3.25 stars

I kind of struggled with this book and I’m not sure the exact reason why, but I think it’s an accumulation of a few things.

I listened to the audiobook and maybe that’s part of my struggle with this book. The narrator and possibly the writing on the MC Sienna was just too weak/meek of a character for me. For a character who is trying to solve her sister’s potential murder, she didn’t have much aggression in her. This could also be why the book felt like a slow burn.

I had a hard time with all of the characters. They were are unlikeable, flat and I struggled at times to understand why they were Samantha’s friends.

I love some of the twists, but a lot of them were not super surprising. Then I struggled with having to have a rape scene be one of the big surprises. It feels cliche, gross, and not very creative.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Bookouture Audio, Miranda Smith and NetGalley for the prerelease copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book and it got through it in one day.

The performers of the audio book did a fantastic job.

It kept me guessing and I definitely was surprised with the ending. The characters were well developed even though it was basically only a weekend we saw with them.

4ish stars

This was another dramatic and fairly fast-paced thriller. I liked the isolated setting, and the initial premise of the story was promising; the ending had a few different twists to it, and for the most part, I was happy with the way things concluded. I this I’ve read other books from this writer and will continue to check out her work in the future.

This was a nice, slow burn… Sienna lost her twin sister, Samantha a year ago. An accidental death that just did not sit right with Sienna. After finding and reading her twin’s journal, Sienna decides to join her sister’s suspicious friends and ex boyfriend on a weekend memorial at a cabin in the woods. She will finally discover the truth, even to her own demise.
A whole lot of secrets come out during that weekend and everyone seems to have motive for killing Samantha, but who really did it? Who pushed her off that balcony? Which one of these “friends’ is a murderer?
Twisty turns, shocking secrets, betrayals of all kinds. I really enjoyed this thrilling read as I do with all of the author’s books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Miranda Smith for providing me an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this one and the narrator was great! The mystery is interesting and I was hooked from the very beginning. I felt like it might have dragged a bit but all in all it was a solid read.

Great Listen
Lots of twists and turns Sienna's sister committed suicide year ago and when her friends invite Sienna to join them in a holiday lodge to remember her sister as it was something her sister had done with this crowd for years.
Sienna feels guilty as the last voicemail she received from Samantha said three words " I need you " and she didn't respond so she wasn't there when she needed her .
Then Sienna finds Samantha's diary and this convinces her that Sam's " Friends " are hiding things so she decides to join them as things start to unravel
Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to listen to this Audio book

3.5 Stars

Almost precisely one year prior, Sienna's identical twin sister Samantha had tragically passed away. In commemoration of Sam's death, her friends opted to hold a gathering to honor her memory and extended an invitation to Sienna as well. Sienna had always harbored a suspicion that her sister's demise had not been an accident. Her intuition was right when she stumbled upon Samantha's personal journal, which detailed how each of her friends had a motive to want her dead. Now it's up to Sienna to find out what truly happened to her sister and who had done it.

As an avid reader of mysteries and thrillers, I found the novel to be pretty standard. Some of the twists were predictable. But despite that, it was still an entertaining read. I would recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers and mysteries.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Miranda Smith, and Bookouture Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

I am reviewing the audiobook, so first I'll say it was difficult to listen to this book. The narration is distracting. The wrong tone is used throughout and distracts from what the author is trying to say. It's hard to be deep in a mysterious moment when the narration sounds drab or overly excited. Likewise, everyday moments don't need to sound like the narrator is creating a suspenseful moment.

The mystery might have been more successful in print, but the narration was so off and I couldn't get into it. Overall, I wouldn't recommend.

Something about a thriller in a cabin setting just always gets me!

Sienna is invited on a trip to celebrate the memory of her twin sister, Samantha, with Samantha’s former friends and coworkers.

But after finding Samantha’s diary and discovering her friends’ secrets, Sienna had some questions about her sister’s mysterious death and she won’t stop until she finds answers.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange my honest review!

Sienna's sister Samantha died a year ago. There's many unanswered questions about her death and Sienna arranges to catch up with her friend group for a weekend away to honour Samantha's memory. When Sienna finds her sisters diary which provides a lot of information about her friend group that they wouldn't want anyone to know, the mystery surrounding her sisters death deepens. A great thriller set in a good location with plenty of unreliable evil people, 'the weekend away' delivers on its premise of getting to the bottom of a mystery.

Sienna's twin sister falls over a balcony and dies. She finds a journal with her friends hidden secrets.
Sienna knows there was something off about her twins death but can't prove it... yet. She keeps playing murder or suicide but can't decide which until she's get an invitation to mark her twins anniversary a year later from her friends in a secluded cabin. Reluctantly, she goes and meets her twins friends until she solves the mystery.
You can't trust anyone!

