A highly entertaining mystery! The first half of the book starts off incredibly strong, but the largest twist is revealed fairly abruptly removing a lot of suspense from the book. I read it in one sitting and was very eager to see if there would be more twists later in the book. If you start the book expecting a mystery more than a true thriller, you'll be very entertained!

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC! Vienna, Madison, and their band, The Bittersweet get into a fatal car accident during a snow storm. After a terrible night, only one band member survives.

I couldn’t put this book down. I kept second guessing my own theories with every chapter. A must read when it’s released on July 16, 2024!!

This is SUCH a good book! Definitely this author’s best! The plot complex and layered, the characters coming alive on the page. And I adored the musical backdrop to it all.
It’s about two unlikely friends that bond in High School over music. After some detours in life, they form a band that becomes successful. It explores the drive necessary to become famous and just how far people will go.
When tragedy strikes the band, you won’t see what’s coming…..

Vienna Taylor is a member of The Bittersweet, an up-and-coming girl band when a car accident with all of her band mates in a snowstorm derails their success. They are left to survive the night with no cell signal and not knowing where they were.

This story is told in Vienna's point of view in the present, the very past and during the night of the accident and after. We get her background in meeting Madison during her senior year of high school, leading them to becoming best friends. She is the rich girl while Vienna is the poor girl with a terrible mother and her worthless husband, and a grandmother with dementia. Madison is part of the band, too. She hasn't always been the best of friends to Vienna in her actions.

This book was definitely interesting. It's one where you go back and see things that happen in a different light. An "a-ha" moment. I had more than one of those while reading this book. Surprises...I love it. I also enjoyed that it didn't end with the major reveal. There was more to the story and we got a lot of it in Part Two of the story. I didn't know what or who to believe. It was great!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing/Mira and Thrillerbookloversthepulse for the advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Vienna Taylor and Madison Pierce dreamed of having their band and becoming famous. After they formed their all-female band, the Bittersweets their hit song reached the top of the charts; they suddenly became the most sought-after band in town.
Tragedy soon struck when the band traveled to an out-of-town event in the Catskills during a blinding snowstorm. Their van slid off an icy mountain road, killing one member of the group and injuring the others.
They were able to take cover in an abandoned cabin but were unable to seek help. The injured band members met their end one by one, leaving only Vienna and Madison. Then Madison suddenly disappeared, and Vienna was left alone. Where is her friend? Has she escaped to leave Vienna to die and reap all the rewards the band has accumulated for herself?
An edge of the seat thriller with a spectacular ending.

Wow, this is my first read by this author and I was impressed! I was lucky to get my eyes on an ARC & wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was a great read! The author did an excellent job of character development, which led me to buy in and root for and against certain characters. It was well written and kept me engaged. I will be checking for other titles. I loved the way the topic of fame & the influence of social media tied in to this book.

Wow. I really don’t want to say a lot because I don’t want to spoil anything, so just wow. Only One Survives follows the story of Vienna, a member of a band whose truck has crashed in the Catskills leading to the deaths of four members, and one member who goes missing. The storyline alternates between past and present, and has some news articles and interview transcripts. It’s incredibly well written, I enjoyed this read a lot!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Only One Survives is out July 2024!

I thought I had it figured out. Then I thought I had it figured out again. Then I was totally surprised. The depth and detail in this book really made me feel like I was in each and every scene! Loved how the character Vienna grew from a small town gal to a rockstar city woman!

Hannah Mary McKinnon has done it again. She’s left me with a book that I can’t stop thinking about. I’m still trying to process in my mind how it all ended up the way it did.🤯

As I was reading this book I thought I knew exactly how everything was going to play out. Yeah, no, I knew nothing. I should know better, haha. After reading Hannah’s other books, I should definitely know better. I had this love/hate relationship with the MC. I want to tell you all the things, but I really don’t want to spoil ANYTHING for you. So I’m going to 🤐.
If you like reading stories about twisted characters, toxic relationships and a little bit of rock and roll thrown in, then this book needs to be on your TBR.

And when I tell you that Hannah’s books stay with me, I truly mean it. I finished this book almost 3 weeks ago and I’m still going over it all in my head.

All thoughts and opinions are my own. #ad

I don't know how to write this review without spoilers! There were so many moments I was in disbelief as different layers of the onion were peeled back and important details revealed - mostly things that I thought were true weren't true at all, and plot lines that I thought I was following ended up taking me down a totally different path! Such a well-written and fascinating book about the 5 members of a band + their documentary maker, some of who end up murdered and/or missing while on a group trip, and how the survivors navigate the accusations and aftermath. 5 stars, highly recommend!

