Survive the Night by Riley Sager (2021)
Laura’s Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
My sister Lisa recommended this book to me, or more accurately, insisted that I read it immediately. She did not steer me wrong and I really enjoyed this crazy unique thriller. I’ll definitely be checking out more of author Riley Sager’s work.
The Analysis:
Looking to run away from a tragedy at school and escape her inner torments, Charlie Jordan heads to the campus ride board, hoping she can find someone to drive her back to Ohio. She conveniently bumps into Josh Baxter, who is heading in the same direction and can leave soon. Charlie is just thankful to have found a ride, but soon realized that she doesn’t really know anything about Josh. He could be innocent and charming, as he seems, or he could be the infamous Campus Killer…
The book has some great original concepts, and I, of course, loved all the references to famous movies. Charlie is a huge film nerd, which both influences how she lives her life, and provides for some great nods to classic films. This book has more twists and turns than most other thrillers I’ve read, and that’s saying something. The best part is that there were many twists that I didn’t see coming and even the ones I could predict happened exactly how I would have wanted them to, making them fully satisfying. The book didn’t start out super fast paced, but by the last third of it, Survive the Night became one of the most exciting thrillers I’ve read in a while.
I do have a couple small complaints, the main one being that Charlie drove me crazy and her actions are so frustrating and unbelievable at times. However, if you can look past that temporarily, the payoff is worth it. My other complaint is that despite me loving the movie references, there are a few mild spoilers of classic films. If you’re into old films, especially Hitchcock or noir, but haven’t seen them all yet, beware. However, despite these couple of flaws, I really appreciated the originality and the absolute roller coaster plot of this novel. I haven’t been this excited to write a book review in a minute. Read this if you’re looking for something that you won’t be able to put down.
Comments