After wanting to read this author’s work for a long time, I was excited to have this be my introduction to Megan Miranda.

Let me start by saying her writing wasn’t what I had expected— and not in a good way. This story is quite the slow burn, and when the plot twists revealed themselves I was left feeling let down.

There wasn’t much thrill for a thriller, in my opinion. Instead, it’s a very character-driven story. And while this should be a strength, I believe that this is where the novel falls flat.

The narrator Cassidy is quite one-dimensional and apathetic. And none of the side characters were particularly likable or distinguishable. It was difficult to get through the story, when I didn’t feel connected to anyone. And I didn’t really care about their lives or what happened to them.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this author is for me. 2 ⭐️

A high school excursion turns deadly. This group of friends is now linked together forever. I really enjoyed the slow burn of this one. The past/present storyline was integrated well and I liked how we got to see what was going on from the eyes of different characters.

I loved how everything came together at the end and all loose ends were tired up. I recommend this one!

Like the river mentioned so many times in this book I was swept up in the mystery surrounding these friends and their secret. I will admit it took me awhile to start feeling invested in the characters, particularly the main character. I felt there was so much left out of her in terms of depth, but as the story kept unfolding it made more sense why she was such a mystery. The ending had great twists and turns and I it was unexpected and kept me engaged!

I am a huge fan of Megan Miranda - her books are always page turners for me! Her latest, The Only Survivors, was no exception. Cassidy and her friends survived a tragedy ten years ago during their senior year of high school - as the gang reunites for their annual trip to the Outer Banks, something seems off in the remote house that they share every year. With two of the survivors now dead, secrets begin to emerge about the survivors causing tension and uncertainty among them. This novel was tense and had excellent twists as it progresses, jumping from the Outer Banks reunion to the night of the horrible accident that changed their lives. I would absolutely recommend this title. Congratulations to Ms. Miranda on another outstanding novel - I can't wait for the next one!

Ten survivors of a horrific high school bus crash meet at a beach house every year to support each other. But after ten years, two of the group are dead and a unidentified podcaster is intimating that the survivors didn’t tell the truth about the cause of the crash. Is one of the group talking?

Quintessential Megan Miranda—full of speculation and red herrings.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You weren't going to go to the reunion week this year. But then your friend texts you a message with another friends obituary attached - so you pack up your car and head out to the reunion.
But once you arrive you learn that the person you thought texted you wasn't who you thought it was. Now you're not sure who it was that lured you here. All you know is that someone has a reason to want you here.
This was a tense and thrilling ride about a group of friends that are linked together by a traqic past. Honestly, we've seen this same plot in many other stories so it's nothing new. But reading this book doesn't feel like the others do. The two timelines work very well and are told through the eyes of different characters; sharing what they experienced and felt back then on that fateful night.
Sometimes being invisible is better than being wholly exposed.
Whom can they trust and who's been talking? This book is well written - gripping, atmospheric, and compelling you can feel the suspense. Some chapters are really long (not my fav thing in a book) but you're so wrapped up in the story you hardly notice.

I’ve been a fan of Megan Miranda for a good while and I always look forward to her books. Unfortunately, this wasn’t my favorite of hers. I enjoyed the idea and found the protagonist likable and relatable. My issue was with the pacing of the plot. Things felt rushed to me and I never felt like the mystery found that second level like most of her novels do.
I’d still recommend the book because it’s better than many mysteries and thrillers on the shelves right now. I think the issue is that Miranda is a victim of her own success and is being judged by her outstanding past performance.

A story about survivors of a horrible natural disaster (who may have not been completely innocent in the course of saving themselves) who are hunted down in later years. Decently compelling.

MY JAW WAS ON THE FLOOR. The twists just kept coming and coming. Megan really knows how to keep you guessing till the last page! The similarities were crazy to my actual life. My name for one only it was Cassidy and not Kassidy. My husband is Josh and my birthday was also mentioned! It added to the eerie feeling for me ! 10/10 and thank you so much for this opportunity! Review will be with my February wrap up on TikTok @kassidyyy6

I definitely took longer than my norm to read this. It never hooked me. But I cannot imagine how those kids felt in that tragic event.. but then when you find out the true events..

I can’t imagine how it would feel to carry all of that for so long, wheww.

It was ok..

I can also see this on the big screen! What a thrill ride and story about seven people that survived an accident in high school and the pact they make to meet up once a year. Of course things have changed and so have these characters. Miranda does her best to show that in this latest thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Three stars!

SYNOPSIS: A group of former classmates reunite to mark the 10th anniversary of a tragic accident only to have one of the survivors disappear, casting fear and suspicion on the original tragedy.

REVIEW: Well folks, it’s been well over TWO months since I’ve read a book I haven’t liked, so it’s about time that I come across a dud.

And boy, was this one a DUD.

I’ve been on a massive thriller kick recently, so I was excited to pick up this mystery and fly through it. Let me tell you - this thing couldn’t have been any further from suspenseful or thrilling. Forgive my bluntness, but it was just an absolute snooze fest. The overall story, and even small scenes and events, were incredibly redundant, where I felt like I was on a hamster wheel, just spinning and reading the same thing over and over again with nothing new happening. Where was the action?!

