Although this is listed as a YA mystery , I thoroughly enjoyed this page turner…cannot put down novel…this story written by a talented and gifted author. The six main characters come alive on the pages…what a great movie this would make…lost in South Carolina in an RV…tires shot out…no cell service…not sure in this day and age there is a place in South Carolina without cell service…I do know how easy it is to get lost on the backroads. I taught there five years…I was lost so many times…if I were still teaching in the classroom, I would suggest my students read this book. Consequences…trust…distrust…friendship…family…themes running throughout this novel that is fiction but reads like nonfiction. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thank you. Thanks to the publisher and the author. I look forward to more books by Holly Jackson.

What a roller coaster of a book!!! This book was EVERYTHING that I hoped it would be!!! It was intense, emotional, and fast-paced!!! It kept me guessing the entire time as to what would happen next! I was a bit concerned about gun violence but after finishing the book, I feel comfortable recommending this book to my avid 8th-grade readers and especially to fans of Holly Jacksonś's other novels. This is an edge-of-a-seat thriller and I believe all fans of YA thrillers will love this book!

Thank you so much to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for the chance to read and review this book prior to release.

I recently discovered and plowed through Holly Jackson's series: A Good Girls' Guide to Murder and loved it!

When I saw she had a stand-a-lone, I was beyond excited to get my hands on it.

It started out very promising and I was pretty hooked and invested in the story. Sadly, it didn't take long for me to lose interest in the plot. The writing was so repetitive and predictable and I felt like it could have been half the length and nothing would have been lost.

I'm still going to continue to read whatever Jackson writes in the future and hope this book is a success for her!

I loved this!!! I read Holly Jackson's other books and liked those, but this is definitely my favorite work of hers that I've read. I felt like I was stuck with the characters in the RV, feeling as claustrophobic and tense as they probably did. There were very few dull moments as I was always wanting to know what would happen next. This was more intense than I thought it would be for a YA book. I never knew who to trust, and as readers we are constantly wondering about each characters' pasts. So many unexpected things happened, and the end reveals shocked me. The only thing I didn't like were a few things at the end of the story where things were wrapping up, but nothing major. This is probably one of my favorite thrillers I've read this year, 4.5 stars!!!!!

Five survive this book... but I am not one of them.

FIVE SURVIVE absolutely broke me to the point where just thinking about it now makes me want to sob. It is an intense and emotional ride, full of heart-racing action and unexpected twists that were so well-thought through that I could literally analyse this book for hours.

Holly Jackson wrote another unforgettable thriller that's a direct add to my favourites and why-im-not-mentally-stable shelves. I am already desperate for more books by her, and I can't wait to re-experience this story and discover even more depth and nuance to it!

Fast paced thriller, easily read in one sitting! I haven't read 'the good girl's guide to murder' to compare the two but I'll definitely reading more from Holly Jackson in the future!

P.S: Link to the full review will be posted closer to publication date as we are participating in a book tour and the post will be scheduled.

I would like to thank the publisher Delacorte Press and Netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.75⭐️
I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I wasn’t sure if I would like a book that took course over one night inside an RV, but it definitely captured my attention. It’s a quick read with a lot of plot twists. A few of them I guessed, but there were a few that really shocked me! Overall I really enjoyed it (I love all of Holly Jackson’s mysteries honestly).

The audible gasp I made at the climax. the “no way” I said too loudly at 3am when the final twist is revealed. Just wow. I never thought I could get sucked in a thriller like this. I expected less of it to take place in the RV, but having to overcome the obstacle of being stuck in the RV was enticing. the dynamics of each character’s isolation was breath-taking. Jackson did a fabulous job of unraveling every character’s true self without it becoming overdone. Oliver’s dive in to insanity is one of the best character developments I have read. My deep resentment and dislike for him was made his character that much better. It is gradual and then a full force wave that leaves you quaking, thinking his anger and retaliation is directed at the reader. I did not want to set this book down. The tension was palpable as the hours ticked by and the need for the secret to be revealed slowly cracked away at each individual in the RV. Jackson’s captivating writing is once again a must read. I cannot wait to physically get my hands on this book!

