I really enjoyed this, surprisingly so. I thought it was clever, the characters were interesting and realistically portrayed, and the integration of social media was well done. There were several twists that I didn't see coming, which really added to my enjoyment.

This was my first book by the author -- it won't be my last.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

I love the premise of this book, but not the execution. I just found the story boring. There was a big twist halfway through that I didn’t see coming, but after that everything became so predictable.

The Bittersweet, an up and coming musical group, is on their way to a party in the Catskills when their car careens off the road and the girls must take refuge in an abandoned cabin. The relationship between Vienna and Madison was good. The book felt a bit YA to me until about the halfway point. I became frustrated as I felt Vienna was explaining too much to the reader, but as we dug deeper into Madison and Libby's relationship with Vienna, the twists kept me entertained. I especially enjoyed the twist at the end!

If you enjoy twisty, atmospheric thrillers, then this one is for you!

This is a quick read with flawed characters who you didn’t know who to trust and chapters that alternate between before and after the crash which are both full of tons of suspense! 😬

And the ending was totally unexpected, love a good jaw dropping thriller! 🙌🏼

⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading “You Will Remember Me” by Hannah Mary McKinnon a few years ago (which I really enjoyed) and seeing this beautiful cover, I had high expectations for this one.

I was not a huge fan of the split time lines and although they were clearly labelled and helped with character/relationship building of the main character Vienna Taylor and her best friend Madison Pierce I found them confusing at times. I also felt that halfway through the story things just seemed to get repetitive as if to rush to an ending.

I wish there had been more time spent at the cabin or getting to know the band as a whole. There were however a few unexpected twists that were just enough to keep me going.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Hannah Mary McKinnon for this digital ARC.

Stories with unreliable narrators are some of my favorite types. I enjoyed the diversity of the chapters. There was a mix between the years leading up to the car accident, the day of the accident and months following, and transcripts from tv, news reports and social media follower comments.

The themes of girl bands and toxic friendships kept me entertained. It's also a snowed-in murder mystery. The ending had a shock factor to it and tied things up nicely.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved the first half of this book.

Five band members and a videographer are in a car accident in the Catskills during a snowstorm. They have no way to find help with weather conditions worsening and night quickly approaching. Thankfully the group finds an abandoned cabin to shelter in overnight; however, by the next morning three of the women are dead, one is missing, and one has no memory of the night, leaving only one with the knowledge of what happened.

The first half of the book is dual timeline between the events of the accident and how the two main band members met in high school and came to expand the group. I really enjoyed this aspect and honestly wanted even more backstory on the girls and their toxic relationship. However, after the halfway point I feel like the pace started to drag. I really enjoyed the twist, but the main character reveals something that I feel made the ending fairly predictable.

<spoiler> I feel like once we knew where Madison was there really wasn't a lot of suspense left and it left only one option for who could be behind the rest of the weird things happening to Vienna. I also felt the ending was a bit weak and wasn't convinced that the murderer would offer up their confession like that. </spoiler>

I enjoyed the writing style and the inclusions of other forms of media like articles, podcast transcripts, etc. I also loved the setting of a creepy cabin all alone in the middle of a snow storm- very atmospheric and added a lot to the overall suspense of the plot.

Loved it! Strong, flawed females drive this story of a girl drummer, her best friend, the girl band they start and the tragic accident that ends it all just as success is within reach. At what price fame? Only One Survives reads a bit YA, but in the best way! A quick read, perfect for pool or beach.

I could not put this book down!

The band The Bittersweet is composed of 5 woman and was co-founded by Vienna and Madison.

As their fame start to get a roll, they are invited to an event. As the band has been growing so fast, there’s a documentarist, Libby, that follows them to record their day to day activities.

However, on the way to the event, they get caught in a snow storm and soon looses control and crash! Once Vienna wakes up, she realizes that one of her friend is dead and one is badly injured.

In effort to find help, Vienne and Madison go to find help but could only find an abandoned cabin.

Unfortunately, only one survives from the band and she wants the world to know what happened that night so she decided to write a memoir. Libby and Vienna are now close friend and support each other while going through the aftermath of a traumatizing event.

What happened at the cabin? How come only 2 got out alive? What is coming for the future? Was it all for fame?

This binge worthy book is divided in different times lines (before and after the accident) but it’s beautifully written.

There are many characters to remember at first but the author makes sure it’s well introduced and makes it so much easier to remember them!

I absolutely loved it. It was sad, infuriating, interesting, and captivating.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and of course the author, Hannah Mary McKinnon, for a digital copy for my honest opinion.

Pub date: July 16, 2024

Thank you NetGalley and the Publishers for this ARC!

First off, I am a HUGE fan of Hannah Mary McKinnion. Pre-Covid, she was gracious enough to speak with the book club I was a part of at the time. She was so kind and generous of her time, and really engaged with our group!

When I saw this new book, I just jumped at the chance to read it. In her latest novel, We follow Vienna and Madison who are High School enemies turned friends. Vienna grew up poor with a negligent mother and hateful stepdad, while Madison had all the money and opportunities in the world. The two formed their own band, "EmVee" and eventually the band expands members to become "The Bittersweet." While on the way to gig, the van the girls in crashes and one by one, the girls begin to die. Is it a result of the crash or one of their own?

Told in dual timelines, this is a perfect read for fans of Freida McFadden's One by One or Darcy Coates Dead of Winter. So many twists and turns, you will leave yourself saying, "WHAT?!?" at the ending. 5 Stars!

