I feel bad giving this book a low rating but I had such high expectations for Survive the Night and I was disappointed. I absolutely love Sager’s novels Final Girls and Home Before Dark, but his newest goes into the “OK” category for me, along with his other two books. The first 75% of the book is pretty slow and the last 25% just didn’t make up for it IMHO. The final reveal of who the killer is was obvious and predictable. There were so many other parts of the story that just didn’t make sense or were too unbelievable: Why was Charlie so stupid? Why didn’t Maddy’s grandma just go find her on campus after she stopped answering her phone instead of paying someone $20,000 to go get her? Why did Josh/Jake act so creepy and mess with Charlie’s mind in the car if he was a good guy all along? Also the whole “seeing movies in her mind” thing with Charlie was just a way to make the story confusing. Then all of the sudden she just knows she won’t have them anymore? I did think the ending where we find out this was all an actual movie based on Charlie’s experience was cool. And it was entertaining and suspenseful enough to read quickly. I am sure others will really enjoy it, but it was not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book! This one had me guessing and thinking I figured it out and then it would throw me for a loop only to end up mostly where I started! I was on the edge of my seat at one point! The car ride dragged a little at times and the "movies" in Charlie's head were a little confusing, but did not affect how much I enjoyed this book! I have already recommended it! I love Riley Sager's books! Thank you again to NetGalley!

I am already a huge fan of Riley Sager and this book does not disappoint! There are so many twists and turns at the end I could not stop reading this book!

I’m a huge Riley Sager fan and have been excitedly awaiting this book. I’m disappointed to say this is my least favorite so far. That’s not to say I didn’t still devour it. I read it on a Sunday, night cover to cover.

Things I didn’t love...The chapters are all marked the way locations are written in a screenplay. The film references throughout the book just felt really heavy handed and most were unnecessary.

I also found the protagonist to be unbearable. She’s a college film theory major and from the moment she made a pretentious remark about The Sound of Music, I knew she was an unreliable narrator (her mental health issues of seeing “movies in her mind” aside).

All this to say, the story is still a fun read and if you like Riley Sager, you’ll enjoy this book. It’s sucks you in and goes by quick. Just don’t get your hopes up. I guessed who the killer was pretty early on.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC.

ONCE AGAIN we get Riley Sager delivering a pitch-perfect, nail-biting thriller, that's always 1.5 steps ahead of the reader and just a little faster on the uptake than expected.

Survive the Night by Riley Sager Interesting premise and creepy, twisty story. Charlie is very naive and trusting. Josh is an enigma. Not a car ride I'd want to be taking.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Traveling in a car with a possible serial killer on an empty highway late at night. Oh, and it’s a book by Riley Sager. Heck yes! Survive the Night further cemented the fact that I’ll read whatever he writes. Since I’m a lifelong Pennsylvanian, he gets bonus points from me for once again bringing cities near me into one of his books.

Ok, on to the review...
I seriously wish I could’ve just sat and read this book from start to finish without moving from my spot because I totally would have. Sager is so good at drawing you into the story right away and then you’re just hooked. When I absolutely had to go to sleep the night I started this book, I noticed that I was over halfway through the book and I didn’t want it to be true.
This story was suspenseful, it creeped me out, it chilled me, and the action scenes made me feel like I was the one in danger. My guess at what would happen was way off. I guessed one of the twists but it didn’t ruin it for me and other twists were total surprises. I enjoyed how Sager kept the story fast paced and didn’t lose me with details. And just when I thought the story was over I flipped to the next page to find more to the story...the “daaaang” ending. I had to read it twice.
If it’s not obvious by now, I highly recommend this book!

I went into this with high expectations as I've loved Sagers previous novels so much.
This definitely had the 90's thriller/slasher vibe that I've been hoping to find more in recent years. It's set in the year 1991, which is actually my birth year yay!
The plot revolves around a young college student who is trying to get away for awhile after her BFF is found murdered by a local serial killer dubbed the Campus Killer. She accepts a ride share from a stranger and before you start gasping, that was pretty common back in the 90s! While riding with this guy Charlie starts noticing little things that he is lying about and starts to wonder who exactly she got a ride from.

