The Girl from Widow Hills: A Novel

I read this book in probably 3 days! I could not put it down! it had so many twists and turns and it was such an amazing story. The writer does such a great job on keeping the reader engaged. This is a must read for anyone that enjoy a good, clean thriller story.

The Girl From Widow Hills is a spine tingling, dark thriller from Megan Miranda about a girl who survived. Twenty years ago, six year old Arden Olivia (Liv) Maynor became a household name when she sleepwalked into a rainstorm, and got swept away into a storm drain. She was found after 3 days, hurt but still alive. It was hailed as a miracle, and a triumph for the community spirit of Widow Hills, and eventually the rest of the country.Now known as Olivia Meyer, living in Central Valley, Liv thinks that she has left it all behind. She has no recollection of the her time in the sewer system, and all her memories are based on news stories and the book written by her mother. As the twentieth anniversary of her rescue approaches, Liv receives news of her mother's death, and has a sleepwalking episode again. As if this isn't enough to make her unbalanced, she stumbles upon a dead body at her neighbour's property, who turns out to be someone she knows from her past.From there on, things seem to get out of control. Now, she is a person of interest in a murder case, her friends are acting strange around her, and her new life is unravelling in front of her eyes. On top of all this, she is not sure if she is innocent or not. The past that she is running away from has caught up to her and she can't do anything to stop it.The story is unpredictable and dark. Everyone is a suspect, even Liv, because we don't know what secrets remain hidden in her sub-conscience. There are all the classic suspects: the elderly neighbour with many firearms, the older ex-boyfriend, the quiet best friend, and the vivacious new friend. Even Liv is not sure about who to trust and who to stay away from.The thing I liked about this book was that there was no romantic angle, no man waiting for Liv at the end of it all. It is the story of a girl, and it remains the story of a girl, who is strong enough on her own, and there is no need for a romance on the side.The most thought provoking point in this book is how we think of incidents as stories. Something that is terrible for one person becomes a news story for the rest of the world. People begin to think that they have a right to know about that person's life, a right to know personal details about them. Some people even start thinking that this unfortunate person owes them something. This obsession with news "stories" is too real, and has caused grief to many families all over the wolrd, and continues to do so.Now for what I didn't like about this book. The story became a bit hard to swallow as it progressed. There are too many coincidences, too many secrets, quite a few things that remain unresolved, and the climax was a bit of a let down, not because of the twist; it was a good twist, one of the better ones that I have read recently, but it was just too easy in the end, for the culprit as well as the one who got them.Even with the unbelievability, I enjoyed reading the book. It is a good one time read for fans of dark thrillers.

I get why this was a popular book. It has interesting characters and can be suspenseful. But for me, two things were problematic. First was the "talkiness" of the first 2/3 of the story. Second was my inability to believe that the main character would have been harassed as much over an incident 20 years in the past. It wasn't hard to figure out the end.

As described

This 4 star thriller was a great distraction.<b>SUMMARY</b>Olivia was trying her hardest to live an ordinary life. Blend into the scenery. However, much to her chagrin, the cards were stacked against her. In addition to having a mother who struggled with addiction and stability, Olivia had a life altering experience when she was very young. She had a habit of sleep walking and one night, she walked straight out of her bed, into a storm and disappeared for three days before being rescued. Remember <i>Baby Jessica from the well</i>? It was similar to that in that the whole country collectively held their breath, prayed and waited by the TV for news of a rescue. Although Olivia appreciated all of that greatly, she didn't want to live her entire life as <i>The Girl from Widow Hills</i>. It was overwhelming. And occasionally, people could get crazy or mean about it. She moved out of state (more than once) and changed her name, desperate to get a fresh start.Finally, things were going well. Olivia was entrenched in a community that felt like <i>home</i>, had a career she loved, a close circle of friends, a nice home and was finding peace. Until she received a call saying her mother had past away, followed by a box of her mother's possessions. Something about all that must have triggered her and she began sleep walking again. And to make matters worse, she literally stumbled onto a dead body while out sleep walking. You can imagine how much longer her anonymity lasted after that...<b>WHAT I LOVED</b>I had read, <I>All the Missing Girls</>, also by Megan Miranda, and loved it so when I saw <i>The Girl from Widow Hills</i>, I jumped on the chance to read it. I was not disappointed. The Audible version kept me very interested during a long road trip to Colorado. It was a great traveling companion.The plot was unique and intriguing. The narrative jumped back and forth between present time and the past. The chapters of the past focused on the search for Olivia, while the present focused on the aftermath of Olivia discovering the body. The format worked very well in the telling of this story.The plot was fresh and intriguing. I was not expecting the ending. It wasn't what I was expecting.The suspense really <i>made</i> the story. I was dying to see what was going to happen next.<b>WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE</b>I really liked most parts of the book but it was hard to believe a couple of the coincidences.<b>OVERALL</b>Good book. Definitely worth reading.

4.5 starsThe Girl from Widow Hills is a tense and compelling thriller. I was drawn to this book since it revolves around sleepwalking, repressed memories, and a past tragedy. Sleep issues and repressed memories are weirdly some of my favorite things to read about so I was curious to see how it would play out here.While there were several different threads throughout the novel, they eventually converged in the end, and the ending genuinely shocked me. I was completely surprised and taken aback by the reveal, but it also made sense in light of past events. I found Megan Miranda’s writing style to be a bit abrupt at times but I eventually got used to it the more I read on. Overall, The Girl from Widow Hills is one of the better thrillers I’ve read this year.

Very suspenseful! Highly recommend this book. Fascinating read. No idea who the murderer was until the end. Could hardly put it down. Will read more by this author.

An interesting look at the impacts a traumatic event can have on peoples lives, what notoriety can do as a result and how one deals with issues of trust.

Loved this book! Very thrilling and surprising.

A very interesting read.Hard to put down.

Love anything from her. Very good read. Couldn't put the book down.