Interesting and creepy premise. I enjoyed the characters, even Charlie who is an unreliable narrator of sorts. Definitely worth a read.

I received an e-arc of this from the publisher through NetGalley.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After the murder of her best friend, Charlie desperately wants to escape college and return home to Ohio. She meets Josh at a ride share board and he offers to drive her.

Not long after she is in the car, things don’t seem right with Josh. He is acting suspicious.... his stories aren’t adding up... they are on an isolated road, at night... 👀

Charlie is afraid, but with everything she has been going through, she doesn’t know if she can trust her own mind....
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A lot of books are promoted as compulsive, but it’s actually accurate with this book. You will speed through it because you will NOT be able to stop reading!

It is a thrill ride full of non-stop action and claustrophobic suspense.
Sager really stepped up his game with this book!

Trust me, you do NOT want to miss this one!
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If I had to give one critique, I would say - the book is set in 1991, I wish he had boosted the 90s nostalgia just a little. I wanted more of that, because well, the 90s were awesome.

But this is one of my favorite books I have read in a long time and Charlie is one of my favorite characters. ✨

While fast paced and tension filled I couldn't get past the bizarre "movie in my mind" psychological affliction affecting sniveling heroine Charlie. Its just such an unbelievable and bizarre device that everyone just immediately buys as a real thing that someone would deal with that is just as quickly dealt with.

I sort of felt like this might be the point but the whole book felt like a bad movie. Again, I remain a genuine fan of Sager's gift with words but I can't handle the hackneyed plots and the disappointment at the cinematic but wholly unbelievable endings.

I am the first to admit I have historically not always been a fan of Riley Sager’s work, yet every time he writes a new one, here I am, reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it. Lock Every Door was one of my favorite books in 2020, but the rest of his have left me wanting. After now having read all five of his books including this upcoming release, I can finally say we have another winner! While I didn’t love Survive the Night quite as much as Lock Every Door, this nail biting thriller will be the perfect summer beach read.

The year is 1991. Charlie Jordan is a film student, who is haunted by memories of her best friend’s murder the previous semester, which she blames herself for. The night Maddy became the infamous Campus Killer’s latest victim, Charlie had fought with her and left her to walk home by herself. Since then, she’s had episodes of psychosis where she feels like she’s in a movie and can’t separate reality from her hallucinations. When she’s looking for a ride back to her hometown, she meets a guy named Josh at the ride share board on campus who offers to drop her off on his way to his own hometown. As their trip progresses, Charlie starts to think Josh may not be who he says he is, but in a time before cell phones and location trackers, Charlie will have to trust her gut to survive the trip back home.

When I am reading a book to review, I always take notes so I can remember my thoughts, and let me tell you, my notes for this book are all over the place! I went from liking to loving to hating, back to loving it more times than I can count. While I did find the final twist to be predictable, the rest of the story was totally wild, yet still believable, which is important to me in a thriller. For the first third of the book, I was annoyed because it felt like so many other thrillers I’d read, in particular No Exit by Taylor Adams, but once I got into the meat of the story, Sager took the story in directions I have never seen. I read the majority of this book in one sitting, which I definitely think added to the tension-building.

While Charlie makes plenty of cringe-inducing decisions, she’s a solid heroine in this fantastic thriller that you’ll be rooting for despite her naivety. Even people like me who find Sager’s books to be hit or miss should give this one a shot, and I can’t wait to see the reviews come in for this highly anticipated novel!

Thank you so much to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy to review. Survive the Night will be released on June 29, 2021.

The author knew exactly how I'd feel about this book: "Not bad. Not great, but certainly not terrible."

I didn't hate this. It was fast-paced and easy to read. But I found myself wanting to get it over with. The main character, Charlie, was my least favorite part of the book. She was annoying, and somehow both underdeveloped and overdeveloped. I knew both too much about her and not enough, which I suppose is what happens when most of the book is the main character's inner dialogue, but the main character's personality is two-dimensional. The plot was an interesting concept with a few clever twists, but one of the twists made other parts of the book not make sense (namely, the first chapter from Marge's point of view). Overall, not bad, but you're not missing anything by skipping it.

