I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me through NetGalley. This book was just absolutely wonderful. It was just so easy to get lost in and I just couldn’t put it down. I just lost myself within this amazing story. I most definitely will read more by this author.

Megan Miranda is well-known for her thrillers, especially ALL THE MISSING GIRLS. Her titles have been on my TBR for some time, but this is the first one I’ve read.

The writing was good. The author excels at establish a strong, well-developed lead character; weaving visceral, detailed scenes; and stringing beautifully-written sentences together, perfect word by perfect word.

Where this story tanked for me was its pacing. Very little actually happened in the novel, and the climax was, well, anticlimactic. The red herring perpetrators—two of them, at least—fell flat for me, as they were two-dimensional and somewhat unbelievable.

I would definitely read something else from this author, and I appreciate the opportunity to read this title early.

Olivia has started a new life in North Carolina, working in hospital administration and even changing her name. She wants to do anything possible to distance herself from her past, when she became a national sensation after she was sleepwalking at six years old and got stuck in a storm drain before being rescued after three days. However, her past has come back to haunt her. Her mother has died and she starts sleepwalking again… Only to trip over a dead body in her front lawn, the body of someone from her past. And of course after that, her secrets can’t stay hidden for long. This novel was very suspenseful and left you guessing who could be trusted until the last minute, with several solid twists along the way.

I’ve been a Megan Miranda fan since I’ve first read All the Missing Girls, and I’ve since read most of her work, including her YA fiction.

The Girl from Widow Hills tells the story of Olivia Meyer, who’s working to escape her past as Arden Maynor, the six year old who was sleep walking, swept into storm drains by the current of floodwaters, and found in the town’s drain system three days later. The 20th anniversary of her rescue is approaching, but she’s tired of the way the story has shaped her. She thinks she’s successfully gotten out, working as a hospital administrator in a different state, until her sleepwalking behavior resurfaces and she finds a dead body in the front yard when she wakes up from an episode.

In true Miranda fashion, the markers of time lee you invested in the story. She pays attention to the detail, and you’re left amazed that so much has happened in a short amount of time. She also creates a narrator that you never know if you can trust. Is she a person of interest in the case or is she a victim once again? Miranda will have you looking back and forth, like you are watching a vicious volley in a murderous tennis match.

As the truth starts to unfold, you’ll notice the way Miranda uses serial to prove we’ve know the story all along. Like Olivia, we just didn’t know what to look at.

I love the way these types of stories drop you in, make you feel so realistically like you are the main character.

I’m so glad to have received this e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Miranda has once again written a wonderful mystery. I have read all her books and she consistently writes novels that I cannot put down.

Olivia Meyer is a hospital administrator, but twenty years ago she was a girl named Arden Maynor. Arden was six years old when she was sleepwalking and was swept away into the drain pipes of her hometown of Widow Hills, KY. She was rescued three days later. Needless to say, this event traumatized Arden, and she was unable to remember most of it.

Olivia, now an adult, is living in Central Vallwy, N.C. She seems to be doing fine until she once again sleepwalks outside her home and finds a dead body.
Liv is determined to investigate the crime. At this point, the novel gains momentum and a second murder occurs. There are a number of suspects to keep us guessing and also a stalker, you won't be able to read fast enough to get to the end.

I highly recommend this book and all of Megan Miranda's other novels. You will not be disappointed. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Likeable main character. I enjoyed reading this book but I did find it a little bit predictable. Easy read.

First off I’d like to thank Netgalley for a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was kind of a disappointment for me. I felt like nothing really interesting happened. The last 2 chapters had a nice twist but that’s just about it. For the concept, story line and characters this story could have been told in 1/2 the time. I felt like it drug out entirely too long. I actually was starting to get sick of hearing about her sleep walking incident that happened 20 years ago. There was so much build up for such an anticlimactic ending. This story could have been told in 10 chapters and would have been pretty good. All in all I’ve honestly read better psychological thrillers. It was an overall okay read for me.

Ahhhhh I’m still trembling this book was so spooky at the end!! 😬 so many twists and turns throughout, many that I did not see coming.

The first 1/2 of this book was a little slow. I’m not sure exactly what, but it felt like it was missing something. It was both moving too quickly & not providing enough details, but also very slowly? Not sure if that makes sense but I can’t wrap my head around it 🤯 I will say that the second half made up for the rocky beginning. Like I said, I’m still spooked!

Not my most favorite thriller I’ve ever read, but I’d still recommend it!

Everyone remembers the girl from Widow Hills: the sleep walking six-year-old Arden Maynor, who disappeared from her home before dawn into a fierce storm, miraculously found alive three days after being swept into the city’s drainage system.
Her rescue captured the heart of the nation and Arden and her mother became famous, receiving fan letters, money, and a book deal. Every milestone anniversary has brought pain to Arden who stepped out of the spotlight as soon as she was able.

Now, she has given herself a fresh start as Olivia Meyer, leaving behind Widow Hills, Kentucky for a career in hospital administration in North Carolina. While her mom managed to waste away the money from her book deal, she was never able to touch the trust created for her as a child. Now, Olivia puts the money to good use when she purchases a secluded house outside of town.

