Having enjoyed Megan Miranda in the past, I looked forward to reading THE ONLY SURVIVORS. I liked the initial premise. Two vans of high school seniors with their teachers on a field trip in Tennessee crashed into a ravine. Nine students—-Amaya, Clara, Grace, Oliver, Joshua, Ian, Hollis, Brody, and Cassidy survived. Clara committed suicide. The remaining survivors decided to spend a week together every year to check in with each other. Coming up on the tenth anniversary, Cassidy decided she has moved on with her life, changes her phone number so the others cannot find her. She has a new boyfriend, Russ. Someone found out her number and sent her a text with an attached obituary for Ian who died three months before. Cassidy decided she needed to attend this year’s reunion.

The story is told in Then and Now chapters. I liked the premise of the story; however, I had to start over and take some notes on the characters. There were just too many to keep track of while reading. For me, the pace of the story crawled and I had a difficult time staying focused. When it did pick up in the last fifteen percent of the story, I had trouble buying what really happened. My thanks to Scribner,
S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Another wonderful thriller/mystery by Megan Miranda. I just stayed up until midnight finishing it in one day. The chapters from past to present kept the story interesting and all the characters seemed to have something to hide. Alas, they last thing I’d have to say about the book is technically it was the teacher’s fault (and I only say this because I was an educator for 7 years). Still a wonderful book I’ll recommend to others.

A decade ago, two vans carrying students performing a volunteer mission go off the road into a river ravine during a bad storm. Nine students fight to survive and then later are still dealing with something horrific when one takes her life on the anniversary. The remainder create a pact that they will meet during that week at a house on the NC Outer Banks to commemorate, and more.

However, this year Cassidy Bent has had enough. She needs to put distance between herself and them and the accident. She needs to get on with her life until she receives an anonymous text that her friend/sometimes lover Ian–another survivor–died three months earlier. Her desperate need to understand and be with the others who would understand and might have answers takes her to the place that she wanted to avoid in The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda.

Okay, let’s get my nitpick out of the way before I expound on how wonderful this novel is. The narration says that the group met even during the pandemic at the beginning of May 2020, but the group could not have met at the beginning of May in 2020 because the Outer Banks did not open until May 16 to visitors and rental home owners. And, if you know me, you know why I would know. But anyway. My second nitpick is that Megan Miranda has evidently not been in a beach house during a storm because she missed one of the most unsettling effects of the house actually swaying on its stilts which would have added a bit to her narrative. These nitpicks do not in any way affect my opinion of the novel.

Megan Miranda has created a brilliantly atmospheric novel incorporating not only nosy and creepy neighbors who observe the survivors but also a house that creaks and a seaside world creating a sense of malevolence.

Cassidy arrives at OBX not knowing whom she can trust because something is off in group. Her friend, the organizer, Amaya, almost immediately disappears. Upon encountering a neighbor, Will, Cassidy realizes that their group is a subject of conversation. Of speculation. All uncomfortable and creepy.

Miranda does what she does best. She provides bit after bit of information. Some of it points us in the wrong direction. Some takes us down side roads. We begin to speculate, as I did, expecting that someone might be someone other than whom we thought they were.

There’s a bad storm that cuts them off, cuts out electricity, forces them to forage, so to speak, as well as offering the best kind of Agatha Christie scenario. Is there anything better than a group in the dark during a storm wondering who the killer is?!

There’s a satisfactory climax. And then there’s a revelation that is so unexpected that it unsettles the entire applecart and even now I keep picturing that entire scenario. Desperation, surprise, despair. Things happen. Characters are wrong and act in their wrongness and then regret.

An excellent read.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me know if you read this and what you think.

Overall it was a good story, it just fell a little flat for me at times. The amount of characters did make it muddy at times and I had a harder time keeping up. However the plot was well written and a believable story so that was a definite plus. Sometimes it did get a bit slow but other times it kept me wanting to know what was going to happen in the very next sentence. It was on the longer side of number of pages so it did take some time to read but I definitely think a lot of people will enjoy this book! I look forward to reading others of this authors work.

