We Wont’t All Survive was a fast paced, adventurous, survivalist, thrilling read that felt like being on a roller coaster.
Two years ago Molly Black was hailed a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting, but Molly doesn’t feel like a hero. When tv host Damien Dare recruits Molly to compete in a survivalist reality show she jumps at the opportunity. Molly and the other contestants arrive on set and something doesn’t feel right. There is no one else there and the gates suddenly lock them in. When one contestant mysteriously dies it looks like a tragic accident but after another contestant dies things begin to look even more suspicious and surviving becomes the main event.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a fast paced thriller. It captivates you from the beginning and takes you for a ride of trying to figure out what is going on and who is behind it!
Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is my second KAM novel, and I think I'm still learning her writing style. It was a bit "softer" of a thriller in the sense that it was more predictable to me. I'm not mad that I read it and I think a lot of people will really enjoy it.

A huge fan of this author, I feel like the thrillers are always good and keep me on the edge of my seat and this one definitely did not disappoint.

I do love the plot twists. I do like the setting but I’m used to very dark books! If you like a young adult thriller this is for you. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read it. A survivalist reality gone deadly!!!!

this book started out strong and I really connected to the MC and her backstory, however it was also very predictable and the later half of the novel was not as compelling.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC to review!

4 Stars

We Won’t All Survive is a tense, fast-paced thriller that totally hooked me from the first chapter. Kate Alice Marshall really knows how to build suspense and keep you second-guessing every character’s motives. The setup—a group of teens trapped together with secrets, lies, and danger swirling around them—is classic YA thriller material, but Marshall gives it a sharp, emotional edge that kept me turning pages late into the night.

The characters feel real and flawed, which I liked. No one is totally innocent, and that makes the story hit harder when things start to unravel. There are some twists I saw coming, and a few that caught me off guard, but the emotional stakes stayed strong throughout. If you're into dark, character-driven mysteries with a survival element, this one’s for you.

It’s not perfect, but it’s intense, well-written, and totally unputdownable.

I thought this book had a clever premise. Several young people are invited to compete at a survival camp in a contest sponsored by a well-known survivalist. Yet when they arrive there, nothing is as they expected. Things only go from strange to bizarre as time goes on. As people start dying, it becomes clear that this "contest/challenge" is not legitimate and help isn't coming. They are stuck in the middle of nowhere and will have to rely on one another to try to make it out alive. The problem is that they aren't sure if they can trust each other or if someone in their midst could be responsible for some of the horrible things that have gone wrong.

I did think this was a well thought out and creative storyline. It wasn't one of my favorite books by this author. But it was still quite good.
Thank you to NetGalley for the early copy of this ebook.

This was a fun, young adult thriller. I enjoyed the setting and the characters. The story felt really unique and not like anything I'd read before, which was a welcome change from a lot of what I've read recently. There were a couple typos that will hopefully be worked out in editing. Thank you to the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read through this entire book in like 2 and a half hours and I enjoyed myself for every single second of it.

If you are the kinda thriller reader where you like to just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride this is definitely a good one for that. Was some of it a bit predictable and formulaic if you looked too hard? Yeah probably, but I liked the concept and the characters and honestly I was so immersed I wasn't even thinking about the concept of trying to figure out for myself what the twists could be.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️ This was an okay YA Thriller. It moved along at a great pace (2 sitting read) with a decent story but also a very obvious ‘bay guy’ twist and overall felt a little too YA, which is fine but typically not my favorite. I’ve read the YA thrillers that knocked it out of the park with original stories and shocking twists, but this story isn’t the most original and the twists are fairly predictable. The characters and their personal journeys are what make this story.

This story reminded me a lot of a mash up of other thrillers I’ve read when a group of people are left stranded in a deserted town, being watched by cameras and having to complete tasks, originally set up to be a survival TV show but then people start dying. It’s a story that can be so fun. This one starts with a group of 8 late teens/early 20s who all have survived something pretty terrible in their life and get asked to be on a TV show for a chance to win $100K. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in the beginning but it gets relatively easier as the book has decent pacing and it is a locked room type setting. I enjoyed the character development in this book the most. It has a great found family aspect from unlikely allies. LGBTQ friendly storylines. Please be aware of the trigger warnings, school shooters/mass shooters, stalkers and of course lots of various murder and death.

For Fans of:
*Locked Room Setting
*Escape Room - Survivalist Stories
*Young Adult Thrillers
*Found Family
*Late Teen/Early 20s Main Characters

Please note, I was gifted an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and that had troubles of its own that delayed my reading time. It was not in Kindle format and I had to read on a computer or iPad, ultimately I am glad I found a way to make it work but it wasn’t a great experience.

This was my 51st book of 2025
Format: NetGalley, e-reader app

Thank you to NetGalley, author Kate Alice Marshall and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

“Jamie loves the Greek myths. How the gods put the heroes among the stars to shine forever, and maybe it’s because that’s the only way they could endure it. The only way a mortal body can hold meaning like that. Because it’s so vast, and I am so small, and no one can bear the weight of the stars.”

I’ve read (and loved) a few of Marshall’s books, so when I saw this book on NetGalley, I requested it so fast! I’m happy to say that I absolutely loved this one as well 😍

A billionaire/survivalist, Damien Dare, invites a group of young contestants to come be apart of his new competition TV show in an old ghost town. Mercy Grey, having a couple years prior helped save people in a mall shooting, is dealing with mental and physical trauma. She accepts the recruitment offer so she can win the cash prize to help get her sister to college. She quickly learns that the other contestants have also been through traumatic events and no one is quite sure how much they can trust each other.

