Exactly what I want from an author on whom I've come to rely for exciting, well-written thrillers. The twists and turns were sufficient to keep me on the edge of my seat and always right on the edge of being able to guess the secrets and revelations, without straying too far from plausibility. The slow, backwards reveal of the past timeline and this group's shared and individual secrets is well executed. A fast, dramatic, escapist page turner of a read.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy.

I enjoy the adult books by this author, but not so much the YA ones. This book was a cross between the two as it takes place both 10 years ago when they are teens and now when they are adults.
A tragedy has occurred and some of their friends died in an accident that they survived. Every year on the anniversary of the accident, they get together to honor their friends.... or is there really a different reason for this week long get together?

Are their friends really their friends or are they all together to make sure everyone keeps the same story and does not share it with others? How come some of the survivors are no longer surviving? Is someone out to get them as payback for surviving?

Told mostly from the view of Cass, it does not feel like a YA novel when tackling some adult issues, yet reminds us of that feeling as teens when we have to decide something NOW and live with the consequences of the teen thinking process.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion. I'd give this 3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for this ARC!

This was a slooooowwwww burn of a thriller for me. The synopsis of this book had me really excited for this one. Ten years ago a school bus filled with high school seniors crashed into a ravine. Only 9 survivors managed to survive the crash. One year after the crash a survivor dies by suicide bringing the count to 8; after that the remaining survivors make a pact to come reunite every year to remember that terrible night. But can they trust each other? Fear is at an all time high when the survivor count continues to go down. Who cannot be trusted in this group?

I found a majority of this story lacking.. the story switches back and forth between past and present. The present chapters are narrated by the MC Cassidy, and then past chapters are narrated by the survivors- which I really enjoyed. multiple POV plus dual timeline? Sign.me.up. I didn't really feel connected to the characters; and thought Cassidy was a snoozefest. Then the last 20% of this felt really rushed and had a twist I didn't even see coming but also left me feeling like thats it?

I'll read anything by Megan Miranda and The Only Survivors was a great slow burn, thrilling mystery! I really enjoyed the dual timelines, with Cassidy being the POV for the present timeline and the past timeline told in reverse with multiple POVs. Like her other books, I found myself not trusting different characters at certain times. This one had me guessing and on the edge of my seat until the very end!

I always like when I get my hands on a read from Megan Miranda. Another compelling slow burn in the works told from two timelines the present which is written in real time narrated by Cassidy, and the past reversed from ending to beginning. The tragedy begins when two vans crash into a ravine filled with high school seniors and lives were lost and only 9 remaining survivors. Cassidy, Brody, Hollis, Ian, Joshua, Oliver, Grace, Clara, and Amaya all make a pact to reunite each year on the anniversary of their tragic accident only they survived.

On the tenth anniversary things start to go awry, with one survivor disappearing, and two that have since died with what seems to be now suspicious deaths as clues start to unravel that there is more to be told of the tragic night where it all began. Cassidy tried to stay away and was drawn back in and The Shallows seems to no longer be a week of refuge with this group she is tied to forever. As the story unravels between the past and present Cassidy keeps the question at her forefront "Who would you save?"

The slow burn is still intriguing and tense as the book alternates between the past and present connecting the pieces together slowly. I like how it turned out with a revved up twisty end to bring it all together. I liked all the different characters to really flesh out the story, and they were easy to follow along with. Thank You to Scribner/Marysue Rucci Books and NetGalley for the copy to read and review.

A great adult thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I didn't see the ending coming! Great mystery book!

Because I'm...me, I often get irritated at the thing where characters don't tell each other the whole truth because of, you know, reasons. This irritates me because those reasons are usually paper-thin--you might as well as just have your characters say something like, "And I was afraid to tell you, because the plot didn't want me to!"

I say all that to say that while there is an element of this device--the withheld info--in this book, the reasoning is far more believable and compelling than those mean books that can't hurt me anymore. Further, that reasoning is well-hidden, so when all is eventually revealed, even I'm surprised. And that's the thing I want most.

