This book kept my interest until the last 10% when frankly I just didn't care anymore.
A lot of it seemed hokey, especially the awkwardness of the reunion. These people don't even like each other; why would they get together every year?
However, the set up of making everyone seem suspicious was so good that at the ending I still couldn't stop being suspicious of everyone, maybe that was the intent.
It was well written, but the story didn't work for me so I won't be recommending it.
Thank you for the opportunity to review.

The Only Survivors is a captivating read that effortlessly holds your attention. This thrilling ride will keep you guessing until the very last moment. Miranda skillfully employs varying perspectives, flashbacks, and clever misdirection to keep you on your toes and constantly questioning the events that transpire. As the narrative progresses, each revelation and twist proves to be a game-changer, ensuring you can never quite predict the outcome. Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read that I wholeheartedly recommend.

As a Megan Miranda fan from way back, I will always pick up her books ASAP. And while I've enjoyed all of them to varying degrees, The Only Survivors didn't completely work for me. Since the characters (and there were so many of them!) weren't friends before the "incident" I didn't really buy the conceit of them meeting up every year. There were definitely some creepy moments but some of the twists were a little too out there for me. Nevertheless, I will be back for her next one.

Yet another fun, compulsively readable thriller by Megan Miranda. There's something to Miranda's writing that I find a notch above her ilk. The protagonists usually feel more fleshed out and the story more engaging, less the feel of just being a vehicle for the mystery. Miranda's last few books have been more of the slow burn variety than her first two adult novels. While I enjoyed this, some readers might find it took too long to get going. Altogether a fun read for the beginning of warm days.

Told in first person by Cassidy in the current time period interspersed with multiple narrators from “then”. This story follows nine classmates that survived a tragic accident as teenagers as they meet for their tenth reunion.

I found this to be a quick and compelling read, finishing it in less than 2 days. I’m a little fuzzy on some of the “then” details. While there were a few twists and turns that I enjoyed, I can’t say I was surprised by the culprit behind the mysterious notes, emails, etc. Still, I enjoyed the ride.

Recommended to group/reunion thriller readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for a copy provided for an honest review.

There's always three sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Only Survivors is the latest release from thriller veteran Megan Miranda and my third read from her. While she's not an auto-buy author for me, I often pick up her latest release.

In The Only Survivors, a group of friends, brought together by a tragedy they survived senior year, come together for a reunion at the beach. This time, after the death of one of their own, the secrets they've been keeping threaten to break them apart.

This is my second favorite book from Miranda. If you haven't read All of the Missing Girls I highly recommend it. The set up for this one was absolutely perfect. My favorite trope in thrillers is when a friend group that was once close is brought together for a reunion and this fits that mold perfectly. Like some of my other favorites with this trope, this story is filled with flashbacks telling the group's history from each of their own points of view.

The only thing that kept me from giving it a full five stars was the ending, which I found to be just fine. There might have been one or too many too characters as well in my opinion. Those things aside, I highly recommend checking it out.

The Only Survivors is the newest release by thriller author Megan Miranda. This book takes place on the eastern coast during a storm. In a cottage on the beach, the only survivors of a horrific car crash from ten years prior are gathered together in honor of the crash and the victims of said crash. While they are all together tensions mount and things happen that uncover many secrets from the accident. Fast-paced and full of action to keep the reader glued to the edge of their seats. Read and enjoy!

I read anything Megan writes and she has done it again! I could not put this one down. There is something to be said about a story with a long history and a huge twist. I loved this one just as much as her others!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this book to review. Let me start by saying that this book was a wild ride. Shifting in time between a tragic “accident” that happened to a group of high school students to a present a decade later where the aftereffects are still harshly felt. The twists and turns were crazy and it kept me pulled in. It seemed like every character in the book was unreliable and yet I believe no one knew the whole truth. Everyone had a few pieces of the puzzle and a lot of suspicions. Overall a good book I’d recommend to those who enjoy psychological thrillers with lots of twists.

