Julie here...I loved The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda.
A group of high school friends get together every year on the anniversary of a school-trip tragedy. The tragedy? They were the only survivors of a horrible accident while their school mates perished.
You get:
Survivors guilt.
Reluctant attendees.
PTSD
An agreement of facts (or fiction?)
An unravelling of what really happened that night ten years ago as you work your way through the book.
A group of survivors that gets smaller as the years go on.
A tropical storm.
Loss of power.
Loss of trust.
Megan Miranda always writes a great thriller, with lots of twists and surprises. We have lots of copies here in the store, this is brand new this week.

This nugget follows a group of former classmates who survive a terrible accident while on a school trip. The group of survivors (9) meet yearly in acknowledgement of the day and the lives lost.

It is clear, before you’ve even cracked the spine, that none of the survivors are thriving.

The rest of the story simultaneously unravels and comes together. You are fed tidbits through the chapters that heighten your sense that something untoward happened on that trip. That the story is more than one of just survival.

So when one of the group disappears, during their annual weekend, each survivor is cast in a shadow of suspicion.

A reminder that the past is only as reliable as the narrative spun. That secrets carry a silent weight felt beyond their keepers. It was a quick read with more than one twist. A perfect book to throw in your beach bag.

Read if you like: survivors, multiple POVs/timelines
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A group of survivors meet at the Outer Banks each year, but is it to check in or keep an eye on each other? Our main narrator, Cassidy, finds a phone at the beach that belonged to a member of the group that recently passed away, so she begins searching, not trusting the other members of the group.
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We also have multiple flashbacks by members of the group as we piece together what really happened at the accident in the River.
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I liked the twists and turns of this one. A bit of a slow burn but I was engaged the whole time!

Enjoyed this thriller but it was a bit slow at times. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and the flashbacks were confusing at times. I was hoping for a huge twist or surprise at the end but it didn't really deliver.

Sad to say this but I had to DNF this one...

I've loved every other Miranda book that I've read and I had super high hopes for this one. What kept me from finishing is that there were just WAYYYYY to many characters to keep track of. I also couldn't see where the story was going. I mean there was a tragic accident years ago and now a group of people are forever plagued from that accident. The mystery element just wasn't there for me....

But this doesn't mean I'm giving up on Megan Miranda just yet, can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

The Only Survivors is the perfect example of why I LOVE @meganlmiranda books - twisty mysteries, with shadowy backstories and simmering tension. The kind of book that you can get lost in for a few hours and that you will not want to set down until you know what happens.

I really enjoyed the back and forth with this plot structure, between the present day gathering of the survivors and the rewind flashbacks slowly revealing what really happened the day of the crash when they were teens. Each little reveal was like another hold-your-breath puzzle piece clicking into place and had my flying through the chapters like a speed demon to see what would happen next.

And you KNOW I’m a sucker for good, messy characters, which this is serving up aplenty. A group suffering from tremendous survivors guilt, hiding secrets from the crash that they believe would ruin them, and trying desperately to protect each other and themselves but without ever being fully honest? Recipe for chaos. I love character drama chaos.

Mix in a somewhat creepy and exceedingly atmospheric beach house that acts as a character all on its own, a storm that has them trapped and years of pent up frustration bursting out and you have yourself a STORY.

No spoilers, just a recommendation to add this to your summer reading list. This is classic, perfect summer/vacation reading. Escapism and absorbing storytelling that will leave you so so satisfied. A must have!

This is a great slow burn suspense story. I enjoyed the setting and the atmosphere which really aided the plot. There was an interesting cast of characters that all brought their own story to the intrigue and suspense. I don’t want to give much away since it’s a suspense read but I have to say I loved the twists and turns in this one. The shared backstory with the characters was terrible and I liked how small pieces of it were interspersed throughout the book. Overall another great book by this author!

3.5 Rounded up to 4

Megan Miranda is queen of the slow burn. Her books tend to be slow burns, but keep you captivated enough to want to continue and not be entirely bored. I liked the then and now timeline, but I wish we got more from past tense. This is definitely more mystery than thriller in my opinion, which may change the readers perception going into it. For more than half the book I was kept guessing, but I did guess early on who was behind certain things. I was slightly underwhelmed with the ending which is what made me drop this to a 3.5. It felt like it just kind of ended. It wasn't surprising or exciting or shocking. It just ends and I was left feeling like, that's it ? After all that ?

