Another hit by Noelle! I love this author and this book was just as thriller has her past books. You loved and hated everyone in this story at different times (except Andy, yuck)

Noelle W. Ihli is a go to author for me. Everything she wrote, I'm going to read. She has down it again with this one! All the different POV's help with getting different perspectives on everything that goes down. Very gripping and unputdownable! Another win from Noelle!

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity!

This book had it all for me. I loved the telling through the different POVs of the involved, this really took me to another place emotionally. My anxiety was through the roof the entire time. I can't say a bad thing about this gripping novel. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this title.

Like some of her other novels, this story is based on actual events (which both blows my mind and breaks my heart). It is also told in multiple POVs which gave some good insight in this novel. Having young kids, I admit I was a bit hesitant going in, but I did not find this book to be nearly as intense as some of the author's previous work. It almost seemed a bit predictable; the groundwork was laid out for a lot of the storyline right from the start.

A great faced paced ready that takes us into a dark place. Stories involving children always tug at me a bit more than others. This is like a nightmare scenario for all parents. It was well written and suspenseful. It was a wild ride and actually terrifying.
A great read

Let me start by saying this book is amazing. I tore through it not knowing it was inspired by a true story, and finding that out afterward made it hit even harder (and made me retroactively more stressed out, thanks very much).
A bus full of ten kids vanishes. A mother receives a ransom note with strict instructions no police, no talking, just comply, or there would be consequences Meanwhile, unbeknownst to her, her daughters are staging their own escape plan and keep all the kids calm and hopeful

This book had my heart in my throat from start to finish. It’s so well written that I didn’t just read about the characters fear and desperation — I felt it. I was practically right there, sweating alongside them, wishing someone would hand me a flashlight and an escape plan.
If you want a thriller that grabs you by the collar and doesn't let go this is the one.

I was so honored and shocked to receive this ARC! I read Ask for Andrea at the beginning of the year and loved it. When I saw Ihli was releasing a new book, I immediately requested it, thinking there was no way I'd get it. I almost fell out of my chair when I got the email from NetGalley.

I want to preface this whole review by saying I don't think everyone will be able to read this one. It was a hard read for me at times. Such Quiet Girls shows such a real and uncensored account of a kidnapping. It is based on the 1976 bus kidnapping in Chowchilla, California. I do not recommend reading about the incident until you finish the book because it will somewhat spoil it. However, I enjoyed being able to read about the true event after finishing the book.

Beyond the kidnapping, there is also a significant plotline surrounding the bus driver, Jessa. This part of the book made me so angry for her. This plotline involves a very realistic account of DV and should be considered before reading the book.

All of the essential parts of a good thriller were there. Suspense, good pacing, multiple POVs, and a realistic plot. This was not a 5-star read for me, but I think it will be for many other people. After reading 2 of Noelle Ihili's books this year, I think she's one of the best mystery/thriller authors I have read yet.

CRACK RIGHT OUT OF THE BALLPARK!!!!!!! Such Quiet Girls written by Noelle W. Ihli was one of the best thrillers I have ever read in such a long time. This novel was real, powerful, heart pounding, and gut wrenching. I have never read a book written by this author before, but I absolutely loved this one, so I will definitely read her other books in the future. Such Quiet Girls had me completely drenched in sweat, I can't even tell you how many times I had to reapply deodorant because I had full body sweats. This book was so bone chilling it even caused me to feel claustrophobic. This book was an absolute banger, I was on the edge of my seat clutching my chest the entire time because it caused so many heart pounding moments. After reading this book, I don't think I can ever trust an orange road sign telling me to take a detour because this book had me freaking the heck out. Such Quiet Girls was inspired by actual events: The Chowchilla kidnapping in 1976. This book can be very triggering for some readers, so please check the trigger warning's before picking this one up, they will also be listed in my review. I can't recommend Such Quiet Girls enough, please do yourself a favor and mark your calendars for April 29th, 2025 because you won't want to miss out on this bone chilling and heart stopping thriller. The full body chills were chilling and freezing, I had goosebumps throughout the entire book. It's so hard to explain how I was feeling because I had the best out of body experience with this book, I was sweating, I was freezing, and my heart stopped. If I don't see this book in the thriller category for the Goodreads 2025 awards, I'm going to be completely shocked because this is such a banger of a thriller.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND DYNAMITE BOOKS FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!

