I am in fact, not a sad book girlie. Just a jumble of stream of consciousness of a woman with an eating disorder and mommy issues. 

The fact that this was one of my most anticipated reads from 2021 and it turns out to be a book I wish I had DNFd...

I found multi generational, multi POV story to be too messy and not connected enough. I wanted more of Edgar's story because he seemed to be the only person in the family with any personality. 

Nothing screams "I can't write women" more like a man making a woman's entire personality about her dead son and obsessing over a foster kid so much that she thinks his grandparents aren't good enough for him. Which is scary because there are so many indigenous children being taken from their families and placed with "well meaning" people. 

What would've made this successful for me:

More Edgar. Less Maria. Rewrite of the magical disappearance of the Alzheimers, that was so random. 

Too stream of consciousness for me at the moment. 

It’s refreshing to read a backlist thriller that has multiple layers like an onion

And now we can just call Survive the Night a blunder on his resume. 

This is the kind of Riley Sager I love

Try hard writing at its finest