Probably a decent read for actual young adults but I didn't enjoy this as much as Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. It was definitely spooky!

I felt trapped by this book. I felt like I was their seventh friend that was also there and I was being hunted alongside my friends. Holly Jackson has a talent for building up tension in such a way that when things inevitably burst, you are just as devastated as the characters. It was such a good thriller and I feel like I need approx. two business weeks to recover from this book. READ IT!

Gripping!! Thrilling!! And left me on the edge of my seat!! Holly Jackson does it once again! Jackson has quickly become one of my favorite authors!! I’ve been a huge fan of her books since her AGGGTM series and this book was no exception!

"There was danger outside the RV, and now there was danger inside it."

When I tell you I SCREAMED at the end of this novel, and flew through it so freaking fast I was afraid I would catch the pages on fire (if it weren't digital)??? I'm not even joking.

For someone who is *extremely* hit and miss with thrillers, I absolutely devoured this. This is one of those thrillers with a simple enough background that allows you to hyper focus on the more horrifying aspects of 'no-one-is-safe' and 'one-of-us-is-next'. Five Survive is the type of thriller where you can't guess what is happening from one page to the next, and each new development is as shocking and terrifying as the next.

Within an eight hour period, Holly Jackson immerses readers in the cramped RV alongside our six teens, stranded in the middle of nowhere on their way to spring break. The catch? An assassin is hiding out in the dark, and no one can leave the RV alive unless they give the killer exactly what they want. A secret. One of them is hiding something. Tensions run at an all time high and the stakes heighten with each passing hour, leaving them no choice but to turn on one another, and force their dirty laundry out into the open in a desperate attempt to save themselves and survive the night.

From each reveal to each betrayal, I was GLUED to the page and couldn't stop myself from reading. Was I supposed to be working? Absolutely. Was I? Absolutely not.

Six teens. Six secrets. A life for a life, but is it worth it? Can they all survive the night, or will some of them end up dead, trying to escape with their lives AND their secrets?

Five Survive is set to be published November 29, 2022. Thank you to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press, NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

#netgalley

Wow. What a ride.
Rv trip with 6 teenagers. Some more well off than others. All of them have secrets.

One wrong turn and life will never be the same.

This book was so easy to read. I didn't want to put it down. Stayed up until 1am to finish it.

Poor Red.

I could not put this down! I don’t know how she does it but Jackson’s writing literally makes me tense because it’s so suspenseful. I want to hide my eyes! Well written characters and a good mystery.

A fast-paced thriller from the author of “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” about an spring break trip of 6 teens in an RV for spring break. After missing a turn, they find themselves stranded with a sniper taking aim at them. But there are secrets amongst the teens and the sniper want them exposed. Of the 6 in the RV only 5 will survive the night.

I really enjoyed it and appreciated the quick read that really kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhousekids for the ARC.

Themes: 🌑night, 🚐RV, 🔪killer, 🆘, 🛑, ⚠️
My thoughts: 😳🫣😬😵‍💫👍🏻👍🏻

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I absolutely DEVOURED this book! I went into this knowing how well-loved Holly Jackson is, but never having read anything by her. Five Survive was so fast paced, well thought out, suspense filled, and so unpredictable that i just honestly couldn’t read it fast enough.

The book literally takes place over the course of 8 hours while the characters are on their way to spring break driving in an RV. On their way to the destination, they take a wrong turn and end up on a deserted dirt path when suddenly one of their tires blows out. No big deal right, just throw on the spare and get back on the road. SIKE. once the spare’s on, the tire blows again. and then another. and another and another. All four tires popped. and not by debris in the road but a sniper. That’s right. A hidden assassin is hunting them, but why?

Isolated, trapped and fighting for their lives, the six characters on the RV are forced to communicate with their assailant through a walkie -talkie. Turns out, someone on the RV is hiding a secret and a secret that they want to know. The only way to survive the night is for the person holding the secret to fess up, but the problem is, who is the one holding the secret?
There is so much betrayal, so much revealed, and so much tension in this book i was sweating. Considering this all took place over a few hours, you’d think it would be hard to give such a good representation of each character and who they were, but Jackson does such a good job at making you see each and everyone of them for who they really are. I was left with feelings of joy, sadness, shock and horror after coming to the conclusion and i would read it all over again just to pick up on anything i missed cruising through this book the first time.

If you loved A Good Girls Guide to Murder, you have to pick this one up when it comes out!! I give this a 4/5 stars only because i’m selfish and wanted more more MORE!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Five Survive!!

Five Survive
Holly Jackson
Six friends, all teenagers head across the country in an RV for spring break. Their trip begins in PA, they plan to overnight at a campground in SC. They make a wrong turn and attempt to turn the 31-foot RV around. Suddenly one of the front tires went flat. Red hears something moving in the darkness but doesn’t see anything. They change the tire and turn the RV around. Then they heard a crack and hiss the other front tire was flat. Then the two back tires were flat. The six teens stepped out in the dark to inspect the RV and Red saw a red dot. They heard a crack and there was a hole in the RV’s gas tank. The sniper shot out a window. With no cell service they had no way to get help. They were in the sight of a sniper, an assassin. The sniper knows who they are and is determined to get what he is after. One of the friends has a secret; they have something the sniper wants. “One of you knows something. A Secret. You know who you are, and you know what it is.” The RV seems to be closing in on them as they wait out the night. The teens start accusing each other, demanding answers. If no one volunteers, they will be forced. This tale takes place over an eight-hour period. When under such pressure they turn on each other.
Author Holly Jackson is a master at characterization. I felt I knew each teen and how they would respond to the strain. This was a fast read because I could not lay it down. I was glued to my ereader eagerly turning the pages. The book ends with sort of a cliff hanger. I wanted to know how the recipient of the letter would respond. I question the sanity of the writer. This is a 5 star-must read tale.

