Thank you to NetGalley and @DynamiteBooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this book had me completely hooked. Such Quiet Girls is one of those stories that grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. It centers around a group of school kids and their bus driver as they go missing and end up trapped in a hidden underground bunker. It’s tense, emotional, and honestly kind of chilling, especially knowing it’s inspired by real events.

The story jumps between a few different characters, and each perspective adds something important. There’s Jessa, the bus driver, who’s dealing with some heavy personal trauma but somehow finds the strength to protect the kids. Sheena, a mom of two of the missing kids, is thrown into an impossible situation and has to make some brutal choices. Then there’s Ted, one of the people behind the kidnapping, and Sage, Sheena’s older daughter, who’s seriously impressive for a kid—smart, brave, and kind of a natural leader.

What I loved most is how the book balances high-stakes suspense with deep emotional moments. You really feel for everyone involved. The fear, the desperation, the determination—it’s all there. The scenes in the bunker are especially intense; the atmosphere is so claustrophobic you feel like you’re down there with them.

Ihli does a great job keeping the pace fast and the tension high. It’s not just a thriller; it’s also a story about resilience, survival, and the fierce love people have for their family. Definitely not a light read, but one that sticks with you.

Highly recommend if you're into emotionally-driven thrillers that dig a little deeper.
4.5 Stars!!!

#NetGalley, #DynamiteBooks, #SuchQuietGirls, #NoelleWIhli, #Suspense, #Thriller, #RealStory

4.75⭐️

Ten children are abducted from their school bus, buried in the ground and held for ransom.
This is inspired by an actual event. The story is told from sage the eldest of the children, the bus driver Jessa, Ted one of the abductors plus Sheena mom to sage and Bonnie

I found it a slow start as it sets the scene and the characters with their relevance to the storyline. Then suddenly the action kicks in and I was riveted.
Sage being the eldest felt a level of responsibility, you can understand Jemma’s actions as her backstory fills in what has shaped her. I even felt a bit sorry for Ted. Sheena is a fierce lioness protecting her babies, her feeling of panic was palpable.

It built and built to an action packed thrilling ending. I highly recommend this book.

This book was ADDICTING!! I have read all of Noelle West Ihli's books in one sitting (with the exception of None Left to Tell), so I had high hopes for this one. And it did not disappoint!! I sat down and couldn't get up until I knew what happened to Sage, Bonnie, and Ms. Jessa. Recommending this one to literally everyone.

Such Quiet Girls🤫
By Noelle W. Ihli🚌

Review🤍

I discovered this author at the end of last year and immediately fell in love with her writing. A school bus full of children and the bus driver is kidnapped; my first thought was, "Why do I love this stuff?" I guess there is probably something wrong with me, but I loved it. 🤣 Every chapter left me wanting more. The suspense was terrific, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next. This is a chilling book, and it turns out to be based on a true story! I thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.

Mystery
Thriller🔪
Suspense🫣
Kidnapping⛓️
Multiple POVs 🗣️


4.5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I've become a huge fan of Noelle ihil recently and this is her newest thriller that is sure NOT to disappoint.

This is based off true events, but the story itself will have you in a chokehold of fear and fiction.

I listened and read this one and the multiple povs were amazing.

Such a good book! I read it slowly so I could savor every minute! I loved the fact that the author included the point of view of not only Sage the main character but also that of her mom, the bus driver and one of the kidnappers. I know this story is based off the Chowchilla bus incident in the late 70s and then I believe the focus was taken off the boy who really was the hero in the story and put on the "adult" the bus driver. This book gives you reason to believe that children have superpowers too and can save the day. Noelle did an amazing job at placing your mind in the scene living the moments down in the bunker, when there's no hope or no air. The drive and determination to keep going. I also loved the Thicket easter egg I found! I enjoyed this book and cant wait for the prequel to Waiting For Andrea!

Noelle Ihli knocks it out of the ball park again. I could literally read anything by this author and be engrossed in her story telling. This was a fantastic book, highly recommend. I was instantly taken by the first page and each chapter got even more better. 100% recommend. I also never want to ride on a school bus again.

4⭐️

It took me a bit to realize this was based on true events. I'm reading along and I'm kind hmm this is really like that crazy kidnapping story I heard about once. Sure enough this book is loosely based on these events.

This book was even better because it's wild that this happened in real life. The author does such a great job telling it in a fiction format. Keeping the reader enticed and wondering what will happen next. The book is fast paced and keeps you in the edge of the seat. I really also appreciated the multiple POVs from many different angles,

I am planning on checking out more work by this author. I really enjoyed her reading style and she would be a fun read to mix in with my others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dynamite Books for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Thanks to Net Galley for giving me an early release ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. WOW this one was intense! It’s about a bus full of elementary school children who are kidnapped and buried underground while their parents and the police race to find them. I didn’t realize until after finishing that it’s based on true events that happened in the 70s (look up the documentary Chowchilla).

Let me say first that if you are claustrophobic this book will be your nightmare. I think I held my breath a few times while reading!

