"Five Survive"

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

Pages: 386 Genre: YA thriller

Rating: 4.5 Star

Book Club Pick

Eighteen-year-old Red is heading off on a Spring Break trip with her friends to the beach in an RV. It's a long drive, but they're all having fun. Until the RV breaks down. Then they're stranded with no cell service, nobody around to help, and ... is someone shooting at the RV? There's a sniper out in the woods, and someone inside the RV has a secret that he wants. Buried secrets are brought to light as Red realizes she didn't really know her friends as well as she thought she did. Six friends went on the trip, but only five are going to make it out alive.

This book had me stressed from the very start. YA books have no business being this scary, but I should've never doubted Holly Jackson. Everything about this situation was the worst-case scenario nightmare, from the cramped, broken-down RV to the shooter who has no reservations of killing people. Basically, I loved it.

The characters were brilliant. Some were more relevant than others, but they all served a good role. Oliver, Red, and Arthur in particular were so perfect. I can't say much without spoiling it (and I believe you should go in as blind as possible), but at a certain point she managed to make us more stressed about the people inside the RV than outside, which is pretty remarkable given the active shooter situation.

And I really enjoyed Red as a protagonist. She's certainly a little scattered, which might bother some readers, but I really loved her. Everything about Red seemed real. But she was ultimately just a good avenue for the story. She felt things so strongly that she made the reveals more powerful and impactful.

Putting the whole story together was heartbreaking. It was a little predictable, but only at a base level. I'm sure if I really put my mind to it I could've put the pieces together correctly, but as I mostly just going with the flow, it was instead like I had successfully put all the edge pieces together. It was both set up and connected very smoothly, and it certainly tugged at your heartstrings.

The ending was the only thing I was a little iffy on. I liked how open-ended a lot of details were, until the last little bit was an exposition dump that just felt unnecessary. Honestly, it seemed like she was trying too hard to replicate the way the end of the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy felt, and it just didn't have the same punch. Although it was sweet.

YA mystery/thrillers won't be for everyone, but I thought this was brilliant. Anyone who enjoyed A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (or, really As Good as Dead) will certainly enjoy this one too.