Five Survive is a fast paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. As a fan of Holly Jackson's previous work, I was so excited to get the chance to read her latest.

Definitely recommend to those who love her work and also think it's a great entry book for those who haven't! Highly recommend!

I'm so disappointed with this one! I don't understand the high reviews, especially since most of this felt like a chore to read. Since the plot is rather simple, any details that were given about character backgrounds were easy to put into their respective puzzle pieces for the "twist" ending. This might have been saved if the character relationships were strong, but unfortunately the characters felt flat and the "romance" was transparent which made it feel like a poor attempt to tie together the book.

Who doesn't love a road trip? Personally, I love the idea of traveling with friends in an RV. That's exactly how the adventure started for Red and her friends. They were nearly to their overnight campsite when all of the sudden, their GPS was no longer working. Without this technology, Red and her friends make a wrong turn and find themselves stranded on a dark and desolate road in the middle of nowhere. The friends soon realize that there is grave danger waiting for them in the dark and that one of them is hiding a secret that is putting their lives in jeopardy. My pulse did not stop racing throughout this page-turner. Be sure to pick up this newest novel from Holly Jackson!

I was never a mystery/thriller reader until I read a Good Girl's guide to murder. That series is top 3 of favorite books for me. Holly Jackson then became an auto buy author, so when I saw her new book Five Survive I needed it ASAP. Five Survive did not disappoint. It's fast paced, keeps you on your toes, takes time in the span of 8 hours, I couldn't get enough. I read it in one sitting!!!! Highly recommend all of Holly Jackson's books!

Six friends set out on a non-traditional Spring Break trip in an RV. Everything is off to a great start until the phones GPS stops working and they end up on a deserted gravel road in the middle of nowhere. The trip seems salvageable, however the sniper in the woods with a target on their camper has other plans. One of the six has a secret the sniper is ready to kill for. Can they determine what the secret is in time to save themselves? Will they turn on each other to keep themselves safe? How deep is their friendship and is it worth dying over?

The book starts off at a quick pace and does a great job of characterization, building the scene, and background, However, the second half of the book feels rushed and leaves you wondering… what just happens?!?

Holly Jackson is one of my favorite thriller/mystery writers ever! The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder introduced me to her and I haven’t missed one of her books yet! Five Survive was just as amazing as I thought it would be (okay… it was even better!).

A group of friends take a trip to their spring break destination by RV. Everything is fine until they’re held hostage and told he’ll let everyone go as long as the person keeping the secret tells their secret. How well do you know your “friends”? Would you trust them to tell the truth? Who’s hiding what and will they reveal what they’ve been hiding?

I read Five Survive way too fast! I had to know what happened. Who had the secret and what it was! Let’s just say I stayed up all night and I finished it all at once! I highly recommend Holly Jackson’s newest to any thriller/mystery lover that loves a face paced read with twists and turns you didn’t see coming!

Thank you with all my heart to NetGalley and The Publisher, Delacorte Press for choosing me to read and review this ARC

**Trigger Warnings at the end

I binged this book at night in only a couple of days. Six very different people in an RV traveling from PA to Gulf Shores, AL for Spring Break all carrying a secret.

When they get lost on the way to the campground and then break down in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception, it's up to the group to work together to find a solution. Until, shots are fired at the RV and they learn they are being held hostage in exchange for a secret that one of the six are hiding.

This is unique story in that it is a locked door mystery in the very literal sense. They are trapped in this RV and have to trust each other, which goes very, very wrong.

I loved the twists and turns of this mystery and when the whole secret is revealed (except for you Oliver!). The only reason I knocked half a star off is because we are left with a question at the very end that the reader can basically choose the answer too. That plot point is not something that appeals to me so I desperately need to know the answer 😬!

