FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS is a mystery/thriller about five students on their way home for Christmas break who are forced to share a car after an untimely blizzard grounds all flights. As these stories go, one of these travelers isn't who they say they are...

I love the secluded cabin/remote island/"Oops We're All Stuck Here Together" mystery trope, so I enjoyed reading this book. I especially liked that it took place in Pennsylvania (PA pride!). The main character, Mira, was also great - she was written to have conviction when most authors could've easily made her a pushover. I did find issues with the pacing and ending, however. I know it's hard to make a car ride exciting but the countless rest stops became a bit boring. The ending felt rushed, as if a chapter or two were missing. I just wish the reveal was given more time to be fleshed out. Despite all this, FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS is not a bad book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick and satisfying read.

A Christmas Eve blizzard and a desperate need to get home to her mom leaves Mira trapped in a car with four total strangers. The threat of disaster looms around every corner, and not just from the blizzard and black-ice roads; everyone (including Mira) has something to hide. Although whose intentions are truly sinister? Only turning those pages will lead you closer to the truth. As the blizzard kicks up flurries of snow, things go from bad to worse to couldn’t get any worse to… it gets worse. And our five total strangers are in trouble.
Narrated in the first person by main character Mira, who is passionate about art and an aspiring artist, the story is filled with vivid and engaging descriptions. Also, first-person narrators can lie, and so can everything Mira says be trusted? It’s another piece of the puzzle that will test your brain as you try to figure out what’s really going on. The end ties everything up nicely, but left me wanting for a few more pages to spend with the characters.
If you’re looking for a book to kick up your heartbeat, this is it.

Natalie D. Richards does not disappoint with her newest thriller. I couldn't put the book down! I needed to know what really happened. Ms. Richards books appeal to both teens and adults.

My thoughts about Five Total Strangers are still percolating, but I do have some opinions to share while they're brewing.
So, we start out with Mira, the main character, trying to get home for Christmas. Unfortunately for her, there's a monster blizzard between the airport and her house. A chatty, friendly girl named Harper, who sat next to Mira on the flight, offers a ride in her rental car. She has picked up a few other stranded people, all around Mira's age, who are heading in the same direction. Mira decides she doesn't want to wait in the airport, and she agrees to ride with Harper and Company to her hometown of Pittsburgh. The three other passengers, besides Mira and Harper, are Kayla, Josh, and Brecken.
Almost immediately after setting out, inexplicable things start happening, and Mira starts to think she made a mistake.

Natalie D. Richards did a great job setting a sinister tone, and ramping up the tension page by page. At different times during the book, I swore I had it figured out, only for the next sentence to completely change my mind.
I would classify Five Total Strangers as YA Suspense, as the book is teeming with it. I did have a vague sense of "nothing is really happening". There was an undercurrent of menace, but the action left me wanting. Then the climax and ending arrived all at once, a bit abruptly. So, if you are in the mood for a sinister suspense young adult book, this one should do it for you. Just don't expect rip roaring action, you'll be getting more of a slow, simmering dread.
3 stars

I received a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley.

3.5 rounded to a 4 ⭐️

This book follows 5 young adults stranded at the airport. They decided to rent a car together despite being strangers.
From then on nothing goes according to plan.

I have mixed feelings on this book.
I read it in a matter of hours because the whole story is intense and keeps you on your toes.

I found myself frustrated with all the choices the characters made. I understand they were young adults but seriously? Do people not watch dateline these days 😅

I wish we could have gotten more back stories on the characters.
I did figure out the twist right away, I think the author tried to confuse us but that’s what made me figure it out.

Overall it was a quick read and I liked it enough. I enjoyed the writing style and I’d love to read more by the author.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Mira just wants to get home to her mom's house for Christmas, but the blizzard has made that seem impossible. But when the person she sat next to on the plane and had started a conversation with offers her to ride along with her and several other people Mira decides to do it. Along this journey, Mira learns not only things about her mom and what has been happening why she was away at school, but that the people she is traveling with don't know each other at all.
Them not knowing each other because a bit of a problem like I'm sure you can suspect as the drive goes on, conditions get worse, and the anxiety they all start feeling about getting home safely rises.

Overall I loved this book. I was unable to figure out who it was the entire time, and I loved the little bits of the letters we got to see that the person wrote to Mira. It made it all extremely creepy because it was obvious it was someone in the car, and it was someone she had potentially been around before. The arguments they all started to get in and how things started to happen that weren't normal just made this book even creepier as time went on. At times this book reminded me of the movie Dead End with some of the situations that happened and how the drive just kept going on and on forever with all these strange things happening and everyone acting weird after a while. Mira does eventually start putting the pieces together of what is happening and tries to fix it but it all ends up blowing up in the end and I was not expecting it to end as it did. I did love end up liking the ending because I wasn't able to figure out until Mira did and I was truly surprised by this book multiple times and the direction it took.
I highly recommend this book if you want a fast-paced Christmassy mystery/thriller read.

