First of all I love the cover! You Belong Here was a quick read that kept you guessing and turning the pages. The only negative for me was the character development. I wasn’t really invested in any of them. But I still enjoyed the story and loved the ending.

This was a good book that I read late into the night. It centers on Beckett, who was caught up in a scandal her senior year of college, driving her away from the town she grew up in and the school that she loved. There is a mystery around just how much she might have been involved in what happened, which led to the death of 2 local men. Years later, her daughter Delilah insists on going to the same school, forcing Beckett to face her past. The story is told in dual timelines, so the reader is slowly figuring out what happened in the past while reading about current events.

The author does a really good job at portraying the mother/daughter relationship between Beckett and Delilah, the friendship between Beckett and her former roommate Adalyn, and the dynamic between Beckett and Delilah's father.. The characters and the dynamics between them felt very real. There were some true creepy parts in the book as Beckett tries to figure out what is going on with Delilah in the current timeframe. The author also gives us plenty of options as who the villain is, most very believable red herrings. When all was said and done, I was surprised at how it all turned out and didn't see a couple of the twists coming. The ending tied up loose ends nicely and also left the reader ruminating on what might happen next with these characters.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read with well thought out characters and a good storyline. They author also did a great job painting a picture of the campus and the surrounding woods and town, where I could picture myself there. I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy mysteries and psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. .

Told in dual timelines from the perspective of Beckett, both as a college student and as a mother years later, Miranda masterfully weaves the past and present into a compelling narrative. In the past we were drawn into a traumatic event involving Beckett’s roommate, Adalyn Vale, and the tightly knit, small town the college was in. Beckett’s role in that mystery is shadowed in guilt—though whether it’s guilty by association or something more sinister is one of the many questions Miranda plants expertly throughout the story.
In the present Beckett’s daughter, Delilah, is starting college in the very same place Beckett has tried desperately to forget. When Delilah is stalked and terrorized in her dorm, Beckett is pulled back into the town that never really let her go. As old secrets rise to the surface and past relationships come to a boiling point. Miranda explores how far a mother will go to protect her child, and what it means to be an outsider in a place that holds tight to it’s history.

The emotional layers of his novel are deepened by the complex mother-daughter relationship at it’s heart. Beckett and Delilah are both strong, flawed and fully human characters—something Miranda consistently does well. I appreciate how real and relatable the character felt, and how their emotional journeys anchored the suspense. While I found the story to be well-written, at times it felt like there was a lot happening without enough resolution with every thread. Still, the story flows smoothly, and the two timelines are intertwined, with a payoff that is worth it!

This is not a book I would recommend reading before bed but I definitely remember reading it! I love Megan Miranda's books and their ability to keep me guessing every step of the way. This book was no exception and should be in every one's pool bags this summer.

When Beckett Bowery was a senior at Wyatt College, her best friend committed arson, killing two people, and then she vanished without a trace. Beckett tried to escape both Wyatt and the lingering questions about her own involvement. However, two decades later, her daughter Delilah enrolls at Wyatt College, forcing Beckett to return to her hometown—and face accusations
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Megan Miranda proves herself as the ideal author for campus mysteries with You Belong Here. Perfect for enthusiasts of dark academia and literary suspense, the novel pulls readers into a quiet college town where Beckett Bowery confronts the possibility of history repeating itself. The story captivates with its dual timelines, the dynamic tension between town and college, and an incredibly vivid setting.

While the book excels in its intriguing plot, the ending feels overly hasty. After immersing readers in its richly drawn atmosphere, complex mother-daughter bonds, and compelling mystery, the final act accelerates toward a resolution that, though satisfying, unfolds with bewildering speed.
Despite this, the novel showcases Miranda's talents at their finest—sharp writing, nuanced character development, and the inevitable revelation of buried secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for this ARC!

SO GOOD. Thrilling, exciting. Fast paced. I couldn't stop reading this and wanting to know what happened next. I will definitely be reading more from this author

B eckett Bowery had an idyllic childhood in Wyatt Valley. She had the run of campus at the local private college where both of her parents worked and her future seemed mapped out. But when a local tradition leaves two men dead and another woman missing, Beckett finds herself in the cross hairs, forced to leave town in shame, never to return… or so she thought. When Beckett’s daughter gets accepted to the school, Beckett finds herself back home and someone isn’t happy to see her there.

I’m a big fan of Miranda’s writing. Her settings are always so perfect and yet so creepy. They drive home the idea that you never know what’s going on behind closed doors and that even the most perfect people, the most perfect families, have secrets. We know from the very beginning that Beckett has secrets and as the story progresses you find that everyone is hiding something, but whose secret includes murder?

This book had so many twists I was never sure what was going to happen next. Because I’ve read several of Miranda’s books I was able to figure out what had happened based on a clue dropped toward the end but there were still plenty of questions left to be answered.

Anyone who enjoys suspense should check out Miranda’s books. Her stories hit close to home and leave you feeling like maybe you don’t really know anyone in your life; maybe you don’t really know what is happening to you, even as you watch the events unfold.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

This is a wonderful twisty novel and as Megan's books always do surprised me on some elements. It may not be my favorite of her books, but the intergenerational connections and rites of passage are very timely and something that I think will stand the test of time. Megan is still the queen of mystery for me and I will always recommend her stories!

This is a good dual timeline thriller. Forcing a mother to remember a horrific incident from her past for the love of her college age daughter. It’s fast paced and brings you in early on. Centered around secret traditions of a very small town you won’t guess the twist at the end. A lot more resolves and comes clear in the epilogue.

This releases July 29th. Worth a read, put it on your list!! Thanks NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy.

