The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith is a creepy, yet not too intense mystery. Sienna’s twin, Samantha died nearly a year ago, when the story opens. Sienna doesn’t feel like the death was purely accidental, as the police think. Without proof, though, Sam’s death was ruled a tragic accident.

When Sienna gets a surprise invitation to join Sam’s friend circle in a weekend retreat to mourn Sam’s loss at the anniversary of her death, Sienna feels pulled to it as a way to find out if there are any clues or other explanations for Sam’s sudden death that she can learn from Sam’s friends.

This was how Sienna agreed to go to a cabin in the middle of the woods with her late sister’s friends, convinced that one of them was a killer or knew something about her sister’s death.

This book is suspenseful, but not super terrifying, as there was enough foreshadowing to ease the reader into the surprises and shocking revelations. By the end of this book, I was ready for anything, as so much was not as it seemed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this audioARC!!

The Weekend Away is a thriller with heart. The story explores relationships among friends and family without becoming too sappy. I enjoyed the pace of the book, and found it to be engaging throughout. The twists in the story were fairly unsurprising. Overall, I liked the story and finished it quickly. Miranda Smith is an author I will be looking at for future thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoture for the opportunity to listen to The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith audiobook in exchange of an honest review.

"In Miranda Smith's gripping novel, 'The Weekend Away,' the contrasting lives of twins Sierra and Samantha set the stage for a suspenseful and captivating story. While Sierra is off exploring the world, she receives the catastrophic news of her sister's tragic death due to a balcony accident. But when she stumbles upon Samantha's journal a year later, Sierra becomes driven by a fierce determination to prove that one of Samantha's so-called friends was responsible for her demise. Accepting an invitation to spend Memorial Day weekend with this group of friends, Sierra embarks on a dangerous mission to confront the guilty party, unearthing a series of dark secrets along the way. As the tension builds, the body count rises, and Sierra finds herself entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Miranda Smith skillfully crafts a thrilling narrative filled with twists, turns, and unexpected revelations that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. From the contrasting personalities of the twins to the chilling atmosphere of the weekend getaway, 'The Weekend Away' delivers a rollercoaster ride of suspense and intrigue. Prepare to be captivated from beginning to end, as secrets unravel and the truth behind Samantha's death is finally unveiled. 100% recommended for thriller/suspense fans.

This is another great thriller. Sienna’s twin dies in a tragic accident falling over a balcony. Or was it an accident? Was she pushed? She finds her sisters journal and all the secrets it contains about her friends. After accepting an invitation to a secluded cabin in the woods she confronts her sisters friends. Then a fight to survive begins amid a blazing wildfire. Was her sister killed, was it an accident or maybe suicide.

The Weekend Away by Miranda Smith

Slow-burnt and gripping thriller.

Samantha fell off her balcony. Her twin sister Sienna didn’t believe it was an accident, because she knew her twin very well. Sienna found Samantha’s journal in their secret place, which revealed the dark secrets of her best friends.

Sienna was invited to a memorial trip by Samantha’s best friends in a wood-paneled cabin. She went there because she read the journal. The lies, the cheating, the so-called best friends…Sienna was eager to find out who killed her sister…

The story plot was enjoyable and smartly sculptured. The characters were all playing unique role there. The author cleverly used mainly three POVs in telling the story, from Sienna, Samantha’s journal (those secrets) and the cabin owner (to tell what happened in the past in the cabin). These all created a fuller story.

When I was reading the book, the “who to trust” idea kept me hooked!

I LOVED this book!! Started the audio in the morning, and finished in the afternoon.
The Weekend Away follows Sienna, a twin whose sister died a year ago, and her sister’s friends as they retreat to a cabin in the woods for a weekend. Sienna is determined to figure out the truth about what happened to her sister, but I don’t think she has bargained for half of what goes on…

I could relate a lot to Sienna and her family, having also lost a close family member at a young age.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 4 Oct 2023

The story is about a young woman who has lost her twin sister. It kept me interested with its colorful characters, plentiful details - all slowly revealed, and a lovely and isolated setting in the Smoky Mountains. The mystery is finally solved in the midst of much confusion and terror. It’s a page turner and made an excellent audiobook.

