Yet another thrilling read from Riley Sager! As exciting as prior novels, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns.
An addictive read, visual impacts which sparked a need to read ‘just one more chapter’. A real page turner and I would definitely recommend this book!

Big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Sadly I didn't really like this book as much as I expected. It wasn't really bad but it was kinda boring and not really entertaining. I also didn't like the way the author wrote the female character. Girl-on-Girl-Hate is so out of fashion and not cool.

This was an absolutely thrilling read, another superb piece of writing from Riley Sager. I was on the edge of my seat as soon as Charlie sat into the car more or less. And the story just got better and better as she began to notice little discrepancies in the driver, Josh's story. The tension was unreal. I really couldn't put this down and missed many hours of sleep because of it. I loved it!!!

I loved this! Really enjoyed the 'movie' elements to the writing. Charlie was a great protagonist, kept me guessing with her all along. Brilliant twists that I did not see coming!

3.5/5
It's been a while since I felt this conflicted on a thriller.

On the one hand, I loved the tension and the forced proximity / isolated setting. It was very gripping, and towards the end, I struggled to put it down. I also liked how there were a couple of twists I didn't see coming (some things I did suspect but I didn't mind).

This book felt like a 90s slasher movie and I could visualise exactly how it would play out on screen, which I really liked.

I enjoyed my time reading it, but there were also a few aspects I couldn't ignore.

This is the 3rd book I've read by Riley Sager and I've noticed this author has a tendency to write weak and frustrating female main characters. This is the first of their books where it affected my overall enjoyment. Charlie is an unreliable narrator because she sees these hallucinations that play like movies in her mind, and I think I would have enjoyed the book more if this hadn't been included.

I'll definitely continue to read other books by this author but this wasn't my favourite.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. I ended up reading this book in book form before being approved on NetGalley. This was a good book. I haven't enjoyed Riley's last two books as well as the first couple, but this ended up being good overall. I felt parts were very predictable, but still had enough suspense to draw me in. The ending threw me for a huge shock.

I'm really not sure how to rate this book as I really enjoyed the first third of it and then as the plot developed it just felt further and further away from believable and it unfortunately took away from the reading experience.

I enjoyed the back and forth between Charlie and 'Josh' during the first part of their drive, where she's unsure if she can trust her own perception of things and if he's actually more sinister than he appeared.
But I ended up having a few issues with how mental health was portrayed throughout the book.
Starting with the fact that it has the cliché disdain for medication for the sake of plot.
This was further compounded later on when in the last few scenes Charlie is able to talk her self out of a hallucination and infers that they could be possibly gone forever after she does that.
To me this just seemed like a naive view of how mental illnesses and responses to trauma work in reality.

The more I reflect on my experience reading, the scenes of Josh and Charlie in the car is the only point I can really admit to being truly engaged with the story .
I had found Charlie's character a little annoying from the start. Due to the constant film references. Which for me personally I just have no interest in so perhaps this wouldn't read as repetitive to someone else. And also the pity party that was near constant and the over-exaggeration that she had murdered her friend.

Speaking of friends, the toxic female friendship in this was just aggravating. It didn't seem believable based on what was written that Charlie had such a deep friendship with someone like Maddy, who continually used and flaked on her, unless she was obsessed. I'm sure unbalanced friendships like this no doubt exist but I didn't feel the believable sympathy for someone missing their friend that the reader was supposed to feel.

To vaguely talk about the plot twists briefly, I found Marge's plotline to be quite a stretch and as soon as reading that reveal my engagement with the book just dissipated further.

About halfway through I had made a guess as to the final reveal of the murderer, however not because of well laid breadcrumbs but more in a 'oh no, please don't tell me where this is going' kind of way, unfortunately.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc of this book! Definitely the weakest of Riley’s books so far. It felt like I was reading from a different author. I found the whole storyline to be such a stretch. The movies in her mind thing was a bit odd and the other characters seemed to be so accepting and non questioning of this?! The twists weren’t that thrilling either. I adored the concept but the execution just missed the mark for me unfortunately.

