Ten years ago 9 high school students survive a tragic bus crash into a ravine. Several other students and teachers did not survive. They come together every year on the anniversary of the crash at a beach house in the Outer Banks. Now there’s only 7 survivors and one has mysteriously left. They all made a pact and have kept secrets from that fateful night. They aren’t necessarily friends but are bound together by what they went through together. Cassidy isn’t sure who she can trust.

I liked this one but didn’t love it unfortunately. It was a slower pace and had so many characters. Some of the twists at the end I saw coming but some I didn’t. I just didn’t understand the point of some of it. The atmospheric feeling was done really well. There was a sense of foreboding but the ending fell a little flat for me.

Megan Miranda's books seem to always be a complete hit or miss for me. Unfortunately, The Only Survivors was a bit of a miss for me. It started off great and grabbed my attention. Halfway through, I started losing interest and I found myself eyeing the pile of new books on my bookshelf. I didn't give up though, I powered on through it. The story did pick up towards the end, but by then I was annoyed with some of the characters and while it all came together in the end, some things were eye rollingly (is that a word?) convenient. I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it either. I think her fans will still enjoy it, it just wasn't for me. I keep chasing this high she provided with All The Missing Girls, and that's a hard one to beat. I'll keep on picking up her books though and hoping for another one as good as ATMG.
Thank you to Megan Miranda, NetGalley, and Scribner, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. 3.5 stars.


The characters were reasonably well-developed but I just didn’t really think anything interesting was happening. It moved a bit slow. I was prepared to give it 3 stars until the end. The end threw me for a loop in a way I wasn’t expecting, and I thought it was really stunning.

Only the Survivors
3 Stars
Out Now
Thank you @netgalley for the gifted eARC!

I tried with this one, but have mixed feelings. The setting was awesome! There were multiple secluded scenes that were tense and page turning. The read itself was so entertaining.

Where this book fell flat for me was the mere fact I could see right through literally every plot twist apart from the very last 2 pages. I found myself struggling to finish the last 50 or so pages because it was just a matter of everything unfolding that I already solved. I was just hoping to be caught more off guard.

This isn't a favorite for me, but it wasn't bad by any means. It was a good starter thriller and I think it will make a great vacation/beach read.

I plan to read all the missing girls, which is on my shelves currently, as I've heard amazing things!

The Only Survivors is both an easy read and a page-turner.

The story is well-paced and will keep you intrigued and I kept telling my husband about it since we have watched outer banks.

Miranda makes masterful use of different points of view, and flashbacks to keep you on the edge of your seat! 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.

While I think this plot may blur with some of the other thrillers I've read this year, it was highly enjoyable while reading. Megan Miranda just does not miss. While this plot as a whole feels like "read that before" she has enough unique twists/turns/characters to make this feel fresh and well worth a read.

Megan Miranda is hit or miss for me and her last few have just been way too slow. Literally nothing happened in this book for the first 80% or so. Just people thinking someone is watching them. There were a few "twists" at the end but one I predicted and the other one wasn't enough to save it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a compelling and emotionally charged read. The author does an excellent job of portraying the aftermath of a tragic event and how it can impact people's lives for years to come.

The story follows a group of survivors who come together each year to commemorate the anniversary of a deadly school service trip. The characters are well-developed and relatable, each dealing with their own personal struggles and traumas. The tension builds throughout the novel as the group realizes that something is not quite right during their annual reunion.

The setting of the Outer Banks adds an additional layer of tension and danger as a storm approaches, and the characters must navigate their way through the weather while dealing with their own internal conflicts.

Overall, this book is a gripping and thought-provoking read that will stay with you long after you finish the last page. The author tackles important themes of grief, trauma, and the power of friendship and community to help us heal. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a poignant and engaging read.

High hopes. I had high hopes for this one. The premise is so great, survivors reconvene every year on the anniversary of a high school incident that left them the only ones still living. The setting is atmospheric and there's a mystery around every corner. Perhaps too many? It grew a bit tiresome waiting for something to truly be revealed that was detrimental to the plot.

Plus, there were too many characters/motives to keep track of. The story seemed to drag on, and I felt it would've held my attention more if it were clipped a bit shorter.

Overall, it's a great book for those who love slow burning, atmospheric mysteries.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I got this book as an ARC. I truly enjoyed it and it kept me wanting to pick it up to read more. I did have my suspicions about the twist and guessed most of it, but not all.

Overall, I loved that though I have read similar storylines this felt fresh and kept me guessing. I will look for more of Megan’s books as this was my first.

Well worth the read as long as you realize you won’t want to stop reading until it’s finished!

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕧𝕠𝕣𝕤 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: April 11th 2023
Genre: Atmospheric Mystery

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
10 years ago, a school trip turned deadly and left only nine survivors. After one of the survivors turns up dead 💀 they reunite at a beach house 🏠 to commemorate the anniversary of the accident.

Megan Miranda can create an atmosphere 🌲 🌊 🚌.

Miranda alternated the narrative between the present and the THEN. The chapters in the present were narrated solely by Cassidy and THE THEN (past) were narrated by all the survivors. There were a ton of characters but having these chapters helped me understand who everyone was.

As always Miranda immersed me into the atmospheric setting and I felt like I was there during the 🚌 accident and also that I was a 🦌 deer!