As a thriller, I would have preferred multiple POVs that way I can know the thoughts of other characters and the suspense will be felt. I also think that the way the female main character went about uncovering the truth wasn’t well thought out, the decisions she made did not sit well with me and the book gave off a YA thriller vibe. The motive for killing was not as sinister as I’d have liked it to be(but then, killers don’t always have a good enough reason for killing).

Although, the book didn’t give me all that psychological thriller feel, I quite enjoyed the whole lies and secrets the group of friends told/kept. I’m always going to be a fast pace, thriller loving girl and this book delivered in that aspect, the chapters were short as well. On the characters I can’t really say who I liked most as I didn’t get to really know them.

"A Weekend Away" follows Sienna who goes on a weekend cabin getaway with her twin sisters group of friends. The catch is, her twin sister is dead and this is a memorial trip and Sienna doesn’t really like any of the friends. After Sienna finds her sister’s (Samantha) journal hidden in her old bedroom and finds reasons to suspect all her friends in Samantha death that was ruled an accident.

The first half of this book FLEW by. Miranda Smith did a great job of laying down the groundwork, but I will say the Cabin owner, Troy, seemed like a strange add on. He owns a few cabins he rents out and I felt like way too many chapters were dedicated to this man who, in reality, didn’t matter? His impact in the story overall was not worth the time spent telling his backstory. I wish instead the book took more time developing Sienna as a character vs just the sister on the hunt for truth.

The ending was great, after the reveal, the next realization was an even bigger reveal! One I just didn’t even think about. And that was a great touch.


Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really great listen. This book follows Sienna as she tries to unravel all the secrets surrounding her sisters death the year before.
Vacationing with her sisters friends plus having her sisters diary allows her to unravel what actually happened.
Plenty of surprised and twists I wasn’t expect.
Great job by the narrator. I finished this one in less than a day.

I usually go through books quickly. Especially thrillers because I just have to know what twists are waiting for me. The Weekend Away was a book that I started on a day that I was busy, big mistake. All I could think about was this book and I had to know what happened. I was totally hooked and was counting the seconds until I could get back to it.

Sienna’s twin sister Samatha falls off her balcony and dies. The day before her death Samantha reached out to Sienna letting her know she needed her. She knew her death was suspicious but no one would listen to her.

One year later Sienna goes on a trip with her sister's friends but she is armed with Samantha’s journal. This journal exposes all of her friends and brings their secrets forward. No one can be trusted.

Some of the secrets and lies caught me off guard and I was just not ready for them. Especially what happened to Samantha right before her death. I did not see the conclusion coming and I guessed wrong about what would happen. So many thrillers like this have that one final twist, it’s usually a twist I feel is unneeded and takes things a little too far. This is the first book that has that one more twist right at the end but I actually liked it.

This is a must-read for any thriller fan. I can not wait to see what else Miranda Smith writes!

I am not sure how I feel about this one. Our girl is a twinless twin. Her identical twin sister was either killed, or had an accident, when she fell off her balcony and died.
She ends up going to spend a weekend with her sisters rude ass friends at an isolated cabin. They lock her in a room and burn her sister's journal. Also something happens and a boy her sister liked ends up in the hospital.
She stays because she just has to know what happened.
Anyway, it gets resolved in a pretty sad way.
Lots of terrible things.
It felt a little cheesy in a few parts and the narrator, who is a great narrator, may not have been the right one for this role. She sounds so sweet, but the role involves sweet so it might just be me.
Literally both sisters are perfect? As a mother of twins I wasn't feeling that.
I liked it overall.

The book centres around Sienna whose twin sister Samantha died 'accidently' one year ago. Sienna finds her sister's diary and starts to wonder whether things weren't as they had assumed they were surrounding her death. When she is invited to a memorial event with Samantha's closest friends in a secluded cabin in the mountains she decides it is an opportunity for her to investigate her hunches. Secrets and lies are revealed as some of her friends turn out not to be who people think they are.

