We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

✦ BLURB ✦

Two years ago, Mercy Gray was hailed as a hero for saving lives during a mall shooting. She still carries souvenirs from that the fragment of a bullet lodged in her back, a mountain of medical debt, and guilt for ignoring her sister’s warnings that the sweet boy next door was anything but.

So when billionaire turned TV host Damien Dare recruits Mercy to compete on his new survivalist reality show, she can’t turn down a chance at the whopping cash prize that could send her sister to college. But when she and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location, something isn’t right. The set is empty. The gates close without warning, trapping them inside. And then one of them turns up dead. What appeared at first to be a tragic accident quickly transforms as more contestants start dropping like flies. With time and resources running low, surviving this show takes on a whole new meaning. Mercy must figure out who to trust. Before she’s next.

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It’s not paranoia if the trap really was set for you.

PRE-READING THOUGHTS
From that killer title alone, I was expecting something tightly coiled and intense. I figured we’d get survivalist drama with a side of “America’s Next Top PTSD,” plus some razor-sharp social commentary tucked between desperate decisions. The “nice guy” angle had me both intrigued and preemptively furious.

POST-READING
As I thought...
This is a high-stakes, high-tension survival thriller that delivers both the fear and the fallout. The twists are genuinely shocking, but even more than that, the character work is surgical. Mercy’s trauma is never minimised, and her internal conflict is as gripping as the external danger.

It surprised me by...
Really digging into the emotional and social traps young women are expected to navigate, especially when dealing with so-called "nice guys." The narrative doesn’t just show us toxic male entitlement - it dissects it. Mercy’s guilt, layered with trauma, feels horribly real. And yet, there’s resilience. There’s fire. And there’s a twist or two that had me whispering “oh no” at the page like it could hear me.

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• ✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦

• The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

• Sadie by Courtney Summers

• The Wilds (TV)

• The Hunger Games if Katniss was dealing with gaslighting and a film crew

✦ MUSIC PAIRING ✦

Because sometimes, the heart of a story plays out like a song.

🎵 Featured Song: “Control” – Halsey
🎶 Vibe Album: Ultraviolence – Lana Del Rey (dark, dangerous, seductive in a way that makes you uneasy)
🎧 Artist Recommendation: BANKS

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✧ VIBE CHECK ✧

🎨 Colour Palette: blood red, night-vision green, bruised plum, cold steel
🎬 Soundtrack: The Wilds meets Yellowjackets, with a touch of You
🌪 Season: Deep summer, stifling and storm-bound
💭 Mood: Claustrophobic, feral, and quietly furious
🌫 Scent: Gunpowder, sweat, and betrayal in the air

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★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★

Queen of Swords – Dark Grimoire Tarot
Masked, poised, and surrounded by the consequences of underestimating her, this Queen doesn’t flinch - she calculates. She wields both truth and venom with precision, and there's no room left for pleasantries. Like Mercy, she’s learned that survival sometimes demands strategy over softness. The snake on her staff winds with quiet danger, and the mask suggests a woman who’s used to hiding her fear until it can be weaponized. This is the Queen who knows exactly when to strike.

We Won't All Survive publishes on the 29th of July, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.