Five Survive
HOLLY JACKSON
Synopsis:
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. . . .
Content:
Language: swearing throughout, mostly in the form of "f," and a few uses of "s."
Violence: There are descriptions of blood and gunshot wounds, as well as depictions of PTSD. The story revolves around six teens being held hostage by a sniper prepared to shoot if they leave the safety of their RV, and the threat is always looming.
Sex: there are a few allusions/jokes about sex, minimal mention of attraction between characters, and two scenes were a woman has to take off her clothes (though not in a sexual way, and her undergarments stay on). There are also some romantic relationship themes.
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review: I was given a free digital ARC in exchange for my review, so the large block of text below is for that. The short version is here:
I loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and really wanted to love Five Survive too. Unfortunately, it just fell flat. I found the narration style annoying and jarring, and the plot twists seemed underdeveloped and underwhelming. Also, I hate that ending. Way too open-ended, hardly any definite answers about some major questions I still have.
My Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Okay, what did I just read?
No, seriously, what was it? I am almost positive that it wasn't a thriller by THE Holly Jackson, because I was honestly more interested in Red's obsession with the curtain pattern than the actual plot.
I loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but I didn't read the rest of the series because I heard they weren't as good. I don't know if I was just expecting the wrong thing, but I cannot express how much of a disappointment Five Survive was. The characters had moments of interest, but in the end they all fell flat. Half the time I didn't know whether I wanted to hug Red or throttle her. I understand the style Jackson was going for when she wrote Red's narration as a complete mess of scattered thoughts and random references to Phineas and Ferb, but it really just didn't work.
There were plot points that had me raising my eyebrows, wondering at the reasons and motivations for these characters, and just generally thinking some of the patching on the holes needed a little more working. If there were a few tweaks here and there, and a bit more explanation of some of the plot twists (which were, in fact, extremely underwhelming and underdeveloped), it could have been a solid read. But even if that all happened, I cannot get over the ambiguity of the ending. I'm sorry, but not even the author can be satisfied with how she left the story and the characters.
Overall, this was such a disappointment and underwhelming. I was so excited to have received an ARC, and I really hope Jackson's next work is more captivating.