First line: Our house, like most things, came down to luck.

Summary: Cassidy has spent the last ten years reuniting with classmates who all survived a tragic accident leaving only nine survivors. But this year Cassidy has decided she does not want to relive the worst night of her life again with the other survivors. That is until she receives a mysterious text announcing the death of one her classmates. As soon as she arrives she notices that this year is going to be different. Everyone seems a little more on edge. And it appears that someone is going to talk to the press about that night. But who?

My Thoughts: I love Megan Miranda’s books normally but this one felt a little disjointed. I could never really feel a cohesiveness to the plot. It seemed as if several different threads were running through it but not creating the suspense I usually feel during her stories. There was a storm. People are watching them. Some of the survivors are disappearing. Strangers are becoming friendly. So many things were happening rather than one thing tying the story together.

And I quickly figured out or guessed one of the big reveals. It seemed rather obvious from the start but maybe I read too many of these novels now to be shocked. However, the final reveal was not what I was expecting so that’s why I gave it 3 stars. It was still a fun book and kept me interested but it was not nearly as good as All the Missing Girls which was told in such a unique fashion that I always recommend it for anyone looking for a good twisty thriller.

3.5 Stars is what The Only Survivors gets from me.

This was my first Megan Miranda novel and I had heard nothing but great things leading up to it!
Cassidy is one of 9 survivors of a horrific accident that happened a decade ago during her senior year of high school. Every year after the accident's first anniversary, the survivors come together at a house in the Outer Banks for a week to console each other and escape reality for a little bit.
This year things are different, there are only 7 survivors left, Ian succumbed to his addiction a few months prior to their annual retreat to the Outer Banks and Clara had taken her own life the day after the first anniversary of the accident.
Something is off when they all get together, something is amiss, someone is watching them and it's a race against time to figure out who it is before another one of the survivors is lost.

This book started out very slow for me, I wasn't immediately drawn in but since her other books came so highly recommended I pushed through. The pace finally picked up around 40-50% of the way through and I was finally drawn in. I saw one of the twists coming and had figured out another piece of information before it was revealed. The ending redeemed some of the slowness of the book because I didn't see the big twist coming at the end!

I wish I could give this 4 stars but the slowness and the dragging of the book really got to me. I will read more from her in the future though!

The Only Survivors is a slow-burn thriller that gave me Yellowjackets vibes. It focuses on a group of high school students who survived a freak accident from a school trip. Now in their annual reunion, they found that deaths started catching up and they've received anonymous threats.

This is my first Megan Miranda and I really like The Only Survivors. I especially enjoy the structure of the book. The dual timeline followed a 7-day timespan in current day and a 7-hour recounts at the accident. Unfortunately I thought the final reveal and the ending wasn't quite as tight as the rest of the book, and the motive of the villain didn't really click with me.

Despite the unsatisfactory ending, I still really like this book and will definitely be reading more Miranda's books!

Thank you NetGalley and Marysue Rucci Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great thriller, and of course the cover is gorgeous. There were enough twists and turns that even though I saw a few of them coming, there were several that I did not or was wrong about, which I liked. It was interesting that the flashbacks of the night of the tragedy were told in reverse, but I completely understand why the author chose to unveil the truth in that way. These characters have been carrying huge burdens and survivor's guilt since the accident and have all coped with it in different ways. The book really emphasized that trauma is not something you can ever really "move on" from and that it will continue to impact your choices and relationships for the rest of your life. The ending of the modern timeline was pretty cliché and I was honestly a little bit annoyed by it, but the reveal of the cause of the accident made it all worth it. This one will definitely keep you guessing and you won't be able to put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


***There was a problem with accessing this title through the Netgalley app. I was able to load it onto my ereader from my computer, but I could not find the title with all of the others on my app.***

I am not quite sure what I just read. The entire book was a suspenseful buildup to the ending, but when I got there it hardly seemed worth it. A small group of young people survives a horrific accident where several other classmates perish. The surviving group decides to meet up every year for reasons that are not clear, and I felt strung along hoping there would be some kind of reveal. There is a twist at the end that didn't quite justify the hours I spent reading. Although I am usually a fan of this author, I'm afraid this one fell short for me. I'm giving it three stars because it was a page-turner, for the most part. Recommended, but with reservations.

