I was super excited to read The Only Survivors! Sadly, I was super disappointed by the end. The exciting premise never really came together for me. There were too many characters with too much happening that didn’t really make sense.

A group of "friends" from high school meets up once a year in the Outer Banks to commemorate the anniversary of the crash they were all involved in when they were teenagers. When their numbers seem to start dwindling and other weird events start happening that can't be explained, the group starts to break down. Told from multiple POVs, you learn the truth behind what happened all those years ago and what this group is truly capable of.

I wanted so badly to love this book... and I did love it. Until the ending.

I really enjoyed the character building and learning about their backgrounds and why they are the way that they are now. There were definitely great moments throughout the book, and I had no idea where the plot was going 99% of the time which I love in a thriller! I felt like the whole book was amazing and built up really well and then the ending was a very abrupt letdown. I guess I just expected a much grander event to take place and there were questions I had and pieces that were missing.

I'm a big fan of Miranda's mysteries and have read most of her books, this one falls somewhere in the middle for me. I loved the atmospheric feel and the setup, but the pace was super slow. It took a really long time to finally get going. There's a lot of characters too, so it takes a bit to get everyone straight and really feel any connection to them. The second half of the book was miles better than the first and the ending was soooo good. It was more of a three star read but the ending really brought it up a notch. Can't wait for her next book!

3. 5 stars I was fortunate to be given this book to read as an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. Thank you! This thriller has a really interesting premise. It is moving between modern day-Outer Banks as a storm is rolling in to trap the occupants of a beach house there- just when they don't want to be trapped- as possibly a killer is in the house too- and moves to a decade ago- to a horrific van accident in a river on a school field trip. Being a teacher, the accident and the immediate aftermath disturbed me far more than the modern day storm/possible killer scenario. There was something so haunting and upsetting about it for me.

This novel is a slow burn thriller which typically I love. You also have the interesting layers of moving back and forth in time- and the author lays out the van accident for you in reverse order- very unique and cool. There were many aspects of this book that I liked. I can't say I loved it. Was it entertaining? Yes. I think it is a good beach read, but not something you'll be remembering and recommending for years to come.

Total mid thriller. I think this is my last time reading Megan Miranda. Her thrillers just don't have the fast paced appeal that I like.

I am not sure I cared for " The Only Survivors" as much as Megan Miranda's previous novels. I had a difficult time getting into the story, and it took quite a long time for anything to progress with the plot.

Really enjoyed the creepy, uneasy vibes of this one. It's been so long since I've been glued to a thriller and unwilling to put it down. I was reading every chance I had all the way until the end and I can't shake the vibes. Very well done with a unique premise 🤌🏻

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a twisty read. I liked the dual timelines. The author did it well without making it too confusing. The story moved at a good pace and had a couple good twists.

This was a quick read. Set at a beach house, a group of friends meet each year for the past decade. They went through a traumatic event in high school so meeting up is a good way to cope, or is it? Someone seems to be watching them.
This was a quick read. It was a little confusing with the dual timelines because the reader doesn't get a good sense of what really happened until the end. The end was a surprise for sure! #netgalley

So happy to have gotten this ARC! I love Megan Miranda and she does it again with this twisty and gripping book.

10 years ago, a school trip ended with many deaths, and only nine survivors. A year later, one of the survivors, Clara, commits suicide. Every year, the survivors reunite at a beach club to commiserate and commemorate the anniversary and to keep their bond that only them share. They are the only ones that truly understand each other, or are they? This year, the narrator, Cassidy, gets a text, informing her that another one of them has recently died. Their numbers are slowly dwindling. Who will die next?

The reader is transported to the outer banks, where we follow the seven remaining survivors. You soon realize there are a lot of secrets that they are keeping from each other, and they don’t really have a strong of a bond as they had once thought. They start to distrust each other, and another one of them goes missing. What is happening to all of them? Are they just fulfilling a fate that was written for them 10 years ago?

This book is told in two different timelines, then, and now. It’s written entirely in Cassidy’s perspective. I found her dry, and a little annoying. I felt like there were unanswered questions, and the twist, for me, I was a little underwhelming and predictable.

I do enjoy Meghan, Miranda’s books, and will continue to read them. I think the pace of this book is what kept me from giving it four stars.

Thank you to Scribner/S&S/Marysue Rucci books and netgalley for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

🔥The Only Survivors🔥

“There are things you have to do to survive & there are things you have to believe too…”

A volunteer trip for Habitat for Humanity goes terribly wrong when two vans crash, leaving many to drown.

Cassidy Bent has moved on, or so she thinks…”an exorcism of my past that I couldn’t quite complete.” It’s been months since she’s heard from the other survivors, which happens when you change your number & block them on social media. But, moving on is seemingly impossible.

“They weren’t bad people. They were just bad for me.”

It’s the ten year anniversary & she receives not only a text from an unknown local number but also a link to the obituary of one of the remaining eight. The person she grew the closest to after saving his life that dreadful night & spent year after year of anniversaries together at “The Shallows” house, passed away months prior & she didn’t even know.

“Look forward. Keep moving.”

“As if all our efforts to forget only made us remember instead. The more we fought it, the tighter it pulled, like a riptide.”

