You know that feeling when you're watching a good horror movie and your stomach is turning with anxiety and your heart is beating smile a minute because some stuff just got real? That is exactly how I felt reading this book.

A thriller/horror set in an RV spanning the course of eight hours? How could I not say no? When their spring break abruptly comes to a screeching halt in the middle of nowhere, six friends quickly fix their seemingly flat tire and turn back around to find their way out. But all thoughts of having a relaxing break suddenly come to a close when all four of their tires are shot out by someone lurking in the woods around them. The sniper in the woods wants something from the-a secret only they know-and the clock is ticking.

Holy moly, the tension in this book is off the rails. I have this thing about horror movies where anything involving real-life monsters (especially guns) truly gets to me. But I am a glutton for punishment and watch them anyway. This book scared the poop out of me. The red dot of the sniper rifle, not knowing who could be shot next had me gasping for breath. Not only that but the six protagonists slowly begin to turn on each other. With every reveal, the tension grew thicker and thicker.

I'm amazed at how Holly Jackson managed to put all my horror fears into one book and execute it with such finesse. I'm constantly on the lookout for books that scare me (those are few and far between), but I think I found the one in FIVE SURVIVE.

Five Survive is definitely a high-intensity, adrenaline-filled cat and mouse game complete with characters with lots of secrets. As stated in the synopsis, this is a story of an RV full of young people on a spring break trip versus a sniper somewhere outside the RV looking for a secret to finally be revealed. But what information does the sniper want? That is the answer that is searched for throughout the book. The whole book takes place over 8 hours so it is a high action intense setup for the book. I had kind of figured out part of the reveal, but there are several twists that I definitely did not see coming and some aspects of the reveal seemed a bit unbelievable in my opinion.

If I had to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the book because of what I was hoping it would be. I absolutely loved A Good Girls Guide to Murder and I wanted another story like that. That was not what this book was like at all. If you loved the investigative aspect of Good Girls Guide, you won't find it in this book due to the difference in storylines.

If you have ever read my reviews before, you know I am not a fan of language in books especially ones written as young adult novels. This particular story had way too many uses of the f word in my opinion, but I know that is a personal preference of mine and language is not an issue for a lot of readers.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Holly Jackson does it again. Suspense is top notch and does not let up. Great characters and storyline although I never would have guessed the outcome. If you liked her other books, please give this one a try. You won't regret it

After reading "The Good Girl's Guide to murder", Holly Jackson became my favorite author. Her thriller books are my favorite to date. This book "Five Survive" is as thrilling as Holly's other books.

The story takes place in an RV with six friends for 8 hours. I think the timeline makes this story even more interesting. It might seem like a "normal road trip went wrong" story at the beginning. But page after page, chapter after chapter we came to know that everything might not be what it seems to be.

As per the blurb and the title we already know that among six friends only five survive. But not once I guessed right about who would die at the end. There are so many twists and turns that made me stunned.

Red's (the protagonist) pain of losing her mother was expressed so well. Her nature of distracting herself whenever she thinks about something horrible in her life is so relatable to me.

At times I did feel like Red and others should make their own decisions rather than obeying every single word Oliver- her best friend's brother- says. But doesn't that what we do? Do what other says when our mind wasn't on its clear self? Especially when we are at the gunpoint and trapped in an RV or car or whatever. So I don't completely blame them all.

A page-turner, I don't feel like reading a 400 pages book. The story was so engrossing and kept me hooked till the end. The author made me feel the tension in the plot. I am satisfied with the climax.

The Best kept-me-on-the-edge thriller with unanticipated twists and turns.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

I really enjoy books by this author. A Good Girls Guide to Murder series is one of my absolute favorites. This one was solid but it fell just a tiny bit short for me. It was a great ride, locked room type feel but the ending fell a bit flat to me. I listened to this one and definitely enjoyed the audiobook.