A terrible tragedy befelled a group ten years earlier. Every year those who survived gather at the same place, which I thought was very macabre. Cassie tried to sever all ties, but the survivors keep turning up dead.
I didn’t put any of the clues together until the very end because the author used much subtly.
The ending was a bit anticlimactic but it was a good read.

Megan Miranda never disappoints. This particular story is about a group of classmates who survive a tragic accident where everyone aboard two vehicles died except their group of nine survivors. A year later, one of them is dead. The remaining group of 8 decide to meet up every year on the anniversary of the accident to check in on each other and keep each other safe. Ten years later, Cassidy wants to complete leave the past behind and decides not to go to the meet up. When she finds out another one of the remaining survivors is gone and now there are only seven of them, she decides to go. When after she arrives, another one of them goes missing, it is apparent that something else might be going on. The suspense and mystery continues and keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat.

3.5 Stars

What begins as an annual trip on the anniversary of a tragedy, seven survivors come together and things slowly begin to unravel. Everyone is rattled when one of the group leaves and the sense that not all is as it seems becomes apparent.

I felt this started out a little slow, but as each character’s truth of the harrowing night a decade ago comes to light, I became hooked. What really happened when two vans full of teens crashed late one night during a storm? How did the nine survivors make it? Why do they feel the need to hide away and only see each other once a year when they gather at The Shallows, a beach house, where they aren’t exactly friends but are also the only people they can trust?

The last 10% definitely delivered some twists and I loved that I didn’t see them all coming.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Megan Miranda for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

First off, I love Megan Miranda's books. I love how her books are so easy to read and fast paced and just pull you right in. And this one was no different! I was immediately hooked and could not put it down! This might be my new favorite of hers!

I was enthralled with this book from page one. The slow burn pacing was so exciting, and the rate at which plot details were revealed seemed so perfect. But unfortunately, the pace never picked up, which made the ending fall incredibly flat and unexciting. I never got the feeling that anyone was ultimately in danger, and the twist at the end seemed, while not predictable, sort of careless and plucked from nowhere. I loved 80% of this book, and I really wish it had stuck the landing for me.

On a school field trip the unimaginable happens, a trauma that has bound the only survivors together for a decade. After one of the survivors is unable to quiet their guilt from that night, they claim their own life. Now each year the survivors meet on the anniversary of that dreaded night to keep each other safe…and quiet. No one wants their secrets from that night to come out, for the truth of what really happened to come to light. They’ll keep each other safe…won’t they?

This was a dark, atmospheric, gripping mystery that kept me engaged from the first page until the last. It started off a little slower but then grew to a decent pace. I found myself picking up my Kindle to get a few pages in where I could. Especially since it was told in dual timeline. I kept flipping the pages hoping for another glimpse into the past, so I could finally get the whole picture.

However I was able to guess the big twist pretty early on. As well as there were some aspects to the story and some twists that just didn’t feel right. They didn’t feel like they fully fit or quite make sense to me.

This is honestly somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars for me. I’m still trying to pin down my exact rating for this book. The atmospheric feel and growing suspense pulled me in but some of the details/twists didn’t feel complete. Overall a fast, entertaining read that I would recommend, especially for fans of Megan’s previous books.

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda is a tour-de-force thriller set in the gorgeous, atmospheric Outer Banks. The format of this novel is what makes the pacing so perfect; the chapters alternate between past and present, but the present moves forward, while the past moves in reverse. The present is told in days, while the past is told hour by hour -- in reverse -- each hour from a different character's perspective. The result: a tension as palpable as the feeling in the air before the massive storm that's about to hit these characters, both literally and figuratively. The storm, the ocean, and the river are practically characters unto themselves in this suspenseful mystery that examines the role of trauma, survivor's guilt, and revenge. I highly recommend this, especially if you are heading to the Outer Banks this vacation season!

I ordered this through Book of the Month, forgetting I already had a copy from Netgalley on my Kindle. Oops.

I always love a Megan Miranda mystery, and this one was a fun take on the "locked room" trope (did we decide on a different name for these? I want to say closed loop? Because there's no such thing as a *literal* locked room mystery).

