I really, really wanted to like this book since I enjoyed books 1 and 2 of TGGGTM series so much, but it was just okay. The characters fell flat for me, and I really hated how Red was portrayed not only as unreliable, but also just irritating, immature, and overly childish. The "twists" were incredibly predictable (in fact, in my book notes, I predicted things at only 15% into the book), and I grew to REALLY dislike several of the characters more and more as the story went on to the point of not caring whether they lived or died.

I thought that the high-tension aspect was decently well done, but I found the description of EVERY little action and reaction to become repetitive after a while. Also, I can't be the only one who was irrationally annoyed by the fact that we never even get to solve the mystery of what the heck the pattern in the curtains reminded Red of...after all of that obsession with it

This was such a fun read! Holly Jackson never disappoints. I read this in one sitting because it was so engaging. I did figure out half of the twist early on, but the other part was a surprise!

"Eight hours. Six friends. One sniper."

I absolutely love the way this book was set up. An hour by hour account of some of the most horrifying moments in Red's life. It kept me interested and wanting to devour it in one sitting. I found myself still thinking about what was going to happen next when I had to put it down to run errands or finish up some work. It was that suspenseful and compelling. The only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because it just was truly an unrealistic storyline. And there were questions that went unanswered about Catherine Lavoy and her involvement. It could have been made a little bit more realistic. But it was an excellent read, nonetheless. If you're looking to escape the horrors of the real world for a while and not have to fear that this is something that could happen to you, this is definitely the book to get lost in.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review and opinions.

📖Arc Review📖
Five Survive
by Holly Jackson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coming November 29th

Brief Summary:
It’s spring break and Red and her friends are headed to the beach in an RV. They soon find themselves lost and stranded. Now there is someone out in the dark sabotaging their vehicle and shooting at them. One of them has a secret the shooter wants and giving him the information is the only way to survive.

The problem is everyone on the trip has their own secret. Will they be able to escape without giving their secrets up? Or will they be willing to let go of theirs to save the rest?

My experience:
It took me about three weeks to get 20% of the way through this book. I hit that 20% mark today and the rest of the book just clicked and I had a great time with it.

Jackson did a really good job of making you feel like you had this book figured out, only to find you were incorrect multiple times. I did not guess the ending and I enjoyed the ride.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The plot was intriguing and I couldn't guess the "secret" and I didn't see some of the twists coming which I enjoyed but I felt that it was just too long which unfortunately made the book drag in parts. That said I am sure I will read any new books of Jackson's in the future as I enjoyed her previous works.

This is a mystery thriller about 6 teens on their way to spring break in a RV when they become stranded in the middle of nowhere with a sniper holding them at gunpoint. The premise sounds really out there, but I decided to go along with it. For me, the characters all fell flat and were unlikeable. The MC, Red, had some nonsensical inner monologues and I still don't understand her obsession with the curtains or why she kept emphasizing that the RV was 31 feet long.

I saw some of the plot twists coming, but I will say there was one that I didn't suspect. Overall, I would have found this more of a tighter read if the characters were more fleshed out and if the ending wasn't so predictable and implausible.

The description of the book was not what I thought the book was actually about for me. I read the first chapter and knew immediately that it was not something I would enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for a digital copy of Five Survive in exchange for an honest review. All I have to say is WOW! This book kept me up all night. I couldn't stop reading it! My heart pounded, I bit my nails, I got angry, I felt relief, I was shocked, this book had me feeling all the feels. What a fun read!

Coming from her infamous AGGTM, Holly Jackson returns with a YA-mystery action-packed novel. Kit is one of six friends on a spring break road trip, when suddenly everything seems to go wrong and now they're stuck in the middle of no where, with no cell service, and someone on the outside who knows more than they've let on. Fighting for their lives, both from the outside and inside threats, the six must figure out how to survive the night.

I would consider this book more suspense/action rather than the marketed mystery. There is definitely more gore and horror in this novel than her previous work. I did enjoy the overall mystery, but some parts did seem not feasible. The characters are enjoyable and you really do feel their panic all throughout the novel.

This is a gripping novel that hooks you in from the start, perfect for fans of the genre or AGGGTM. I do wish there was more emphasis on the mystery side of things rather than the action/gore in the RV.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for the ARC. Five Survive comes out November 29!

I’m a big fan of the Good Girl series so I went into this with high hopes, but in the end, it just wasn’t for me. There’s a little more action than actual mystery, with long descriptions of what’s happening that took me out of it. I couldn’t really grab onto the characters, and I didn’t love the reveal of what’s actually going on here — it shifts things into another genre that I’m not super interested in. That being said, I did read the whole thing! I wanted to know what was happening, and the cliffhanger chapter endings keep you going, which I found fun. I could see other people loving this, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

5 stars. Wow. This thriller. Wow. Five Survive is everything that I want on a thriller. With that said, if you’ve read AGGGTM and were hoping that Five Survive would be similar, you might be disappointed. The books are very very different. For starters, Five Survive is a true thriller, while AGGGTM feels more like a mystery. Pip and Red are wildly different characters. And for that matter, so are Ravi and Arthur. But if you got into Five Survive hoping to read an exceptionally well written thriller filled with twists and suspense, then you’re in luck. Because that is exactly what Five Survive delivers. The book is told entirely from Red’s POV, and we do have a bit of an unreliable narrator situation going on. It follows Red and five of her friends who are traveling via RV for a spring break trip. Everything is going well until they make a wrong turn, and then end up stranded in the woods… with a sniper. All of the characters have secrets, and there’s nothing like a closed door setting and a guy with a gun to force those secrets out into the open. If YA isn’t your thing but thrillers are, I still say give this a chance. Yes, the characters are in high school/ college, but the story and the writing are so tremendously engaging. This will go down as my favorite thriller of the year.

