I could not be more SURPRISED.

The MC might have been the dumbest MC I've ever read from in my life. You know when you're watching a horror movie and there's that one character that constantly makes you yell at your TV?
That was THIS character. She did everything you're absolutely not supposed to do and I was soooo frustrated by her. I also despise when a MC is unreliable bc of mental health reasons. I know this is pretty common in the thriller/mystery genres, but I just hate it. I feel like it makes anyone with mental health issues look unreliable and unstable. She's been through so many traumatic things and clearly has some PTSD and trauma-induced psychosis, but let's make it a ~twist~ and a quirky bit of ~unreliability~. Not my thing. I always really enjoy Sager's writing style so that was at least enjoyable and I was keen to figure out the whole whodunit thing, but I just can't get past how wack the entire plot and main character were. I'm still stunned and confused.

AND that ending?????? Like wait... what? There was absolutely no need for that and then it all wrapped up so quickly I didn't even have time to process it.

Very very very very disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for a review!

Charlie is desperate to leave her college following the death of her best friend. Despite the urging of her boyfriend Robbie, she uses the college’s ride board to find someone willing to drive her the six hours back home. However, over the course of the car ride with a stranger, Charlie becomes convinced that things aren’t adding up- and that she may be in the car with a killer.

I’ve read all of Sager’s other books and found them to be highly addicting and enjoyable, and Survive the Night doesn’t disappoint. While I found Charlie’s actions extremely questionable and frustrating at times, there were a few huge twists I absolutely did not see coming. I literally read this book in two sittings because I had to find out what the heck was going on. Definitely recommend for a fun thriller if you can overlook some implausibility on the main character’s part!

Survive the Night literally kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. I think I finished in 2 nights because I couldn't set it down! So many twists and turns, and none took me where I was expecting to go. A very fun and very scary read!

I have a love/hate relationship with Riley Sager. I’ve very much enjoyed some of her books but others, I just haven’t understood the appeal. This was the latter which was disappointing. I’m not in love with dumb female leads as of late and just can’t buy in anymore. I definitely kept reading to find out the twist but otherwise did not enjoy this novel as much as I thought I would.

It’s the 1990’a and Charlie is a film theory major and is ready to pack up and leave college, her best friend Maddy was brutally murdered, and the fourth victim of of a serial murderer they call The Campus Killer. Charlie feels responsible if she hadn’t gotten in an argument and left her at the bar she feels she would still be alive today. The therapist describes Orange pills to help her cope but she’s still seeing movie like scenes in her head and she’s finding it difficult to know what’s real and what’s not. She wants to go home where she feels safe back to Ohio. After the death of her parents she doesn’t drive so she searches the campus ride share board. With a stroke of crazy luck she meets Josh and he’s also looking for someone to share the six hour drive. Leaving behind the memories of Maddy and saying goodbye to her boyfriend Robbie she hits the road. Snow swirling and Josh and Charlie make awkward conversation over Nirvana on the radio, she begins to find holes in his stories and things are not adding up, Charlie is slowly beginning to realize she may have just accepted a ride with the Campus Killer. Will she be able to Survive The Night? With her movie scene hallucinations she doesn’t know what’s real anymore? All she knows is she needs to just trust her gut! Four stars!

Old-school Hitchcockian suspense with some retro 90's chills and thrills!

I totally love how the format reads like a screenplay . . . the tension building and the blooming uncertainties during the evening car ride were slightly reminiscent of the movie Frailty (2001), which I thoroughly enjoyed.

At one point I felt there were some hints of implausibility, but those kinks seem to smooth out over the course of the storyline. Without giving anything away, I must say that the full ending of this novel is Oh-So-Satisfying!

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Dutton for an advanced copy of Survive the Night for my unbiased evaluation. 4 stars

Read this one in just two sittings. Riley Sager has such a way with weaving stories. I always find myself instantly glued to the pages (or screen in this case), and I find it nearly impossible to put the book down until I’ve gotten to the end. Survive the Night had so many tiny twists and surprises. It definitely kept me on my toes! I am a forever fan of this man’s writing, and it just keeps getting better. I gave this one 5 stars, and have already purchased a copy for my shelf!

I love Riley Sager, and I don't think I will ever give his books anything less than 5 stars. Another great read from him, not my favorite but that's ok I still liked it!