So 10 years ago, there was a horrific accident - two vans full of teachers and students crashed on a mountain road on the way back from a volunteer trip and there were only nine survivors. A year after the accident, one of the survivors, Clara, committed suicide, so the rest made a pact to spend the anniversary together. It's implied that they don't really see each other or communicate much in between reunions. But ever since the first disastrous year, they've always gathered at the same Outer Banks beach house, owned by Oliver's family.

Cut to the present day, where our protagonist Cassidy has finally decided to cut ties with the other survivors. The only thing tying them all together is this horrific accident, and she feels like this yearly trip is just putting salt in the wound, rather than helping them heal. So she's blocked their numbers, sent their emails to spam, and basically just tried to put it all behind her. But on the day of the trip she gets a text from an unknown number - it's a link to an obituary. Ian, one of the others, overdosed back in February, and Cassidy had no idea. So off she goes once again to The Shallows.

Once she gets there, trip organizer Amaya is acting really strange, and she eventually disappears and stops answering her phone. Then a tropic storm blows in, effectively stranding everyone. This is when the accusations start flying -- we've been seeing flashbacks to the day of the accident from various characters' perspectives (slowly moving closer and closer to the literal moment of impact) and it's clear that something strange went down out there before the nine were rescued. And now it looks like someone has been talking to the press - everyone has received veiled threats about a tell-all (article? book? podcast? it's unclear), but no one knows who was talking. It eventually becomes clear, based on what the informant knows, that the details could only have come from one or two particular people. Meanwhile, someone is definitely watching the house and keeping tabs on all of them.

The flashbacks to the night of the accident were effective - I like that we start 7 hours after (as they're finally about to be rescued) and keep moving backwards to the accident itself. It's a little fragmented, and by the end I'm still not 100% certain what actually happened, but it was an effective way to build suspense, and not in a way that's hiding flaws in the plot/logic.

Overall, this was really entertaining and hard to put down, which is really exactly what I'm looking for in these kinds of books!

This author has never let me down. Her books are always so intense.
This one is no exception, From start to finish excellent.

Grab it. Stay up late reading. You'll love it.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Are you a fan of thrillers that are based on a group friends of friends that have experienced trauma together? That seems to be the trend so another in the list is:
Field Trip - Cassidy is on a field trip with a bunch of people from her school. There is an accident and only 9 of them survive.
10 Years - it’s 10 years later, and now their numbers are down to 7.
Beach House - but they gather like they do every year to show up for each other, at a Beach house rental
Sell out - but one of them might be an untrustworthy sell out who is willing to betray the others

This book is semi unique in that it tells the story not only in the present, through Cassidy’s eyes, but also during the time of their accident, which holds the survivors points of view and counts back from 7 hours after the accident to how the accident began. And while the present gives you a sense of unease about the danger and who might be responsible, the past feels like it’s underwater, much like the accident itself. I was never totally clear on what exactly happens in each point of view. But it paints a picture as a whole. And once you get to the twist, it smacks you in the face. While not my favorite Megan Miranda book, it was another solid Thriller.

A well written story with so many secrets! This was a slow burn story, so hang in there. The story goes back and forth between the past and current day with Cassidy as our narrator. I can't really say if I had a favorite character as there were quite a few, which lead to not really getting to know them in detail. Overall I really enjoyed this story.

Thank you to Megan Miranda and Scriber Pub for the ARC

Review:
First off, thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for my honest review.
Secondly - this may be an unpopular opinion but I found The Only Survivors to be on par with other Megan Miranda books, an average of 3-stars and overall...forgettable. I found the beginning of the book to be a little slow, the middle to be a little long - but the end was un-put-downable. I HAD to know what was happening. I didn't necessarily find this one predictable, but it wasn't unforeseen either. Overall, a good book - not great. Maybe listen as an Audiobook to make chores more fun.

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Summary:
The Only Survivors follows a group of young adults who all went through a life altering ordeal in high school, that has banded them together for life. When in high school two vans filled with students and a couple of teachers was making their way back to school after a volunteer trip when a horrible accident happens. The vans crash into a ravine, and took the lives of several students and teachers - leaving only 9 to survive in any way that they can. A year later, the 9 survivors make a pact to get together every year on the anniversary to remember that night.

