Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Only Survivors

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda

23 reviews

lrenkate's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Heartbreaking events that caused deep guilt in the survivors, with unlikely bonds keeping them connected a decade later. I found the timeline of the flashbacks a little difficult until it all came together, but overall I enjoyed the book despite not really connecting with or liking any of the characters. The twists & reveals weren’t wholly unpredictable, she did lay a little groundwork for them so it wasn’t out of left field, but they also weren’t staring you in the face from the start which I appreciated. Not my favourite from this author, but still an enjoyable entry.
I read it in one day, so clearly had me hooked into the story/what would happen next.

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herelieshenry's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Megan Miranda is adept at weaving together the past and the present; the twist here is a bit stronger than the first book of her’s I’ve read, because it feels a bit more foreshadowed as opposed to being kind of sudden. I’m starting to notice some themes that appear to be recurring in her work that interest me, like the nature of being an outsider, the choice to protect people you love, and the complex feelings of someone who has been made to feel invisibilized. I really enjoyed the setting—both the Outer Banks vacation house and the Tennessee ravine feel very vivid and integral to the book as settings. The audiobook in particular is stunning; the full cast helped keep the flashback chapters distinct and Allwine’s voicework here was a lot stronger than in The Last to Vanish.

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emilyjean917201999's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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bluz19's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This story focuses on teens of this tragic accident and then those same people 10 years later and how that one event changed them and what secrets they have hidden from all those years ago. It has a nonlinear timeline, with teenagers, a whodunit, and considered a rugged story. In all honesty this book didn’t really hold my interest. Even the parts that were supposed to have me wowed, it just didn’t hold up. I didn’t hate the book, it was just that to be considered a thriller, it didn’t meet my expectations. The story from the night of the crash, the backstory, had its moments of intrigue. And so did the current timeline of them 10 years later. However I mostly kept reading just to see if the story got any better throughout and I was more so disappointed. I enjoyed how the book was written, I didn’t hate the characters, they just seemed very one dimensional. Nobody really had layers to them and neither did their stories. I just wanted a bit more action to keep me along. This book was very slow and didn’t really have a climax at the end. We found that everyone was keeping secrets from when they were 18 years old, it just didn’t seem worthy of writing a book about to me. The two big twists at the end that we find out are interesting and do bring flare to the book but it wasn’t enough to carry the book for me, unfortunately. I probably would not read again.

If you enjoy slow burn thrillers with slight mystery and teenager guilt then this book may work for you or if you’re looking for a trip that turns out to be very different than you expected then this book might work for you. I think of the right audience this book could be great, it just didn’t work for me particularly.

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lpdx's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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hmkuecker's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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mm_bookclub's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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gellyreads's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I normally LOVE Megan Miranda (adult) books, but this one just fell flat for me. I called pretty much immediately what I assume the big twist was,

that her BF was the one blackmailing and stalking the group, and once they spoke about Claire enough times, the connection wasn't shocking. I found said BF/Russ' death very anticlimactic, I had to re-read it because it seemed so lack-luster.

I also felt like there were far too many characters and the story got cluttered far too quickly. This was interesting and worth checking out, but the weakest (adult) Miranda book I've read. I also wish we spent more time condemning

the teacher/student crush/almost relationship (at least the way they were acting like it was going to play).

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greatexpectations77's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was very into this because the story that unfolds and what these kids had to deal with is like Hunger Games-style gnarly. I also thought the relaying of the events through the POVs of each of the characters was really interesting. I felt a really serious tension when everyone was in the beach house, and I felt like it kind of broke when people started leaving. I also, and maybe I wasn't listening closely enough, had a bit of a hard time keeping all of the characters straight, since there were so many.

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peachyryoma's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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