My review will be posted on day of publication.

I loved this story! It played out like a horror film, captivating me from the beginning and kept me flipping through the pages. I read it within a day, staying up past my bedtime to get to the ending.

I love thrillers surrounding a friend group, who are keeping secrets from one another and it was fun to dust off my detective cap and figure out the whodunit, and maybe more importantly, the why. Dun dun dun!! Highly recommend, especially if you’re already a Holly Jackson follower. She has a forever follower in me.

This book was DARK compared to the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time reading this one, and I truly didn’t know who was going to be the “bad guy.” Jackson’s latest book is about a spring break road trip in a 31” RV that breaks down in the middle of nowhere - sounds pretty standard spring break horror flick so far, right? WRONG! The scene turns into an active shooter situation (bug trigger warning there), and the six passengers must try to figure out how to get out alive. The sniper will let them go if they reveal the dark secret one of the friends has been keeping from everyone. But who’s hiding the secret is the big mystery. I had a feeling about who would have the secret but I didn’t realize how crazy, dark and twisted the mess would be at the end! It was so easy to visualize the tension inside the camper; Jackson made an entire story out of a single night in one cramped space, and I think that in and of itself is impressive. My only ding to this story were a couple plot holes toward the end, but they’re spoilers so I’m happy to discuss once you’ve read!

I was so excited for this book to come out, because like many, I'm such a fan of the GGGTM series. When I started this book, I wasn't aware that so much of it (actually, 99% of it) would take place IN the RV and I was also disappointed that this story didn't really pick up until about half way through. But it was worth sticking around for because it really picked up and I found myself getting into the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the ARC!

Red and five of her friends are taking an RV trip from Philly to Gulf Shores, AL. What was supposed to be an easy drive down turns into their nightmare. After losing phone reception and going through backroads to get to a campground, the RV breaks down. Then, all four wheels are shot out as well as the gas tank - they are stuck. There is a sniper out there who knows exactly who is in that RV. One person has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

After reading (and loving!) Holly Jackson’s A Good Guide to Murder, I was pumped to see she came out with a new book! While the first half was a bit slow, the second half stole the show. The intense anxiety I felt while reading is a sign of a good book. I couldn’t put it down because I HAD to know the secret, who the sniper was, and what was going to happen next. Highly recommend if you love a slow burn.

Really enjoyed this story that followed six friends in an RV for spring break. Once they find themselves stranded and essentially held hostage by a sniper looking for specific info, back stories start to come out and it weaves a pretty interesting narrative. I really liked the main character Red and found myself really empathizing with her and her situation. Some of the action scenes were a little chaotic, but the story was very clearly painted and I appreciated that. Big thanks to Netgalley for the early copy!

Someone open a window because it just felt like I was trapped in an RV for the entirety of this book. Suspense, dread, and suspicion are three words I'd use to classify the feelings continuously cycling through me as I read Five Survive. You'd think the title would prepare you as to what happens, but it only scrapes the surface of the twisted events this group endures.

On a road trip down the East Cost for Spring break, right off the bat, there's clear evidence that we cannot trust our main character. She's forgetful, easily distracted, and a good liar. But she's not the only one with secrets. As they slowly get stuck in the middle of the woods when their GPS stops working, the atmosphere drops a solid 30 degrees as everyone realizes someone has intentionally trapped them here and the target is one of their own.

There was barely a moment of calm in this thriller. Tensions were high, arguments spiked, fists were thrown, and reluctant truths were shared. The story builds enticingly, and, like an escalating heartbeat, things take a turn from scary to downright dreadful. I pointed fingers at pretty much every character, I covered my eyes at the same time my fingertips held them open, and the hysteria bled through the pages once the blood started spurting. Even better, the characters were unconventional making the storyline even more intriguing. This was very difficult to put down what with the time structure and knowing we were counting down to at least one death. If you make it to the last page without pulling out your hair, I'd be surprised.

