This is the first book I’ve read by this author, though I have been interested in reading books by them for a long time. I’m glad that this is the first book I read by them, because it was a really good read that made me want to pick up more books they wrote. I thought the storyline was unique and the twists and turns were just right.

At first I wasn’t the biggest fan Arden as a character. I couldn’t really relate to her in the sense that she questioned a lot of things, but was OK with not knowing the actual answers. I’m sure she was more afraid of the real answers than anything else. Eventually I warmed up to her and I saw with the author was trying to portray through her.

This book was definitely full of a lot of twists and turns and kept me on the edge of my seat. There were a few parts that were a bit slow but I felt like that was more because the author was building a story that you fully felt a part of. If you are looking for a very unique thriller and don’t mind slower sections I would highly recommend picking up this book.

My first Megan Miranda and I found this to be delightful. I critique the Mystery/Thriller/Suspense genres harder than others because I often can figure out plot twists or feel disappointed by them. This however was a fun read. I look forward to picking up backlist titles from this author.

It’s been quite a while since I stayed up late to finish reading a book, and I had to finish it. Megan Miranda has created a story that keeps the reader guessing and plants enough doubt that you question the motivation of the main character.

Olivia, once famously known as Arden due to a tragic incident of her being missing for three days when she was six after being swept away by floodwaters, tries to live her life under the radar. She never tells anyone that she’s that girl because publicity hounds would track her down as well as those who believe that she owes them something for everything that was done to find her. Coming up to the 20th anniversary, Olivia finds out that her mother has died via a box that arrives with her mother’s soul possessions. Suddenly, Olivia reverts back to a person who sleepwalks and can’t account for time. She enters a frightening world, especially when, during a sleepwalking incident she trips over a man’s dead body.

Frankly, with most mystery/suspense/thriller books, I have a pretty good idea half-way through what’s going on and who done did it. Not here. In The Girl from Widow Hills, I was constantly guessing. Everyone is a suspect. Something happens and you wonder, is that a coincidence or is that tied in?
From the very first chapter, Miranda hooked me in and didn’t let go. Her writing is fluid. My kind of writing since you actually forget that you’re reading a book because you’re so engrossed in the story.
I love the way she handled characterization as well. Olivia is the narrator analyzing the people she knows, most only for a short while. Other characters tell her something about a person and she has to puzzle through whether her own intuition is correct or their interpretation. Everything and everyone is a puzzle.

The ending caught me off-guard, but perhaps it shouldn’t have. I think there might have been groundwork Miranda created that would have pointed me in the right direction, especially now that I know what that direction is.

“The Girl from Widow Hills”—Megan Miranda [4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️] This was my first book that I’ve read by this author, and I really enjoyed this suspenseful thriller. “The Girl from Widow Hills” tells the story of 6-year-old Arden Maynor who went missing for a few days and was miraculously found alive and was returned home. Arden’s mother wrote a book which led to fame, fan letters, stalkers, and nonstop public attention. When Arden was old enough, she moved away and changed her name, hoping to start over and to privately live her life. All of these years later, Arden, now Olivia, has managed to stay off the radar, that is until a body is discovered on her property, who she later found out had ties to her previous life. With this new incident and with the 20th anniversary of her rescue approaching, she’s now the center of media attention once again, and she feels she’ll never be able to escape her past life and being “the girl from widow hills.” This was definitely a page turner and I definitely recommend reading if you’re a fan of a good suspense. 👍🏼 *Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review* 📚

Such a good thriller! The 20th anniversary of Olivia/Arden tragic disappearance as a child is coming up. She has buried her past and trying her best to move forward. But her past is lurking, trying to dig its way out! I finished the book in one day, and had no idea how it was going to end!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

WOW! That is what I literally said with about 10% left to read. So when I read, I usually can make an assessment of how many stars I will be giving a book at about 65%. The last 35% can usually add or take away a star for me. Well Megan really did it with this book. 5 stars!!! This book is now available to to everyone!

