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.

This book was very well written! It keeps you guessing on who has secrets throughout the entire book! The suspense was there, and I found myself rooting for some characters.

I got a quarter of the way through this book before I put it aside for a couple of months, I think the issue was that there were a lot of main characters that all felt underdeveloped and unlikeable to the point where I couldn't find myself rooting for anyone to escape their situation. I'm glad I eventually started reading this again because I breezed through the rest of the chapters which were fast paced. While the ending was pretty chaotic, I still found myself giving this four stars for the action and drama. People say AGGGTM is miles better so I can't wait to read that! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Well, this was a pretty big disappointment for me.

It's hard not to compare to A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER and sequels but it's only natural given how much I loved the series (well, the first two books at least). FIVE SURVIVE really fell short for me in all the ways that I loved AGGGTM. It really lacked the charisma that AGGGTM had, especially when it came to the characters. Pip was such a strong main character and even the supporting roles had so much heart and personality. FIVE SURVIVE just felt really flat and this just felt less developed all around. Red as a character was barely developed at all except for the trauma of losing her mother in such a horrific way. Anything significant about her was really connected to that defining moment, but there just wasn't any other personality to speak of, really. The other characters were so basic and ended up feeling more archetypal rather than being multifaceted and having a complex array of emotions or motives.

I will say that I DID like the ending... but it came way too late for it to make up for the lack of plot and sleuthing throughout the book. This really wasn't investigation style like AGGGTM, but the characters are trying to figure out the strangers who are holding them hostage, what they want from them, and how to get out of this situation. They do need to do mild thinking and detective work to try to work out any clues they have available to them. I would have been much more interested if there was more along the way that I could have picked up on or that would have been revealed instead of some minor, throw-away things that stood out as being a little too weird instead of fitting seamlessly into the story. If more had been set up along the way, I would have found the story much more intriguing.

This also just felt like much sloppier writing. As with many young adult books, I felt like too much time was wasted setting the book up. They're teenagers on spring break -- we get it. Move along to the good stuff. The first half of the book was largely action with the set-up of the teens getting entrapped in the plans of their captor/killer/stalker but it was a lot of kids running around with no real plan and some of the action scenes just went on way too long. Again, throw more intrigue in there and it would have flowed a lot better.

There were also really, really random things that didn't make sense whatsoever and never got answered. Why was Red so obsessed with the curtain pattern and why didn't it matter AT ALL. It's mentioned at least five times if not more, so why was it significant? (Spoiler: it wasn't.) And there were so many comments about her being forgetful, but it was more than just a personality trait. The author made it seem like we were headed into a much more psychologically motivated territory, like Red would be an unreliable narrator or that she was blocking things out so the reader couldn't pick up on an otherwise obvious clue. Nope. So many stupid, random things that needed editing and had no effect on or purpose in the book.

There were some other things that made me roll my eyes, like a character who gets so mad that they're spitting and slobbering... like, stop. The whole sniper thing to begin with? It's kind of weird and maybe not really logical for what the situation turned out to be... I just found myself getting frustrated with a lot.

I'm super bummed this wasn't a hit and also that it managed to be disappointing and not even just middle of the road. I ended up leaving this at three stars because I did enjoy that last little blip of an ending where things felt intelligent and put-together. Before that, I was ready to give it two.

This was an intense and claustrophobic thrill ride about a set of friends trapped inside an RV while an armed gunman holds them hostage from afar. What does the gunman want? The truth. Each person aboard the RV holds a secret- all awful, it which one is the right one?

I loved this, but I love all of Holly Jackson’s books. I definitely give this four stars, with one coming off just because I wanted things to move a little faster, but this is definitely a great book that will thrill thriller lovers.

I really enjoyed Holly Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. This story is faced paced and captivating. Definitely a keep you on the edge of your seat thriller. I didn’t connect with the characters like I wanted to but enjoyed the story

I am a huge HUGE fan of Holly Jackson, that I jumped at the chance to read this book.
However, it fell a little flat for me and is not one of my favorite from her.

I can't put my finger on it, but I didn't really like Red. Maybe it was that I just couldn't identify with her or related to her. But I wasn't invested in her at all.

I still love Jackson though. This just wasn't one of my favs

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for accepting my request to read and review Five Survive.

Author: Holly Jackson
Published: 11/2/22
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers -- Teens & YA

Unbelievable, literally. The blurb states -- "with the edge-of-your seat tension" for me refers to the fact this was marketed to kids. A group of kids take a road trip, every one has a secret, the bus breaks down and no one has cell service. If that was what Jackson wrote a story around it might have been interesting. However, the elements she added of witness protection, mafia, crooked attorneys, and murder was incredibly ridiculous. In addition, there were no likable characters, even if she hadn't loaded her word count with segments of profanity.

Such a good riveting book. I was captured immediately! Also, the amount of twists and turns just keep coming. Everyone has a secret, but whose secret matters. Who survives? This was very well done and another great story from Holly Jackson!

I really enjoyed some parts but also disliked some, so I feel conflicted about this book. The pacing of this book was perfect and Holly Jackson's writing is so easy to follow. Personally, the first few chapters felt slow but it quickly picked up and I managed to finish the book in one sitting. However, towards the book's last quarter, I started to feel a bit disappointed. I was expecting a big, dramatic finale but everything felt a bit flat to me, especially with the actions of certain characters.

Overall I would still recommend this book to someone who needs a quick, easy read because it definitely helped me get out of my reading slump.

Holly Jackson is a wonderful writer for teens. She weaves a complicated plot with many twists and turns. Her characters experience the ups and downs that teens will relate to in their relationships.

Unlike A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Five Survive was slightly slower to develop. But once it picked up pace, it was a page turner. Anyone who liked Good Girl's Guide will like this too. It was suspenseful, deliciously frustrating, and had a satisfactory ending.

Atmospheric and suspenseful, Five Survive is a fast-paced story of friends taking an old RV on a road trip for Spring Break. Things take a dramatic turn when they have car trouble in a remote location and are at the mercy of a sniper who is after a secret and won’t release them until the truth is revealed. An intense read throughout that has a stellar ending. Highly recommend!

Red has been a mess since her mom, a police chief in Philadelphia, died a few years ago. Her dad has mentally checked out, leaving her to care for both of them. She’s finally getting the chance to get away for awhile to have a little fun with her friends, on Spring Break in Gulf Shores. Red, Simon, Arthur, Maddy, Maddy’s brother Oliver, and his girlfriend Rayna are driving down in Simon’s uncle’s RV. The rest of their friends flew, but driving was only way for Red to afford the trip. On the way down, the group gets lost when service gets spotty, and end up on an abandoned road. The RV has a flat, and now they’re stuck until morning. Soon, the group realizes that it wasn’t just bad luck; the tire and 2 others were shot out, as well as the gas tank. But who would have done that? And why? Now Red and her friends must figure out why they’ve been targeted, and how they can escape with their lives.

I really liked Holly Jackson’s Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, so I was excited to read this one. It was good, it was fine, but it didn’t quite measure up. Red was understandably a mess, but her character was kind of annoying to me. Her internal monologue was all over the place and difficult to follow. The friends had kind of shallow backstories and tenuous ties. I really wanted to like this, but it fell flat for me.

I received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley, in return for my honest review.

I was bored throughout most of this book. Such a disappointment because it sounded so good! I haven't read the other books by the author but from what I've heard they are better. I recommend skipping this one.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.