I really enjoyed this thriller. I overall really enjoy Freida McFadden so reading this one was just as good and I think the plot and twists were all so unexpected and perfectly done

4.5⭐️

This was a fun, quick thriller with some twist (obviously!)

The title represent 100% what the book is about.

After having some relationship troubles, Claire and her husbands planned a trip for 1 weeks hoping it can repair their marriage. But they weren’t going alone, 2 other couples were going with them. As they were on their way to the cottage/hotel, the minivan suddenly dies and the group decided to walk the rest of the way since the destination was only about 2 miles away.

However, after a whole day of walking, they start to feel uneasy about the situation and soon realized they’re lost in the woods. One by one, members of the group go missing mysteriously.

There is an Anonymous POV and it just makes the story even creepier!

I would recommend 100%!!

“… I’m never going to make it back home - I know it.”

Thank you to Netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for the ARC

Thank you Net Galley and Poisoned Press for allowing me to read One by One in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars!!! This book hooked me from page one and I read it in one day because I could not put it down! (Oh, and this is my second go around with this book because it is that good!)

Is the number six deadly? Our main character Claire was raised to believe six of anything was a bad omen. So what will happen when six friends go on a six-day vacation? Will they reach their resort where they will spend the week relaxing, or will something terrible happen that puts them in a dire survival situation? In typical Freida McFadden fashion, you will not be able to guess the “twisty-turny” threads she weaves through her stories. Still, the dopamine hit she gives you will keep you turning pages quickly in the hopes of finding out who the mysterious “Anonymous” person is who haunts the pages. Will the six friends make it home from their vacation? Or will they die trying?

If you have read any Mcfadden book you know that she writes candy for your brain and One by One does not disappoint! This may be one of my favorite books written by her thus far.

Freida has done is again! This book threw me for a loop! I know this book has been out for some time, but the rerelease got my attention. I have not read this book, until I was given the ARC. (Thank you so much Netgalley and Poisened Pen Press!) This book was written so well. I loved the short chapters and the back and forth between stories! I think Freida is well deserved of all the love she is receiving.

3.5 ⭐
This suspense was a short and quick read. As I was reading, I had about five scenarios for the "whodunit" and the twist STILL got me. Love when that happens. This isn't the most thrilling story, but it is a unique one about six friends lost in the woods and things are happening....One By One...
Highly recommend this specifically when you plan on sitting and reading for a few hours. Time will fly right by!


This was provided to me by NetGalley for an honest review, thank you so much!

What I love about Freida McFadden’s books is that from the first page to the last, you are effortlessly hooked into the plot. In One by One, it’s no different. I couldn’t put it down, reading a paragraph or two any chance I got. All of the characters are shady and secretive and with revelations at every turn, I enjoyed watching their road trip unravel.
I didn’t guess the culprit either, which is rare for me and really satisfying to be surprised.

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of psychological and domestic thrillers.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

One by One brought the tea and a bunch of unlikeable characters. I was dying to find out how the "Anonymous" POV and the main POV connected. If you're looking for an unputdownable page turner that you can fly through I recommend this one. One by One is popcorn for the thrill-seeking soul.

One by One, written by Freida McFadden will keep you engaged immediately from page one. Get “lost” in this gripping thriller with twists and turns to keep you guessing. What was originally going to be a couples vacation out in the woods quickly turns to everyone’s worst nightmare. Are people willing to kill just to keep their secrets buried? If you’re looking for a thrilling quick read, I highly recommend this book.

Blurb:
Claire and her husband, Noah, spend a vacation going to a relaxing inn with 4 of their friends. She thought it would be a break from her stressful work life and her 2 kids, as well as a chance to repair/rekindle her broken marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubbing sounded wonderful and utterly like heaven to her.

Then Claire's minivan breaks down on the way there and the group is stranded. The six of them are lost in the woods with no cell reception and barely enough food or water. Their only choice is to hike their way to the inn themselves. However, the woods are not as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are completely lost. No Hope whatsoever.

As they continue to navigate the woods, members of their group begin to vanish and are struck down one by one.

Throughout the book, one thing becomes clear: only one of them will return home alive.

Thoughts:
I love a good who done it story and this book was perfect to fit that description. I was taking notes on each character to see if I would be able to guess the ending, but NO. The plot twist was 'chefs kiss.' I did not expect for it to take a turn like that. I loved how it bounced back between Claire's primary POV as well as "anonymous" to help give backstory to the character who gets revealed at the end.

