Member Reviews
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and decided I would start it today. I had no idea I would get through it as fast as I did. It was so well paced, intriguing and creepy. I almost could feel eyes on me as I read.
Such A Quiet Place was a good twisty whodunit thriller. I had several suspicions of what happened but was pleasantly surprised at the end. Every character feels like a suspect. Megan Miranda really showed that it doesn’t matter how well you know your neighbors, everyone has a secret and will do whatever they can to protect that.
Such a Quiet Place is a slow burn kind of mystery. The story is set in a private neighborhood where all the neighbors have their own secrets and assumptions about each other.
After the suspicious deaths of a couple in the neighborhood, another neighbor who was convicted of their murders returns after her conviction is overturned on a technicality. Ruby returns to the neighborhood to a cold reception with lots of questions of her own. But things take a turn when another person in the neighborhood dies...what was in the blue cup? And who was supposed to drink from it? As the neighbors realize they might all not be as safe as they first thought, accusations begin to fly and everyone is a suspect...again.
This book is a great tale of how fear, secrets, and assumptions can distort reality and bring out the worst in people. While the plot is not fast paced, I was intrigued by the slow reveal of details and new revelations. If you're looking for a good mystery without the graphic descriptions that comes with most thrillers, this is a good one for you!
Thanks to Megan Miranda, Simon & Schuster and #Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.
When Ruby Fletcher goes to prison for murdering her neighbors, no one in Hollow’s Edge expects to see her again. But only fourteen months into her twenty year sentence, she is released. Most people would go anywhere other than back to the old neighborhood where they are no longer trusted or wanted. At least that’s what Harper Nash thinks when Ruby, her old roommate, comes waltzing back in the house just like old times. As the neighbors try to figure out how to live with a suspected killer in their midst, tragedy strikes again, leaving no doubt that the quiet, sheltered life the residents of Hollow’s Edge have taken for granted is no more than a thin facade.
Megan Miranda’s latest novel is a quick read and a fun mystery. I found the characters all easy to like and interesting. None of them were developed enough to really get attached to, which may have been done intentionally because it worked perfectly for the story line. Perfect for a weekend or beach read.
Thanks to Megan Miranda, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.
Megan Miranda novels may be my new favorite as they easily compare with Netflixing it on a Friday night. I love that I can count on them to be fast paced, and I appreciate that the plots are always unique enough that I feel like I haven’t read them before.
The latest Megan Miranda novel entitled, Such a Quiet Place gives readers a glimpse into an “idyllic neighborhood” filled with college professionals. For me, there was something engrossing about this Stepfordesque community. Even though the minor characters were not well developed, I was captivated as each imperfection unveiled inevitably unraveled the neighborhood.
The major characters, Ruby and Harper, were well developed. There were times when I was ready to scream because of Harper’s constant acquiescence. Meanwhile, Ruby was the antagonistic friend that I loved to hate. I found myself equally debating her guilt and her innocence, which led me to love this read even more.
Such a Quiet Place is the perfect binge-read to bring with you to the beach in July of 2021 when it releases. Thank you to Netgalley and Simon Schuster for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.
After having read and really enjoyed books by this author I was every excited to receive a copy of this book after having read the description and early praises. Unfortunately, this book just bored me, something finally happened about 60% in and I thought okay now it’ll get good but no, it just continued on painfully slow and dull. It’s not a bad read, just slow and dull.
4.5 stars
This book had everything I love - murder mysteries, suburban drama, and unlikable characters. I hated the main character, and I hated Ruby, but I couldn't keep myself from devouring this book and trying to figure out what happens next. Which... I did, pretty early on. That being said, I loved how fast-paced this book was and thought it was well-written. If I put together an ending but still enjoy the ride the author took me on, then it's a good read. I can see this being a popular summer read and would not hesitate to recommend to others. Definitely will not be the last Megan Miranda book I read!
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Such a Quiet Place.
The blurb sounded promising so I was pleased when my request was approved.
After her murder conviction is overturned, Ruby Fletcher returns to the small community to flush out the killer. Her frenemy/roommate Harper is wary of Ruby's return, but as doubts continue to arise regarding Ruby's innocence, she discovers that the locals have something to hide, including her.
Such a Quiet Place was slow. Like, really slow. There's plenty of exposition and background on the locals, which makes sense, but nothing happens for the first half of the book.
