4.5 rounded to 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.


First, I have to admit, I’ve read almost all of KAM’s books except maybe the most recent two. After reading These Fleeting Shadows, I instantly found all of her backlog of books and read them. Including her middle school series, which I also highly recommend.

So when I was able to get the ARC I was ecstatic. This is another another really good mystery/thriller by her. A couple of things were a little predictable, but there was still a lot that I didn’t know where it was going.

I will buy this book when it comes out. KAM remains an instabuy author for me.

This does have some heavy themes. All of the contestants have some serious trauma. Nothing goes into too graphic of details, but Mercy’s is pretty central to the story. So just be aware of that.

This was one heck of a teenage challenge! The format of the survivalist game was actually clever in that it required the work of all 8 players to advance. Rather than a competition, it was to highlight the advantages of teamwork in a life or death situation. Although I do not like reality shows, the premise of Who Survives was interesting and sure to include a buffet of general survival tips - handy to know in almost any situation. But when the game stops being a game, becoming a race for survival, this book becomes exciting. All of the teenage participants have their own traumas to work through, and being detained in a ghost town haunts the players in individual ways. As the teens stumble their way through Landry's Gap, suspicions grow among these strangers that sill need to work together to advance and survive. The story becomes less about surviving the challenges, instead focusing on just surviving. As this group of eight are all strangers to each other, they could actually be anyone. As the number of participants decreases, the danger to others increases. I found this tale a very thrilling read indeed! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC copy of this exciting tale. Any little plot errors are easily forgiven due to the excitement of the story. You will be hooked by the danger, the twists and surprises! What an ending!

Mercy was hailed a hero after her quick thinking during a mall shooting. Now she is about to be on a survival game show with other teenagers in a contest to win some big money.

The only problem? They're alone. There's no crew following them, and when someone is found dead, no one comes to save them. They're alone. The food and water supply is low.

More people are dying, so someone is either on site killing them off, or it's one of their own.

Either way, they won't all survive.

Well-done, fast-paced, and heart-pounding. It is YA, so keep that in mind before reading.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!!

Reality TV becomes a little too real for a group of teens when the bodies start dropping…

Mercy has her reasons for competing for the prize money billionaire Damien Dare is dangling in front of her & a few other carefully selected Gen Z’ers with intense backstories. So even though the wealthy producer of the show has some strange ideas about the future of the planet, she’ll do what she needs to do to secure those funds. But when the ghost-town-turned-reality-TV-set turns out to be actually abandoned & the teens become trapped with no way to contact the outside world, they realize the survival aspect of this experience is unreasonably authentic…

I’ve never read a Kate Alice Marshall book that disappointed, & I’m happy to report that that streak continues! The origins of each of the contestants were very creative, as was deranged Damien of the deep pockets. This was a pulse-pounding read, & I really liked the central idea that the characters ultimately came to (no spoilers!),

Thank you to NetGalley & Viking Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story was twisted from the get go! This locked door mystery feels a bit familiar, the different characters all seem perfect for the story, and I would even go as far to say I predicted who did it, but I did not predict why. I enjoyed the climax, read the story quickly, and felt satisfied with the end.

Marshall’s newest thriller follows eight teens who sign up to do a survival-style reality show, in hopes of winning the grand prize of $100k. When they show up to a ghost town and are locked inside, their first challenge is presented to them via satellite feed. It’s only when one of them turns up dead the next morning that they realize this might not be what they bargained for.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of We Won’t All Survive. This one was a bit too over the top for my liking, but I will definitely look forward to Kate Alice Marshall’s next thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy .
I never read anything by this author before so I didn’t know what to expect. This was dark and unpredictable. It felt like hunger games mixed with like thriller mixed with like you or squid games or something. I knew the villain/killer but it was still a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

Mercy is a hometown hero/survivor of a mall shooting and is chosen to go onto a Reality TV game show to compete for money she desperately needs to send her sister to college. When she and the other contestants arrive the film site, no one else seems to be there. Then they seem to start being murdered one by one .. is there someone else there with them?

I really liked this book. I was glued to it instantly and needed to know the who, why, how. I did not predict the ending or the who, I had suspected someone else! I would recommend to anyone who likes YA thrillers.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.

Kate Alice Marshall is one of my autobiuy authors so when I saw I got approved for this arc I freaked out! Guys, I’m not going to give anything away. I just want to say this is so so good. Please go read it!

I jumped into this book without reading the description and I was not let down. This is one of my auto read authors.
I looove reality tv show so this was right up my alley.
A group of people who have all survived some sort of traumatic experience are asked to be on a reality tv show about survival. When they arrive it’s not at all what they expected. This was such a wild ride.
It reminded me a lot of Mr Beasts show, Beast Games but with some murder and not as cheesy.

Highly recommend reading this one if you enjoy survival thrillers or murder mysteries with psychological twists.

Release Date: July 29, 2025 (pre order this one, you will notttt be let down!!)

Kate Alice Marshall’s We Won’t All Survive is a fast-paced survival thriller that blends suspense with rich character development. The story follows Mercy Gray, one of eight contestants on a high-stakes reality survival show, Survive This, where the winner takes home a life-changing cash prize. But things take a dark turn when, after a failed challenge, one contestant is found dead—and the killer could be anyone.

