A tense, twisty thriller with sharp writing and emotional stakes. We Won’t All Survive keeps you guessing with its layered characters and creeping sense of dread. Some plot points felt slightly rushed, but the suspense and payoff were well worth the ride. Gripping and memorable.

Thanks to Kate Alice Marshall and Net Galley for an advanced copy of the book. I have to says that I have read Miss Marshall's books before and really enjoyed them. This one was no different. Her writing style is fun and easy to read. Her characters are well developed. The concept of the story is a reality TV show where you don't have to vote anyone off or stab each other in the back. Matter of fact, the game works better when contestants work together to complete tasks. Six weeks, One hundred thousand dollars.... each. What could possibly go wrong? This story will keep you hopping...and pull at your heart strings from the beginning. Definitely will not be the last book I read by this author.

I enjoyed this book. Keep in mind that this is more geared towards a YA reader when picking this up. I did think that this was a crazy ride from start to finish.

I sent an over a previous review / note that I would not be able to provide feedback due to the book formatting. However I was recently gifted a new e-reader that allowed me to access the net galley app without using my phone and it changed the game.

I really enjoy Kate Alice Marshall for her YA and adult books! I enjoyed this book too, though I feel like it became slightly repetitive and slow in the middle. I liked the survival aspect and there were definitely some super suspenseful moments!

I don’t know if it’s because I read a significant amount of thrillers and/or because this was YA, but I definitely suspected who was behind everything pretty early on.

Overall a solid read, especially for young adult!

Kate Alice Marshall delivers a taut, adrenaline-laced thriller in We Won’t All Survive, a survival horror novel that grips you from the first page and doesn’t let go until the final, harrowing twist.

At the heart of the story is Mercy Gray, a young woman still reeling from the trauma of a mall shooting that made her a national name—for reasons both heroic and haunting. Physically scarred and emotionally burdened, she’s struggling under the weight of guilt, medical debt, and a strained relationship with her younger sister. When she’s offered a spot on a mysterious survival reality show run by enigmatic billionaire Damien Dare, she sees it as a lifeline: a chance to earn the money her family desperately needs.

But what begins as a strange, off-grid television stunt quickly turns deadly. The contestants find themselves trapped in an eerie, deserted compound where survival isn’t just the name of the game—it’s the only rule that matters. As contestants start dying under suspicious circumstances, paranoia, fear, and desperation escalate. And Mercy must rely on instincts sharpened by trauma to figure out who’s behind it all—before she becomes the next casualty.

Marshall is a master of pacing and tension, weaving a narrative that’s both psychologically rich and relentlessly suspenseful. Mercy is a complex protagonist—vulnerable yet determined, carrying a past that makes her both sympathetic and unpredictable. The supporting cast is equally well-drawn, each character a potential ally—or a potential killer.

While the book critiques media exploitation, the spectacle of reality TV, and the price of survival in a capitalist society, it never sacrifices momentum for message. The claustrophobic setting, the escalating body count, and the mystery at the heart of the game make for a chilling, cinematic read.

We Won’t All Survive is more than just a thriller—it’s a survival story rooted in trauma, resilience, and the high-stakes cost of trust. Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, Squid Game, or One of Us Is Lying, this book will leave you breathless and questioning just how far you’d go to stay alive.

Wow! Such a great thriller. I started reading this book and I could not put it down! I felt like I was in the dessert with the contestants.

3.5 ⭐️
I love Kate Alice Marshall. She can so no wrong in my book. This was my first YA of hers, and I didn’t love it as much as her adult thrillers.
8 contestants of a survival reality tv show arrive where they believe they are to start filming. There is only one problem, there is no crew, no cameras, and they are basically stranded in the wilderness. Who can you trust? Who will make it out alive? Who will will win this game of survival?
Great read! Loved it.

I really enjoyed this YA mystery/thriller. The pacing was done well and kept my attention until the very end. It was interesting to see how each of the characters handled their trauma differently, and worked together in a difficult situation. Mercy was such a relatable character.
Adding this authors book onto my TBR!

Solid whodunnit mystery with a killer that I clocked from the beginning. I'm a huge fan of the way that Kate Alice Marshall tells a story and while this one was good I would not say it was great. Still an easy read if you're looking for a straightforward mystery.

📚 We Won't All Survive
✍ Kate Alice Marshall
📖 YA Thriller
⭐4/5
📆 Releasing 7/29/25!
➡ Eight young contestants compete for a life-changing cash prize on a survivalist reality show set in a remote ghost town but when they arrive, nothing is as it appears to be.

🙏 Thank you to Viking Books, NetGalley and the author for an advanced digital copy of We Won't All Survive. All opinions are my own.
◾
🎯 What I loved: The pacing and setting of this book really drew me in. The survivalist reality show set in an isolated ghost town had me fascinated from the first page and every character had such an interesting backstory. Mercy was an easy character to root for and I appreciated her evolution as a character as well as her inner dialogue throughout the book- she was definitely the best character to center the story around. Though this is advertised as a YA thriller, it definitely has some really adult themes and content, so I'd likely recommend it to a more adult audience despite the age of the characters and if you're thinking this can't be for you because it's YA, definitely reconsider!

