While I understand starting a book off slowly to focus on the characters and give us readers time to understand the dynamics, I still think Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda could have been paced better. Yes, this may be a minor thing, but when it made me reconsider continuing, I think it counts.
Title: Such a Quiet Place
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense
Publication Date: July 12, 2021
Review Date: Oct 27, 2025
Number of Pages: 337 (hardcover)
My Rating: 2.5/5
Buy here:
Book Blurb of Such a Quiet Place:
Welcome to Hollow’s Edge, where you can find secrets, scandal, and a suspected killer—all on one street.
Hollow’s Edge use to be a quiet place. A private and idyllic neighborhood where neighbors dropped in on neighbors, celebrated graduation and holiday parties together, and looked out for one another. But then came the murder of Brandon and Fiona Truett. A year and a half later, Hollow’s Edge is simmering. The residents are trapped, unable to sell their homes, confronted daily by the empty Truett house, and suffocated by their trial testimonies that implicated one of their own. Ruby Fletcher. And now, Ruby’s back.
With her conviction overturned, Ruby waltzes right back to Hollow’s Edge, and into the home she shared with Harper Nash. Harper, five years older, has always treated Ruby like a wayward younger sister. But now she’s terrified. What possible good could come of Ruby returning to the scene of the crime? And how can she possibly turn her away, when she knows Ruby has nowhere to go?
Within days, suspicion spreads like a virus across Hollow’s Edge. It’s increasingly clear that not everyone told the truth about the night of the Truetts’ murders. And when Harper begins receiving threatening notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else becomes the killer’s next victim.
Book Review of Such a Quiet Place:
I expected this book to be slow burn, but it was reaalllyyy slow at the beginning. I almost stopped reading it a couple of times to be honest, but the premise was interesting enough to keep me going. While I understand starting a book off slowly to focus on the characters and give us readers time to understand the dynamics, I still think it could have been paced better. Yes, this may be a minor thing, but when it made me reconsider continuing, I think it counts.
The blurb says it’s an idyllic community, but turns out that’s just surface level. They all have camera and a community message board and they’re always, always watching one another. I don’t do spoilers so don’t worry, I’m not going to get into specifics. Almost the entire first half focuses on what the blurb has already told us – Ruby is back in town and the community has opinions. That’s about it. The story is narrated from Harper’s point of view, and Ruby is staying with her.
Getting to the second half, it’s spoiler-y territory. I will say this: it gets more interesting and layered. There’s also a bit of a will-she-won’t-she about Harper being an unreliable narrator, but obviously if I say something either way, it would be a spoiler. I will say that bit is quite well done. The second half almost made it worth sticking through the first half. It got quite twisty there for a bit, and I really breezed through those chapters.
I don’t usually find myself so divided between two halves of a book, but there you have it. Now for something slightly unexpected, at least to myself – I did not find this to be a satisfying conclusion; I didn’t like how it played out. When I started to enjoy the second half – not coincidental that this was when the story finally picked up pace – I assumed the story would wrap up nicely as well.
In my opinion – maybe a bit controversial (I generally avoid looking up reviews before I write my own so I’m not sure of the general consensus on this book) – there were loose ends, things that went nowhere, and things that didn’t add up. I can only conclude that I am probably not the right fit for this author’s books, even though I adore this genre. Overall, it was a decent read, even fun in parts.
Here are some other mysteries and thrillers worth a read! I still think no-one does thrillers like Gillian Flynn. If you like mysteries more, I do adore Agatha Christie.
