I normally don't love survival thrillers/horror, but for Kate Alice Marshall I'm always willing to take a chance. In this case (not particularly surprisingly), the chance paid off, and I found this to be a great, wildly immersive and intense thriller.

Oh, wow, that was so good! This book watered my crops, kissed my babies, and fixed the bad luck streak I’ve been riding with thrillers this year.

A great book begins with its main character, and I cannot overstate how much I loved Mercy, with her brittle resilience and deep empathy. The trauma she carried and the way she’d misread Ryan and disbelieved Jamie in the past kept her from being too good to be true, but it wasn’t even as clinical as that. I cared about her so much I could hardly judge her on a point scale. The secondary cast was also great. Marshall draws each character quickly and vividly, so that they’re immediately memorable, then slowly does the detail work as she reveals their layers.

The pages turn so quickly and the characters are so good that one might forget or understate just how <i>smart</i> Marshall is at developing her plot. The mystery is a tight one, keeping the reader guessing, all the while laying out the crumb trail of clues so that you <i>suspect</i>, so that it’s obvious if only in retrospect.

I'm going to go into deep spoilers here, as those spoilers are integral to the way Marshall deftly handles her core themes.

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Colby and Spencer were great red herrings. That is, I was pretty sure they were red herrings. Having either of them as the culprit would be too obvious. But that’s me working on mystery reader meta knowledge. In the world of the story, either would be plausible enough. I immediately ruled out Eli and Alethea as even a possibility, trusting that Marshall would be too smart to pin the blame on the vain, hard-nosed Brown girl or the Black trans guy. Much like Mercy, I acknowledge that my faith in others is not always rewarded. But this time, it was. Moreover, Marshall had trust in her readers to be on the same page as her and didn’t give much lip service to throwing doubt on either of those two. Not zero—that would have been lazy—but not as much as the others. And, y’know, I also loved Eli and Alethea, so I’m really, really glad they came out okay.

And then, it was down to Milo and Harrison. As introduced, both would be potentially plausible as entitled dicks with a chip on their shoulder. Milo as the archetypical Nice Guy. And Harrison as the geek with a persecution complex. However, the more I read, the more I found myself hoping it wouldn’t be Harrison. He was funny, smart, gentle, and genuinely lovable. And great, incredibly authentic ADHD rep for yours truly!

Meanwhile, I found myself unable to warm up to Milo. I hate, hate, hate stories where the girl isn’t into the guy, but he persists and wears her down. And with Mercy’s backstory, with the way Ryan behaved toward Jamie, having Milo win the day would have left a particularly bad taste in my mouth.

Still it was <i>possible</i>. If Marshall was shooting for the secondary theme of ‘Mercy’s trauma has made her mistrust her instincts and jump at shadows,’ Milo could have been a good candidate. Marshall’s a smart enough writer that, if she went in the direction of ‘Milo may remind Mercy of Ryan, but he’s not Ryan,’ I think she could have pulled it off.

But to do that, Milo would have needed a huge fulcrum turning point. A point where he respected Mercy’s boundaries, mourned his feelings a little, and became her friend. So basically if he was actually Harrison, more or less.

Instead, we saw all the ways Milo ignored Mercy’s soft nos. The way his behavior ticked every box of how Mercy described Ryan. And I grew further in my conviction that he was the villain. That even Dare, entertaining as he was, in his unholy fusion of Elon Musk and Mr. Beast, was somewhat of a red herring next to him.

And Mercy was right there along with me. As I figured things out, so did she. I spent absolutely zero time tapping my foot as I waited for her to grok what I’d already put together chapters ago. Also, how much do I love how refreshingly <i>smart</i> Mercy and the other protagonists were! Smart and willing to stick together, cutting through the Social Darwinist bullshit Dare tried to foist on them.

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Even spoilers aside, I was hooked from beginning to end, shedding an actual tear at the deaths and cheering at the very satisfying confrontation outcomes at the end. I don’t want a sequel—Mercy deserves a happy ending and that means no more interesting, relevant plot. But am I going to scour the library for anything else Marshall has ever written? Absofuckenlutely!

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

5☆

Well, this is probably not a surprise to any of you, but I looooved this. No critiques, just absolute perfection! There is a reason why Kate Alice Marshall is my all-time favorite author and this book delivers on all of the aspects that I love about her books.

The writing, the diverse and well-built characters, the unique plot, the setting as well as the twists and the turns just all fit together so well. The ending was perfect and everything was resolved in a way that made sense for the whole storyline.

I would recommend this to all thriller lovers and this would also work very well for those who want to try out the genre for the first time.

