I was hooked from page one. Arden Maynor was slept away by a storm while sleepwalking as a child. 20 years have passed since the incident and she has done all she could to put the past behind her. But someone won’t let her! I loved the flashbacks from the past to current events and was constantly trying to figure out if Arden herself was an u reliable character or if someone was really out to get her. I stayed up all night to finish this book. Def a great addition to your beach bag

Avery Greer has spent her entire life in Littleport, Maine, as a local she knows the ins and outs of the town. She also knows however the most powerful families, especially the Loman's. Summer resident's who practically own the town. One summer Avery is working a party at the Loman house and it's here that she meets the daughter of the Loman's Sadie. The two grow closer and closer until they are inseparable in the summers while Sadie comes to visit. Avery is drawn into their world until the summer where Sadie dies. Dealing with the loss of her friend Avery can't help but feel that the girls death, deemed a suicide was something more sinister. As a dedication ceremony on the one year anniversary of Sadie's death draws closer, Avery finds herself putting the pieces together to find out what let up to the night of her friend's death.

I really enjoyed this thriller. I've loved Meghan Miranda since I read All the Missing Girls years ago. This one did feel like a weaker novel in comparison but I still greatly enjoyed it. The plot was relatively faced paced, but it did feel like a lot of exposition for a quick conclusion. I was left with more questions though which is why I didn't give it five stars. Why Sadie stayed friends with Avery after she found out they weren't sisters. Why she chose Conner to help her hide the flash drive? Why was she stealing money from her father, did she have a get away planned? How did Sadie get Avery's diary?

I am looking forward to anything else Miranda writes, and slightly disappointed in myself that this took me so long to finally read.

I am really excited to finally read my first Megan Miranda book. If you spend much time on Goodreads or other book platforms, Megan Miranda is a favorite author of book lovers who writes some incredible books! I found The Last House Guest to be a suspenseful, gripping character study about a woman who is coping with the death of a close friend who she realizes she may not have known everything about.

Littleport, Maine is like two towns in one: the vacation town populated between Memorial Day and Labor Day by the elite who are able to afford a summer home there, and the local town populated year round by a smaller group of townies who outlast the wealthy vacationers and keep the town afloat during the off-season.

Avery Greer grew up as a townie in Littleport. After the tragic death of her parents, Avery was adrift until the town golden girl Sadie Loman plucked her from the sea of townies and made her someone relevant. Over time, Sadie became more than Avery’s best friend, she became her counterpart.

The Lomans are royalty in Littleport, owning most of the properties and rentals. After the death of her grandmother, the Lomans hire Avery to manage their rental properties and live in their guesthouse. Everything is going well until the night of the Plus-One party when Sadie commits suicide.

Now, nearly a year after the supposed suicide of her friend Sadie Loman, Avery Greer finds herself revisiting the event as new evidence comes to light that suggests Sadie’s death may not have been by her own hand. Avery’s life fell apart after Sadie died, and now she’s a bit adrift.

When Sadie’s phone is discovered in the rental cottage that hosted the infamous Plus-One party the night Sadie died, Avery immediately turns it over to the police. But now that very phone may throw everything into question. And Avery finds herself at the top of the suspect list.

This is one of the books that is tough to place in a genre. It definitely is full of suspense and intrigue, and it has a few thriller-like moments (for instance, the break-ins at the cottage throughout the book spooked me a few times), but since the bulk of the night in question happens in the past and the story revolves around the complicated dynamics within the Loman family and around Avery, it almost feels like a suspenseful drama.

I definitely enjoyed all of the complicated family and relationship dynamics in the novel. There are a lot of secrets buried all over the place in this town run by the Lomans, and a lot to be revealed! I found the book compelling, and I thought it got more gripping in the second half as we started to get some answers.

A great vacation read and a satisfying suspense novel with complex characters that will definitely carry you away to Littleport!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my copy. Opinions are my own.

