My goodness is the cover catchy! I wish the pages within were just as catchcy. Unfortunately, this book fell very flat for me. It was very slow and boring with not much escalation. I kept reading hoping the story would pick up but it never really did. Just before the ending, it did get a little bit more interesting. I was slightly disappointed in how the author ended this book. I guess overall, I was just looking for more. More thrill, more wow factor. This book was just alright. They never really explained why the "killer " did what he did. A few things left me with questions. The book was written from differebt perspectives. The girl kidnapped, the killers girlfriend, and the killers daughter. While reading, i wish more time was spent on his killing scenes and why he did it. Each person he killed was just briefly brushed over. No disrespect to the author at all. Was definitely not the worst book I have ever read and wasn't the best either. I appreciate the author/publisher selecting me to review this book before it's release.

Absolutely fantastic. This book was top tier and so great for a debut. I highly recommend going in blind and enjoying the experience. It is great for mystery fans.

People are going to love this or hate this book. We are introduced to the three female characters who's perspectives tell the story at the beginning. The woman who has been kidnapped and held prisoner for 5 years, the kidnapper's daughter, and the woman falling in love with the kidnapper. But from there the story is slow, taking it's time to unravel it's eerie dark secrets. And some people will love that, and some people who want an action packed, hold no punches, fast paced thriller are going to be bored. I think I was shocked by the pacing because the chapters are so short and usually that helps drive the story along and it didn't in this case.

I read this book before bed for many nights and was still under the 20% mark before I decided I had to just sit down and commit. The pacing doesn't pick up until the 60% mark or so, and for those who stick it out will enjoy it! I didn't love the book, or hate it. It was a good distraction to get lost in for a little while.

When I got to the author acknowledgements at the end and saw that the author is French, the slow pacing suddenly made sense! It's such a European way to tell a story in this slow manner!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an eARC in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the amazing publisher for the ARC of this title! I am so grateful to be auto-approved for this title!
I look forward to reading and reviewing. More to come!

I really liked this book. It's a different take on a serial killer story that has you yelling at the main character at times.
It kept me reading and I would definitely read more books from this author.

The woman in the shed, Emily, and Cecilia are all intimately connected by one man - Aiden. They call him by different names, and know different facets of his personality. Only one of them knows the dark secrets of what Aiden is capable of, and she is the one that doesn't know his name.


The Quiet Tenant is the story of a woman that is hiding behind the name of Rachel - she has been kidnapped by a man and kept in his shed for 5 years. During this time, she has learned the rules to survive, which include many repetitions of "I'm sorry" and not fighting back, and is fairly certain that he has killed others during her stay in his shed. She doesn't completely know why he decided to spare her, but strives to maintain the tentative equilibrium to stay alive. One day, he tells her that he has to move soon, and the woman in the shed fears for her life again. He seems reluctant to kill her, and she takes advantage of that by working to manipulate him to take her along. She repeatedly assures him that she will be good and cooperative in the new place, because she wouldn't be alive without him.

However, a complication exists in the form of his daughter, Cecilia. The man has to come up with a story to tell Cecilia about why he is bringing this strange woman into their home, as well as figure out new work arounds to contain her while keeping his daughter clueless as to the real arrangement. While this is going on, Aiden is also beginning a romantic relationship with Emily. Will Aiden be able to keep all of these separate pieces of his life apart and juggle the complexity of the situation he has created, or will one of these women discover the truth behind the others and bring everything crashing down?

The Quiet Tenant was an intriguing read for me, as although it was a novel about a serial killer, it was told from a very different perspective as it included people who loved him. This emphasized that although he was a monster, he could be quite loving, and that he had a multitude of facets to her personality. What was it about him that drove him to kidnap and kill? Why did he see different women in different lights? How did he choose his victims vs. somebody that he took care of? We do not get to see Aiden's perspective, but the narrative of all 3 women is woven together with great skill to paint the picture of a man that is unbelievably cruel, but a loving father, and reminds us that you never truly know everything about anybody.

Thank you to the Clemence Michallon and to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing the advance copy of The Quiet Tenant. It comes out on June 20th, 2023, and you'll want to scoop it up right away!