Mercy, a survivor of a mall shooting, joins the show to help pay off her sister’s medical bills. But when she arrives at the isolated location, it becomes clear something is off. With no crew and only cryptic video instructions, the stakes quickly rise. As the group navigates the challenges, Mercy must figure out who she can trust before the killer strikes again.

While the book follows a familiar survival thriller format, its strength lies in the well-rounded characters, each with their own emotional depth and compelling backstory. Marshall avoids the usual shallow characters often found in this genre, making you genuinely care about their fates.

Though the identity of the killer is somewhat predictable, the fast pacing and psychological tension keep the story engaging. The book is a solid pick for fans of psychological thrillers with complex characters and high-stakes drama. We Won’t All Survive is a gripping read that will keep you hooked until the very end.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of suspenseful YA with an interesting premise, and this book did not disappoint! Our heroine, Mercy Gray, comes to an isolated "ghost town" called Landry's Gap to participate in a survivor style reality TV show. When she gets there, there is a surprising lack of staff (producers, film crews, etc.), as well as a missing host, survival expert Damen Dare. Mercy, along with a group of other contestants, is locked in the town as Dare's prerecorded videos begin to play. The group competes to earn things like food and water, as it appears the game is moving forward. However, they are thrown into chaos as one of them is found dead under suspicious circumstance (bruises around her neck, etc.). It seems that each of the contestants was chosen due to having a "precursor event" which means trauma (Mercy is the survivor of a mall shooting, others were involved in hiking accidents, train crashes, etc.), as Dare thought only young adults had the elasticity to "break out" of the comfortable way of thinking that he thought was necessary to survive some sort of apocalypse. This story was compelling throughout - there were a lot of mysteries to unfold, including whether the contestants are who they say they are. No one knows who to trust, and all of the contestants feel that they might not make it out alive.

I love Kate Alice Marshall's previous books for their nuanced plot lines, strong writing, and compelling characters. I was thrilled to get an ARC of We Won't All Survive, but it was a miss for me. The dialogue and narration both felt choppy, and the story just didn't grab me. I'm disappointed since I was really looking forward to this book; however, I will absolutely read whatever Marshall publishes next.

This was my first time reading a YA book by this author. I’ve previously enjoyed her adult thrillers. So, I was excited to read a new genre from her. A survivalist reality show sounded interesting, but this book was a struggle for me to get through. Maybe it’s because I read a similar YA recently or that the middle part of the book was repetitive. It could also be that the book format was hard to read and that put me in a bad mood. I’m not sure, but this one just didn’t grab me like I had hoped. I also felt like at times the dialogue was clearly written by an adult trying to be a teenager.

There are definitely some intense moments and the locked room aspect really made everything scarier, but this book has been done so many times before. Evil billionaire making young kids play games for money, but include murder. I think I need to take a break from YA thrillers. Then maybe they will stop all sounding the same to me.

Wow, what a page turner!

The premise of the book had me super intrigued. The whole premise of the reality TV show just reminded me of Survivor so that’s all I could think of in my head lol

While I found some parts dragging a little bit I still really enjoyed it.

I’m not good at figuring out who the killer is and why they did what they did so I wa plenty surprised by the time the ending came around.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARc.

We Won't All Survive can best be labeled as part murder mystery and all thriller. This was such a unique story and I loved it! I can't wait to read more by Kate Alice Marshall.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WE WON’T ALL SURVIVE by Mary Alice Marshall in exchange for my honest review.***

Billionare Damien Dare organizes a reality survival show with eight survivors of real life catastrophes. Narrator Mercedes Gray, who lived though a mall shooting now suffers from chronic pain. She hopes winning the contest will pay for her sister’s college tuition. Immediately upon arrival, Mercedes senses things may not be what they appear.

Through no fault of Mary Alice Marshall, given the length of the publishing journey, I’ve read a several stories about people brought together for a reality show orchestrated by a sinister wealthy person with ill intention. I’ve enjoyed each of Marshall’s previous books, so I was excited to read her latest book despite the premise.

I had difficulty embracing the characters, even Mercedes, though I understood her motivations, being in the competition with the very dangerous exercises felt foolish. Still, Marshall’s crisp writing and ability to keep me interested on the outcome.

YA readers will enjoy WE WON’T ALL SURVIVE.

Thank you to Net Galley for the arc.

I'm terrible at putting most of my thoughts on books into writing, but this was an interesting take on reality survival shows. The exploration into individual trauma and its impact on one's actions/reactions was well written.

This was a gripping story with quite a bit of twists and turns. I felt myself genuinely surprised at various moments throughout the story. One of the best whodunnit thrillers in awhile.

Kate Alice Marshall’s, “We Won’t All Survive” is a twisty, psychological survival thriller that digs deep into guilt, trauma, and the blurred lines between heroism and self-preservation. The protagonist, once hailed as a hero after surviving a shooting, joins a brutal reality show—one that quickly turns into something far more sinister. The contestants expect cameras, competition, and strategy. Instead, they find themselves truly stranded, with no crew, no escape, and something deeply wrong lurking in the empty set.

Marshall crafts an intense, psychological pressure cooker where trust is scarce, allies are unreliable, and survival means confronting not just the dangers outside, but the demons within. Is the protagonist really a hero, or just someone who made it out alive? As paranoia takes hold and tensions rise, the novel twists and shifts, keeping readers on edge until the shocking end.

Dark, edgy, and unpredictable, We Won’t All Survive is perfect for those who love survival horror with a psychological punch.

Thank You NextGalley and the Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.