I devoured All the Missing Girls but sadly, The Last House Guest fell short for me. Thank you for the opportunity.

Megan Miranda is a great writer and she can make even a more or less predictable storyline interesting to read. A girl is found dead, looks like a suicide, obviously isn't, and her best friend tries to figure it out while maybe being under suspicion herself. Read this one for the interesting take on small resort town local/tourist dynamics, and the great way that the author fleshes out the personalities, motivations, and inner musings of young women - her forte!

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda is a twisted novel about a town with the rich and those who serve them. When one of the rich dies, everything comes to light. Secrets and lies-- it is an interesting read. I think it was a solid read but not a favorite. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

Megan Miranda took me right to the coast in this book, although not to the southern coasts I'm familiar with. I loved her attention to the details of the Maine coast and the depiction of tourist interests and how those intersect with the lives of locals. She does such a wonderful job of examining the relationships we have with others as compared to the relationships we think we have. While there were no huge surprises at the end, there were some small, satisfying ones that tied up loose ends.

Read this back in July and liked it! Clearly one of my New Year’s resolutions needs to be to stay on top of my reviews. So when I finish a book I write down notes, because I never immediately write my review (this is something that I am trying to change this year). Most of the time this will jar my memory and the book will come streaming back to me. However in the case of this book it did not, so I went and looked at other people’s reviews. Most of the reviews I read stated that this was a good story not great, but it probably wouldn’t stick with them. So they were right! According to my notes I thought this was a good story, I really liked Avery, and I thought the ending was satisfying. But I really cannot remember what happened in this book to save my life. All this is to say this seems to have been an entertaining story that just did not stick with me.

*** Big thanks to Simon & Schuster for my copy of this book ****

Unfortunately this one just didn't live up to my high expectations after reading All the Missing Girls. Nothing particularly wrong with it, just average and forgettable : (

Megan Miranda nailed it again. In a story full of twists and turns, I was never quite sure who to trust. Every detail tied together in a satisfying ending that I did not expect. I look forward to more suspense from this author!

I have been waiting to read another Megan Miranda book ever since I put down “All the Missing Girls”. Miranda creates fiction that is un-put-downable. You’ll stay up late to read this new book of hers, and it didn’t disappoint.

The Last House Guest is a mystery set in Littleport, Maine about Avery, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks whose world is shattered when her best friend is found dead of an apparent suicide.

Like in previous books, Miranda uses alternating timelines from the past and present lead to revealing the truth behind what happened to Avery’s friend Sadie. I loved the whodunit aspect and the buildup and ending were perfect. This was a great beach read and I cannot wait to see what Megan Miranda comes up with next!!

3.5 stars. Avery and Sadie were best friends, as close as sisters. After her parents died in a terrible crash, Avery came to live with the Loman family and was included in nearly everything, almost like extended family. The Lomans are the local gentry, vastly more wealthy and influential than any other family for miles around. In some ways it was like a dream; Avery grew up as an only child whose working class parents struggled to pay for the bare necessities, and like others in this touristy little beach town, she had been awed by the Lomans, who lived at a lofty remove from ordinary people. But now Sadie is dead, and although Avery is employed by the Lomans as a property manager for their vacation cottages, it is painfully obvious that she is no more family to them than any of the other full time residents here.

Police say that Sadie killed herself, but Avery doesn’t think so. She turns over one clue after another, all of them suggesting that this isn’t as it appears. But once she is able to persuade the cops that Sadie didn’t jump over the cliff’s edge, she becomes their primary person of interest in a murder investigation. Now she is even more motivated to find out what happened that night.

Miranda is a champion when it comes to creating murky, haunting settings and a sense of disorientation. I believe Avery as a character through about 80 percent of this story, but the ending doesn’t hold up this time, and when plot becomes as preposterous as this one has, the character can’t stand up either.

