I have heard nothing but really great things about Riley Sager’s thriller so I was excited to finally read my first one! I know that Survive the Night got mixed reviews and wasn’t as well received as some of his other books, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was fast paced and the story kept me on my toes the entire time. I also really loved how Sager wrote the setting. It was very eerie and I definitely had to read it with all the lights on in my home!

I have read all of Riley Sagers other thriller books and this book definitely had a different feel to it. There was less action and surprise in this book then I am used to from the author and I was able to guess the ending which I have not been able to do for any of their other books. That being said, I did still enjoy reading this story. I did find that even though I was able to guess the ending, there was enough misdirection and subtelty that I started doubting myself as I read through the book. I would recommend this book as a good read if you are looking for a more psycological, tense thriller, however if you are a Riley Sager fan and reading it for that then I would suggest to go into it knowing that it is going to be a bit different.

Charlie Jordan is desperate to leave college and get home to her Nana. That is where she feels safe. Her roommate is dead and there is a killer on the loose. She posts on a ride-share board at school hoping to catch a ride. The year is 1991 and Charlie doesn't drive, so her options are limited. Charlie is in luck because Josh Baxter, an employee at the college, is heading to Ohio. So they meet up late one night, the only time Josh can go, make the road trip. They aren't on the road long when Charlie regrets her decision. Something is just "off" about Josh. When she glimpses his driver's license in his wallet, she becomes terrified. Who is this man and could he have killed her roommate. They stop at an all-night diner for a break and Charlie sees it as her chance at safety. She calls her boyfriend, Robbie, and uses their "code word" and hopes that it works. She hopes the police can get to her before it is too late.


Riley Sager's books always seem to read like a slasher flick from the 80s or 90s. Survive the Night is no different. With Survive the Night set in 1991 I reminisced about the movies, music, and even the car they were in for their road trip. Charlie Jordan was a character that I wanted to like, but her constant self-pity really got on my nerves. And exactly like the old slasher flicks I watched as a kid, I yelled at her while reading this book. No, she wasn't wearing high-heels and going into the woods, but close enough. There was a twist that I wasn't expecting, but when it was revealed who the killer was, I wasn't all that surprised. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS - However, I was surprised by the epilogue. That kind of twist is why I look forward to Riley Sager's new novels.



Bottom Line - Survive the Night offers some serious nostalgia for readers of a certain age. The fast-paced nature of the story will offer up a few surprises along the way, even if you have the big things figured out.



Details:

Survive the Night by Riley Sager
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Pages: 336
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: 6/29/2021
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

I have a love/hate relationship with Riley Sager. I always feel like this books aren't as good as their concept, but I still keep reading them. The protagonist, Charlie, accepts a ride home with a stranger when she decides to leave college for good after her roommate is murdered. The stranger, Josh, seems to know a bit too much about her and the murder. Charlie has opportunities to escape Josh and...doesn't. Because it is Sager, not all is what it seems, and there's a lot of play with narrator reliability.

SURVIVE THE NIGHT by Riley Sager is a solid thriller! I didn’t love this one but it did have its moments. Right away from the premise I found this book to be completely unbelievable. It’s about Charlie who agrees to ride with a stranger from her University to her hometown. She begins to suspect that this stranger, Josh, might be the killer of her roommate. Charlie is revealed as an unreliable narrator as she sees “movies in her mind”. So throughout the book the setting of 1991 makes the justifications why Charlie would be in these situations but I couldn’t get past that Charlie would even get into his car. All the movie references were fun and nostalgic but the phrase “movies in her mind” lost all meaning as it was repeated so many times. I found the whole middle part of their road trip pretty boring but the ending did pick up. I found the twists at the end good although not shocking. And probably luckily for me this is my first read by Sager and I’ve heard his other books are better. I would be interested to read another of his books to see how it compares to this one.

Thank you to Dutton Books via NetGalley for my advance review copy!

I'm a super fan of mistery books, but this one didn't work with me. I was expecting more. The plot is super predictable.

I really enjoyed this book, I started it a few times and then got distracted by other books. When I finally sat down and decided to dedicate my time to reading it though I read it in two days. I think so far, this is my favorite book from him. The set up and plot kept me guessing until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and I personally believe that Sager’s writing is improving with each book, which can be difficult to do.

