Survive the Night by Riley Sager

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⭐ 3.5 Star Book Review: Survive the Night by Riley Sager 🚗🔪

👉 Grab your copy of Survive the Night on Amazon here (affiliate link)

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🚨 Trigger Warnings

Before you buckle up for this thriller road trip, note that this novel includes:

• 🩸 Violence (including murder, stabbing, drowning)

• 🧠 Psychological trauma & gaslighting

• 🩺 Hallucinations tied to grief/trauma

• 💔 Death of loved ones

• 🔪 Serial killer themes

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✨ First Impressions

Okay, so here’s the thing: I’ve loved Riley Sager’s books before (Home Before Dark and House Across the Lake were excellent 👏), so I went in with some pretty high expectations.

The opening? Fantastic. We’re set up with Charlie, a movie-obsessed college student, trapped in a car with a possible serial killer. Classic road trip nightmare vibes. 🚘😱 I was READY.

But then… the story started to annoy me. Charlie gets chance after chance to escape — at a diner, with a cop literally right there 🚓 — but she chooses not to because she thinks she has to stop the killer herself. Like, girl. Please. RUN. 🙄

Still, as the book went on, Charlie got smarter, the pacing picked up, and the final third of the book was a wild ride. 🏎️💨

Final verdict: 3.5⭐ (maybe a 4 if I’m being generous). Not as smooth or polished as some of Sager’s other work, but still an entertaining thriller.

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📖 Full Spoiler-Filled Summary 🚨

🎬 Setup

It’s November 1991. Charlie Jordan, a college student and movie buff, is hitching a ride home with a stranger, Josh Baxter. Her best friend Maddy was murdered by the “Campus Killer,” and Charlie suspects Josh might be him. Oh, and she hallucinates in “movie scenes” whenever she’s under stress. (Convenient? Yes. Frustrating? Also yes.)

🚗 The Road Trip from Hell

At first, Josh seems charming, but little clues start piling up: inconsistencies in his story, knowledge about the victims, and — red flag alert 🚩 — a box of rope and handcuffs in his car. Charlie’s suspicions grow.

They stop at a diner where Charlie tries to escape, but instead of yelling for help, she decides she has to stop the killer herself. (Insert my massive eye roll here 🙃.) Marge, the diner waitress, seems helpful… but actually has her own secrets.

🔥 Things Get Messy

Josh finally admits he’s not who he says he is. A fight breaks out. Charlie stabs him, but he still keeps showing concern for her (confusing much?). Eventually, Marge drugs Charlie and reveals her twisted connection: she’s Maddy’s grandmother, dying of cancer, and hired Josh (real name Jake) to find out who killed Maddy. 😳

So Josh/Jake isn’t the Campus Killer after all — he’s a bounty hunter with a soft spot for Charlie. Marge, meanwhile, has gone off the deep end.

😱 The Real Killer Revealed

Enter Robbie — Charlie’s boyfriend. Yep. He’s the Campus Killer all along. He murdered Maddy and other women because he thought they were “not special.” 🤮

He tries to kill Charlie, but she handcuffs him to the car and pulls his tooth (the killer’s signature move). Robbie drowns, justice served.

🎥 The Epilogue

Charlie survives, gives up her hallucinations, and starts living in the real world. She ends up married to Jake (plot twist: wholesome ending??), and six years later, she even sees a movie based on her terrifying experience.

Roll credits. 🎬

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🔎 Themes & Thoughts

• Psychological thrillers only work if the characters make semi-logical choices. Charlie’s early decisions? Nope. 🚫

• Hallucination gimmick: fun in theory, dragged on in execution.

• The final reveal (Robbie!) was solid, though I called it early. Still, better than a “twist on a twist on a twist” situation.

• Pacing: slow middle, fast and furious ending.

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📚 If You Liked Survive the Night, Try…

• No Exit by Taylor Adams (road trip thriller, snowstorm, strangers, pure chaos)

• Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (psychological thriller, trapped woman, big suspense)

• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (still my fave of his — summer camp + lies + chills)

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💡 Final Word: Survive the Night is uneven but entertaining. Not Riley Sager’s best, but if you’re in the mood for a tense road trip with a few jaw-dropping reveals, it’s worth the ride. 🚗💀

👉 Get your copy of Survive the Night here