| Title | : | The Only Survivors |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1668010410 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781668010419 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 339 |
| Publication | : | First published April 11, 2023 |
The Only Survivors Reviews
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Somewhere between 3.5-4 stars
"The only survivors. There were nine of us, at the start."
10 years ago, a school trip turned deadly with only nine survivors. They reunite in the present at a beach house in the Outer Banks to commemorate the anniversary of the accident. Their relationships are filled with tension and distrust as all have secrets about the fateful trip. Now only seven survivors are alive. Who will be the next to die?
The plot is typical MM --it isn't new or unique, but comfortable and familiar. The pacing is slow and tedious at times. The story revolves around Cassidy-- a part-time event planner who is distant from her family and can't commit to a long-term relationship. We don't know much about her except that she felt invisible in high school.
The narrative alternates between the present and “Then.” Chapters in the present are narrated solely by Cassidy and “Then” by varying survivors. I liked the “Then” chapters more, as they offered something different.
I grew tired of Cassidy’s voice; her affect is flat, as she is almost devoid of emotion. I didn’t care one way or another for her. I was more intrigued by the others, perhaps because we only get snippets from their POVs. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable or empathetic.
My favorite part of this book was the atmosphere. This time, MM transports readers to the Outer Banks. With a deadly storm on the horizon, she creates a narrative that mirrors the feelings of the impending storm: trapped, dangerous, risky, and filled with doom and gloom. This element of the novel was immersive.
The ending was a bit ho-hum. I wasn’t surprised by the events, and the big secret was lame. The final final final twist was interesting and kind of sad.
The Only Survivors is the middle of the road compared to previous MM books--it's not her worst or the best. The mystery behind the survivors was engrossing until the end, the characters were forgetful, but the atmosphere was worthy of 5 stars.
I received an ARC of this book from Scribner in exchange for an honest review. -
Another unputdownable thriller from the queen of brilliant settings and slow burning mysteries!
This slow burn, claustrophobic mystery made me assumptions till I reached the last chapter. Tension slowly builds and when things finally escalated you feel the exact goosebumps, sitting at the edge of your seat, increasing your reading speed to find out the big revelation. The author successfully didn’t give much away and the final twists make you scream WTH! I didn’t see them coming!
This is story of nine survivors! They were innocent high school kids on the school trip, surviving from van accident, living with guilt, harboring secrets, celebrating their lives by meeting at the cabin called the Shallows: as the townies also call “ The Ghost House”.
They made a pact to let the bygones be bygones, not talking about the tragic event which changed their lives forever!
They were nine! But a decade later they are only seven! One of them committed suicide as the other overdosed!
They keep coming to the Shallow at each year: because it’s a place of safety, and retreat, isolated from the rest of the world, and surrounded on all sides by the endless deep.
Cassidy, Josh, Brody, Hollis, Amaya, Oliver, Grace were the last ones standing! But will they stay alive longer? Somebody is watching the Shallow, playing mind games with them.
Cassidy finds a cell phone at the sea, the same phone she has gotten message about the obituary of Ian who was one of them. The message convinced her to come back to the Shallow! But now she realizes Ian’s death might not be accident. He tried to reach her before he died. He messaged her that she was the only one he could trust. Could one of them mess with the others and decide to talk with the authorities about what really happened at that tragic night? But most importantly could one of them be killer targeting the rest of the group?
I loved the smart twists and how things were wrapped up adroitly! I was planning to give four stars but smart ending made me give extra half star and round up 4.5 to 5 slow burn mystery, cabin in the woods stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Scribner/ S&s / Marysue Rucci Books for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
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I really enjoyed Megan Miranda’s last two books, “The Last To Vanish” and “Such A Quiet Place”, but I seem to be an OUTLIER with this one.
The author returns with another SLOW BURN mystery (which I don’t mind) which oozes with atmosphere, and has her signature two time lines-the PAST told in reverse chronological order, and the PRESENT which unfolds in real time.
