ARC Book Review: Five Survive by Holly Jackson

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Thriller
Length: 400 pages
Author: Holly Jackson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: November 29th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Eight hours. Six friends. Five survive. A road trip turns deadly in this addictive YA thriller from the bestselling author of the worldwide phenomenon A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER.

Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Her best friend – the older brother – his perfect girlfriend – a secret crush – a classmate – and a killer.

When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead.

With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or figure out which of them is the target. But is there a liar among them? Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels. Not all of them will survive the night.

Thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for an eARC.

WHOA.

Well this a riiiiide. One that I binge read in two sittings because I easily get wrapped up in thrillers. I am also easily spooked by anything remotely creepy or frightening so yes, I was reading with a light on.

For a book only covering 8 hours it was an adventure. A very interesting group of friends together just trying to get to spring break when BAM. All the things start happening. This book needed a fast paced and that pace was served. I spanned the spectrum on emotions towards all of the characters. Which to me was the kind of thing I like seeing in thrillers. I want to hug some characters and shake others. I even impressed myself with figuring out who were the five to survive.

The plot is definitely intense at times and high stakes were achieved. There were big twists that took me by surprise and I loved turning the pages on this one. I’m not really a thriller reader, but Holly Jackson is one thriller author I will keep coming back to.

Overall audience notes:

YA Thriller
Language: some strong
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent (recounted multiple times), executions (recounted), gun violence, attempted murder, murder, physical altercations, alcohol consumption, mob violence