I absolutely loved this! It was so addicting I did not want to put it down, I had to know what would happen next! Would Rachel ever escape or meet her demise? There are times it seems Rachel has the opportunity to escape but decides against it. Emily, she was very annoying, almost like a love sick puppy or a teenager with a new boyfriend that is love after a week. I get why she was in the story but honestly I would rather have a POV from Aiden or even his wife. What happened to Aiden, why did he decide to do this? What made him keep Rachel alive? Did Aiden's wife know what was happening? Overall fantastic read!

Thank you to Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and Clarence Michallon for this eARC I'm exchange for an honest review.

Publication date for The Quite Tennant is June 20, 2023

😍 I ate this book up! Quite the page turner and difficult to put down! Aidan Thomas is an admired and respectable member of his community; always lending a helping hand. His wife passes away and he’s left to raise his teen daughter on his own. The community is quick step in and return the favors to assist Aidan and his daughter during their time of need but what no one knows is that Aidan has a deep dark secret. He is a closet serial killer. In this story, we follow Rachel, a woman Aidan kidnapped who is currently imprisoned in his shed.

This started off very strong and stayed a solid read for the whole book! I never really knew for sure where the book was going to go which I really liked. Being vague to avoid any spoilers I do wish the ending had been a little stronger. It didn't take away from the book at all but made me round down to 4 stars vs giving it 5 stars. Overall I really enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend it to others who like this genre!

The Quiet Tenant
by Clémence Michallon
Pub Date: 20 Jun 2023
Oh my goodness! I couldn't put this one down! Rachel is being kept in a shed, no windows, no bed, no bathroom. She is locked up tight. A man visits her almost every night bringing her food and water, and then taking what he wants. Almost every single night. Sometimes he misses a night. Crazily, those are the nights she's the most terrified. Will he back? Has he been found out but he's not telling the police about her? Will she die of starvation?
With the sudden death of his wife, likeable town heartthrob Aiden and his daughter are kicked out of their house and must move. Only problem? What to do with the woman in his shed.
Lots of thrills and chills. At times you want to scream, "RUN!" Other times, you just want to scream.
#netgalley #TheQuietTennant #ClémenceMichallon

I couldn’t put this book down once I started it each chapter you want to read what’s going to happen next.

There is three POVs, which I always enjoy multiple POVs but I know others do not.

The premise was suer intriguing and I thought it was suspenseful. I found myself cringing, holding my breath, and exhausted by what I was reading.

Something things I do wish were different:
• character depth on each of our characters - “Rachel” and especially Cecilia.

• Emily was insufferable. She had me wanting to smack some sense into her lol she went from 0-100 real quick in the crazy category. But we get a good insight of how she’s infatuated with Aiden since childhood.

• Aiden - I need more, who are you? Why do you do what you? Did your wife know??? How was everyone around you oblivious?

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was a great debut!

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Aidan has the life most people would envy. He has a wife, daughter and a good job. But behind his domestic interior, is a secret he's been hiding from his family for. Years. This book captured my attention from the start.

This was intended to be a literary thriller, but I think it missed the mark just a bit in trying too hard to be both things. I love a good psychological thriller, so there were definitely parts about this that I did enjoy. But at this point the whole premise of the kidnapped girl being kept in the shed/basement/etc has been done so many times that in order to stand out one would need to add something very different to the equation, and I think in that ""The Quiet Tenant" failed to deliver.

Where Michallon went for sinister it came out feeling melodramatic, where she went for the literary element it read as overwritten, and where she went for creepy, she pulled it off, but only bc the topic was of course creepy. Man abducts girl and keeps her prisoner for extended period of time, but where Michallon I guess tried to go for something different is that she decided to throw in the kidnapper's family into the equation, so that the kidnapee has to interact, engage, mingle, etc with the kidnappers girlfriend and teenage daughter. It was on the unusual side, like it added something a lil different sure but not nearly different enough, Overall this was like every other thriller, mysterious enough that it keeps you turning the pages but ultimately the reveal and writing was so sub-par that it'a hard to give this anything more than a 2.75 rounded up to a 3.

WOW! SIMPLY…WOW!

The premise of this book was so intriguing, leading me to instantly request a copy. Just before digging in I noticed polarizing reviews, giving me some serious concern. But lucky me! For once, I came out on the high side and absolutely LOVED with this book!