I absolutely flew through this.
I thought the book did a great job at exploring how grief effects someone, even a year later. I saw my own grief in the main character as well as the strength she feels she needs to present to those around her.
This is literally the road trip from hell. The book also does a great job of showing why the character continues to stay in this situation despite the red flags. I think that's one of the most difficult things to do in a thriller because it sometimes seems like the characters are making stupid decisions to advance the plot. In this book, I completely understand why she gets in the car with strangers and the surrounding weather circumstances make it so that she has to stay in the car even when things are going wrong.
The setting was definitely the standout. The book really fleshed out how unforgiving and scary the winter can be.
I also appreciated some of the side characters story lines though at times they felt a bit rushed and not fleshed out enough.
It was so easy to read and I felt compelled to continue.
There were definitely some flaws though. After about 10 different things go wrong it starts to feel a little bit ridiculous and over the top. There are reasons for this of course but it still feels a bit much as you're reading it. The main characters inner dialogue also gets a bit irritating as she goes around and round with her paranoid thoughts. I was able to over look these things as I think they serve a purpose but it was a bit grating.
The main thing I didn't like was the reveal. It was a bit obvious and it was done in a way I've seen before.
I think many people will enjoy this.

You can tell by the turbulence as the plane lands in wintry Newark on Christmas Eve that things are going to get tense in this compulsively readable thriller. Mira is flying home to her mom when all the flights out of the airport get cancelled because of an approaching blizzard. But with Pittsburgh only 7 hours away by car, Mira chooses to accept a ride from a seemingly harmless group of college students headed that way in a rental car.

What could possibly go wrong? The five are soon battling the elements and each other as Mira starts to realize that she’s actually not with a group of friends. These four people just met each other at the airport as well and all of them seem to have something to hide.

Full disclosure: I travelled on I-80 through Pennsylvania during a winter storm that had people sliding off the road. Major flashbacks for me. Natalie D. Richards describes the anxiety of being held hostage to weather conditions and the amount of second guessing that goes into winter car travel.

Short and Sweet Review
All Mira wants to do is get home for Christmas, but that plan is stopped when all flights are cancelled. But Mira’s seat mate from her flight from California, Harper, offers Mira a ride home. Mira says yes but now she’s stuck in a car with four strangers on a snowy road, that’s not even the worst of it everyones belongings start to go missing and everyone seems to be hiding something.
Mira is our main character and she’s with Harper, Josh, Brecken, and Kayla. These four are all college students and they think Mira is one too so she doesn’t correct them. Harper seems nice enough, she basically looks out for Mira the whole time, because Mira reminds her of someone. Josh is a med student and he’s also on crutches so he’s harmless. Brecken is a rich kid and he’s the worst he’s a little unhinged and the comments he makes are unnecessary. Kayla, is just weird she’s asleep most of the time and when she’s awake she’s off, she laughs at things that aren’t funny and she seems a little psychotic.
While on their dangerous trip everyone starts to notice that their belongings are going missing and it’s at this point when they all start to point fingers at each other. It’s hard to know who to trust, these people aren’t Mira’s friends, they’re strangers. At almost every turn it looks like something else happens to this group even when it looks like things can’t get worse than they already are. There were a lot of suspenseful moments that just kept me wanting more. I had no idea who could be behind what was going on mainly because everyone had something to hide. There are some letters that we see addressed to Mira that seem to be coming from a stalker which was also interesting. I was worried for everyone when they came across a gas station owner and his son, this part of the book had me on the edge of my seat.
I enjoyed reading this book! It kept me guessing until the end. I was not expecting the culprit to be who it was! There were a lot of plot twists and they were good it added more to the story. If you want to read a suspenseful book that takes place around the holidays check this book out!

This is the first YA thriller that I have thoroughly enjoyed! This follows our main character Mira who is traveling home for the holidays to be with her mother. It is also the anniversary of her aunt’s passing last year. Unfortunately, her next flight is canceled due to weather and she has no way of getting home for Christmas. But then, her seat mate on her previous flight, Harper, asks if she wants to take a rental car with her and 3 other people she met in the airport and says that she can drop her and another of the passengers off along the way. She hesitates but ultimately decides to take her up on the offer because she knows her mom needs her right now. She eventually realizes that saying yes to this ride might have been a tragic mistake.

I was afraid this book was going to be predictable but it absolutely was not. I had no idea what was going on and who was doing what the entire time. The pacing and the buildup to the ending was perfection in my eyes and it is exactly what I’m looking for when it comes to thrillers. This author also really made me root for the main character. She gave us just enough backstory to help us understand Mira’s motives so nothing that she did (or the other characters for that matter) seemed too far fetched or out of place. I cannot wait to pick up some of her other thriller novels very soon!