Thanks and appreciation to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Only Survivors is engaging, nail-biting tense, and full of unreliable narrators. The story switches back and forth between present day and 20 years ago when all the characters were in a horrific accident during a school trip, and they were the only survivors from the accident. Every year since then, the group has somewhat reluctantly gotten together for a bit of a reunion weekend because they realize that no one else understands what exactly they went through those hours they spent in nature after the school vans careened into the raging waters. Now it seems that someone, and possibly someone within their group, is trying to ensure that no one ever knows the real story of what happened with the only survivors that fateful day. Cassidy has no clue who she can trust. Buckle up for a story to unfold at breakneck speed. It also packs a punch of an ending that will leave you gasping. Great writing from Megan Miranda, one of my go-to thriller authors.

I love Megan Miranda’s books, and this one was no exception.

There were nine survivors of the horrific van crashes. Then eight. Then seven. As their numbers dwindle, the remaining survivors continue to meet once a year on the anniversary of the crash, but this year seems especially fraught. Something is going on, and if they don’t figure out what, more survivors may find themselves dead.

This was such a good book. Miranda always uses flashbacks brilliantly and she does so again here. The book is absolutely taut with tension and suspense, and I could not put it down. I definitely recommend this book.

10 years ago, 9 teenagers survived a tragic accident in high school. Teachers and fellow students died in a car accident on a stormy night. Those 9 survivors meet up on the anniversary each year to make sure everyone is doing well. Cassidy is one of the 9. After the first anniversary, their group went down to 8 after one member committed suicide. This year, Cassidy was going to skip. She can't get doing this. That is, until she finds out that one of the other 8 survivors died, 3 months before, of an overdose. She decides that she needs to check in. While being on the beach with the other 6, Cassidy is getting suspicious. Amaya disappears and they can't get ahold of her. What is happening?

The non-linear timeline of their current trip and the date of the accident has multiple stories unfold. What actually happened that night? And why are notes being left at the house now? Where is Amaya? What actually happened to Ian? Will they find out?

I enjoyed this story, it just wasn't my favorite thriller. I guessed the twists, so I guess I was hoping for a bit more, or a darker reason behind it all? I felt like that fell flat for me. Overall, Megan Miranda is one that I will read continuously.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Megan Miranda's latest novel is an intense, slow burn thriller!

A story of nine survivors of a tragic accident during their senior year in high school. The accident left the survivors with guilt for the losses of their classmates and teachers. Amidst the guilt, everyone seems to be harboring their own secrets. For ten years they meet at The Shallows, a cabin on the Outer Banks. As the survivor pact dwindles in numbers due to one suicide and one overdose among the group, the seven remaining become increasingly untrusting of each other as their secrets bubble to the surface. Who can be trusted? Is one of them a killer?

There were lots of twists throughout the story which will leave you guessing until the very end!

Thank you to NetGalley and S&S/Marysue Rucci Books for my ARC.

This one gripped me from the start and was told in two time periods - then and now - from the perspectives of several accident victims that survived a horrific trauma together in their teens. Years later they are engulfed in a game of cat and mouse where someone is dredging up the past and what really happened the night their school vans went into the river.

This was seriously one of the best books I’ve read all year. I feel like I'm about to contradict myself, but it was a slow-burn type of story but it also kept me hooked at the same time. There were so many twists and turns throughout it, and the author really made me think about morality and what it means to save someone and why. I liked how captivating it was from the very first chapter, and loved that the ending came as an almost complete surprise. I haven't read anything by Megan Miranda before, but I will definitely be binging her previous works in the near future.