A DECADE ago, two vans filled with high school seniors, crashed into a Tennessee ravine, killing all but NINE students who managed to escape the raging river, in the middle of a storm.
Amaya, Clara, Grace, Oliver, Joshua, Ian, Hollis, Brody and Cassidy (who is our present day narrator).
They weren’t really friends when the accident occurred but what they survived together has created a bond of sorts. When Clara commits Suicide a year after the tragedy, they decide to meet ANNUALLY at a beachfront rental property owned by Oliver’s family, known as The Shallows, as a way to keep tabs on each other, and to make sure that their pact to keep secret all of the details from that night remains intact.
Yet, ten years after the tragedy, they aren’t really friends now either, and Cassidy has decided that a decade is long enough. She has changed her phone number and deleted all of their contact information, in an attempt to move forward from the Survivor’s guilt and remorse.
On the morning she would’ve been leaving for the tenth year reunion, she gets a text from an unknown phone number, informing her that another one of the Survivors is dead.
Their secrets from the SEVEN hours prior to rescue refuse to let go.
The SEVEN who remain gather at the property, and the charade continues, with sand, swimming, and S’mores over a sizzling campfire until ANOTHER one from the group disappears. Can they really trust one another?
Are they being lured to the Outer Banks each year by someone who isn’t as forgiving as they pretend to be? Will all seven still be alive at the end of the SEVEN day retreat?
I had two issues with this one.
First, it’s a challenge when there is a large cast of characters to really get to know any of them, and with the exception of Cass, that is the case here, as well. As a reader who enjoys strong character development, that is one reason that this one missed the mark for me. We learn the bare minimum about each, so I never grew to care for or empathize with any of them.
Second, the story just wasn’t holding my attention but I was hoping for a huge payout by the end. Unfortunately, the reveal didn’t surprise me.
While this one may not have been my favorite by the author, I am still a fan, and I look forward to her next!
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank You to Scribner/ Marysue Rucci Books for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for a candid review! -
This was a very slow burn, too much for me honestly. I also don't like it when everyone knows something that the reader doesn't, and that made it more of a frustrating read than it needed to be. Couple this with a large cast of characters that aren't well defined made the book a chore to get through. Overall, there are a couple of good twists and surprises, so it's a decently successful read in the end.
Ten years ago, two vans carrying high school seniors crashed through a guardrail and went over a cliff and into a river during a storm. Many people died, but nine of them survived. One girl, Clara, committed suicide a year later, so the rest of the survivors have decided to gather each year at Oliver's family beach house to keep their bond strong. Cassidy, who narrates the story, is at a good place in her life and decides that it's time to cut ties with these people and move forward. But she gets a text from a mysterious number with information that Ian, yet another one from their group, has recently died. She decides to join the group one last time. What secrets are they all keeping about the incident? When they gather together, mysterious things keep happening. Does someone know what happened during that fateful trip?
Like I said, I did like the twists. Some I saw coming and some I didn't. But there are just too many characters for me to really care about or get to know, and a couple of them don't even have much time on the page. It takes a long, long time of setup for anything really to get going and happen, which can be frustrating if a person is looking for a faster pace, which is what I wanted. I like this author's writing, but this one didn't engage me much. I didn't really care for Cassidy's character, and since hers is the only POV we get, that impedes the flow.
The book alternates between the events of the past and the present. I liked the time spent in the past better, because it really showed how the group dynamics came into play, and why they acted the way they did.
