Member Reviews
This was such an incredible time. Heart-pounding, The Only Survivors will have you feeling like you're being watched, like your own past, present, and future are at stake. A terribly dramatic and enrapturing story that'll have you in its grip until the very last turn.
Goodness, I could not put this book down from the first page until the end! It is super fast paced, thrilling and will keep you guessing until the very end. Highly recommend for a suspense thriller!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Bonded by a tragic accident, survivors gather each year at a vacation rental. Haunted by taunts of the past, members begin questioning one another's intentions both past and present.
Posted to Goodreads-3.5 stars!
It's year ten of a tragic anniversary that claimed the lives of several teenagers, and left the remaining group struggling to put the pieces together.
Each year, the remaining survivors get together at a desolate beach house, to reminisce and remember the ones that they lost that day, and the one that they have since lost. Cassidy was not going to attend this year. With a new boyfriend and living in a new city, she has since moved on. Until she received the cryptic text message, alerting her to the death of yet another one of the remaining members. Bound to the group by their shared tragic history, she heads to the house in the Outer Banks to meet with the others.
While at the beach house, another member of the group goes missing. As a storm gets ready to pummel the island, the members continue to search for their missing friend, and Cassidy begins to realize that the not every member of the group may have the best intentions. As a matter of fact, it appears that someone close to Cassidy has nefarious motives, and they will stop at nothing to make sure that their secret is kept safe.
In true Miranda fashion, this book is a slow burn. Alternating between the past and the present, the reader is able to glimpse into the minds of each of the group members. While I found the climax to be ultimately lacking in suspense, this book was still a solid read that kept me entertained. 3.5 stars for me.
I am a big Megan Miranda fan, so I was super excited to read her newest release. Let me tell you it did not disappoint. Her writing pulls you in within the first chapter with suspense, good writing and her characters.
The only survivors is about a group of students who survived a crash during a high school volunteer trip. By giving different views through different characters, and flashbacks, the truth isn't always what it seems. I was honestly shocked when they finally explained the entire crash night, I haven't read a good twist like this in a while.
Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I couldn't put this book down and can't wait for everyone to read it when it's released!
This is another must-read by Megan Miranda, who never disappoints. Cassidy Bent reluctantly make the annual reunion pilgrimage to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This event brings together the remaining survivors of a horrific event in which there were nine original members. This 10th anniversary trip begins as the "only survivors" are together again, and now there are seven. What has happened to each of them in the intervening years? More importantly, what happened to two of their number? What secrets are each holding, and who has shared some of those secrets?
Miranda writes a fast-paced story, alternating viewpoints among the survivors of the tragedy, and the roles that each of them played. The dichotomous settings of a rushing river tragedy and a yearly powerful ocean reunion are a perfect fit for this story. A great ending that I did not see coming, together with relatable characters, make for a delicious read.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this advance copy for me to read and review
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.
The book was a well-paced, exciting mystery. I was surprised By the ending, which is always a good thing. I would definitely recommend this book!
This book was a spectacular thriller. I enjoyed every minute of it! I feel like I was holding my breath the whole time I read it. I liked the set up of going backwards in time during the flashbacks. The twists & turns were excellent as well.
Megan Miranda is a master of suspense and one of my favorite authors. This is a slow burn thriller with a unique and captivating plot that will take readers into the minds of several different characters as a shared tragedy from their past is unearthed and re-examined. Alternating time periods create a plethora of suspense and the character development is outstanding. The descriptions completely drew me into the story. Fans of B. A. Paris and Wendy Walker should put this at the top of their TBR list.
10 years ago, a horrific accident forever connected 9 lives.
Now down to 7, they meet on the yearly anniversary of the tragedy in a remote beach house in the Outer Banks named "The Shallows" (called the Ghost House by the locals).
It is a yearly pact they make to be together, but wholly avoid talking about the lies that were told about the events. About the people left behind. About the one who was deliberately injured .
This year they are not alone. Someone knows about what really happened that night and none of them are safe from the truth.
The Only Survivors is a slow burn thriller, that has the reader asking questions and casting suspicion the whole way. Megan Miranda does an excellent job of tying the setting and weather into the dread and suspense of the novel.
