Another 4 star read from this author! Thought I had it figured out, but it ended with a twist.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

No one can weave a mystery quite like Megan Miranda.
Beckett is a woman who left her home town twenty years ago after two young men died in a mysterious fire. Her parents sent her out of the country to escape the accusations and rumors. Now Beckett returns to drop her daughter off at college, HER former college. She worries her daughter, Delilah, will discover the secrets she has kept. Like mother, like daughter, Delilah becomes involved in her own questionable situation that sends Beckett racing back home. She will need to face the past to clear her daughter’s name.
Great book! Unfortunately I guessed pretty quickly who the culprit was but you never know with Megan Miranda!

Megan Miranda is a must read author for me and I thrillers to be able to read You Belong Here early. A college setting is always going to have my attention, and there was so much drama in this one. A slower burning suspense thriller, this book kept me guessing right until the very end.

Beckett and her daughter Delilah had an interesting relationship, not quite the one Beckett believed they had. When Delilah goes missing she is determined to find her, even if that means returning to the place that holds her worst memories and regrets. She never wanted her daughter to go to the college she did, that changed her life forever. This is a dark story of secrets and cover ups that goes deeper than they could imagine. I didn’t see that ending coming at all, it was really well done.

Thanks so much to Simon Element for y early copy of this book to read. Publishes on July 29th

A solid enough thriller from Megan Miranda, this wasn't my favorite of hers but still enjoyable. The plot unwinds slowly and takes its time with the characters, none of whom are trustworthy (including Beckett). There were couple of good twists, but nothing mind-blowing.

YOU BELONG HERE by Megan Miranda is a slow-burn story filled with suspense. I liked the college setting. There are a lot of buried secrets that come to light and it kept me guessing. The narration was outstanding and very entertaining. I definitely recommend this book.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

This review will be shared to my Instagram account @coffee.break.book.reviews closer to publication date.

Read this if you like:
•secrets
•small mountain towns
•mother / daughter relationships

This one kept me on my feet from the beginning. I love a college setting. Lots of intrigue & suspense.

Thank you to Simon Element and Marysue Rucci Books for this EArc.

As a Megan Miranda fan, You Belong Here did not disappoint! I absolutely love Megan's writing. She really knows how to rachet up the tension and suspense. Although I thought I figured out a couple of plot points, it didn't stop my heart from racing and my breathing to quicken as I read - especially near the end. You definitely want to pick this one up if you like thrillers and suspense. Bonus that it is in an academic setting.

I thought Miranda did such a fabulous job of establishing the creepy/suspenseful factor in building the setting and its descriptions. The college campus nestled in a valley between a mountain range with the wind howling/whistling through the campus. The lack of cell service throughout, the creepy tunnels under the buildings. It was all just perfect for setting a creepy, suspenseful vibe. I absolutely loved it.

This was more than just a thriller though. It examined how complicated mother/daughter relationships can be, and how decisions you make in the past can ripple down to future generations. The story also explored what happens when you try to run from the consequences of your youthful actions. Mistakes you made in the past can come back to haunt you with harrowing consequences. Eventually, you have to own up to it or keep running forever. The story is told in a then/now timeline with the main character the narrator for both.

All-in-all, I was riveted from the start and kept telling myself "one more chapter" so I could see where the story goes. You'll definitely want to pick this one up!

Miranda does it again. I couldn’t put this book down, as I needed to know more. Kept engaging throughout.

I was so excited to get this highly anticipated thriller from Megan Miranda! This gave off dark academia vibes being set at a university. I liked the relationship between mother and daughter in the book as well as her relationship with her parents and the secrets that were hidden.

I did enjoy this book, but I found it to be a little hard to get invested in from the beginning. Miranda’s previous novels were able to help me at the start a little bit better. The main character in this novel is a mother whose daughter is going to college, and unfortunately, she’s going to the college her mother went and never wanted to return to because of something mysterious that happened while she attended there. Though the mom plans to stay away, when she cannot get a hold of her daughter and panics, she finds herself right back in the place she vowed never to return. Meanwhile, the mystery of her old roommate who went missing has never been solved. The story has suspense, and mystery. It also deals with mother and daughter relationships as well as an old cold case.

3.75 ⭐️

Wyatt College is nestled in a picturesque small town in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains. But, it has an ugly history-a HAZING tradition called “The Howling”, which went horribly wrong one year.

When the wind whistles, the undergraduates must run from home base through the dense woods and back to campus without getting “caught” by any Seniors wearing masks.

Beckett Bowery was a senior at the college the year that tragedy struck. Two local men dead, and her roommate, Adalyn Vale, on the run, never to be seen again, after being suspected of starting the fire which claimed their lives. Beckett was accused of being her accomplice and though never proven, she was asked to finish her senior year at a “sister college” in London.

For the last two decades, Beckett has stayed away, despite both of her parents being Professors at the college. Then her daughter, Delilah, applies to Wyatt College secretly and accepts the full scholarship she is offered. Beckett is worried that the town will still remember the accusations.