I became a Sager fan after I gobbled up the Last Time I Lied. From there I binge read all of his other books- so I was really excited for this one. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I found the main character annoying, and beyond the typical "dumb girl" for a thriller storyline. I also found the end waaaayyyy too over the top for me, and by the end I couldn't do much more than roll my eyes.

Scary season is in full swing over here with my first ever Sagar book! And he lived up to all the hype for me with this one!! He must be my age, because he nailed the 1991 time period (ie. ride shares with strangers and no cell phones). Set over basically one night while driving home from college, I got a real No Exit vibe from this. The short chapters made this an unputdownable thriller.

This book is about as scary as I can handle. I was surprised no less than 100 times during this book- maybe it’s because I don’t read enough thrillers, but I did not see these twists coming!! Part of the mystery was that the heroine was unreliable- and she knew she was unreliable….. soooooo, who the heck knows what was really happening! I loved her movie knowledge and references, but some of her decisions had me wanting to shake her!!!

Thank goodness for the couple of twists in the last 30% of this book because I was so bored with this book up until that time.

What kind of girl gets in a car with some random guy to go anywhere? Even back in the 90’s? Not a very smart one!

The movie playing in her mind that prevents her from knowing what’s real or not, while unique, just doesn’t make sense. I just didn’t understand how a story could be built around this concept. It’s not one that I really enjoyed…. and I love movies!

The last 30% or so of the book was pretty fun and kept me engaged but I’m hoping that the other Sager books will be much better reads.

Thank you to #DuttonBooks and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This wasn't my favorite Riley Sager book. The first half was super slow with too much repetitive inner monologue. Luckily, it picked up and finished strong, if not somewhat predictably.

Unfortunately, this book has fallen into the pattern of many of Sager's books which makes the thrilling/mysterious part of his novels too easy to guess. Though I will admit that I loved that much of this novel was set inside of a car, and that the ultimate motives of each of these characters were intriguing, I was able to guess the twist far too early to really be emotionally impacted in the way I want out of a thriller.

Regardless, thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this review copy! Much appreciated!

this has everything I should love in a serial killer creepy thriller- see in the 90s, a lone girl driving during the night on deserted highways, empty truck stops, no cell phones and she's riding with someone who might be a serial killer! I was all in with this story- until the halfway mark and things got ridiculous. Charlie the girl was so naive to the point of me being so annoyed with her I was kind of hoping he really was a serial killer. The plot went from suspenseful to eye rolling to just plain over the top I couldn't wait to be done. I found the ending cliche

Another great suspenseful and twisty read by one of my favorite authors! The plot twists and character development kept me on the edge of my seat and I finished the book in 2 days- could not put it down! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton via NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Survive the Night. This was a fun ride — pun kind of not intended. A story told over the course of one night, involving a sometimes-unreliable heroine, classic movie references, the terror of the before-cell phones and Google Maps 90’s, and lots of heart-pumping horror, Survive the Night was unputdownable. My favorite books have been the ones I can see in my mind’s eye like a movie, kind of like my girl Charlie. This is my 2nd Riley Sager story and won’t be my last.

I'm sad to say.....zzzzzzz.....oh sorry. That was me falling asleep while trying to write this review.

But seriously, it wasn't it for me. It was a slog to get through and I regret spending time on it when I could have moved on. But Riley Sager usually hits it on the head. This one just wasn't it. Maybe next time, buddy.

Charlie decides to rideshare with Josh. She doesn't really know him, but she really wants to get home. But within just a little bit of time, she starts noticing things, and her sixth sense sets in.
Maybe Josh isn't who she thinks he is.
Maybe he wants to kill her. Maybe she wants to kill him.

I enjoyed the concept of this, but felt like the ending was missing something. It felt very filmic, though, and I think it showed some promise. The time period was great, and nostalgic for me.

I didn’t understand the character motivations whatsoever, but perhaps that was the point. We all love to yell at the characters in a horror movie when they make bad decisions, decide to turn back, run away from the killer by going upstairs, etc. It felt very much like a straight-to-VOD horror movie, and as a huge horror fan, I mean that in the best way possible.

Riley Sager does it again! His books have so many twists and turns. This one was different from his lasts because of how he set it up, but overall another win for this thriller writer.