TRIGGER WARNING'S
Child Endangerment
Kidnapping of Children
Domestic Abuse
Mentions of Sexual Abuse
Mentions of Physical Abuse

"Friends come and go, but sisters are for life".

"The dark can't hurt us. It's okay".

"Life is a struggle, and a good spy goes in there and fights".

"Nothing mattered anymore except saving my girls".

"I accept my past, understand my present, and look forward to my future".

BUS 315 PASSENGERS
-Kasia and Norah were the only two students that were absent on this frightening day.
Jessa Landon aged 33.
Ava Johnson aged 7.
Bonnie Halverson aged 7.
Sage Halverson aged 12.
Crosby Neville aged 7.
Kasia Berger aged 7.
Mindy Gamel aged 7.
Charlotte Nelson aged 8.
Evelyn Marks aged 8.
Ked Bledsoe aged 8.
Norah Katz aged 8.
Rose Carlton aged 9.
Ben Whitlock aged 9.

Jessa Landon is a thirty three year old after school daycare bus driver that lied on her job application. Jessa recently served three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter after killing her husband because he was super abusive, following her conviction, Jessa lost custody of her daughter Sophie, so she decided to become an after school daycare bus driver so she could be around children even though she wasn't allowed. One week on the job, Bus 315 is kidnapped with all ten children on board. Students from Northridge Elementary were on their way to Bright Beginnings Childcare Center when a big orange DETOUR sign led the bus to a cherry tree orchard where everyone was kidnapped. Sage and Bonnie are siblings, Bonnie is in first grade and Sage is in sixth grade and the oldest student on Bus 315. Bonnie and Sage would always get watched by their grandpa after school. but his Alzheimer's has gotten worse therefore he can't watch the girls anymore. When Bus 315 is stopped, The Speedy Shuttle appears which is a big white van that will take the kids somewhere. The first words out of Sage's mouth: "There's a man. He has a gun". This has now turned into a ransom, the kidnappers want two hundred thousand dollars per kid. My heart broke for Sage, as the oldest child she had to remain calm for the benefit of the other children, but you could just tell she was so scared, no child should ever have to go through this kind of thing.

Ted Barrett and Andy McQuain are the two men who decided to kidnap Bus 315. If these two men get the random money they asked for, they promised no one gets hurts but until then they are going to be buried alive. Andy and Ted took the kids to a bougie community, Northside Quarry which is used a a dumping site for random junk and industrial waste. First, the children have their hands zip tied while they are led to their burial site. Bus 315 is buried alive in The Bunker which is an enormous shipping container underground, which is twenty feet long, eight feet wide, and twelve feet high, this has now turned into a civil kidnapping. The men have left the children in the bunker with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, water, flashlights, and a built in toilet. In the beginning of their burial, Jessa never soothed the kids while they cried, but as the story goes on, she treated the children like they were her own. Jessa also pretended that Sage and Bonnie were her daughters while she sobbed all night long. Andy and Ted are known as "Functional Deadbeats", they both have pantyhose covering their heads and faces and they remind Sage of Jeepers Creepers. I just wanted to reach into my kindle and soothe all of these children, I wasn't even there and I was scared shitless, but I'm so beyond proud of these young kids working together so they could escape safely.