Then, the news arrives: her mother has died, just before the 20th anniversary of her rescue.
Soon Olivia is sleepwalking again.
She wakes one night at the edge of her property, a dead man at her feet.
Olivia is stunned to learn the man identified has ties to her past and her carefully guarded past will once again be splashed across the headlines.

What a twisty mystery! The Girl from Widow Hills kept me turning the pages late into the night as I questioned everyone’s motives and how they could be connected to Olivia’s past! While parts of the plot were predictable, the twists were entertaining and not overly convoluted. It took a while for the pace to pick up but once it did, I was invested in learning the truth.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Girl from Widow Hills is scheduled for release on June 23, 2020.

I love thrillers but this one fell a bit flat for me. The premise was odd and not very believable. The story was also a strange pace that I didn't enjoy. This is my first book by this author and I appreciated her writing. I think I would try her again, but this one just wasn't for me.
#Netgalley #TheGirlFromWidowHills #SimonandSchuster
2.5/5

Probably a 3.5 in actuality.

This thriller was sort of typical of what’s in right now - revisiting trauma from years ago. However, Liv’s trauma didn’t involve murder or a disappearance or a violent crime. She just went missing as a kid and was found three days later in a storm drain. So while she did have trauma, both memory loss from the incident and childhood trauma from being exploited and monetized, there was nothing from her past to go back and solve. She changed her name in college and started a new drama-free life. Until she wakes up at a crime scene beside someone linked to her past.

One thing about this book is that our main character had much less personality than her friends and side characters. I’m not always looking for great characterization in a thriller novel but she really paled in comparison to some of the other players in the book.

I thought the reveals in this book were genuinely exciting. It didn’t do anything super new, but I didn’t fully expect the ending until it was handed to me on a platter.

I really like Megan Miranda, I think she writes completely solid thrillers, and I’ll be waiting to pick up the next one.

Love love love! This might be my new favorite Megan Miranda book but I say that every time. The twists and turns are amazing and you never truly know who it is until the end. I also love the character development and how well you get to know each of them. Such a great quick read!

I really loved the synopsis for this book, it's what reeled me in but sadly it fell a little flat for me.
Most of the action took place in the last 15% of the book and before that the story drug a little.
I did like the writing and the overall premise of the book, that was amazing and I would be willing to read more mystery/thrillers from this author.

The Girl From Widow Hills was my second book by Megan Miranda, and I’ve loved them both. I won’t lie, this one started 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘸! It took me a couple days to get through the first quarter of the book, which isn’t like me at all. The next quarter of the book really started to peak my interest, but the second half of it had me completely hooked, and I stayed up until 1 in the morning to finish the book! I’m such a sucker for books where I can’t guess the ending, and this was an ending I never saw coming! I loved it! ⁣
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Arden suffered from sleepwalking as a child, and one night she walked out of the house during a storm and couldn’t be found. Several days later, she was found in a drain holding on for her life. She became known as the girl from Widow Hills. 20 years later, she has changed her name and moved away from home. She starts sleepwalking again, and wakes up in the middle of the night standing beside a corpse in her neighbors yard. Once again, she is in the spotlight, and she becomes known as the girl from Widow Hills. ⁣

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a super quick read that pulls you into the story. A couple of good plot twists that keep you guessing and just when you think you have it figured out, there’s a big twist at the end.

Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book a lot!! I am a big fan of Megan Miranda and when I found out she was releasing a new book this year, I was beyond excited 🤗 I was even more excited to receive this eARC by Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

When Arden Maynor was 6 years old, she was swept away by a flash flood while sleepwalking and ended up missing for 3 days. This horrific accident brought together search parties of friends, neighbors and strangers from near and far to help bring Arden home safely. It was a miracle when she was found alive and clinging to a storm drain by a search party member who just happened to walk by at the perfect time. Arden became a legend in Widow Hills and her story made her famous on a national level. Her mother wrote a book about the accident and her safe return. She had fans, followers, and stalkers and with every passing year, the anniversary of her rescue brought forth even more unwanted media attention and harassing fan mail. As soon as she was old enough, Arden decided to change her name and begin a new life far away from Widow Hills.

Now going by the name of Olivia Meyer, she has managed to remain hidden from the public eye for the last several years. However, the 20 year anniversary of her rescue is right around the corner and she knows that the media will be interested in her and her whereabouts once again. All of the sudden, Olivia begins to feel that someone is watching her and begins to sleepwalk again. One night, she is jolted awake by the sound of a phone ringing and finds herself outside her house with a corpse laying at her feet and her hands covered in blood. Suddenly, Olivia is at risk of losing the new identity she carefully created for herself by being at the center of a murder investigation, desperately trying to figure out what happened that fateful night.