They all come together so no one spends that week alone, dwelling; remembering what role they played or didn’t take that day. So, Cassidy lies to her job & her boyfriend Russ & drives the 5 hour+ trip against her better judgment.

“It was so easy to agree to that pact. We kept each other’s secrets & kept each other safe.”

“Everything was moving too fast—the rain, the river, & there was no time to take a breath, so little time to think things through.”

Told in Dual Timelines & Multiple POV it’s slowly revealed to the reader what happened in the past, as the characters try to figure out who threatens their present. Could the only answer be to confess?

Something I’ve learned to expect from Megan Miranda thrillers is you wont find answers until the last few pages!

4 ⭐️

💭Do you believe in fate?

🏷
#overbookedbookclub #beyondoverbooked #meganmiranda #theonlysurvivors #newthriller #thrillerreader

I've read all of Megan Miranda's books and adored them. But this one? This one is my favorite. The cast of characters come alive in the pages and the mystery is dripping with suspense. And the two timelines weave seamlessly together to come to the perfect revelation.

Anyone who has been involved in a tragedy knows that survivor's guilt then becomes part of the pattern of your life. Such is the case for a group of quasi-friends who survived a school trip that involved a horrible accident. And perhaps a murder. Annually, they get together under the premise of keeping up their friendship, but also largely to remind themselves and one another that they survived--even when a lot of others didn't. At whose feet does the blame really lie? Or was it all just a series of misfortunes?

Cassidy is our main voice, but the other friends take a turn in the flashbacks to the night of the accident. Their accounts are chilling, and the reader will genuinely feel for the suffering that those young minds went through. I imagine that most of you will, as I did, not become attached to any of the characters. Since they all kind of play the parts of jerks as adults, this worked fine for me. I thought that the ending was a little much, but the moody play of the rest of the book--the old house on the beach, the horrible storm, all those secrets--made up for that little moment of "huh?" at the tail end. I think that it was meant to be clever, but it felt more convenient.

A tight, fraught read that will keep you guessing and keep you glued to your book.

Ten years ago two vans full of high school students and a couple of teachers go off the road and plunge into a ravine. Every year since the accident the survivors meet at a beach house the week of the accident to be together during the anniversary. There started off being 9 survivors of that tragic night but now there’s only 7 left. When another one goes missing during their stay it sets off doubts, suspicion and the basic need for survival.

I’ve been seeing a lot of mixed reviews for The Only Survivors however I really enjoyed this one. I binge read it in one day barely wanting to put it down. I can’t say I was a big fan of any of the characters though because they weren’t very likable but it works with this story. I did figure the big plot twist reveal before it happened but that didn’t take away any of the fun. If you like locked room suspenseful mysteries or thrillers then this is the one for you.

Megan Miranda just became an auto buy author for me! Her books are full of twists and turns and I find myself saying “WHAT” because I can’t believe what is happening.

I have always been a fan of Megan Miranda. This one is no different. Although not a fave of hers, I enjoyed the journey. It was eery but predictable for thriller lovers. The plot twist was similar to Miranda’s previous work.

This was a very slow burn, too much for me honestly. I also don't like it when everyone knows something that the reader doesn't, and that made it more of a frustrating read than it needed to be. Couple this with a large cast of characters that aren't well defined made the book a chore to get through. Overall, there are a couple of good twists and surprises, so it's a decently successful read in the end.

Ten years ago, two vans carrying high school seniors crashed through a guardrail and went over a cliff and into a river during a storm. Many people died, but nine of them survived. One girl, Clara, committed suicide a year later, so the rest of the survivors have decided to gather each year at Oliver's family beach house to keep their bond strong. Cassidy, who narrates the story, is at a good place in her life and decides that it's time to cut ties with these people and move forward. But she gets a text from a mysterious number with information that Ian, yet another one from their group, has recently died. She decides to join the group one last time. What secrets are they all keeping about the incident? When they gather together, mysterious things keep happening. Does someone know what happened during that fateful trip?

Like I said, I did like the twists. Some I saw coming and some I didn't. But there are just too many characters for me to really care about or get to know, and a couple of them don't even have much time on the page. It takes a long, long time of setup for anything really to get going and happen, which can be frustrating if a person is looking for a faster pace, which is what I wanted. I like this author's writing, but this one didn't engage me much. I didn't really care for Cassidy's character, and since hers is the only POV we get, that impedes the flow.

The book alternates between the events of the past and the present. I liked the time spent in the past better, because it really showed how the group dynamics came into play, and why they acted the way they did.

In the end, I will keep reading books by this author because they are generally pretty good and suspenseful. This might be the case of bad timing for me, as I had just finished a super fast-paced thriller and the plodding pace of this one just didn't work well.

The Only Survivors showcases what I love so much about Megan Miranda: her use of setting is so significant the setting itself practically becomes a character. The author has many times set her books in North Carolina and does so here as well for the majority of the book, with the Outer Banks figuring prominently. Ms. Miranda writes suspense well and is a master of the use of unreliable narrators. Her established fans will enjoy this book and she will likely pick up new readers as well.

This was a great, quick read. I couldn’t stop turning the pages trying to figure out exactly what had happened and who to blame. I guessed wrong several times, but in the end I was satisfied with the story!