I loved the atmospheric feel of this. I loved how the theme of grief was woven throughout the whole story, almost every character had a story of loss that impacted the way they were acting.

While this wasn't my favorite of Sagers novels, it was still really good 👌🏼

Survive The Night is Sager at their best. Tense and twisty this book never lets up on the feelings of unease and tension. Just when you think you've started to figure it out the twists start, and the don't stop until the last sentence.
1991. A small liberal arts college has a serial killer on campus. The killer has murdered Charlie's roommate and she needs to get away from campus and guilt that follows her everywhere. Lucky for her a stranger offers her a ride back to Ohio. Or maybe not so lucky...?

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I will say, I only started reading Riley Sager’s books last year when I read the 4th book. I immediately fell in love with it and went back to read the other the other three. I couldn’t wait for this one so I was super excited to get as advance copy, unfortunately that’s where my excitement ended. I struggled with this one, I had a hard time getting into it, I feel like it really didn’t pick up till over halfway through and then went bang! The ending made up for the slow beginning. With that being said though, I can’t wait for his next release.

This is not a drill! Riley Sager’s latest book is an edge-of-your seat thriller full of twists and turns to the very last line, and I LOVED IT!

What I Loved

*I loved the 90’s throwback. I was a college girl just like Charlie in November 1991. The music, the culture, the very real lack of technology. In 1991, we didn’t have cell phones, so there were no instant phone calls, no texting, no internet full of information widely and readily available. If you wanted to make a phone call, you carried change and found a payphone. Oh the nostalgia…

*I could genuinely relate to Charlie’s grief and guilt because in 1992 my best friend was also tragically killed. I found Sager’s depiction of grief to be authentic and genuine.

*The tension-filled game of cat and mouse was extraordinary, and I found my anxiety rising so much (in a good way) that I occasionally needed to take a break.

*The gaslighting! Oh the gaslighting and the mind games – all with one with one aim: survive the night.

What I Struggled With

*As a mother, I just wanted to scream: DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? But that’s really more about the reader than the book.

*There was one aspect of the ending that left me scratching my head, and it’s for this reason that I deducted a half star from my rating.

Survive the Night is a nostalgic and electrifying thrill ride, and I rate it 4.5 stars. It’s an absolute must read!

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This will be in stores on June 29, and you’re definitely going to want to grab your own copy.

This book isn't over until it's over!
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I've been strongly anticipating Riley Sager's fifth novel, Survive the Night, ever since it was announced - so a huge thank you to Dutton for the ARC!! What got me? The title. It's eerie, thrilling, and fills me with all the anticipation!
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This is a wild, wild ride full of twists, turns, and very eerie vibes. We have an unreliable narration, but it is done in a clever and unique way - so even though I feel this is overused in thrillers, it didn't bother me in this book. Sager is very atmospheric - I felt like I was alone in the car - with a stranger - on a stretch of dark, cold highway, afraid for my life. I got very strong No Exit vibes which thrilled me as I so LOVED No Exit. But the fear pumping through me while I was reading is what kept me turning the pages, I just HAD to know what was going to happen!
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I thought a lot of the book was going to be predictable, so I am happy to say that I didn't end up predicting a lot of the twists. There were parts that I felt like... oh is that it? But a new twist would re-ramp up my excitement.
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I'm not sure where Survive the Night fits in to my Sager novel ranking, but I believe it to be one of his better stories. I really enjoyed this book!
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If you love thrillers, don't skip Survive the Night!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Umm...WOW. I think this is my new favorite Riley Sager book.

The year is 1991. A college student, who has had more than her share of tragedy, looks to escape her life and accepts a ride home with a perfect stranger. Soon, she realizes that he is more than he seems and just may be a serial killer.