I’ve read and reviewed this author three times now, and each time I found aspects of the ending that raised my eyebrows, but this is the first time that I couldn’t make myself buy into it for the sake of a good yarn. I was aggravated, a feeling similar to what I’d experience if an old friend looked me up and spent an evening with me, only to conclude by asking me for money, or trying to persuade me to join an odd religion. In short, I felt like I’d been had.

Miranda’s fans may want to get a copy of this novel and see what they make of it, but I’d counsel you to get it free or cheap unless your pockets are deep ones.

The Last House Guest is a thriller full of twists and turns. I did not know how the story would end. This is my first book to read by Megan Miranda and I will definitely be checking out more of her books. She captured Maine perfectly.

It's a little by the numbers for me, but this is still a satisfying read. Overall, there's a lot in this book to recommend, but I would start by introducing readers to Megan Miranda's first adult novel which is just *so* well done and then I would offer up The Last House Guest.

**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!**

This was a DNF for me. I've never been super taken with any of Megan Miranda's other works, but when reviewers that I love are giving her stories a great rating, I always cave and try again. The premise of the story was great and the setting was even better (so many details, it literally came alive!), but the rest was pretty blah.

3 stars because the setting was outstanding, and it's a quick, easy read.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Last House Guest.

I love it when Reese Witherspoon announces her month's bookclub pick, especially when it's one that you already have in your Netgalley library. Dang it though, I just couldn't get into this one.

This is definitely a situation of it being "me, not you." I just don't jive with Megan Miranda's work, and that's ok. For some reason I have a difficult time really investing and following her stories, and it was the exact same with this one. But, I know a lot of people really enjoyed it.

I'm a big fan of Megan Miranda, and this might have been my favorite book of hers yet. I love books with alternating timelines, especially thrillers to build the suspense. Others have said they guessed the ending, but it completely caught me by surprise, which is exactly what I want in a thriller.

Avery Greer is a local, living in a touristy beach town year round. The Loman family is the part of the richest of the rich, coming every summer with their money, parties, and seemingly carefree lives. When Avery forms a friendship with Sadie Loman, and the two girls become tighter than most sisters over these summer months, Avery becomes fully immersed in the Loman family life---even to the point where, as she finishes school, she works for Sadie’s father, managing all of this beach properties year-round. But at the end of this most recent summer, Sadie is found dead, and Avery is having trouble believing Sadie’s suicide is as straightforward as everyone else seems to believe. When you’re looking for a perfect end-of-summer read, look no further! I think I binge-read this entire book in less than 24-hours, liking Avery and wanting to find out what happened to Sadie as much as she did. Megan Miranda is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors for female suspense---can’t wait for her next one!

5 Stars
NOTE: Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review---it was my pleasure!

I was not a huge fan of this book. I really enjoyed Miranda's book "All the Missing Girls" and the unique way this was written and was really hoping that "The Last House Guest" would have a unique quality. Unfortunately this one fell flat for me. In fact it felt like it took me forever to read it! I was not a fan of Avery, the main character, and felt she did not have many rewarding qualities. There were a ton of secondary characters that kept appearing in the novel, but didn't have much of a story. The one character I kind of liked was Sadie and she was the one who was dead. This book was also super slow and dragged!! The action didn't happen until the last 50 pages and the lead up was not exciting. The one quality I did like was who the murderer was. I was not expecting that and I wish Miranda would have focused more on that buildup than so much back story.

Thanks to Simon Books for a free review copy. This past weekend I found myself on a beach in the mood for a good thriller. I finally cracked this bad boy open (can you crack open a digital book?) and I finished it in 3 days. The story descriptions were wonderful. I could vividly picture what I was reading. I liked the way the story was told in a dual timeline, I liked the many red herrings thrown in, and I was committed to making sure the main character came out unharmed. As with any thriller, the trick to success is not being able to predict the twists. I was, unfortunately, able to come up with most of the plot points before the main character. The very, very ending took me a bit by surprise in how the climax played out, but overall, I saw the premise coming from a mile away. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book, I just never got to the point of heightened anxiety that I expect in an unpredictable thriller.