Thank you to Penguin Group/Dutton for the advance copy.

I have ready every Riley Sager book and this is my favorite thus far. It is a fast-paced, thrilling ride with an unreliable narrator and both the narrator and the reader do not know what to believe. I made some predictions about 20% in that all turned out to be correct but even though I had an idea of where the plot was going, I still enjoyed the ride! I flew through this in one day. Definitely, a must-read for Sager and thriller fans!

Yippee!! Charlie Jordan decides to leave college after her friend and roommate is murdered by the Campus Killer. Grappling with the guilt and the need to get away, she accepts a ride share back home with Josh, a man she doesn't actually know. But as Charlie and Josh hit the road, it becomes increasingly clear to Charlie that something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong with Josh and now she wonders....will she survive the night?

Ah, I'm such a huge Riley Sager fan, so I was really excited to read this one. Not my favorite book of his, but still thoroughly enjoyed this wild ride. In fact, read it over the course of a day and night - it was hard to put down! Lots of creepy twists and turns, an unreliable narrator, and all the 90's charm made for a suspenseful and ridiculously fun read! So cuddle up with a blanket cause you're in for quite the night.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Dutton Group for the ARC!

Another atmospheric edge of your seat thriller from Riley Sager, which keeps you guessing until the end.

This book was a wild ride! In typical Riley Sager fashion, I could not put this book down! The pacing of this book makes you constantly crave more. The concept of having our main character has realistic movie visions was really interesting and added to the suspense. The only problem with this book is that unlike Sager’s other books I was able to call everything that was going to happen. Usually, I consider Sager the king of plot twists, but in this book, there are so few characters that it is easy to figure things out. Overall, I still highly recommend this book if you want a fun thriller that will keep you engaged the whole way through.

Thank you for an advanced reader copy of this book.   
It’s November, 1991 and college student Charlie Jordan is reeling from the brutal murder of her roommate and best friend. She needs to get away from campus, so after meeting Josh Baxter, a virtual stranger at the campus ride share board, she hops into his Pontiac, and takes an overnight trek from New England to Ohio.  
Besides the fact I love the components of pure nostalgia in this story, the fact that it is set in a time before everyone had a cell phone in their pocket, only adds to the element of suspense in this thriller.  
A passionate cinephile, Charlie has a penchant for old Hitchcock movies in particular. As the night continues, Charlie becomes suspicious of Josh. Is he really who he says he is? Or has she watched too many horror movies to make her question everyone and everything?   
The thing Sager does particularly well is gets into the reader’s head. At times, you don’t know if what you are reading is really happening, or if it is one of the reels that movie-loving Charlie has playing in her subconscious.  
Even though I had it figured out about 60% into the story, there were some delightful twists that I loved seeing towards the end as it allows for some parts of the story to tie up nicely.  
The fact that the novel needs to play out from beginning to end over a course of one night, leaves a lot to happen in that 6 hour timeframe, however this allows the story to keep moving and I found it to be a quick and intense read. I especially loved the way the end tied up—so I highly recommend you check this one out this summer. You are in for a wild ride!

2.5 Stars. A girl goes on a roadtrip with a random guy, who she thinks might be a serial killer.

It started out so good, but the rest of the book did not meet expectations.

I was so ready to love this. It was suspenseful and gripping at first. The idea of a girl going on a late-night roadtrip with a Ted Bundy character and needing to find a way to survive the night is unrealistic but honestly such a fun premise. My disbelief was suspended and I was ready for this to be a five-star read. And, for the first half of the book, it was. But then.

The two main twists of the book were terrible and absolutely ruined it. I didn't see the twists coming, but that's because they didn't make sense at all, whatsoever. The reason that twists in thrillers are appealing is because you know that the clues were there all along, but the author was such a good writer that you just didn't notice or interpret them the right way. The twist should give readers a new perspective and, most of all, should make sense in the context of what has already happened. Not so with this book. The setup for the twists was minimal to nonexistent and I felt like I had been deceived (and not in a good way) by how the characters were presented. The twists felt sloppy, not smart. The characters became inconsistent and frustrating.

