I initially received this as an Advanced Copy through Netgalley, but I messed up and didn't download it in time to review prior to publication. However, I was so excited to read this new release that I purchased it on release day.

And I'm so glad I did. If you were a fan of the lightening paced opening of Run on Red, I think you will really enjoy this novel, which very quickly gets your heart racing and locked in when a school bus is ambushed. It carries on that momentum and made me feel very claustrophobic and like I was trapped in the bunker with the girls!

It also has a lot of heart too and I really felt for the two mothers in this story. Justice for Jessa!! That this is loosely based on a true story is mind boggling to me. I'd thoroughly recommend. 4.5 🌟

I may change this rating. I need to sit with how I feel after reading this. 😳 Right now I will rate this 4.25⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc copy. I was hooked right away. Jessa was so frustrating in the beginning. I wanted to scream, and throw my book at times. I don’t know how I would react in that situation, but as a mom I really hope I would not respond the way she did at first. I loved the character of Sage. She reminds me so much of one of my daughters. I enjoyed her relationship with her sister and how it evolved through the story.

This story was tough at times to read, but adding the fact it was based off real events that happened in the 70’s in California made it even more tough at times to read. I would have to take breaks and process what I was reading. Even though this story doesn’t follow exactly what happened in the 70’s the parallels were written well, and added an extra element to this book. I highly recommend reading Such Quiet Girls. You can’t put this book down, but may need to every now and then just to prepare for what’s to come.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. Such Quiet Girls which was a first for me bu this author Noelle West Ihli
Wow what a riveting book! The author sure knows how to weave a story that kept me on my edge of my seat! The kind of story that sticks with you for a long time. Thx again. Definitely going to look up this author and see what else she has good to read!
Good read!!!

Sadly DNF at 65% and I can’t believe I went this long in the book. I didn’t like this at all! It’s super slow and I just couldn’t get into it like her other books. I also did not like the bus driver character😭

My 2nd book by this author and another 5 star. Absolutely terrifying from start to finish. I challenge any mom to read this and not feel the same emotions as the characters in this story.

This was my first book by this author and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story! This brought to life one of a mother’s worst nightmares when it comes to her children. I was captivated from the very beginning, even when the pacing was very slow and on purpose might I add. I never thought I’d enjoy a book with intentionally slow pacing during certain parts but it was very well done given the plot of the book and the setting. I will definitely be reading more books by this author in the future!

This is a good book to read if you enjoy thrillers that focus on one event and goes through said event looking into each characters pov. Sage in particular is a cool character. Overall I enjoyed this book.

Noelle W. Ihli delivers another knockout with *Such Quiet Girls*—a chilling, claustrophobic thriller inspired by real events. When a school bus is hijacked and its occupants buried alive in an underground bunker, the fear is palpable. The story digs deep into the psychological terror of being trapped—and the resilience it takes to survive.

Ihli’s writing is sharp, immersive, and emotionally resonant. She strikes that rare balance between edge-of-your-seat suspense and genuine heart, making you care deeply for the characters while dreading what comes next. If you're into true crime-inspired thrillers that keep you breathless, this one is not to be missed.

I’ve read several of Ihli’s books and she never lets me down—each one is darker, smarter, and more intense than the last. Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced, emotionally gripping thrillers.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodness me, this was such a good book. Highly entertaining. Would definitely recommend to others, that's for sure!

Wow this premise is just horrifying to think of and even worse that it is based off true events. It was a page turner and kept me on the edge of my seat. Exactly what I look for in a thriller. Ihli outdid herself with this one.

Holy cannoli!! This book had me trying to breathe through the claustrophobic atmosphere. All of her books are so well done and this was brilliant. I could feel the fear and panic as it was palpable. I had to out my kindle down a few times to remind myself it was just a book and that I was okay. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Fast paced, heart pounding, will have you on the edge of your seat! Loosely based on a true story which is awful to think about knowing what the children went though. I do recommend this book!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: mystery/crime📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A suspenseful thriller that hooked me in right from the start but I just kept waiting for something more to happen.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Stories inspired by true crime
Survival thrillers
Multiply POV
Suspenseful high stakes plots
Character driven reads
Emotional depth
Intense atmosphere

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
Realistic characters
Short chapters

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
There weren’t really any twists
The ending wrapped up a like too quickly/ nicely
A little slow in the middle

This had me on the edge of my seat! I really appreciated that no extra fluff went into this. It was short and quick and fast moving. I liked the bus driver’s character arc and the two sisters as well, focusing on specific people in the bus.

