As a Holly Jackson fan, I continue to be amazed at her attention to detail. Five Survive was an intense thriller listed under YA but I wouldn't let it be defined by the genre. Six friends on their way to Florida for spring break are abruptly stopped in the middle of nowhere by a sniper taking shots leaving them stranded and helpless stuck inside an RV to fend for themselves. I love a good mystery and with the high stakes attached, I was hoping for a good read. I did enjoy this book and didn't see any of the twists coming. I did however think it was a little slow of a start for me so I had trouble following along. I can normally zoom through books especially ones described as intense thrillers but with this one, it took me a bit longer. I will continue to read Holly Jackson's work but this one wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC.

It's a locked room (RV) mystery with a deadly twist. When a group of six friends head out from Pennsylvania in a RV to spend Spring Break in Gulf Shores, AL, they can't even begin to imagine what awaits them out there on the open road. No spoilers for this novel because it tells you right there in the title ... only "five survive." But who will live and who will die?

Red, who is grieving the loss of her mother five years earlier, is harboring a momentous secret, not to mention a ton of guilt for the role she played in her mom's death. She is hoping to forget her troubles on this epic Spring Break trip, but when her traveling entourage loses phone service and takes a wrong turn down a deserted road, their RV breaks down and they find their Spring Break plans going bust.

Red thinks things couldn't possibly get worse than being stranded in the middle of nowhere with no way to call for help, but then her group realizes that they are being shot at. A sniper has a target on their backs, and he won't let them go until one of them gives up the colossal secret they are hiding. But everyone is hiding something, right? So whose secret does the sniper want and why?

Holly Jackson has another hit on her hands with her new YA thriller Five Survive. Admittedly, I had a little difficulty getting into this book at the beginning, but once the plot picked up, this novel moved at breakneck speed toward its terrifying ending! I haven't experienced feeling so tense while reading a book in a long time - my stomach was in knots by the end. Jackson masterfully plays on the locked room plot device, trapping her characters in an RV, and pitting them against each other while not knowing if the real threat is outdoors or inside among them.

I love how quickly things began to unravel after everyone realized that they were going to have to give up their deepest, darkest secrets in order to survive the night. It soon becomes apparent that no one can be trusted. I never knew what was coming while reading this book, and so enjoyed the wild ride.

Recommended to fans of Karen McManus.

Five Survive reads like a movie. If the movie were Saw for Teens. Seriously, though, Five Survive was awesome. The pacing was great. The plot was propulsive. The suspense was real. The mystery, top notch. It's a slow-build to the end, but I loved watching Red piece it all together. Those last several chapters were TENSE.

Thrillers that are limited to one room, or in this case, an RV, create a unique challenge for authors--how to keep things interesting and moving forward with such a limited setting. But Holly Jackson takes this concept and makes it WORK SO WELL. As the six kids (teens and early twenties are kids, right?) work to figure out what the sniper wants before someone gets killed, we see them slowly start to unravel.

Basically, Five Survive was great. If you love thrillers and YA books, this one will be a hit.

Five survive was an interesting read that kept me intrigued, but I didn't like ay of the characters so while I was intrigued I also didn't care much.

After falling in love with Jackson’s storytelling with her A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, I was beyond excited to learn that she had a new book out. A standalone featuring a group of six friends on their way to spring break who find themselves lost in the middle of nowhere with a gunman shooting at their RV demanding one of them reveal a secret in order to save the rest from death.

With Red and her friends finding themselves lost rather quickly into the start of the book, the action quickly picks up as the group realizes that they’re trapped with no way to signal for help. Jackson did a wonderful job of creating an environment filled with tension and fear as the group finds themselves questioning who holds the secret that the sniper wants and what various members of the group will do in order to unravel the truth while saving themselves in the end. The paranoia and the ever increasing madness that is created by the situation is made most apparent with Oliver, the older brother to Red’s best friend. From the moment the group finds themselves initially down the wrong road with a flat, Oliver first starts to show his true colors by yelling at his girlfriend for getting the flat tire and not paying attention to the road. It was with this initial outburst that I immediately knew I didn’t like Oliver and began to secretly hope that he was the one with the secret and subsequently the one who would die.

As the events of the evening continue to ratchet up and the group realize just how much danger they’re in that the secret they initially think is what’s wanted isn’t, the friends quickly learn which of them really have one another’s backs and which will do anything to save their own hides, even going so far as to become a threat to the others.

This is a story that is fast paced told mostly through dialogue with very few instances where the story slows down, which made it so that it never became boring and I never felt that it dragged on. While I was surprised by some of the revelations that came out in the end, especially what the real secret was, I will say I was happy with the eventual outcome and what happens with each character. Five Survive just helps to reaffirm my initial thoughts about Jackson as an author after reading her previous series, and that is that she is a favorite author who I will eagerly devour new books from.

i have conflicting feelings about this one.

on one hand, the story is super fast-paced. the entire plot takes place over the span of 8 hours, so i guess it would have to be. the vast majority of the narrative (~80%) is dialogue, so that also contributes to the fast pacing. and these things are conducive for a good thriller, as nothing feels like its dragging. it definitely has a “keep you on the edge of your seat” kind of feel.

that being said, i still managed to get somewhat bored with this. none of the characters are likeable and i didnt care if any of them died, the one setting itself (RV on the side of the road) isnt exciting, and the “secret” is very predictable.

readers who enjoy a locked-in/cornered kind of scenario might enjoy this more than i did, but i personally dont think this is HJs best work.

thank you for the ARC, random house/delacorte press!

