Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication Date: July 16, 2024

Publisher: Mira

Pages: 400

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 3/5

Only One Survives is a thriller following Vienna and her best friend Madison who bonded over their love of music in high school and eventually started an all girl rock group, The Bittersweet. The Bittersweet have started hitting the streaming charts and recently signed an album deal. The girls are on their way to a private party with their label when they crash in the Catskills during a storm which kills one of them and leaves others injured. The girls are able to find a cabin to stay in for shelter but come the next morning everyone but Vienna and the band’s documentarian is dead except for Madison who no one can find.

I was completely captivated by the first part of this book. I had a hard time putting it down and was completely immersed in the dual timeline story that was being told. Sadly, the second half of this novel fell apart for me. I did appreciate the twist and thought it was clever but there was way too much story after that. I could have easily lost fifty pages of it and still come away with a firm grip on the story. I also did not enjoy the epilogue and thought it added nothing to the book.

McKinnon is a talented author but I feel like the story got a bit lost in the message or idea she was trying to portray. And I don’t necessarily disagree with the message but it was just so repetitive and unrelenting that I found myself just skimming some pages so I could move onto the next thing.

However, I loved the first half of this book so much that I still think that it’s a book worth picking up. And as much as I have talked about how I wasn’t that impressed by the latter half of this book I do think that this story will stick around with me for a while. This book went to some dark places that I wasn’t expecting and did it in such a seamless way that it felt natural even if what was happening was unpleasant.

McKinnon did a fabulous job of interweaving various timelines and a little bit of mixed media in the first half to build the suspense and anticipation of what was happening in the current time that I was truly swept up into the story. I hope that if the synopsis sounds good to you that you will give this book a try and hopefully enjoy the second half more than me!