Beckett Bowery never thought she’d return to Wyatt Valley, a picturesque college town in the Virginia mountains steeped in tradition. Her roots there were strong: Beckett’s parents taught at the college, and she never even imagined studying anywhere else—until a tragedy her senior year ended with two local men dead, and her roommate on the run, never to be seen again…

For the last two decades, Beckett has done her best to keep her distance. Then her daughter, Delilah, secretly applies to Wyatt College and earns a full scholarship, and Beckett can only hope that her lingering fears are unfounded. But deep down she knows that Wyatt Valley has a long memory, and that the past isn’t the only dangerous thing in town…

For many people, college is an idyllic moment bridging the gap between childhood and adulthood, full of possibility and opportunity. But what happens when that idyllic college experience is not what you thought it would be? In her latest novel, You Belong Here, Megan Miranda takes us on an eerie journey through a small college town with a long memory, exploring the secrets that are unearthed when a woman reluctantly returns to her hometown and alma mater.

After a horrible tragedy struck during her senior year of college, Beckett Bowery has spent her life trying to outrun the accusations that followed her after that fateful night. But when her daughter secretly applies to Wyatt College and gets accepted with a full ride, Beckett has no choice but to return to the collegiate world she abandoned for the sake of her daughter. Upon arriving in her hometown, Beckett soon realizes that the secrets from her past are finally coming to light—secrets that could place both herself and her daughter in terrible danger.

It’s hard not to race through a Megan Miranda novel in one sitting, and I’m not sure there’s any other way I could have read You Belong Here. Every time I intended to set the book down, I found it impossible to tear myself away from Beckett’s story. You Belong Here will satisfy anyone looking to get lost in the perfect beach read this July.