This book is dark, twisty, and tightly plotted. Along with the story itself is an exploration of grief that I appreciated.

I can see some people not liking the end of the book, but it worked for me. I loved this.

Thank you, #NetGalley, for the advanced reader copy

I’m a big fan of Riley Sager, and I was immediately hooked by the premise of this book. It’s a dark, action packed and twisty ride, and I felt like I was watching a movie-which is appropriate given Charlie is obsessed with movies and often has elaborate cinema-esque daydreams that she has trouble differentiating from reality. You think you know where this story is going, and then it flips you upside down, and just as you’re finding yourself you get flipped again, and again. And just like when watching a movie, I often found myself yelling at Charlie to “run!” Or “watch out!”
The older setting also plays a perfect part in heightening the tension, as Charlie has to get creative when looking for help in a pre-cell phone era. I’m sure many of us can remember traveling in a time where you used actual maps and carried change for pay phones. I also quite enjoyed the chapter titles that were reminiscent of a movie script; another subtle nod to our protagonist and her love of film.

Read this in less than 24 hours which is always the mark of a good thriller. Not my first Sager, and not my favorite Sager, but a well-rounded entry into the thriller cannon, nonetheless. As someone who also majored in film in college, I loved the nod to movies laced throughout the book. Tropes that I find annoying normally in books like this made all the more sense when bookended by the prologue and epilogue of the story.

A more in-depth review to come on Instagram after I've had some time to digest, but overall, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to its publication date. It will be THE big thriller of Summer 2021.

Riley. Freaking. Sager. I swear, he can do no wrong, and there’s always a spot on his books where I’m gobsmacked.

I can’t share details yet, but Sager reels you in, confuses you, shocks you, then while you’re recalling, he makes you tear through the remainder of the book. Oh, and before you finish? A gut punch. I was not going to sleep until I finished this one, and afterwards, I laid there and just tried to process what the hell I just read.

“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 home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination?

What follows is a game of cat and mouse played out on night-shrouded roads and in neon-lit parking lots, during an age when the only call for help can be made on a pay phone and in a place where there's nowhere to run. In order to win, Charlie must do one thing—survive the night.”

Definitely five stars. It’s amazing, Sager’s writing is fantastic, and this is going to be a huge summer smash.

**Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. My opinions, though gushing, are my own.**

2.5 stars

I've read most of Sager's book, and he quickly became one of my favorite go-to authors. However, I struggled with this one.

There was a diabolical villain, as I expected, but it wasn't as shocking as in prior books. And the ending seemed a bit too neat for the genre. The first half was way too slow for this genre, in my opinion. It did improve a bit as the story went on. The mention of some classic films was a fun addition.

Propulsive, but ultimately not one of Sager's best. The setup is definitely intriguing, there are several interesting story twists along the way, and the book's chapter arrangement and titling by scene setting is both clever and serves a larger purpose. However, I could never fully get onboard with a college-aged girl willingly accepting a car ride from a complete stranger, no matter what her degree of desperation and fragile her emotional state were, and the final act was a bit of a letdown compared to all that preceded it with not everything about the ending sitting right with me.

Charlie is looking to leave her university before Thanksgiving break after her best friend and dorm roommate is murdered by the Campus Killer. She finds a ride on the campus rideshare board is taken on a wild, twisting, and turning ride. Like the main character, the reader constantly feels like they're second-guessing themselves at every turn. This novel is full of tense surprises and the reader will not want to put the book down.

Overall, a great novel, but would make for a fantastic film (if you know what I'm saying). Read this if you like 80s-90s horror films and edge-of-your-seat thrillers.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read and write a review for Survive the Night.

After Final Girls, Riley Sager quickly became one of my all time favorite thriller writers. Survive the Night is another strong thriller under his belt. Charlie is a tough but damaged character, just like the femme fatales and damsels in distress in the old movies that she loves. The plot was fast-paced and compelling. The ending felt a bit too complete and too happy almost for the tone of the book but all loose ends were wrapped up.