This book. I’m not even sure where to start. It drew me in so fast. It was infuriating, it was annoying at times, but it was so hard to put down. I love Holly Jackson’s writing and this book fits right in.

The only issues I had was Red narration at times. She was so repetitive with a few things & it did get a little annoying. The overall story of it though saved it & I ended up really enjoying it even though one of the characters made me so angry. But that’s when you know it’s a good book, when it makes you feel things even if the feeling is anger.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Five Survive is the story of a spring break road trip gone wrong. 6 teenagers set off in an RV on a roadtrip to the Carolinas, but as the title indicates, only 5 survive. Ambushed on a dead end road in the middle of nowhere, the teens are left trapped in their RV with no way out and no way to call for help.

I do appreciate the fresh take on a locked room mystery. The setting of an RV in the middle of the woods introduced some interesting elements to the story. A waiting threat outside and a directive to figure out who among them is hiding a secret is reminiscent of a Saw movie combined with Karen McManus's One of Us is Lying.I also appreciated how there were no punches pulled when it came to danger and stakes, which is rare in YA novels.

The writing in the first half of the book showed Red (our main character) to be easily distracted and forgetful. I wasn't sure if Red was meant to be neurodivergent or just suffering from the effects of trauma based on the writing style surrounding her character. This writing became very inconsistent in the back half of the book, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it, especially because it was never really addressed.

I also found the plot twists to be extremely unsurprising, particularly because of the heavy-handed foreshadowing. If you've ever read a mystery or thriller before you'll likely have it all figured out in the first half of the novel.

Overall, this book was okay. I perhaps had set high expectations coming off the author's A Good Girls Guide to Murder series (I really enjoyed the first 2 in the series, with the 3rd being a bit of a letdown). This still might be worth picking up if you're looking for a quick read or enjoy other similar YA thrillers, but it wouldn't be at the top of my list of recommendations in the YA thriller category.

Crossposted to goodreads at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5049575505

The author has written a few novels, but I believe this one might be her best yet! What a ride! An excellent thriller by one of the top young adult authors, but anyone of any age would enjoy the twists and turns and the brilliant original plot. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. I highly recommend this author and all of her other books I have read have been nothing less than fantastic. She is definitely an auto-buy author for me, and I can't wait to own this novel in print.

I have a few of Holly Jackson's other novels on my TBR and after this one I am likely going to have to start reading those. Her writing is captivating and keeps be turning the page. I can't even say how long I stayed up reading this a few nights ago. It was worth the lost sleep.

I expected to love this one, but there were times where I struggled with it, especially at the beginning. I found it difficult to care about the main character, she just didn't seem authentic enough. I didn't care about the "banter" between the characters all that much either. However, once the action got going and I started to feel attached to the story and the cast, it was a good read. I'd recommend it to YA thriller readers.

i started agggtm a couple years ago now and never ended up finishing it. mostly, because my hold was due at the library, but i was also not invested enough to find another way to pick it up. however, i was excited for concept of five survive, and thought it would be a fun, face paced thriller, if nothing else. i ended up enjoying my time with the book. i wouldn't say i loved it, or found it to be anything particularly new, but it was an engaging read. the narrations style took some getting used to, but i think in the end it was one of my favorite parts of the book as it felt very authentic to our main character. ultimately enjoyable, but nothing special.

Definitely a must read! Don't let the fact that it's a YA book keep you from reading this one. I enjoyed it and think it will be a good one to read if you enjoy mystery thrillers.

The pace of this book is perfect- there is always something happening and I love that. Of course it did take a bit for the story to really take off and sniper right in but once it did, you are in for a ride.

I will say that it took me a bit to understand Red's thoughts, but after a while and getting her backstory it makes sense and is easier to follow along.

My only dislike was Oliver, I could punch him in the face! But all the other characters were extremely likable and I enjoyed their character development throughout the story.

THE ENDING!!! WOW!! That's all I have to say.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for the eARC for my honest review. I will be posting my review on my instagram page @talkgoodbookstome very soon.

I did audiobooks with the Good Girls Guide to Murder series and my brain kept trying to “hear” the book that way for the first couple chapters. This is a completely different style but gets the reader engaged immediately just like the GGGTM series. Jackson does a good job in showing in words how severe anxiety from trauma can show up. How the person can seem spacey or quirky on the outside while there is a thunderstorm of thoughts and feelings brewing within.
The story is very interesting and compelling enough to want to read in one sitting. I’m taking a star off because I figured most of the mystery at the halfway mark but I’m much older than the target audience so keeping at 4/5.
This was an ARC courtesy of @netgalley.

oh my gosh! Holly Jackson does it again with another amazing and intense book! This one starts off with action right away. I felt like every time I tried to guess who I thought had the secret something would be revealed and I would be wrong. I enjoyed this one so much and the twist at the end I definitely didn’t see coming.

OH MY GOD… after reading the agggtm series i trust holly jackson completely, like i will literally read any book of hers and know that it’s gonna be good, and this one absolutely was! the plot was excellent and the characters were so compelling too. the book got scary really quickly but i couldn’t put it down, it was just TOO good. anyways, this was such a great book, can’t wait for everyone to read it when it comes out

thank you netgalley for the ARC!

Five Survive by Holly Jackson ✨

This book was INTENSE. It was a wild ride with the wildest concept. It kept me turning pages, but it was just pure chaos up to the end.

The book was more gory than I expected from a YA novel.