✨Book Reviw✨
The Qiuet Tenant by Clémence Michallon
4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUB DATE: June 20, 2023

Thank you to @netgalley for my advanced copy of this read for my honest review.

First, this book is quite different from what I’m used to reading as far as the writing style goes but enjoyable. I feel that’s what gave it such a thrill. Mind ending and psychological!

I loved multiple point of views and how the chapters were different characters.

It’s crazy to think how this even happens in the real world. It’s just so sad. How someone appears to have it all together but then can live a double life that way - have a whole family and then flip a switch and be so sinister.

The ending is also so different which to me leaves you thinking about the book even after it’s over.

This was a quick read for me but get ready for a thrill!

This book was so suspenseful. It had me stressssed at some points. I wish that the ending could’ve been better, and it feels like it could’ve been shorter, but I was reading so fast to find out what happened. I think some people may find this too detailed, but I appreciated being able to feel first-hand what the kidnapped woman felt and all of the issues that came along with it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review this thriller prior to its June release date!

This book had me SWEATING! My heart was racing and I felt anxious and on the edge for the last 80% of the story.

This book was so interesting, the entire premise of it. Each of the main characters POV chapters were a different title of “the woman and..” to go off of events in that specific chapter. And her POV was in second person which I thought was interesting as it was the only one that was.

It didn’t end on a twist. It ended well and tied it all together. The entire book was a twist honestly. I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Definitely an impressive debut and I look forward to what this author delivers next!

Thank you netgalley for the arc. I really enjoyed this. Aiden gave me chills. This had me hooked from the very beginning. Loved it.

Aidan Thomas is beloved in his town. But he has a secret - he is a serial killer and still actively has one victim he’s kept in the woods. This is told from the perspectives of that victim and a future potential victim.

I wanted to like this one, but I don’t think it delivered. I think changing each chapter title from “woman _” to reflect whatever the narrator was doing was too complicated. I also don’t really get why we needed Emily’s perspective. Maybe to give us the sense the town loved this guy? I wish there had been more investigation. I was expecting more of that and uncovering his secrets rather than more of an escape novel, which is what this was.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Short synopsis: “You” are imprisoned in a backyard shed, and have been for years fighting for your life and doing just about anything to survive.

My thoughts: I’m going to keep this short because I feel like it’s best to go in almost completely blind.

This is the most unique thriller I’ve read, with one of the points of you being YOU. The intent is to make this completely believable and real to the reader and the author fully delivered!

I think adding in the other points of view, l “Emily” and the other women that have crossed the path of your captor just amplified this story!

I did see a couple plot holes, or things that I felt could have been amplified to increase the reading experience as a whole. But all in all a great bingable thriller!

Read if you love:
- Unique immersive writing style
- Lifelike stories
- Bingeworthy thrillers
- Multiple POV, one of those being “YOU”

My favorite thing about the book was the way it was constantly changing directions. The main characters had choices throughout the book that had the ability to change their fate. These choices kept the story fasted and the reader guessing.

This was creepy AF, and I’m here for it. What a strong thriller debut novel!

Short Synopsis:
Everybody in town sees Aidan as a good family man. He works hard. He loves his family. He helps out the community. But he has a secret victim. Or 10. With one of those victims being kept a prisoner in his shed for the past five years…

My Thoughts:
This was such a page turner. Michallon did such an amazing job of the juxtaposition of the POV’s. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time hoping Rachel escaped and Aidan faced justice.

I will say the ending was a bit anti-climatic after so much build up. I was expecting more. BUT it’s a solid thriller that I’d absolutely recommend and looking forward to more books by Michallon!

Read if You Like:
🏠 Fast-paced thrillers
🏠 Serial killer stories
🏠 Double Lives
🏠 Multiple POVs
🏠 Dark books

This book was a very quick read. It grabs you and pulls you in at the very beginning and keeps your attention throughout the whole book. The three narrators are the one being held captive, the new love interest and the daughter. The author did a fantastic job of giving them all a thorough backstory and wrapped everything up nicely at the end. I highly recommend this!

Holy smokes! What an intense, psychological read. Dark and extremely sinister. When normal people have dark, sick secrets and hide them from their family and their town, you never know what’s going to happen. The Quiet Tenant is a scary, but enjoyable read!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm never sure if NetGalley would prefer no feedback over negative feedback. But, even though I tried three different times to read this one, the language and graphic sex were just too much. I do feel that potential readers like to hear warnings like that. I wish there were a rating system for books, like there is for movies.

