Genuinely creepy thriller?
Insular community?
Unreliable narrator?!

Only three of my favourite tropes... sign me the hell up.

14 months after being sent to prison for the murder of two of her neighbours in a sleepy lakeside community, Ruby Fletcher returns to the neighbourhood. What does she want? Is she after revenge for the people who testified against her, or does she want something deeper than that?

The writing of this story is so clever. As a reader, you have a couple of smug moments where you've seen a twist coming for a few chapters, and then WHAM, you're hit with the whiplash of a new one that completely and utterly changes things.

I'd decided to give this 5 stars by about halfway through, and spent the rest of the book desperately hoping that the ending wouldn't let it down. And I'm glad to say, it did not.

Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a dark and creepy thriller read!

This was a well-paced thriller, entertaining from beginning to end. I only wish it could have gone deeper into it’s themes and we’d gotten to know more of the characters in the neighborhood. Then the plot would have felt more impactful. It was still an easy and fun thriller.

Such a Quiet Place is a suspenseful read that is like navigating a maze of mirrors. Just when you think you know where the mystery is headed, it twist and turns in a completely different direction.

Hollow's Edge was a quiet community where many of the neighbors were co-workers and friends. Until the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett, when it became apparent someone among them had done the unthinkable. Ruby Fletcher was convicted of the murders and sent to prison. A year and a half later, Ruby's conviction is overturned and she is released from prison, only to show back up in Hollow's Edge on the doorsteps of her former roommate Harper Nash. Harper is torn between welcoming Ruby back into her life, and suspecting Ruby got away with murder. It's clear Ruby has returned, but unclear whether she is hunting for revenge or the real killer.

At one point or another, I suspected each and every character of being the murderer. The author does an excellent job of making you consider what every character might be hiding.

I enjoyed this dark twisty novel that kept me in the dark until the end. I received this book courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book kept me guessing. A quiet neighbourhood where all looks perfect is the scene of a murder. A couple is found dead in their home. Neighbourhood cameras pick up the comings and going’s of various residents but the focus is on Ruby who has just returned after being released from jail. I was riveted to this book and finished it in one sitting. Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to enjoy this read.

"Such a Quiet Place"
by Megan Miranda

Kept me on the edge of my seat! Never knew what would happen next. Loved it!

More of a slow burn book, I had a hard time wanting to continue but the ending was a nice surprise. But could you imagine your own mother thinking you may be guilty of murder to the point where she murders someone to protect you? Talk about a mind screw! Wish the story would have delved into that aspect a little deeper. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Hollow’s Edge is such a quiet place. Or it used to be. Until Ruby was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of her neighbors! Miranda writes with such description that it feels like the reader is transported there amongst the characters! This book had all my favorite things: a great setting, well-rounded characters, and an amazing plot!

I love her writing style and how the books read easily! I was sooo intrigued by this one from the start. Ruby shows back up at her old “roommates” house after being found innocent of a crime and released from prison ⁣
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This is your classic neighborhood thriller that I loveeeee⁣
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Parts of this one did read a little slower, but I still couldn’t put it down⁣
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Just when I thought I had the twist figured out it, it was so much more intricate than I could have guessed

In the small college neighborhood of Hollow's Edge, where everyone knows everyone and home security cameras provide a sense of safety, everyone is lost when a couple is found dead by carbon monoxide poisoning in their garage. When those same home security cameras reveal that 20-year-old Ruby Fletcher was seen running to the lake in the middle of the night, the town knows that Ruby was the perpetrator. At any cost, they pool their evidence to get her convicted - and succeed. Fourteen months later, Ruby is released from prison, getting out due to proof that a police officer and resident of Hollow's Edge interfered in the investigation to suppress other suspects. Ruby returns right back to Hollow's Edge, where she is definitely NOT wanted, and has an agenda for her first month out of prison.

I was so disappointed by this book. I think it's trying for a Good Neighbors / The Crucible / The Scarlet Letter vibe, in which an insular small town turns against one of its own when something terrible happens, but frankly, it did not succeed at this. In my opinion, if you're going to go there, GO THERE. All of the aforementioned books are filled with vitriol, plotting, vicious gossip, and characters that you hate to their core. The characters in this book skirt around the issue and person at hand, with fake niceties and covert neighborhood watches, in a way that feels so half-baked and timid. I didn't like any of the characters, but nor did I hate them. I felt so unattached to them that I really couldn't care less about the ultimate resolution of the plot.

This book was also much longer than it needed to be. So much of the plot is the narrator (Ruby's ex/current roommate) going back and forth on whether she thinks Ruby is guilty or not. She flip flops probably a dozen times before learning (what she think is) the truth. There are also a ton of plot points (red herrings?) that are raised and never resolved by the end, leading to much more confusion than an actual furthering of the plot. Overall, I was expecting something much more dramatic, twisty, and thrilling, but this book did not deliver on those expectations.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for an ARC via Netgalley.