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

This was a sloooooow burn of a thriller. I liked it but I needed more pace for it to feel exciting and suspenseful. I’m all for a slow burn if there’s payoff in the end but even so the end felt both slow and rushed at the same time.

The cover is gorgeous. The book is well written, and I flew through it, but I'll be honest and say that sometimes I couldn't wait for it to be over and find something with a little more action. But now that I've finished it, I realize that every word that's in here made it into a solid five star book that I'll be thinking about for quite a while. I loved the ending. I loved the clever little clues that were sprinkled throughout that I didn't fully get until later on. The characters are three-dimensional and the setting is great. Another amazing read from Megan Miranda.

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda shares the yearly high school reunion of a bunch of classmates brought together by the events of one tragic and horrific night.

Where do I start with this one?

There were a lot of characters in this book. A lot. There were the many characters staying at The Shallows, (the beach house where the yearly reunions took place), then there were others that were only briefly present - and it was just a lot to keep track of. Somehow, even at the end, I sadly didn't have much of a clear picture as to who most of the characters were. Additionally, I found I just couldn't trust the main character Cassidy, who only last-minute decided to join this years reunion after deleting the others from her contacts and life. Basically, she just seemed a little too unreliable!

...but who hasn't, at some point in their life, felt like Cassidy? She always seemed to be on the edge of the group, an outsider looking in. This was a thread that really held the book together for me, and without this, it would not have been the same!

Sounds like I didn't really love this book, right? Well, what worked then?

We've got atmosphere and secrets (at least one per character) all rolled into this book. I think Miranda does atmosphere really well, and honestly - that's a huge part of a thriller for me, especially a locked-room type mystery-thriller!

I absolutely loved how the two timelines worked (one present day going forward, one in the past going backwards) then there's the fact that we learn everyone's story but one as the past plot is revealed! I've really learned that I love backwards-told stories, and this one did not disappoint.

Overall, there were parts of this book that I just didn't grasp, but it was the formatting of how this book was written that sold this thriller for me. It was a three-star book, BUT how it was done brought it to that four-star level!

PS there is a full cast for the audiobook narration - and I highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy to read and review.

DNF. I had high hopes for The Only Survivors as it was my first Megan Miranda book, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me. While I don’t mind a bit of a slow burn, this one was much too slow for me and I just couldn’t get into it. I felt like nothing was really happening and also found the characters hard to keep track of. Many other reviewers seemed to have enjoyed the ending, and perhaps I would have as well, but I wasn’t invested enough to stick with it. Nevertheless, I think there was a lot of potential there and I would still love to give her other books a try.
Note: I’m giving a neutral 3 star rating as I can’t fairly rate the entire book.

Thank you Simon & Schuster CA and NetGalley for the ARC. This was my first Megan Miranda. Loved the cover. A slow burn.

I liked this book, but didn’t love it. I wouldn’t consider it Megan Miranda’s strongest thriller. Although it wasn’t a long book, it did improve as the story went along, and wrapped up rather quickly. To me, the pacing of the story was a bit off. This was a more unique storyline, so it wasn’t totally predictable, and still left some suspense. I couldn’t help but feel there were some loose ends and a handful of plot holes that made this book a bit of a miss for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC of this novel!
2.5/5 rounded up

"Seven hours in the past. Seven days in the present. Seven survivors remaining. Who would you save?"

The Only Survivors is the newly released mystery novel from author Megan Miranda.
I've read and enjoyed a couple of the author's previous novels so I immediately added this to my TBR.

Ten years ago high school students on a class trip were involved in a deadly crash. Both teachers and students died when they crashed into the ravine. Those who did survive were forever changed. After one survivor took their life, the others made a pact to come together every year on the anniversary of that awful night. They promised they would keep each other safe.

Can they really trust each other? Should they?

Ten years later one of them decides they want to move on without the rest of the group. It won't be long before they are second guessing and regretting that decision.

The narrative alternates between past and present. The current chapters are narrated by survivor Cassidy Bent. The past is narrated by a large cast of other survivors.