You know (as is common with many thrillers/mysteries) when an author is trying to build suspense, giving hints to the ultimate event that impacted the characters, but not revealing what truly happened so you’re on the edge of your seat wondering WHAT’S GOING ON with the characters in the book? This was happening here, only the hints and lead up were just incredibly boring, to the point where I was like - tell me or not, I really don’t care - I just want to finish this book. I also felt the ending was fairly predictable, and the climax was absolutely anticlimactic. I was left feeling… “Oh.. this is it?!”

So I feel I’ve been a bit harsh, and as I always want to find the positive, as I know *I* could never construct a fiction novel, I will say the author did a good job of describing the atmosphere and constructing a nice cast of characters.

This is my 2nd book by Miranda, and as I rated The Last House Guest 1.5 stars, I feel that maybe she isn’t the author for me. If you’re a fan of slow burns though, I encourage you to give it a try - it will be out April 11th!

⛵️VERDICT: 2 STARS ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this book!
This book follows a group of survivors who survived a horrific accident where only 9 of them survived and they form a pact to get together on the anniversary of the accident each year, but this year is different. Now there’s only 7 survivors and someone can’t be trusted.
This was very much a slow burn mystery. I do enjoy the way Megan Miranda switches different POV’s from the past filling in on what happened during the accident of each survivor. Each character was different & easy to separate from each other. But Cassidy was such a boring character for me. I felt like she was incapable of making her own decisions at times, if she wanted out of the house but she was blocked in with the other card and someone would question where she’s going and I’m just like how old are you? Do whatever you want you don’t owe them an explanation or anything. She felt very spineless & boring to me. Hollis & Grace was more entertaining of the group.

The author is fabulous at writing dual timelines and I was pleasantly surprised of the plot twist. There’s still some questions I had that weren’t answered, unfortunately but I did enjoy the book and the plot twist after we got past the slow burn part!

Thank you Netgalley & Megan Miranda for supplying me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda has a classic thriller premise. A high school tragedy involving a group of students that is cloaked in mystery. The now adults are dying one by one. Although this storyline is a bit played out, it’s one of the better ones I’ve read and had a twist I did not see coming. 3.5 stars.

Cassidy and eight other students are the only ones to survive a horrific crash after their vans plummet into the raging river. Realizing they have to climb the cliff to escape rising water there is no choice but to leave their injured classmates behind knowing they will drown. The group meets every year for the anniversary week and ten years in they’re still fighting their demons for surviving.
The plot is very original, the writing paced to keep you on the edge of your seat, but I also found the book too poignant, the characters not very likable ( which I think is the point of the story) and an unhappy feeling that weighed me down with sadness as I read the book. So much so I was glad when I read the last page and the book was finished.

Megan Miranda’s slow burn thriller is one of twists and turns. When several young people and their teachers die in an accident leaving only nine survivors, those nine make a pact to keep the actual events a secret. When they meet on the 10th anniversary of the accident, there are only seven. What happened to the other two and what really happened the night of the accident is a story that slowly unfolds throughout the end of the novel. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Only Survivors.

This was a page turning book. I had no idea what was going on and I loved it.

During a trip during high school ,things take a horrible turn and several teachers and students died a horrible death in a horrific accident. The only survivors have vowed to meet up yearly to console each other in their collective grief.; only things are not as they appear. They have already lost 2 members of their group since the tragedy happened and things have taken a chilly turn. What really happened that night? What are people hiding?

This book is fast paced with a great twist you won't see coming.

📖 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 📖

📕: The Only Survivors
✍️: Megan Miranda @meganlmiranda
⚖️: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All hail the absolute QUEEN of the thrillers, Megan Miranda! 👑 Every single book she writes is gold, and this one is quite possibly the top of the pack.

First, a thank you to @netgalley and @marysueruccibooks (@scribnerbooks @simonandschuster) for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good that I read it in one day, nearly in one sitting. I didn’t want to put it down to cook dinner, so I cooked with my Kindle in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other.

The story follows a group of classmates 10 years after a class trip turned fatal, killing 12. The group meets up annually in the Outer Banks, but nothing - and no one - is what they seem.

This has a little bit of a few of my favorite thriller sub-genres, including locked-door (everyone is essentially trapped at the beach house), atmospheric (the tropical storm is practically a character unto itself), and heart-pounding whodunnit, spiraling rapidly to the cataclysmic conclusion.

I loved every last page and this entire story. It’s a spectacularly well-done thriller that is also well-written (sadly, these don’t always go hand-in-hand). Miranda never disappoints me, and this is definitely a new favorite.

Be sure to preorder this or check it out when it drops on April 11! If you love thrillers, you won’t be disappointed.

*spoilers*

I really enjoyed this novel. It was face paced and easy to get into. Cassidy and a group of classmates return to a beach house every year to come together after a terrible accident that left a dozen people dead. The story flips between what the reader later learns is Cassidy’s journal and present tense. Miranda builds tension well and keeps readers engaged.

I figured out it was Russ stalking them early on, but part of me thinks the reader is meant to be able to figure that one out and that the true twist is Cassidy’s role in the crash. There are too few supporting characters for it to be anyone else.

I thought that this was an average thriller. I liked it but nothing really stood out to me. But I did want to keep reading to see what was going to happen.