TW:
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Death of a parent, death of a sibling, executions/murder, alcoholism

Five Survive is a tense YA thriller that is full of surprises. It is told from the POV of Red, a teen struggling to keep herself together in the wake of her mother’s murder. What starts off as a fun vacation for six young people soon turns into an epic tale of survival. I enjoyed the pacing and watching how each character comes clean with their secrets which might hold the key to their escape. Red was an excellent character, even if she was a too hard on herself. Oliver was quite a force of nature. The only thing that hindered my enjoyment was that, towards the end, the plot seemed a little far fetched. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

I really loved The Good Girls Guide to Murder and was very excited to see that Holly Jackson had a new book out. In Five Survive a group of friends are on their way to a spring break trip when a shooter takes out their tires. He says he will let the rest go if the person keeping the secret tells their secret. It turns out there are lots of secrets and maybe these friends don't know each other as well as they think they do. The book was well written and kept me interested until the end. I devoured it in a day. I can't wait for more books by Holly Jackson.

The brand new unmissable crime thriller from Holly Jackson, best-selling, award-winning author of the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy.

Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .

Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.


This one drew me in from the beginning! I really enjoyed it. Red and Oliver really drove me nuts though. It definitely wasn't A Good Girls Guide to Murder. But I still was intrigued.

Holly Jackson does it again-a page turner that will keep readers entertained and wanting more. My high school readers seem to gravitate to this sort of read and I cannot blame them!

Six teens and eight hours until dawn. Fast-paced and action-packed. Lots of secrets in this intriguing plot. Holly Jackson does not disappoint. This novel was not only heart-stopping but it pulled on my heart. I would definitely recommend it..

I loved AGGGTM by Holly Jackson and was so excited to get this book from Net Galley. It was not what I was expecting at all. I loved how fast-paced it was. I can't believe all of this happened in the matter of 8 hours. I love Red. She was my favorite character.

What I liked:
-fast paced
-character development
-suspense

What I didn't like:
-too many characters
-the ending didn't make sense and I felt it was too rushed
-too much downtime in the early chapters

Six friends are driving a RV to join their classmates for spring break, but wind up being diverted and the RV disabled in a lonely field. Shot at and trapped in the RV they are commanded by a mysterious voice, over a walkie talkie, to divulge the secret he’s looking for and the others will be allowed to go free.
Of the six characters, most were a little unformed. The story moves quickly, taking place over one night, so there isn’t much time to get to know most of them. Mainly we get to know Red.
Red was a little unfocused and a bit bumbling. Yeah, I get that she’s suffering from the trauma of losing her mom several years earlier and caring for her dad… but she seems so lost sometimes that I wonder how she manages to take care of herself, let alone her mourning father. Despite this, I did like her. She keeps trying, and tries to do the right thing.
And Oliver, who, as the oldest decides to lead this group to figure out how to get free…. I absolutely HATED Oliver. He was pushy and demeaning, and an all-around pompous jerk. He spent most of his time trying to find someone to blame for their situation.
But, I really did enjoy the story. Most of the secrets revealed surprised me, and it wound up being an interesting, fast paced mystery. Not quite as good as the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series (but that’s a hard one to match, honestly). Didn’t see some of the twists toward the end coming, and I always like being a little shocked at how the plot plays out!

Six friends set out on a spring break road trip in a borrowed camper. Five return. Redford (Red) Kenny sets out with her best friend, his brother, his girlfriend, and some classmates to enjoy their week off. But, when the RV breaks down in the middle of a secluded area in South Carolina, it becomes clear that the breakdown is not a coincidence. Someone is shooting at them and threatening to kill. There's no cell service and the six are trapped in the dark night with someone nearby trying to kill them.

Eventually communicating with their antagonist, he insists that one of them has a secret. A secret that needs to be given up or they will all die. Red has a secret. But some of the others do too. Secrets come out and what seems straightforward becomes ever more convoluted, with secrets inside secrets. The killer means business. Two passers by who tried to help are shot to death.

It's a long night with people who quickly stop trusting each other. Each of them tries to save themselves. But, not all are successful.

This suspenseful book will have you glued till the end.

This book was absolutely amazing! I was a little hesitant to read it at first because I don't normally enjoy books that take place over the course of a few hours. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down. I loved Holly Jackson's other books, and this one was no exception.

I loved the characters in this book. The main character was delightfully quirky. She was unlike other characters I have read before which was refreshing. I liked how there was a subtle romance subplot, but it didn't take over the whole book. The love interest was perfect for Red and I enjoyed reading about him. Every character I was supposed to dislike, I ended up disliking which is always good. There was a good mix of characters that kept me interested the entire time.

