It's no secret that I'm a huge Megan Miranda fan. The setting, atmosphere, and paranoia that she creates in her books is just unmatched. I really enjoyed the mother daughter aspect in this book and the setting on the college campus/ small town really created such a creepy vibe to the story.
A mother's past mistakes seem to be catching up to her... and her daughter just might pay the price. Beckett receives a late night phone call from her daughter indicating that she might be in trouble. Now she's missing. How far is Beckett willing to go to protect her daughter? And who can she trust?
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Element for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Short synopsis: Beckett attended Wyatt College 20 years ago, when tragedy struck and two men were killed. Now her daughter Delilah applied and is accepted to the same school where Beckett’s past is coming to haunt her.

My thoughts: This was so bingeable and kept me on my toes throughout. I love when a thriller ending is completely unexpected, but also makes sense. And this one was so well done! I did have to re-read the ending to make sure I got the details right, but very well done.

The college setting was perfection, and the hazing (that I’m sure happens) was a great element to add suspense and mystery. I enjoyed the layout of the book with the alternating timelines, it’s almost like we got to find out Beckett’s past as Delilah was learning about it.

Read if you love:
* College setting
* Small town
* Alternating timelines
* Mother/daughter relationships

Megan Miranda delivers another fast-paced mystery that kept me engaged until the end. While I guessed some of the twists, I still enjoyed it so much that I finished in one day. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon Element / S&S / Marysue Rucci Books for an advanced copy.

First off, I am a HUGE Megan Miranda fan and when I saw that she had another book coming out I immediately requested the advanced copy. I was so excited to have received it. I honestly had no idea what it was about as I began reading. I didn’t need to know, to know that it would be another amazing read!
So real quick, Beckett is a protective mom with big secrets. When her daughter gets accepted to the college she went, where all her secrets are, she’s not exactly happy. And the people from her past aren’t exactly happy that she’s back.
This has the wonderful writing style Megan always brings and of course the twists that you don’t see coming. I can never put her books down until I’m finished, so this was how I spent my day. I absolutely 100% recommend this book.
Thank you NetGalley, Simon Element and of course Megan Miranda for this eARC.

I am a huge Megan Miranda fan, but this, for me, is her weakest novel to date. The summed up premise is that following a college "game" gone awry, Beckett vows never again to return to her college home town. . . that is until her daughter applies and is accepted by that same school. Weeks after freshman orientation, Beckett gets a phone call in the middle of the night from her daughter that is just the wind howling and a gasp. Unable to reach her daughter, Beckett returns once again to her home town to find her daughter, which may be what someone else has been waiting for.
Sounds spooky, right? I was hoping so too, but that's not the case. From the opening pages, there's just this odd forced sense of unease and dread for no real reason, which lingers throughout the book to the point that when actual creepy or disturbing things happen, they don't hit with the same impact. I had so many logistical questions while reading, which took me out of the story--why is this daughter even applying to this seemingly random small town school, what are the rules around this "game" being played and why did the locals join in, why wouldn't Beckett's parents have moved after the initial incident and why did they bother with what came after, and several more issues related to the ending that I don't want to spoil here. For the first time, reading a Miranda novel felt like a chore, and the red herrings she sprinkled along the way felt heavy-handed and dull. By the time the ending finally shows up, the "ah ha" moment is more like an "ugh, really?".
If reading Miranda for the first time, don't start here. Instead, pick up one of her previous novels; the pacing is much tighter and frankly the stories are much stronger..

I read The Only Survivors a few years ago and thought it was just okay, so I went into You Belong Here with fairly modest expectations—and was completely surprised in the best way. This book hooked me fast.

While some early reviews mention the plot is predictable, and maybe for some it is, I personally didn’t see the twists coming. The mystery kept me turning pages, and I finished the book in under 48 hours. The pacing was tight, the tension was well-executed, and the ending felt both satisfying and believable.

Set in a college town during October, it makes a great fall read. I'd highly recommend it to fans of suspense and twisty mysteries. Megan Miranda really delivered with this one!

Wow! So many twists and turns! This one kept me guessing right up to the end! Really enjoyed everything about it. So appreciative of the ARC!

I usually love Megan Miranda's books, but this one was really hard to get through. I went into this book hoping for a gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver. While the premise had potential and the pacing was decent, I found it difficult to connect with the characters. They felt underdeveloped, and their motivations were either unclear or unconvincing, which made it hard to stay emotionally invested in the story. The twists were there, but without a strong connection to the people involved, they didn’t pack the punch they could have. I kept waiting for that moment when I’d be fully pulled in, but it never really happened. Thriller fans who prioritize plot over character might enjoy this one more than I did, but personally, I need to care about the characters to feel the suspense — and that just didn’t happen here.

Atmospheric and quietly menacing, this is a story where the past waits patiently—and pounces when you least expect it. Secrets don’t stay buried in Wyatt Valley, and coming home might be the most dangerous choice of all.

Big Megan Miranda fan here! I knew I had to get my hands on her newest novel when I saw it appear on NetGalley. I loved the premise of the books and the spooky vibes that came with it. Definitely will recommend to any mystery lover that I know of!