Everything about this book was new for me. It started off slow and it took me a few chapters to get used to the time jumps, but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down.
This book has everything, murder, rock’n’roll, suspense and so much more, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Just when you thought you knew where this book was going it threw something completely unexpected at you, I thought I knew what #team I was on from the beginning, but boy was I sooo wrong!
And the ending?!?!? I did not see that coming, I had some theories, but that one slipped by me (maybe because this was my first thriller but still…).

The writing style of those book is also so very unique, you don’t realize until almost the end what you are actually reading, but I thought that was a nice touch. And you get some radio show transcripts sprinkled in too, which I thought added another layer to this book.

Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon is a non-stop mind-f*ck. Review done.

Kidding; but honestly, by the time you finish Part One, you’ll be so sure you know which was it up, that when you start Part Two, you may need to confirm you’re still in the same book. The one constant through the entire novel though, is the age-old question “how far would you go for fame?”.

Vienna Taylor- drummer of The Bittersweet, and our narrator leads you through the months leading up to, hours following, and weeks after the horrific car accident in the Catskills that claimed at least one other bandmates life. We examine the relationships between Vienna and her parents, her best-friend (and other half of their original band EmVee) Madison, the two additional bandmates, and the documentary maker- Libby. Unraveling the events of and surround the tragic and haunting night in the Catskills cabin.

Will the desire for fame and glory be the downfall of The Bittersweet; or is there something, or someone, far more sinister at play? You’ll think you’ve got it figured out, and then you’ll turn the page. While five girls left the scene of the accident, only one survives.

Review posted to IG: 4/11
Review posted to Goodreads: 4/11

Oh Dear, what did I just read ? I truly wanted to love this book , especially when referenced that fans of Daisy Jones would love this as I am a HUGE fan . I am also a sucker for beautiful covers and Cabins in the woods so this was a shoo in right ??

Well the shoe didn't fit and I feel like I have been conned , like when you are craving your favorite dish from your cherished little restaurant you love only to finish the meal and be left totally unsatisfied .

In my opinion this is a toxic YA Thriller , that is lacking in the suspense department.

"As I slink away, I decide perhaps I'm a serial killer after all"

Only One Survives is told through one narrative by Vienna Taylor whos has a talent for music and plays the drums like a rock star! The story bounces through multiple time lines with newspaper articles and podcast interviews etc.

The story starts off with an exciting snow storm and a crash in the woods for the up and coming all female band the "Bittersweet" . There is a car crash and a quick little scene at the cabin leaving a few dead, but then the story does ALOT of character building in the past between the main character Vienna and her BFF Madison Pierce .

I felt this story had a lot of potential but the toxic past and the present moments that the author spent a lot of time trying to create wasn't orchestrated well enough , it was too quick and no build up , it felt like there was no anticipation or climax. I also really wish the story centered more time at the cabin instead of the past and present narrative.

I did like the different formats between the timelines but at times, I did find myself having to reread as the writing was like a big bowl of Jambalaya throwing everything in there hoping I'll at least like a bite of something .

For me this story really lacked in the suspense thriller , the writing was just ok for me and the ending was no surprise and uneventful or believable , however I really do think others will LOVE this book ( honestly I do)

If you are fan of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and IT Girl then this is a read for you !!

Thank you Netgalley , Harlequin Trade Publishing and Hannah Mary McKinnon for this digital ARC.

Respectfully Another Read by Angie

Wow, wow, wow.

I couldn’t put this book down. Its engaging from the first page and I greedily needed to know the whole story, about Emvee and The Bittersweet. I was just along for the ride and every twist and turn seemed to catch me by surprise, one after the other.

I couldn't tell you where we were headed but I was eager to get there, and I wasn’t disappointed. There was always a creepy foreboding vibe up until the very end and it really does show you just don’t know what’s going on in someone’s head. No matter how they portray themselves sometimes if someone tells themselves a lie for long enough, they start to believe it themselves.

This story shows the ugly brutal side of fame and just how far someone is willing to go to get everything they ever wanted. A surprising thriller with murder, mystery and rock and roll, weaved together for an amazing read. Def recommend if you’re a fan of layered characters. The comparisons between growing up rich vs poor and how even the most toxic of relationship or ideas can be explained away because of love.