This e-ARC was sent to me on NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me an e-arc to read and review.

I'm not gonna lie the cover was a big reason why I wanted to read this. The cover is simple but red font color against the white is really eye catching. I know if I seen this I would most definitely pick it up in the store.

Mira kinda got on my nerves not gonna lie about it. I get that we worry about out families and stuff but sometimes I felt she was kinda borderline obsessive. After a while I was over her mentioning that she needed to get to her mom and shes stupid for accepting a car ride from complete strangers but you know desperate measures so I get it. The rest of the characters were nicely written. They really helped add to the overall creepiness that the story had. Five Total Strangers was a quick read and it flowed really nicely. It constantly had twists and turns. I really liked that all of this stuff happened in a short period of time. Its entertaining but for a thriller it's nothing ground breaking. I could almost compare it to Natasha Preston's novels. I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

Five Total Strangers starts off with a great hook. Five strangers in an airport decide to share a ride together in a storm because all the flights are being canceled. It is exciting at first and then starts to drag a bit and becomes a little predictable. It was fun to keep speculating though.

Short Review: All the stars on suspense and intrigue. This book fully delivered on those and it definitely kept me guessing on the whodunit.

Long Review. This one definitely started off with a huge bang. As I got to know Mira and followed the outcome(s) of her fateful choice to catch a ride with four strangers - all with secrets of their own - I couldn't put the book down! I just had to know what happened to her next!

Once on the road though, it fizzled a bit. Some events were a little unbelievable, like the constant use of the policemen being "too busy to respond" and extreme car accidents. Additionally, Mira got a bit whiny and repetitive for me. Yes, yes, I know she needed to get home to help her Mom. Yes, yes, I know she wanted to go home. Those things were said way too often. I also felt the ending left a few plot threads unanswered concerning the man in the yellow cap and the villains motive.

I did totally love the flashback letters that were sprinkled in between chapters and gave insight into who the "bad guy/gal" could be. I love it when a book keeps me guessing. Definitely check this one out for yourself!

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richard is a YA mystery/ thriller that definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails while yelling at the main character to get her head in the game! This novel was intense and intriguing, I constantly found myself second guessing who was same and who wasn’t. I definitely recommend, this was a 4.5/5 star read for me

Natalie Richards has given us such a good thriller! I was hooked from the beginning & sunk deeper on page 24. I was guessing until the very end. I do wish the ending had wrapped up a little better, but the suspense & build up made this one of my fave books of 2002.

5 complete strangers meet at an airport and their flights are cancelled so they rent a car and drive through a major snowstorm with lots of things happening along the way. One is not who they appear to be but which one is it? I felt like it was a little slow in the middle which is why I’m giving it 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely love the way this author writes! It is so easy to read and it flows so nicely. The plot of this book sounded so good (snowstorm, getting into a stranger's car, etc.). And with it taking place in Pennsylvania, that was an added bonus! I live along I-80 and the way Mira described it is absolutely accurate! :) I thought the mystery was really good and I kept going back and forth between who could be responsible and didn't figure it out before the reveal. However, I thought the end seemed really, really rushed and not everything was explained (like the man in the yellow hat??). I thought it could have been finished differently, but it was still a pretty good winter/snowstorm read.

This wasn't it, friends. It had a creepy factor given that it's set in PA and I live in PA. I loved the freaky letters and the tension but I saw the twist coming and I was left unimpressed with the overall plot and character development. There was such build up to the finale of the book and then BAM, it was over. I'm not the target age demographic but I'm looking for a little more meat from my thrillers. Still, it did have a "vibe" that I could get down with.

3-4 stars! While I did finish this book and got the most part enjoy it, especially the premise and the way the author chose to write it, something was lacking for me. I’m not quite sure what it is exactly, maybe it wasn’t as realistic as I prefer or not enough thrills and chills, which made it harder for me to give a 5 star rating or even solid 4 star rating. I do think with it being a YA thriller, it was chilling, thrilling, and twisty enough, overall, I would recommend to those who do enjoy ya thrillers, even ones you must suspend believes at times.

Will make sure to buzz it up and use lower amazon reviewer number on release date!

Mira is going home from school to visit her family for Christmas. On the plane ride home she makes friends with Harper, the girl sitting next to her. Upon landing at their stop over they realize the weather is horrible and all flights out have been cancelled. Harper decides to rent a car and invites Mira to join along with 3 other strangers. Mira agrees to go but the ride turns out to be anything but normal.
.
I was very excited to read this one as the premise sounded really interesting however I found the book to be a bit of a let down. The characters were not all that interesting and we didn’t get enough back story on them to really connect the reader to them. I think there wasn’t enough scary/creep factor and the ending was just alright.