Such a quiet place, Hollow’s Edge. An idyllic neighborhood filled mostly with the employees of the local college that sits just across the lake. At least it was until two people were murdered. Brandon and Fiona Truett are found dead in their home, and one of their neighbors, Ruby Fletcher, is convicted of their murders.

Just over a year later, Ruby’s conviction is overturned and she has returned to Hollow’s Edge. She shows up on the doorstep of her former roommate Harper Nash’s home and everyone in the neighborhood wants to know why.

Normally, I start my reviews with what I like most about the book. With this book, I’m doing things a bit differently because well, the beginning just bothered me.

What I didn’t like:

Annoying thing #1: The legal parts. The how and why of Ruby’s conviction being overturned is just kind of glossed over. As a true crime nerd, I had a hard time believing that a conviction was overturned based on the reasons given in such a short amount of time. The murders happened only 14 months before. So, a full trial, conviction, and an appeal all happen in just over a year. And there wasn’t even that pesky DNA to exonerate Ruby. I get that this wasn’t a legal thriller and I have a pretty good suspension of disbelief, but it was a bit unbelievable even by Law & Order standards.

However, none of that really matters a whole lot to the story. Innocent until proven guilty only matters in a court of law. And despite Ruby being found *technically* innocent in a court of law, only the court of public opinion matters in this story. In the neighborhood of Hollow’s Edge, public opinion is not forgiving.

Annoying thing #2: Harper. She is like my #3 on my list of protagonists that I cannot stand. I empathize with Ruby more than Harper, despite all the shady things Ruby does. Because to be honest, if all my "friends" testified against me, I would probably do the same. But, we are supposed to feel bad for Harper because the whole neighborhood is gossiping and turning against her because Harper let Ruby come back into her home after her release. Apparently, Harper lacks a spine. She can’t tell Ruby to leave and she can’t stand up to any of her neighbors. She is also desperate to fit in with the rest of the neighbors because she is constantly whining about how “Ruby just showed up.”

What I liked: It was really entertaining. Ignoring Harper’s self-loathing and desperately trying to convince everyone that she also thinks Ruby totally killed their neighbors, it is a decent thriller. Sure, there are the typical thriller tropes, but I didn’t expect the events to unfold as they did, and the story kept me guessing almost to the end.

A Quiet Place is an entertaining read from beginning to end. A good beach read for any thriller fan.

I love Megan Miranda's writing and was very excited to read this book. I pictured Hollow's Edge as a creepy place to be in the first place - every town has their secrets. Ruby seemed rather mysterious and creepy herself whereas Harper seemed rather aloof... But when it's time to confront the truth, the characters really show their true colors.

Loved this one!

Megan Miranda always delivers reliable, engaging mysteries. I enjoyed the overarching setting/premise of a neighborhood reacting to a suspected murderer moving back. I was engaged in the story from the beginning but definitely predicted where the story went. This was enjoyable and such an easy book to read.

I enjoyed this book but it is probably my least favorite of Meghan Miranda’s. The beginning is very slow but if you push through the ending is worth it. First of all, I love the cover and second of all I really loved getting to know all of the characters and secrets of this neighborhood!
The writing style is reminiscent of all of her other books and she keeps you guessing until very last page.

Pre-review/ Currently Reading:

So, is it me, or does it feel like there are a bazillion new releases this week? I wonder if it has anything to do with the 4th of July holiday having been last week. 🤔

I might have gone to my local @barnesandnoble yesterday for some bookish retail therapy to snag a few of this week’s new releases!! 🤗📚

Here’s what I got:

• Such A Quiet Place by @meganlmiranda. This is a suspense novel about a mysterious murder in a small and close-knit neighborhood.

A close knit community with some serious rules experiences a double murder and the suspect was one of their own. She's released from prison and comes back for a reckoning. Did she really commit murder or was it one of the other members of the community? When another murder takes place, the residents turn on each other and everyone is a suspect.

Interesting and fast paced thriller. characters are well written and the plot has enough mystery and twists to keep the reader's interest. I will recommend this book to my patrons.

Well, with 800 (!) reviews in, mine won't be a surprise--Such A Quiet Place is amazing! I started it when I was on vacation and was so hooked on it I got a sunburn--and it was worth it! This features Megan Miranda's signature deft psychological underpinnings and definitely packed a punch. There's a huge waitlist for this one, and her backlist is definitely popular with patrons as well. All the ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!

I read this one in one sitting. I love when books are based on real places. I loved that it was told from different time frames and different points of views. It was very well written and kept my attention at all times.

From the very beginning you could tell something was just a little off in this neighborhood. This story was the perfect level of mystery for me. It wasn’t scary but kept you wondering what was going on under the surface. I had a love/hate relationship with the characters because the whole time I was thinking “JUST BE HONEST!” But overall the story was very good.

Ruby has been released from prison and returns to her old neighborhood. Is she guilty of killing the couple next door or was she wrongly convicted? Rumors and suspicions fly complicated by secrets, lack of communication, and trying to protect one's own. I had a tough time really getting into this book, but ending is worth it.