Book Review - Five Survive by Holly Jackson

Title: Five Survive
Author: Holly Jackson
Genre: Thriller/ Young Adult
Published: 2023
 
Description: Eighteen year olf 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. Ans as the wheels are show out, one by one, the friends realize that this is no accidents. 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 target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. No everyone will survive the night.
 
Review: A group of six friends, touring in an RV to go spend Spring Break at the beach, strand in the middle of nowhere, when the RV breaks down. When they find out, all the tires have been shot out, they know something is wrong. This is too big of a coincidence. A sniper is keeping them at gunpoint. He knows all of them by name and knows that one of them has a secret that he is willing to kill for. The friends have to figure out which secret it is he wants. Because, everyone has secrets.
 
The setting is great, stranded in the middle of nowhere, just one location, with danger lurking. Cell phones not working and no one around, add to the scary atmosphere. Even though these things are pretty predictable ingredients, I did enjoy that part.
 
We are dealing with teenagers in this book. Aside from Red, you don’t really get to know the characters very well. Some of the are just the siblings and the boyfriend, they have no depth. Red was the only fleshed-out character and you understand her rhyme and reason to everything. Overall, these characters make dumb decisions and I hated Olive.
 
Even though this was a thriller with high stakes for the character, I never felt on the edge of my seat. This book went up and down for me. Some moments I was really into it and loving it, and at times I was just sighing and annoyed by the characters.
 
I was so excited for this book Holly Jackson, I love her “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” series. This is her first standalone and it was really disappointing. I do want to continue reading Jackson’s novels, this was the only slight miss, where I have already read 4 hits.
 
Rating: 2,5/ 5