The Only Survivors is my third book by Megan Miranda. While I enjoyed this one more than her previous book, I still found it somewhat lacking. The Only Survivors is a slow burn mystery about the nine survivors of a deadly crash while on a school trip. After the death of one of the survivors, the remaining eight make a pact to meet every year on the anniversary of the crash. Cassidy Bent is determined not to go to the reunion until she receives the obituary of one of the other survivors. Everyone at the reunion feels off and Cassidy is left wondering who to trust.
While the novel was atmospheric and suspenseful at times, it was a very slow burn mystery that didn’t pay off. I couldn’t really connect with the characters and found myself not caring what happens to them. I did like the flashbacks and how they merged at the end but was left wanting more. Fans of Megan Miranda or of slow burn mysteries will enjoy this one.

This novel is laid out in front of us like a giant game of Clue. And a game that is spread out over ten years.
Keep your eyes open for little clues --you'll have an idea by the end but you will still be surprised.
I can see how people are brought together and stay together because of a tragic bond but at the same time what the heck is wrong with YOU as an individual if you won't let the others move on after ten years.
Edge of your seat & read in a day.

Years ago, Cassidy and 8 other teens were the only survivors of a tragic accident. Each year since, they’ve gotten together to commemorate and help each other survive. Cassidy isn’t planning to go this year, trying to start anew. However, after the suicide of one of the survivors, she decides she needs to go. When she gets there, another member disappears. Is someone after the survivors?

I think this book really picked up in the second half, but the first half was very slow for me. And then after it picked up, I was disappointed by the ending because it felt a bit anticlimactic.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ten years ago, nine high school students survived the unimaginable: an accident along a dark highway that sent their school vans into a roaring river and killed 1o classmates and two teachers. Since then, two of "the group" have died, leaving seven to heal together each year during the anniversary week at a beach house. But this year feels different. The second, recent death feels "off" and to Cassidy, who was reluctant to come in the first place, it feels like someone is watching them. Waiting for the perfect moment to finish what was started all those years ago.

This book is told in the present though Cassidy's POV, and in flashbacks of the accident from each of the survivor's POV.

I am a huge fan of Megan Miranda's, so I want to get that out of the way at the start. She is able to craft some absolutely amazing twisty and emotional thrillers that just suck me in and leave my mouth hanging open. When I read the description of this book, I immediately thought this one sounded like another winner. And I was absolutely right.

Miranda has written another story with complex characters that are all more than what they seem at first. Each is hiding something, whether it's about what happened the night of the accident or what is going on in their lives now - or even both! And the story is crafted around these secrets and lies so well that it just creates a tense and suspenseful atmosphere that is so taut, you can practically snap it like a rubber band. It absolutely loved it.

And boy did those twists hit. I mean, I was floored. That's the thing about good twists. They have to be not only believable enough, but they have to have that punch. And the ending twist in this one was a K.O. Call it, match is over.

So not only did this book really delivered with the suspense, thrills and characters, but the emotional substance was there as well. You could feel the emotional pain and tension as these young people had to make decisions no one should ever have to make in their lifetimes.

It was just a well-rounded book, crafted by someone who is obviously an expert storyteller, with hopefully many more stories in her left.

A must-read!

If you could have seen my reaction when my request for The Only Survivors, Megan Miranda’s latest, was approved on NetGalley! I feel like Miranda’s thrillers make for good summertime reading. They’re typically descent thrillers that you can pack in your pool bag and get lost in for awhile.

Listen, I liked The Only Survivors. It’s not my favorite of hers, though. The set up is really good: You have a group of adults who meet yearly at a beach house in the Outer Banks. You find out quickly that this yearly tradition happens on the anniversary of a traumatic experience that they all shared as teens. The narrative strategically goes back and forth in time, slowly filling you in on the details of what happened in the past. For me, the first half was a bit slow. There are also a number of characters to keep straight, which wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t struggling with the pace of the beginning. But the number of times I put this down for the first 50% of the book—mostly because I was sleepy—prevented me from fully solidifying who was who for a bit. I will say that the second half picks up speed quite a bit. There are a number of revelations and twists that kept me going. This might have been better for me on audio. I think a good narrator would have helped me get into the book a little faster. I also think that saving this for the summer when I have more time would have been a better option. My second-semester-teaching exhaustion definitely slowed me down. I’m willing to wager that summertime me would have loved the pacing here, and probably would have described it as a slow burn, moody and foreboding.

