I finished this book  a few months ago, and realized I never made a review on this story! Megan Miranda is very hit or miss for me, but yet I continue to read their books. This one is one of my favorites by this author, because it is a quick novel that I did finish quickly. It is told from two different time periods (present and the past.) While the past has multiple POVs, the present only has one. My big criticism of the novel is I felt that the "past" chapters were far more interesting than the present day

I wanted to love this book, I really did… Unfortunately I just could not connect with anything in this story. My mind kept wandering off as I was reading this, and I had to keep going back to reread several pages, paragraphs, and sentences because the going backward format really confused me.
I feel that this story had great potential, but for me it just moved way too slow. I also could not connect or empathize with any of the characters (which I felt I should have). I have read other books by this author that I have really enjoyed. This book is not one of my favorites by Miranda, but I will still be watching for future reads from her in hopes that I enjoy the next one much more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 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.

📍 Read if you like:
• Locked Room Mysteries
• Slow Burns
• Brilliant Settings
• Character-Driven Stories

I’ve seen so many mixed reviews about this book, but I actually enjoyed it for the most part. To be fair though, I gave Such A Quiet Place five stars and I have no regrets.

I don’t know what it is, but Megan Miranda’s thrillers are always so fun to read. They’re not the greatest stories, but I just enjoy how easy they are to read and the simplicity.

I loved following a group of classmates reuniting ten years later after a terrible tragedy. It’s set up with dual timelines: the present following Cassidy, and the past following multiple characters.

It is more of a slow burn and not much happens, but I was so intrigued by the story - especially the past. Also, some moments were predictable and confusing at times.

I also feel like the trauma from such a tragedy was very well portrayed, especially PTSD. The book also feels more like it was character-driven than plot-driven so it may not be for everyone.

This was such a fun locked-room mystery. Was it perfect? No, but it was so enjoyable and I was entertained the whole time. Megan Miranda’s books are always a guilty pleasure and I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Car accident, death, suicide, drug abuse, drug use, stalking

This was such a slow burn mystery with way too many characters. It just dragged on and on and by the end it was so easy to predict what was going to happen. I was so surprised about my dislike of this one, as I have really liked her other books. In my opinion, this is one to skip!

I had really high hopes for this book. I just feel like it was okay. There was nothing that made me continue thinking about this book after I read it.

Just finished this one and I loved it! A slow burn mystery turned thriller with a beautiful setting and a cast of characters who all seemed to have secrets. The first third was slower, but I really burned through the last two thirds of the book. You didn’t get a very deep view into each of the characters relationships, but you got enough information and context to piece it together enough to get the story. This was an interesting mystery/thriller that I enjoyed mainly because of the setting in the Outer Banks during a storm. I loved the concept and enjoyed the reveals near the end, although I did find myself rereading parts of the reveals to make sense of what I was supposed to be understanding. If I had a better feel of the characters that may have been easier to grasp as soon as the “Aha” moment happened. Still enjoyed the book a lot!

I enjoyed the setting of this book and how it played into the story as we navigated the book. However, I felt like we never dived deep into who the characters were and the plot moved along a little too slowly for my liking. Although there was some suspense built along the way and it kept me wondering what was going to happen next, I felt like the big reveal wasn't all that shocking. This definitely wasn't my favorite Megan Miranda book but I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Megan Miranda delivers another expertly crafted thriller that has suspense and atmosphere. This is a slower burn, but I still found it unputdownable. I needed to know where this was going. The book switched from present time at their yearly retreat and each individual perspective the night of the accident. It was gripping from the beginning and became more claustrophobic as the story went on. Each character was interesting and unique and fun to read about.

Even though the main twist wasn’t a surprise, there were still lots of little twists along the way that made it intriguing. It was a bit slow at times, but I still think it was a fun summer thriller. I recommend it to anyone who likes a twisted, character driven mystery.

Another fun thriller from Megan Miranda. This story was unique and almost left me scratching my head a bit because you are trying to piece together snippets of flashbacks and tie those memories to the present.

A group of adults meet every year at The Shallows as some kind of recognition for a tragedy they faced as high schoolers. Through out the story, we see small pieces of the past and how these characters handled an unimaginable situation. During a school field trip, the two busses transporting the students somehow crashed/were trapped into a rushing river. Only a few made it out of the buses alive and those few dwindled even further as the teenagers waited for help. 

The situation around the accident is very unclear until the end of the story. The 9 people who survived the accident do not like to discuss it and as a result we are left using our imaginations to fill in many of the gaps. During the 10th trip to the Shallows, the group is on edge because one of them is revealing the truth of what happened that day in high school and talking to the media, but they don't know who. What ensues is a story with a lot of distrust and some crazy twists. It was highly entertaining and the perfect tone I need right now. 

