fan? Oh you better believe it, but this one is going to the back of the bookshelf, never to be heard from again.

I’ll admit that I struggled a little bit at the beginning with this novel. The story seemed a little disjointed and, quite frankly, I didn’t really understand how an event that happened when a child was six would be so newsworthy decades later, especially nowadays when we are flooded with news that quickly fades when a new story appears. But I am glad that I stuck with it because the novel really gained momentum and reached a point where I had a hard time putting it down. The twists in the story really caught me off guard.

I did not enjoy this book as I have other Megan Miranda books. When Arden was telling about being in a water drain when younger, that seemed more interesting than these later years. Too much thinking and wondering and waiting for things to happen. The ending was flat.

3.5 stars for me rounded up to 4 stars because I didn’t see the twists coming. There were a couple of good twists after the halfway point, and I didn’t see the end coming at all. I found it harder to get passed the description of Arden/Olivia’s job and where she was in the hospital. As a nurse, the hospital setting, med room, and patient room setups in conjunction to Olivia’s office didn’t add up for me. I also wanted to connect more with characters like Elyse and Bennett. They just felt too far away and didn’t feel real enough.

Overall, I’d recommend for the suspense and twists. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC! This book is now available to purchase.

The Girl for Widow Hills was a great suspense novel about a child who survived a trip through a storm drain to be rescued several days later by a passerby. The media were all over the event, and eventually the girl and her mom had to move to get away from the crush of press coverage. 20 years later, the young girl is a hospital administrator, college paid for from the 'go fund me'-type fundraising that was done at the time of her brush with death, which also left her a small nest egg. Her mom had died on from an overdose, according to the police in the small town where she last lived. But noises and broken glass, plus strange shadows on the lawn and even a dead ex-boyfriend in the hedges next to her home are scaring her. And she's been sleepwalking, something she hadn't experienced in years! Her best friend at work notices some odd behaviors, but she is uncomfortable sharing with anyone except her elderly neighbor, who has his own secrets. Megan Miranda, once again brings a great psychological thriller to a surprising climax - and yes there is more than one twist.

I just love Megan Miranda books. The Girl from Widow Hills is about Olivia, a young woman who is trying to move forward from her tumultuous past and the fame of being a child survivor. Can the past ever really be left behind? Olivia, with a new identity, finds that the events from her childhood still linger in her mind and keep her on edge. Or is the past still following her because she got away? Megan Miranda writes in a way that keeps you guessing and leaves you with a uneasy feeling with the turn of every page. Very well done!

My first Megan Miranda book was her last one, The Last House Guest, which was a fabulous read! When I saw she had a new book coming out this summer I was so excited & couldn't wait to read it. The Girl from Widow Hills was a fast-paced read with lots of plot twists & turns. While it hooked me, I honestly felt it lacked the enveloping story element of her last book--definitely more of a traditional thriller. I'm sure her fans & thriller-readers will genuinely enjoy her newest book which will keep them reading & guessing! With sincere thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this advance reading copy!

I requested this ARC because I greatly enjoyed Megan Miranda's other novels, especially her character development. This novel was the best of those that I have read and I enjoyed the mix of psychological thriller, family drama and unreliable narrator. Arden/Olivia wants nothing more then to forget she was center of a rescue that captured the nation's attention when she was 6 years old. She doesn't have clear memories of the events and resents her mother for capitalizing on her trauma. She has relocated to a small town and is a hospital administrator. On the 20th anniversary of her dramatic rescue, she starts sleep walking, the same behavior that contributed to her being lost during a storm and getting stuck in a storm drain when she was 6. The murder of the man that rescued her leads her down a rabbit hole to discover what really happened 20 years ago. The character development of Arden/Olivia was spot on, I felt her self-doubt and paranoia clearly as the plot developed. The secondary characters were also well developed, especially her neighbor. The novel is tense and the pacing keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. The best part was the surprise ending, which was well developed and left the reader thinking "why didn't I see that coming"! I highly recommend this book for readers of suspense.

This book was a great summer read and the type of book I have really been loving lately, mystery/suspense/psychological thriller. I liked that I was not able to guess the ending, but with that being said, I did not like the ending. It felt abrupt and was disappointing to me (in the subject of the ending). This was my first read by Megan Miranda and I would read her again because it was engaging and did keep me guessing.
3.5 stars

I can't believe how fast I flew through this one!

I had issues with Megan Miranda's last book - I just didn't think it was good - so I was a bit hesitant to pick this one up. I am happy to report I really enjoyed it!

I loved the media reports from the original girl from Widow Hills story sprinkled throughout the current timeline. I really liked Bennett as a character and also enjoyed Olivia/Arden.

Definitely pick this one up!

I'm having a bit of a hard time reviewing this book because my thoughts about it in the first half vs the second half are very different. This is definitely a slow slow slow slow burn, which I usually enjoy, however this started maybe even too slow for me. Olivia is keeping so many secrets that even her narration really leaves the reader in the dark and the novel starts with few details, lots of blank spaces, and a bit of confusion.
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As the story picked up, I definitely became more invested in it and in Olivia herself. At first she seemed cold and distant, before realizing why she was this way due to her past and the secrets she is desperate to keep. And she kept surprising me - she was definitely not the character I had her pegged as in the beginning. Instead of being continuously cold, calculating and secretive, you could see how she longed to connect to others, to open up, to have someone else understand. However, the way she was treated in her past has taught her a hard lesson about this and she struggles to know who to trust, who to reveal things.
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There were a few twists and some were more surprising than others. I think the secrets revealed about the past were a little obvious, but those involved were the real shock. I don't want to say anymore, but I do think things were a bit slow getting to the twists and then the end was BAM BAM so many things coming at you at once.
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Overall, I did enjoy the book once I got further into it, and it was a nice summer read that keeps you on your toes.