I remember reading a few of Riley Sager's books, and really liking them, but for the life of me, I can't remember what they were actually about. I think Survive the Night is going to be similar for me. At the beginning of the book, Charlie has lost her best friend at the hands of a serial killer. She carries a lot of guilt because she left her friend alone at a bar the night she was murdered. Charlie has dropped out of school, but doesn't drive, so she is looking for a ride share that will take her back home. She finds one with a guy named Josh. Let me repeat: a girl whose best friend was MURDERED by a serial killer who was never caught decides to ride home in a car with a stranger. I know this was the 90s, but man. Anyway, the ride doesn't go as planned, because of course it doesn't. Things happen, shocking twist, the usual. It was a decent book, and a fast read, but like I said, in a year from now I won't remember the plot.

I’ll be honest — having enjoyed Riley’s other novels & being really excited to dig into this one, it pains me to say I didn’t love this. It felt a bit rushed & unfinished at times, but I can still appreciate how the story played out. Still looking forward to Riley’s future reads, but would love to see a stronger hand during the edit.

This book was all right. Good, fast and full of action. I didn't have much sympathy for the characters and the ending seemed a little convoluted and unlikely, but I would recommend to anyone looking for a fast read or thriller.

This book was... something. I went in blind, which is the best way to go, I'd think. I didn't predict all of the twists, but I saw some of them.

I think one of my biggest problems with this book was that Riley Sager doesn't write a female perspective well. He tries - and he tries in all of his books - but it is very tough for a male author to write from a female perspective (and vice versa, to be fair). In this book, it doesn't work. Charlie is our female protaganist and she makes some dumb decisions.

That's putting it mildly. There is a campus killer on the loose who just murdered Charlie's roommate. This killer has taken girls and driven them in his car and killed them. And yet... Charlie decides she needs to leave campus before her boyfriend can take her (for no real reason) and puts a poster on a ride share board. A random guy sees her and offers to give her a ride. So Charlie says yes.

Sure, it's 1991 before cell phones... but what female thinks this is a good idea? On top of that, when Charlie starts realizing that Josh, the guy giving her a ride may be lying... she doesn't jump ship. She stays with him. Her internal monologue is spotty at best. She's an unreliable narrator with "movies in her mind" throughout.

The whole thing is a bit out there and really goes off the rails in the last third of the book. You have to suspend a lot of disbelief and then try to put it all back together by the end. It was weird and twisty and also just too much.

Sadly, this was my least favorite Riley Sager book. I still enjoyed aspects of it, and appreciate that Riley Sager's stories are always fast-paced and easy to consume. I was surprised by some of the twists, which is always fun. However, the ending fell apart a bit for me, going a little too far and snapping my suspenders of disbelief. The main character also made some pretty frustrating choices. This was still an enjoyable read, but I'd recommend pretty much any of the author's other books over this one.

Thank you Dutton for providing a free advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I am late in reviewing this, but my high school students legitimately argued over who got to read this first, so I had to order a second copy. Great mystery/slow burn thriller, and it works for the HS level, too.

'Survive the Night' is Riley Sager's fourth thriller published by Dutton Books, and while I began as a strong fan with the publication of 'Final Girls', I don't know if I'm such an eager audience after finishing this book. I originally finished this book before the publication date and my initial reaction was "unimpressed" and a little annoyed. When the book released in June, I reread it thinking my opinion might be different given space and additional time to think on it. It was not and I've been dragging my feet to write this review because the very idea of doing so is exhausting.

Let me make a blanket statement - if you like the movie La La Land, you will probably enjoy this book. Sager requires that his readers either suspend disbelief, or be naive enough, to be impressed with this story. On a basic cognitive level, I understand what Sager was doing. I don't "not get" this book. I had a difficult time actually enjoying this book and think that Sager is becoming the Michael Bay equivalent of an author that cranks out summer scaries. All flash and no substance.

The basic premise of 'Survive the Night' is simple. Most of the story takes place inside of a car and the dialogue between Charlie Jordan and Josh Baxter is the axis on which the growing unease, tension, and story arc rest. Charlie is a film student who is looking for a ride home during the Thanksgiving break because the idea of staying on campus with the memory of her recently murdered best friend and roommate, Maddy, hanging over her head is too much. So much so, and with limited funds and options, Charlie looks for a rideshare option on the school's bulletin boards. This, after all, the early 90s. At the ridershare postings, Charlie meets Josh, a student she has never seen before, who has red flags written all over him. So begins an arduous journey told through timestamped chapter headers about Charlie's dangerous ride into the night with a total stranger who may or may not be Maddy's serial killer. Because, of course...

