I really loved Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series so I jumped at the chance for the ARC of Five Survive. Six friends embark on an RV trip to spring break, and then their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, eight hours change everything—only five survive. I wasn’t immediately hooked in this but when the tension started climbing, I was just all in. There is such a tension and eeriness as this RV gets stuck. It is atmospheric and stressful and so good! I was so hooked and so investing in figuring out who was the target of the trap they fell into. I loved Red as the narrator, she felt like an honest character, who also just really wants to be cared for. I think the group’s leader Oliver was way too aggressive, but I think it also really worked for the build up in the story, it was just easy to get annoyed at him. And there were some predictable twists, but others felt surprising and engaging. There was a great balance in this story of getting to know the characters and building this life or death situation up. The pacing was great, the characters were super strong and I just thought this was an incredibly engaging YA thriller!

I loved the first two books in Holly Jackson's "A Good Gir's Guide to Murder" series, did not love the third book, but was still excited to read this one. Unfortunately, the only word I can think of to describe this book is...bad. Like <i>really bad</i>. The book makes almost no sense. Six teenagers take off for a week in Florida for high school spring break (do high school students do that??), make a wrong turn and find themselves trapped overnight on an old road as a sniper holds them hostage to try to get one of them to tell an important secret. That's the plot.

The characters are almost entirely without personality including the protagonist. The secondary characters are interchangeable with the exception of one being so awful that I kept hoping the rest of the characters would toss him out of the RV just so we didn't have to hear from him again.

Now let's talk about the completely nonsensical parts of the book

<spoiler> The plot literally makes no sense. It's inexplicable why Maddy's and Oliver's mom would pick a teenage girl to set up as a fake witness to a crime--especially one she's known her entire life. Lavoy isn't featured enough to really get a sense of why she'd execute her best friend in cold blood. The advancing her career doesn't have any real logic to it. Red isn't well enough developed to have that plot point make sense. She's not even attending college, so the promise of $20,000 seems to come out of nowhere. It's also super weird that Jackson names the mafia family Gotti, after the most famous New York crime boss, when the characters are from Philadelphia, which has its own notorious crime families. It's a such a strange choice that adds to have nonsensical the book feels. And the ending! Is the moral of the story seems to be "go off with the teenager who assassinates someone to get revenge for you. It's romantic." Are we really supposed to buy into that being a good ending for the character? It's clear from the third GGGTM, Jackson seems to love the idea that teenagers can pull off the perfect murder, but it's just baffling. </spoiler>

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER, so when I saw that Holly Jackson was coming out with a new standalone book I was so excited.

This book is quite different than AGGGTM although still a YA thriller. It follows 6 teenagers on a Spring Break trip in an RV who get stranded in the middle of nowhere. The friends soon realize that there is a sniper waiting for them and he’s not letting them go until one of them reveals the secret that he came for. But who is the one with the secret? 😳😳😳 It gave me similar vibes to NO EXIT - secluded location, group of people stranded together, imminent danger.

The middle dragged on a bit for me, but for the last 20% of the book I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Twists galore and no on is who they seem 🧐

My main reason for the three star rating is that I couldn’t really connect with the main character (Red). Maybe it is because I loved Pip so much from AGGGTM and couldn’t help but compare. The way that Red’s inner monologue and thoughts were written felt choppy and really put me off. I didn’t feel as invested in the story because of that.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. This one is out 11/29!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

➼ 4☆ for Five Survive by Holly Jackson - out on Nov 29, 2022.

Wow! I have been in a reading slump for the entirety of September, but this book broke my unlucky spell!

In this novel, we follow a group of friends that get stranded in the middle of nowhere. Not only that, but a sniper is also out to get them. Why? One of them has a secret. A very dark secret.
Who's lying? What are they hiding? Find out by reading Five Survive.

I personally thought the first half(ish) of the book was pretty slow. I struggled to care for the characters until halfway through, when the action started and the stakes got higher. But Holly Jackson seemingly never disappoints - and girl. She pulled through!