Thank you so much to Megan Miranda, Simon Element | S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, and NetGalley for this ARC of You Belong Here.

This book follows Beckett, an alumni and mother of a university in Wyatt Valley. When Beckett’s daughter Delilah decides she wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Beckett can’t help but relive the nightmare of her experience on Howling Night with her roommate Adalyn. Delilah is now in trouble and Beckett must confront her past to save her.

I liked the dual POVs of this book but this book was a SLOW burn. I really had to pull myself through the middle of this book to get to good ending. The novel was a bit predictable, but twisty nonetheless. 3/5 stars for this Miranda book!

Another page turner from Megan Miranda. Beckett, Valerie left Wyatt Valley 20 years ago during her senior year of college. Now her daughter has been excepted to the same college. One night Beckett receives a mysterious call from her daughter, desperate that the secret she fled from Have found her daughter Beckett rushes to find her daughter before it is too late no one is who they seem, and everyone is hiding their own secrets. And someone knows what happened 20 years ago and he’s ready to tell

I devoured this small-town thriller! Beckett Bowery returns to Wyatt Valley where years ago, while in college, a tragedy happened. Now her daughter, Delilah, secretly applied to the school and got a full scholarship, so they are now back where a lot of bad memories are resurfacing. I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller, which isn't surprising since Megan Miranda wrote it. While many twists were predictable, some were not, and I completely enjoyed the ride. This book was intriguing and suspenseful, and I recommend thriller lovers to pick it up.

A big thank you to NetGalley for providing another fantastic ARC!

"You Don’t Belong Here" is packed with secrets, unexpected twists, and turns as we follow Becket and her daughter through mysteries, traditions, and tragedy in a small-town college, set 20 years apart! Megan Miranda has done it again with another heart-pounding thriller! I was captivated from the very start! The dual timelines kept me on my toes, and I loved the constant guessing game! Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another twist would emerge! I managed to piece it together right before the big reveal, but the story was so engaging that I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I was completely absorbed and eagerly await her next book!

Beckett Bowery's daughter, Delilah, chooses Wyatt College for her college destination. Delilah is excited for her new beginning, but it brings back a lifetime of heartache and nightmares for her mother. Although Beckett has not told her daughter exactly what happened to her during her time at Wyatt College, it isn't long before Delilah determines something isn't quite right.

In Megan Miranda's new thriller, the reader is thrown into a fast-paced plot with some twists along the way. The characters are interesting - some you hope will win and others you cannot wait to see fail.

I highly recommend You Belong Here to anyone likes a good mystery. Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Megan Miranda has been one of my auto buy authors for years, so I was so excited to able to read You Belong Here a little early. She has been on such a roll with her past few books, and this one did not disappoint!

You Belong Here follows Beckett, who, twenty years prior, attended college in her hometown until her presumed involvement in a murder forced her to leave and never return. Now, her daughter Delilah is beginning her first year at the same college, and Beckett can’t shake the feeling that the town is still not safe for either of them.

One of the reasons I love Megan Miranda’s storytelling is because she always creates such a chilling, spooky atmosphere - but one that you would rather stick around and explore than run away from. Like Beckett, I went to college in the Appalachian Mountains, so this book felt eerily nostalgic to me. We didn’t have traditions like The Howling, but the mountains are the perfect setting to stage a thrilling, dangerous game that the characters can’t help wanting to be part of, and the reader can’t help being interested in. Then, on the next page, they’re also the perfect setting for a cryptic, haunting feeling of being lost and alone. There were several times that I set the book down, but the creepy feeling the story created stuck around a little bit longer.

If you are a fan of Megan Miranda’s other books, I would say this one was similar to All the Missing Girls and The Perfect Stranger. One thing about You Belong Here that was different from a lot of her books is that there seemed to be a little more complexity to the story - more characters with more storylines. This made the ending a bit harder to predict, and when everything worked out, it wasn’t as easily tied up. While I enjoyed having more leads to follow, at the end I felt like I still had some questions, and I wasn’t sure if I fully understood all of the explanations we were given. However, it’s very possible that this was just me.

Overall, I thought this was a great book from Megan Miranda. Maybe not my all time favorite of hers, but still very enjoyable! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon Element for allowing me to read this arc.

This is the fifth book by Megan Miranda I have given a 5-Star rating.

This was a fast paced, engaging thriller. I would recommend this to my friends.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Megan Miranda always keeps me on my toes! There were multiple points in the book where I thought I knew which direction the book was going only to be proven wrong! These are the best types of books. No one wants to be able to predict what happens from the get go. I loved how relatable the characters were. Beckett has a complicated past and loves her daughter fiercely. The way Miranda crafts the relationships between the characters is phenomenal and feels real. Her daughter, Delilah, is off to college and Beckett's reactions/complicated feelings are spot on. I think my favorite thing about this book was the character growth. I would have liked to see a little more of it.

I enjoyed the premise and learning about the characters but the ending just felt disjointed and a little weird. I’m ok with being finished with this one.

A little disappointed. This felt a little drawn out and like it was going no where. I was intrigued but then it felt like all the lose ends got tied up and they didn’t make totally sense.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars

You Belong Here by Megan Miranda is a fun and reliable thriller set on a college campus in the main character’s hometown - the hometown Beckett planned never to return to. But when her daughter decides to attend, Beckett is forced to face the history she’s spent twenty years avoiding.

Some twists were predictable while others I didn’t see coming, but I just didn’t quite get that satisfaction from the ending that I usually look for with a thriller. Still enjoyable and easy reading and just the kind of read you want sometimes!

Thank you to netgalley, Simon Element, Mary Sue Rucci Books and Megan Miranda for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publication date: 7/29/2025.