Another thrilling mystery from Holly Jackson! I was eager to see what other universe she'd create outside of AGGG2M and I was NOT disappointed. Had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!

Holly Jackson is a favorite and an auto buy author of mine and I was incredibly excited for this book! I think Holly is one of the best YA thriller authors out there and this book did not disappoint. You can read this book hour by hour to match up with the story and that was such a fun way to read it.

Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #fivesurvive

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of Five Survive by Holly Jackson from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Holy cow - buckle up as this book is going to take you for the ride of your life. It is so fast paced that your head will spin trying to figure out what is going to happen. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more by Holly!

What could be more fun than spending Spring Break with five of your friends, traveling in an RV? The open road ahead of you, the anticipation of what’s to come building, and plenty of alcohol. Their plans go bust, literally, when all four tires go flat, trapping them on a deserted backroad without cell signal. A sniper further complicates their predicament, a sniper that wants one of them to come clean about a secret they are keeping. It’s simple really: come clean and the rest will be allowed to leave, unharmed. Who’s secret is the sniper looking for, what other secrets will come unburied, and how will they all react to the building tensions inside the RV?

Oh what a tangled web we weave, especially when all involved are trying to deceive. Five Survive is a twisted novel that I enjoyed untangling as I read. While there were some things that I found easy to figure out, I was still pleasantly surprised along the way. I really liked the characters; watching them change as they faced adversity, in both positive and negative ways, drew me into their lives and the story. It is a fast-paced, to the point story; it doesn’t describe things that are basically unimportant to the narrative and mystery and instead focus on the action and events, making it into an on-the-edge-of-my-seat read.

Bought the book so we had it ready for circulation the second it came out - students love this author. It's edgy, but I think it has a place in our school library because the students are obsessed with crime.

Holly Jackson did not disappoint me! The suspense in this book is palpable! What starts off as a fun cross country spring break road trip in an RV turns into an active shooter situation with a group of friends stuck together full of accusations. I mean, look at the title–there are 6 kids, but you know only 5 survive!

Once again Holly Jackson has me hooked from the beginning. I loved Five Survive and give it 4.5 stars. It is a quick read, keeps you guessing, and then SHOCKS you in the end. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Wow what a wild ride! I had no idea what to expect from this new book by Holly Jackson but it is exactly what I expect from her after the fabulous AGGGTM series. This book had the perfect combination of suspense and mystery and nothing clued me in to how it would all end up. She shocked me in the best way and I had a hard time putting it down!

So the first half of the book I was irritated because I LOVE A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (the series) and mentally I wasn't ready to be out of the world. So I couldn't stop comparing. Around the half way mark though, I was hooked. I had tears in my eyes the last parts of the book. Wow, just wow. Holly Jackson you've done it again. I have bought so many copies and I will continue to recommend this title to my students because I know they will love it.

Holly Jackson is an incredible writer and I would love to interview Holly for my podcast, Raise Your Words. This thriller is incredible and I can’t wait to read whatever Holly writes next!!

Red Kenny thinks her senior year Spring Break will be filled with underage drinking, long days on the beach, and maybe a kiss or two with the boy she's spent all year crushing on. She, and her five friends, are brutally unprepared for the turn their trip takes when they meander down a dead-end country road. Instead of turning their RV around, they find themselves stranded and in the middle of an active shooter situation.

Trapped in the dark, with no cell service, and no obvious means of escape- Red begins to realize that even those closest to you can turn into complete strangers when the right pressure is applied. The longer the night stretches Red can no longer be sure if the biggest threat is inside the RV or outside. With tempers rising as she can only look on in horror, Red will be shocked by the lengths to which some of her oldest friends will go, both to keep their own secrets and to ensure their own survival. Red's determination to do the right and fair thing won't be enough to get everyone out alive...

"Five Survive" masterful locked room mystery with unbelievable tension that will keep readers hooked, Holly Jackson has written another masterpiece in her first follow-up to the "Good Girl's Guide to Murder" series. A must-read for fans of Karen McManus, Maureen Johnson, and Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jackson has cemented her spot in the YA Thriller Hall of Fame with this one! Special thanks to NetGalley and to Delacorte Press for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "Five Survive" in exchange for an unbiased review.

I flew through this book. I couldn't stop reading it. That is one thing that happens when I read thrillers or mysteries. I just cannot put the book down. i needed to know what was happening. This book was wild and full of turns. I like Holly Jackson's writing style. its easy to read and its not over done. This book was great and i really enjoyed the ride. I definitely recommend reading it. Now I'm going to have to read her other books.

This book was another crazy ride by Holly Jackson. I did not love it as much as the good girls series but that could be because I didn’t develop the same attachment to these characters. Still a great book which I found hard to predict and that is always my goal when selecting a book to read

thank you for the ARC!
I have read the author’s series, a good girl’s guide to murder, and really enjoyed it so I was really excited for this book. Overall, it was a fast-paced read, hard to put down, and suspenseful. The twist at the end wasn’t as original as I’d hoped, but I enjoyed the ride and look forward to the author’s future work.