“Only One Survives” was not only a thriller, but a hard look at friendship, family, deceit, and the downfalls/realities of fame. I didn’t guess the twists in this book, and I loved being on the edge of my seat as the truths started coming to light. I loved the play on words for both band names - EmVee and Bittersweet were legit the most perfect names for everything that happened in this book. No spoilers, but I’m still not sure if I should be #TeamVienna or #TeamMadison, but I can tell you without a doubt that I’m #TeamHannahMaryMcKinnon.

Only one survives⁣
By Hannah Mary McKinnon⁣
⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5⁣
⁣
Wow! You want to talk about a roller coaster ride! This one right here will take you on one!! ⁣
⁣
At first I will admit I was like when is something going to play out here but then BAM…it happens, again and again and again. ⁣
⁣
There are so many twists and turns on this one! I absolutely loved it. I could read this one again! ⁣
⁣
Book synopsis: ⁣
⁣
Becoming the star is easier when the rest of your band is dead…⁣
⁣
All drummer Vienna Taylor ever wanted was to make music. If that came with fame, she’d take it—as long as her best friend, guitarist Madison Pierce, was sharing the spotlight and singing lead. And with their new all-female pop rock band gaining traction, soon everyone would hear their songs…⁣
⁣
Except, on the way to an event, the Bittersweet’s van careened off an icy mountain road during a blizzard—leaving one member dead and another severely injured.⁣
⁣
In order to survive the frigid night, the rest took shelter in a nearby abandoned cabin. But Vienna’s dreams devolved into a terrifying nightmare as, one by one, her fellow band members met a gruesome end…and Madison simply vanished in the night.⁣
⁣
What really happened to the Bittersweet? Did Vienna’s closest friend finally decide to take center stage on her own terms?⁣
⁣
She doesn’t want to believe it.⁣
⁣
But guilty people run.⁣
⁣
#bookstagram #netgalley

Thank you to @thrillerbookloversthepulse for the #gifted copy.

I couldn’t agree more with the early reviewers who said they got Daisy Jones and the Six vibes. I loved that book and I loved this one! Madison and Vienna are unlikely friends who meet in high school after an altercation and find they have music in common. Home life is rough for Vienna and Madison in very different ways. That music eventually leads to a band which leads them down a road to fame. When the story begins, they are in the middle of a snowstorm and crash their car. The band members are dying. Who is responsible? Vienna is the only one left. Has fame become too much for Madison?

This book had its ups and downs. The writing was fine, but I was unable to connect with the characters. Things started off strong, and then the pace started to drag. Usually books have a tendency to have a bit too much backstory, but in this case, it could have used a bit more on the band and its members. Sadly, the ending missed the mark. There were a couple unexpected twists, but many were very predictable.

It was enjoyable ... enough to finish. Full disclosure, I have difficulty getting emotionally invested in a story where the protagonist makes sociopathic choices for absolutely no rational reason. There's only so much belief you can suspend and still remain curious about where the story is going. This is my own personal bias and it may not be an issue for many who choose to read this. And please don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good villain - especially one that gets revealed as a twist - but this villain simply wasn't that interesting and made incredibly lame and impulsive choices over and over again.

At first, I was completely hooked. Drummer Vienna and her bestie Madison, rocking out in their pop rock band? Sign me up! But then, tragedy strikes when their van crashes during a blizzard. It's like my heart plummeted along with them.

McKinnon's knack for suspense had me on the edge of my seat, especially with that unique twist of blending thriller elements with the music scene. It was like nothing I've read before, and I was totally here for it.

But then, things hit a bit of a snag. The pacing started to drag, and I found myself craving more backstory on the band and its members. Like, who are these people and how did they come together? I needed to know!

And don't even get me started on the ending. It felt like the buildup led to this big moment, but then it just kinda... fizzled out. Some of the twists were predictable, and I was left feeling a bit disappointed.

"Only One Survives" had its ups and downs. It's definitely worth a read if you're into thrillers with a unique premise, but just be prepared for a bit of a bumpy ride along the way.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to review Only One Survives. I really like the author’s writing style, but I found the book a bit hard to follow at times. While I love dual timeline novels, this felt like it had a bunch of different timelines that made it hard to keep track. Just in the first four chapters, we have a month after the accident, the day of the accident, four years and four months before the accident, and four years before the accident. I’m hoping some of my issue had to do with the formatting (or lack thereof) of the ARC copy, and that it’ll be easier to follow once published and formatted.

OOOk so the description of yellow jackets with a side of Daisy Jones was spot on. This was a fun book full of mystery,. I also love trapped in a room mysteries so this was a perfect one for me. I kind of wished this was coming out more in a winter month that july because it involves a blizzard. I couldn't figure out the end and honestly it kept me going the whole way, I just couldn't put it down. I also wanted everyone to make it.

I enjoyed this isolated cabin thriller and was actually a bit surprised by the twist which happens early on but that doesn’t keep you from wanting all the details and the why.

I liked the way the book is written with before and after the accident which allows to get to know these characters a bit better. While this is a thriller I had different emotions throughout this book. I liked this one!

Music runs a very close second to me, only to books. So any book that encompasses anything about music has definitely got me interested. Only One Survives is many of the things I love in book- music (obviously), dual timeline, interview type/mixed media format, and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed Hannah Mary McKinnon’s writing style & felt that this was a very good story. I will add I’m usually good at predicting the twists and I did not see this one coming. If you liked Daisy Jones & The Six (forever a favorite for me), you would enjoy this book!

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing | MIRA for an ARC copy of this book.