I really enjoyed this book! I was constantly getting surprised and unsure of who to trust. I love Riley Sager books and look forward to reading them each summer.

This was a good read, not my favorite book by Sager but it was still fun. It kept me on the edge of my seat, which is what I was hoping for!

I usually really enjoy Riley Sager's novels but this one wasn't it for me. The main character was painfully written and very slow development in terms of plot. All of the action was in the second half of the book which made for a difficult time getting into the book.

Omg this was so freaking good! I read it in a single day and could not put it down. This one is for sure my favorite Riley Sager book yet! Such amazing 90s nostalgia. It felt like I was home on a Friday night in high school watching the perfect thriller movie. I did not see that last twist coming at all!

Survive the Night was a cinematic thrill ride of a book and just when you think you figured out where it was going....it took you in a totally different direction. I loved every minute of it! It's best to go in blind before reading this book and I don't want to give too much away in the review so it is best to just sit back and enjoy the ride that Sager always provides.

This is only the second book I have read by the author and so far, this one is my favorite of the two, so I hope this means that his writing just gets better and better with each new book. I absolutely loved how it ended, since to me this whole book as I read each page, it played in my mind like an action-packed suspense thriller. I loved all the twists and turns, that were further interrupted with Charlie’s mini movies that kept me wondering what was actually real and what was just in her mind. I highly recommend this book to all readers. It is a super-fast paced read that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last.

Riley Sager is a classic. I always know when I pick up one of these books that I am going to dive in and not stop reading until I am done. Another winner!

I started to read this and it didn't grab my attention within the first 50 pages. I stopped reading at that point. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Lackluster execution of a bizarre premise. I just never bought that she would actually get in the car with a stranger given what is happening in her world! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-galley.

WOW! this book was so great! I loved it. I read it in one sitting, I couldn't read it fast enough!!! my first book my riley sager, and not my last!

Charlie wants to leave college and go home. She hasn’t been able to focus since her dorm mate was murdered and she just needs to get away. Her boyfriend Robbie wants her to return for spring semester but he understands that she needs a change of perspective. He’s busy and can’t change his schedule to take her home so she gets a ride from Josh, someone offering a ride on the rider board. They head off for the six hour drive and Charlie can’t help but think of all the ways she’s just put herself in danger by riding with a stranger. Josh is heading to Ohio, the same direction as Charlie. At first, it’s an uncomfortable silence and then they play twenty questions and Charlie discovers something she wishes she hadn’t. Now she’s sure she’s in danger. Most of the story is from Charlie’s point of view but there are small snippets from a few other characters. I was riveted as soon as I started reading but then there was a lull when the suspense slowed down. Soon the intensity built back up. This book has unexpected turns and developments and I enjoyed reading it! 4 stars!

This is the first Riley Sager novel that genuinely let me down.
The plot seemed exciting and promising, but the execution left a lot to be desired. There was a lot of unrealistic scenes that unfolded and a lot of deus ex machina.
I will read the next Sager because one dud out of five or six gems is a great track record. If you are looking to start with Riley Sager, don't start with this one.

Another gripping Riley Sager thriller! While the heroine’s choices can be a bit frustrating, Sager successfully builds the suspense and includes several surprising twists. The ending wasn’t my favorite, so I dropped it one star, but I would still recommend it to thriller fans!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! I especially liked the unique and creative way Riley wrote the book, which made the story even more vivid/engaging and really brought together the twist at the end. Excellent job!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! I ended up buying two copies for my high school library. If you like Riley’s novels you know what you are getting into. This is a wonderful gateway book from YA to adult fiction, perfect for juniors and seniors who want to step out of the YA box. My students loved it especially with all the throwaway 90s things.

Well… I kept reading it so that’s a plus! The ending annoyed the heck out of me… a form of Stockholm syndrome I guess. I did really enjoy the twist midway though. That’s been my issues with most of sagers books. Great set up- doesn’t stick the landing.

Let me preface this by saying I’ve only read Home Before Dark before picking this up (btw, thank you NetGalley for the copy!). So I already had low expectations going into this.

But you know what? I think this was the right book at the right time type of situation. I loved how the main character just made so many bad decisions, I loved the drama…it was just such a fun quick read. I know not everyone will love it, but if you’re looking for something that’s kind of like watching a really bad B movie (entirely addicting), then pick this up ASAP!