Kate Alice Marshall can do wrong, and We Won't All Survive is is certainly no exception to that. Mercy Gray, our main character, was one of eight selected to star in billionaire Damon Dare's new reality tv show Who Survives. Mercy, like the seven other teens/young adults picked for this new show all have some sort of traumatic background. While Mercy isn't thrilled at the idea of the show, the $100,000 prize money for anyone that makes it to the end of the show is enticing enough to convince her to join. After all, the money her family used to pay for her medical care after saving the lives of numerous people during a mall shooting turned out to be the money they had set aside for her sister's college education. After arriving on set, it's clear the something isn't right. The set is completely deserted, they are completely alone, and completely trapped. After one of the contestants turns up dead the next morning, Mercy, along with the other surviving cast mates, have to figure out how to survive and escape this deserted set before another one of them turns up dead.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I'm a big fan of Kate Alice Marshall's adult novels, and had very high expectations going into this. It certainly didn't disappoint. One of my favorite things about this book were the characters themselves. Each character felt so fleshed out, so developed, and so real that it was easy to understand their motivations. I also really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters, and constantly found myself second guessing who I thought was behind everything going on. The pacing was great, I was on the edge my seat the entire book. I just wish that we got a little bit more at the ending.

We Won't Survive is a character driven thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat and constantly guessing as to who is behind the mystery. If you enjoy a locked room/survivalist thriller, this is the book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc is exchange for my honest review.

I’m a big fan of Kate Alice Marshall’s writing and really enjoyed this one! I really liked the premise, Mercy as a protagonist, and just about every side character except for one or two (for obvious reasons haha). This was a fun ride to see how things would play out.

thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

KAM with another banger. I do have a couple of issues that keep me from giving it five stars, namely that this book did a lot of telling and not showing me how much Mercy loves her family, and also sometimes KAM's obligatory romances really do it for me and sometimes they don't and this is the latter lol. but this is a very tense and smart book, well above average for a YA thriller, and the twists were a great combination of seeing it coming in a way where it makes you feel smart, and not seeing it coming in a way where it makes you feel surprised.

I also thought the characters were great and all really stood out, which is usually tough in a book like this. Alethea one of my fave characters of the year for sure!!!

Here is the review I left on GoodReads. For some reason I couldn’t copy the link!

“ This was a well written mystery! From the beginning, you’re wondering what’s going on and you feel like it’s a race to find out all the answers! The ending was sort of predictable, but still worth the read.”

Thank you so much for this opportunity. I will definitely be adding this to my shelf in paper copy so someday my 9 year old can get into thrillers with this winner!

I gave 4 stars just because it was predictable but obviously it’s YA so it makes sense.

This was my first Kate Alice Marshall book, and it won't be my last!! I really liked our female main character Mercy. She is a layered, flawed, relatable and likeable. With her past, it's easy to want to root for her. I liked the premise, getting different people with torrid pasts together, with challenges, prizes, and some unexpected twists. I thought the group of characters were fun, and distinct. Althea, Milo, and Eli were our standouts. While I enjoyed the challenges, I wish there was more. The twists were twisty.at the end, some of the characters make a podcast, and I would read that series all day. I wanted more, which was the only reason i docked a star. Thanks to netgallery for the ARC.

I'm usually pretty good about remembering books I read, especially when it's only been a month, but I had to go back and reread the synopsis for this one because it did not stick out in my brain at all. It was so lackluster. It was Hide by Kiersten White but with nothing supernatural. It was boring and kind of lame. I was disappointed, especially when her adult novel, The Killing Cold, that came out in February was so good!

We Won’t All Survive was an absolute page-turner from start to finish. Every character was distinct, likeable in their own way, and brought something meaningful to the story. It was easy to get pulled into their world, and I found myself fully invested in each of their fates.

The pacing was quick and engaging with no slow spots or filler. It was one of those books that you just don’t want to put down with writing that flows effortlessly, making it a fast and satisfying read.

Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys suspenseful, character-driven stories that deliver both heart and thrills.

We Won’t All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall is dark, intense, and emotionally gripping from start to finish. What struck me most was the way Marshall built tension and fear, not just from external threats, but also from the characters’ internal struggles. The story’s mix of suspense and raw emotion made it impossible to put down. The characters felt complex and real, with flaws and fears that made me care about what happened to them. The writing is sharp and immersive, pulling you into a world where danger feels constant and survival isn’t guaranteed. I appreciated that the story didn’t shy away from tough themes, which added weight and depth to the narrative. If I had one critique, it’s that some parts were so intense I had to pause and catch my breath, but that’s more a testament to how powerful the story is than a downside.

Two years ago, Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that day: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but.

So when billionaire turned TV host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college. But when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. And then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dropping like flies. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a whole new meaning. Mercy must figure out who to trust. Before she’s next.

