I can see how this could be a great familial thriller but the story dragged a little too much for my tastes and it was super predictable. I ended up skimming most of the book just to see if I was right about the ending. I was.

I found this story difficult to dive into. Too many characters telling their story. I found it hard to like the characters and root for any of them. I really liked the first chapter, but the story was difficult to get through after that.

Fifteen years ago a family disappeared. Now Aubrey, the daughter is back. Where had she been? What happened?
Follow along this twisty thriller that will keep you guessing.
This is a gripping, layered thriller about buried trauma, twisted loyalty, and what happens when the past refuses to stay hidden. It’s perfect for fans of domestic suspense with smart, strong women at the center.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

I don't know. I really really loved this book. honestly it left me speechless. I don't even know how to write the review because it left me so speechless..

This dragged for me and was hard to follow. Lots of characters involved which made it confusing. I did like the plot though.

Another day, another review 🍃 I was super intrigued by the concept of this one. You know I love a good, decades-long mystery with some badass women trying to discover the truth. It was definitely fun seeing how everything would come together in the end.

I do wish it was a bit more twisty- I definitely guessed the reveal pretty early on. I was hoping for a little more shock value. BUT I still enjoyed it enough and I did appreciate the ending.

A pretty fun story, with interesting characters, I would recommend this one if you’re looking for some good past and present stories with a fun conclusion!

This one sadly did not work for me. I usually love Darby but this would have benefited from being structured differently. The multiple POV are hard to distinguish and the storyline drags. I was hoping it would weave the past with the present to come to a crashing ending but it’s all just present with a lot of repeated scenes from different POV which bogged down the story. Whomp wah

I was super intrigued by this story because it felt like a criminal minds type book. I think the set up was done well and the multiple point of views led for interesting insights and twists and turns. I did feel like the Aubrey character was a bit of a red herring which I guess is part of a thriller, however her impact was not as powerful as I think was anticipated. The twist of the identity of Hanna's son felt a bit predictable and didn't really change the overall narrative of the story. It felt as though there were two storylines going. Xavier and his plot and then Patrick and Victoria's plot. It felt a bit disjointed and disconnected however I was still entertained but the ending was a bit lackluster and didn't have that large of an impact. I knew there was some shady behavior for sure with a certain person who is revealed at the end if you know you know. Overall I was super curious like you should be in a good thriller but it overall fell a but flat for me.

This was my fifth Darby Kane book, and I remain a fan of her work. "Such a Clever Girl" started off a bit hard to follow due to so many points of view.

That said, I became engrossed in the storyline, and it was a fun read. It would work particularly well as a TV show or movie.

A solid four-star read.

Thank you to NetGalley and William-Morrow for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick thriller that takes place in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
It has an eerie, atmospheric vibe. It’s a tale that unwinds a mystery around the Tanner family that occurred decades ago.
It kept me guessing.
My only dislike was the jumping around of perspectives chapter to chapter. I had to keep orienting myself
Thank you

Twisty and darkly satisfying, Kane crafts a cat-and-mouse thriller where nothing is what it seems. Psychological suspense at its clever best.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

This book had four POVs which is more then I usually would read. I've found that I've only been able to tolerate one or two POVs before I start to get stuff mixed up. I also disliked how the book dropped you into those POVs with very little explanation of who they were and how they were all related to each other. I would've liked to see a family tree because it took me a while to figure out that some of them literally were related to each other. Not to mention, there was persistent name-dropping of the members of the family that was killed with zero reference to their actual place in the family.

I'm usually able to finish a book in one or two sittings but I actually had to come back to this book multiple times. I found that I kept getting the different POVs mixed up since the voice sounded the same. I also thought it was weird how Aubrey made such a public reappearance yet wasn't questioned by the police, nor receiving significant media coverage (one lone investigative podcaster doesn't count). There was also an attempt to create tension by having characters repeatedly bringing up an incident without elaborating or explaining which I found to be annoying. Aubrey's POV added literally nothing and sounded cartoonishly evil.

I also didn't enjoy how certain scenes were replayed multiple times during different POVs. I felt like that was unnecessary and made things drag. I thought Stella was particularly unlikeable, especially when she pressed Hanna into revealing Jeremy's real parentage in front of Jeremy when Hanna wasn't prepared to, for her own gain, while also refusing to leave when Hanna and Jeremy were clearly having what should've been a private conversation.

That being said, once I was able to develop somewhat of a mental family tree, I found it more interesting. The writing style meant that it was very easy to read and made it seem like some kind of Lifetime drama. I couldn't see myself re-reading this book but I also find very few thrillers to be re-readable

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC! Originally, I was very confused as to who was who because there were alot of protagonists to remember and it was hard to follow. I did get it after a while, and the novel was entertaining and well written. Storyline was good, plot was good, well developed characters and all around good book!