Again, the first part of the book was SO GOOD. And then? It took a turn for the worst and just kept driving (pun intended). The only reason I rated it this high is because the beginning was legitimately great. I'm just disappointed the rest of the book didn't meet expectations.

First off, I love that this book is set in 1991 and all the pop culture references. and I love the cover art, it reminds me of horror movies from that era. The whole book takes place in the span of about 6 hours which is pretty unique in itself. The whole fantasy/reality aspect was somewhat confusing for me, and it somewhat detracted from the actual plot. I also found Charlie to be equally insufferable and fascinating. I didn't see the plot twist coming but I would have liked to see that whole arc explored more. There was no backstory or rhyme or reason to all of it (don't want to give anything away). I can see this being a big hit, especially among Riley Sager fans.

When you think of 1991, what comes to mind?

I’m asking because I wasn’t alive (lol) but I do LOVE the early-90s music & culture & hence why I was drawn to this book.

TITLE & AUTHOR: Survive the Night by Riley Sager (thanks to @duttonbooks for the advanced copy!)

CW: death, kidnapping, grief, death of parent, suicide attempt, murder, panic disorders, cancer

PLOT: Set in November 1991, this thriller takes you on a wild one-night ride as Charlie Jordan shares a ride home from college to home in Ohio with a man she met at the ride share board — a man she now suspects is a serial killer. Charlie is escaping school amidst the grief and guilt of her best friend’s murder by The Campus Killer. Yet as the night spans on, Charlie begins to feel that there is something suspicious about the man she is driving with. Could he be the killer who murdered her best friend?

THOUGHTS: This was my first Sager and I really enjoyed it. I am usually really good at predicting plot twists, but the atmospheric nature of this story and the cat-and-mouse chase plot line kept me so enraptured that I didn’t even have time to stop and think about what may happen next. At the final twist, I gasped and threw my Kindle across the bed. I’m not sure how I didn’t predict that twist but I was shook.

The entire story, Sager plays with the reader’s emotions. I could NOT figure out who to trust. The confusion is further confounded by Charlie’s hallucinations — as a movie major with trauma, she sometimes sees “movies” in her mind, and she cannot distinguish what is real from what is a “movie” at the time of her visions. This makes it even more difficult to parse out what is happening in the story.

The writing is strong, the characters are both relatable and slightly unreliable, and I enjoyed how at times the narration shifted from Charlie to other supporting characters to give you more insight into what was going on.

However, the last 20% of the book was a bit rushed and the motives of some of the characters felt a little unrealistic and could have been more fleshed out. I also wish the prologue was a bit longer as well to get some greater depth into the aftermath of the story. Additionally, I did enjoy the setting in 1991. The ride share board, the lack of cellphones, the reliance on payphones, all important elements in the story. There were references to 90s music and the politics and current events, but I could have gone for a little more references into the time period to set the scene even more.

All in all, this story will easily be a bookstagram hit this summer, and this will not be my last Sager story.

I absolutely needed this book in my life to get me out of my slump. I don't think I've read any other Riley Sager yet, though I own many of his books, and I was absolutely NOT disappointed! I was roped in from the first page and, because I need instant gratification, did not stop until the book was done. I wish I could read it again for the first time, because it was fantastic and brilliant! Thank you for the advanced copy of this ebook. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram closer to pub date!

I’ve religiously read all of Sager’s past books and was thrilled to receive this ARC from NetGalley & PRH. I devoured this book in one sitting up until 1AM, as it had just the right amount of twists and turns (no driving pun intended) and plot twists I wasn’t expecting (and some I did). Sager has knocked it out of the park once again when it comes to suspenseful thrillers and I’m already hoping for more!

I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager’s and devour his titles as quickly as I can get my hands on them. This one was no different, and I was up long past my bedtime to finish it. It was fast paced and thrilling but ultimately left me wanting more. I found some of the story a bit repetitive, and I was able to predict all of the twists, something that I am not used to when it comes to Sager’s books. Ultimately, this was probably my least favourite of his books, but I’ll definitely be back for the next one.

