I love to use books in my class where there is a lot to discuss and this book has a lot of potential topics. the power of secrets, love and loyalty among family and friends and various other moral issues. It is framed within a mystery as a daughter returns to where her mother grew up and was forced to leave. Well written.

Megan Miranda has a way of making a small town feel like a pressure cooker, and this story leans all the way into that strength. This story had a heavy, haunting atmosphere from the start centered around Beckett Bowery, a woman who fled her hometown after tragedy struck during college. The mystery of what really happened back then is slowly unraveled, but what adds tension is her daughter, Delilah, dragging them both back into the heart of it.

If you like slow burn suspense, dual timelines, and that creeping feeling that everyone is hiding something, you’ll probably enjoy this one. The relationship between mother and daughter adds emotional weight, and Miranda drops just enough clues to keep you guessing without giving it all away too soon.

The pacing in the middle does dip a bit some scenes could’ve been tighter but it picks up again toward the end, with a few twists I didn’t totally see coming that leaves you on the edge of your seat.

Best for readers who enjoy:
• Small-town secrets
• Dual timeline reveals
• Quiet psychological suspense with emotional layers

A missing daughter, a desperate mother who is the main storyteller. A town with secrets and mysteries. A missing best friend from the past, a victim or a killer and now the past is catching up with her as her daughter returns to her hometown for college. And someone is threatening them both. This book has Megan Miranda signature style, slow moving, deep, psychological thriller. The first part moved fairly slow as they searched for her daughter, but then the pace picked up and it was a satisfying read. 4.5

Thank you for Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This was another entertaining and thrilling Megan Miranda mystery. I always find the characters in her books slightly shallow but always relatable. The twists kept me interested and even when I thought i had it figured it out, the twists continue! Although I find the plots of many of Miranda’s books similar, I’ll always put a new one on my TBR!

When a mother vows never to return to her hometown-the place she fled decades ago after a tragic incident sealed her fate-she believes the past is buried. But when her daughter goes missing, she is forced to confront the very mistakes she once tried to escape.
Beckett Bowery, the daughter of two academics, left Wyatt Valley after becoming a prime suspect in a campus fire that claimed the lives of two young men. Now a ghostwriter, she has raised her daughter, Delilah, in solitude-until Delilah is accepted into the very college where Beckett's past unraveled. Her roommate, Adalyn, was involved in the same deadly fire years ago, and Beckett was suspected of helping her disappear. Though a key witness refused to come forward, Beckett chose exile over fighting the accusations.
Now, with Delilah enrolled at the school and suddenly unreachable after a cryptic late-night call, Beckett fears her daughter is caught in a new, sinister reenactment of the town's infamous Howling Night. Desperate to find her, she returns to Wyatt Valley-only to discover that her former flame, Clint, is now the college dean. As Beckett digs deeper, old secrets resurface, threatening not just Delilah's safety but also her own. To save her daughter, she must confront the past she thought she had outrun-before it's too late.
This fast-paced mystery keeps the pages turning, delivering satisfying answers and well-placed puzzle pieces. While some twists are predictable and the biggest mystery unfolds as expected, the story remains an engaging small-town thriller that can be devoured in one sitting.

This has been my favorite from Megan Miranda to date!! I loved every second and was not able to see the twist coming. Dark secrets won’t stay a secret for long…or will it?

I am a long-time fan of Megan Miranda and her work. As with most of her catalog, her style is approachable and deeply engaging, and this shines in You Belong Here. This novel, however, suffers from a severe balance issue.

You Belong Here follows Beckett as she is forced to return to the university and hometown she fled decades ago in the wake of heinous crime that she maintains she had nothing to do with. Almost 20 years after she flees, her daughter decides to attend the university that tore her life apart. This decision sets in motion a series of events that placed Beckett in a collision course with people and places from the past she vowed to escape.