I thought this was a good read. It took a little while to get into it but soon I was enjoying the story. I wasn't completely surprised by the reveals as I'd guessed a few of them. However, it was still an intriguing read.

A good slow burning mystery with great atmosphere!

Thank you to Megan Miranda, Simon & Schuster Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an ebook copy of The Only Survivors for me to read and review. What a wild story of trauma, loss, strength, and overcoming challenges. The time jumps between now and then to give us just a little bit more information about the tragic accident that they all "survived" was well done, especially how the past timeline worked backwards in time through the aftermath of the accident. There was a large number of characters to keep track of which I found difficult especially since a number of them didn't get a huge amount of detail provided about them/their personalities. It was a very slow burn to start, which I don't usually mind but this one was a bit too slow in my opinion and it took a very long time to get to anything exciting happening. There were quite a few twists and turns, some that I saw coming and some that I didn't. Overall the twists were definitely a success in this book, but I wish that it had been a bit faster paced to start.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The events of the novel take place around the 10th anniversary of a tragic accident, with the reunion of a number of the classmates who survived. For a decade, they have gathered annually in an attempt to process their survivor’s guilt, piece together the events of that terrible day, and uncover the secrets and lies of the accident and the ensuing years. Sadly, by current day, only 7 of the 10 original characters are still alive. What happened over the years is told in flashbacks.

This is my fourth Megan Miranda book and follows the same formula as the others. The pace is slow, there is a mystery to be solved, the characters aren’t terribly well developed, and the suspense doesn’t quite pay off. However, I keep going back to her books, because there is still something compelling about them. Some work better than others and this one is one of her lesser works, in my opinion. But the setting is interesting, there are intriguing plot elements, and you never know who to trust.

Bottom line: it’s a little flat and a little dull, but still worth the read. If you like Megan Miranda, you’ll love this. If you’re looking for a thrilling page turner, this isn’t it.

Pub: April 11, 2023

Thank you @simonschusterca @marysueruccibooks and @netgalley for the gifted eARC to read and review.

Q: Who is one of your auto buy authors?

Megan Miranda has been one of mine for many years!


The Only Survivors is a classic Megan Miranda novel.

It's a character driven, slow burn suspense read. It's atmospheric and the setting is just as important as any of the characters, in this case it’s a vacation home in the Outer Banks . Multiple timelines and POVs and an aspect of a locked room mystery come together to create the type of environment we've come to enjoy from Miranda.

I always like how she structures her books. I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks to the accident from multiple POVs. The first half of the book really sets the foundation of the story. This means there is a lot of background material. This will resonate with readers like me who are here for the slow build and want to know about the characters. This is not for a reader who wants their head spinning with twists and turns in every chapter.

That is not to say that Miranda doesn’t deliver twists. The pace speeds up in the second half of the book and twists that have been hinted at throughout the novel come out front and centre.

If you're a fan of her work, like me, I think you will enjoy The Only Survivors. If you're new to Megan Miranda's books, this is a fun read and I also encourage you to check out her backlist. So many gems!

I was hooked immediately with this one and flew through it needing to know where it was going. Although it’s your typical Megan Miranda tense slow burn mystery, it’s easily bingeable! I must admit though that while I throughly enjoyed the first 100 pages or so, it did begin to fall off a bit as I began to get a little distracted.

I always love a good alternating timeline and this one was certainly very intriguing as we rotated between the present day reunion and the past accident. This definitely peaked my interest and continued to hold my attention. I found myself slightly confused at times from all the different characters but I enjoyed the exploration of survivors guilt and the complex emotions associated with it as it’s interesting and thought-provoking to see how it can affect everyone so differently. I’m currently watching the TV show Yellowjackets and am so fascinated by this vaguely similar premise and depiction.

While I didn’t quite love Cassidy as the main narrator, I did really like the amounts of misdirection and the atmosphere of this one! I definitely always enjoy reading her work, but it also doesn’t always seem to leave a super lasting impression, BUT I’ll also continue always reading her!

That cover tho? *Chef’s kiss*

Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Miranda and Simon and Schuster Canada for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This was another solid Miranda read and I flew through it. I did guess the ending just over halfway but the ending was still worth it. I never get tired of a group of people hiding something together and trying to figure out what secrets each character is hiding. Definitely a fast paced, fun read.