I did like this book, however, it left me with more questions than answers. An epilogue at the end from one of the characters would have been nice. Maybe they could have wrapped up and answered some questions. Pretty good book and will recommend.

*Major trigger warnings for abuse, sexual abuse and captivity.

The tone of the novel is tense and unnerving. Michallon does a great job with her writing and creating tension. Her characters were believable. The book is very creepy and believable, but I did not enjoy it. Being from the women's perspectives made it uncomfortable and too close to be a fun/escapist read. Michallon does her job too well and my lack of enjoyment of the book is more about the books I like and not a failing of Michallon.

The Quiet Tenant introduces us to Aidan Thomas, a quiet hardworking man who has just lost his wife to cancer and is raising his 13 year old daughter on his own. His townspeople love him and rally around him to help. Little do they know that he's been harboring a secret for many, many years.

This novel is told from varying viewpoints: Emily, the local restaurant owner who falls madly in love with Aidan (bordering on stalker); Cecelia, Aidan's 13 year old daughter; and "Rachel", the woman he has been holding hostage for 5 years. We also get snippets of 9 different women that Aidan has had contact with throughout his adult life.

I wanted to like this debut novel so much. I thought the premise was intriguing. The story never really got super exciting. I was kind of bored and frustrated and hoped that the ending would be better. And it was a little bit, but not what it could have been. I really disliked Rachel's chapters which were written in the 2nd person point of view. Overall the writing was choppy and the characters were not very interesting to me. I felt like Rachel had so many opportunities to get away, but always talked herself into staying captive. It was infuriating to me! And Emily was blinded by Aidan's handsomeness and was acting like a crazy stalker - breaking into his house on multiple occasions - even meeting Rachel, but Rachel says nothing. I would have loved to have heard more from Cecelia, but felt like her character was sadly underdeveloped.

Overall, I might be in the minority with this review. I know a lot of people enjoyed it and if you're reading this, you might enjoy it as well. It just fell flat for me.

I really enjoyed the unique perspective this book gave. The premise is of a serial killer who kidnaps, tortures, and murders women in a locked shed behind the home he shares with his wife and unsuspecting daughter. For some reason, he allows one of his victims to stay alive and trapped in the horrible cycle of abuse and isolation. When the killer's wife passes away, he must leave the home, taking his daughter and his captive victim to a new home. The story is told from alternating viewpoints of the daughter, the kidnapped woman, and a new female who begins to fall into the web that the killer is setting. I love the changes in perspectives from each narrator, and thought the pacing was perfect. While the suspense builds slowly at the beginning, the ending will keep readers on the edge of their seat. Highly recommend for non-sensitive thriller readers!

This story of women involved in kidnapping, rape, a d murder by a serial killer, the guy next door, was deeply unsettling. I gained insight into the trauma this causes the victims.

The Quiet Tenant
Clémence Michallon
Genre: Thriller
Pace: Medium/Fast

Holy crap was I sweating bullets the entire time I was reading this. THIS FREAKING PLOT was so unique. I mean seriously a book about a serial killing women napper but told by the three main women in his life. His daughter, his girlfriend, and his hostage who he has decided to spare. SIGN ME THE EFF UP

Although the POVS being told in second person pulled me away every now and then it did not deter my overall enjoyment. I loved getting into the mind of these three female characters, and seeing how they eventually connect with each other in the end

OMG the emotions I had towards the human evil within these pages. You know that moment when you just want to reach through the pages and throat punch somebody?!? That's exactly how I felt. Arghh his actions had me so heated

BUT THAT ENDING WAS EVERYTHING. I don't want to say to much because spoilers but dangggg

I was so excited to read this one as I was seeing other ARC reviews being posted on social media. The premise was there, but it just felt like something was missing for me and I started losing interest.

Overall, a fast-paced book that will hold your interest. There were some areas where I was left questioning. I really disliked Emily's character - she was a little obsessed and stalker-ish herself. It gave me similar vibes to Joe and Love on the show You. I nearly expected her to be okay with him having a kidnapped girl in his house just as long as he still liked her too. I had some questions in the end - namely about what happened with Cecilia.

I loved this!
I was hooked straight away and the book didn't let go.
The premise of 'people who are kept hostage for years' has fascinated me for a long time, and this book executed it wonderfully.
The three perspectives held my interest throughout, and I think this worked much better than a single POV would have.
A brilliant read.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. For simplicity I'm just going to list what I liked and what I did not.

What I liked:
- Great plot idea!
- Originality for the ending!
- It feels well researched. I think to understand how someone who has been held in captivity for years where death is a never ending daily possibility would take some serious investigation.
- The edge of my seat tension I felt when the "woman in the..." would do risky things and I was afraid she would get caught 😳
- That the French author decided to write this book in English - pretty remarkable.

What I struggled with:
- The use of the word you for narration purposes. I get that (maybe) the point was to emphasize that this captive woman had been under his control for so long that she no longer thought of herself as a person. However, when she refers to herself as "you" and there are multiple narrators, it disrupts the flow of the story in my opinion.
- The reader also never really understands what drives Aidan to do the things he does.
- The lack of character depth - I never really felt like I got a good handle on who the 3 women are.

This book started off pretty slow but once I got to about the 70% mark I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this book to read and review.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

The first half of this book was really slow for me but interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. I didn't find this book to be very thrilling or suspenseful until the very end. I chose the book because of the cover and the synopsis grabbed me but it honestly did not live up to my expectations. Thank you Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you for the ARC! One of my favorite thrillers this year. SO original, so gripping, and loved the writing!

Woah. This one was downright disturbing and terrifying, but in that good way you want a thriller to be. This is a book where the situation is clear from the very beginning, and it's just a matter of seeing how the author is going to let it all play out. A devious, dangerous man with two shockingly differing personalities, and then girls who love are controlled by/must escape from him. This is a dark book, but perfect for readers of psychological thrillers who aren't afraid to delve into the more sinister sides of what seems like the average human being.

Great style of writing, was sucked in immediately and kept my attention. The psychology and inner monologues of the characters were well-written—was a great read from start to finish!

This is a dark and thrilling read. I really enjoyed the narrative of this book and was rooting for 'Rachel' throughout the whole book. It is broken well by being told by a few different characters and really highlights how we can really never know what a person is capable of and even well respected people are capable of dark and despicable acts.
Brilliant read.

This one was a hard me for me to be honest.

Severely overwritten, filled with a mountain of analogies that just don’t make sense. Other analogies are like three analogies in one. I had to read and re-read likes multiple times to understand where the author was trying to go here.

The storyline could have been good but I was so distracted from the quirky writing that I couldn’t get into the story for long. I’d get in and the writing would pull me right back out.

Sooooo, not my style of writing, the storyline itself was ok.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Really freakin good. A writing style I don't like (second person), more twisted than I would usually be able to stomach, but I could. not. put it down. Literally just read the entire thing in one day.

Not completely satisfied with the ending, but still. Wow.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC. This is a thriller about a young woman, abducted by a serial killer yet spared and held hostage for 5 years. She manages to save herself and convince him to hold her in his home with his young daughter after his wife dies. The best part of this is that it is told from the point of view of Rachel, the woman, and Cecilia, the daughter. The focus is on their lives and survival and not on the killer himself or the police search. It's unique and very intriguing.

Oh my gosh, one of the books that I saw on Bookstagram that definitely lived up to the hype! Loved everything about this book.