We Won’t All Survive was an amazing read!!! I loved how it started Mercy’s self doubt and grew into killer instincts, you could tell she was dealing with trauma but she pushed it down for to be a leader and someone to keep the group together. The misleading narrative for who the killer was really addictive because I kept wanting to read to make sure my guess was right, which it was. Just saying. I knew something was up with “Spencer” from the beginning I’m not saying it was obvious because I really wasn’t I just had very high suspicions because of the way he acted like he was trying to fill a spot in the group and his alibis were kinda sketchy and I also knew that Colby wasn’t responsible for anything, well technically he was but at the same time wasn’t. The real puzzle to piece together was how Milo fit into the narrative because he was obviously obsessed with Mercy from the start, to be honest I was routing for him because my suspicions kicked in because everyone like a cute guy in a mystery book. But something felt off when he was constantly trying to touch her, talk to her, defend her. And when he mentioned Ransom at the beginning, Mercy didn’t pick it up but I’m like when did she say that you both just met. So I thought. But I pushed that down for the brown curls. *sigh* Anyway once Mercy started getting closer with Harrison I was team Harrison all the way because he was always to patient, he was friendly but not too friendly and I never second guessed him. So Harrison better treat her right. Anyway I loved this book and there are some minor editorial issues with grammar but since it’s an early copy and hasn’t been proof I can’t really say much but all in all We Won’t All Survive will definitely be highly recommended by me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
Interesting storyline and plot, but parts felt a little too over-explained. Still was an enjoyable book that I kept looking forward to continuing to read, and to find out what happens next.

This was good—dark, twisty, and full of that survival drama tension Kate Alice Marshall does so well. I wasn’t immediately hooked, but once the story got going, I found myself really curious to see how it would all unravel. The dynamics between the characters were intense, and I loved the eerie, claustrophobic atmosphere.

It has Yellowjackets vibes with layered relationships, secrets, and a slow-burn sense of dread. My daughter would absolutely love this one—it’s smart, sharp, and definitely keeps you guessing.

If you’re into survival thrillers with complicated teens and emotional stakes, this is worth checking out.

This was the first Kate Alice Marshall book I've read and I really enjoyed it! Teenagers all having some kind of tramatic background compete to win money that could help change their lives. What they don't fully understand is their lives are actually in danger. I enjoyed the plot of the story, and the characters are well rounded out. It's nice that each person's back story was talked about in the book. I can't wait to read more of this authors books! Solid 4 stars, We Won't All Survive was a quick and easy read.

This was a slow burn suspenseful read. I usually like a faster pace, but it worked for this story. Overall a sold read.

3.5/5 This was a fast and fun thriller to read. A group of teens/young adults get chosen to participate in a survival reality show that all goes wrong. It definitely has a YA vibe. Would be a good pick for teens wanting to get into thrillers.

A group of people come together to participate in a survival game show that turns out to be a little less game and a lot more survival…

Mercy is one of the contestants who have been selected for Damien Dare’s survival reality show. He is an arrogant misogynist who she very much doesn’t subscribe to, but she needs the money… Riddled with guilt and a bullet fragment, Mercy feels a major sense of responsibility for the shooter who targeted her sister. Mercy is seen as a hero, but she feels like anything but…

Mercy arrives and meets her fellow contestants, but immediately they discover something is off. The “set” is completely uninhabited. They are totally alone… and now they are locked in. Mercy and this group of contestants are forced to draw from and relive traumatic experiences from their past, fight to survive, and uncover what is even really going on here… all while being picked off one by one by horrible deaths.

I adored these characters!! They all have their demons, their flaws, and their strengths. Kate Alice Marshall always delivers enigmatic characters with interesting dynamics. I absolutely loved this twisted ya locked door thriller!

I wanted to read Kate Alice Marshall’s “We Won’t All Survive” because it may be a YA novel, but it’s also a locked-room mystery/thriller. Set in a remote, off-grid location, Mercy Gray has been invited to compete in a new, survivalist reality show.

Mercy wants to win the grand prize of $100k to ensure her younger sister can afford to go to college. Mercy survived a mall shooting and was hailed a hero for saving lives. However, the injuries she sustained, along with her recovery, racked up medical debt.

Soon after Mercy and the other contestants arrive, it’s clear something is off. There is no one there to greet them and the gate closes, trapping them inside. After the first night there, one of the contestants is found dead. At first, Mercy and the others believe it’s a tragic accident, but they soon come to realize it was murder. As the contestants look for a way to leave, Mercy struggles with trusting her instincts, figuring out who she can trust, and who is the murderer.

This is a fast-paced read. Towards the end, things veered a little sideways when it came to the motive behind some of the things that occurred. The explanations made sense, though. I would’ve liked a bit more from the author at the end – it felt a bit incomplete to me.

Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.