Book Review: Five Survive by Holly Jackson

 

Book: Five Survive

Author: Holly Jackson 

Pages: 389

Read on: iPad

Read in: ~4 hours 

Plot Summary: 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...

Things I Liked: 

1. The premise was very interesting! I have read and immensely enjoyed the Good Girls trilogy by Holly Jackson and so, this book, set over a night during a road trip where six high school seniors (a couple of them were college-going) are being hunted by a sniper, seemed really interesting! 

2. This was a very fast-paced and thrilling book. Very at the edge-of-your-seat type of a thriller. The events of this book take place over 7-8 hours and so, there is not a lot of time to waste and things happen quite fast and even backstories are dealt with in a crisp manner. The book is gripping and the author manages to hold our interest throughout. 

3. There are a couple of mysteries at the core of this story and a few of them are connected and a few of them aren't. So, the narrative gears up towards revealing these mysteries/ secrets as the night progresses and the sniper demands that whoever is hiding the secret he is interested in needs to 'fess up. So, we get to hear some of these secrets and the inter-personal relationships amongst this group splinter and devolve as the night deepens.

4. The big mystery is a little different from what you'd expect in a Young Adult (YA) crime thriller and that is something that I quite liked. Not going to spill much more on this because I don't want to spoil this book for you. 

5. All the six characters are decently developed and we know just enough about each of them. Obviously, Red, our protagonist, is the most well developed of all characters. Your heart will go out to her and the struggles that she's had to endure since her mom died five years ago. She is strong, resourceful, kind and has a solid sense of morality. A very likeable character. 

The others are what you'd expect young people to be when faced with a sniper- panicked, selfish, afraid. All of it is quite nicely done and you can feel their fear and stress levels through the pages. 

6. The ending is satisfying and almost everything that needs resolving is resolved. There is one thing that has been left open-ended but not too open-ended. You'll know what I mean when you read the book! :) 

Rating: 4/5