Thank you to Random House children's for the review copy of Five Survive by Holly Jackson. This book was incredibly propulsive. Red is on a road trip with five friends. Along the way, they become stranded without cell service when a sniper shoots out their tires. All they know is that someone on board has a secret. What we know, is that only five of them will survive.

There was so much suspense in this book. I loved the twists and was absolutely there for all of it. I would struggle to put this in the hands of a young YA reader (which my students are...) I would need to be incredibly selective. However, if you are looking for edge of your seat suspense, it is right here.

Five Survive was definitely a page turner and I devoured it in 2 days. I am a huge fan of her previous series and I was not disappointed with this stand alone. She is an author that an make you want to read anything. Thoroughly enjoyed it though and the rollercoaster of emotions and emotions events that it took us on as readers. Holly Jackson will from now on always be a ‘go to author’ for me I can’t wait for her next read. Get them all!

Where do I even begin with this book? This is the story of six young adults who go on a road trip and get stranded in the woods. When things go wrong, secrets begin to spill. As predictable as I believed this plot was, it did not prepare me for the twists and turns toward the end. This is a slow build and Jackson does a phenomenal job of bringing the characters to life. Readers are able to experience their emotions and watch the story unfold. I rate this as a 10/10.

It was okay. The blandness of this review reflects the reviewer's feelings about this title. I'm sure it was hard to start afresh after completing her previous series, but this was such a letdown.

The story starts out with 6 friends going on spring break when the unthinkable happens. They get lost, the RV gets a flat tire and they are stuck in the middle of nowhere. They come to find out this was not an accident but someone deliberately blew out the tires because one of them has a secret. What is this secret and where does it lead them?

Thank you to Random House/Delacorte, Holly Jackson and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest
review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/five-survive/

Having not read the lauded A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I was not sure what to expect with Five Survive but I was pleasantly surprised. Holly Jackson’s latest thriller follows six teenagers as they drive to Florida instead of flying. Packed into a 31 foot RV, Red (short for Redford) is our highly unreliable narrator, along with her best friend Maddy, Maddy’s brother Oliver, his girlfriend Reyna, their friend Simon and Arthur, the only one who doesn’t go to school with them.

Maddy is very protective of Red, and she is the reason they are driving rather than flying, as Red does not have the money to fly and wouldn’t be able to go on the trip. Maddy also makes sure that no one mentions Red’s Mother, who was murdered five years ago. But this may be one trip that Red wishes she had missed.

As the crew of six edge closer to their destination, a campground in South Carolina, they lose cell service and as darkness descends; they get lost. What begins as a terrible night, they also have a flat tire, and must change the tire in complete darkness. With no cell service and a donut replacing the tire, they drive back towards the main road when all four tires blow out. Someone is out there and has shot at all of their tires. Even worse, the stalker knows the full names of every person inside the RV. While using a Walkie Talkie found outside of their RV, the stalker tells them that one of them has a secret and until it is revealed, no one will make it out of the RV alive. In true Lord of the Rings fashion, one becomes a leader and everyone except Red will blindly follow.

There are several well-done multi-layered characters that are truly compelling and interesting and then others we did not get to know very well, such as Simon, who is the drunk teenager with the wicked sense of humor, but didn’t play a strong part in the book. Or Reyna, who is Oliver’s girlfriend, but we never understand why, as he is a horrible, gut-wrenchingly awful person. We don’t find out a lot about Reyna, except she is Mexican and has been cheating on Oliver for a long time. I found it difficult to connect with Red. She clearly has some sort of issue with memory, or as one reader said, ADHD. The curtains in the RV are one of the random things that she focuses on. She can’t remember where she has seen the pattern before and it becomes a focal point for her several times throughout the book randomly. Red seems to have no short-term memory though it is not said in the book, the reader could make a connection to the murder of her mom and the trauma she is still experiencing. Jackson did a great job exploring trauma and guilt and the long term effects of a traumatic situation.

Ultimately, I am disappointed with the secret. The book is fantastic with a fast pace, excitement and that sense of fear readers love when reading a “horror” book. But the secret felt convoluted and a little too out there for a young girl, poor and living with her alcoholic father. Though I will say, I never saw it coming, so the author did manage to surprise me. The ending was beautifully done and I can’t imagine any other conclusion for this book. It was perfect!.

This was a fast paced page turner for me. It did not feel like I was reading something that was 400 pages long.
In fact I love that one of the big reveals was so obvious that it over shadowed the other plots. Thanks to that I was not prepared for the twists and turns this book took me on.

I did struggle with finding the characters like able. I didnt really have one that I was rooting for more then the other. I did not have a Final Girl picked out so to speak. Honestly I could have cared less who died. I was just focused on how this was gonna get wrapped up.

And beautifully wrapped it was.

Thank You Netgalley and the publishers for sending me and allowing me to read this E-ARC.
This novel is amazing! I love AGGGTM and this just proved that this author is amazing. I will be reading everything this author comes out with in future years.

I was very disappointed in As Good as Dead but wanted to give this a fair shot. It was also very disappointing. I don’t understand the need for pages upon pages of detail of the characters building something or working up to a conversation. I understand that there’s only so much you can write over the course of a few hours and one setting, but this book dragged. Oliver was so horrifically unlikeable that I almost DNFed.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading this book. I didn't expect the plot twist at all. I loved the way the book was divided into hours and it's perfect for reading in one sitting.

Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .

Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.

Not really sure how I feel about Five Survive. The start of the book had me hooked and engaged but about halfway through it started to slow down a little for me.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

This was a really unique and interesting YA thriller! I would definitely recommend this book to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Jackson's Good Girl's Guide series is so phenomenal that I wasn't sure what she would follow it with. Five Survive is an edge of your seat thriller. I read it obsessively. It has amazing twists and turns. The action is mind-blowing. An excellent read!!!

This is my first Holly Jackson book but it definitely will not be my last! This book caught my attention from the very beginning and never lost it! It is full of drama, twists, and turns. I didn't want to put it down.
The story is about 6 teenagers on a road trip in an RV. After losing cell service and taking a wrong turn, they get targeted by a sniper who knows who they are and wants information. Someone has a secret and if they don't tell it then everyone could die. I am so thankful that I received an advance reader's copy of Five Survive through NetGalley.

This was a quick read and very fast paced. I was not expecting the end at all. The secret that was revealed and then the even more dramatic realization really surprised me. Oliver was awful.

This was a much more claustrophobic and brutal book than Jackson's "Good Girl" series, but the mystery of it never really came alive for me. Sure, the stakes were high, but I wanted more than bullet holes and a mystery shooter and over the top character reactions to propel the plot tension.

i enjoyed this book and the twists that came with it! personally not much can top the a good girls guide to murder trilogy but this was engaging and wonderfully written. i cant wait to see what she comes up with next

Holly Jackson does it again! This book was so tense. I literally could not put it down once it got rolling. I was frustrated, anxious, scared, puzzled. I love how Jackson will implement different formats of writing within her books, like articles or notes or text messages. She does so in a tasteful amount to not to distract or take away from the actual story. It's unique and balanced!

I loved the progression of Oliver's character, the obsessive mind of Red, and the complexity of Arthur! I wanted to figure out the goddamn pattern in the curtains though!!

nothing beats AGGGTM buuuuuuuuut this was still good and I highly recommend
the beginning is slow but tolerable.

Unfortunately this one was not for me. I LOVED the Good Girls Guide to Murder series but this was a miss for me. DNF.