As an earth 🌍 and nature 🌲 enthusiast 🫂 I really enjoy Miranda’s books!

A group of friends with a shared past meet year after year, at first for comfort after what seemed to be a horrible accident, then to make sure that no one shared their secrets. The Only Survivors is a real pageturner and kept my attention on the page, wanting to know just what happened that night.

Reading Between the Wines book review #44/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Good Patient
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: Megan Miranda is one of the few authors that I read on site without needing to know what the book is about. I was excited after reading the blurb. It sounded so interesting and had so many tropes that I go after in a psychological thriller. While I really enjoy Miranda’s style of writing, I did not love this one. I loved it as I was reading but I did not love the reveal or the whodunit. The book is interesting all the way through, but I wanted more from the reveal. There is one aspect of the reveal that I REALLY loved but the whodunit just fell flat to me.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Scribner for an advanced copy of @TheOnlySurvivors.

#TheOnlySurvivors #MeganMiranda #Scribner #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

The characters in Megan Miranda's THE ONLY SURVIVORS gather each year after experiencing a trauma together in high school, and the shared, secret details about how their accident on a school trip happened creates intrigue and mystery for the reader. That said, I had questions from the beginning, starting with the reasoning for a social gathering when the character seem very estranged from each other. The explanation is to "keep tabs" on the secrets, though they all seem to resist the idea. Overall, I enjoyed the ride in discovering the cover-ups from the accident, but the twist at the end was evident early on (in my view). Megan Miranda's writing is always very good (I'm a fan), but this wasn't one of my favorites.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read and review!

Perfect palate cleanser - fun to guess what will happen next and I enjoyed the cast of characters! Was a little thrown by the backwards timeline but felt like I got a handle mid way through!

I really enjoyed interviewing Megan for my podcast. This book has a great premise, and I enjoyed seeing how it would unfold.

3.5 Stars
One school trip changed everything for a small town and the few teenagers that survived. Now, ten years later, there are only seven "friends" left and they all still drop everything to retreat to the beach house in memory of that horrific event. Despite going to school together, and surviving the unimaginable, these seven people are practically strangers. Now with the threat of long buried secrets being leaked, they must figure out who among them can be trusted. Will these people team up together, in order to survive this melancholy week? Or will they continue to perish one by one?

Cassidy is not a character readers will love, but readers who have experienced deep trauma/grief will be able to relate to her. Cassidy's strong desire to break the cycle of the past and just forget about the event, drives her actions throughout the whole story. Readers will start out seeing her evaluate each situation and figure out who would be worth saving, unable to escape the survivor instinct that now seems part of her DNA. There are a lot of phrases constantly repeated throughout each chapter, including "the only survivors" which detracts from the title and the story. The Outer Banks setting is perfect for this story. Readers will be able to feel like they are in that shabby beach house, with the storm getting closer. The setting provides so many metaphors for the plot that it amplifies the fact that these seven people are still trapped in the event from ten years ago.

I wanted to love this book. I wanted to read it in one sitting and rave about it for years. Unfortunately, I cannot. I know this is in part due to my illness, messing with my focus and the side effects that had me tied up in knots for weeks. I have set down many books in these last 13 months. However, I did keep going back to this story, because I knew, just knew deep down it would get better. Once I reached the midpoint of the story, I did finish it in two days. I liked the peeling of layers. I liked how it reminded me more of a puzzle, rather than a thriller. And I loved the setting! (The setting is the absolute best part!!!) While this wasn't my favorite story, I know others will absolutely love it.

Notes:

I signed up to honestly review an advanced e-copy of this story via Netgalley and the publisher, Simon & Schuster. This review was originally posted on the Ariesgrl Book Reviews website.

Megan Miranda creates mysteries that keep you guessing and leave you shocked at the final outcome. Her latest novel, The Only Survivors stays true to this format. One high school accident leads to years of torment and secrets. The group of survivors gathers each year on the anniversary of the accident in hopes of providing support for each other. However, Cassidy doesn't want to commiserate each year; she just wants to move on. The group gathers one last time, nothing is as it seems, and everyone is a suspect.

2.5 rounded up

Thanks for the ARC @netgalley! I’ve mostly enjoyed Miranda’s past works but this one was meh to me (much like “The Last House Guest.”) It’s a very slow burn for a thriller and the ending fell flat for me.

A tragic accident on a school trip took the lives of many. The survivors reconvene every year to mark the tragedy and honor those lost. This year is the 10th anniversary: and not all of the survivors have been able to live with the guilt over the years. Cassidy reluctantly comes to the reunion, swearing to herself that she’ll break ties with the group for good. But one of the group is missing and a storm is brewing….and secrets are coming out.

I just…didn’t care. Sigh. Too many people, the reverse timeline of the accident didn’t have the stakes for me that Miranda intended and I was so over Cassidy and her choices. The final twists seemed rushed as well. I’m not sure if this is just the wrong time for me to read this, as I just read Alex Finlay’s “What Have We Done” that has many similar themes, or if it just missed the mark for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

✨Trigger Warnings: Car Acceding, Death, Suicide, Grief

Such a good, twisty slow burn thriller! The main character POV along with the flashbacks from other main characters made the book a fast easy read. The suspense and mystery leading up to the ending are great!

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!