I always love Riley Sager's books and this one did not disappoint! I loved the retro cat and mouse perspective, with a good unreliable narrator plot. I didn't figure out the plot twist before the reveal and really happy with the ending.

Riley Sager is one of my instant buy authors. This one was no exception to my love of Sager's books. Filled with nostalgia and a twist at every bend in the road, this book pays it's respects to the old Hollywood movies we know and love.

This book is set in the 1990s and features college-aged (or thereabouts) characters Charlie (female named after a movie character), her recently murdered roommate and close friend Maddy (through flashbacks), Charlie’s boyfriend, a stranger & weirdo male Charlie gets into a car with to ride across country, and later a character found along the way on the trip. The story begins with Charlie explaining that she can’t stay at college any longer; her dorm room is a constant reminder of Maddy’s death and the guilt she feels associated with her murder.

This feeling has culminated in a series of “movies in her mind,” meaning she has dissociative periods in which she is sort of hallucinating but more so just disconnecting from reality inwardly for brief(ish) periods of time. Cinema/movies are a recurring theme in this book, as Charlie is a film major and she uses movies as an escape from an apparent lifelong series of major trauma, such as her parents dying in a car accident leaving her an orphan to be raised by a cinephile grandmother. Now that her best friend has been murdered and she feels partly responsible for leaving her behind at a bar, Charlie decides to leave college to return home to Grandma, but since it’s the 1990s and Charlie doesn’t drive (parents dying in car accident is why), she has to use a rideshare system. It’s in the middle of the semester so it’s hard to find someone… so she gets in with this good looking, probably totally normal fella.

Oh, we forgot to mention one thing. Maddy’s murder wasn’t just a one-off suspicious case. Apparently, there has been a string of murders for a while now. They all are connected by a similar MO, particularly the removal of a tooth. With this news fresh in her mind, she does indeed get into the car with the strange man with no way to contact anyone other than the optimistic phone booth on the way home.

Fast forwarding a bit, this story essentially talks part in bulk on the “road trip” back to her home state. Charlie is paranoid and finds a lot of red flags during the ride. They stop at a diner. A nice, well-meaning waitress asks if Charlie is okay. Eventually, she decides to phone her boyfriend she left behind with a code phrase meaning she’s in danger; he races out to find her. There’s some dramatics between Charlie and her driver/captor.

Mild spoilers after this point.

There are some strengths to this book. Particularly, there are some recurring themes that tie together the story nicely: movies/cinema, “drive like hell,” the “movies in her mind.” However, ultimately this book was just one of those that left me scratching my head.

The characters are bit wonky. The storyline falls into ridiculousness right after the diner scene. However, there were some good things I thought about the plot:

I liked the premise of the “locked room” style being in a car on a twisted form of a road trip in a time & day setting in which cell phones and other related tracking or communicative technology was not as advanced or relevant. I thought it was a harrowing thought to be trapped essentially in a car with a stranger who could be dangerous, coupled with the sense of not knowing where you are. I think the additional aspect of Charlie’s mental capacity not being very good also made this worse for me.
I liked the twist of the real villains. I did not see the twist of why Charlie was just so happened to be in this car with this person, but when it started unfolding, I thought it was only about 45% believable. It just seemed very melodramatic. Not only is she consumed by grief, but she’s also a cancer ridden grandma who will pluck your tongue out AND deliver her lines like a stilted villain movie character. All the characters talk like they’ve perpetually in a play written by an Oscar Wilde loving theatre major.
I liked the premise of the “movies in her mind” trait as a representation of untreated PTSD/dissociation. However, it does get quite old and repetitive after it’s used 938294892384 times and I honestly was preparing myself to reach the end of this book and it say something like “and it was all in her mind. The End.”
This book wasn’t Sager’s strongest moment. I am not the only person who thinks so. However, it isn’t all cringe. There are some moments where I felt compelled to read on, spurred by the anticipation of figuring out what was going to happen to Charlie. It seems like I’d wager most people who found this book to be weak are probably ardent readers of thriller/suspense and just found it kinda cliche or lackluster.

At the end of the day, I gave it 2.5 stars. I think it’s slightly below average, especially for Sager. It’s not horrible, but not great.