What We Did to Survive: A Fun, Flawed, & Wildly Entertaining Thriller ⭐⭐⭐½
Triggers and Content Warnings ⚠️
Before we dive in, here’s what to expect: graphic violence (including murder, assault, and injury detail), death, illness, substance use, physical abuse, and cursing. The book also deals with grief and features a manipulative/abusive relationship dynamic.
The Nitty-Gritty Overview 📚
So, you know those "what if your dream vacation turned into a total nightmare" stories? Megan Lally’s What We Did to Survive is exactly that — a high-stakes survival thriller that’s pure adrenaline, even if it’s not winning any literary awards.
The story follows Hannah, a high-school senior spending spring break in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with her best friend Emmy and Emmy’s family. It’s supposed to be the perfect send-off before Hannah heads to nursing school and Emmy jets off on a solo world tour. The only awkward part? Emmy’s older brother, Jackson — the guy Hannah has crushed on for a decade, who kissed her at Christmas and then shut things down.
Enter Bennett "Ben" Mulholland, a charming, wealthy vacation boy who sets his sights on Emmy. He showers the group with expensive outings, and on their last day, he charters a private sailboat called the Be-Yacht-Ch. Emmy’s parents agree — but only if Jackson chaperones. Plot twist alert: storm clouds are brewing, and Ben reveals he hired a private captain because the official tour companies refused to go out due to weather. 🚩
Once they’re at sea, things go off the rails fast. They find Captain Keith drunk below deck, a fight breaks out, and Ben — in a move that screams "I’m the villain" — deliberately lets the boat’s boom swing, knocking Keith overboard. Hannah dives in but can’t save him. Now it’s just Hannah, Emmy, Jackson, and Ben, stranded on a boat with no radio, no service, and a psychopath who just admitted he destroyed the navigation wires to keep them silent.
SPOILER WARNING: The Full Blow-by-Blow 🚨
If you haven’t read the book and hate spoilers, stop here. I’m about to spoil the entire ending, so proceed at your own risk. You’ve been warned!
The Complete Plot Summary (With All the Juicy Spoilers) 📖
After Keith goes overboard, Ben claims it was an accident, but Hannah saw him let go of the wheel on purpose. She and Jackson know the truth, but they’re trapped with a murderer. Overnight, Jackson catches Ben cutting wires, and Ben admits he did it to prevent them from calling for help. Hannah confiscates his knife and locks him in the bathroom by threading a mesh bag through the handles.
At dawn, things get worse: the mast snaps, the cabin floods, and the motor dies. Hannah rigs a siphon to drain water and inventories their supplies — barely enough food and water to survive. Meanwhile, Jackson confesses he regretted ending things at Christmas, and they share a kiss... right as Emmy walks in and loses it. 🫣
Then, Ben escapes by setting a fire with a gold lighter Hannah missed. He grabs her, she elbows him free, and Jackson punches him off the boat. Ben only agrees to behave when he mistakes dolphins for sharks (which is honestly a little funny in hindsight). Emmy reveals she’s been pretending to side with Ben to gather information — so at least someone’s thinking strategically.
The second storm hits, bigger and worse. Ben attacks Hannah again, and a massive wave crashes over them. Hannah wakes up floating in the water, tied to the boat by a rope she doesn’t remember securing. The Be-Yacht-Ch is three-quarters submerged. She hears three knocks from inside the hull and finds Emmy trapped in an air pocket, her arm gashed to the bone and badly infected. Hannah dives in, drags her out, and spots Jackson clinging to a flotation ring in the water.
Onshore, things get even weirder. Hannah finds fresh water, builds a signal fire, and carves "HELP" in the sand. But she hallucinates a rescue helicopter that vanishes — her first hint that her mind is playing tricks on her. Their food disappears overnight, and Hannah spots an intruder sabotaging camp.
She tracks him to a hidden shelter and finds Ben, battered but alive. He washed ashore separately and has been sabotaging their camp to eliminate witnesses. Then he drops the biggest twist: Jackson is already dead. During the second storm, Jackson tied Hannah to the boat to save her, and Ben — tangled in cables — stabbed him in the neck. Everything Hannah experienced with Jackson onshore was a hallucination. He never spoke to anyone else, never left footprints, never ate or drank. He was her brain’s way of keeping her alive. 💔
Ben attacks Hannah, chasing her to a cliff. She manages to tangle her legs around his and pulls him off the edge. Ben falls onto jagged rocks. His body is never found. A helicopter arrives, drawn by Hannah’s signal fire, and she and Emmy are rescued.
In the epilogue, Hannah is a nursing student struggling with grief, and Emmy has recovered and embarked on her world tour. They reunite and plan a spring break trip to Italy — but Hannah has one condition: no boats. The book ends with them pressing their frayed friendship bracelets together, ready to move forward. 🥺
My Two Cents: The Good, The Bad, and The "Wait, What?" 🤔
Okay, let’s get real. This book is action-packed and exciting — no question. I tore through it because I had to know what happened next. The pacing in the first half is killer, and the plot delivers exactly what you want from a survival thriller: high stakes, bad decisions, and a villain you love to hate.
That said, the writing felt pretty juvenile. 🤷♀️ The characters occasionally sound younger than they are, and some of the dialogue is a little forced. If you’re a seasoned thriller reader, you might find some of the twists predictable — except for the big one, which totally got me. I didn’t see the Jackson hallucination coming, mostly because I was speedreading and not paying close attention. (Guilty as charged!)
The middle section definitely drags a bit. It’s repetitive — they’re stranded, they’re running out of supplies, the weather’s bad — but if you just keep flipping pages, you won’t miss much. The ending is surprisingly emotional, and it gave me all the feels.
Who’s This For? 📌
YA Thriller Lovers who want a fast, fun read
Anyone who enjoys survival stories with a side of psychological twists
Readers who don’t mind predictable tropes and a sometimes-flawed writing style
Fans of vacation-gone-wrong plots (think The White Lotus but with more stabbing)
Book Recommendations (If You Liked This One) 📚
That's Not My Name by Megan Lally — If you liked the author’s style, this one’s a natural next read.
Five Survive by Holly Jackson — A tense, locked-room thriller with similar survival stakes.
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall — A grittier survival story with a strong female lead.
The Raft by S.A. Bodeen — A classic YA survival-at-sea book that hits many of the same beats.
Final Verdict: 3.5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐½
What We Did to Survive is a fun ride — not a literary masterpiece, but a great choice for a weekend binge. If you’re in the mood for something fast-paced, twisty, and just a little bit ridiculous, this one will do the trick. Just don’t expect to be blown away by the prose. 😉
Happy reading, friends! 📖✨
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