There are no bad Megan Miranda books, though this one (along with All the Missing Girls) stands out as one of her best. It’s definitely the most fun of any of her offerings and delivers the best twist at the end.

Arden Maynor (now Olivia) is living with a secret. She was essentially a fictionalized version of Baby Jessica, famous in childhood for surviving 3 days trapped in the storm drains after being swept in by the water.

Now an adult, Olivia tells no one of her past, scared off by the type of negative attention that always seems to blow back on those previously deemed some sort of “miracle.”

But her past won’t stay buried, rearing its ugly head in the form of a dead body left in her yard. Whose body? You’ll have to read it to find that out, as well as how it connects to her past.

The solve/twist at the end is a little improbable for a number of reasons, but it’s a good one nonetheless, and it does add up with the clues Miranda doles out along the way.

I’m not sure this is quite her best work quality wise, but it’s her most entertaining novel to date.

This is my first book by author Megan Miranda, "The Girl from Widow Hills". I found it to be a thriller ride, similar to Hitchcock! Lots of twists and turn of events, I enjoyed Megan's book and plan on reading more in the future.

I ended up reading this as an audiobook and I loved it. I'm a huge Megan Miranda fan-I've literally read everything she's written. While she used her typical method of balancing history with current events, the use of police reports and media coverage of the past event changed the narrative approach for me. As an avid thriller reader I like when it takes me longer to figure things out and with this one I kept thinking it would go a different direction from where it did. It didn't dethrone the 'All the Missing Girls' or 'The Last House Guest' as my favorites from her but it put up a good challenge. With the problematic mother/daughter relationship it gave me some Darling Rose Gold vibes but it was definitely a more comfortable read (I was anxious but the 'munchausens by proxy' is just a different arena entirely). Miranda fans won't be disappointed and I hope this gets more people on the fan-wagon with me because I really just love her books.

Olivia was 6 when she was swept away by a rain storm. She was found and she and her Mother became national celebrities. 20 years later Olivia begins to question everything she thought she knew. Lots of suspense in this book, but it isn’t a fast paced book. There are questions left unanswered. The ending was a bit abrupt.i would give this book 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to net galley for a copy.

The Girl from Widow Hills is a gripping thriller that pulls readers into its complex, daring story. The Girl from Widow Hills follows Olivia Meyer, previously known as Arden Maynor, the girl who was trapped in a storm drain after a sleep-walking episode when she was four. Since the incident, Olivia has been trying to escape her past through haunting publicity and fame. To escape her past Olivia moves away from Widow Hills and starts a new life with new friends, trying to never look back on her past. That is, until she is forced to take a closer look into her past due to a series of unhinged events that catapults her right into harm’s way. With two people close to Olivia showing up dead, and a new guy in town with a connection to one of those people, Olivia starts to question who she can turn to and what is really the truth of her past.

Megan Miranda has a way with pulling the reader into the story with just enough of the plot to keep you guessing but to still be unbeknownst as to what will happen next. The book alternates between chapters in Olivia’s present life and interviews, articles, and letters from Olivia’s past. While I really enjoyed the writing style once I got used to it, I did find it a little difficult to understand what the story was. However, Megan Miranda does a great job of luring readers in by giving just enough of the story to keep them interested but not enough to know what to expect next. Megan Miranda created a mind-bending plot twist at the end of the book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I did not see it coming one bit and it made this book all the more fun. As soon as you think it’s over, the tension drastically builds and creates an anxiety in the reader making them question everything they’ve read so far.

Overall, The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda, was a great book. Megan Miranda created a novel that was easy to read, difficult to put down and left readers constantly wanting to know more. She created an enthralling, complex plot to be supported by intricately involved characters, each with their own story to tell. I really enjoyed this book and I consider this to be one of the top novels that I’ve read this year.

This is my fourth book by Megan Miranda. I have enjoyed each of them, including The Girl From Widow Hills. This one was a definite page-turner, but I found pretty much all the characters a bit exaggerated. Arden/Olivia was running from her past as a child famous for being rescued dramatically after days in a storm drain. Everyone who assisted in the search for her, everyone who prayed for her return, everyone who contributed financially to her single mother to assist before and after her rescue seemed to feel they were owed a piece of her.

Now as an adult, Olivia has changed her name and protects herself from ever having to answer to the crowds wanting to know about her. Her mother, whom she had a fraught relationship with, has recently died. Olivia's self-protection as left her rootless and without a support network. She does find that her kindly older neighbor looks out for her to a fault. Then the man who rescued her from the storm drain as a child comes back into her life, mysteriously, bringing family in tow. Someone is murdered right outside Olivia's house and suddenly the former child rescue victim becomes a person of interest in a murder.

The book follows Olivia as she searches for answers about her childhood forgotten memories around her rescue. She believes her past is somehow related to the murder and events going on at present.

I enjoyed the mystery and the settings. I think the books only flaw that held my rating down a bit is that Olivia was not terribly likable in her prickly manner, and none of the other characters got enough plot time to really grow on me. The Girl From Widow Hills is fast, and entertaining, even if not on my "Best of Megan Miranda" list. I believe it is a great book for escapist summer thrills.

Thanks so much to the publisher for providing an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review.