I loved this book!! It was so twisty and so good. So many characters and everyone is a suspect. I loved the book’s structure and I live nearby Sleepy Hollow so I really loved that it was set in Sleepy Hollow. If you love small town mysteries with family secrets, this is the book you want to read!

I devoured this book! At first it was confusing trying to keep up with all the different characters and moving pieces but it made me love it even more. When a family disappears and 15 years later someone returns home after grandpa passes away, who will figure out what really happened? I didn't see any of the twists coming!
Thank you netgalley and publishers and Darby Kane for letting me have an earc!

Darby Kane is rapidly becoming an auto read author for me. I jumped at the chance to read her latest thriller. It was a twisty ride. What really happened when the Tanner family disappeared 15 years ago? Now that the game playing devious patriarch has died, probable sociopathic, assumed dead daughter Aubrey is back. And she knows how to stir up trouble. I was literally at the edge of my seat, unable to read fast enough. The ending wasn’t entirely unexpected, but some of the contributing events had my brain spinning. Any domestic thriller fans will devour this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another riveting Darby Kane suspense! This one got a little convoluted at times but overall I loved the plot and multiple characters to suspect along the way!

Darby Kane, you’ve done it again—and I might never recover.

After devouring Pretty Little Wife, I knew I had caught the Darby Kane bug. She instantly became one of those rare “drop everything and read” authors for me. So when Such a Clever Girl landed on NetGalley? I begged. I pleaded. I manifested. And when I finally got my hands on it… it did not disappoint.

This is psychological suspense at its most addictive, and Darby Kane is at the top of her game.

From the very first page, you’re dropped into a decades-old mystery: an entire family vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a bloodstained threshold, half-eaten meals, and a fire tearing through their business across town. And now, years later, Aubrey Tanner is back—older, colder, and carrying secrets that feel heavier than whatever took her family all those years ago.

This is not your average return-to-hometown thriller. It’s razor-sharp. The pacing simmers in that perfect Darby Kane slow-burn way, with subtle cracks in the timeline that gradually give way to an explosive, jaw-dropping finale. And when it all clicks into place? Goosebumps. Literal, physical goosebumps.

What I especially loved: the interwoven stories of the women surrounding Aubrey—each with their own motives, past traumas, and chilling connections to the night the Tanners vanished. A teacher. A café owner. A psychologist. All unreliable in the best way. All holding keys to a truth that’s darker than anyone is ready for.

And when the new disappearance hits? All bets are off. Secrets become weapons. Truth turns dangerous. No one is safe.

Darby Kane is an auto-read for a reason. Her thrillers aren’t just clever—they’re meticulous. Such a Clever Girl delivers all the eerie small-town vibes, psychological tension, and female-driven power plays I live for in the genre. This one isn’t just going on my favorites list—it’s going on my “read again just to study the structure” list too.

Trust no one. Assume nothing. Read everything Darby Kane writes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Darby Kane and William Morrow for the early copy—this was easily one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it absolutely delivered.

You can find my “bookstagram post” on 7/25/2025 @thrillbythepage_

Darby Kane’s “Such a Clever Girl” can be clever when it’s not getting in its own way.

Readers follow a set of characters, each with their own secrets that (slowly…very slowly) reveal themselves over this 400+ page suspense. The novel starts with readers finding each having to come up against with the past, in the form of Aubrey Tanner, the only (?) surviving member of the Tanner clan who disappeared 15 years ago. The set up, unfortunately, is more interesting than what we’re subjected to for the majority of this book. We spend time with each (one more than the others — thankfully, she’s the most well thought out and three dimensional) and others each dealing with the impact of Aubrey, maybe the titular clever girl — she seems to know more than she’s letting on but unfortunately she isn’t too forthcoming with her information, instead speaking in riddles to pad out the pages of this book.

It’s par for the course as there are tropes galore here and plot devices in the form of mysterious letters. Without spoiling any big moments, there is a character who utters they were asked to leave behind letters to one of our three leads and reconfigure their delivery pending now the search was going… ok, so we could have gotten to the end sooner had this character just read all these letters and helped out this other character? Got it.

As I finished Kane’s latest, I’m reminded of her book “Pretty Life Wife,” which I found convenient but entertaining. Well, this girl may not be clever but she sure is consistent. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC.

Had potential, but didn’t deliver for me. The premise intrigued me, but I struggled with the pacing and found it hard to stay engaged. Too many characters made it feel scattered, and the writing just didn’t hold my attention.