In the end, I will keep reading books by this author because they are generally pretty good and suspenseful. This might be the case of bad timing for me, as I had just finished a super fast-paced thriller and the plodding pace of this one just didn't work well.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own. -
4.0 stars.— I have a hit and miss relationship with Megan Miranda’s books, and based on how little I’ve heard about “The Only Survivors” I thought this one might be a miss. I couldn’t have been more wrong. “Survivors” is written from the perspective of Cassie, one of 9 survivors of a horrific crash involving two vans transporting students on a school trip. The survivors meet each year to spend a week together to renew their pact of silence they took regarding the details of the wreck and the events immediately afterward. The book begins immediately before the 10th anniversary of the crash and the reader soon becomes aware that two of the original survivors have passed away since the wreck, leaving 7. Cassie decides to attend this reunion and strange things begin happening at the beach house survivors share for the week. I did not see a lot of the twists coming, and the way the author tells the story by interchanging between the sinister behavior at the time of the crash and the current suspicious actions of the 7 survivors during the reunion was effective at building suspense. The only drawback was with so many characters from both the past and the present, it was hard to get too attached to the characters or the book because I was too busy trying to keep track of who everyone was and who went with whom. However, all in all Ms. Miranda did an excellent job of keeping me guessing until the end with a very entertaining story that held my interest for the entirety of the book.
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The Only Survivors is an atmospheric thriller following a cast of characters dealing with survivors’ guilt.
Since a tragic accident on a school trip ten years ago, the nine remaining survivors made a pact to reconvene on the yearly anniversary.
Cassidy Bent is one of the nine survivors, but she’s cut the others out of her life in an effort to move on. And she did until she received an email about the yearly gathering with an obituary link to one of the survivors.
When Cassidy arrives at the meeting house, the vibes are off, and a few feel like someone is watching them.
This thriller follows Cassidy’s perspective with alternating chapters from the survivors at the time of the accident.
The characters all have distinct personalities, so there was no getting them mixed up. Even though they were distinct, they were slightly underdeveloped. But it’s a thriller, so I don’t always expect stellar characterizations, especially when dealing with so many characters.
The story became much more interesting to me when the chapters about the accident began. Before that, it was hard to understand their motivations for meeting annually when it appeared they were barely friends.
The ending picked up the pace, and some reveals were surprising, if not mind-blowing.
I had fun reading this one. And although I only finished it a few days ago, I can barely remember the details. So it may not be that memorable of a read, but it is enjoyable in the moment.
If you enjoy slow burn thrillers brimming with atmosphere, you may like this one.
3.5 rounded down.
Thank you to Marysue Rucci Books for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
https://booksandwheels.com -
The Only Survivors is a thriller set at a remote location near the ocean where high school friends who survived a crash of two vans meet annually. Initially there were nine survivors but now they are down to seven survivors.
They have harbored secrets about what really happened at the accident site and they want to ensure that all of them stick with the same script. Things start to unravel.
At times, the pace is a little slow, but I read it in one day because the plot and characters were interesting. -
I wanted to love this book, I really did… Unfortunately I just could not connect with anything in this story. My mind kept wandering off as I was reading this, and I had to keep going back to reread several pages, paragraphs, and sentences. I was truthfully a bit bored with this one.
This story is about a group of survivors (can’t call them friends, because they’re not), who meet up once a year after having survived a horrific tragedy ten years prior. One of the survivors, Cassidy Bent, is the only one who wanted to distance herself from this group. So in the year leading up to our eventful ten year gathering, Cassidy changed her phone number and sent all her emails to junk mail. However, someone was still able to contact her to let her know that one of her survivor friends, Ian, had died. Because of this text, Cassidy decides to meet up one more time to find out what happened to Ian.
The gathering place for the surviving group is a house in which they call “The Shallows” and only this group knows about this house. The Shallows remains vacant the rest of the year until this group arrives. While Cassidy is at the gathering at The Shallows, she starts to learn more and more about the other survivors- things she has overlooked in the past. And has someone been watching them?
I feel that this story had great potential, but for me it just moved way too slow. I also could not connect or empathize with any of the characters (which I felt I should have). I have read other books by this author that I have really enjoyed. This book is not one of my favorites by Miranda, but I will still be watching for future reads from her in hopes that I enjoy the next one much more. -
Cassidy Bent has no intention of attending the only survivors annual reunion at The Shallows, the beachside home belonging to one of them. That is until she hears of the death of Alan. Amaya, Clara, Grace, Oliver, Joshua, Ian, Hollis, Brady and of course, Cass are bound together by the miracle that there are any survivors at all from the 2013 disaster. The story is told Then and Now via which we gradually learn what/how they survive and what they have collectively guarded as secret. However, is the truth genie finally out of the bottle?
