The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda
Arden Maynor was just six years old when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a terrifying rainstorm. Against all odds, Arden was found alive. The girl from Widow Hills, a miracle. Fame followed, her mother wrote a book, and the stalkers poured in. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and disappeared.
Now a young woman living far away from her humble beginnings, Arden has built a life as Olivia Meyer. But the 20th anniversary of her rescue is approaching and the media renews interest. Soon Olivia feels like she’s being watched. And then she begins sleepwalking again. Late one night she wakes up in her yard… next to a dead body. Not just any dead body. One that she knows from her past as Arden Maynor. Her past has finally caught up with her as she becomes the centre of a harrowing story once again.
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Megan Miranda has become my new favourite thriller writer. I binged The Last House Guest this summer and now reading this next one I’m sold, I will continue reading every book she comes out with. She’s excellent at the twists and twists are crucial in a thriller. The Girl from Widow Hills was a slower burn thriller that had a lot of clues but also a lot of red herrings and I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel. This novel also focuses on the frightening aspect of sleepwalking which just gave me absolute chills throughout the entire read.
Olivia Meyer works at the hospital, improving efficiency from the top down. She has a small group of friends but no one that really knows her. She’s lost trust that people care about her for her and not for her fame so she’s built a wall. But this wall could be her downfall. When strange things start happening and her sleepwalking tendencies from childhood rise up, she has no one to turn to for help. After waking up outside next to a corpse, things start going from bad to worse as more strange and dangerous things start happening around this little town Olivia has made her home. Not only that, a mystery from Olivia’s past starts to come into focus proving that she’s more alone than ever and must hurry and connect the dots between her past and her present before something more horrible ends up happening.
Like I said earlier, Megan Miranda is the master of surprising twists. And even though you know this and you’re expecting the twist, she still manages to twist the twist! This book was a lot slower paced than her earlier novel and there was more time to think about the “whodunnit” and it's definitely this more "obvious" format in the beginning that she pulled out all the stops in the second half of the book to trip you up and take you by surprise. And unlike many thrillers, the surprise factor wasn’t just for shock and awe, it all had a place in the plot and in moving forward the story and character development. It was perfect in that regard. The foreshadowing was brilliant.
The ties between Olivia’s past and present were riveting and fleshing out the fallout of a fame based on a childhood accident was very interesting. There’s a case in real life that strongly resembles the fictional one of Arden Maynor in this book. If anyone has heard of the rescue of Baby Jessica, the little girl who fell down an abandoned well, you’ll see the similarities clear as day. And just like in that case, the one in this novel has serious harmful repercussions in the aftermath of an entire community focused on the rescue of one child. The jealousies of fame, the awkward question of where all that donated money went, an expectation of thankfulness from the innocent that was saved. The survivors' entire life is now owed in debt forever to the community that banded together, they belong after that to their rescuers more than they will ever belong to themselves. I thought it was an interesting take on the darker side of that type of fame and it made the happenings in this book all the more ominous, asking us “who can Olivia really trust?”.
The one thing I wasn’t a fan of in this book compared to Miranda's last was the characterization of the main heroine. I found it very hard to relate to her. The author did such a good job of closing Olivia off from the world that she closed her off from readers as well. I couldn’t get into her head in order to rationalize her actions throughout the novel and it frustrated me throughout the entire book. The plot was well done, the writing was great, the thrill was definitely there, it was just the main character that felt like a void. Not only was the relatability aspect missing but a lot of her inner monologue drove me crazy. All I could think about were the things I would have done differently.
All in all, a great book if you’re looking for an exciting thriller that will keep you guessing. Megan Miranda is a great story-teller who manages to create a thrilling atmosphere and compelling story. I do wish our main character was a little more humanized but other than that, it was a fantastic journey. 4 stars on this one!
-Ciao, Taylor-Paige