I was really second guessing myself when I was attempting to put the pieces together. You think you may know how the plot will conclude, but you are most likely wrong. Freida McFadden knows how to sprinkle the twists in there like butter. I did only give it a 4 star rating however, because there some aspects that I predicted to happen and i like to be surprised, for the most part. A cheating scandal is also not always my cup of tea but it did help to provide some motive for some of the characters so maybe it did help in this case.

Overall, a book by Freida McFadden will always be enjoyable.

I would like to thank Netgalley for the ARC of One By One by Frieda McFadden in return for my honest review.
This is my first book by Frieda McFadden and defiantly not my last.
Six friends off on a week long break, but when their car breaks down and with no phone signal they decide to walk the rest of the way to the hotel only to get lost in the woods, then things start to go really wrong ….
I liked how the chapters were alternated between the main character and anonymous who was not who I was expecting, this is an easy quick read with a good twist at the end.

4⭐️

I love a thriller with the trope of people getting killed off one by one and this book was no exception!

While the plot twist was alittle over the top I was fully entertained the whole time and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good popcorn thriller!

I was gifted this arc in exchange for my honest review.

The first 30% showed what kind of friend group we were dealing with. There is cheating and other lies and secrets between them. The last 70% is when all the action starts happening. The story follows Claire (main character) and Anonymous. Claire’s POV is set in the present and Anonymous’ POV is their childhood in an abusive household up until the present. I felt that the killer came out of left field and their reason for what they were doing wasn’t really justified other than them being crazy. This storyline has been done time and time again and I believe they have been done better. I still enjoyed my time reading and would pick up another Frieda McFadden book in the future.

Freida did it again with another good thriller. The dual POV kept me engaged with wanting to know more of that character's perspective. Once you pick the book up it is fast paced and you may think you know what the twist is at the end then you realize you didn't know. If you are into a thriller that will keep you guessing then check this out! :)

Freida never disappoints! This book had everything I love about a thriller. I loved the anonymous narrator that the chapters switched off to and was truly not expecting it to be who it was at the end. The setting was spooky and it was fun trying to guess who was causing people to disappear. At first I was disappointed by the final chapter and felt it ended quick but was quickly satisfied by the epilogue where it answered many questions I had. It was a quick read and I didn't want to put the book down.

One by One begins with three couples (Claire and Noah, Lindsay and Warner, Michelle and Jack) heading to an Inn for a week-long getaway. Things go horribly wrong and only a fraction of them return after the ordeal.

On the way to the Inn, the battery of the car they are all traveling in dies and they are stranded about two or three miles from the Inn. They have very little food and water. They figure that no one is going to be looking for them so they might as well hike to the Inn. Things go horribly wrong.

One by One is a story told in the first-person with Claire as the narrator. I don’t usually find first-person stories all that suspenseful because you know the narrator is going to survive. Ms. Mcfadden uses a nice work-around to generate suspense and the books works wonderfully.

I was surprised by the ending and I think you will be as well. Great job Ms. McFadden and I look forward to reading more books by her. Thank you to Net Galley for the review copy. I really enjoyed it.

This story is about a group of friends who plan a vacation together, but get lost in the woods after their minivan breaks down. With no cell reception And little food and water One by One things start to go horribly wrong.
I really enjoyed this book and read this book in one sitting. It was a fun, fast page turner that had me guessing till the very end. Such a fun wild ride with a twist at the end I did not see coming!
Thank you to NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Freida McFadden for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Freida McFadden never seizes to entertain me. This was a quick read - a true popcorn thriller. I didn’t like one single character, which somehow worked for me. I kept thinking I had the mystery solved, but once again I was blindsided by the twist. A fun read - highly recommend!

Freida McFadden's books are fun and easy reads. This book was no different, I was able to fly through the pages with ease. The whole book flowed well. This book had me on edge. I could not put this book down, each chapter left me wanting more. The book had me going in 360s trying to figure out what was going to happen next. Just when you think you have it figured out, you are wrong. The ending was wild.