One of the strongest elements of the book is the superb atmosphere that Megan Miranda creates. The claustrophobic sensation of being trapped is intense and nothing feels right with an off kilter unbalancing effect. The Shallows is a really good setting for the unravelling, the house gives a creepy ghostly vibe with the beach and the weather adding a moody and ominous dimension. This is used very effectively with some very good descriptions.
The mystery surrounding the events of 2013 becomes intriguing very quickly and the tense dynamics of 2023 are puzzling and fascinating. It’s clear that a number of dangerous things lurk just beneath the surface in both timelines and it doesn’t take much scratching to reveal the fear. It’s obvious that 2013 cast a huge shadow over their lives and they’re almost inert because of it. There are some really good twists towards the end some of which I don’t anticipate!
However, yes, it’s a slow burner psychological thriller but at times it’s a bit too slow with some points being hammered home repetitively. Cassidy is the principal narrator and she’s rather unemotional maybe deliberately so as a form of self protection but this is even when one big revelation smacks her between the chops.
Overall though despite the reservations I enjoy the book. I keeps my attention throughout especially my desire to get to the elusive truth and that when it comes is well played.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review. -
I’ve spent a good bit of time hanging out in church basements the last 30-odd years, and one of the sayings you often hear is, “We’re only as sick as our secrets.”
And boy, is that ever apparent in the cast of characters in Megan Miranda’s slow-burn mystery, The Only Survivors.
Ten years ago, returning from a high school service project, two vans were in a tragic accident and only nine students survived.
Bound by this horrific ordeal, the survivors make a pact to come together each year to commemorate it.
Moving between the present and flashbacks to the night of the accident, this haunting story explores the psychological and emotional impacts of trauma, grief, and survivor guilt.
The setting of a beachfront property in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, with its looming storm and closed roads, heightens the sense of tension and urgency.
The weight of the individual and collective secrets they’ve held for the past decade has influenced each of the survivors’ young lives. The secrets bind them to one another — but also to the past — and hinder their ability to move on.
I have to say, for a group of adults, they sure think and behave like teenagers. Did their emotional development get stunted at the time of the tragedy? Perhaps.
Or maybe Ms. Miranda, who has also written several young adult books, is just more comfortable writing characters of a young(er) age? I dunno.
But sadly, I had a difficult time connecting and/or empathizing with any of the survivors. In fact, at times I found a few darn right annoying — hello there, Grace, who like a broken record implores the others during the final climactic scene, “Don’t tell.”
Say, what??? *insert facepalm here*
Okay, everyone in the van, pronto! You are all in need of serious help. I’m driving. -
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I really enjoyed two previous books by this author. Both
Such a Quiet Place and
The Last to Vanish were four star reads for me. I liked this one but I didn't love it. This is a slow burner and sometimes that can be a good thing as it adds anticipation but in this case, I found it a little too slow and it just didn't hit the mark for me.
I did, however, love the format of the book, going backwards in time and the two timelines of past and present but I found the large group of characters a little hard to follow and keep straight with the mix of timelines and it was hard to get an understanding of them.
I also found that the ending lacked any element of surprise as I had it figured out before I got to the reveal. Would I recommend this particular book? The answer is no. Would I read this author again? Most definitely.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy. -
2.5 Stars, generously rounding up to 3. Miranda can definitely write that prose, but my goodness are her books so BORING! With 89 pages left to read nothing had happened whatsoever and I thought about DNF'ing it but since it somehow was selected as a BOTM selection for April I decided I would try to get my money's worth. I should have known better as the last several of her novels have been the same. A lot of over detailing on unimportant things and stalling the story for what seems like hundreds of pages until an ending that you kind of go 'meh' to. She has absolutely beautiful book covers but that's about it. This one had a lot of characters which I could not connect with at all and kept confusing because they weren't really fleshed out enough for me to individualize them, with exception to a couple of them, so a good portion of this novel I was a little bit confused about who was who and which direction this story would take. In the end it was as predictable as I feared it would be.