Hang on to your hat, we’re going on a road trip! Well, that’s what Red and her friends had planned. The six friends set off in a 31 foot RV looking for Spring break fun, but things don’t pan out. With sketchy cell service and no physical road map, the teens find themselves lost. They hear a loud crack! One of the tires blows out! They change the tire and proceed to turn the RV around. More loud cracks and all four ties are flat. Who is doing this? They find a walkie-talkie attached to the drivers side review mirror. Through the static, a voice tells them that one of them has a secret and if that person confesses, five of the six will survive.
This is a great locked room thriller! How do they survive the night and the shooter? Perfect fans of escape rooms! It is YA, but I enjoyed it as an adult. It was a bit long and the ending a bit abrupt, but I do recommend Holly Jackson’s, Five Survive! It would make an excellent Netflix movie!

This might be the first YA thriller to make me cry.

I love how the story gets right into it. 6 teens, 1 minimalist but claustrophobic setting and 8 hours until dawn = palpable tension, fear and trepidation, plus lots of goosebumps on my arms. This book was one hell of a ride (pun intended) and brought me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I was anxious, fearful, angry, kept guessing, and have I mentioned so damn angry?!

My mind was continuously reeling while trying to piece everything together and each reveal left me gasping. But it's the book's exploration of grief and trauma that got to me most. This line seriously broke me:

"Mom was Red's world, her whole world, and she must have known that, she must have felt it somehow, because that was how love worked."

I AM NOT OK.

Five Survive is heart-pounding read that will not only keep you on the edge of your seat, but also tug on the heartstrings. It's my first book by the author but you bet it won't be the last!

4 ⭐️

Ohhhh man this one was twisty curvy in all the best ways.

This story is told from one point of view a girl named Red. Red is on her way to a spring break adventure without her best friend Maddie and 4 other teen/young adults. To save money on a flight they decided to do a road trip in a RV.

We'll like all youngsters that have cellphones they don't even think to buy a physical map in case cell phones stop working. Then get lost and stranded with 4 flat tires when they can't use their map app. As the synopsis explains they end up being trapped in the Rv due to a sniper.

All this craziness of the night in the book happens in just one night time. Making the story a very fast read and keeps a high pace thru-ought. I was enjoying every bit. Similar to other Holly Jackson books this is really well written and just a ton of fun.

Most the characters I really enjoyed, they had depth and were written well. However Simon and Reyna to be forgettable. Especially Simon.

The twists and turns in this book was pretty well done, I had guessed two of them but it didn't take away too much from my experience. It was still enjoyable and entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Delecorte for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review closer to publication date on my Instagram the.floofs.booknook

This book was still a bit YA but fantastic in the sense of a thriller book. I feel like this was just enough twist for young readers but not enough for me.

I loved her Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series so I expected great things from this one. Unfortunately, I got to 28% and decided to give up. I needed more to help me understand why this odd thing is happening to this group of teens because I couldn’t stop my outbursts of “but why?!” I also disliked the way the main character, Red, was written. That’s a first for me and I’m not sure how to best describe why I feel that way. She felt forced and her thoughts were repetitive. I think she was trying to make the character feel real but it just felt strange. Fun fact: the RV is 31 feet long. We’re told so many times that it has to play out in the end but I couldn’t force myself to read from this character’s perspective anymore. I’m sad to say that I’d recommend this one be skipped or, if you’re a huge fan of the author, get the book for free.

Thank you to Holly Jackson, Random House, and NetGalley for the eARC of Five Survive!

Six friends load up in an RV to go on a road trip for spring break. They have planned a stop at a campsite in SC, but they lose service before they get to their destination safely. Just when they think they’ve figured out how to turn the RV around, the tires are punctured. It turns out 1 of the 6 has a secret that they’re keeping, and there’s a sniper outside who wants to figure it out. Will the sniper get to them all, or will someone spill their secret?