Plot- Arden/Olivia is a girl who was lost at the age of 6 after sleepwalking and getting swept away by torrential rains. The way she was found and the media coverage that followed immediately threw her and her mom into fame and fortune. Arden not liking the attention as she got older changed her name to Olivia and never told her story again. The problem is that she doesn't even remember what happened even though every anniversary the media tries to find her and her mom tries to use her and the story as a money maker. Olivia stays under the radar for twenty years until a body was found dead outside her house, She begins to realize that maybe everything is not what it seems that night twenty years ago.

Thoughts- I knew there were going to be suspenseful and twisty turns in this book because that is what Megan Miranda does best. And I have to admit, at first, I didn't think I would love this book but boy was I wrong. I enjoyed her other books The Last House Guest and All the Missing Girls but The Girl from Widow Hills is hands-down my favorite. I love suspense/thrillers that have me second, third, and fourth guessing myself as this book did. When I thought I had something figured out then Miranda would make me doubt myself or throw in another clue. The first few chapters were a tad bit draggy and redundant but the last 50% really pulled me in. Make this book your next TBR and lets discuss!

Thank you @NetGalley, @MeganMiranda and @SimonandSchuster for my advanced copy of this book.
~Nicoles_BOOKCELLAR~.

#thrillers #psychologicalthrillers #suspense #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #bookish #bookworm #booklover #instabooks #bookblogger #bookrecommendation #fivestars #NetGalley #TheGirlFromWidowHills @simonbooks @meganlmiranda

Having read a few other novels by Megan Miranda The Girl from Widow Hills I know to expect a good mystery with some unexpected twists and her latest release does not disappoint! Years ago, Arden Maynor was thrust into the spotlight having survived being caught in a storm drain for days. The subsequent attention became so crushing that she changed her name while attending college and started a new life away from Widow Hills.

Near the mountains North Carolina Olivia has established a quiet life and promising career. With the anniversary of her rescue approaching the stress from her past experiences catches up to her and she begins sleepwalking again-just like that night twenty years ago. Stumbling over a dead man in her yard, Olivia wakes up and finds herself in a new nightmare as her past life as Arden collides with her present existence as Olivia-and she winds up in the spotlight again. In a race for her life and to prove her innocence this is one mystery that will keep you guessing!

What I really loved about this story is the character development as well as the backdrop of Olivia's job at the hospital-the hospital and community really serve as a silent character. The stage is set very well and the character development is detailed. The red herrings throughout throw you off enough to know that there is something more around the corner and Miranda does not disappoint-4.5 stars!

Twenty years ago, Arden Maynor at 6 years old went missing in a freak sleep-walking accident involving a storm. She was found days later, injured but alive, and became a local celebrity and subject of donated funds. People felt that they had a right to know her life, so she denied public appearances and changed her name as she got older to hide from the reporters looking to cover anniversary stories. Now in the present day, she is having sleep-walking episodes again after years of having thought she put that behind her. During one sleep-walking episode, she awakens to a dead body beside her in her yard, and now she isn’t so sure she can trust herself.
I liked this book more than I liked Megan Miranda’s other books. It kept my attention and I looked forward to reading, however I feel like it was just lacking something that would have really set it apart and gave it a bit more of an intensity factor. I think it ended well enough, with a couple twists thrown in for good measure, and was a solid mystery overall.

I had a hard time getting into this book and looking back I’m not sure if it was the book itself or the timing of when I was reading it. Regardless, it definitely started off slow and didn’t pick up until about a quarter, to half of the way through. The main character, Olivia, gained fame when she was 6 years old, was sleepwalking, and was swept away in a flash flood. Another sleepwalking incident in her adulthood led to the action. It was hard to know what direction the book was taking and there were definitely some twists and turns throughout that I did not predict. I would read more books by this author in the future.

Arden Maynor was swept away by flood waters when she was six. Against all odds, she was found 3 days later holding on to the grate in the drainage system. With a history of sleep walking, it was only a matter of time before something tragic or traumatic happened.

Everyone knew her story, or parts of it. Her mother gained fame and fortune by writing a book about the experience. But Arden and her rescuer, Sean Coleman, don’t want any part of the spotlight. Arden refuses to participate in the 10th anniversary interview and moves away from the small town bit by bit, until she finally changes her name completely and tries to start her life over as Olivia.