I think it's safe to say I'm done reading this author's books. She gets me with those beautiful covers and they do look wonderful on my bookshelf, but that's about it. I'm sure many will disagree with me on this one, and that's okay, it just really disappointed me, again. Well, what are you going to do?! Time to move on to the next! -
A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed into a Tennessee ravine—a tragedy that claimed the lives of multiple classmates and teachers. The nine students who managed to escape the river that night were irrevocably changed. A year later, after one of the survivors dies by suicide on the anniversary of the crash, the rest of them make a pact: to come together each year to commemorate that terrible night.
To keep one another safe.
To hold one another accountable.
Or both.
Their annual meeting place, a house on the Outer Banks, has long been a refuge. But by the tenth anniversary, Cassidy Bent has worked to distance herself from the tragedy, and from the other survivors. She’s changed her mobile number. She’s blocked the others’ email addresses. This year, she is determined to finally break ties once and for all. But on the day of the reunion, she receives a text with an obituary attached: another survivor is gone. Now they are seven—and Cassidy finds herself hurling back toward the group, wild with grief—and suspicion.
Almost immediately, something feels off this year. Cassidy is the first to notice when Amaya, annual organizer, slips away, overwhelmed. This wouldn’t raise alarm except for the impending storm. Suddenly, they’re facing the threat of closed roads and surging waters…again. Then Amaya stops responding to her phone. After all they’ve been through, she wouldn’t willfully make them worry. Would she? And—as they promised long ago—each survivor will do whatever he or she can do to save one another. Won’t they?
Wow. Just wow. There were so many things to love about The Only Survivors. From the gripping and utterly genuine trauma roiling around the cast of characters to the atmospheric setting of the Outer Banks (a place I know and love), I felt this book came away true-to-life through and through. Especially how the damage of a traumatic event can wreck havoc on one’s life. So a large round of applause on that, Ms. Miranda!
Told primarily by Cassidy Bent in the present, there were also a handful of extremely tense and riveting POVs from the past that gave me a Lord of the Flies feeling. As much as the former was a slow burn of perfectly drawn out suspense, the latter was anything but predictable and I hungrily ate up every word. Ultimately, the plot of this one, while perhaps not all that original, felt eerie and chilling and succeeded 100%, in my opinion.
The only piece that fell a little flat to me was who was behind the evil deeds. Because, unfortunately, I was able to see though the subterfuge and guessed part of the conclusion. Not enough to ruin it, but with part of the surprise taken out of the reveal, I felt somewhat disappointed in the end. But have no fear, there was yet more to learn and THAT I did not guess in the least!
All said and done, however, I had one heck of a good time being taken on this ride. As long this one is approached as a suspense novel and not a thriller, this tale will keep you captivated to be sure. And, for whatever reason, I still found myself racing to find out what really happened all those years ago and how the story was going to conclude for them all. In the end, this one easily ranked up as one of my favorites by the author. So, despite some rather mixed reviews, I hope you choose to pick this one up and give it a try. I’m certainly glad I did. Rating of 4.5 stars.
Trigger warning: vehicular accident, suicide, drug addiction, gaslighting
*Synopsis provided by the publisher. -
The least relaxing trip to the beach ever…….
Book Information
The Only Survivors was written by Megan Miranda. Its expected publication date is April 11, 2023, and it is 352 pages. Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls; The Perfect Stranger; The Last House Guest, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick; The Girl from Widow Hills; Such a Quiet Place; and The Last to Vanish. Thanks to Scribner for providing me with an advanced reader copy for review.
Summary
It’s the tenth anniversary of a horrible accident. A decade ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school service trip crashed claiming the lives of all but nine. A year after, one of the survivors dies on the anniversary of the crash and the rest decide to gather each year on the anniversary to support each other.