The first half of this book had me a little worried that this wouldn’t live up to the typical “Holly Jackson” hype. After being completely obsessed with the AGGGTM series, I was hoping I’d love her next book just as much as that series. Holly Jackson did not disappoint! This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought I had it figured out, she threw another plot twist at me. Great read, and great for spooky season!

I can’t rave more then I am about this book. Holly Jackson impresses me more and more with each book. When I started and the kids were all from Philly, like me it was a win-win (IYKYK). I really felt I had this book all figured out but the bad guy just sometimes isn’t who you expect it to be. Such amazing twists and turns.

**Netgalley Arc***

(5 stars)


I have no words other than I loved every moment of this book. It was fantastic. Every character made me feel something even if it was hatred or annoyance. They were so well written. And while I saw the plot twist coming I didn’t mind it and I still loved the book.

The gist:

Red: a high school senior with at home problems who writes to do lists on her hands

Maddy: Red’s very neat and tidy best friend

Simon: irresponsible party kid, his uncle leant them the rv

Oliver: Maddy’s very bossy brother

Reyna: Oliver’s Girlfriend

Arthur: Red’s Love interest from another school

6 friends get trapped in the middle of nowhere on the way to a spring break vacation in an RV. There is a sniper outside and they just reveal a secret to survive.

Thank you to netgalley and publishers for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided to me digitally from Random House and NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review.

This is the first Holly Jackson book I've had the pleasure of reading, and I went into it with high hopes after hearing so many good things about A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Five Survive follows a group of six high school students while on a spring break road trup. On the first day of their travels, they lose their way and end up with a flat tire on a small, deserted side road while trying to find their campground. They quickly find out that this didn't happen on accident, but that there is someone with malicious intentions who purposely trapped them. We quickly find out that the assailant wants a secret that one of the characters is keeping, but we don't know who the character with the secret is or what the secret itself is. During the next 8 hours, the students need to work together to figure out an escape plan and hope that they all get out alive.

I've spent lots of time thinking about this book since I finished it. I have many good things to say and also many not-so-good things, so I'll structure this review by listing what I didn't like first, and ending on a more positive note by explaining what I did love about it. I am not a big YA reader, so I understand that I do not fall into this book's target audience. I will remain conscious of this throughout my review and I'll try to be as objective as possible.

<b>What I didn't like:</b>
1. I am a very character-driven reader, so I found that this book lacked some character depth. I really wanted to have something in common with Red and her friends, but this was very difficult when their personalities were poorly developed. Red's main character trait was the fact that her mom died five years ago. Although this plays a major role in the overall story, it didn't give me much of a reason to care for Red or cheer her on.

2. I found the main character-based plot twist at the end of the story to be very predictable. The "big reveal" towards the end was extremely obvious and I was almost disappointed in the characters for not figuring it out sooner, especially since they are portrayed to be very clever and creative people.
Before bashing on this twist any further, I'd like to mention that I am a big mystery/thriller reader and I have read countless books within the genre. I feel that I predicted the ending primarily because of my experience with mystery/thriller stories. Although the twist was disappointing to me personally, I have no doubt that it will come as a shock to most YA readers.
After this twist, the rest of the story was concluded brilliantly. We didn't have enough information to piece together and predict the overall conclusion of the story, so this came as a pleasant surprise to me.

3. I want to avoid sharing any spoilers, so this next section will be a bit vague. If you are planning to read the book in the future (or if you have read it already), you'll understand exactly what this part is about as soon as you've gotten to it in the story.
Throughout the book, we never learn much about the characters. I believe the author did this intentionally in order to surprise us with the characters' secrets and identities.
The true identities of the characters were so far-fetched that it was almost laughable. Nothing about the characters' identities matched their personalities or how they acted, which unfortunately killed the realism of the story for me at the end. At the very end of the book, the letter that was written was also extremely cheesy and unbelievable, especially since we now know who the character who wrote it really is.