The story is skillfully narrated and told from multiple points of view and whilst it is a slow burner the suspense hangs throughout the whole book. Themes of grief, sexual assault, group and family dynamics , addiction and suicide are all crammed into this book. My only criticism would be that I felt some of the characters weren't well developed but the plot drove the book on.

I am grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this audiobook and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Very enjoyable domestic thriller. A "who done it" that weaves you around and around. As many times as you think you have it figured out, you will come around another corner and see more clearly. In addition there are some very likable main characters. Enjoy the ride!

I figured that this would be a good audiobook to start my fall thriller season. It has a lot of what I desire in a thriller-large cast of characters which makes the "whodunit" even more difficult to guess, secluded cabin in the woods with unreliable characters, and it just feels a little unsettling.

I liked the diary aspect, as it gave a voice to Samantha's character and allowed her to be the one to reveal some of the secrets. This was a fast, fun thriller with a lot of unpredictable twists. The cabin setting makes it a cozy fall read.

Book Title: The Weekend Away
Author: Miranda Smith
Narrator: Madeline Pell
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller
Pub Date: October 4, 2023
My Rating: .3.2 stars
Pages: 310

The anniversary of Sienna’s twin sister Samantha’s death is coming up. Five of Samantha’s best friends/business partners have included Sienna for a weekend away to the Smoky Mountains. - A memorial trip one year after Samantha died; with the hopes of finding out what really happened to Samantha.

Sienna doesn’t want to go, but when she finds her Samantha's diary which contains secrets about her boyfriend and closest friends. Sienna now wants to go on the trip as she will find what really happened to her sister as well as who may have killed her

I read a lot of thrillers and love to use my armchair detective skills and figure who whodunit but this ending really was a surprise to me.

My negative about this is that I wasn’t fan of the narrator. Her performance of the characters made them ALL unlikeable.
-Wait a minute – perhaps I am being unfair as most of the characters
ARE unlikeable!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 4,, 2023

I loved everything about this book. The characters were complex, the mystery was fantastic, and everything was wrapped up neatly in the end.

Stars for a book. When it’s a 5 (omg I am forcing you to read and I will probably read it again), or a 1 (hated it and will gladly tell you why), it’s easy. When it falls in between I struggle to quantify and give stars. The Weekend Away is one of those audiobooks.

I finished it in a day and a half, so kudos to Miranda Smith for keeping me invested. It was a slower burn than I’d prefer, but that could be on me and my perimenopause/squirrel brain which currently requires lots of activity.

The premise was interesting - twin sisters, one dies, a diary is found, clues, a weekend away in an isolated location with all the suspects. Very Agatha Christie-ish.

The audio was well done and helped move the story along.

It’s somewhere in the high 3’s for stars, and to be fair to the author who has penned other books I loved, I’m rounding to a 4.

Trigger Warning : Sexual Assault

This was my first time reading anything by Miranda Smith— The main character suspects one of her sisters friends killed her sister and that it wasn’t an accident—The story had good potential and the prologue definitely pulls you in — but about 50% in and not much had happened — the main character is only trying to test her sisters friends to verify they would admit to the information she has read in her sisters diary —The Narrator of the audiobook is good at doing many different female characters voices — and one can tell the male voices from the female. I guess I expected the story to be more faster paced. About 60% in things finally start happening —and started getting a little more interesting—the book is full of lying, stealing, cheating, and murder. 93% in was the most thrilling and tense moment for me reading this book. I have read hundreds of books in this genre — and maybe due to this — I personally found this book too predictable.

I think if you are new to this genre though you will enjoy it !

Thank you NetGalley and Bookature Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ARC in return for an honest review.

Miranda Smith is always twisted, and I mean that in he best possible way.
This book takes some common thriller tropes, family vengeance, the trip from hell, but makes them fresh with her twisted pen. I wanted everybody dead, in the best possible way. Definitely kept me engaged even when I thought I knew what was coming.