3.5 Stars – Dark, Moody, and Messy (in a good and frustrating way)

Okay, so I devoured this book in just a couple sittings. Kate Alice Marshall has this way of pulling you into a story with high-stakes tension and moody atmosphere that I usually love—but We Won’t All Survive left me feeling a little torn.

The setup is killer: a group of teens with a twisted past, stuck together as secrets unravel and survival hangs in the balance. I was definitely hooked by the premise and the slow drip of reveals. The emotional weight? Heavy. The trauma and grief themes? Raw and real. There’s a lot of pain in these pages, and some of it hit home more than I expected.

BUT—and this is where the stars start to fall off—the pacing felt off at times. The first half simmered, which I normally don’t mind, but the tension didn’t always pay off. The second half ramps up, but not all of the twists landed for me. Some of the character decisions had me internally yelling, “Why are you like this?!” And while I appreciate morally gray characters, I felt a little disconnected from the core group. I wanted to care more than I did.

Also, I need to say this without spoiling anything: if you’re going to promise me high stakes in the title, I need the payoff to match. I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the resolution—like it tried to be shocking but ended up muted instead.

That said, the writing is sharp and immersive, and the themes of guilt, survival, and what we owe each other definitely made me think. I’ll keep reading Marshall’s books—she always brings the mood and tension—but this one just didn’t fully hit the mark for me.

This is one of those books that will have you avoiding scary theme parks forever! Mercy goes on a dare but it seems things are not always as they seem as these "monsters" appear to be so real that even though she knows it's only a ride, she's somehow afraid for her life! And each part of the park is scarier than the last! How is this possible and where are all the other guests??? May have you avoiding theme parks for a long time!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really enjoyed this one, just as expected. I have loved every book by Kate Alice Marshall that I’ve read. The plot was so intriguing. I don’t think I’ve read anything like this before. Loved it! Highly recommend.

We wont all survive by Kate Alice Marshall

This book was Hunger games / survivor with a ….Just don’t die vibe. It was an intense book just like all her others although it didn’t have the normal hook like the rest. I enjoyed the book, but it just didn’t have the wow factor.

Mercy Gray and a group of other contestants are invited to participate in a challenge to win a grand prize. This character has been through her own drama, she has survived a mall shooting and feels like she is up to the challenge. Although things turn horribly wrong after the group meets up one of the contestants dies. things are not what you expect. The tension and chaos of this book is palpable.
I enjoyed this book but it was a little meh for me.it was tough for me to relate to the characters as they didn’t seem to be as fleshed out as others. Some were very topical.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin group.

⭐️: 3/4

Whenever a new release by Kate Alice Marshall comes out, I have to read it immediately. When the chance to read an ARC arose, I had to seize the opportunity. I went in without any prior knowledge.

For Fans of:
✩ Trapped Location
✩ Survival Reality Show
✩ Whodunnit

This was a fast-paced survival thriller aimed at a YA audience. It was a wild adventure that started off slowly but quickly gained momentum, leaving me with a sense of Squid Game vibes.
The characters were well-developed, but this wasn't my favorite Kate Alice Marshall story. The twists were enjoyable, yet it was still somewhat predictable. Although, it definitely won’t stop me from reading anything else she releases!

A super intriguing whodunit, that hooks you immediately. It was easy to forget at times that this booked is geared for a YA audience, so when it wasn’t as gripping or gritty as I felt it could have been, I remembered the main audience is meant to be a little younger than myself. I’m interested to read this author’s other books

4/5
I really enjoyed this book! The pacing kept me on the edge of my seat, resulting in me flying through the novel in just two sittings. I had high expectations going in, and was not disappointed. Perfect for fans of Holly Jackson, I’d highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun thriller this summer.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall.

Gosh, I love a good reality show gone wrong. Mercy has just signed on to take part in an off-the-grid contest with a large cash prize that could send her sister to college. But once her and her fellow contestants get there, the place is empty, and the instructions are eerily minimal. Before long, they realize that they are trapped, but when one of the contestants end up dead, they know that they are in trouble.

It doesn't take long before the players realize that each one of them has been through a traumatic, near death incident, but why have they been recruited? And what might the strange man behind the whole competition want from them?