Beckett is going back home to the mountains she hoped to never return. Her daughter is going to the college where Beck’s secrets are buried deep and she would rather not see them surface. When her daughter calls her in the middle of the night that first semester and then the call drops, Beck knows something terrible has happened. She makes the four hour drive to find her daughter missing and her secrets being slowly revealed.

This book felt similar Miranda’s other books, which is not a bad thing, but it took me a good while to get into it. The ending was solid and just enough of a twist to keep me engaged and made it believable.

Beckett Bowerys daughter Delilah applies to her old college and is admitted. Two decades ago Bowery was in the middle of a police investigation at the college. Two guys turned up dead and her friend Adalyn disappeared. Her past comes back to haunt her when her daughter comes up missing.
This was a creepy story with hidden tunnels and an eerie forest in the Virginia mountains. It kept me up late into the night.
Thanks NetGalley and Simon Element for this eARC that will be released July 29, 2025!

When Beckett left Wyatt Valley, she did everything in her power to put as much distance between herself and her hometown as possible. When her daughter Delilah applies without her knowing and receives a full scholarship, Beckett can only hope that the fears in the pit of her stomach will not be realized.

Twenty years ago, Beckett was a senior at Wyatt College. One fateful night, during a campus tradition, two boys wound up dead and her roommate, accused of killing them, went missing. Now as she drops her daughter off at college, all of the memories come flooding back. One night, Beckett gets a call from Delilah. No voice on the line. Just the howling wind and then the phone goes dead. In a panic and unable to reach her daughter, Beckett rushes to Wyatt Valley. What will await her when she arrives?

This is a small-town thriller novel that will keep you guessing. With all the different twists and turns and the building suspense it is so easy to get drawn into this story. Before I knew it there were only twenty pages left to go! Thanks to the vivid pictures painted by the author, there were times I felt that I was right there inside the tunnels or in the woods!

Thank you so much to Simon Element for the ARC of one of my most anticipated reads of the summer. It was haunting and thrilling. A fabulous read!

3.5 rounded to 4
This felt a little slow burn for me, and I wasn’t sure where it was really going because I like to go into books blind. I liked that about half way through it seemed to speed up a bit and turned into a page turner. Overall, this was a good read, I just felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

Beckett left home during her senior year of college under suspicion of helping her roommate escape from a crime. She vows never to return . Now her daughter has applied and been accepted at the same college. Beckett is fearful for her daughter; but how to protect her.. Will her past come back to haunt her and if so can she protect her daughter.

This is the story of the past coming back to haunt Beckett. If Beckett has hidden the truth all these years can Beckett trust anyone in the town. They all think Beckett is guilty of something. Weird happenings at the college start to unravel Beckett. This novel is full of tension and you will be trying to figure out what exactly happened all those year ago. Then how does that affect today. The book is a good beach read.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #MeganMiranda, #Simon&Schuster for a copy of this book.
#YouBelongHere

New thriller from Megan Miranda - You Belong Here.

"Beckett Bowery never expected to be back in Wyatt Valley - the college town where she grew up and attended college until a tragedy her senior year chased her out of town. She's back after her daughter decided to secretly apply, earning a full scholarship.
After a late night dropped call, Beckett races back to campus searching for her daughter. There's a danger - she can feel it. Old secrets don't stay hidden forever."

Miranda teases past secrets from Beckett right away. After the phone call we get her desperation at not being able to reach her daughter. I think we're so used to constantly being accessible it's unnerving to have someone out-of-touch. There are long memories at Wyatt Valley and Beckett runs into old acquaintances. We slowly get the backstory of the roommate and the fire. Slow burn at the beginning but the surprising ending makes it worth the ride.

Great new story from Miranda.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! I was all over the place trying to guess what was going on. Beckett's fear just leapt off the page. I loved the setting of the college. I also love people going back to where they used to love whether it is a thriller or a romance. It always creates some intriguing interactions.

Slow burn yet fast paced dark academic thriller about the past coming back to haunt you and how far a parent would go to protect their child.

Beckett left her college hometown after her roommate became the prime suspect in a double murder and she was questioned as an accomplice. She sore she would never be back but when he daughter secretly applies and gets accepted, the past comes back to haunt Beckett and then her daughter goes missing. Beckett scrambles to piece together all the anomalies happening around her while trying to find her daughter and confront her past.

I enjoyed this one more than I have Miranda’s recent releases. I’m a big fan of dark academic thrillers and the way Miranda writes her setting into her stories and I really resonated with Beckett being a mother and the anxiety that comes with protecting your children. Definitely recommend this one.


Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I don’t know if Megan Miranda’s plots should scare me away or make me want to be her best friend! Every single one of her book convinces me I know what’s going on until I absolutely don’t know which way is up anymore! This was absolutely no exception and I absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick thriller!

I enjoyed this book. i’ve read maybe one or two others by miranda before and liked them, and this one didn’t let me know either. it’s a bit of a slow burn, but the suspense is ever-present and there’s always an eerie nature to the tone of writing. it’s a little confusing in the end, but overall wraps up pretty well and doesn’t feel too rushed.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc! out 7/29.