I really love Megan Miranda's books, and while this one was still a good read, it wasn't my favorite. This one was super slow burn, but I like that she still used her alternating time lines. My issue was that there were just too many characters. I had so much trouble keeping track, and once I could keep track, I didn't care much because I didn't feel like I really knew any of them.

She's still an auto buy for me, this one just wasn't my favorite.

The Only Survivors is a thriller set at the Outer Banks in NC. A storm is approaching, making the setting a little claustrophobic. Nine "friends" meet at this beach house every year for a week in order to reaffirm a pact of silence they have taken following a fatal car accident they were involved in during a high school trip. These nine friends were the only survivors of that trip and as they approach the 10 year anniversary of the accident, tensions run high and the truth might come to light outside of their small group.

Told in alternating viewpoints and timelines, this story was quite intriguing from the start. I enjoyed hearing the flashbacks (starting right after the crash and going backwards in time until we find out how the crash happened). There were a few points where I was surprised by what happened and hadn't guessed it. Overall, I enjoyed this new Megan Miranda thriller and think you will, too.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

THE ONLY SURVIVORS
Rating: ⭐️⭐️

I picked this one up mostly bc of the cover (I mean perfect for a summer read🤩) and then realized it was set in the Outer Banks, NC where I was vacationing at the time! The setting was so atmospheric so that really drew me in!

Megan Miranda is a hit or miss author for me and this one unfortunately was more of a miss. The premise was interesting and unique, but the pacing was way too slow for my taste. The premise is that a group of high school classmates are tied together due to a tragedy that unfolded 10 years ago while they were on a school trip, resulting in several of their classmates dying. Now the remaining survivors meet up annually for a week but something is off and someone’s keeping secrets…

I predicted the twist and didn’t find any of the characters to be particularly likeable but was hoping the ending would pay off. This wasn’t my fav Megan Miranda but I’ll def pick up her next one to see if it’s a better one for me!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy that I did not read so early...
I am unsure how to feel about the book... I'm ending with much more questions than when I first started the book.

I'm also still very confused on what actually happened, and I am having a hard time accepting the plot twist of it all.

I have really enjoyed Megan Miranda's other books but this one was so frustrating. Kept turning the pages eager to find out what happened and didn't really learn anything new. The characters made their lives so much harder than they had to be.

I don’t know why this has taken me so long to write. I’ve seen so many mixed reviews and I think it is because it has a label of thriller, when it is more of a mystery with a little bit of suspense.

I was drawn into the story right from the start. First I like the author’s writing style, as it is easy to read. And this one I was thrown into the story almost in the middle, and I spent a bit of time trying to figure out what happened to bring this group of people, maybe friends, together. It did feel like a bit of a slow to build and slow burn story, but I really was invested in knowing what happened and who was causing the issues for the group.

While the characters aren’t really all that likable, I still wanted them to find their peace and move on from this tragedy. The author did a good job of throwing in twists and keeping me guessing. At some point I suspected every character of being behind everything. And I also came up with all kinds of wild ideas of what exactly happened all those years ago.

If you are looking for epic twists and an action packed ride, this book isn’t for you. But if you want to delve into a suspenseful mystery with twists along the way, this needs to be on your radar.

Cassidy Bent is trying to escape her past, but it doesn't want to let go, so she finds herself once again in the Outer Banks with fellow survivors of a tragic accident their senior year of high school. This year, though, there will be one less former classmate, as his addictions seem to have caught up with him the previous winter, or was something more going on with Ian's death? Cassidy doesn't know who to trust and when another survivor goes missing, she starts questioning everything.

A fun read with flashbacks to the night of the accident that keep the suspense going. Unfortunately, the ending fell a bit flat for me.

The Only Survivors 🚌
Thank you, Scribner Books, for the gifted copy of this book! {partner}

Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆☆☆
Pub Date: 4.11.2023
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

"Everything, she realized in that stark moment of clarity, had always been out of her control."

Full disclosure: I started reading this and made it about 15% before putting it down because it was such a slow start that I couldn't stay focused on what I was reading. I was still intrigued by the storyline, so I requested a copy of the audiobook from my local library, and when my copy arrived, I started listening.

The story never picked up pace but continued with the slow burn until the final 20% of the book. Some parts were redundant and unimportant to the story - overall, it could've been shorter.

I enjoyed how the storyline was told through alternating timelines, as it gave me a deeper understanding of who the characters were and what made them tick. The past chapters were, by far, my favorite, and I love how each character was given one chapter to share their part of the story.

🐌 Slow burn
🙅🏽‍♀️ Too many characters
👌🏼 Perfectly atmospheric
⏰ Alternating timelines
🗣️ Multiple POV's
😤 The ending was a bit of a letdown

While The Only Survivors may not be my favorite from Megan Miranda, it was still an entertaining read that kept me working in the yard a little longer as bits and pieces of the story were revealed.