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: As much as I loved the reality show setting, some of the descriptions didn't make sense. For instance, how could a fence go around the entirety of a town? There were a few other moments that didn't make total sense for me too like the fact that Mercy's injuries weren't mentioned during the second half of the book when they played such a pivotal role in the first half and the disconnect impacted my overall reading experience. Because each character had experienced traumatic events before coming on the show, there are a lot of potential trigger warnings and sensitive content so I'd recommend checking warnings before reading this one.
◾
Read if you love:
*survivalist reality show settings
*trauma response & characters moving past traumatic experiences
*ghost town settings
*evil billionaire pulling strings
*lots of twists and surprising motives
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See also: Rules for Vanishing, Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, A Game of Lies

This book is Hunger Games meets Survivor meets whodunnit murder mystery—and I was here for every second of it.

We Won't All Survive throws you into the chaos from the start, with a main character (Mercy) who’s already been through hell and might just be heading back. She's tough, flawed, and totally compelling. The trauma from her past is woven so well into the story that it adds weight to every decision she makes once things start going sideways.

What starts off as a survival reality show quickly spirals into a full-blown nightmare. The contestants are isolated, the set is abandoned, and when the first body drops, you know no one is getting out of this clean. I spent the whole book trying to figure out who was behind it, and I was still shocked at the end.

If you love fast-paced thrillers with high stakes, a fierce female lead, and just enough paranoia to keep you glued to the pages, We Won't All Survive is your next read. Dark, twisty, and impossible to put down.

I feel like the people that left bad reviews forgot this is a YA thriller. YA is aimed at ages 12-18. It's great that adults enjoy reading them, but it is unfair to review them without that in mind. With that being said: 3.5 stars rounded up

If you were into Fear Factor or love survival style thrillers, this one’s for you! Mercy Gray and seven other contestants think they’ve scored the opportunity of a lifetime. Six weeks in a creepy Ghost Town competing in wild daily challenges to earn food, water, and supplies, but things take a dark turn when one of them turns up dead, but no one comes to help. Looks like the games must go on.

It’s a fast paced YA thriller that l brings the suspense. Great for a weekend read!

I was really impressed with this YA thriller. Not only does the book deliver a compelling plot, but it also has interesting things to say about survival and working together. I think it covers important points about the double standards surrounding women; women have to be “nice” whereas violent or selfish behavior is rewarded in men. The author creates a suspenseful and well-written novel that I would definitely recommend to students.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded down

Two years after a traumatic shooting and Mercy is still recovering, mentally and physically. But when the opportunity arises to join a survivor reality show for a cash prize, Mercy can’t pass up the opportunity to pay back her family for the financial burden her record has cost.

Almost immediately after arriving at the abandoned ghost town set of the show, Mercy and the other contestants realize something isn’t right. And their fears are confirmed when someone soon ends up dead. As the days progress and the real life game of survival begins, all of the contents find they have traumatic pasts in common and most overcome to figure out how to make it out alive.

This was my first read by this author and for a YA thriller, it didn’t disappoint. I found the characters to be developed pretty well and while some of the twists were predictable, the pages kept me guessing and hooked as to how the story would unfold.

Thank you Penguin Young Readers and Viking Books for the opportunity to read this eARC and provide my honest opinion.

This book sounded really good. I could never get it to download. I don’t know what else to say for the length of characters needed to get it out of my pending reviews. Apologies.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group for an early copy. It was my first book by this author. It was pretty entertaining. It's a survival sort of show with some secrets from each contestant and a lot of "who did it" it's a YA but a great book I really enjoyed this book it kept me guessing who done it. So if your looking for entertainment,survival with challenges and lots of guessing then this book is for you. Thanks again m to NetGalley and Penguin Group

Trauma bonding, the Survivor edition.

Kate Alice Marshall is an automatic buy for me so I was excited to get an early peak at this one.

I read this in one sitting and was flipping the pages as fast as I could because the writing was intense and I was invested in the story.

A group of new adults are brought to a ghost town for a reality show competition. It’s unsettling from the start and more so as the bodies start to pile up. The characters were engaging and their back stories well done.

I read for fun and don’t mind suspending disbelief but some of the twists were a tad kookie. Still enjoyed it and still looking forward to her next book

We Won’t All Survive: Book Review

3.5 / 5 ( rounded up in o 4)

This one started a little to slow for me. However, once I got about 1/3 of the way in it got better. I enjoyed reading it but wasn’t blown away. The concept was interesting.
I kind of got The Hunger Games vibes.

The motto of the book could have been “don’t give up and out smart the others”!!!

I love this author but this wasn’t my favorite by her. I would recommend for sure.

Thank you for the ARC.

This book I could not put down loved it from beginning to end. I would highly recommend!! This isn't like something ie read before.

Escape room tropes are hit or miss for me and this author nailed it. I wouldn't go as far as to consider this a horror but it's a good YA thriller.

Loved: The reality TV show bringing together a group of young adults who have all suffered a traumatic event. The character development and the relationships. Full of twists and turns.

Disliked: The reasoning behind why our villain was doing what he was doing. It felt too complex/convoluted/far-fetched to understand. I would have loved to have seen more of the challenges play out before people died and that part fell to the wayside.

Spoilers: The villains were easily pegged early in the story, though I thought they were working together, not two different story lines.