Second, any parent will find the struggle here to be so emotional and terrifying, and I loved how they played on the dramatics of motherhood and sacrifice through both the mother of the victims as well as the bus driver, Jessa. I found myself really feeling for the characters despite their flaws.

The last 1/3 of this book got especially intense and I read it in one sitting. I also really loved the cover art for the book. Overall a very good read.

10 children and 1 bus driver disappear in broad daylight and are buried alive held for ransom? Far fetched? Wrong! The amazing Noelle Ihli’s latest work Such Quiet Girls is inspired by the true life Chow Chilli abduction.

Split POV (with age gap) in characters is tough to pull off and get it right but Noelle made it seem effortless in this book. The characters were so strongly developed, I could blindly open to a random page and know exactly which POV I’m reading from.

A bona fide nail biter throughout. The sweat I sweated mentally racing the clock like I could somehow save these children. Have you ever found yourself reading at lightening speed in an attempt to help bring a story to some rewarding resolution? That was me complete with gritted teeth and hand on my head in disbelief.

I don’t give five stars often but this was an EASY full five stars for me! Releases April 29th!!!

I am so grateful to Noelle Ihli, NetGalley and Dynamite Books for the absolute privilege of reading this advance reader copy.

I loved this. I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen even though it’s based on a true story. I looked up the true story too to see pictures and get details. I love this author and everything she writes.

A harrowing account of a kidnapping based on true events, this story was so intense and quite a page-turner! I enjoyed the determination of both Jessa and Sheena to fix the situation! Loved the ending!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this masterpiece! I believe this is my favorite book of Noelle’s yet! This book grabbed me by the throat from the very first chapter and did not let go. I started it expecting a typical thriller and ended up reading something far more intense, raw, and emotional than I bargained for.

Such Quiet Girls tells the story of a school bus hijacking—yes, literally, a school bus full of kids is buried underground. Sounds like a nightmare? It is. But the strength of this book lies not just in the suspense (which is excellent), but in the characters. Jessa, the bus driver, and Sage, a twelve-year-old girl wise beyond her years, absolutely carried the story.

What I loved most was how the story didn’t just focus on the horror of the situation but also on the emotional resilience of people under pressure…the good guys and the bad guys. It explores guilt, redemption, and survival in such a human, heartbreaking way. And the tension? It’s relentless. I kept checking the clock thinking, “just one more chapter…”—and then it was 2 a.m.

This book felt personal and real, probably because it’s loosely inspired by an actual kidnapping case, which makes it all the more chilling. At times, it was hard to read—not because of gore or violence, but because the fear felt so real. That claustrophobia, that dread, that ticking clock… ugh, it gave me goosebumps.

Highly recommend this if you’re into emotional thrillers that go beyond surface-level scares. Just maybe don’t read it on a night you need sleep.

I was very excited by the premise of this book as well as the author. I found the first part of the book a bit on the slow side and felt it was hard to pick up to read. Although the storyline was entertaining I was expecting a bit more to be classified as a thriller. More twists?

This book had me hooked from the beginning til the very end!
Noelle West Ihli never disappoints
A complete mastermind in captivating storytelling, making you feel as though you are in the story!
I felt every single emotion I could possibly feel with this book and even ugly cried,
Amazing book
Characters and plot
Was it inspired by actual events?
Yes!
And she did such a great job with this

This book was quite a wild ride! It did leave me hanging, waiting for the reveal to happen at the end. However, I was hoping for some dramatic twist to reveal itself at the end but it never came. Even still, I did think this was an enjoyable thriller and would definitely recommend to others!

Wow, this one was such a wild ride. I loved how things slowly started unfolding. It was beautiful to watch Sage and Ms. Jessa's character development throughout the story. I got teary-eyed a few times in the last 30%. Plus, the few twists at the end truly surprised me! It was such a great and gripping read! Easily 5 stars!

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Dynamite Books to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Dynamite Books for an advanced copy of this book. Such Quiet Girls tells the story of a bus driver and 10 kids who get kidnapped and buried in a storage container 20 feet under the ground. Multiple POVs including the bus driver, one of the kidnapped kids, one of the mothers and also the kidnappers. The bus driver has a secret about her past and blames herself for the kidnapping. The kids and the driver need to work together to outsmart the kidnappers and escape. This book had me STRESSED. The chapters told from the bus driver’s and the child’s POV had me most stressed. I could feel their fear. As the story progresses you figure out little connections between the characters I recommend this book if you like edge of your seat story telling, but please check your trigger warnings. This book publishes on April 29th

Super fast paced read that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. A school bus full of kids has been taken hostage. Every parents worst possible nightmare.

Well, Noelle has done it again! Such Quiet Girls is a fast paced, hard to put down thriller that, while fiction, is actually based on true events. Told from the POV of a mother, a kidnapped child, a bus driver, and the perpetrator, the story of a bus hijacking and kidnapping unfolds, with everyone involved in a race against time. This was a rollercoaster of a story that was both tense and emotional in many ways, especially with the various backstories and situations each character endured. I also appreciated the representation of a character with Alzheimer’s and how, despite his diagnosis, he still played an important role. Definitely recommend. I will absolutely read any book Noelle Ihli writes. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.