Cassidy Bent has had enough. She doesn't want to make the annual trip anymore. She has tried to distance herself and move on….but she gets sucked back in after receiving terrible news about another survivor and, despite her intentions, makes the trip to their usual spot in the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina for the tenth anniversary.
But, something isn’t right…..people are on edge. The organizer leaves and doesn’t return, and a massive storm is on the way which promises to shut down the only roads in and out of town.
They are all there to support each other---or are they?
My Thoughts
The Only Survivors is both an easy read and a page-turner. Like a Russian nesting doll, each time you think you know what's going on, the story opens up to reveal a new layer of truth. It's a wild ride that will keep you guessing until the very end.
The story is well-paced and will keep you intrigued. I was so engrossed in the book that I would give my wife short updates as I was reading (we used to vacation in the Outer Banks). Even with just snippets of information, she was tense and a bit creeped out.
Miranda makes masterful use of different points of view, flashbacks, and red herrings to keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering what exactly is happening. Just about every assumption you make will be wrong as new information is provided and hairpin twists make your head spin.
It was an enjoyable book that I recommend.
Recommendation
If you like mysteries that keep you guessing and that are a pleasure to read—give this one a shot. Recommended.
Rating
4 OBX Stars -
Seeeecrets!!!
A high school excursion turns deadly.
Ten years on, the sole survivors of that awful night have been meeting at a beachfront property on the anniversary of their rescue. It is a support group of sorts, a way to get each other through the memories of that horrific tragedy ...
...and also to make sure that everyone is KEEPING THE SECRET.
You get tantalizing hints of what that secret might be, and all of the horrifying twists toward the end just keep you gasping.
Megan Miranda is a pro at creating atmosphere, misdirection and suspicion with her words. The Only Survivors reminds me (just a wee bit) of her earlier YA thrillers - but with grownups messing everything up instead. The sense of dread keeps building until you just can't put your ereader down. Forget that deadline or the dishes: you gotta know whodunnit!!!
The ending had all the skillful twists - and then some! (No spoilers here!)
This one stayed with me well after I turned the last e-page. What would YOU do in their circumstances? How would YOU rationalize how much of the truth was told, and WHO TO TRUST???!!!
Five out of five impressive stars for this well-written, atmospheric nail-biter! My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. -
Megan Miranda delivers another expertly crafted thriller that oozes with suspense and atmosphere. At this point, I think I'm what the young kids call a stan for Miranda. I've enjoyed all of her adult books, only rating one of them a 3 star.
The plot is too complex to dive into and I recommend going in knowing as little as possible. The chapters bounce around from present (10 years after the accident) and the past (directly after the accident). The chapters in the past are in reverse which was incredibly well layered and executed. Reminded me a lot of her first adult thriller, All The Missing Girls.
Be warned this is a slower burn, but I still found it unputdownable. I needed to know where this was going. As Miranda usually does, she engineers a healthy dose of red herrings and suspicious suspects to keep your head spinning. Then she slaps with you multiple twists and satisfying reveals.
I did follow the bread crumbs correctly this time and identified the culprit. I don't think it was that obvious, but who knows, because I'm usually terrible at nailing the baddie. Just tooting my own horn (toot toot!).
Cheers to Miranda getting me off a rough print book reading slump!
April 2023 BOTM selection. -
closer to 4 stars than 3, i’ll settle with 3.5! rounded up for GR.
the beginning of this one had me hooked, but i don’t think the super slow burn paid off in the end. the setting was great, the suspense was there for sure, and the friend group drama was interesting to me. i definitely enjoyed the plot!
i’m not sure what i wanted with the ending, but it felt like a lot of “telling” and not “showing”? i think it just needed more executionally. i was definitely vibing with it, but it took me a week to finish which is typically not a great sign.
fave part about it—this cover!!!!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 easily one of the best of 2023.
