This is a new take on an abduction story, told by three women: Rachel, the captive; Cecilia, the daughter; and Emily, the local bartender while they navigate their respective lives with Aidan. I feel like this is going to be a really love/hate book for most people. It was extremely dark, sinister, and the set up of the chapters and narrators is really different but I liked it. I was definitely enticed and wanted to know what would happen next, but it was a bit slower at times. And the storyline alone could have been a 5 stars for me, but the slower parts and the ending knocked it down to a 4. No real twist, as much as I love a happily every after.

Aidan Thomas is the man around town that everyone cares for- he’s kind and helpful, always willing to lend a hand. When his wife dies from cancer, and her parents evict him and their 13-year-old daughter from their house, the entire town steps in to help. An influential man gives him a low rent place to live, and the entire community rallies behind a fundraiser to help the widower. But Aidan is a man with secrets, he is a serial rapist and killer. And he has kept one of his victims alive and imprisoned in a shed for five years. When the move forces his hand, he decides that “Rachel” is traumatized enough to trust and moves her into the house with his daughter and himself.
This book is told entirely from the viewpoint of the women in his life: “Rachel” whose name changes from chapters to “the woman in the shed” to the “woman in the room,” and other dehumanizing identities, his daughter Cecilia, and the woman who has a crush on him, Emily. There are also brief chapters written by the victims he killed. Despite the novelty of this approach, this book was still only a middling read for me. I just couldn’t get caught up in the suspense of whether Rachel would escape, would Cecilia clue in to her father’s dual nature, would Emily be his new girlfriend or his next victim. I think the third person perspective was too removed. I didn’t really feel Rachel’s fear and Stockholm syndrome from reading this book, I simply from having heard/read about it from actual victims in the news. And for a 13 year old, who isn’t being abused, it seemed as if Cecilia was also too mild mannered. Her mother dies a slow unpleasant death, her grandparents evict her from the only home she’s ever known, her father moves in a “boarder” (who the author has her wonder if she’s her father’s lover), and she’s not at all moody, angry, sad? Emily’s character is also confusing, because there’s a sense she might be his next victim, but they have a texting relationship, she knows his real name, and lives in his hometown- anyone careful enough to be a serial killer would never leave a trail such as this. For a novel like this to be successful, we need to believe in the characters motivations and impulses. For me, this one just didn’t jell. It’s not terrible, but it’s not fast paced enough to overlook the plot and character flaws. I was given a free digital edition in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was great...serial killer with woman imprisoned on his property living his pleasant life with his wife and daughter...but something fell short for me. I feel we got just a glimpse of this story at the very end and wish there had been a bit more background on all the characters. I enjoyed the pace and short chapters. I would've loved an epilogue maybe showing the woman's (imprisoned woman, daughter, bartender) lives a few years after the ending. That may have wrapped things up better for me.

This is a story about an upstanding widowed father Aidan raising his now 13 year old daughter Cecelia who is beloved and hardworking in his community. But there's a secret upstairs and also did I mention that he a serial killer! This book is dark and twisted and will make you feel all kinds of emotions. I once again read this one in one setting. The story is told from Aidan's, Cecelia's and the lady being held hostage point of view. Get ready for the ride of your life. Get this book now! Thanks Netgalley for the advanced ARC!

Wowow!! What a fantastic read. This kept me wanting to read more and more. It was really hard to put down. I loved the writing and the different perspectives. Rachel’s perspective is so well written and unique as well. I will be suggesting this for friends to read.

Wow! Clémence Michallon knocked it out of the park with her debut thriller “The Quiet Tenant.”

First, I must say I loved this book without knowing much about the author but, after learning that Clémence spent 10 years learning to write her very first novel in English (she is French)… I was blown away. The way this story is told if far different than anything I’ve read in recent years. The way “Rachel” is incredible. “Rachel” is a woman who was captured 5 years ago, kept in a shed for a majority of the time begging used and abused. Despite the horrid things being done to her, “Rachel” has done everything in her power to muster up the strength to survive against all odds.