The Slow Burn mystery follows the story of nine high school seniors who survived a tragic accident in Tennessee. The group, including the narrator, Clara, Grace, Oliver, Joshua, Ian, Hollis, Brody, and Cassidy, grew up together and formed a bond. After Clara committed suicide, they meet at The Shallows to keep secrets. Ten years later, they are no longer friends, and Cassidy deletes their contact information. The group gathers at the property, and the charade continues, with secrets from the seven hours before rescue.The narrator questions if they can trust each other and if they are being lured to the Outer Banks each year by someone less forgiving. The story has two issues: it lacks character development and lacks a significant plot twist.

Thank You #NetGalley and Scribner/ Marysue Rucci Books for the advanced copy for an honest review.

The Only Survivors was an interesting read that had me trying to figure out what truly happened until the very end. However, I found that the build up didn’t lead to an explosive secret as I thought. It was still a good read, but the ending was a bit of a let down.

I was excited about this book. I love a moody premise, I love the "we connected again years after an incident" sub-genre. And while the setting was alive and I fell right into the story, it fell quickly into redundancies and unbelievable scenes. The narrator/s frequently repeated how they were all together only because of this one thing that tied them. Because of the need to state this over and over again, I kept not believing that these characters would continue to meet up year after year after the big accident. In a flashback section, after the survivors connect with the police, one is about to say that the rest of their clasmates are still in the vans, in the river, but the character is shushed by someone else, supposedly because they couldn't have survived. But of course you would tell the poilice there were more people with you and that they were in the river. It was a small moment, but it pulled me out completely -this happened several times - and ultimately I didn't finish this book.

Several high school classmates gather each year for a difficult anniversary. They agreed to support each other on the annual date of a horrible bus accident. Each chapter explains a little bit more about what happened all the years ago and some of the secrets that each classmate has hidden. I enjoyed the suspense of this novel and I was surprised by the last couple of pages!

I always love a book where I don’t expect the ending. And this I really didn’t expect. The main character survived a terrible tragedy, and through flashbacks from all the other survivors you find the full picture of what happened on the night where most of their high school class trip passed away. It was interesting and a true page turner. Intriguing the entire time.

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda. I like Megan Miranda books but I don’t LOVE them. I was hoping this book would be more action packed, but it was a slow burn. The ending was good and there were a few twists throughout but it took me a while to get through. Thanks Scribner books and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was super excited to read The Only Survivors! Sadly, I was super disappointed by the end. The exciting premise never really came together for me. There were too many characters with too much happening that didn’t really make sense.

A group of "friends" from high school meets up once a year in the Outer Banks to commemorate the anniversary of the crash they were all involved in when they were teenagers. When their numbers seem to start dwindling and other weird events start happening that can't be explained, the group starts to break down. Told from multiple POVs, you learn the truth behind what happened all those years ago and what this group is truly capable of.

I wanted so badly to love this book... and I did love it. Until the ending.

I really enjoyed the character building and learning about their backgrounds and why they are the way that they are now. There were definitely great moments throughout the book, and I had no idea where the plot was going 99% of the time which I love in a thriller! I felt like the whole book was amazing and built up really well and then the ending was a very abrupt letdown. I guess I just expected a much grander event to take place and there were questions I had and pieces that were missing.

I'm a big fan of Miranda's mysteries and have read most of her books, this one falls somewhere in the middle for me. I loved the atmospheric feel and the setup, but the pace was super slow. It took a really long time to finally get going. There's a lot of characters too, so it takes a bit to get everyone straight and really feel any connection to them. The second half of the book was miles better than the first and the ending was soooo good. It was more of a three star read but the ending really brought it up a notch. Can't wait for her next book!

3. 5 stars I was fortunate to be given this book to read as an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. Thank you! This thriller has a really interesting premise. It is moving between modern day-Outer Banks as a storm is rolling in to trap the occupants of a beach house there- just when they don't want to be trapped- as possibly a killer is in the house too- and moves to a decade ago- to a horrific van accident in a river on a school field trip. Being a teacher, the accident and the immediate aftermath disturbed me far more than the modern day storm/possible killer scenario. There was something so haunting and upsetting about it for me.

This novel is a slow burn thriller which typically I love. You also have the interesting layers of moving back and forth in time- and the author lays out the van accident for you in reverse order- very unique and cool. There were many aspects of this book that I liked. I can't say I loved it. Was it entertaining? Yes. I think it is a good beach read, but not something you'll be remembering and recommending for years to come.

Total mid thriller. I think this is my last time reading Megan Miranda. Her thrillers just don't have the fast paced appeal that I like.

I am not sure I cared for " The Only Survivors" as much as Megan Miranda's previous novels. I had a difficult time getting into the story, and it took quite a long time for anything to progress with the plot.