I'm giving this three stars. It had a great strong start, and a solid finish, but the threads of the story weakened in the middle. I struggled to really make sense of what was going on, and why all the theatrics. Still a solid YA thriller, just nothing to blow your mind.

"𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲."

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 7/29/25

*Thank you @NetGalley and @PenguinBooks/@VikingBooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions ons are my own.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: When Mercy gets invited to participate in a new reality TV survival show she can’t help but to go when given the chance to win money to send her sister to college. When she arrives, she meets the other contestants but something is off. The old guest town is deserted, no employees. Soon the gates slam shut, locking them all in- and the games begin. They soon realize they just might be trying to survive for real.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
🏚️ Locked door thriller
⛏️ Trans positivity
🏚️ Ghost town
⛏️ Survivor meets SAW

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: What a fun ride! Fast paced and well written. This YA thriller was a fantastic read. Marshall expertly introduced the characters slowly so there was not overwhelming information which made the story easy to follow. I loved the setting, an old western ghost town. With a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. Add to that abandoned mines…What could be creepier? This gave off complete SAW vibes mixed with Survivor. The villain was pretty easy to guess despite the red herrings, but the full reveal wasn’t. I appreciated how Marshall included trans positivity as well as self awareness after trauma.

TW: mass shooting, stalking

#WeWontAllSurvive

We Won’t All Survive is what happens when Squid Game and Saw collide with a YA thriller, layered with the unpredictable chaos of reality television. The result is a gripping, high-stakes narrative that blends psychological tension with survival horror.

Key Tropes and Themes:
- Deadly survival competition
- Whodunnit under pressure
- Enclosed, inescapable setting
- Secrets and hidden agendas
- A resilient, morally complex protagonist

At the center of the novel is Mercy Gray, a protagonist who embodies the “morally gray heroine” archetype—haunted by past trauma, fiercely determined, and driven by loyalty to her younger sister’s dreams. Two years after surviving a mass shooting at a mall, Mercy joins a televised competition for fellow trauma survivors, hoping to win prize money that could change her life. However, what begins as a game quickly devolves into something far more sinister: the set is abandoned, the crew is missing, and contestants begin dying under mysterious circumstances.

While the central mystery remains unpredictable (though I admit my detective skills are lacking), what stands out most is the depth of the ensemble cast. The supporting characters are far from one-dimensional; each possesses a distinct blend of strengths, flaws, and emotional complexity that enhances the narrative.

Kate Alice Marshall’s writing remains as compelling as ever—sharp, emotionally resonant, and tightly paced. For readers drawn to intense psychological thrillers laced with themes of trauma, trust, and survival, We Won’t All Survive is a standout addition to the genre.

We Won’t All Survive is a suspenseful YA thriller about Mercy Gray, a teen who became famous after saving lives during a mall shooting. Two years later, she's dealing with both physical pain (a bullet fragment is still in her back) and emotional trauma. She also has serious medical debt and feels like her life is stuck.

When she's invited to join a survival reality show hosted by billionaire Damien Dare, Mercy sees it as a chance to finally change her future. The winner gets a huge cash prize, which she hopes to use to help her younger sister go to college. The setup is supposed to be a classic wilderness survival competition—but the moment the contestants arrive, things feel off.

There’s no crew, no cameras, and the compound gates lock behind them. They quickly realize this isn’t a TV show at all. It’s a trap.

One contestant is found dead. At first, it looks like an accident. Then another dies. Panic sets in as they figure out someone among them is a killer and they’re being picked off one by one. The survival game has turned into a real-life murder mystery.

As the group tries to stay alive, Mercy starts to uncover secrets. The contestants were all chosen for a reason, and it wasn’t random. The big twist is that this entire “show” was designed as revenge. Someone connected to the mall shooting—someone who lost a loved one that day—has set up the game to punish those they blame, including Mercy.

Even worse, Mercy begins to realize the story told to the public about the mall shooting wasn’t entirely true. Some of the “heroes” might not have been innocent. Some parts of what happened were covered up, and now the truth is coming out in the most violent way possible.

In the end, Mercy discovers who the killer is—it’s one of the contestants who faked their identity to get into the group. Their motive is tied to the death of a family member who died in the mall shooting and never got justice. The entire reality show setup was a way to force a confession and carry out revenge.

