This was incredible. Holly Jackson never disappoints with her writing and her characters. No matter what she writes, I will eat it up because her books are on another level.
This story somehow managed to suck me in even more than A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, which is saying a lot because I am obsessed with that trilogy.
This was so so good. If you like murder mysteries and loved AGGGTM, give this book a chance!

I love the premise of this. It pulled me in immediately but did have some pacing issues. The middle third was very slow but once the secrets started coming out it really flew by. I had an issue with a few of the characters but overall thought the mystery and twists were great. I wish the end was a little more definitive as it felt very open ended.

this was excellent! holly jackson never lets me down. her mysteries are always so compelling and the twists are so well thought out. i didn't connect much with the characters in this, as opposed to the good girl's guide to murder series, but it was still a fun read.

4 STARS

Holly Jackson knocks it out of the park once again with this incredible thriller! In my opinion, the A Good Girl's Guide To Murder series still beats this one plot and character-wise, since having 6 main characters being the main focus of the story does not leave much room for character development, but still a great novel nonetheless!

Wow. Just absolute wow. This book was so intense and easy to read. I absolutely hated Oliver and that drive my motivation for reading just as much as my desire, scratch that, my drive to know how the story turned out. The twists were so unexpected and really did make sense. What an expertly crafted book of suspense. This is my first book from the author, but now I am eager to read her best-selling trilogy and everything else from her I can get my hands on! Thank you, Electric Monkey Publishing and NetGalley for this arc, in exchange for my honest review. This was a great ride!

This is the first book written by Holly Jackson that I've read. Not quite sure just how that happened considering the talk about A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but I'd just never gotten around to reading it. So I was excited to read Five Survive both because I'd heard so much about the author and because I felt that if her previous books are as good as they say, I'd get to dive into this one without the pressure of expectations from an author who's books I already know I enjoy.

I now know for sure that I have to read her other books.

Five survive is set over a period of 8 hours, which makes everything feel so URGENT! I think half of the thrill was feeling the time go by. The other half of the thrill was how unexpected everything that happened was. I don't usually read thrillers for the same reason I don't watch horror movies but honestly, I liked every single goosebump I got while reading this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I definitely don't think it was anywhere near as good as Jackson's Good Girls Guide to Murder series. While I really liked the premise of the book and continued flipping pages and enjoying the twists and turns, I also found myself skimming sections of descriptions/narration to get to the next part of the action.

I find the concept of a locked room mystery and these characters revealing their secrets really interesting! However, the book didn’t really pan out for me. What was a very cool concept fell flat in this book. The secrets revealed almost entirely circled around one thing, and there wasn’t much suspense on it - it felt pretty obvious who was holding the secret. And despite that, there still aren’t enough clues to determine the killer.

The climax of the book was…very far-fetched in my eyes. I wish the explanation had simply been “there is a sadistic serial killer who wants to play a game with some random kids” because it would have been easier for me to accept than the actual plot.

Maybe if this book had been shorter and alternated the POV between the main six characters, I would have enjoyed it more. I hated reading Red’s POV and the constant forgetfulness frustrated me - I thought at first that maybe it was an injury or something else that she had? But it didn’t pan out that way and so it just felt like I was reading Red say things and then forget it later, and to see that for an entire book was a bit rough, especially since I didn’t like her to begin with.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This will be a book I will be out on November 29th,2022 so I can have my own personal copy I enjoyed it that much! I don’t think Holly could write a bad book honestly. If you love a page turner twists and turns multiple times then this is for you! This is such a fast paced not a single person is safe and legit anything I mean ANYTHING can happen. This is def a book I read in one sitting and the ending is just chefs kiss.

I am a huge fan of the Good Girl's series, so I was really excited for the release of this title. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this title at all. The pacing was off. I did not find it thrilling and it was honestly a struggle to finish.

Here are a few of the issues I had: The main character is not relatable. I did not connect with Red at all so I wasn't all that concerned about what was going to happen to her. There are hints that there is something up with her memory, but it is never fully explained (is it trauma related). I actually didn't like any of the characters. Oliver is completely ridiculous and Maddy has zero personality. Spoiler ahead...the only characters I felt for, was couple trying to help.

I'm buying this because I know people will want to read a new Holly Jackson, but I won't recommend this title.

This was such an intense ride (literally). High school friends are heading to spring break in an RV when a hidden assailant immobilizes their vehicle and threatens that they'll be stuck unless one of them reveals their big secret. Well, it turns out everyone has one of those and after a few escape attempts they begin coming out. But none of them seem to be what the attacker is waiting for.

I thought this was a really strong book. The characters are *almost* all loveable even as they announce their wrongs (the main character's best friend's brother is absolutely awful). The main character is grieving the death of her mother, and the way it's handled throughout was poignant. Of the two main twists, I found one incredibly shocking. The other was less so, and in fact I found it mildly disappointing. Still, overall I would recommend this to a friend and maybe even read again.

So good! I love a good thriller and this did not disappoint. It was kind of crazy and so many twists. I was surprised red survived to be honest. I don’t known how I feel about Arthur still. Is he a good guy? Is he a bags buy? Morally gray character?!? Holly Jackson has a knack for making me stay up way past my bedtime reading.

4.5 stars.