Megan Miranda is such an amazing storyteller and I LOVED the way that she wrote The Girl From Widow Hills. Told from the perspective of Arden/Olivia, the story bounces back and forth between present day and flash back memories over the last 20 years. The build up of the story line kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book, resulting in a surprise ending that I truly was not expecting. While all of Megan’s books start off strong and have a great storyline build up, she improves with each book and in my opinion, The Girl From Widow Hills is definitely her best yet. The sleepwalking aspect of the story made me so anxious because while I have never slept walked before, it is a genuine fear of mine so it was terrifying, yet intriguing that this played such a huge role and I felt like it confirmed some of my biggest concerns about sleepwalking whether that was intentional or not 😂😅

I enjoyed all of the characters that were presented throughout the book and loved that almost all of them had an important role in the storyline- there really weren’t any unnecessary characters at all. I loved the detail and development of Olivia/Arden’s character and found her strength and perseverance through the unimaginable to be inspiring. Megan Miranda did an amazing job immersing the reader into the story- I truly really felt like I was along for the ride.

If you are a fan of Megan Miranda and enjoy good summer thrillers with a psychological component to it, this book is for you! THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS will be released on 6/23 and I highly encourage you to pre-order your copy now 💛

I really enjoyed The Girl from Widow Hills, it was a slow build and kept you guessing on what happened to Arden when she was 6 years old and what happened to the dead man found in her yard. I liked that there were two mysteries going on, one from Arden's past and present.

The Girl from Widow Hills is about Olivia Meyer who goes through a traumatic experience during her childhood. When Olivia was 6 years old she went by the name of Arden Maynor and was missing for three days and found in storm drain. Since the accident Olivia has changed her name and does not speak of what happened to her when she was a child. Now that the twentieth anniversary of the accident is coming up she feels that she is being watch and has started sleep walking again. She awakes one night in her yard to find a dead man at her feet and from there she starts to seek the truth of what happened and why this man was in her yard.

I really enjoyed reading The Girl from Widow Hills because it wasn't what I expected and the ending was a real twist. I really liked the character build up, getting to know Olivia Meyer and her personality but also being introduced to many characters that you didn't know what their intentions were, it made for a very suspenseful read. I would recommend The Girl from Widow Hills for anyone looking for a thrilling read.

Gripping read and interesting characters. Arden Maynor was a child sensation for surviving a flood in a small town and being rescued after several days underground. It's a weird, unwelcome type of fame she spends her life running away from, even changing her name and breaking contact with anyone from that part of her life. Fast forward 25 years when she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation that is possibly connected to her past life. I did really like the pace of the story but felt like a few things were left unresolved, which is probably more like real life anyways. But it's a great read with short chapters and a story that whips on by!

Wow. I can honestly say I did not see that final twist coming. Props to Megan Miranda for another compelling thriller!

Arden Maynor was just six years old when her life was changed forever. The entire nation knows the miraculous story of how she went sleepwalking in a storm only to be found three days later clinging to the grate of a storm drain. As the twenty year anniversary of her rescue approaches, Arden (now Olivia), has settled into a quiet life where no one knows her past. Except she’s sleepwalking again… and one night she wakes up from sleepwalking by tripping over a dead body in her yard. Olivia’s quiet life is about to get very messy.

This was a slow burn of a thriller, similar to Miranda’s previous novels. While it was slower-paced, I was completely sucked in and finished it in 24 hours! I desperately wanted to know what had happened in Olivia’s yard and was praying she’d be innocent!

I felt so badly for Olivia as she struggled to maintain her private life without the pressure of the media and the people who thought she owed them for her survival all those years ago. It was an interesting exploration of ownership of one’s story and life when parts of it are lived in an extremely public manner.

4/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster, and Megan Miranda for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

CW: drug abuse, overdose

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS by Megan Miranda for an honest review. Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS follows Olivia who once upon a time was a young girl named Arden. Arden was quite literally swept up in a major news story when she was reported lost. With a history of sleepwalking and a shoe found near an intake point for the underground pipes system, the community rallied around her single mother in the search for the missing little girl. Miraculously she was found three days later clinging to a metal grate and rescued.

In the wake of the media sensation, Olivia has left her mother and her old life behind, changing her name and telling no one who she once was. After getting a call that her estranged mother has passed away and receiving her mother’s meager remaining possessions, her history has been stirred back up. Olivia finds herself sleepwalking again and worries that she’s being watched. When she stumbles on a body just off her property line, Olivia knows that it isn’t all in her head!

This book really kept me guessing throughout! It took me a few chapters to settle into the story, accepting that this was going to be a slow burn. The author had me wondering where exactly the story was going, but I did feel for Olivia from the first. We all see those news stories that make headlines, but don’t always think about the impact that has on those in the spotlight for years to come. Olivia was just six when she made the news and for years she was treated as though she owed the public something for their prayers and aid during her ordeal.

It’s hard to discuss without getting into spoilers, but there were some elements that I felt like could have been explored a bit more in the beginning that had me wondering if I had perhaps missed something. The reasons why they weren’t are made clear further into the story, though. I did not predict the coming twists until well into the story which I very much appreciated.

THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS will be out on 6/23/2020 and I do suggest you add it to your TBR!