The novel is written from multiple different perspectives. I haven’t read a book in a format quite like this, so I really enjoyed all the different perspectives. We read POVs from: “Rachel” the captive. Women 1-5 and 7-9… the victims. Emily… the one you might not expect and Cecelia, the daughter of Aidan Thomas… the town’s favorite nice guy AKA… a murdering sicko.

If you love a good mystery/thriller.… this one is a great choice! A solid 4/5 stars. 10/10 would recommend.

Thank you so much to Net Galley, Clémence Michallon, and the publishers at Knopf for the ARC of “The Quiet Tenant.” Coming June 20, 2023!

This book swallowed me completely into the depths of a kind of horror only certain people can fathom. Yes, it swallowed me up but not before chewing me to bits and gnashing my core to dust. Of course, please mind trigger warnings, this touches on subjects that are not for the faint of heart. Michallon lays bare the absolute terror of not only assault of the body but also of the mind and heart. This book made me so angry and I cried several times but it was amazing and worth every tear. This is about surviving the worst and each character portrays the gritty human relationships in ways other authors cannot grasp. This is one hell of a book! I highly recommend it.

My thanks to Net Galley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the arc of this book to review.

I found this read unique from the perspectives of a kidnapped woman, the kidnappers daughter, and a local woman who is in love with the kidnapper. This jumps around a lot, but this was good and different at the same time.

My only complaints: what triggered Aidan, a beloved widower and community member to kidnap? Why did he target the woman he was holding? How can his daughter be that oblivious to what was going on? Ending was a bit rushed. You just were hanging. Still I recommend.

Compelling read. Thankfully the author chose to tell this story without feeling the need to graphically tell this story. It was easy to read as long as you didn’t think too hard about what you were reading. I’m not sure I could have finished otherwise. So much of the unknown was very apparent but the unfolding was so satisfying. My only gripe is the underdevelopment of Emily’s character. There is no fathomable reason for some of her actions. Distracting but definitely not a deal breaker for me. Thank you Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Quiet Tenant follows three different women who lives become intertwined because of a serial killer.

I thought it was interesting how the main plot line involves a serial killer but we never hear his perspective. I liked how the women whose lives he upturned were given a story before his. The writer does a really great job at not putting the killer on display — I feel like a lot of time the victims of crimes are forgotten and the criminal becomes infamous. This was a little over the top dramatic at times, but it was a good enough story that I could ignore it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. This was such an addicting read. I was hooked from page 1 all the way to the end.

The book is about a woman, unnamed for the majority of the book, held in captivity for five years by a serial killer, who is father to a teenage daughter and recently widowed.

The narrative is told in multiple POVs of all the dead victims, the unnamed woman in captivity, Emily, a woman the serial killer is currently pursuing, and the killer’s own daughter, Cecilia. I loved this aspect of the book because it gave voice to all the women in the killer’s life, instead of all the focus being on him and why he commits his crimes.

I would’ve liked if we got more details of the aftermath of all the events at the end of the book because the ending felt a bit rushed. I thought the relationship between the daughter of the killer and the woman in captivity was one of the most interesting aspects of the book and I felt like we didn’t get much closure with their intertwining storylines. Also, it felt like there’s were still some loose ends that didn’t get tied concerning the killer’s daughter and her relationship with her father.

Overall, this was a true page turner, with short chapters and lots of building tension. It will truly have you at the edge of your seat till the end.

I went back and forth with trying to figure out the correct star rating for this book. I landed on 2. It was a book that kept me interested. I wanted to see where it went. I wanted answers. I was curious. It kept me wanting more. BUT it just didn't give me that spectacular ending I was hoping for or those answers I was hoping for. I thought it just kind of ended the same way the whole book went. Steady then just ended. The reason for 2 versus 1 was because it did keep me intrigued. I wanted to know what would happen. I was interested I kept reading and didn't give up on it. I leave 1 stars for books I force myself to finish. This I will say I did not force my self to finish. I was interested in what would happen. Hoping something big would happen. But overall it just didn't give me what I needed.