Megan Miranda is an author I will consistently pick up to see what she comes up with next.

If you’re looking for a thriller to read poolside or beachside, Megan Miranda’s The Only Survivors would make a great one. I find that her thrillers aren’t terribly heavy, and the atmosphere is so easy to get lost in.

Rating: 3.75/5⭐️

Read if you:
-don’t mind a slow burn thriller
-enjoy alternating timelines
-like the ‘friend group with secrets’ trope

Thoughts:
The slowest burn y’all. I don’t mind a slow burn, but in thrillers I have less patience for them. Overall, I thought the plot was unique and the setting was top notch. However, I was a little confused why this group of “friends” got together annually if they weren’t particularly close and only had the tragedy in common. But I let that go because it was necessary for the story. The characters were a bit one dimensional, which always makes it harder for me to get invested. But the setting/atmosphere got all the points. It was eerie yet felt reminiscent of summer camp too, and helped build suspense. This would make a great summer read if you don’t mind 70% build up.

I enjoyed the timeline and the back and forth between the characters and the past and future. I had general intrigue for the suspense of the story and the mystery behind it. However, I did not care for any of the characters or the story. If I did not have this as an ARC, I would have DNFd. 3 stars for me, it was an alright read for me.

Another atmospheric thriller from Megan Miranda. Tackling survivor's guilt after a tragic incident on a school trip, this band of nine friends meet annually at the site of the crash. Beginning right before the 10th anniversary, with two survivors having passed away in the preceding 10 years, strange things start happening during their "reunion" at the beach. 

I flew through this book, finishing it in one day. Miranda is one of the few authors that keeps me guessing right until the end. But the twists and turns aren't corny or unbelievable; they are quite effective at building suspense and adding to the story.

As a fan of Megan Miranda, I was super excited to read her latest thriller. This book had me hooked from the beginning with Cassidy as the main narrator. I loved how it went between then and now.

Thank you so much @MarySueRucciBooks for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 11 Apr 2023)

SYNOPSIS | A group of former high school friends meet up annually to commemorate surviving the tragedy that occurred on a school trip. This year is the 10th anniversary & initially there were 9 survivors, but now there is only 7 and everyone wonders who will be the next to die.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the atmosphere of the impending storm

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- too many characters for me to be invested in
- extremely slow pacing that struggled to hold my attention
- the climax was pretty anticlimactic
- I really struggled to imagine the environment the characters were in during the flashback scenes (maybe I glossed over it, but it didn't feel very well described)

This was the first Megan Miranda novel I’ve read. I found it overall enjoyable and unpredictable. I love novels with twists and this story provided! I did find at times the characters were difficult to follow/keep straight but over this was an easy and enjoyable read. 

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

This was a slow burn for me. I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere that the author created. The house definitely gives creepy ghost vibes. It’s intense. 

Cassidy was the main narrator and seemed to have a flat affect or lack emotion. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not. I felt like some things were repetitive and dragged out but otherwise I enjoyed the eerie ness of it. 3.5/4⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just too convoluted for me to really enjoy it. I think there were way too many characters to follow. It was hard to really get to know any of them, and it was also really hard to even follow who was who because 9 survivors with 340ish pages is a lot to keep track of, and I kept getting them all mixed up.

Quite honestly, that was a huge distractor for me, and it was hard for me to focus on all the events that were happening, Then, there was so much finger-pointing and things being revealed, that I really just wound up lost because I was so unfocused on the main story. 

I really, really want to love a Megan Miranda, but it's been two in a row for me that just didn't hold my interest quite like I wanted them to.

Another Megan Miranda hit! I absolutely love the slow-burn mystery/thriller style and this had me guessing the whole time. The ending really took me by surprise and while I had assumed one of the twists, another one came completely out of left field. I loved it!

I adore books set in my hometown of North Carolina and the Outer Banks specifically. I adore locked door, Agatha Christie murder mysteries even more. This book delivered on both plus so much more. The cast of characters was excellent and the vibes were impeccable.

The Only Survivors is about a group of classmates that meet up once a year in the Outer Banks. They endured a horrible tragedy together and meeting up is their way of checking in on each other. But this year something feels eerie… shady figures are spotted on the beach, things go missing, their rooms feel rifled through. When one of them disappears, the doubt each has toward the others creeps to the surface and the story of the tragedy starts to unfold. 

This one took me a bit to get into and felt a little disjointed to start, but by the end I was hooked on figuring out what happened. Will make a great beach read this summer for those that like thrillers!