It's the tenth anniversary of the accident, and there are only 7 of the 9 survivors left. As they all gather together, an overwhelming feeling of doom is among them. One of the 7, Amaya, leaves the house and no one can get a hold of her. Cassidy, who always rooms with Amaya, is becoming more and more concerned and an impending storm is making its way towards them and Amaya is no where to be found or heard from. Not only is Amaya missing, but it also seems like someone in the group is no longer keeping the secrets from that fateful night 10 years ago that they all promised to keep hidden...

Honestly I really enjoyed!! I didn’t get hooked until about 40% in but then I had to read until I finished it. It was good and I didn’t expect where it went!!

I adored this book so much that despite having an electronic advance copy in exchange for an honest review from the publisher, I also ordered my own hard copy! It's the sort of book I'll read again. I've really enjoyed Miranda's previous books, but this is by far my favorite. I loved the dual timeline: Cassidy is in the present, trying to avoid her group of friends who swore they'd stick together after the horrible tragedy (and the thing they did) a decade ago. The past POV alternates through all her friends, which was so cool. I was impressed with how each character sounded and felt so different. I also loved that the past POV was told in reverse order, working up toward a big reveal. Anyway, this book was full of characters who felt real and authentic, dark and twisty bits, and the sort of page-turning suspense that had me read this book in just a few days (which is fast for me!). Can't wait for Miranda's next!

What's it about (in a nutshell):
The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda is a thriller about a group of friends who have kept secrets since high school. They meet yearly at a beach house, but this year is much different. One group member has died, and everyone else's safety is questioned.

My Reading Experience:
I found the story compelling, and once I figured out that the past timeline might hold the answers I sought, I found myself paying close attention to those seven hours. I also enjoyed that the perspective of each hour of those seven hours focused on a different survivor, and getting the different viewpoints allowed me to get a much more complete picture of what happened.

The clues are all there, so the big reveal wasn't so shocking as it was more of an "aha" moment. I liked that the reveal made all the elements come together into a cohesive story of a group of people pulled together by the fact that they survived a tragic event and have all been suffering from survivor's guilt because of the secrets they have been protecting.

Characters:
One of the weaker aspects of the story is the characters. Cassidy Bent is the only one who developed to any extent and told the story. I found it very intriguing that the invisible one is at the story's center.

The six other survivors are barely more than one-dimensional, stereotypical high school students growing up. They fill the social roles you would expect from teens (in the past timeline) and mostly have grown into adults with careers in the various helping professions (in the current timeline). None are particularly relatable or despicable; they just are who they are. Another intriguing aspect of the story is that these seven people are not actually friends. They come together once a year because they are the only survivors, not because they were ever friends.

Narration & Pacing:
Cassidy tells the current timeline in first-person narration. Being in her head, you get the overwhelming sense of guilt that she feels, creating an atmosphere all of its own. There are also chapters from the event that the group survived when they attended high school, which are told in the 3rd person, with each chapter in the past focusing its perspective on one of the survivors.

The pace was neither fast nor slow. It sits solidly in the mid-range, speeding up and slowing down in relation to the suspense level. The past timeline was considerably faster than the current day one overall, but then the past plot is full of action and the suspense of survival.

Setting:
The setting is the outer banks of North Carolina in a house called The Shallows. I love the location. It's so isolated once the storms come, the power goes out, and the roads to the mainland close down. It is perfect for increasing the atmospheric feel and building suspense.

Read if you like:
* atmospheric psychological thrillers
* plot-driven stories
* dual timelines

I wanted to love this one because the synopsis sounded so good. It is about a group of former classmates who reunite to mark the tenth anniversary of a tragic accident--only to have one of the survivors disappear. Fingers start pointing and questions pop up about the original event. Almost 10 years ago, two vans filled with high school seniors on a school trip crash and go into a ravine, many of their classmates die. The nine survivors are linked together forever. They meet each year at a beach house in the Outer Banks to commemorate that terrible night. But someone is watching them and someone seems to know that there is more to that night than they have ever revealed. The beginning of the book was slow and although it did start to pick up about 30% of the way through, I spent the majority of the book confused. It just seemed like the author tried too hard to make it cryptic and spooky. They were teenagers, they weren’t completely honest, mistakes were made. It just didn’t live up to the hype for me.