This book started out really great and it had my attention right from the start. That changed after around 75 pages. Everything was just too slowpaced for me. Nothing really happened and I couldn't finish the book. I gave up after around 150 pages. Sorry!

I love Emily Henry’s books, although this wasn’t my favorite of hers.

Every year since college, this group of friends meets at a cottage in Maine once a year to catch up and have fun with each other. This year they are saying goodbye, because the parents who own the cottage are going to sell it. Sabrina decides to finally married Parth, so they’re going to throw a wedding together while the place is still there. Harriet and Wyn haven’t told them they broke up several months ago as Harriet works on her surgical residency in San Francisco and he runs the family furniture repair business in Montana. To not take away from the wedding, they play along that they’re still together. . . which isn’t hard because they still love each and want to be holding and touching each other all the time.

This is a novel about friendships and how our parents’ screwed-up relationships damage our own changes of having healthy relationships.

DNF @ 43%.

I usually enjoy multiple POV but I don’t think this one was done correctly. My biggest problem is that one POV is “woman in the shed/house” who was given a name but is still called “woman in the shed/house” before every chapter but the other two POV’s are named before each chapter.

Also, the woman in the house was just given the chance to finally escape and find freedom/help and she was too scared to get out.

After 2 weeks of trying to read this I’m finally throwing in the towel. It’s not a bad book, I just don’t think it’s the right book for me at this time.

Thank you Netgalley for this e-arc.

The Quiet Tenant is a slow burn that builds up the twists, and is a heart pounding read.
I chose this book without knowing anything about it and I ended up enjoying a lot, specially more half way when things gets crazy and mind blowing, with chilling and disturbing moments.
I really enjoyed the characters, specially Rachel, every time was her telling the story, my heart was racing the entire time.
I think the author did a really great job with the ending and I was very pleased and chocked at the same time.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book will be published on June 20, 2023.

The premise for this book sounded so intriguing and drew me right in, but it was quite different than a “thriller” for me. I liked the idea of this book telling the story from the perspectives of the women in Aidan’s life, the serial killer, because so many times it’s the other way around.

With that being said this book is told from the perspective of “Rachel” the woman held captive for five years, Cecelia the serial killer’s 13 year old daughter, and Emily his interest or woman obsessed with him I would say!

I did enjoy learning about and rooting for Rachel through her captivity and despite some saying they don’t understand why she didn’t “just run or escape” at times. It gives you a look at a woman in survival mode and doing her best to come out alive.

Cecelia, to me lacked depth and was a HUGE missed opportunity for character development and someone who could have added such a more intricate piece of the puzzle together that explained her Father, the serial killer. I was left with so so many questions about what she knew, what impact this had on her, and her thoughts on Rachel.

Emily, was a character that I was not rooting for, but found myself rooting against. She almost morphed into a stalker and disturbed woman herself.

I didn’t miss chapters from Aidan’s perspective because that is not the story this book was telling. BUT I think an epilogue from his perspective letting us into his mind, motives, history, and thoughts would have have added that missing piece.

Finally I would say this isn’t a book that is going to have you on the edge of your seat or biting your nails waiting for a crazy twist. However, I enjoyed what the author was trying to do in this book and considering this is her debut I think she will only get better and better!

A huge thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor, Netgalley, and Clemence Michallon for an ARC of this book!!

I loved the initial idea, but to suit my reading needs, this would have to be a complex psychological thriller.

I loved the short chapters but didn’t like the writing, characters, and where the story was going. So I concluded it doesn’t make sense to finish this. Some of the characters seem too shallow, and the story feels too simplified. Maybe I gave up too soon.

I try to read all my ARCs, but sorry, this novel is not for me. Because this one is a DNF, I will not post my review anywhere else. Still, thank you for the ARC.

I am so excited to read more from this author! This is a slow burn that keeps you guessing the entire way. Captivating and. Unputdownable

The writing is so descriptive that it makes you feel everything that Rachel, one of the victims, had to endure. It's a pretty intense read.

Thankyou NetGalley and publisher for the advance reader copy.