This was really good. Finished the whole book in less than 24 hours. This was a great locked room thriller and a wonderful follow-up to AGGGTM series. Holly Jackson will be an auto-buy YA fiction author for me. She isn't scared to make her YA books a little edge of your seat scary and I so appreciate that. Her characters were well-developed and I loved some and was happy others were no longer around by the end. Overall a great read that I would recommend.

3.5
I have very conflicting feelings abt this.... coz on one hand I really enjoyed the book and the story but on the other hand it was so boring, and I didn't care whether most of the characters lived or died (ik it sounds rude im sorryy)

Also, I'm pretty sure I skimmed through a bit of the book, coz I just wanted to see who the sniper was and the entire reason behind everything.
Which brings me to 'the reason', I kind of guessed it? But it wasn't like a few pages before it was actually revealed so I wasn't too mad abt that.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this and the parts that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Ps: Can't wait to read AGGGTM!! Soooo excited for that one!!

Red and her friends want to have a fun spring break in Gulf Shores. However, things take a turn when they find themselves stranded in their RV in the middle of nowhere with someone who knows a secret threatening their lives.
This book had me in its grip from page one. Being in Red's head was jarring at first but definitely worked considering where the story goes. While I definitely felt that I knew the plot twist, there was more than one that completely caught me off guard. The cast of characters were well developed, especially considering how many there were and the secrets that we were supposed to believe about each of them.
I could not put this book down and finished it within about 12 hours of starting it. I highly recommend it.

This was such a fun ride. I have read all of Holly Jackson’s books and have loved each of them. I was fearful with her next one (this one) since it’s the first standalone after her A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy. I was not disappointed with this one at all. I love road-trip stories and add in suspense, mystery, and murder and you have a great premise for a book. I also really like the idea of the story taking place sequentially without any sort of time jump. I truly felt like things were unraveling right in front of me. I loved the characters, the plot, and the twist. I will continue to come back for each new book.

Eight hours. Six Friends. One Sniper…. Five Survive!

That tag line really peaked my interest when I was looking at winter 2022 book releases and came across Five Survive by Holly Jackson. A lot of my family members love Holly Jackon’s previous series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and I’ve been intrigued by it, and when I came across this title on NetGalley, I was excited to jump into this YA thriller!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This book follows Red and her friends as they are traveling by RV to their spring break location. They get lost along the way in the middle of nowhere and one of their tires blow out. With no cell phone service, they decide to brave the dark and unknown and change their tire. As soon as they get ready to head out, all four of their tires are shot out by a sniper they can’t see. They find out the sniper is wanting a secret from one of them and he won’t stop until he gets it. The next few hours are terrifying for this group as secrets come out, stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night in a small RV.

I really enjoyed this story! I think Holly Jackson does a great job making the story atmospheric and claustrophobic as these characters fight for their lives stuck in this RV. It’s fast paced as a lot of the story is told through dialogue and makes the ready experience very simple. It never felt slow in any places and really was a fun thriller to read in one sitting. It’s very bingeable as you are on the edge of your seat trying to figure out the character’s secrets, the sniper’s motivation and everything in between.

I wasn’t really invested in the characters themselves. There was something about them that fell a little flat. That really didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story and I overall had a good time and left guessing at what was really true and what wasn’t in this story. A solid 4 stars!

BOOK REVIEW 💯 📚

First off, thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of Five Survive.
Holly Jackson is honestly the queen of YA thriller/mysteries so you can imagine my excitement when I was approved for this one!
8 hours, 6 people, 1 sniper. A group of young adults are setting out in a 31 foot RV, on a road trip to a spring break destination. Almost to the halfway point, everything goes wrong and they are suddenly abandoned on a dead end road with no cell signal. Terror begins to pass through the group as they realize a sniper has them held hostage until one of them tells a deadly secret.
A great concept for a book, that kept me wanting to get the end. However it was pretty drawn, a little predictable, and honestly didn't love the characters all that much.

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#alliesbookreads #bookrecommendations #bookworm #books #followforfollowback #booklove #booklover #bookstagram #botm #bookreview #bookreviewer

Five Survive is the story of six friends headed out on a Spring Break adventure, but a wrong turn leads to a night they will never forget.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the writing and pacing were very well done. I've never hated a character as much as I hated Oliver, which is a good thing...strong writing. Some of the plot towards the end got a little convoluted, but I'm willing to overlook that. Overall, a compelling story.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for this ARC.

I ultimately did not finish this book. I loved the first two books in the Good Girl’s Guide series so I was hopeful about this. But it felt like a slog, with none of the characters being particularly interesting and the premise surprisingly tedious in its execution. I was happy to order it for my shop as I know there will be plenty of readers who don’t share my opinion.

This was such an intriguing concept, and Holly Jackson always delivers in twists, secrets, and horrifying plots (in a good way).

I think this might be the nature of this book specifically, but I never felt like I could fully get there and invest in the characters for this one. Their dynamics were really interesting but I never felt like I knew any of them. And, again, because secrets and lies are at the forefront of this book, I think that the deeper character development just became another casualty of that kind of plot. Except for Oliver. Oliver was THE most insufferable character I've read maybe ever. The dude made my skin crawl every time he spoke or did literally anything -- which felt very intentional and well done.