The same goes for the second half; there are some revelations but nothing earth shattering.
In fact, you'll find the typical thriller cliches here: threatening notes, the feeling of being watched, the locals with secrets.
I didn't like Harper; as the narrator, she's not unreliable, but she's dull, unlikable and unaware of what's happening around here. I'm not surprised her boyfriend left her.
Ruby was a stereotypical foil; young, brash, and flirty. Naturally, people are suspicious of her.
The anti-climatic ending was disappointing but apt considering that's how I felt about this book.
The writing was good, but this wasn't for me.
I really like Miranda’s writing, but I am not a big fan of this book. As the narrator herself says, the main character is defined mostly by the people around her. While I know about what she thinks of others, I really don’t know anything much about her. Another drawback to the book for me was the pacing. The first half of the book is really slow and even when it picks up about two-thirds of the way in, it’s still slow. Finally, the big reveal at the end seemed anticlimactic. I don’t regret reading this because Miranda is a good writer, but I would not recommend this book.
Megan Miranda delivers a very slow burn mystery in her upcoming "Such A Quiet Place". This is not the novel I've come to expect from Megan Miranda (of the fast paced "All the Missing Girls" and "The Last House Guest" fame).
In this new novel, Miranda drops you in to the middle of a story, Ruby Fletcher is returning to her neighborhood after 14 months in prison convicted of murdering her next door neighbors The Truetts, when suddenly the conviction is overthrown and she is released, where she returns to the home she was staying in with her roommate Harper, who the novel's POV is told from.
Megan introduces us leisurely to a whole cast of characters of everyone in the neighborhood, where we get to know them and there motivations and desires in order to find out just what really happened to The Truetts. Did Ruby do it? And if not, who among them did? This is a true "whodunnit" and Megan Miranda's incredible character development and writing takes center stage here, I truly loved the atmospheric feel of the novel, I really felt like I was living in Hollow's Edge with Harper and the gang. I actually liked the slow-pace, it's just not what I expect from Megan, so it took some getting used to.
And that familiar twist that shocks the hell out of you that we've come to expect from Megan Miranda comes at about the half-way point and turns this slow burn on it's head, and then it got incredibly good. I didn't want to put it down after that. I think the book really could have used some trimming in the first half, but Megan always shocks me with her endings and I can't wait to discuss this one with fellow book lovers.
This book truly makes you question your neighbors and wonder how well do you really know the people you know, including the ones living in your own house with you...
4.5 stars rounded up!
This book was a "light" thriller. It was a quick read I liked the storyline but hoped there was a bigger plot twist at the end. It was well-written and it definitely kept me reading. This is a great vacation/beach read.
Special thanks to Netgalley and Simon&Schuster for sharing this one of the most anticipated thriller books’ digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
I keep waiting for a Megan Miranda novel to wow me and this definitely isn’t the one. This story dragged and dragged for me. I can appreciate a slow burn but I didn’t even find myself excited to find out what happened. As a protagonist, Harper is quite boring and unlikable, there’s nothing that made me feel any way at all about her. None of the characters really stuck out as well developed, they all could’ve been interchangeable as far as I could tell.
I know I’ll end up reading her next novel, but I sure hope it’s better than this one. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, I'll say it — this is officially my favorite of Megan Miranda's books. As with her previous thrillers, Such a Quiet Place is intriguing from the first page, and the pace never slows down. Even though there's a fair amount of characters, she does a great job of making it easy to distinguish them and their personalities.
My favorite part of this book was how she managed to hold out the tension for more than half of it. Seriously, after I hit the 30% mark, I couldn't pull myself away. The only thing I'd change is that the very end dragged just a touch for me. I would have loved a jaw-dropping finally chapter, and the last small reveal fell a bit flat for me.
I love Megan Miranda books and once again she did not disappoint. I was hooked out this story from the first page to last. I loved the darkness of it and all the twist and turns.
Intriguing! I could not put this one down. Everyone was a suspect at one time. Love the character development. Is it good to live in a small close knit neighborhood where everyone knows all your secrets...or so they think. An ending I didn’t see coming.
Great book by Megan Miranda!
The thriller begins with Ruby Fletcher returning to her old neighborhood and roommate Harper. Ruby had been away the last 14 months accused of the murder of her next door neighbors. As the days unfold and a series of strange events rock the neighborhood, everyone’s secrets are threatened to be exposed. Learn just how far everyone will go to protect themselves in this great read !!