Arden’s mother runs through the money and never quite has success battling her own demons. She is always wanting a little more from Arden. Olivia realizes that in order to fully move on, it means leaving her mother and Arden and the entire story behind. She isn’t surprised when, close to the 20th anniversary of the event, she receives the news that her mother has died from an overdose 7 months ago and takes the box of her mother’s possessions that were sent to her and sticks them in a closet.

But there is something about that box and those memories that triggers Olivia’s sleepwalking again. Her elderly neighbor finds her outside in the middle of the night. Shortly thereafter, Olivia wakes again, alone, outside, in the middle of the night near a dead body.

And so begins a roller coaster of events that leave Olivia and the reader guessing as to what is really happening now and what really happened 20 years ago. There are so many twists and turns and shadows in this book as to keep the reader guessing and then second and third guessing.
Like All the Missing Girls, this novel by Megan Miranda does not disappoint with an ending that you just couldn’t guess.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first Megan Miranda book and wow, it was amazing! So many twist and turns and I couldn’t put it down!! Can’t wait for her next book!!

There are so many thrillers these days and so many of them are predictable. Somehow, Megan Miranda does a decent job of taking overused tropes and ideas and creating a story that doesn’t mimic everyone else’s.

The Girl from Widow Hills had the girl who couldn’t remember her past, the idea of a past coming back to haunt her, mysterious circumstances, people in her life she maybe couldn’t trust, the use of alcohol and medication, and gaps in memory both past and present, along with a dead body turning up and a police investigation. These are all aspects of thrillers that keep getting regurgitated, but they all came together well in this book and didn’t seem overly predictable or eye-roll inducing.

I honestly didn’t know what happened, what would happen, and who Olivia could trust. The whole story came together well and I genuinely enjoyed reading it. There’s something about Megan Miranda books that just get it right for me and so far, I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve read

This was a super entertaining read! I’d describe it as a slow burn thriller as it takes a minute or two for all of the groundwork to be laid. It definitely builds up as you continue to read. The storyline builds tension and suspense before it’s big ending (which I didn’t see coming!). I also really enjoyed the different media and call transcripts that were interspersed throughout the book.

Perfect thriller to read this summer.

I think the ending was semi-rushed after the big reveal and there were a few things that didn't tie up for me.

Everyone’s heard of the girl from Widow Hills. She was lost for 3 days and then rescued while the world watched. Arden was only six when her sleepwalking took a dangerous turn. She managed to make it outside the house and get swept away in a flash flood. One of her shoes was found by a grate to the storm drain system, so the entire town spent days searching for little Arden while the entire world watched it all on television. By a miracle, a man saw her little hand holding onto a grate, and he held on to her until they could cut a hole in the concrete and get her out of the storm drains.

Her stunning rescue, shown live in television, was followed by a painful surgery on Arden’s shoulder, countless media appearances, a book by her mother, and years of her being recognized. Exhausted from it all, she changed her name to Olivia, went to college, and found a job far away in hospital administration. She has a whole new life.

But the past is never really gone.

As the twentieth anniversary of her rescue comes near, Olivia’s guard comes up. She starts looking around for journalists tracking her down. She knows that social media will replay the old stories and add new ones. And the stress of waiting for that shoe to fall causes it all to start happening again. The nightmares. The night terrors. The sleepwalking.

And when she wakes up outside of her house one night, stumbling over a dead body, she knows that the past she tried so desperately to get away from has shown back up, on her doorstep. And she has to stay vigilant, or she’ll get swept away by something she can’t understand.

Megan Miranda’s The Girl from Widow Hills is an exemplary thriller, with twists and secrets that come from nowhere and yet fit perfectly into the twisty puzzle of the story. Everything about this novel is beautiful—from the fully developed characters to the surprise at the end. The story spirals through questions and doubts in a way to keep you guessing, until that moment where it all falls into place near the end. The Girl from Widow Hills is as close to a perfect thriller as I’ve read in a really long time. If you’re a fan of thrillers or mysteries, move this one to the top of your list!

Egalleys for The Girl from Widow Hills were provided by Simon & Schuster through NetGalley, with many thanks.