The plot of the book was also amazing. Like I said earlier, I am not usually a fan of books that take place over the course of a few hours, just because they can drag on. This book did not drag on and kept me interested the entire time. It was fast-paced and a good read that I finished in about a day or two. The ending was a big twist and shocked me since I was not expecting it. It was a great ending that kept you wanting more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to readers who love a fast pace book, thrillers, or murder mystery type books.

LOVED this thriller. It definitely had me hooked and was such a page turner. I couldn’t believe that the entire book took place in just 8 hours! This was my first Holly Jackson read and I can’t wait to get into the Good Girl’s Guide series

This was such a great book. It was told if a very unique voice and I felt that made the reader feel much closer to the main character. The story was very fast paced and engaging. I finished the book in two days because I just couldn't put it down. So far I have loved all of Holly Jacksons books and look forward to reading more of them!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want a YA revenge thriller? Can you tolerate a traumatized narrator’s perspective? Can you enjoy a book for the ride that it is even though the explanations behind whodunit make no sense?

Pre-reading:
I got this book early and felt guilty because she's a popular author and I hadn’t read her other books, so I just finished her first and really enjoyed it and am reading this while I wait for the next in her first series to come in.

Thick of it:
This intro is confusing for no reason. It’s just annoying. I don’t care if they’re trying to show dissociation or highness. It’s annoying. (Oh, Bestie, it’s the whole book.)

I irrationally don’t like when blond isn’t made feminine and blonde.

I cannot read this when I am sleepy. I have already forgotten which characters are which and how many total people are in this RV. Is it 6 or 7? 6 makes sense, but I almost feel like it might be 7. (It’s 6.)

Making myself a quick little cheat sheet:
Red
Maddy- bff
Oliver-Maddy’s bro
Reyna-Oliver’s gf
Arthur-Simon’s friend
Simon

Even typed out, I don’t know what it is about those names, but they seem very hard to keep straight for me. (Simon is fully an extra and mostly serves as comic relief and he didn’t need to be in this book.)

Is Arthur in the mafia or the witness? And is Red working for the mafia to make sure a witness can’t talk? Who is Maddie trying to meet that she doesn’t wanna be late? (It literally is never explained why is she wants to get there so urgently.)

So like the mafia business def got her mom killed.

The family business is flipping houses-that’s the mafia. Love interest is evil. Is Red being paid to pretend to be a witness? (Dear book, if I can guess the ending this early, you’ve done something wrong.)

It sounds like they’ve been shot out. (This one I don’t mind. The characters caught up to me fast enough).

I don’t like how she’s describing Oliver. When your tire pops, you should make sure you’re not about to pop the other ones before you go and get in and try and drive again. I understand they’re setting him up to be abusive, narcissistic, and the unhinged villain, but they’re really beating you over the head with it, and I’m so tired of bossy characters always being perceived as villains.

I’m not a gun nut, but can we count bullets? (Unnecessary.)

They shot the gas tank. (Yup.)

Did they stumble onto a drug field? (Nope.)

Red’s the one who knew they needed that exit and had to go down there. So she brought them there? (There really is no explanation for how they were forced to go this way. These bad guys really relied a lot on chance.)

If I don’t find out the significance of these curtains by the end of this book, I’m gonna lose my mind. (Sighhhhh.)

Is there a camera inside the RV?

Record it with your phones so you extra don’t miss it. (Good job keeping up, book.)

I love listening to problem-solving in books.

That radio has been silent too long.

That was a cringe line.

There are two shooters?

They will shoot the tires. There’s no reason for them not to shoot the tires. (They inexplicably never shoot the tires.)

I had just thought it was like Lord of the Flies. This book keeps up with you.

Why on earth would he tell them how many bullets he has? Is it gonna be a count the bullets story? (Because they are really bad at being bad guys, and no.)

Why haven’t they shot out the tires on the car yet? (Literally still wondering this.)

If you throw a punch like that you’ll break your thumb?

Yeah, she’s the witness. Boring. Predictable.

It’s giving Doctor Who Planet Midnight.

His eye bags are like what?!?!?

