Review: Survive the Night by Danielle Vega

Survive the Night by Danielle Vega
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: July 7th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

We're all gonna die down here. . . .

Julie lies dead and disemboweled in a dank, black subway tunnel, red-eyed rats nibbling at her fingers. Her friends think she’s just off with some guy—no one could hear her getting torn apart over the sound of pulsing music.

In a tunnel nearby, Casey regrets coming to Survive the Night, the all-night underground rave in the New York City subway. Her best friend Shana talked her into it, even though Casey just got out of rehab. Alone and lost in the dark, creepy tunnels, Casey doesn’t think Survive the Night could get any worse . . .
             
. . . until she comes across Julie’s body, and the party turns deadly.

Desperate for help, Casey and her friends find themselves running through the putrid subway system, searching for a way out. But every manhole is sealed shut, and every noise echoes eerily in the dark, reminding them they’re not alone.

They’re being hunted.
             
Trapped underground with someone—or something—out to get them, Casey can’t help but listen to her friend’s terrified refrain: “We’re all gonna die down here. . . .” in this bone-chilling sophmore novel by the acclaimed author of The Merciless.

My thoughts:
This was so so bad.  I hate writing reviews for books that have let me down and this review isn't going to be nice I am warning you now.  And it will be full of spoilers so if you don't want to know the ending don't read this!!  I can't write this without talking about the entire book I am really sorry, but I just can't.  I am too upset to skirt around things this time so again DO NOT READ if you don't want SPOILERS!!

SPOILERS!

Let me first say that I adore Danielle Vega.  Her first novel The Merciless was amazing and I really loved every bit about.  When I saw her second novel hit Goodreads I squeed and knew I was going to love it.  And really if I had gotten what the synopsis promised I would have loved it plot hole and all. (I'll get to the huge gaping plot hole in a minute.) What I read was not what I was promised.  The synopsis made me think this would be kinda like The Purge movies.  A story about a group of kids trapped in a Survive the Night game with lunatics.  Did I read the summary wrong??  What I read was a story about a group of teens (who all have their roles...a crazy mean psycho, a drug addict just released from rehab who thinks she doesn't have a problem, the TSTL girls, the ex boyfriend who doesn't do the drug thing, and the goofy sidekick..sounds like an old school thriller right?) who do go to a Survive the Night rave, but accidentally get trapped underground after hiding from the police when the party is busted.  The rest of the story is about them trying to get out and yes there is something lurking in the dark, but it wasn't creepy.  It was incredibly boring and not scary at all in my opinion.  I wanted the lunatics!!

Yes I did see at the bottom of the summary that it says "something", but honestly I didn't see that the first time I read the summary which does make me question if it was changed.  And even if it was there I am still sticking by my rant in this.  I think the story would have been so much better if the "something" was left out. I didn't buy the "something" at all.  I would have bought deranged killers on the lose playing a game of cat and mouse underground.  Okay moving on to the plot hole...

The whole entire time I was reading this there was a HUGE plot hole staring me in the face.  CELL PHONES!  Why in the world didn't someone call for help??!  Casey and her group use their cell phones numerous times to see in the dark but they never tried to call anyone!  This bugged me!!  If there was no reception I would have liked that little tidbit thrown in, but really in this day and age cell towers are everywhere so why didn't they just CALL SOMEBODY!  SO infuriating!!  And even if they didn't have reception underground they did try and open a manhole so wouldn't the cell phones work then when they were almost above ground??  I screamed so much every time a phone was mentioned that by the end of the book I couldn't even look at my cell phone without screaming.

I also don't think I've ever been more aggravated at a group of characters before either.  Casey was just so whiny and all she did was pine over Sam and say she didn't have a drug problem.  I got so tired of hearing her inner monologues.  Whatever chance this story had was obliterated when the characters started talking.  I don't even know what to say except that they were not fun to read at all.

BIG SPOILER

And this brings me to unnecessary killing off people.  I don't know if you watch Grey's Anatomy but I did up until recently because of unnecessary killing.  I watched that show for years and if I can stop watching it that fast you will know I am serious when I say I have a very low tolerance for killing off people just to kill them off.  Yes I know that this book was all about killing off people BUT I felt like killing off a certain person wasn't necessary.  They got away safe, the danger was gone why did they have to die??!  I hated the way they died too.  They died saving someone and while sometimes that is heroic in this instance it was just stupid. Yes I said it stupid.  Did I want a HEA for certain characters?  No really I could have cared less, but I just didn't want this one person to die.

Oh and this book had all kinds of gross stuff in it.  I can handle blood, guts, and gore.  What grosses me out is going barefoot in an underground train tunnel with rats and who knows what diseases, laying on the underground train tunnel floor hooking up with someone and yes almost getting naked in the hooking up process, and vomiting then two chapters later kissing a person!!  WTH?!?!?  EWWWW!!!  I almost threw up in my mouth when I read that part.

Why didn't the little beta readers tell the powers to be about this stuff??!!  I know Ms. Vega can write an amazing book.  I have no idea what happened with this one at all. I wish she would have stuck with the old school thriller instead of adding in a "something"  The "something" wasn't needed and I really wish someone would have told her about the dang cell phones!!

Okay I am going to stop.  Like I said I knew this review would be harsh and I am sorry for that.  I thought about not reviewing it but I had to say something.  I am really curious how this book will be received and I can't wait to find out if I am in the minority.  Shockingly this will not deter me from reading future novels from Ms.Vega.  I have hopes that her next one will be like the first.

1 snowflake