3.75 ⭐ From the very beginning the tension was building and I was turning the pages so fast wanting to know what was going to happen in true Freida fashion! Through out the book I kept trying to keep tabs on everyone to see if I could figure it out. Spoiler alert: I did not lol

Just like the book title, One by One, made it all the more desirable to read! I wanted to know who would the last person be. This book was such a fun ride!! I loved the setting of it which made it even more exciting to read. With every detail, it made me question each character and kept wondering which POV was the anonymous one.

The twist in this book definitely got me! Thank you Freida for the thrill!
#NetGalley

“One by One,” by Freida McFadden is a psychological suspense thriller. It was originally published in 2020 and re-released in 2024. The story is primarily told from the perspective of Claire Matchett, with chapters interspersed that are told in flashback from the perspective of an anonymously-gendered character with short hair nicknamed “sport.”

The story begins with Anonymous’ promise that six people will embark on a six-day journey in a six-person minivan into the wilderness of Northern Colorado. Anonymous warns of the triple six number in reference to the Number of the Beast. The sixth commandment is “thou shalt not kill.” Each character has their secrets, and by the end of the sixth day only one character will be alive. “One by one, they will get what they deserve.”

The six characters and potential suspects are:
Claire and Noah Matchett- college sweethearts, and parents of children Emma and Aiden;
Lindsay- Claire’s best friend since college;
Warner- plastic surgeon, and Lindsay’s boyfriend of six months;
Jack Albright- Noah’s best friend since college and childhood boy scout;
Michelle Albright- Jack’s wife and divorce lawyer.

From the beginning, there is an ominous tone to the vacation trip Claire, Noah, and their friends have made. Claire’s daughter fears for her mother’s safety, claiming “a monster in the forest is going to eat you up,” and she begs her mother to stay home. Her daughter’s worries are brushed aside as Claire and Noah pack and fight over the misplaced clothing and the use of bathroom toiletries. It becomes apparent that Claire and Noah’s marriage is crumbling. The situation is made worse when Claire admits to an ongoing affair with her husband’s best friend Jack and tells Noah that the two of them will be sleeping in separate bedrooms.

As the group makes their way down the long, unpaved road and outside the area of cell service, the battery in Claire’s newly-purchased minivan dies. The group decides to use Jack’s sense of navigation and his compass, along with Warner’s map, to make the two-mile trek to the inn. A hungry Lindsey spots wild blueberries on a bush and eats them—she subsequently seizes and dies. The retreat that Claire envisioned for herself, along with her rendezvous with Jack, doesn’t look so bright as she piles leaves together for a makeshift bed. The next morning, Claire wakes to find blood on the ground and a member of the group missing. One by one, the numbers of her group dwindle as Anonymous’ prediction comes to fruition.

A popular theme within McFadden novels is an abusive childhood that produces a sociopathic adult; as seen in “The Inmate,” “The Housemaid,” and “One by one.” In this novel, Anonymous was abused by their mother for their father’s transgressions. The child’s father is a “travelling salesperson” and whenever he is around, the mother is doting and kind, but when the father leaves, she deprives the unwanted child of food. The mother locks the child outside during freezing temperatures for long enough to cover the child’s hands and feet in blisters. The mother also locks the child in the car during the summer while she does her shopping.

I found the character development lacking and non-descript. Aside from basic characteristics describing someone’s body type (or their hair pulled up in a tight bun with no strays), I could not visualize any of the characters’ appearance. All of the characters were flat, and their reactions to the terrifying situation of being stranded in the middle of the woods without food, water, or cell service lacked practicality and humanity. After Lindsay’s tragic and untimely demise, everyone except Claire is indifferent. Michelle is written as a stereotypical emotionless, cold-hearted bitch—conveniently for Claire, who is having an affair with her husband—who is oblivious to anyone and anything that doesn’t concern divorce law.

Anonymous promises that everyone has secrets, but Michelle’s are never stated and the circumstances around Michelle are never adequately explained. When the killer’s motives are revealed, the reasoning behind their killings is idiotic and insufficient to warrant the death of five individuals. I didn’t guess the killer, though I did partially guess a certain portion of the one of the twists. McFadden has promise with her novels. They are fast-paced and riveting, with shocking twists, but ultimately the reader’s high fades quickly during the resolution phase of her story arcs. The loose ends, the unbelievable behavior of the killers, and the impractical motives make this novel a 3/5.

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I will continue to read more from Freida McFadden in the future and look forward to her two new releases later this year.