Such Quiet Girls is my first novel by Noelle West Ihli and absolutely will not be my last. Such Quiet Girls is a propulsive novel that will have readers flying through the pages. When new school bus drive Jessa begins her job with Bright Beginnings, she is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. Readers are given clues that she is trying to restart her life to win back custody of her young daughter. What should be an ordinary day for working mom, Sheena, turns into anything but as she drives to Bright Beginnings to pick up her daughters and runs into numerous emergency vehicles blocking traffic in suburban Idaho. Fleeing her car Sheena rushes to find out what happened when she is told the bus drive, the kids and the bus are missing. Hope turns to despair as the bus is later found along with the kids phones but no traces of the students or drivers. Sheena, along with her ailing father, return home and her worst fears come true. The students and driver are being held for ransom. While Sheena, law enforcement and the town are on a desperate search, her brave 12 year old daughter Sage, her younger sister Bonnie and their classmates are buried in a shipping container-being held for ransom. Sage is determined to make it out alive while Jessa is fighting her own demons. Told from multiple perspectives, including one of the kidnappers, readers will root for Sage and the students while agonize with Sheena's dilemma. While this book does have some tough subject matter, it is based on a true story from the 1970s, and is handled well by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. 4.5 stars

Such Quiet Girls was a fast paced thriller that I read in one day. I enjoyed the author's writing and I thought this was great as a popcorn thriller. It would probably also be a really cool movie....those underground scenes would scare me half to death!!

I loved little Bonnie and Sage and I was really hoping for the best outcome for them. I didn't quite feel a connection with Ms Jessa just because she was very disassociated. through the first half of the book. .I either expected her to be a hero or to be an accomplice...not the character she played in the first half of the book. I enjoyed grandpa and the mom. Not any real twists or suspense and I think the villains were a bit non villainous....one had a conscience and one was a drunk, very cliched.

I enjoyed it as a popcorn thriller with some heartwarming characters.

3.5 stars.

I was unaware, upon commencing this book, that it was loosely based on a true story..

This narrative centers on a group of children and a bus driver who are abducted and confined within an underground container.

Consistent with Noelle Ihle's previous works, this novel demonstrates exceptional writing quality. The suspenseful narrative effectively generates significant anxiety.

Despite the absence of a major plot twist, the story maintains reader engagement through its atmospheric quality; the reader is convincingly immersed in the claustrophobic environment of the container.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for providing an advance review copy of this book.

This was a gripping read that kept me hooked from start to finish! The story flows really smoothly, making it very hard to put the book down. I can see how some parts of the book might be intense for certain readers, so I’d definitely recommend to check the trigger warmings beforehand. The writing style is easy to follow. I’d highly recommend this book to any thriller fan!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. After reading Gray After Dark I was really excited to receive an advanced copy of Such Quiet Girls. Especially when I read that it was inspired by actual events. Wow, what a great book but also such a scary book for a mom! Abduction books are always a hard read for me. They are difficult to get through because even though I’m reading fiction, I also know these horrible things do happen in real life. This book was really well written. I knocked one star off because I did feel like it was a little slow in the middle. The characters were all well written and the descriptions were very detailed…at times it made me tear up thinking about how similar things occurred in real life with the infamous Chowchilla kidnapping of 1976. As far as characters, I loved both Sage and Bonnie. What strong little girls. Also their mom, Sheena…I can’t even imagine being in the situation that she was in. I honestly don’t know what I would do. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Dynamite Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Goodreads and Instagram :
*Goodreads - Cherihy808
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808

I don’t know that I’ve found any of Noelle’s books to be any less than 5 stars. She has an amazing capability to have you sitting on the edge of your seat biting your finger nails, yelling for the characters. Basing her stories on actual events also makes them super intriguing. As a mom, this story terrified me. I’m super happy it ended the way it did and I definitely cried a few tears. Pick this one up if you’re looking for a quick but also great read!