While I overall enjoyed this novel, I feel that it introduced a lot of elements, and unfortunately didn't utilize many of them interestingly. This novel is incredibly lopsided. It's starts a bit slow. A lot is held back from us as the novel starts, which doesn't serve the intended purpose of creating intrigue for us as readers. It kicks into high gear, however, with a gripping and anxiety inducing mystery that unfortunately fizzles out about halfway through the book. This then leads to a sluggish few chapters as the author attempts to set us up for the rest of the book. At a certain point, I literally asked out loud (to myself), "Why are we getting so much exposition at 65% in?" We spend a considerable amount of the second half of the book continuing exposition, which means the novel doesn't hit its groove again until about 75%-80% of it. This leads to a rushed ending in which we get a lot of telling, not showing. This also means we get a lot of sudden confiding from unlikely people and cartoon villian style confessions, which are very unlike Megan Miranda. This also means a lot of the plot elements that were introduced earlier have to be clunkily tied up. I also wish we got a little more from the past to truly take us where we needed to go. The snippets we received were one dimensional, and I never fully understood the stakes that led to the decisions that were ultimately made in that timeline.

It's unfortunate because, as a proposal, the mystery, the suspects, and the solution are incredibly well thought out. However, that thought process doesn't play out on the page. I still enjoyed this one because I always love existing in Megan Miranda's world. Huge thank you to The Simon Element, Marysue Rucci Books, Simon And Schuster, and NetGalley for the ARC

Would you ever think you’d go away for a crime you didn’t commit? I don’t think Beckett thought she would either. She would do anything to save her daughter Delilah from a nightmare that haunts her 20 years later. This book was full of twists and turns I did not see coming. I never saw the end coming but I’d like to think there was a happy ending after all. I think it’s crazy ppl can go underground for 20 years but it sure seems possible.

In Megan Miranda’s new thriller, You Belong Here, Beckett Bowery returns to her hometown for her only daughter, Delilah, to head to college at her alma mater and the former workplace of her professor parents. Decades before, Beckett was pushed out of the town and college itself after a tragedy left two people dead and another on the run or missing and she hasn’t felt welcomed since. But, circumstances involving her child force her to return and deal with not only the present day situation but that of the past as well.
Megan never fails to put you, the reader, into the situations of her novels. As a parent, it is our worst nightmare that once our children leave the nest, anything and everything could go wrong. When our children are in danger, are abilities as parents are tested to the fullest. The setting of a small, mountain town in Virginia adds to the eerie quality of the story itself, making you feel claustrophobic and the small minds of the people within the story make you seem like you could speaking to or reading about your own neighbors.
4/5 stars for this wonderful new read. Thank you Megan Miranda, Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions above are my own.

Beckett Bowery never thought she’d return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett’s parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else—until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again. For the last two decades, Beckett has done her best to keep her distance. Then her daughter, Delilah, secretly applies to Wyatt College and earns a full scholarship, and Beckett can only hope that her lingering fears are unfounded. But deep down she knows that Wyatt Valley has a long memory, and that the past isn’t the only dangerous thing in town.

Thoughts
This book kept me hooked! I made a few guesses as to what happened/ who did it but never quite landed correctly and it isn’t revealed until the last chapter. You genuinely wanted Beckett to figure it out and to have a happy ending. You question a lot of people and hope they aren’t the ones to hurt her. Entertaining, fast, suspenseful and all around good read.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon Element and Megan Miranda for the ARC of You Belong Here.

I want to preface by saying I am a massive fan of Megan Miranda’s other books, and went in with high expectations. She did not disappoint!

I related to this book on a deeper level as I dated my now husband and visited him on his college campus in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains years ago. The vivid descriptions of the mountains enable you to really picture yourself there.

The plot kept me gripped from start to finish, with lots of heart pounding, anxiety inducing moments! The twists and turns throughout kept me on the edge of my seat and glued to the screen till the very end. 5⭐️

When Beckett Bowery was a senior at Wyatt College, her best friend set a fire that claimed two lives and then vanished, never to be heard from again. Beckett did her best to leave behind both Wyatt and the lingering questions about her own involvement in the tragic event. That is until her daughter, Delilah, decides to attend Wyatt College and participate in a traditional hazing game called the Howling. After a frightening, dropped call from Delilah, Beckett returns to the small town of her youth—and soon finds herself accused of something she never expected.

Megan Miranda is a master of the campus mystery genre, and You Belong Here is no exception. Fans of dark academia and literary mysteries will be drawn into this atmospheric college town where Beckett Bowery’s past might just be repeating itself. The split timelines, the rivalry between the town and the college, and the vivid sense of place kept me thoroughly captivated.

