We Won’t All Survive

Eight teens turn up at an abandoned location to compete in a reality TV show dreamt up by a male survivalist billionaire with the promise of a $100,000 reward. The teens are all survivors of shootings, drownings, and other near-death experiences, with the PTSD to show for it. But Mercy Gray, the narrator, needs the prize money more than most. After she rescued her sister and others from a shooting, she had huge medical bills from treatment for the bullet she took, part of which remains lodged in her back. Her sister paid her bills but now can’t afford to go to college, and Mercy is determined to pay her back.

The teens thought they would have cameras in their faces and staff telling them how to behave, but the location is completely abandoned. They must work together to find food and water to survive. And when one of them turns up dead after the first night, they realise this is no ordinary reality TV show. Something much more sinister is going on, and there may be a traitor in their midst.

I loved the author’s other novels, I Am Still Alive, and Rules for Vanishing, which were both filled with a terrifying sense of impending doom. We Won’t All Survive has the same atmosphere, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading right up until the final page. Those aged 13+ who love the writing of Karen M. McManus or Holly Jackson will devour this action-packed, well-written story.