What a great fast paced thrilling YA novel. Another great book by this author. A stand alone about a group of kids on their way to enjoy spring break when their RV breaks down and they suddenly find themselves in a terrible predicament. Good story, lots of action and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for letting me read this one early. You can find this one on sale on 11/29.

As someone who adored A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER series, I jumped at the chance to read Holly Jackson’s newest book. This one is not part of the series and features all new characters. I had a hard time connecting to these guys and at the same time felt like I got a little too much from the main character, just a lot of internal monologue that I felt was unnecessary. It felt predictable and it felt familiar, this one reminds me of a movie but I just cant put my finger on which one. I was an enjoyable read and I think it’ll do well but it won’t top any of my lists. Is this one on your TBR?

really enjoyed this one! I loved AGGGTM series (some of my favorite books of all time), and was highly anticipating the next book that Ms. Jackson would write, given that I'd read somewhere she was going to take a break after finishing the first series. Though this is different and close quarters, I still loved her writing, I love the stress she gives me. This one is no different, and if you loved AGGGTM (or any thriller for that matter) please, please pick this one up!

WOW-what a page turner! FYI - When you start to read this book, be sure to save yourself enough time to read the whole thing because you won't be able to put it down.

Six people (4 teens and 2 young adults) are traveling south for spring break in a 31-foot RV. They are excited to spend the week enjoying the sun and spending time with friends. Just before they reach their first campsite, they lose the navigation systems on their phones due to spotty no-service zone in a remote, wooded area. As they guess and bicker about left or right turns, they end up going down a very remote, woodsy road. At this point they get a flat tire and, once they've put on the spare, they begin to turn the RV around when someone shoots out all four tires and their gas tank.

Initially, they have no idea what's going on and don't even realize that the damage has been done by bullets. Once they realize the dangerous predicament they are in, the sniper starts sending messages through a walkie-talkie that has been attached to the RV. The sniper's objective is simple, one of them has a secret that needs to be told. Tell that secret and they can live. Keep hiding the secret and they will be killed one-by-one.

What a great read and an amazing ending! Perfect for fans of YA mysteries, murder, and suspense fiction.

Thanks to Holly Jackson, NetGalley, and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

I reread Good Girls Guide to Murder before reading this one thinking that it was a sequel. This book has the same vibe as Good Girls and will appeal to audiences that really enjoyed Good Girls. I felt that it was a little too predictable and carried similar patterns from other YA mystery/fiction. Just ok for me.
Thank you Net Galley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike most people reviewing this book, I have not read A Good Girl's Guide to Murder yet, but I have been meaning to get around to it. I saw this book available and decided to jump in to Holly Jackson's writing with it. I have to say, at first I was enjoying the book, but not in love with it. I think it was mostly because it was a little outside of what I would typically read for a thriller. ********spoiler******* I wouldn't normally read about an active shooter, but after I got through the beginning when you learn about the situation they're in and you start seeing the group dynamic and getting into their secrets, I started to enjoy it a lot more! I did have some of it figured out as the story went on, but there was enough twists that I never had everyone and everything completely figured out. In the end I really ended up enjoying this book and I will absolutely make sure that I finally get around to reading Holly Jackson's other books!

I received this book from NetGalley, thank you!

This book was AMAZING. I would like to be able to say that I finished it in the allotted eight hours, but the truth is that I finished it much sooner since I couldn't put it down. Five Survive stands out among YA thrillers because it has the intensity and stakes of an adult thriller while also being frighteningly realistic for its teen readership.

As someone who LOVED the Good Girls Guide to Murder series, this one fell a little... flat for me.

The plot is great; I just found the characters hard to relate to. This could be because I'm not in the age demographic that this book is targeted to or it could be because I was expecting the "kaboom" I got from a GGG2M.

I will still read whatever Ms. Holly writes as the writing is excellent! It just wasn't for me this time around!

Thanks, Netgalley & Publisher for the ARC.

It is time for the senior year spring break road trip and Red plans to enjoy time with her friends in an RV. The drive seems to never end but everyone is trying to enjoy themselves until they make some wrong turns and the RV breaks down in a secluded area with no cell phone reception. They quickly learn that this wasn’t an accident when a sniper shoots out their wheels and their gas tank. He tells them that he knows who they are and he will let them go IF they tell him the secret he wants. What secret? Who is hiding something? Who is going to die?

Five Survive is a stand-alone mystery that was a page-turner from the start. Jackson has created a new cast of characters that readers will easily relate to and as different people slowly admit to their secrets; readers will be just as shocked as those within the pages. We know from the title that one of them will die, but the why and the how is a shocker. I enjoyed this book and think all mystery fans will enjoy it too.