<b>Now, onto what I did like about the book:</b>
1. As much as those first three points make it seem like I hated the book, I didn't hate it in the least. From page one, the story was extremely engaging and there was always something new to think about. I was hooked from the first page and I stayed up until 2am to finish it. I LITERALLY couldn't put it down.

2. The story was consistently suspenseful. I mentioned that I found the big twist to be predictable, but the smaller details throughout the story were very nicely developed and extremely well-executed. The author did a wonderful job of laying out the plot points, and it was so engaging that I felt like I was personally involved. My heart was beating so fast during the most suspenseful parts.

3. I haven't read many books that take place in such a short period of time. This entire book spanned over a period of 8 hours. It really felt like I was living in this story with the characters and the short timeline was a very unique and interesting concept to me as a reader.

4. I was really happy with the way the story ended. The story paid off for the characters I liked and completely worked against the characters I hated. The ending was so satisfying and renewed my belief in karma.
<b>Be a good human and be nice to people. </b>

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and think it is very deserving of at least four stars. I had a great reading experience, and the only reasons why it is not 5 stars is because of the predictability and how unrealistic the characters felt to me in the end.
I'd recommend this book not only to YA readers, but to anybody who is interested in mystery/thrillers or books with lots of suspense. This book is marketed towards teens, but it's definitely a story that's engaging and can be enjoyed by people of any age.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's!

Eight hours of a road trip with 6 friends. Only 5 make it out alive as the road trip turns deadly.

Holy %$#%! This was a thrilling ride. So unexpected. I've been bored with thrillers lately, and who knew it would take a YA novel to get me out of the rut. I don't want to give any of this away. I didn't see any of it happening. Looking back, there are a few small and subtle hints that I completely missed. This was fantastic! More please!

This book has everything a thriller should have. It’s fast paced to keep the adrenaline coming, twists to make your stomach drop, and a love interest for added depth.
The storyline was hard for me to get what was going on upfront but a few more pages in and I was hooked. I could not stop until I was through the entire book.
Holly Jackson gets you to love a character and then rips your heart out and makes you irate with them the next chapter. So amazing and just adds to the immersive experience of the book. Loved it so much. I can’t wait for everyone to enjoy this book as much as I did!

This book just didn’t interest me from the first few pages. I really like the synopsis, which is why I was so interested, but it just seemed to drag on. Plus, the characters felt flat for me. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Perhaps I’m too old for a YA :(

At the beginning I thought this book would be predictable but I was wrong! The book happens in the span of a couple of hours and you’re always wondering what’s going to happen next.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good mystery and thriller book!

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Holy suspense!
Let me preface by saying, I’ve never read any of Holly Jackson’s other books and she really blew it out of the water with this one. Now I’m determined to read every thing she has ever written.

I’m usually pretty good at figuring out the big twist or “who’d done it” but man I was not prepared for the cornucopia of twists in this book. Just when you think the plot is all summed up, BAM! Another twist!

Who would think that six kids getting trapped in an RV for eight hours would turn out to be such an adventure? Just think lord of the flies meets wrong turn meets eagle eye. If you’re a fan of true crime, I highly recommend this book!

I’m giving this one 4.5 stars!

Thanks to @netgalley for letting me review this one!

- This book was not as good as AGGGTM but I still enjoyed it a lot! It was a berry quick read for me. The main character Red was definitely on the sketchy side for me because of her secret that she only exposed at the end. The plot twist was unexpected because I was thinking of something waaaaay different from what it was. I hated Oliver with a passion and he just kept getting worse till the end. Simon wasn’t really a big part of this story so he was just in the background as well as Maddy up until the end. *Thank you to Netgalley & Random House Children’s for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review*

Let me just say... Holly Jackson knows how to keep a reader on their toes. I absolutely loved this one! I loved how this book was written, as Holly Jackson gave each character a unique personality with their own hidden secrets. I felt like I was truly able to connect with all of these different characters, which was something I truly loved. The evolution of the story and the plot twists were great and added so much to the book. This is such a perfect thriller for the winter! I would absolutely recommend reading this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.