So while this is out April 11, my suggestion is to get this and save it for summer.

I wanted to love The Only Survivors, but I found the story hard to follow at times, and while the reverse telling of what actually happened ten years earlier is a plot device, I don't feel like it worked for me very well.

This book was a page turner the whole way through. The plot was unique and I loved the writing style and how the story was tied together through different POVs. I am drawn to Megan Miranda’s writing and her special way of making her characters’ personalities very distinct so the reader is not lost and having to recount who was who, who did what, etc.

I highly recommend this book to those looking for a quick, edge of your seat read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Only Survivors.

I have loved all of the previous Megan Miranda novels I have read so I was excited to see she had a new story out, The Only Survivors. The premise is good- nine survivors of a tragic accident, spending every anniversary together in a beach house. Ten years later, they are down to 7 survivors, we see flashbacks of the traumatic event from each survivor's perspective and learn that something even more horrible than the crash may have happened. Someone seems to be on to the truth and one of them disappears, a storm looms, and they question who they can to trust.

I usually can't put her mysteries down (I often finish them in one day) but this one was just kind of . . . boring. I predicted a big plot twist and I think having so many characters hurt the story. The storm could have been such a larger part of the suspense and I felt let down after such a big buildup. I continue to be a huge Megan Miranda fan but sadly, this one fell flat and didn't work for me.

I usually love Megan Miranda's characters--but this time they all felt so flat. I didn't care about any of them. It felt jumbled and confusing. The revealed "secret" they all shared wasn't developed in a way that built suspense.

While on a school service trip, two vans crash down a ravine and into a cold, fast-moving river. Only nine survive.

A decade later, only seven of the nine are left. What happened the night of the crash? What events have the nine kept hidden? As the story alternates between the present and the past, the reader learns more about the secrets that have been guarded since the crash. Were the deaths of the two survivors self-inflicted or were they silenced because they knew too much?

A slower-paced read but one that is rich in character development and imagery, engaging the reader between present day and the night of the crash. Another great read by Megan Miranda that I highly recommend!

Thanks to Megan Miranda, Scribner, S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, and NetGalley for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

As always, Megan Miranda weaves a tremendous tale full of twists and turns and keeps you guessing right up until the very end. While I will say the book started a bit slow, I feverishly ate up every last word as I was nearing the end. Can’t wait until I can share this with my customers and staff!!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I’m a big fan of this genre, but this book really missed the mark for me and was really hard to finish. However, I do want to preface by saying a particular audience may really like this.

The author does write well overall. The physical descriptions were great, and the book did carry an ominous tone throughout.

However, the cast of characters was very large, so it was tough to become attached to any of them except Cassidy. I felt myself become confused often. It was also extremely slow-paced. This may be great for some people, but I never gained traction reading because of it. A lot of the action/twists happened at the very end, and I guessed the biggest twist.

If you like very slow-paced books and large character casts, you will enjoy this. However, this book solidified neither of those are my jam.

I may give this author another chance in the future seeing as others who disliked this book liked others by her, but this is a book I easily put down.

3.5⭐️
One decade ago, two school buses filled with high school seniors crash into a ravine. This accident caused the death of multiple students and a teacher. Only nine students managed to survive the crash.

One year after the crash, a student dies by suicide. The remaining survivors make a pact to come together each year to honor that terrible night.

This book is told in past and present tense by the character, Cassidy Bank's. Cassidy has focused on forgetting this tragedy, and she has made herself unreachable to the other survivors. This year, she receives a text with another obituary showing another survivor has died. Cassidy is then drawn back to Outer Banks, where the remaining survivors are supposed to meet.

She soon realizes there are more concerns and signs that they are in trouble. Will Cassidy be able to find the truth? I was shocked at what the real truth was at the end of this book.

Thoughts: I had a difficult time being fully engrossed and engaged in this story. It was slow paced and had little suspense in the beginning.

Things I enjoyed: The author did a great job at creating relationships between the remaining survivors. I felt they had a true sense of keeping each other safe, although many were hiding secrets.

Overall, I liked this book. I just wished I was more interested/intrigued throughout this story.

Thank you to the publisher, Scribner, and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review.