I’m not a big YA reader anymore, but the Good Girl’s Guide To Murder trilogy was some of the best writing I’ve come across. Perfect thrillers. I never found them predictable and she managed to surprise me every single time. This was the case with this book as well.

There is always a darker element to her books. Showing that there are just some people that have darker sides than others. Some people are able to disguise it better than other’s obviously.

I thought this build up was amazing. Truly a page-turner. I got less than seven hours of sleep the two nights in a row that I read this book before bed. So if you plan on sleeping maybe save this one for the daytime because you’ll fly through it.

I also don’t usually enjoy romance in thrillers, but with the AGGGTM series and this one the small dose of romance just worked perfectly with the plot. It didn’t feel like we were getting off track to have weird lovey dovey moments, forgetting there’s literal danger around us like I see in some books (mostly the reason I don’t like romance in thrillers).

Just overall, I don’t think Holly Jackson can write a bad book. Bravo. Can’t wait to read the next one.

Really enjoyed all of the characters, they felt multi-dimensional and real in many senses of the word! The mystery was good. Took a bit to get into the action but the build-up and getting to know our characters was well worth it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I have to start off by saying Oliver is a jackass - to the point where I almost felt that he was a caricature of the Entitled Rich White Male. It wasn't necessary to make him so over the top - in fact, I think it would have hit harder for him to be subtly sinister. I also got hung up on the strangely overt character description (dark curly hair, light blue jeans). The dialogue is very british, despite this allegedly being about American Teens. The characters were so frustrating - especially Maddy. I found the plot to be very predictable (I guessed who [redacted] was about 30 pages in). The pacing wasn't great - it dragged at times and felt so incredibly rushed at others. The final twist was...okay. I didn't guess who the actual killer was, but there were no hints to it for readers to piece together along the way, which is half of the fun of a mystery. I wanted to see a lot more character development too, as I think that would have raised the stakes and explained some of the incomprehensible decisions that they made along the way. The last chapter was disappointing - I think the story would have really benefitted form an examination of the consequences, not just that letter. Overall, this is like a Beach Read Mystery - it's fun at times. It's fine. But it's nothing special.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read a few of Holly Jackson's books before and at this point I have to say that she has such an incredible skill at writing thrillers! The whole time I was reading this book, I was on the edge of my seat. I didn't know what was coming and had such a fun time piecing little clues together. Not to mention the characters! They were so dynamic and relatable that I became really attached to them. If you're looking for a fall read, I highly recommend this book!

WOWWWW I was not expecting this to be so good. It took me a bit to get into it (around 25%)… but holy hell, it was a nail biter, folks. My heart is still pounding.

The end was *chefs kiss*

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC. It was fantastic.

3.5 stars rounded up. I ended up really enjoying the twists and turns of the ending, but the first 2/3 of this book (though suspenseful and a fast read) just seemed disjointed and confusing. I had to reread a lot of paragraphs and feel like a few things just didn’t make sense to me. However, I think this would be a really fun audiobook and might give it a listen when it comes out!

Read/Listen If You Like:
🔪 Mysteries and Thrillers
🚐 Road Trips
💗 Racing Pulse
⏳ Countdown Agaist the Clock
💨 Fast Pace

Book Review:
This book was suspenseful perfection! It has perfect pacing that kept me hooked and had me staying up too late two nights in a row unable to stop reading…

This one is delivered with a single POV and definitely gives you unreliable narrator vibes as Red acknowledges she has secrets that aren’t revealed to the reader other than she has them. But just because she has secrets does that mean she is the reason her and her friends are being gunned down and threatened?

This gave such suspenseful vibes as the will they won’t they started just as soon as the group started to turn on each-other and secrets they each wanted to stay hidden started to come to the surface…

I would highly recommend this one if you are looking for fast paced, suspenseful, and un-put-down-able YA thriller!

⚠️ Be sure to check TW’s before reading or message me.

(Big thank you to Random House Children's and NetGalley for giving us this eARC in exchange for an honest review!)

First off, I wanted to say how interesting and captivating this book was. I was super incredibly hooked and enjoyed this book so much. This book felt like it was And Then There Were None meets One of Us is Lying meets Blair Witch Project and I am here for it! I absolutely loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and I was so excited to get into another book by Holly Jackson. Starting off, so many secrets and so many twists at the end. I liked that this wasn't told in first person, but was still a third person limited perspective because this book was able to follow one certain character with a lot of importance and it allows the reader to be attached to this narrator, but also have a sense of an unreliable narrator. I didn't love every single character in this book, but they did feel realistic. I feel like the dynamics in this was expected, that they was going to be one person that "takes charge" and the rest just trying to survive. I didn't absolutely love the romance and the end, it just felt like it was not redeemed and that we shouldn't reward that character's actions. However, I absolutely loved the twists to a certain extent. As I got towards the end it felt like I was getting pushed into so many different directions that the story didn't fully make sense. There were so many stories that ended somewhat forced because it felt like Jackson really wanted all the stories to connect in some way. All that said, I did love reading this late at night because I am an absolute sucker for mystery and would highly suggest this book for those who love sudden twists and a who done it type story! And, this is not the story where there is an investigator trying to investigate the crime, it is telling the crime being committed and I found that incredibly enjoyable.