A review by bethreadsandnaps
We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

3.25

 

3.25 ⭐️

Kate Alice Marshall’s latest young adult novel WE WON’T ALL SURVIVE explores trauma as eight contestants vie for $100,000 each at the whim of billionaire Damien Dare. But when they arrive, the small town set is empty, and they find themselves trapped in not just a reality show but a reality where there is a killer on the loose.  

This is written in first person from the perspective of Mercy Gray, a teen victim of a mall shooting who saved several others, including her younger sister Jaime that she’d do anything for. However, I felt the most well-rounded character in this novel was the social media influencer Alethea. There were two main problems with the characters. Mercy’s only defining characteristic is the trauma she experienced from the shooting (and maybe her love of Carlito’s almonds?). There were five male characters in this novel, and it was very difficult to tell them apart - even with their different traumas. 

I didn’t want to put this novel down. I enjoyed seeing where it was going. I did buddy read this with my teenager, and she predicted the beats along the way. She enjoyed it a bit more than me, but pointed out a few things along the way that she wasn’t fond of (predictability in the plot, flat characters that are not defined by anything other than their trauma, etc.).  

One part that really bugged me is that, while this novel was written in first person, the narrator Mercy said that the trans character Eli went by male pronouns. How would Mercy know that without having a conversation with Eli? This might be fixed before publication. I think the author was going for representation, but I’m not sure she knows how to *really* do representation, and this might alienate some younger readers. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. 

It publishes July 29, 2025.