To say that I'm absolutely obsessed with this book would be an understatement. If you are a fan of thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat the ENTIRE time, this is the book for you. This review will be as spoiler free as possible, even though that will certainly be difficult.

Only One Survives follows our main character Vienna, who is a talented drummer in the Bittersweet (a band she started with her best friend Madison). After a car accident leaves one of their band mates dead and another on the brink of death. With no choices other than to take shelter in a cabin during a blizzard, one by one the other band mates die and then Madison disappears.

When I say this story has TWISTS, it has TWISTS! I was not expecting anything that happened in this book, and I could not put it down. I finished reading it last night and still throughout this entire morning I've been replaying moments in my head from the story. I highly recommend anyone to read this book, as it will truly take you on a wild wide.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing & Netgalley for the opportunity to review this title on Goodreads. I'll also be posting a review to my Tiktok this week, as I'd love to share it with more readers!

Oh snap, this was a FIRECRACKER of a book... 💣

When tragedy strikes the up-and-coming band, the Bittersweet, Vienna's world is turned upside down. Her best friend and co-founding band mate Madison is missing and potentially on the run. As the details of their fateful accident start to unravel, so do the characters motives, and confessions.

Fans of Frieda McFadden, take note. Yes, I'm comparing this novel lovingly to the works of Queen Frieda. This book grabs your attention and runs with it from page one. Alternating between two timelines, I found I was engaged the entire way through, zero dull chapters or slumps. Hannah's writing is simply captivating. I highly highly recommend this novel. It is certainly in the running for my favorite novel of the year!

A big thank you to Hannah and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review of Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon. #OnlyOneSurvives #HannahMaryMcKinnon #NetGalley

I couldn’t get enough of this delicious thriller. A bit of a locked room (but not too much which was fine by me), dual timelines, unreliable narrator, mixed media, and centered around a band rising in fame this book had it all.

One thing I loved most about this book is that it didn’t end where I would’ve expected it to. So often books give a big reveal in the final pages and were left jaw dropped and asking but what happens next? Only One Survives answered that exact question and I freaking loved it.

The music aspect of this book was a bonus for me. I haven’t read a ton of books centered around a band and I liked the dynamics, details on the rise to fame, and the struggles.

Both Madison and Vienna were incredibly interesting, dynamic, and complex characters. I loved their depth, back stories, and family dynamics. I had no idea what I could believe and what I couldn’t and I was happy to enjoy the ride!

I couldn’t put this book down. I loved that it kept surprising me and that I didn’t really know where it was going. It was unique, fun, and superbly entertaining. I absolutely recommend!

Thank you to Thriller Book Lover Promotions and MIRA for the copy.

(Rounded up to a 3.5) This was my first time reading from this author, and I would pick up more work from her! This was a thriller I didn’t expect. The whole first half was excellent, working its way to a 5 star rating. I was surprised at the character development and loved reading about Vienna and Madison’s friendship and upbringing and how they formed their band. I also loved the mixed media blog posts and newspaper articles sprinkled in. It’s funny, because I enjoyed the past chapters more than the flash-forward chapters the day of the incident at the cabin. Part 2 fizzled out for me, and I feel like the story went on too long. The crime was tied up too quickly for me, and I didn’t enjoy reading about the aftermath as much. What happens in part 2 was very predictable to me, and I wish the entire book could have been as perfect as the first half.

The concept of this book drew me in immediately, described as "Daisy Jones & The Six" meets "Yellowjackets." I wouldn't quite go that far, but this is an enjoyable, twisty murder mystery with a dual timeline. I had mixed feelings about the dual timeline, but overall I think it works well for the story. I do think the book could have been maybe 20-40 pages shorter without sacrificing plot or suspense. The writing style is enjoyable and fast- paced. (Shockingly, for me, who never gets plot twists correct - I predicted the final twist!!) I would recommend this book for fans of thrillers by authors like Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley, and Mary Kubica. This book was hard to put down and I definitely was thinking about the plot and what might happen next when I wasn't reading it.

Also bonus points for a reference to a Bon Jovi B-side from 1995 that was only released on their 2004 box set! (I'm impressed.)

4 stars.

What a fun thriller! This was a murderous, scandalous girl group thriller that didn’t stop with the punches till the very end. Fame comes at a price, but can you handle it? This was a definite 5 stars from me!