Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon
Pub date: July 2024

I read this one super early but this premise was just too enticing to wait. I’m glad I did because it was just what I needed to pull me out of a huge slump.

Vienna Taylor has had a fairly rough life, raised by a narcissist mother, they’ve moved from one home to another based on her mom’s current manly flavor of the month. When they finally settle in one place Vienna’s senior year, she meets Madison Pierce, and after an initial conflict, they become best friends. Bonded through a love of music and rebellion, they form EmVee, a duo, with Vienna on drums and Madison on guitar. EmVee doesn’t survive their teenage years for reasons you’ll have to read about!

Fast forward a few years to a lot of life changes and the girls have formed a band in NYC, the Bittersweet. The bands success is skyrocketing and while on their way to celebrate with their manager, the bands vehicle veers off an icy desolate mountain road, leaving them stranded. What happens next is a thrilling exploration into human nature, jealousy and the lure of success.

This is twisty and dark, and chilling! Telling past and present is the perfect way to explore the workings of a twisted mind.

My thanks to HTP/Mira for this gifted DRC.

I love McKinnon's books and this was a solid 5-star read for me! It begins with a car crashing and members of the band, Bittersweet inside. Protagonist, Vienna is rescued by the cops and another member, Madison is missing even though there's a horrible snowstorm. Written in a "now" and "then" format, the novel depicts the band's formation when the girls meet in high school, rise to fame, and fight their way to stardom (some more than others)! Needless to say, it's a gripping story of jealousy, greed, betrayal, and blackmail. I powered through this book as it's heart-pounding and sucks your breath away!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Madison and Vienna meet in 12th grade and become fast friends through their love of music. They start a duo, EmVee, but drift apart some when Madison moves to NYC. Vienna soon follows, though, and they add three members to their group and the Bittersweet is formed. On the way to an event, their SUV crashes during a blizzard and they find shelter in a creepy abandoned cabin nearby.
With dual timelines, readers get a sense of what Madison and Vienna were like in high school and then forming an all-girl band on the verge of being megastars.
This is dark, twisty, and fantastic! I did not see that coming!
A highly entertaining thriller about friendship, music, revenge, justice, and greed.
Recommend!

It’s forty two days after the tragic accident where up and coming hot all-female rock band, the Bittersweet had a terrible car crash in the Catskills. Isabel Riotto and sisters Gabi and Evelina Sevillano were killed and Madison Pierce is missing. Now surviving member Vienna Taylor has been taken in for questioning. What really happened on that horrible night?

Oh, mention “all female rock band” and I’m sold. Then add tragic accident? Yes, pleaseandthankyou. I’m here for it. It was no DAISY JONES AND THE SIX but it was a fun, enjoyable read. Recommended if it sounds good to you.

𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒕 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑫𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑬𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆. 𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒏.

ONLY ONE SURVIVES reads partly like an episode of 𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄, partly like a podcast, and partly like a scandalous article in a celebrity tabloid. Drummer Vienna Taylor and guitarist Madison Pierce were an unlikely duo. After a minor scuffle in the cafeteria landed them in the principal's office the first day of their senior year, their shared detention made them realize they had a common love--music. McKinnon does a fantastic job bringing these two girls to life, from describing their disparate backgrounds and how one girl had to work so much harder for everything than the other.

After attaining a certain level of success as a duo, the girls expand to a group of five dubbed The Bittersweet. They're on their way to an event when their vehicle leaves the road, careening down the side of a mountain, leaving one dead and another severely injured. They find solace and shelter in an abandoned cabin, but one by one, the surviving members of the band die, and one of Vienna's last cognizant memories is someone with red hair rushing her before she lost consciousness. When she comes to, she's alone, and her beautiful red-haired best friend and bandmate Madison is gone. Would she really kill her band just to have center stage? Guilty people do run, and tragedy does bring headlines, and headlines bring fame, no matter how fleeting.

When part two started, I needed a minute to process what I was reading. I was already hooked before, but now I read like a woman possessed, and her ending was something I never could have anticipated. Highly entertaining, deeply unsettling, ONLY ONE SURVIVES is a cautionary tale of betrayal at the hands of those closest to you and the desire to be remembered in a world who only remembers the most current headlines. Sometimes tragedy brings opportunity, McKinnon writes, providing you know where to look. Many thanks to NetGalley and HTP/Mira Books for this early read. This title will publish July 16, 2024.

Vienna and Madison come from two completely different backgrounds, one tough and the other in the lap of luxury, although they bond over their love of music and form a band in high school. Years later in NY they add three other members and are on their way to success when there’s a tragic car accident and only two survive that night. But what really happened is the plot of this book and it’s done very well. A suspense page turner.

Totally bingeable, Dark, twisty, sinister, fuck with your mind amazing
Holy shit this one is next level mind blowing! My new favourite by Hannah Mary McKinnon. I love the past and present timeline. The past leading up to the accident and how Madison and Vienna became emvee turning into bittersweet and then after accident the fallout of everything and getting twist after Marvoulous twist my mouth hanging opening to my jaw hitting the floor
This is one spectacular written thriller filled with pop rock culture and references, suspense, friendship, hate, lies, revenge and a dare I say a bittersweet ending the only one question remains are you #teamvienna or #teammadison only time will tell