Quick synopsis: Red and some of her friends are taking an RV trip for spring break. Along the way they experience car trouble and then encounter a sniper intent in getting revenge on one of them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's - Delacorte Press for the ARC of one of my most anticipated releases of 2022. Holly Jackson quickly became an instant buy author for me after her A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series, and the premise of this sounded like it was focusing on my favorite aspect of the AGGGTM series: the thrill. Holly Jackson writes thrill SO, SO well, and seeing her pursue this thriller/slasher-focused mystery was so exciting.

When this group of friends' RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere and they find themselves trapped, they realize that someone is out to get one of them. They only have a matter of hours to escape and/or figure out their target, and in the meantime, secrets will be revealed. I really think this book delivered what it promised. It was truly Holly Jackson at her best, as per usual. I loved it. It was incredible and I will read anything that Holly Jackson writes. Grocery, shopping, random lists, give me it all!

Another fantastic thriller from Holly Jackson! This book was super engaging from start to finish, fast paced, twisty and overall a good time! This is definitely one of those “unputdownable” books, that you don’t want to miss out on! Holly Jackson doesn’t disappoint and I will continue to check out her works!

Five Survive by Holly Jackson hooked me right from the start. I was intrigued by the 6 teenagers who are friends but seem to have nothing in common. None of the characters are likeable but you don’t really need them to be likeable in this case. It was almost better to not like the characters because then you could speculate about each of them without feeling bad. All of the characters have secrets to hide and it was fun to try and figure them out.

I typically don’t enjoy books that happen in a quick span of time or in one setting but Holly Jackson did an amazing job. The story is fast paced and keeps you intrigued from start to finish. I thought I guessed a few of the twists but in the end I was taken aback by the final reveal. I feel like I can’t go into a very detailed review without giving away spoilers, so you should pick the book up for yourself and read it! I highly recommend this YA thriller for teens and adults.

AHHH I LOVE YOU HOLLY JACKSON

This book kept me up at night. I couldn’t put it down and loved the character development & timing of this book. The plot twists were everything

3/5

This was alright.

Five Survive is a YA thriller about a group of friends out on a roadtrip for Spring Break. When that RV breaks down in the middle of absolutely nowhere, the group thinks the biggest thing they have to worry about is how far the nearest phone is—and they're dead wrong.

Stalked by a terrifying sniper who's hiding out in the woods and communicates on via walkie-talkie, the group needs to figure out what the sniper is after. Well, more like who he's after.

I was expecting this to be full of intensity and betrayal and absolutely have me on the edge of my seat but the story consistently fell flat for me. While there were plenty of moments I appreciated, especially in terms of the prose itself, my connection to these characters and this situation was tenuous at best.

Also, just to be clear, someone needs to throw Oliver into a volcano.

Red's voice was erratic, but I got that. I know what it's like to have your mind running a million miles a minute and it definitely made her a sort of unreliable narrator in that respect, but it could get a little tiresome where she'd just randomly forget something and she would often be reduced to just being the 'annoying' MC who was ignored until she was necessary for the plot.

I did love the ending and that's where the book picked up for me, in the third half. If you can get to that part, you're golden.

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. This one fell right in the middle for me, but I'm sure a lot of fans of HJ will eat this up.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with this Arc in exchange for m y honest review.*

There isn’t a book Holly Jackson has written that I haven’t absolutely loved. The way she paces her books leaves just enough room for doubt and anxiety to weave it’s way in until it feels damn near intolerable—it’s fantastic. I genuinely had no idea where any of those chapter endings were going to lead to and was shocked up until the very last page.

At this point I honestly don't think Holly Jackson can write a bad book! She really illustrates how basic humanity can be lost and turned into something horrifying and ugly in a situation like this that is so frightening and puts a group in such a vulnerable position.

I don't think Holly Jackson could write a bad book even if she tried. There is just something about her writing that keeps me hooked from the beginning & Five Survive was no exception to that. I absolutely loved this book. It was fast paced, but not rushed. It was definitely one of those 'keep you on the edge of your seat" kinda novels. Everything tied up so perfectly at the end, while also leaving an open end for us to decide what happens, which is a very unique way to end a book. I wish I could give this book 6 stars! It deserves it.

