The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson is a very highly recommended riveting thriller.

At seven-years-old Kara McIntyre is a survivor of a Christmas Eve massacre that wiped out her family. Her sister Marlie helped her hide, which led to Kara's survival, but then Marlie disappeared. Since that horrific night Kara has been struggling with her memories, recurring nightmares, and anxiety. Her brother Jonas was convicted of the murders but now, twenty years later, he is being released after a technicality and Detectives Thomas and Johnson are back on the case, reviewing all the evidence. Kara is unsure what to think. What she does know is that the release of Jonas brings with it a media frenzy as well as reopening all of her memories. And now someone is texting her about Marlie, saying "She is alive."

The opening of this intriguing novel will immediately capture your attention as it follows seven-year-old Kara during that gruesome night of blood shed. This will immediately elicit sympathy and you will care about what happens to Kara, especially when it becomes clear that the killer is not done and people involved in the case are starting to die again. Could it be Jonas? Or is the real killer still out there? Can Kara survive again?

Kara is a fully realized character and was portrayed in a realistic manner. Enough information is provided about the other characters to give background and keep the plot moving and introduce suspects.

The writing is excellent in this un-put-downable thriller. The plot is complex and moves at a quick pace. The narrative mainly follows Kara's point-of-view, with some chapters following Detectives Thomas and Johnson reopening the case, Wesley Tate, a reporter and son of the man who saved Kara, as well as a few other characters. When murders start happening again, you won't know who to believe as the suspense and tension rises. I was totally engrossed in from the beginning to the end.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Kensington via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

When Kara was seven years old, most of her family was slaughtered on Christmas Eve, her older sister disappeared, and one of her brothers was convicted of the murders. Kara spent her childhood being bounced between guardians more interested in her inheritance than providing a stable home, leaving her with trust issues. Now, twenty years later, new information has come to light, leading to her brother being released from prison. Kara, hounded by the press, starts to receive cryptic messages suggesting her sister is still alive and people connected to the case start dying; is she next? Overall, I liked this book and it was relatively fast paced, but to me the characters did not have a lot of depth, and while the plot held surprises, some of them didn't seem very logical.

20 years ago, most of a family was murdered. 18 year old Marlie woke up her 7 year old sister and told her to be quiet and to follow her. Marlie locked her in the attic and told her not to come out until Marlie got her. There is a bad person and something bad going on. Kara waited and then picked the lock. Went downstairs and found her parents and step siblings all dead except for Jonas and Marlie was missing, Jonas was injured and told her to get help and run.
Present day and Jonas is getting out of prison for killing his family, which he denies and Kara doesn't really know what happened. There was a neighbor who had saved Kara but had died while saving her. His son is now a reporter and wants answers.
The investigators want to really know what happened and are getting back into finding answers.
We find out that Jonah's attorney and Kara's aunt have depleted the inheritance and Kara is supposed to be getting it all real soon.
Then murders start happening again and left me with questions and having a hard time putting the book. down and finding out who the murderer really is.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the book to review.

Kara has struggled since she was 7 years old. Since her family was massacred at Christmas and her sister Marlie disappeared. Her brother Jonas has always maintained his innocence and now, after a confession by one of his arresting officers, he's been freed from prison. This would seem to be a good thing but it's not because bad things start to happen. And then she get a phone call that seems to refer to her sister. Who can she trust? Can she trust anyone? It's a claustrophobic at times tale that goes, let's face it. over the top. That said, it's also a page turner. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Jackson's fans will be pleased,

Kara had a horrific childhood. She was the only survivor of a massacre that took her brothers, and her parents, and caused her sister to go missing. A police officer died that night saving her and his son is also on a quest for the truth. Kara's remaining brother was convicted of the murders but is being released after twenty years because of a legal glitch. Kara's PTSD from that night is escalating; she needs to find her brother and find out what really happened that night. Kara joins forces with the son of the officer who saved her. She has no choice. What they find out is a complicated astonishing story that will keep you reading this book all night. Thanks to #NetGalley#TheGirlWhoSurvived for the opportunity to read and review this book.

If this was a ninety minute movie, I would watch it and I would be entertained.

I liked having a cast of characters who participated in the points of view. Each character brought their own conclusions and interrogations to the table, which made this story feel like one large puzzle. Everyone is obsessed with this twenty year old case-whether they are trying to uncover more details or hide nefarious deeds, each perspective lends some clues to the mystery of what happened that night and who is killing people now?

Unfortunately, I did not identify with any one character. I know we are supposed to identify with Kara, but her actions and trauma kept me from being able to connect. There were moments that I felt she made some poor decisions and listened to her lizard brain just a bit too much. On the flip side of this observation, the plot was enough to carry me through the story and so I do not feel too disappointed in not honing in on any one character.

Some of the writing was a bit awkward in my opinion. This was my first time reading a book by Lisa Jackson, and I found that some of her extraneous details subtracted from the pacing of the sentences. I anticipated that the writing would flow and build in order to create tension and a sense of urgency. Because it was lacking in this pacing, the book did not feel like a thriller beyond the initial first third of the story in which the content matter alone does the trick.

I found this story intriguing and tragic. It would be an entertaining story to see as a shorter film adaptation. I lived in Portland for about fifteen years and now reside in upper NW Washington, so I know that the ambience of the location for a story like this-in film form-would be intriguing.

I have seen reviews on this book and they seem pretty divided, so I think I might go along with the opinions of readers who have read Jackson's works more broadly than I have. Some liked this book and some were a tad underwhelmed, I would recommend reading the story yourself and coming to your own conclusions. All in all, I look forward to reading a book by Lisa Jackson in the future.

3-3.5 stars!

