by Kate Alice Marshall
Release Date: July 29, 2025
2025 Viking Books for Young Readers
Paperback ARC; 330 Pages
ISBN: 978-0593691830
ASIN: B0DLFQFF7H
Audiobook: B0DM6TTBSB
Genre: Fiction / YA / Mystery / Thriller
Source: Review copy from publisher
3 / 5 Stars
Summary
Two years ago Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero
for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs
from that incident: the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back.
When billionaire-turned-TV-host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college—but when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. Then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dying. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a new meaning.
My Thoughts
We Won't All Survive had a great premise and I definitely enjoyed the interactions of the characters as they realized something was seriously wrong and how they had to depend on each other knowing that one of them was possibly a murderer. The story moved along rather quickly with quite a few twists and turns, but I have to say, not too fond of that ending and definitely disliked the motive behind the whole thing.
Mercy was the main characters and I enjoyed her inner monologues as she was negotiating what to do and how to get things done when she realized they were stranded. Not someone who liked being in the limelight, she took charge simply because she didn't panic in difficult situations and the others started to consider her judgment as sound and good. As you learn more about her traumatic past, you can't help but feel empathy for what she is going through as she has trouble connecting with others and has trust issues. I liked being in her head and seeing her thoughts about what was happening. Having gone through my own traumas, I could understand a lot of what she was thinking and why she would be reluctant to trust people. I also liked how the author spent time on giving the other characters a voice as well so you did get a chance to learn more about the reasons why they were chosen.
The plot had a dark theme running through it and I liked that the author didn't muddy the waters by adding too many other themes to the book. Using that theme and some of the underlying traumas experienced by the characters, the author managed to created quite an atmospheric book, one that was full of tension and twists and turns. The story moved along at a good pace and I don't think the tension really let up at all. And while I did suspect who the culprit was quite early, I did change my find a few times as I hit some twists and turns, only to come back to that person. What I didn't get was the motive. I don't necessarily have to have a motive in my books, but when there is one, it has to be believable, and this was not. The "issue with the show" thing, I got, and if the author had just left it there, it would have been fine, but to add this other element, nope, hokey as hell. And if this doesn't make sense, it will if you read the book. I don't want to give away spoilers.
Verdict
We Won't All Survive was a fun, easy read that I enjoy, except for that ending. The plot moved along quite quickly, and the tension was kept at quite a good level which kept me flipping the pages. I loved the setting and the whole atmosphere of the story. I did think the main character was a highlight of this book and very well developed; it's just too bad that the whole reason for why they were there just wasn't believable for me. I do think it's worth reading just for the atmospheric setting though, and the author definitely has a way of pulling you into the story.
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