However, I did have one issue with the book: the ending felt a bit rushed. The setting, the complex mother-daughter relationship, and the intricate mystery are all wonderfully developed, but then, in the final pages of the book, the story accelerates toward a conclusion that, while satisfying, felt too quick. I was left slightly confused by how everything unraveled.
Due to this, I gave a 3.5 review but rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, LLC for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

A quick read featuring a mother returning to her old college that her daughter decides to attend, despite the mother having unresolved trauma (and potential involvement in a crime). I would have liked to have more exploration of the relationship between Adalyn and Beckett to figure out more on why they felt comfortable trusting each other. But this was a fine story overall, perfect for fans of the "return to small town with baggage" trope. The ending of the book is a little disconnected from the rest, but not unsatisfying.

We are introduced to Beckett, the daughter of two professors at Wyatt College, situated in the mountains in a small Virginia town.
We get glimpses into the past and learn that Beckett and her best friend Adalyn were involved in a tragic fire that took the lives of two men. Since that fateful night, Adalyn has been wanted by the police for questioning but has been found and Beckett has never returned to Wyatt or her hometown.

Fast forward to present day, Beckett’s daughter Delilah has been accepted into her mother’s alma mater, forcing Beckett to step back on campus for the first time in 20 years.
As the fall semester unfolds, Delilah’s safety is threatened and secrets from the past start to reveal themselves. We learn what events led up to the fatal fire and question if Adalyn is still in fact in the area, hiding in plain sight.
This was a suspenseful read, but took a little bit for the pace to pick up. I found “The howling” tradition very odd, like it was supposed to add an eerie/paranormal element but was unnecessary.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There’s a reason why Megan Miranda is such a well up thriller writer. To put it simply: she’s just a really good writer! She is always able to perfectly balance her characters with the setting and a plot. That balance is what keeps me coming back book after book! She writes books that pull you in right from the beginning, and they’re so realistic. When thrillers can sometimes stretch reality, hers feel very close to home.

I really enjoyed You Belong Here. The book starts off with a mother following a daughter embarking on the college journey. I was pulled right into the story and as things start unraveling, they do so slowly. As I mentioned before, this slow unfolding of events builds tension, but it doesn’t feel unnatural.

The past and the present start weaving together, and I was engaged with this one up to the very end! I love the ending as well!

I felt like these characters were very realistic and the mother daughter dynamic was relatable. This book was a very enjoyable reading experience for me, I can’t wait for her next book!

I received a copy of You Belong Here from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of it’s publication date.
Once again, Miranda hits it out of the park with this one! As always, she sets the mood with an impressive knack for making you feel like you are right there in the small town where the story takes place. Just when I thought I knew what was happening and the motivations of the characters, I hit another twist in the plot!

Beckett Bowery spent her college years at Wyatt College, located in the lovely Virginia Mountains. It was an ideal situation for her. She grew up in the town, and both of her parents taught at the college. Then, during her senior year, her life underwent a drastic change. Two local men were found dead, and her roommate disappeared and was never found.
After several years, Beckett reluctantly returned to Wyatt Valley when her daughter, Delliah, applied to Wyatt College and received a full scholarship without her knowledge. Beckett’s main concern was her daughter, and she couldn’t shake the anxiety she felt about the dangers she had experienced in the town and whether Delliah would be safe.

3.5 stars

I love a good campus thriller, and this one was quite enjoyable. It’s a slow burn with mother/daughter dynamics, dark academia, a mystery to solve and buried truths revealed. Dark academia fans should enjoy this one.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Megan Miranda is back with another bingeworthy and atmospheric thriller. I have read almost all of the author's books, and she never fails to surprise me. "You Belong Here" is yet another twisty and tense page-turner. With its intriguing plot, mysterious characters, and small college town setting, this book hooked me from the start. The author did such a great job building suspense and keeping me guessing. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, there was another surprising twist. I truly had no idea what was going to happen next and was turning pages as fast as I could to get the answers. If Megan Miranda writes it, I will read it, and she nailed it yet again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element/Marysue Rucci Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book. I generally like Megan Miranda and I think this is one of her best ones. I thought some of it was off but not super distracting to the overall premise of the book. I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed but I liked the twists.