I read and reviewed an advanced eARC copy of this book thanks to Kensington Books via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#TheGirlWhoSurvived #NetGalley

Kara survived the killing that took most of her family. Her sister is missing, and her brother Jonas is in jail for the murders of her parents and other 2 brothers. Kara was seven when this happened and was sent to live with her mother's sister. Jonas gets out of jail on a charge of miss use of evidence and people start dying. Is he the cold blooded killer after all? is is someone else? This is a good mystery with twists and turns, it involves ex boyfriends, ex spouses, family and trusted ( you thought) friends. Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy

Unfortunately I could not get into this book. The author takes her time describing the many characters and I prefer books with less characters.
The main character survived her family being chopped up with a sword and years later, her brother gets out of jail. She thinks her brother is innocent. Because of the flash backs to the horrible day, I lost interest in this sad book.

This was a really suspenseful book! My heart was beating so fast while I was reading! The characters were great and I loved how the story evolved. I will definitely be reading more from this author! Thank you NetGalley for sending me an advance copy of this book! I loved it!

OMG! What a compelling and thrilling ride! So much suspense and many possible suspects! This is one of those reads that you can't put down! My heart was still pounding days after I'd read it!

The story grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go till the end! Great, great book!

Thank you #NetGalley for AC!

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

kara is the girl who survived an horrific attack on her family, by running away

traumatic times for her, but its the release of her brother jonas for the crimes of murdering their family that has all her demons coming back again....

new evidence has come to light and jonas is released after 20 years behind bars...

but as the bodies start mounting up can kara remember that fateful night 20 years ago when she was only 7....

what a cliffhanger of a book...was he wasnt he and then karas memory will it wont it... you neve knew what was going to happen next...

brilliantly written so much so that i didnt want to put the book down

Thrill ride for sure! Grabs you right at the start with the massacre. The ending had everything coming to a head and provided suspense and surprise. I love when I am not sure who the antagonist is and I kept switching back and forth. Kara has so much on shoulders and even more so at then end, but there is hope. I did get confused trying to keep track of all the siblings and family dynamic, even with them being dead! I even read the last chapter a couple times, trying to wrap around the family dynamics, phew. Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the arc. I freely volunteer my thoughts and opinions.

The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson is a fast paced thriller about Kara McIntyre, the survivor of a gruesome massacre that left all but one of her family members dead. Kara was only eight when her sister Marlie hid her in the attic and saved her from the wrath of a killer who was bludgeoning everyone she loved...and that murderer was found to be her step brother Jonas.

Now two decades later, Jonas is being released from prison and his social media fans are overjoyed but those who believe in his guilt are determined to send him back. As Kara joins forces with Tate, a reporter whose father died saving Kara on the icy lake the night of the murder, she is forced to confront the disturbing memories of that horrific night. As the truth begins to unfold, more lives are put in jeopardy and Kara will ultimately learn the shocking truth about the famed McIntyre Massacre.

The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson

One night changed much for Kara and her family. Most of her family were slaughtered and though she survived, what she saw changed her forever. Two decades later she is haunted by the past, unable to move forward, and a bit of a basket case. Her brother’s release from prison seems to act as a catalyst for more murders, introspection, and looking for truth…but…will the truth be revealed so many years after the massacre?

What I liked:
* The twisted tale
* The cunningly plotted and written story
* Not knowing for sure what the truth was till nearly the end of the story.
* Detectives Thomas and Johnson and the way they pursued the case(s)
* Tate the father who saved Kara and Tate the son who was there for her twenty years later
* Thinking about what might really have happened…
* The many threads of the story so well woven together to complete the tale
* Kara – though a bit broken and not easy to love…I did admire her tenacity
* The inkling of potential romance between Kara and Tate
* That justice, of sorts, was meted out

What I didn’t like:
* Knowing that people like the ones in this book do exist and that they can ruin so many lives

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

The Girl Who Survived started off with a bang! I don't know if I've read a more heart pumping suspenseful start to a book, I was hooked! Unfortunately, it went downhill for me after that. There were so many characters it was hard to keep track of who was who, and the storyline just seemed to drag on. I found the end to be a little too far fetched...I just didn't love the whole book as much as I did the start. The book had just enough to keep me reading, but barely.
Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson that I read and reviewed.
The Girl Who Survived moved a bit slow for me and was told by way too many different perspectives so it was a bit crazy a times when I was trying to figure out what was going on. I think Jackson was trying to hard to keep the reader guessing who commuted the crime by throwing all kinds of ideas out there for the reader.
Overall this book had a really good ending but it took too long to get there that is why I am giving The Girl Who Survived three out of five stars.

A scary yet timely story of a girl trying to make a life for herself in the wake of her family’s gruesome murder, only to find out that she is a far from being safe herself.

A great rendition on the “final girl” trope! I loved how Jackson inserted chapters from others perspectives to really give us everything we needed to know about the story while still not knowing exactly what happened. I was really worried that the ending would be completely predictable but it wasn’t! While not super fast paced, I felt the tension building until the final chapters. I was left with some unanswered questions, so that frustrated me, and I felt like certain parts could’ve been flushed out more. But overall, I enjoyed this one a lot!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC of The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson.

Oh man I really love this author so it comes as such a surprise that I just didn't care for this one. Her writing style is brilliant as always but the story was just lacking. I found myself wanting it to end already so I can know what happens in the end at least. I hate giving anything but amazing reviews from authors I like so I'm just going to leave it at that.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
This book was an interesting read. If you like gory murder and a complex story line this book is for you.
The author did well weaving this story with all kinds of twists and turns. Kara witnessed her families demise and was living in fear. Wesley, a reporter, has close ties to the murder and wants to find out what truly happened. Unexpectedly these two team up to figure out the massacre.