I've only read one Riley Sager title previously but having devoured and adored Final Girls, I was excited to try another - especially when I read the blurb!

I'm a sucker for any narrative, be it a novel, film or play, set over a short time period. In the hands of a talented writer, this is one of the best devices to to make sure that every emotion your reader/viewer experiences is dialled all the way up to 100.

Survive The Night, as the title suggests, mainly takes place over the course of a single evening, though flashbacks to further the plot are included. Trust me when I say this is a book you won't want to put down, so maybe don't start it at bedtime like I did!

This novel also features another of my favourite devices: an unreliable narrator! Charlie, traumatised and guilt-ridden following the murder of her college roommate and best friend at the hands of a notorious serial killer, the Campus Killer, accepts a ride home from a total stranger in her desperation to get back to her hometown. She'll be spending several hours on lonely stretches of road with Josh, who almost immediately piques her suspicion.

Is Charlie trapped in a car with the very man who killed her best friend just months ago?

Charlie's definitely one of the more frustrating characters I've come across, constantly making life-threatening decisions at worst and extremely questionable choices at best. This is what makes the book so fun! Of course Charlie doesn't handle anything the way I would but if she did, there wouldn't be a novel. Yes, she's reckless almost to the point of self-destruction, but she's also brave and noble and you will find yourself rooting for her.

And, just like Charlie, you will be second-guessing everything. There are so many twists and turns that I would be amazed if you could correctly predict the outcome, which is just as dramatic and ridiculous as you'd hope.

This is about as much as I'd like to say because it's best if you read this book with as little knowledge of what to expect as possible.

Enjoy the ride!

A gripping, fast-paced read with a brilliantly original viewpoint and a recognisable-but-fresh setup. It took a little while to get going, but when it did I didn't pause for air. Highly recommended.

With its love letter to the movies and the 1990s, Survive The Nights is an addictive, visually impactful cat and mouse thriller that kept me totally entertained and invested! I wanted to read it hiding behind a cushion-just as I do with horror movies on the tv-as I became completely caught up in the car journey from hell. Full of twists and turn (many of them unexpected!) this book really delivered for me. I read it within a few hours, much as I would watch a film and loved every minute of it!

‘Survive the Night’ is so reminiscent of the classic, teen slasher flicks with twists, gore and humour all in one!

Movie obsessed Rachel is trying to figure out what to do with her life after the murder of her best friend, a murder that still has not been solved.
In order to get home, she hitches a ride with good looking, unassuming Josh, who seems harmless enough! But looks can be deceiving.

As a big horror/slasher fan, I loved the ideas behind this book! It brought me back to the movies I used to watch in my teens and was really entertaining. The story had enough twists and turns to keep me intrigued, but not overly complicated. We’re they the most unique twists ever? No. Did I guess a good amount of the twists? Yes, but I still enjoyed my time reading it!
I also loved the music and movie references scattered throughout the book. If you are a child of the 90s, you will definitely pick up on lot of them.

Some of the decisions by our leading lady were questionable and that’s putting it nicely! There were moments were I genuinely wanting to throw the book and say “HOW can you be so stupid?”, but let’s be real, that’s a lot of female figures in horror. So, I can’t be too mad at it.

This was my first time reading anything by Riley Sager and I gotta say, I am excited to read more by them.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Survive the Night follows Charlie, a young woman whose best friend has recently been brutally murdered. Through grief and fear of her own actions she makes the decision to go back home to seek comfort and recover. This is where she stops making sensible decisions and unfortunately chooses to accept a ride from a stranger. What happens next makes for a very long night for all those involved.

I really wanted to enjoy this. So so much the anticipation was unreal. Unfortunately for me that's where the excitement peaked. I thought the premise was extremely promising but the execution lacking.

The book is told in the form of a screen play with camera directions and cuts. While interesting, the switching became jarring at points and took away from the plot. It takes the unreliable narrator trope just too far where you wonder what the point is and all impact is lost.

Personally I feel movies played too larger a part in trying to form Charlie's personality. This made her an empty shell comprised of old movie references and stereotypical quirks. It also bothers me that her mental illness was never explained or explored. Instead it was just used as a convenient plot device to explain away unrealistic plot holes in the narrative.