TURNS OUT, SHE WAS RIGHT

Not less than a week later, Beckett is awoken by her cell phone in the middle of the night. Her daughter’s name is illuminated, but all she hears is a gasp before the call is dropped…

Megan Miranda always sets a scene vividly, transporting me to wherever her book takes place, with this being no exception. And, her characters feel like real people-with the mother/daughter dynamic here ringing true.

This book unfolds from Beckett’s POV in three parts, with the first two setting up the story mostly in the PRESENT with glimpses into the PAST when Beckett was the student on campus. The third part, which begins at 56% is when the pace picks up and most of the action takes place, with Delilah seemingly being targeted by someone with a grudge.

Readers of Dark Academia will be pleased with the CREEPY hazing ritual-“The Howling”, the hidden underground tunnels and the dark woods which surround the school and make Cell phone service and Wi-Fi unreliable at best.

And, it seems that SOMEONE is always watching.

College kids with secrets from the PAST getting exposed isn’t MY favorite trope-so this wasn’t a favorite of Megan Miranda’s for me, but although I have enjoyed her last few more, this was still a mostly satisfying read that might work as a “spooky season” pick!

EXPECTED PUBLICATION DATE: July 29, 2025

Thank You to Simon Element/S&S/ Marysue Ricci Books for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

I received an ARC of this novel thanks to NetGalley for my honest review.
I love Megan Miranda and have been a huge fan of her books, but this one wasn't it for me. The first half of the book is about something totally unrelated to the rest of the book and seems like a huge waste of time. It did end up having some relevance to the plot but not enough to take up that much of the story. There was also a "big" event that happened in the past that I felt could have been elaborated on more.
Would not recommend, but will look forward to what she writes next.

I will start by saying that I did like this book. With that being said though, it might have been too slow of a burn for me. As always though, I appreciate the ARC! Overall rating: 3.5/5

I found this book intriguing and full of tension, with an eerie atmosphere that kept me turning the pages. Beckett’s reluctant return to Wyatt Valley and the deep-rooted mystery surrounding her past made for an engaging read. The setting had a haunting presence, adding weight to her unease, and the slow reveal of secrets kept me curious about what really happened all those years ago. I appreciated the emotional complexity of Beckett’s relationship with her daughter, Delilah, and how her fears shaped her choices. The story had solid pacing, and the suspense built steadily, but I found myself wanting a little more depth in the ending. After such an intricate buildup, the resolution felt too quick, leaving me wishing certain elements had been explored further.

The book had a strong sense of mystery and atmosphere, and while the story kept me engaged, the rushed ending held it back from being completely satisfying. Still, I’d recommend it for those who enjoy slow-burn suspense with deeply rooted secrets.

This was my first Megan Miranda book, and I know it will not be my last. I found the mother character relatable, and I enjoyed the relationship between the mother and daughter. I wish the ending had been a little more twisty, but It was still entertaining and thrilling.

You Belong Here
By Megan Miranda

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me catch my breath.

So first of all, this book kept me up all night. It had me in an absolute chokehold.

Megan Miranda is a powerhouse thriller author. I auto-buy all of her books. And I love them.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy of this book, in exchange for my honest thoughts about it.

Buckle up because I have many…

Megan Miranda and I are in the exact same stage of parenthood. For both of our children. So maybe this book just resonated with me on a deeper level because of that.

•I literally FELT all the feelings in this book. The grief. The panic. The relief. The anxiety and restlessness and the feeling of loss of control.

•The twists in this book had me second and third guessing even my own rational thought.

•The portrayal of parenthood broke my heart. It is me. The mom and the mom. I am her.

Five stars. No notes.

First of all, I loved the small college town nestled in the mountains of Virginia. I was born and raised in a Virginia mountain college town so I can relate to the vibes. You Belong Here was a slow burn that was full of intrigue and some top notch character development. I didn’t feel confident in who I could trust and really loved the dual timelines that were featured. The audiobook narrator @cassandracampbell was soothing and did an amazing job of telling this story.

When Beckett’s daughter chooses to move to her old home town to attend the same college she did, she is surprised and concerned. Twenty years ago, Beckett’s best friend and roommate disappeared after supposedly murdering two men. Since people in her home town suspect Beckett of having helped the escape, she’s worried that her daughter will learn of her infamous reputation. The story moves on from there when her daughter mysteriously disappears, and Beckett desperately tries to find her.

This was just an okay read for me. I found myself getting impatient with the main character as we constantly “heard” her thoughts as she fretted, worried, and tied herself in knots. There was lots of angst about her situation which I get, but as a reader, it gets to be monotonous and takes away from the gist of the story. There was a twist at the end, but it wasn’t enough to save the book for me.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review.

4 🌟

How can you not love Megan Miranda?!

I was so excited to get this ARC and was hooked from the moment I picked up the book. I felt like the pacing was really good throughout the whole book, revealing just enough to keep me engaged. The ending did feel a little rushed but overall a solid thriller.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

Such a good book! It has a slow start and I had to really make myself keep reading during the first 30% of the book. But once I got to about 45% I couldn’t put it down and I had to finish it before I could fall asleep. I liked the glimpse into Beckett’s past and I like how the story unfolded. Overall it was a solid 4 stars and I would definitely recommend it!