Recently widowed, Aiden is now taxed with raising his thirteen year-old daughter Cecelia after the unexpected death of his wife.

He’s a soft-spoken gentleman that will always go out of his way to help anyone. The town adores him! But like they say, if someone or something appears too good to be true….

So here’s the deal… Aiden as you might suspect is hiding deep, dark secrets! In fact, one of them is presently being held against her will upstairs right now!

Told from multiple perspectives of those around him, you’re privy to an up-close and disturbing glimpse of the monster.

The author’s writing style is very clipped. Normally this would have annoyed me, but it worked perfectly for this book, dove-tailing smoothly into the storyline adding even more tension and drama to the read. I was glued to every page, reading into the wee hours of the morning!

This book was absolutely unputdownable!

This was a debut thriller for this author. I really hope she’s busy working on her next because I’ll be the first in line!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor.

The Quiet Tenant is a psychological thriller told from three perspectives. It is written differently from any book I’ve read and captured me from the first chapter. It is a book that had me thinking about the characters throughout my day and I am still thinking about them after I’ve finished the book. Seldom does a story consume me like this debut novel by Clemence Michallon. I highly recommend reading The Quiet Tenant.

** Spoilers!! **

This was an exciting thriller with multiple POVs that all added to the suspense and layers of the story. It’s interesting that the killer, the man behind the trauma, had no voice or control over the story telling: only the women, even voices of the dead, speak. I liked it. We are still in the dark about the motivations behind Aiden’s desire to kill and why he left Rachel/May alive. It was terrifying seeing her figure out the best strategy and Emily’s opposite view of him as a heartthrob. Super satisfying ending. Not the typical fight and kill him end… a you’re going to rot in jail and think about what you did end.

First off big thanks to Net Galley, aaknopf, and clemencemichallon for an advanced readers copy of this debut novel coming out on June 20, 2023. Mark your calendars my thriller lovers, despite the mixed reviews, I enjoyed this one. However, for all my readers out there if there is one piece of advice I could share to enjoy this read most is do not read snipet of what this book is, go in blind. I did and I think that helped me enjoy it that much more. I felt as though the synopsis gives too much away.
If you were a fan of Local Woman Missing then this might be a read for you.

Aiden Thomas appears to be a normal small town guy. Involved in the community, handsome, hardworking, and recently a single father, to his daughter Cecilia, after his wife passed away from cancer. However, Aiden is not so normal and has quite a lot that he is hiding.

This book very quickly caught my attention and kept me intrigued throughout. I enjoyed that this book is told from multiple characters perspectives including: Cecilia his daughter, Emily his girlfriend, and Rachel. I also thought this book had good character development throughout the story. The only thing I felt it was missing was a longer more expounded upon ending. The book left me wanting more, which could have been the exact intention, but I felt as though the ending was a bit rushed.

I am really looking forward to future books this author puts out!

I was so happy to receive this book as an ARC. Thank you Netgalley and Knopf publishing. This book was not at all what I expected. I read serial killer, daughter living with him, girlfriend, one woman captive and I thought Oh Boy this will be great. It fell totally flat for me. I did find th story engaging, but way too much detail and on and on about nothing. The story being written from a second person point of view was confusing in some parts. There was nothing that shocked me or left me at the edge of my seat throughout the book. I do think it's a great debut novel. I'd just like more meat, twists, turns, etc., to a story rather than details about everything. I do recommend this however.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

It pulled me in from the first chapter. I didn’t want to put the book down it kept me engaged the entire time, wanting more.

I can’t wait to read more from this Author. Will definitely recommend!!

I will admit, I almost stopped reading this book after the first two chapters - I'm thankful, however, that I continued on, because this one turned out to be decent in the end. It was hard to get used to the second person telling of "Rachel's" side, and the first chapter with Emily was equally painful with the repetition of "Aiden Thomas." But, as the story went on, there was less annoying repetition and the point of view stopped being as jarring as it was at first.

Perhaps calling this a real thriller is a stretch, it's more a drama, but it did have some thrilling moments. I'd have also loved more of a back story for all the characters (especially Aiden) and a longer ending would have been more enjoyable - it felt like the ending was somewhat rushed and bare.

Overall, however, it was a good read and if you can get past the first couple of chapters, you'll be pleased you stuck with it.