3.5 stars This was quite the ride! After a slow start, maybe 30 pages in I couldn’t put it down. Lots of twists and turns in this thriller about a woman trying to put her past behind her. I found the character development of the main character, Olivia, very good, though some of the peripheral characters were a bit two dimensional. I did not guess the ending; I always like it when authors can trick me! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was solid. Nothing revolutionary, but several twists and turns I wasn’t expecting and that I didn’t guess. I am growing a little tired of thrillers where the main character decides to do the detective work on their own instead of letting the authorities do their jobs - I understand there is risk involved, and that part of the thrill is believing that the main character might be unreliable themself, but I find it unrealistic that your average Joe could piece together some of the things this MC did. But overall, another Megan Miranda that I’m glad to have read, I will continue digging into her backlist and reading more from her in the future.

Let me preface this by stating that I really loved All The Missing Girls, but was sorely disappointed in The Last House Guest. But I was willing to give Miranda another chance and was thrilled when I was selected to review her latest novel.

My biggest issue with this book is that for a thriller, it’s very slow-moving. There’s no sense of urgency and there are a lot of repetitive phrases and rehashing of the same story over and over again, and I don’t know if that was to fill a certain page quota or what, but a lot of the flashback, news clippings, or 911-calls chapters didn’t really reveal anything new. There isn’t even a body until 30% in the book!

Another issue that I had with the book is that I just couldn’t get invested in any of the characters. All the side characters felt shady and the protagonist, Olivia was annoying beyond measure.

Now, there are two major twists, one that I saw coming a mile away and another that I didn’t really expect. Did these two major twists save the novel? Yes and no. It’s always nice when a thriller can throw a surprise ending, but for a novel that was at a snail’s pace with no sense of urgency or threat, it was a little too late.

IF YOU’RE MORE OF A COZY MYSTERY SORT OF READER, THEN YOU MAY ENJOY THIS NOVEL VERY MUCH. BUT IF YOU’RE A READER WHO LOVES FAST-PACED THRILLERS, THEN YOU MAY WANT TO PASS ON THIS ONE.
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.5 Stars

I spent a lot of time while reading wondering where this was going, kept waiting for it to get better. I felt a real disconnect with Olivia and with the story itself. There's a lot of internal musings from her, not a lot of dialog because Olivia wasn't close to anyone else. I like the dynamic of relationships in my stories and I just didn't feel like I got it here. Olivia fell pretty flat for me overall.

The Girl From Widow Hills was just entertaining enough for me to see it through to the end instead of DNFing it, so I guess there is that.

A copy was kindly provided by Simon & Schuster via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

“ The Girl From Widow Hills” is out today and if you are looking for a page turner this book has it. Arden went missing at 6 for 3 days believed to have been sleepwalking when a storm hit. 20 years later she has a new identity to hide from that story and as fate would have it some characters from her past invade her new world in a haunting tale of whodunit and can you trust yourself and your memories? “ You become the stories you tell-“ by Megan Miranda

#thegirlfromwidowhills #meganmiranda #arc #outtoday #6/23 #netgalley #goodreads #julesbookshelf📚

Stayed up WAY too late two nights in a row to read this! Sucked me in with the atmosphere and then made me care SO MUCH about the characters and all the things that went down. Done with the book and STILL MAD at several characters for things they did haha. I'm composing angry letters on Olivia's behalf rn.

Basically another home run for me from Megan Miranda. I adore how she does small town Southern tone, and particularly "isolated house in the woods" tropes. Something about it just sucks me into the setting and stakes immediately. I wasn't even sure where the book was going at first, but I was intrigued by the setting/set-up nonetheless. And then once the inciting incident happened I was locked in. I suspected everyone. The ending surprised me in the best way.

I loved the interplay between the secrets--and shame--of the past and the complications of the present. Keeping secrets and not being your full self with people--but what is Olivia's full self? The setting was particularly well drawn, both the town and her home, and I was just... anxious the whole time I was reading. I had to know what was going on. The multiple turns of the ending were super satisfying. Honestly would not be mad if Miranda just writes this type of book over and over again (this one, indeed, is similar to All the Missing Girls in the best way). Give me Southern towns with baggage, isolated houses in the woods, and guarded main characters with secrets. I will read them all.