Interesting thriller told by four characters - a serial killer, his girlfriend, his daughter and “ the quiet tenant”. It took awhile the get the hang of this book but it was certainly worth it.

I was intrigued by the premise of The Quiet Tenant but overall it fell a little flat for me. I found it to be a bit repetitive and slow moving at times without much suspense at all. I also found the ending to be a bit lackluster.

After seeing a few not great reviews about this book I was a little nervous to start it. I endure up liking it. I did agree with some of the other reviews that it seemed repetitive but I think that could have been fixed by making the book a little shorter. Overall I enjoyed it.

Wow! I liked this book way more than I anticipated. I read this in one sitting. The POVs alternate between the woman that is being held captive, the daughter of the man, and a woman who is infatuated with him. The author really captures the psychological aspects of what can happen to someone who is being held captive. It also highlights how people are not always as they seem. The story makes you think about how much you would sacrifice for yourself for the well being of others. This one had me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what happens at the end. Highly recommend The Quiet Tenant.

Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Knopf for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Clémence Michallon has crafted a debut novel, unlike anything I've ever read. Tense, dark, gripping, and thought-provoking, this novel is told by three distinct women who are all connected to Aidan Thomas. His daughter, the woman he abducted, and a bartender he takes a liking to. A deep insight into the human psyche and just how far one woman is willing to go to protect others. Fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat tension, Aidan Thomas is not the loving, caring man he seems to be.

Horrifically creepy, well written and believable. The darkness hidden within suburbia is one of my favorite thriller tropes and this did not disappoint.

This was one of my most anticipated books for the summer ahead and I was ecstatic to be approved for an advanced copy from Netgalley and Knopf Publishing.

This book is the definition of hiding in plain sight. The characters are intense and well-written. It took me a few chapters to adjust to the multiple POVs, but it was smooth sailing once I got over that. I just needed to know how it ended!!! Great debut thriller and I look forward to more from this author.

<b>DNF @ 30%</b>

I feel like a broken record with the not so great reads, lately. I promise I'm not just hating to hate. But lord, I can't seem to land a good one. *sigh*

The Quiet Tenant was just bad. Hell, I even skimmed through later chapters, including the end, and it didn't get any better. It was the same ol' same ol'. Nothing captivating or intriguing about Aidan, Rachel (who isn't even important enough to get chapter names; she's just the girl who...), or Emily. It was slow, over the top in its descriptions, and boring. Also, I feel for those who finished the whole book and got to that ending. *shaking my head*

This book was LONG. By 30% I felt like we should be closer to the end. But nope. Not even close. Just a repetitive storyline of a guy being charming out in the open and a psycho serial killer behind closed doors. Nothing thrilling.

Do yourself a favor and check out the other 1 star reviews.

Oh yeah, this is told in part 2nd person pov, which I hate reading in. It switched between that and 1st person.

Good luck to you if you decide to read this. Hopefully you have better luck than I did.

4.5 stars

When I wasn't reading this fantastic thriller, I was thinking about it, and now that I'm finished, I know it's one I'll still think about for a very long time!

This chilling tale is told primarily through the perspective of a character known as "the woman," but readers will come to know this character intimately and by several names. Her central identity is - unfortunately - captive. She's been basically entombed on the property of an absolute monster for five years when readers meet her, and while the hope that she'll escape this absolute nightmare is relentless, there is never any kind of certainty about what her future may hold. This keeps readers on the edges of their seats and rooting so hard for her from cover to cover.

In addition to this nameless woman, there are chapters told through the perspectives of other women in the captor's life, and to keep this spoiler-free, I'll avoid naming their relationships. It's absolutely fascinating to get snippets that reveal different sides of the villain because though readers never question his deeply entrenched evil, they will absolutely wonder how a person who does what he does can appear so different to others in his life and community.

I really loved the use of perspective, the intentional dribbling out of specific details to - in a safe way - put readers in the position of the m.c., and the general building of suspense. I will be looking forward to much more from this author and recommending this one to folks who can manage the content (because it should seem obvious, but this woman isn't held captive to join a knitting circle).

As an entry point to the TW, I want to add that I really appreciate the way in which the sexual violence is treated here. It's an unavoidable topic in this case, and while it's definitely occurring, it is not graphic in the ways that some prospective readers might expect. That noted...TW: rape, physical violence, and emotional abuse.