do we want a full review in feed?? lmk! -
Is this cover 🔥 🔥🔥🔥or what?? @meganlmiranda is always a win for me. 💜 So I was absolutely thrilled to receive this gorgeous gifted copy!! Thank you @scribnerbooks @dartfroggco !! 🥰🥰🥰
If you have read her books you know that she is a master of creating a fantastic atmospheric read. A house 🏠 on the Outer Banks… a yearly getaway with friends… or so it seems…🤔… the neighbors have all been whispering….why does this group of 9…. oh wait.. 8….oh … 7…😳… keep coming to this secluded area?🤷♀️🤔…Why do they keep dying??? 😬🤫
This was a slow burn 🔥… but sit back and simmer because… it’s about to take off… a tragedy bonded this group for life… or was it the secrets 🤫 they hold… or the lies they tell themselves?? 😬🤐
I had no idea 🤷♀️ what was really going on here! I did not trust even one person… I wasn’t sure if they were friends or enemies??!!🤔Sooo many secrets!!! 🤫🤫 -
I was going to give this book 2-3 stars as it was fine. But the ending had me FUMING. I was literally ranting to my husband. Anyway- here it is.
So first… it’s always the boyfriend. The killer/tormentor just wasn’t a shock to me.
The second big reveal was who murdered Ben but it was really convoluted so. I think it was Grace but who’s to say really? Not a great reveal.
But the last reveal… you’re telling me that an 18 year old CHILD still in high school was abandoned on the side of a mountain by her teachers… and somehow she’s to blame for the accident? Excuse me? Negligence is to blame for this accident! Ya know what you do anytime you get in and out of a vehicle on a field trip as a teacher? ROLL CALL. If Cassidy had been in the van, there would have been no accident. I’m flabbergasted, honestly. -
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
Once upon a time in 2019, I read Megan Miranda( The Last House Guest) and I liked it so much that I swore I would read more of her books. Sadly, I have made this promise to several other authors. 🤷♀️ Here I approach 2023 humble and asking for a second chance.
Novel Premise: A group of adults gathers together once a year to remember the tragic accident that took members of their school and two teachers. With two of their fellow comrades already dead and another one missing, it soon becomes clear that someone out there is watching and they want "the survivors" to reveal their secrets once and for all.
As the plot unfolds in the present from the perspective of Cassidy Bent, one of the survivors, and the past which includes snippets from the other survivors on the day of the accident, I lay fixated on my couch. I knew that somebody's perspective was unreliable but I couldn't figure out who. It was a slow-burn suspense and I did feel that some storylines( like Cassidy and the neighbor) didn't quite have a satisfying conclusion. Overall, I enjoyed it and can easily see this being made into a movie.
Expected Publication Date 11/04/23
Goodreads Review Published 22/03/23 -
Loved this book! Read it in a single-sitting. Had one of those endings where I immediately had to call another reader to share my shock and awe. Reminded me of one of my other fav novels, Riley Sager’s FINAL GIRLS
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Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrators Alex Allwine, Erin Moon, Andre Bellido, Inès Del Castillo, Michael Crouch, Priya Ayyar, Greg Chun -
by the time something happened in this book, i just didn't care anymore
2.5 stars -
Thank you so much to Marysue Rucci Books and Megan Miranda for my copy of The Only Survivors! It is about the tenth anniversary of the tragic day that two vans full of high school students went over a cliff into a ravine and killed students and teachers. Nine students were able to escape the river, but just one year later, one of the survivors dies by suicide. As the tenth anniversary approaches, nine goes down to eight as another of the group commits suicide.
The group created an annual retreat to be together on the anniversary and hopefully stop their numbers from dwindling. This year Cassidy does not want to attend, and has worked hard to distance herself from the others. When she changes her plans last minute, she arrives to feel that something is off. Not only is a storm coming, but now one of the remaining seven is missing and they can’t help but wonder if there is something much darker at play.
Thoughts: This book was so much deeper than I thought it would be. It was sad to read about the tragedy and all of the complex emotions that went along with it. The book switched from present time at their yearly retreat and each individual perspective the night of the accident. It was gripping from the beginning and became more claustrophobic as the story went on. Each character was interesting and unique and fun to read about.