That said, the pacing of this book was so smooth and on point. I kept wanting to pick it up, even if just for small chunks of time while doing other things because I needed to know what was going to happen next. Although there were some things I guessed, and some things I didn't quite buy into, there were so many little surprises and turns taken along the way that I was so engaged while reading.

Listen, I love Holly Jackson and will read anything she touches but even though I didn't want to put this down, it didn't leave me quite as satisfied or shook I was hoping to be, given how her others have made me feel. It's still a solid thriller and the perfect mix of murder and intrigue.

Holy moly! You will devour this book once you start reading it! An entire book that is based on 8 hours worth of events. It is packed with non stop, page turning action. The basis is a group of friends are taking a road trip and the tire blows out in an area with no cell phone reception but they soon discover that it was not blown out but shot. No body is safe and anything can happen!

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Holly Jackson for this ARC !

Read this book!
Not into YA? Read it anyway!!!! This was a 4.25/5 star book!

After loving A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, I knew I had to read this one.
The story is different from anything I’ve read- a road trip gone very very wrong. I always love an eerie, secluded setting and this checked all the boxes.

There were some great twists along the way and the big twist at the end was so so good! I didn’t see it coming and the dots weren’t connecting in my head- so a win for me.
The whole story was paced really well and I loved that the chapters were broken up by hour so you felt like you were living in the characters timeline.

There were quite a few characters, and it took a hot second to remember who was who- but if a book has more than 3 main characters I’m always confusing myself.
All the characters had such different personalities and we got a decent amount of backstory (for some more than others), and I liked some than others, but I was super interested in reading about them all.

Parts of this book had me holding my breath- the setting was great and the descriptive writing added to the whole creeped out feeling.

I flew through this book- it was addicting, suspensful and I definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good thrill!

I would like to first thank Netgalley and Delacorte Press for sending me this E-arc in return for an honest review.

At first I was quite hesitant heading into the story if I would quite enjoy it. The premise was intriguing but not to the point I felt like I would love the story and mystery... But as I got through the story it hit me with a BAM! The twists and turns the story took as we try to figure out who has the secret, why they are being targeted, etc. Captivated me, and kept me in a grip with each page. The start of the book had the same feels of many thriller movies I had watched, where you knew something off was about to happen, I feel like we are given hints that soon something will happen, and then it does.

I loved some characters, and other characters made me just wish they got hit on the head with their choices. Holly Jackson does a good job of showing what it is like for a group of people to face being hunted in a small space, and how it feels to start going crazy. If you want to feel like you will go crazy from feeling trapped and hopeless, I highly suggest this book.

I still can't believe that ending!!

Hope there is a book 2.

Five Survive by Holly Jackson is an exciting, page-turning thriller that will keep you riveted to the edge of your seat. Jackson's well-crafted characters are realistic and engaging, with a fast-paced plot that never lets up.

Five Survive was a story of six friends on a road trip in an RV that get stranded, and soon it’s a fight to stay alive the next eight hours. Who of the five survive?

This book was one of my anticipated reads, and it wasn’t what I was expecting. The characters were personally a bit cringey, the plot seemed to twist all over and I just couldn’t finish. I’m hopeful to read her next books soon!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for this ARC in exchange for this opportunity.

This would make an excellent tv series or movie. Very suspenseful and action packed. The plot is a smidge flimsy and the characters aren’t super memorable, but this hits all the right notes if you like high action books.

I loved the good girls guide to murder trilogy, and I was really excited for Holly‘s Jackson’s next book. I didn’t love this one quite as much, but I still think it’s worth a read. One thing I loved about her previous books was the mixed media approach, and that isn’t present in this book, I also generally don’t love books that take place over a super condensed period of time in this case eight hours. Those are just personal preference is though and I think this book will still satisfy Jackson’s fanbase.

Unfortunately, this was just ok for me. It is basically a locked room style mystery, with six friends held hostage by a sniper in their RV, that takes place over eight hours. And in those eight hours, a lot of it is spent trying to escape and outwit the gunman, and being bossed around by a character with huge rich white boy privilege.

All the characters were pretty one dimensional and just felt like they were there to take up space. The only one that was semi-likable was the narrator, Red, but even she was given weird quirks that I guess were supposed to make her seem unreliable, but never really explained anything.

What I did like were the twists and the eventual conclusion of the book, but it took a really long time to get there. I could have done without spending a whole night stuck in a RV with these people and wish the whole story had taken a different route.

Wow. I can't even explain the roller coaster of a reading journey this one is. I loved Good Girl's Guide to Murder but this one may be pulling in ahead of it. It was intense and full of so many secrets! It was so suspenseful from beginning to end as each secret was unraveled. It's everything I look for in a good YA Thriller. I definitely recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the chance to read this advanced copy.

This was a true thriller! I could definitely see it being turned into a movie or mini series in the next few years.

Each time I picked up the book, I had trouble putting it down. I felt true anxiety throughout the entire book in the best way. It was unpredictable and never slowed its fast pace for a minute once it started a chapter or two into the book.

This has kept me up much too late a few nights in a row from its addictiveness. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys a classic teen thriller. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this book become as popular as her “A Good Girls Guide to Murder.”

What a great thriller. Heavy on plot, low on character development. It reminded me of a 90s teen thriller movie. Fun and something teens would enjoy.