I haven't read A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, so I had no idea what to expect going into this. However, I love survival horror and thrillers. So, when I saw this on NetGalley I was very excited. I love claustrophobic survival set-ups and the addition of an unreliable narrator is always a plus. This was incredibly fast paced, taking place over the span of eight hours, and with the threat of one character dying looming over you, it's a very fun time. I read this over the span of one morning lol.

As always, thank you to Random House Children's/Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Holly Jackson does it again! After a very high bar with AGGGTM I am happy to report that Jackson’s newest thriller is a fun book that will keep you on your toes.⁠
The tenseness of the book as the night wears on sets a great stage, and while I did guess some of what was going to happen, there were multiple twists at the end that surprised me.⁠
Each character brought their own unique personality and secrets to the story that kept me engaged and flying through the pages. If you are AGGGTM fan I think you'll be happy with this one!

⚠️Light Spoilers⚠️

4.5/5⭐️ (rounded to 5)

I want to preface this by saying I don’t read thrillers/mysteries often. And while Holly Black’s other books have been on my TBR for awhile, I have not read them yet. With that being said, I very much so enjoyed reading this.

This book definitely took a few chapters to really pull me in and to get me to understand the way Red’s (the main character whose perspective we see through a third person limited view) brain and thoughts worked. But once I got into it, I couldn’t stop. I stayed up all night reading this and it definitely had some twists and turns that were unexpected!

This book follows six characters (Red, Maddy, Arthur, Oliver, Simon, and Reyna) as they start a road trip to get to their spring break location. But when they get lost and the RV they are traveling in gets a flat tire- that’s when everything starts to go wrong.

This book is pretty much entirely in the RV. I thought it was a very bold choice because that’s a very limited space to house an entire story in. But, it worked very well for the story. It also gave you a bit of a feeling of claustrophobia because that’s kind of what the characters were feeling.

I’m not going to lie, the characters actions were pretty predictable. I predicted nearly everything about them. (There was one twist I did not predict but it was something involving a character we did not see or interact with in most of the story.) The twists with the main six characters were not all that twisty because they kind of followed the tropes that are used in these kinds of books. But, that didn’t make me love the characters or the story any less.

I know that thriller/mystery readers will be able to know the twist from the very beginning, but as a non thriller/mystery reader, I quite enjoyed not knowing the main twist at the end and the mystery of who was gonna live and who was gonna die. I do think it could be a very enjoyable read for those thriller/mystery readers. I definitely recommend this book for those who want a quick and easy thriller/mystery!

this book was SO well-crafted. it had exactly the right amount of mystery and suspense, which had me guessing to the very end. whenever i thought i had figured something out i was thrown for a loop, which kept me on my toes throughout the entire thing.
holly jackson really does a wonderful job of writing multi-dimensional characters with each their own unique personalities, backstories, and strengths. she also perfectly illustrates how stress, and a high tense situation can cause personality changes and even strip some of their basic humanity.

the publisher kindly provided this arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley and Holly Jackson for this ARC! I was eager to start this Holly Jackson novel fresh off the heels of the Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. This YA selection was slow to start but rapidly picked up to a frenetic pace... and kept me reading til the end.

Red and her friends are driving in an RV on the way to Spring Break... but when they blow a tire, it becomes apparent that they are in a much more dangerous situation than they first thought. Is Red an unreliable narrator, or does she have what it takes to get them out of the life or death situation they now face?

Fast paced YA mystery/suspense. 6 friends on a road trip end up on the wrong road, no cell signal and an active shooter who shoots out their tires, all the shooter wants is to know the answer behind a big secret from one of the 6. Who’s secret is it? Who is lying among them? Told from perspective of Red Kenny and I didn’t guess who was the secret keeper, you learn some other secrets along the way too! Enjoyed this quick read, did skim some of the extra informative parts more towards the beginning. Oh my gosh on the letter at the end!!! Loved it!!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random house my advanced electronic reader copy in exchange for my honest review!