Even though the main twist wasn’t a surprise, there were still lots of little twists along the way that made it intriguing. It was a bit slow at times, but I still think it was a fun summer thriller. I recommend it to anyone who likes a twisted, character driven mystery. This may be my new favorite of hers! 4.5 stars! -
I love Megan Miranda's thrillers! The Only Survivors solidified this. This book is full of twists and turns, tense, and has the kind of plot that keeps me personally intrigued! If you're a psychological thriller fan you can't go wrong with any of her books! This one is absolutely perfect for your beach bags this summer!
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SYNOPSIS: A group of former classmates reunite to mark the 10th anniversary of a tragic accident only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.
⛵️REVIEW: Well folks, it’s been well over TWO months since I’ve read a book I haven’t liked, so it’s about time that I come across a dud.
And boy, was this one a DUD.
I’ve been on a massive thriller kick recently, so I was excited to pick up this mystery and fly through it. Let me tell you - this thing couldn’t have been any further from suspenseful or thrilling. Forgive my bluntness, but it was just an absolute snooze fest. The overall story, and even small scenes and events, were incredibly redundant, where I felt like I was on a hamster wheel, just spinning and reading the same thing over and over again with nothing new happening. Where was the action?!
You know (as is common with many thrillers/mysteries) when an author is trying to build suspense, giving hints to the ultimate event that impacted the characters, but not revealing what truly happened so you’re on the edge of your seat wondering WHAT’S GOING ON with the characters in the book? This was happening here, only the hints and lead up were just incredibly boring, to the point where I was like - tell me or not, I really don’t care - I just want to finish this book. I also felt the ending was fairly predictable, and the climax was absolutely anticlimactic. I was left feeling… “Oh.. this is it?!”
So I feel I’ve been a bit harsh, and as I always want to find the positive, as I know *I* could never construct a fiction novel, I will say the author did a good job of describing the atmosphere and constructing a nice cast of characters.
This is my 2nd book by Miranda, and as I rated The Last House Guest 1.5 stars, I feel that maybe she isn’t the author for me. If you’re a fan of slow burns though, I encourage you to give it a try - it will be out April 11th!
⛵️VERDICT: 2 STARS ⭐️⭐️
Thank you to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! -
Los supervivientes de un accidente de autobús escolar se reúnen cada año. En el décimo aniversario uno de ellos desaparece. Ahora muchos secretos guardados comienzan a salir a la luz.
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Bruh.
I have seen Megan Miranda all over bookstagram, her books always catch my eye but I was always too scared to pick up one of her books because so many people love her books and writing style.
This was my first Megan Miranda book ever, and I must say, I sure hope her others are better than this one. If you've been following my posts on Goodreads, I guessed the major plot twist by page 32.
(I know you're thinking I'm being dramatic, nope, I had a guess in my head after reading a page and thought to myself "imagine how silly it would be if this is who the killer is." I made a mental note that I made that guess on page 32 and here we are).
If you enjoy slow burns, this one was the slowwwwwest of burns, to the point where I was getting bored with wondering where the hell the author was going with the flashbacks. I found myself super confused because of the extra characters in the flashbacks, and I also felt (this could just be me) that I wasn't able to see the scene of the flashbacks at all - it felt like it was either not described well, or over described to the point where I didn't know what I was seeing in my mind. (if that makes sense at all LOL)
The ending gave more questions than answers - I found myself saying out loud "HUH?" and there's a huge plot point that we just never got an answer to...
I am not impressed by my introduction to Miranda's books - I will of course give her another shot but I need some recs for your favorites of hers because clearly I'm not good at choosing myself. -
I've read 4 Megan Miranda books and this one is my favorite. Definitely a slow burn mystery. I wish the "past" chapters where in chronological order (it would have been easier to picture/understand what all was going on), but overall I enjoyed it!
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OMG!! This book was so boring.
That's all...that's the review.