Andy McQuain has really bad body odor, but he has spearmint hair oil so he doesn't scare the children, he's also a dopey stoner hippie, and then there's Ted Barrett who still lives in his mommy's basement. Sheena Halverson, Bonnie and Sage's mom gets a random pizza delivery with a note one night a few hours after the children have been buried alive. The note says do not contact the police, do not contact the FBI, your every movement is being watched, the fate of the children is in SHEENA'S hands. The kidnappers want a withdrawal total of fifty thousand dollars in separate transactions from five different banks and then they want Sheena to bring the cash in a backpack to a campground ALONE. After dropping off the backpack, Sheena has to transfer the remaining bond funds of two million dollars into a Bitcoin wallet, ten thousand dollars equals five withdrawals. Such Quiet Girls is told in the point of views from Jessa, Sage, Sheena, and Ted. Bus 315 was buried for twenty-six hours and fifty-eight minutes before help came to rescue them after someone escapes. This book was truly traumatizing, I can't even imagine what was going through everyone's heads at the time. As the children on Bus 315 had to fight for their survival, I was literally sitting there screaming and shaking as they tried their hardest to escape. I can't even imagine being a mom knowing my children have been kidnapped and buried alive until the kidnappers got their ransom money. For as young as they were, these children truly put their worries aside and worked together on saving each other.

Thank you so much to Noelle West Ihli, Dynamite Books, and NetGalley for this ARC of Such Quiet Girls. This is my first read from Ihli and it most certainly won’t be my last. This book gave me alllllll the Chowchilla kidnapping vibes! It was so intense and pageturning. The dual POVs keep you flying through chapters and you have to keep reading to find out what the fate is of these school children. 5/5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Dynamite Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Noelle has done it again! This one tugged at my heartstrings for several reasons, but as usual, I'm left in tears after finishing the book. This was such a fantastic story, and I expect nothing less from Noelle. ❤️

Such Quiet Girls is written through various POVs, which I felt made this story even more impactful. We get to see events carried out in real time through the eyes of Sage, one of the children who has been kidnapped; the bus driver Jessa, who has secrets of her own; Sage's mother Sheena, who is trying to deal with the fact both of her daughters were kidnapped, while juggling having to care for her father, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's; and finally Ted, one of the kidnappers. Seeing POVs from every perspective was really eye-opening and I think gave a lot more depth to this story.

One of the things that really made this story horrifying was the fact that it was based off of true events, particularly the Chowchilla school bus kidnapping in 1976. Obviously this story was loosely based on that, however it doesn't make it any less horrifying for the young children and their parents. Noelle always does a superb job with these stories, which can be exploitative when done incorrectly. Noelle always puts a lot of care and thought into these types of stories, and I feel like she really does the victims justice.

I feel like parts of this can be triggering for some people, but if you can, I definitely recommend checking this one out and then going on a deep dive into the events that inspired this book.

This book was phenomenal. I was tearing through the pages, heart racing, anxiously awaiting the fate of everyone involved. The 4 POVs we're given are all so unique and really let you see every side of the story as it unfolds. Noelle is an incredible writer and knows just how to keep you in her grip from start to finish!

My first book by this author was “Ask For Andrea” back in 2024. It was an easy 5 stars for me. I had only initially read it for 2 reasons.
1. My name is Andrea.
2. I adore an emotional thriller.
Noelle has this brilliant ability to coax every single emotion out of her readers. This story was anything but an exception to that.

Jessa gets a new job as a bus driver for an after-school program. She hints at a very difficult past, which we later find out more about. Difficult would be an extreme understatement. Her sister has custody of her daughter, whom she hasn’t seen nor talked to in years. Jessa hopes to restart her life and mend their relationship.

Sage will go down in history as my favorite preteen FMC. Just a student on the bus that needs to tag along with her little sister, Bonnie, to their after-school program because her mom doesn’t think she’s responsible enough to be home alone. She’s only 12 years old, but the insane amount of bravery she had throughout this story was so insane. I’m talking pure, raw courage. To not only fear for your life, but to be the only direct guardian of your younger sibling in a life-threatening situation like this and somehow keep your cool? That’s asking A LOT of a 12 year old. She nailed it!

Sheena was a super relatable character. She’s the only parent to receive a ransom note from the kidnappers-instructing her to not involve anyone else or the police. As a single mother who cares for her father that struggles with Alzheimer’s disease, she had nobody close to her to talk this through with when the same constant, nagging thought kept popping in her head-“WTF do I do?” Personally, as a mother of an 8 year old, her POV was unnerving to read at times. Because, seriously, WTF do you do? One wrong move and you will never see your kids again.