I don’t understand why all these people are so passive around Oliver. Like I would never.

Having the same shoe size is so unlikely.

How is there no reaction to cutting her hair? I would lose my mind.

Wouldn’t she also need the passwords for these phones?

I was wondering how they were communicating. That seems like a really hard communication device. So not only do they both have to be fluent in Morse code, but also Morse code takes a long time because they probably just learned the alphabet.

See, it’s so boring if I can get the book from the very beginning.

20k is nothing. A DA definitely has a spare 20k lying around.

What does this author have against best friends’ parents? (Granted, I only have read two of her books, but when I pick up that second book in the series, I am immediately guessing the friend’s family for whodunnit 😂)

But what about the curtains? (Sighhhh.)

Can’t they just do Morse code with the headlights again? (That would make too much sense.)

There’s no way they let them live. They’re witnesses to murder. (The. Worst. Bad. Guys.)

But what about the curtains?

How could she not tell me about the curtains?

God, I did not like this book


Post-reading:
If Holly Jackson doesn’t post what the curtains were supposed to be, I’m gonna lose my mind. I had to hear about it all book and I don’t get to know? Um, this book is bad. It’s not badly written, but it is a stupid thriller. Let me explain. The writing itself is good. She always does good dialogue. They always sound like real people. The story choices this book has taken are asinine. It’s not even a quirky narrator
this time. She’s insufferable. It’s such floaty observations that I’m sure are supposed to be some form of mental illness, but I hate it. When I read a fast thriller, I need it to keep up with me and mirror my thoughts to keep me engaged not meander around. The ending is comically obvious from the very beginning. If anyone sees this book as having twists, they need to check themselves. And I say all this having loved her first book and thinking it was genuinely so twisty. Also, the bad guys are horrible? It’s like they’re more concerned with creating drama than actually executing their plan. By giving them a walkie-talkie they’re basically having the villain do a villain monologue. That doesn’t happen in real life. That’s a bad bad guy. They never shoot out the tires of the other vehicle. They tell them how many bullets they have. Why wouldn’t they get more bullets? Also, this is the mafia. Why are they afraid of killing people? They’re clearly not. There’s no real explanation for how they forced the RV to be where it was. Sure Arthur was the last one with a signal, but there was no way to force them down to that exact location. They could’ve decided to turn around or to go a different way. They could’ve missed the exit. The bad guys left way too much to chance. I also don’t understand their light switch communication. It just doesn’t make practical sense. Morse code takes a long time. I can’t imagine them knowing more than the alphabet, and you’re telling me someone was able to Morse code out, during a timed encounter, the exact wording on a note, and the fact that a note had been passed. And again, leaving so much to chance that none of the other characters would go up on the roof of the RV to see if anyone was nearby.

The characters also all feel a bit cardboardy. Oliver is too over the top. Arthur’s a horrendous villain. Somehow they’re all supposed to be children, but none of them act like it or like adults. Simon is just there. Maddie is also kind of just there. Like her big distinguishing feature in the story is being Red’s best friend and being Oliver’s sister. That’s it. She doesn’t really have a personality. Reyna is pretty heinous as a human being. I don’t think we’re spending enough time on that. Cool, she’s premed and can do basic first aid, but like you’re a cheater who provoked your boyfriend into murdering someone, knew that it was the man she loved who was hurt and still didn’t get him help, and somehow manages to play the victim? You are not a victim here, sweetie.

I don’t know, I think you could be entertained reading this if you can stomach the narrative style. But like why do you want to have to put up with a book? It will not have any payoff. The ending is stupid. The explanations are stupid. You can read better.

Who should read this:
YA thriller fans
Revenge thriller fans

Do I want to reread this:
No

Similar books:
* No Exit by Taylor Adams-blisteringly fast, smart thriller
* All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers-essentially true crime fanfiction
* Deadly Waters by Dot Hutchison-revenge thriller
* No Home for Killers by E. A. Aymar-family drama revenge thriller
* Influencer Island by Kyle Rutkin-revenge thriller

Not what I was expecting at all. This is very different from Good Girl’s. But I’m not totally complaining. It was definitely a wild, fast ride!