As judgemental as the review sounds the book is fairly quick paced and easy enough to read. I just wish I understood all the 5 star reviews as I don't know whether to feel disappointed in myself or the book.

I got 50% into this but I’m afraid it just didn’t work for me. The protagonist came across as naive and I didn’t like the gaslighting elements. Also I read so much of the book and so little happened. Why did she get in the car with him, why did he bother driving her so far? This wasn’t believable to me and having heard such good things about this author I was unfortunately disappointed.

This is a Thriller. I found the beginning of this book hard to get into and a little boring, but once the book started to get really going I was pulled into the book. I loved the ending, and I did not see it coming. The characters where hard to like, but they where written to be like that. I did overall really enjoyed this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Dutton Books) or author (Riley Sager) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodder Paperbacks for this copy of Survive the NIght by Riley Sager.

Charlie is desperate to get home after a terrible few months and makes a decision to take a ride home from a virtual stranger. Charlie is running away from the death of her best friend and the threat of a serial killer on her college campus. She is leaving behind a dedicated boyfriend who doesn't want her to leave and running towards home and safety. Charlie doesn't know Josh, the man that has offered to drive her home in exchange for gas money and company. Is he who he claims to be or something far more sinister? Oh, and one other thing, Charlie sometimes mistakes the movies that run in her mind for reality so there's that as well. It all makes for one confusing and terrifying night for Charlie to try to survive and we just get to ride along and hope she makes it.

Survive the Night definitely lives up to the hype. It's a solid thriller with enough plot twists to keep even the most jaded reader engaged. I'll admit that I did not see the end coming and was happily surprised at the outcome. You'll think you know the end but you really won't. Survive the Night is not nearly as straightforward as it seems at the outset. This is a good read for anyone, not just thriller fans.

I loved Home Before Dark so I was pleased to try the author's new book. It's a thriller that's perfect for fans of suspense movies or true crime podcasts. An interesting premise that will do well. With thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read an early copy.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

This was my second Riley Sager book and I loved this so much!
It had me from page one and the plot twists were really well done. I will say that No Exit by Taylor Adams was a better kind of stranded-with-a-killer book but that doesn’t mean this book itself will let you down if you’ve read No Exit.

I loved Charlie and was behind her 100%.

Survive the Night is the latest thriller from Riley Sager, set in 1991 it follows Charlie as she hitches a ride home from college with a friendly college boy. But things aren't quite as they seem, and Charlie begins to suspect she's stuck in the car with the campus killer, a serial killer that has terrorized campus for the past four years, and that she may be his latest victim.

This is my second Riley Sager book after Home Before Dark, and I actually think I preferred this one. I've heard some less than stellar reviews of this book but I think I almost benefitted from that as I went into this book with lower expectations than I otherwise might have done.

For me, the characters were surprisingly strong in this book. Typically in thrillers, I find the character a little lacking, especially as thrillers generally rely heaving on twist and turns and are therefore fairly plot heavy. However I found Josh to be a surprisingly strong character, like Charlie I was caught between liking him and a strong distrust of him. Charlie was a hard main character to connect to and there were definitely some questionable decisions from her at point, she never really felt like a 'real' person I suppose, but I still found myself rooting for her.

Onto plot, I guessed two of the major plot twists but many still caught me off guard, I thought the use of Charlie's fragile mental state was really well done where she found that she couldn't really trust her own memory really interesting, and made my question things all along.

The ending felt a little rushed, but wrapped up pretty nicely. And I like how the whole thing was a movie all along. Basically this wasn't a perfect thriller, but I read it in a day and it kept me gripped throughout.

This was basically a 90's slasher film as a book and it didn't disappoint. I did like this for the most part even if the story did get a little silly in places but it was still a fun ride. Charlie and Josh were an interesting pair and it was always a game about who was more reliable a narrator and who was the one lying to the reader. The final page or two were a little weak but i did appreciate the constant framing device that had been in play throughout and thought both worked together well.