This story gripped me from the beginning and wouldn’t let go. I won’t say this is an “original” concept. Just last year I read a book with this same premise, but that one only grasped at 3 stars where Noelle’s writing shoots this one up to a well-deserved 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in return for my honest thoughts.*

The story opens with an eerie scene: a bus driver waiting to pick up schoolchildren, hinting at a troubled past. As the plot unfolds, fragments of history between the characters slowly emerge, revealing deep, unsettling connections. The tension builds steadily as the mystery of why this particular bus—and these specific children—were targeted begins to take shape. Among the kidnapped is a girl with sharp instincts, inherited from her grandfather, a former cop. Her determination to escape adds a gripping edge to the narrative. Suspicions fall on the current bus driver, whose past casts a long shadow. But is she really involved? Will the ransom be paid, the children freed—or will everything spiral into tragedy?
Read Such Quiet Girls to uncover the chilling truth.

Noelle is way up there on my favorite authors list. Her writing is just so damn captivating. This story really had my heart pounding most of the way through. Even though this is fictional, the fact that it's based off of a true story hurts my heart. Thinking about what those kids went through, tears at me. Noelle always does an amazing job of really capturing the emotions of each character. In Such Quiet Girls, Sage proves to be one of the most courages characters basically risking her life to save everyone's. That little girl was just not going to give up regardless of what the risks were. As a mom, I kept putting myself in Sheena's shoes throughout the story and the thought of how I would feel in those moments had me breaking down. I absolutely loved this story. This is a definite must read!!!!

Woah! What a ride!! Constant suspense that keeps the reader hooked.

With agile storytelling, multiple points of view, and short chapters, the pace is unstoppable. The characters are well-developed, their emotions and decisions feel real. The setting and mood create an atmosphere of authentic tension.

Definitely, this book has all it takes to be made into a movie: intense suspense, complex characters, and a plot that never lets up. A book that will appeal to many people due to its constant pace. Really really liked it!!!

Honestly, this book blew my socks off! I’m notmally not a fan of books with a few character perspectives but this one did it perfect! Each character had its own dialogue so it truly felt like reading from a different character’s perspective! Not to mention that it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time! Another great one by Noelle.

Such Quiet Girls is everything I want in a psychological thriller—tight pacing, smart twists, and characters that feel unnervingly real. Noelle W. Ihli crafts an atmosphere of creeping dread that had me hooked from the first page. The tension builds steadily, and I found myself constantly second-guessing what was really going on behind closed doors.

The friendship between the main characters adds a deep emotional core to the story, making the stakes feel that much higher. I loved the way the story played with trust and perception—who do you believe, and what happens when the people around you start unraveling?

If you’re into dark thrillers that keep you reading late into the night, Such Quiet Girls is a must-read. Noelle W. Ihli absolutely nails it. Can’t wait to read more from her.

Noelle has done it again! This book had me wanting more and more and I didn't want to put it down. It had my heart racing and my eyes tearing up a bit. Such a good thriller! Definitely recommend!

It’s a seemingly normal day when Jessa follows a detour sign on her afternoon bus route. What follows is anything but normal. Held at gunpoint, Jessa can only watch as she and the children in her care are kidnapped. Meanwhile, Sheena, the mother of two little girls on the bus, receives a ransom note with precise instructions to follow. If she notifies anyone, the children won’t be returned. Can Jessa keep the children calm and safe while Sheena races against the clock to save her girls?

This book sucked me in immediately! Ihli was HEAVILY inspired by the 1976 Chowchilla kidnapping, and it was captivating. While the major details are almost identical, the characters are all her creation, and they add so much depth to the story. I loved the way the book was told from several different points of view. It kept me hooked, and I read it in just two days!

I highly recommend checking out Such Quiet Girls when it’s released!

*thank you to NetGalley and Dynamite Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This is every mother’s nightmare. I literally hugged my personal kiddos every time as I was reading this book! I love the multiple perspectives as well.