Mercy is forced to fight for her life in a brutal final showdown. She survives, but just barely. The killer is stopped, but not before more people die. Mercy walks away alive, but changed—haunted by what happened, what she learned, and the people she couldn’t save.

The ending is powerful and emotionally heavy. It’s not a happy ending, but it’s a realistic one. Mercy doesn’t get everything she wanted, but she does reclaim some control over her life. She’s no longer just a “hero” the media created—she’s her own person, shaped by real pain and survival.

WOW! This book reeled me in from the first page and didn’t let go until it was over. This scratched exactly the right itch for me. “We Won’t All Survive” is a fast-paced thriller about a group of young adults who show up in a remote location to shoot a reality show. When they arrive, there is no crew waiting for them and no one else in the deserted town that is the setting of the show. Things quickly go bad from there.

The writing and plot of this was very tight and engaging. I didn’t want to stop reading and put the book down. The characters (for the most part) are likable and well-written. And there were some twists that I definitely didn’t predict. If you enjoy YA thrillers or thrillers in general I would absolutely recommend checking this out.

Thank you to Penguin Group, Viking Books, NetGalley and Kate Alice Marshall for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

📚two years has passed since Mercy Grey was hailed as hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. Mercy decided to join a games show and if she win the cash prizes for her sister’s college. When she and other contestants arrive to location, something isn’t right. The set is empty and the gate close without warning, trapping them inside. They think is part of game into one of them turn up dead. Mercy must found out can who she can trust if she went survive to the game and see her sister again.



💭 I have have feeling mix of this book. Even though I give 4 star, I will not pick up and read again. I love the characters and middle and end but in the beginning, it was slow, bored and dry.Maybe I wasn’t the audience for it. The writing was good. But I might pick her other books.
4 star ⭐️
Thank for NetGalley

Woowie this was a good one! I genuinely couldn’t believe the ending I didn’t see that coming. It was so dark and twisted in all the best ways!

This book jumps right in from page one- you are hooked wondering where they’re all going, who they are and what’s going to happen.
Set in an abandoned mining town, a group of seemingly mismatched people come together to compete for survival and a prize of 100k, each. I can’t say much more than that without giving it all away but wow this was a fast read. I finished it in under 24 hours I just could not put it down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
Survivor meets Squid Game in this twisty, high-stakes YA thriller

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the ARC of We Won’t All Survive in exchange for an honest review.

In this fast-paced thriller, Mercy Gray, once hailed as a hero for surviving a mall shooting, finds herself drawn into a deadly reality competition show hosted by a flashy billionaire. Desperate for the prize money to tackle her medical debt and to help her sister, she signs on for what she thinks is a survivalist game. But when the contestants arrive at the remote, off-grid location, the set is deserted, the gates lock behind them… and people start dying. What begins as a game quickly becomes a fight to make it out alive.

I don’t typically reach for young adult reads, but this one definitely pulled me in. The setup was gripping and tense, with a vibe that felt like Survivor crossed with Squid Game, complete with shifting alliances and mounting paranoia. I was really invested in seeing how everything would play out, and the author did a solid job layering in red herrings, I totally fell for a few.

Alethea ended up being one of my favorite characters; she had great depth and added a lot of heart to the story. I didn’t love Mercy as a protagonist. Her emotional responses didn’t always land for me, and I sometimes felt disconnected from her voice, but I appreciated how her trauma and guilt were realistically handled. The pacing stayed sharp throughout, and there was just enough blood and betrayal to keep the stakes high.

If you’re into fast-moving YA thrillers with a dark edge and a locked-room mystery feel, this is one to watch for when it hits shelves July 29, 2025.

What a wild ride! Very suspenseful from start to finish and not predictable like a lot of thrillers tend to be. I did not see the twists coming. The characters were likable as well so I was invested in the story. Overall a great read and highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group and Author Kate Alice Marshall for advanced copy for honest review.

This was a fun read! Survivor meets Big Brother in this fight to survive Landry's Island. We follow Mercy Gray through the game Mr. Dare created on an island fashioned into a little town. All the influencers arrive but where is the production crew? Once the gate locks behind them, the game is on and the clock is ticking. Who will make it out alive? 4 stars, recommend!

Just wow. Countless twists & turns, you couldn't guess what was going to happen next even if you wanted to.
Definite page turner, i finished in a day & a half. It was that good

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