Thank You Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sharing this book with me early in exchange for my honest opinion !
Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!
I’ve come to expect good things from Megan Miranda. I’m yet to read her first, but the rest have been consistently good, way above average in the ever popular genre that’s heavily populated with average. And yet this one kind of stretched those parameters. Which is to say it was still good, very readable, lots of fun and appropriately twisted in all the right places, but overall somehow…less so. Basically, too thin of a plot gets hung up precisely on the tenterhooks of excellent writing and a savvy sociopsychological message.
This is a neighborhood thriller or, to be more precise, a locked neighborhood thriller. A small water adjacent enclave populated with people working in a local university, not just neighbors but also coworkers and friends, people tightly enmeshed in each other’s lives, some might say unnaturally so. Everyone knowing each other’s business, watching, judging, stowing away secrets. But quietly. You know that thing Sartre said about other people….
Well, anyway, welcome to the neighborhood. Idyllic, well maintained, well surveilled. It’s such a quiet place. With such nice people in it.
Until a couple of them turns up dead in their own bed under mysterious circumstances and another one of the neighbors, Ruby, is arrested for it. Ruby somehow gets convicted despite very thin and purely circumstantial evidence and no motive and serves fourteen months before her conviction is overturned, upon which she returns right back to the neighborhood, right back to her rental share and right back to her alarmed and severely freaked out landlady/friend. The latter is our narrator, so you get her perspective. She’s essentially much too nice to ask Ruby to go or even so much as say no to Ruby, so the two of them play weirdly charged games with each other. None of the rest of the neighbors are happy about the situation, but some are considerably less so than others. The situation simmers, boils and then boils over, resulting in a tragedy. Which is, you know, not great for property values, after all how many dead bodies can one small place handle and all that.
So that’s basically the story. A bunch of thoroughly unpleasant people who think themselves to be the opposite do terrible things to each other for mostly all the wrong reasons. It’s the tragedy of errors, really. When you get to the end and Miranda hits you with that excellent twist, you just go…ah, tall fences, get taller fences, people. Proverbially or otherwise.
The thing is…I really love what she’s saying here in this book, it resonates on a profound misanthropic level. But it does take a long time to say it and with a thin plot and lack of likeable characters, it’s especially noticeable. The novel doesn’t drag, Miranda’s too much of a pro for that, in fact it reads very quickly, it’s just that it leaves you wanting more than just a morality tale about a certain class and type of people. But then again, if that’s all there is, it’s still plenty for a pretty entertaining read. And, as always, her plot twists are lovely and genuinely unguessable (at least not all the way), which is good, because I was becoming too much of an expert armchair detective and missed being surprised.
So all in all, good, not great, not author’s best, but a fun read all the same. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
Such a Quiet Place is a light “neighborhood” murder mystery that’s not necessarily hard to put down. I can’t say I was amazed by the storyline or the characters’ traits (the characters weren’t particularly likable), and there wasn’t any plot twist at the end but it was well-written and it definitely kept me guessing. Admirers of the author’s books might find this one a little more enjoyable.
Hollow’s Edge used to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors and felt like family. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, and the residents are stuck and confronted daily by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back.
With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she once shared with Harper Nash. Harper and Ruby were close. Once.
Within days, suspicion spreads like a virus and its clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truett’s murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.
Ahhhh Megan Miranda does it again! I am a huge fan, and love all of her work. She is a twisty queen that gets straight to the point. Her writing style is usually short and direct which is nice. I love that everyone is a suspect and you aren’t quite sure what the hell is going on. Is Ruby guilty? Innocent? Sorta both? You don’t know until the very end. I enjoyed this, but would not say it’s my favorite of hers. Some parts were slow and Harper kind of bugged me with her goody two shoes vibe lol I thought the whole neighborhood tight knit community -keeping each others dirty secrets quiet was true to real life as well as there being two sides to people : the public and the private. Clever and well written.
Thank you to Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review!
So, let me start by saying I just LOVE Megan Miranda. I love all of her books. They are always quick, amazing reads for me, simply because I can’t put them down. With all of that said...this is absolutely the best book she’s ever written. Throughout the entire book I was on the edge of my seat. There was a perfect balance of unlovable and untrustable characters. I spent the entire book trying to figure out who did it, and still couldn’t until the last few pages. Truly an incredible book.