Arriving to the town that will serve as the set of the show, they notice there is no staff or crew anywhere. As they explore the town, the gates shut and they are trapped there. Forced to play the game (and try to stay alive) they’ll have to learn to try to trust each other or risk no one surviving.

If you enjoy a thriller book with characters overcoming traumatic pasts, survival game show setting, whodunnit murder mystery elements, unreliable characters, and a true twisty page turner, then I highly recommend giving We Won’t All Survive a try! 🖤

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. ✍🏻

I have loved Kate Alice Marshall from the first time I opened a book written by her. I have been trying to consume as many of them as I can. She knows how to write a page turner. The tension building was beautiful and I do love a good whodonit mystery. The entire premise around this book is truly intriguing. Taking someone who has already survived something horrible and then involving them on a survival show?! As if one trauma wasn't enough. I highly recommend reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What would you do if you signed up for a reality survival show... and it turned into a fight for your life?

That's exactly what happens to Mercy Gray in this pulse pounding thriller packed with secrets, betrayals, and survival at its most brutal. Two years after surviving a mall shooting that made her a household name, Mercy is still trying to pick up the pieces, physically, emotionally, and financially. So when billionaire turned TV host Damien Dare offers her a chance to compete for a life-changing prize, how could she say no? But when Mercy and the other contestants arrive, the set is empty. The gates slam shut behind them. And then...one of the dies!!

Was it an accident? Or something far more sinister? Who's behind the deadly "game" and how far will they go? And more importantly, who will make it out alive?

I will read anything Kate Alice Marshall writes! Every book l've read of hers has been a five star triumph, the kind that lingers long after the last page. So when I saw she had a new release, I didn't hesitate. I hit request without even reading a single word of the synposis. That's the kind of trust she's earned.

While this one didn't quite strike the same emotional depth or intensity as her previous novels, perhaps because its young adult. With that being said, its still a sharp, suspenseful thrill ride with a gripping premise and a heroine worth rooting for.

Though I will stick to her adult books going forward, where her storytelling truly shines, I remain in awe of her ability to craft a story that pulls you in for a ride. Even when the tone shifts, Marshall writes with a voice that demands to be heard and I'll keep following wherever it leads. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was a bit worried when I started reading because it starts off a bit slow. But I think that once it picked up, everything happened quickly. I was hooked! A survivor of a mall shooting incident joins a survivalist show? Imagine what could go wrong!!! I recommend this to anyone that enjoyed squid game.

“From the bestselling author of I Am Still Alive comes a new nail-biter that's part survival story, part murder mystery, and all thriller—perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson!”

I wasn’t sure what to expect- but this was a great YA thriller. It had me hooked from the start with believable twists and turns and characters I really liked! Even when I thought I knew what was happening, I didn’t know!

*thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this one!*

This was so good! The twists were crazy. It was a wild ride from start to finish! Definitely recommend.

What do you get when you toss a teen hero, a reality show from hell, and a remote deathtrap into a blender? A Kate Alice Marshall special, that’s what.

We Won’t All Survive delivers exactly what the title promises: a ticking-clock thriller packed with dread, secrets, and moral gray zones. Marshall has a signature style—bleeding tension through every scene—and this one doesn’t hold back. Mercy Gray, our guilt-ridden heroine with a literal bullet in her back and a mountain of emotional baggage, walks straight into a survival reality show that turns very real, very fast. Think The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor, if The Bachelor forgot the cameras and started murdering contestants.

The setup is sharp, the psychological stakes are brutal, and while the pacing might wobble in places, the payoff is a brutal exploration of what it takes to survive—both physically and emotionally.

Trigger warnings: gun violence, trauma, death, psychological manipulation, medical issues.

What a fun read!! The story centers on a group of 18- to 20-year-olds, each carrying a traumatic past, brought together for a high-stakes survival show—but of course, nothing goes according to plan. The group of characters is wonderfully diverse, and every character has meaningful growth and importance to the story. I thought the plot was well-developed, with everything tying together beautifully in the end. This was a fairly easy read (makes sense with it being YA), and I honestly loved every minute of it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this digital ARC.

Kate Alice Marshall really knows how to deliver dark, emotional thrillers—and We Won’t All Survive is no exception. The setup? A group of teens with some serious baggage ends up stuck in what’s supposed to be a survival reality show. But surprise—it’s way more messed up than anyone expected.

The vibe is tense and moody, and KAM nails that slow-burn suspense. There’s a heavy emotional layer here too—lots of trauma, guilt, and grief. Some moments hit harder than I thought they would. And let’s not forget the creepy theme park setting—each area gets scarier than the last. Honestly, it might make you think twice about ever stepping into one again.

That said, the book isn’t perfect. The beginning drags a bit, and not all the twists really land. The second half picks up, but a few character choices had me yelling internally, like, “Seriously?! What are you doing?!” I usually love morally gray characters, but I didn’t connect with this group as much as I wanted to. And for a book with a title like We Won’t All Survive, the ending felt a little... meh. Like it tried to shock me, but didn’t quite get there.

Still, KAM’s writing is super immersive, and she’s great at making you feel the tension. The themes of survival and what we owe each other definitely got me thinking. Even though this one wasn’t my absolute fave, I’ll keep reading whatever she writes next—no doubt about that.

Creepy, intense, and emotionally heavy. Not all the twists worked, but still worth a read—especially if you’re into locked-in survival stories with a dark edge.

This thriller is based on a concept many of us have seen before. However, Kate Alice Marshall did such a great job… I supposed it’s forgivable that the survivalist TV trap caught her since “she wore it best.”

KAM is a fantastic author and this is yet another pulse pounder. I love the book, just like everything else I have read by her!