Recommended reading of a fast paced thriller

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookoutre Audio

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook-arc. I had such a fun time listening to this audiobook, and the narrator was so enjoyable to listen to! The book itself, while a lot of fun, was pretty cringeworthy at times and extremely far-fetched. Most of the interactions between Sienna and her sister’s friends felt very unnatural/unrealistic. However, as cringey as parts of this book were, it was a great time, and had me guessing until the very end.

When Sienna’s twin suddenly dies in a tragic accident, she’s not sure how to move on.
Until one day she stumbles upon some information from her sister, Samantha. Sienna discovers that her sisters death wasn’t an accident after all and is on a mission to discover who harmed her.
This whodunnit mystery has me reading so fast and breezing through. I didn’t want to stop. It was such a good mystery to get lost in. I couldn’t figure out who it was and and the twists were great.

The narrator, Madeline Pell voice captured my attention throughout. She used a variety of tones and inflections that kept me hooked till the very end.

This book captured me from the beginning, and held my attention for the first half on this fast-paced thriller.

Sienna’s sister’s death leaves the family grieving with more questions than answers. When Sienna is invited to come to a weekend getaway on the one year anniversary of her sister’s death, she questions whether or not to go. The trip includes all of her sister’s friends, who she is not so friendly with after all.

The second half of this book is where I started to get tired of the back and forth, and the characters all seemed to lack real personalities to me. Overall, still an entertaining read and kept me guessing throughout.

Thank you, NetGalley for the audiobook!

A genuinely intriguing tale of the twin sisters and the bond that should keep them together but sadly death of Samantha seems to have left a nasty set of circumstances to unravel for her sister with their friends!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Sienna's is still trying to deal with her twin sister's death on the one year anniversary. She still has so many questions about how Samantha died and why no one was there to help her. So when one of Samantha's friends calls and tells Sienna that the group of Samantha's friends and business partner's are headed back to the scene of the accident for a memorial weekend getaway, Sienna agrees to go along. While Sienna is reminiscing about her twin sister prior to the getaway, she finds Samantha's journal and learns a lot more about Samantha's supposed friends. This was a quick read and it was a good read. Enjoy!!!

The Weekend Away is an intriguing thriller about a young woman who is trying to find answers about the mysterious death of her twin sister a year prior. She agrees to go on a weekend trip to a remote cabin to confront her sisters friends and find out the truth. I enjoyed the story and was engaged through the whole plot. The characters were not as well developed as I would have liked and I didn't feel any personal attachment to them. The dialog also felt a little stiff. I did enjoy this audiobook, however, and would be interested in more by this author.

4-stars

When Sienna sets out on a weekend trip with her sister's friends she had only one goal in mind - to find her sister Samantha's killer. While she is very sure that her sister's death was not an accidental one, why is everyone around her trying to convince her otherwise?
While she is on the mission to find the killer she comes across a journal which has all the surprising details no one else knew about. Did Samantha really like her friends and trust all of them? Was one or all of them the reason she died?
The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith was a very past paced book and the narration was top notch!

Thanks to netgalley, Miranda Smith and Bookouture Audio for approving the audio ARC in exchange for an unbiased review, I totally enjoyed listening to this book!

This was my first entry to Miranda Smith's storytelling. I quite enjoyed this book. It had many themes and trails to follow. It dealt with trauma, betrayal, grief, suicide, bullying and murder. The book follows Sienna as she discovers her twin sister's diary and try to get to the bottom of what happened to her. I really loved the character of Jackson and hope that there would be a love interest later on between him and Sienna. I think the narrations was good and the plot kept my interest. It made me think of a recent case that w.as in the news last year when friends went on vacation to Mexico, and one didn't return and was found dead. This book took many turns and I kept thinking it would go one way, and then it would go another way. I kept thinking please don't be Jackson then I started to think omg it's going to be Jackson, then it just kept shifting. I really enjoyed the ride. I was a bit disappointed at the end, when it said that there would be an extract of Smith's best seller " Not My Mother." I waited to hear the extract and there was nothing! Very disappointing. It also took me a bit longer to finish this book because I had some issues with the Netgalley app. It kept stopping and wouldn't play so I would have to return to it later, just as I was so engrossed in what was happening. That was a bit frustrating as I was definitely invested in this book. Overall, this was a great read, and I can't wait to read more by this author.

The Weekend Away
By Miranda Smith

While Sienna is enjoying traveling the world, Samantha is grounded and has her own company with all of her best friends.
One night Sienna receives a call from Ma saying that Samantha is dead.
A year later, Samantha’s best friend Jackson invites Sienna to a weekend away with all of Samantha’s friends to remember her. Sienna wasn’t going to go until she found Samantha’s diary.
Was Samantha’s accident actually murder? Sienna won’t stop until she gets the answers she desires.

This story & narrator kept me engaged throughout the story. I really enjoyed listening to Sienna and her quest for answers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy in turn for my honest review.