Thank you Random House Children's and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I enjoyed Holly Jackson's Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy and was looking forward to what she did next. This did not let me down. Red embarks on a spring break trip with five of her friends and it's all fun and games until it turns deadly. Someone is holding them hostage until one of them reveals their secret. The only problem is no one knows whose secret the killer is looking for.

While this was a fast-paced read that left me turning pages even after it was done, I felt like it was unnecessarily long and repetitive. The plot was a bit predictable, while still being thrilling. All in all, I found this standalone to be a bit lacking after AGGGtM but I still enjoyed it.

Five Survive is out now!

In this YA thriller, four high schoolers plus one of their older brother and his girlfriend are en route to spring break in an RV, when they not only get stuck in the woods, but they’re also being shot at by a sniper. The book unfolds in a less than 12 hour period as we try to figure out what is happening, why, and his they’re going to get themselves out of it.

I’m sorry to say that this one was a big miss for me. I loved Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy, even the third book that a lot of people liked. But sadly, this book was nowhere near that quality. Main character Red is no Pip from AGGGTM; she’s annoying, mostly unsympathetic, and do obviously keeping secrets from both her friends and the reader. But more than that, the issue is that the book is just SO preposterous right from the start, and only gets more so as it goes along. The characters were not believable, the various plot points were not believable, and the book seriously just went downhill from there. I will say that I really wanted to find out what happened and couldn’t put the book down. But sadly I finished it feeling not just disappointed but kinda angry.

2.5 stars

In typical Holly Jackson fashion this was truly an edge of your seat type of book. I found the book flowed amazingly well and I didn't find myself bored. Some books add filler content to bulk it up and that tends to make the content drag, that was absolutely not the case here. The characters were so/so. I didn't find myself loving them but I didn't dislike them either. I was surprised how much this book pulled on my heartstrings too. I usually am so into the thriller portions of books that I don't feel that deep of an emotional tie that was not the case here. The "secret" was a little predictable but that didn't make this any less enjoyable. Definitely a quality YA thriller!

This was a good read, I love how dramatic it was and I love how fast things turn. The plot is interesting once they were stuck inside the RV, it made me want to wait around to see what happens and as they grew desperate to escape, secrets started being revealed, the characters were a bit stereotypical at times, but as time passed their true colors began to be revealed which added to the suspense!

I’ve always loved Holly Jackson’s work, so I was excited to pick this one up and see the new world she was able to create.

I’ll be honest: this one took awhile for me to get into. The staging and getting to know each character took awhile, and I could tell there was a lot more under the surface than was being revealed, but I also knew Jackson would bring it all together – as she always does – so I continued on.

I remember as I read this thinking that there was no way this would be one of my favorite books by her, because I was really struggling to connect with the characters, BUT … BUT.

Wow. The twists and the turns and the unexpected curveballs she throws at us. Just wow. The second half of the book just had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t put the book down.

Red and five of her friends set out for spring break in a worn out RV, but get lost on their way and end up with a flat tire. Yet, after changing the tire, they start moving again and suddenly find themselves with four flats … and someone off in the distance shooting at them. Now it’s a test of their limits and courage to see how long they can last, what escape plans they can manage, and who they can trust.

If you’re into mysteries and thrillers, I definitely recommend this book – but know that it might take you a bit to get into it.

I really loved her first book. I think it was a big hit but maybe she is trying too hard to put out books too quickly? This was kind of a mess. It was super fast-paced and quick to read but I didn't really connect with any of the characters or care if they lived or died. The RV was a boring location.

This book was amazing! It started out strong and with a bang and kept me going the whole way through. Its been a while since a read a YA that grabbed like this one. The menace of being in that vehicle and the atmosphere throughout the whole book kept me on edge, will highly recommend to YA and adult readers alike