From the opening pages we are screaming at Charlie. She is the tired trope of an unreliable female protagonist with a gloss of Prozac Nation thrown in for good measure. I think this was a structured and methodical device Sager used to 'make' readers engage with the character. To yell advice to her, to resign her to her fate, to replicate in paper the experience of watching a horror movie. Like I said, on a cognitive level, I can appreciate what Sager was trying to do. However, this degree of audience participation does not in anyway make up for the lack of character development, the lazy motivations for either Charlie or Josh, the plot holes, and especially not the ludicrous series finale of Lost style ending.

All that to say, this book is a thriller and I tore through this book because I genuinely needed to know what was coming up in the next bend in the story. I just don't think the overall concept was for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had such promise, but completely fell off the rails at about 70% of the way through. Seeing as my time was already invested, I finished it, but it was a CHORE. I resented the whole recurring "is this real / is this not" and found that just as I was starting to be drawn into the story, it turned out the experience(s) wasn't real after all. It was incredibly frustrating, took away from the flow of the story, and I found that when I FINALLY finished the book, didn't really care about what happened and what didn't. I was NOT a fan of the reveal at the end, as I felt tricked by the author.

This was really more of a one star read, but bumped up to two for the sense of urgency there was at some points of the story, as well as the really compressed time frame. Although, I should bump it back down to one star based on the sheer stupidity of the decisions the main character made throughout.

"Survive the Night" is another great book from Riley Sager. The tension builds and as a reader, I was anxious for Charlie and what was going to happen next. The story has twists that might seem predictable to readers of Sager's previous works. However, "Survive the Night" is a must-read if you are a Riley Sager fan, or just a fan of horror/suspense novels.

Riley Sager is an auto buy author for me. I enjoyed this book tremendously . I recommend you go in blind ginger the full experience . I’m afraid I might give it away especially the twists.

2.5 Stars!

I'm a big Riley Sager fan but this one just didn't do it for me. All of the characters are unlikeable, and I found the premise hard to believe.

Charlie is a 20-year-old college student who loves movies. In fact she is so obsessed, she literally imagines scenes in her mind, then cannot distinguish fiction from reality. Though Charlie struggles with the real world, her best friend Maddy helps keep her social. After Maddy is murdered by the “Campus Killer” who has killed two other young women already, Charlie blames herself and decides to go back home to Ohio. She ends up meeting a handsome guy named Josh on a ride share board, and travels back home with him. Things go downhill from there- the more she gets to know Josh, she suspects that he might be the murderer.

Some things I liked: the setting takes place in 1991 when none of them had cellphones/internet/social media, etc. There are lots of 90’s references & music. The story moves fast, and it’s an easy read.

However, there was too much internal dialogue with Charlie, it gets repetitive. I read a lot of mysteries/thrillers and I'm tired of the unreliable narrator trope. Also having her & Josh end up together doesn’t make sense to me. I was hoping for another twist at the end. Not a horrible read, but not nearly as good as his other books.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a copy!

It’s November 1991. George H.W. Bush is in the White House, Nirvana’s in the tape deck, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer. Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive back to Ohio. After the brutal murder of her roommate by the man known as the Campus Killer, Charlie is desperate to escape her guilt and grief by going home. As she gets to know Josh on their drive, red flags pop up regarding everything from his reason for heading to Ohio to his connection to campus. Charlie’s worries take her straight to the conclusion that Josh is the Campus Killer, but is Josh truly dangerous or has she made connections that don’t exist?

I’m a huge fan of Riley Sager and every year I look forward to seeing what book he puts out next. They’re typically binge-worthy and while some are clearly heavily inspired by previous works, I find myself addicted to reading them. SURVIVE THE NIGHT was a bit of a struggle for me to get into and I think that stems from the fact that I had to suspend my belief to a huge degree. I understand things were different in the 1990’s and people were more trusting, but I just couldn’t get onboard with how Charlie was acting. What kept me going was just the curiosity to see how extreme things would progress. This is 100% a book where you want to scream “No, don’t do that!” over and over. While it might not have been my favorite Sager, I was still committed to seeing it through. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews, so I think this one that’s left to personal preference and my only recommendation is to go in as blind as possible.