None of the characters are reliable in that you know from the beginning they are each hiding something. The book switches between now and "then" so that the reader gets what happened on the night in question from each characters point of view.
The official narrator of the story is Cass, who was the invisible one in high school and still maintains a bit of that persona in the present. It is clear from the writing that Cass has always been an observer, as the reader will feel more connected to the other characters rather than the narrator.
The end felt a bit rushed after such a long build up, but overall it was an enjoyable read.
I received this as an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
Once again, I can clearly see why Megan Miranda is one of the top authors in her genre. This may be my favorite Miranda book to date.
Another twisty tale from a queen of thriller writing! Loved the premise and flew through this one since I couldn't wait to find out how it would turn out. If you're a fan of her previous books, you'll love this one too!
Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I love Megan Miranda. Her stories are very slow moving but it gives you time to get to know and enjoy each character. While this wasn't my favorite of hers, it's still worthy of a 3.5 star rating. I loved the mini twist at the end and I want to leave this spoiler free so that's all that you're getting. The main plot was easy to figure out but again, enjoyable enough that I didn't mind. I love the Then and Now chapters. Great read!
A car accident that happened ten years ago has forged a group of survivors into sticking together no matter what. Before the accident, they were relative strangers, known to each other as mostly just classmates. After the accident, they agreed to get together every year on the anniversary of the accident, not to celebrate their survival, but to escape the noise at home where the tragedy took place. On their tenth get-together, things started to feel eerie, something was wrong. They would need to band together to get through this and save each other from an unknown threat.
This book fell a little short for me. Too many stories that seemed disconnected from the overall storyline. I give this book 3 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC.
I had previously enjoyed The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda but was disappointed by the two subsequent books I read by Miranda (The Last to Vanish and The Girl From Widow Hills). I find Miranda to be a hit or miss author. I was worried The Only Survivors would follow in this vein of previous misses but was an enjoyable, atmospheric read. It has strong vibes of Showtime's Yellowjackets, which I adored. My only caveat is that it seemed pretty obvious who the killer was about 75% in (as well as the 'surprise' identity of another character) but our main protagonist continues to be willfully ignorant for sake of plot/reveal. The twists didn't catch me off guard but I did enjoy the slow unraveling of the groups past trauma. I did think the reveal of Cassidy's involvement in the accident was a bit silly, especially the guilt she has carried from it and her desperation not to have it revealed. Otherwise, an enjoyable read. Highly recommend if you enjoyed Yellowjackets, although not as dark or surprising.
Excellent mystery about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident—only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.
A school trip turned deadly – there were ten students who started the trip but only nine returned. The book opens with eight survivors reuniting in the Outer Banks to acknowledge/commemorate the anniversary of the fatal accident. The tensions run high among the group and no one really knows who they can trust. One person already is gone, who will be the next?
The Only Survivors is a thrilling suspenseful read that will keep you engaged from the beginning to the end.
Thank you Netgallery for my ARC.
I really enjoyed this Megan Miranda novel! I would highly recommend if you like mysterious, suspenseful stories that don't exactly circle around a murder. It was atmospheric and slow paced. The slow paced quality of the book was part of the mysterious circumstances of the novel.
Death seems to surround Cassidy and the other survivors. They come together each year to be together to protect each other from something that haunts them every year. It is a secret that belongs to each of them, and very few others know all of the pieces of the story.
It is told in multiple points of view from "Then" and "Now". I wish I could have heard some of the voices during the now section, but it is just told from Cassidy's perspective.
The intrigue of this book had me give it a 4, but it isn't a 5 because I wanted a few more interesting layers to some of the characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. At first I thought I would need a piece of paper to write notes as each character was introduced, but thankfully, each one had their own chapter recalling events and it worked really well for the large group. This story was so descriptive that I could see myself at the beach, on the river, in the story itself. In classic Megan Miranda form, the story takes you on a twist and turn of events leading up to the 10 year anniversary of a tragedy that brought the group together in the first place. I really enjoyed trying to guess the whodunit aspect of the story and enjoyed it even more because my suspicions were trumped. Good read, especially in time for the spring break release date!