This book felt very different from Sager's previous novels. This is largely because of the way it was written, which felt very much like a movie, which was definitely intentional because of the heroine's habit of zoning out to movies inside her head. While I initially found Charlie to be an interesting character, I think the way Sager had her hallucinations woven into the story became very repetitive and predictable, and the twists did not feel as shocking as they could have if the story was written differently. I also didn't like this book as much as his previous novels because the ending felt much too neat for the story. I think this was likely done in order to keep up with the movie-like feel of the book, but it left me wanting more and ended up feeling cliche. This book is definitely meant to have a film-noir feel, but for me it didn't work in comparison to his other novels, which I found much more exciting and suspenseful. Still, I can definitely see how this would appeal to many people and is a lot more accessible in some ways than some of his other stories, so I think it will be easy to hand sell this to patrons.

#RileySager quickly became a favourite author of mine after the mind-blowing things that were going on in #LockEveryDoor.
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#SurvivetheNight features a main character named Charlie, who is the quintessential unreliable narrator. Sometimes what she sees is real, and sometimes it’s a movie playing out in her head. The tricky part is figuring out which is which. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀
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It’s the early 90’s and Charlie needs to leave her college right now. Her bff and former roommate is among the several young women who have fallen victim to the Campus Killer, and Charlie believes the murder of her bff is on her hands. Enter Josh Baxer, the man who offers to drive Charlie home, a couple of states over.
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The more they drive, the more convinced Charlie is that she’s riding with the Campus Killer, and the more determined she becomes to stay alive and make sure he never hurts another girl.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀


Riley Sager is a master of intensity and making the setting of his books a character on its own. A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Thank you to @Netgalley for the arc!

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🦷 Survive the Night by Riley Sager 🦷
I binged Riley Sager's newest in two sittings. Yes, it was fast paced, made me want to flip the pages quickly, and kept me engaged. But, I found this to be one of his more predictable and problematic reads. There was one twist I didn't see coming, but the other main one was super obvious to me early on which really impacted my overall enjoyment of the book. True to Sager form, he writes with a small cast and you know that the mystery will be solved with only the main players.

I did really enjoy this time period - the early 90s and loved some of the references and barriers to escape/help like old phone booths, paper maps, what was on the radio, and political references. About 70% of the book took place in the inside of an old Grand Am and the rest took place in some very vivid scenes.

Charlie, the main character, has been having some mental health issues since her best friend's murder where her mind briefly escapes reality and she 'sees movies' in her head of non reality scenarios. This just makes her look unreliable and unstable and I am so sick of a crazy and unstable female main character. She was suffering from the guilt she carried from her best friend's murder and she really needed some professional support to help her navigate her feelings, not people that were taking advantage of her fragility. I also have an issue with where her character ended up - spoilery ending but when you read this, message me to discuss! This one left me with too many questions and like most of his books, you really have to suspend reality with how the inconsistencies there are in the actual logistics of the story.

Listen. If I do anything routinely in this life, it’ll be trust Riley Sager. This is now my fifth year in a row reading one of his thrillers, like many people out there. So when this book started off a little iffy, I should have just known things would take a detour.

Our main girlie Charlie is going through it. Her roommate died 2 months ago, was murdered actually, by a stranger on campus. So when she needs a ride home from her college to Ohio, a 6 hour drive, it’s kind of surprising when she accepts a ride share with a stranger. It’s the 90’s, and there’s an actual physical bulletin board with these types of posts on it. This kinda gave me like the co-ed killer vibes. Picking up college girls and killing them.

Charlie accepts a ride with Josh, who immediately isn’t the most trustworthy sort of guy. He’s nice enough, but he also could absolutely be the campus killer, and Charlie’s stuck in a car with him.

That’s about as far as I can tell you about the plot. Just know everything isn’t quite as it seems in this fast-paced story and you’ll be alright.

Charlie suffers from hallucinations, and it kinda gave me a bit of that “mental illness linked to horror” vibe that’s super uncomfy. It’s challenged that she’s off her medicine, and she’s off because of a decent reason. But still, I wish there was a way to convey the stories without these parts

Some of these twists were kind of predictable, and some weren’t. I think there ends up being a very good reason for the predictability that’s unexpected... definitely the kind of thing a book club would discuss after reading this lol

This isn’t my favorite Riley Sager but I still liked it pretty well and think it’ll probably be well received.