Interesting Concept, But a Bit Unbelievable at Times

Five Survive had a gripping premise—six friends trapped in an RV with a sniper targeting them—but parts of the story just didn’t make sense to me. While the tension between the characters and the mystery of who the sniper is after kept me hooked, some plot points felt far-fetched and a little too contrived. I was expecting more thrilling twists, but some of the reveals felt a bit out of nowhere.

That being said, the characters were pretty interesting, and the claustrophobic setting definitely added to the suspense. It’s an enjoyable read overall, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. Still, if you're into high-stakes thrillers, it’s worth checking out!

I really enjoy Holly Jackson and her writing is great for someone who doesn't usually read YA. I think its very hard to follow her A Good Girls Guide series but this was a strong thriller. I enjoyed the premise and it reminded me of books such as No Exit.

Loved this book, wish I’d had the time to read it all in one go. Red was a great unreliable narrator. Holly did a great job of making the main character just suspicious enough that you suspect that she’s the one that knows the secret so the plot twists of the other secrets come as a surprise. It was a very emotional book but it didn’t make me cry or give me goosebumps etc at any point so there was a slight detachment from being able to emphasise with Red.

I have loved previous books from this author, so loved to be able to listen to this one in audio. A absolute treat and just didn’t want to stop

The story pulled me in straight away and I was immediately invested in Red’s character. The plot spans over 8 hours, so it’s fast paced and exciting throughout.

It’s also got a very chaotic and claustrophobic feel to it all with them being stuck in the RV for the whole time - it’s quite stressful to read in parts.

The characters were well written, each with their own distinct voices and personalities. Some I loved, others not so much - I mean Oliver was unbearable and I couldn’t stand him!

The twists were plentiful and clever, and even though I’d guessed quite a lot of them, it didn’t deter my enjoyment. The plot thickens as the story develops and gets twistier and more messed up as it goes - finishing with one really explosive ending.

For fans of Holly Jackson’s previous work - this is a great addition and I’m sure you’ll love it. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves a pacey, locked-in style thriller.

I enjoyed #goodgirlsguidetomurder so had to get the next available book by #hollyjackson. #fivesurvive is a #crime #thriller. When a group of friends head off on an RV trip of course everything goes to plan 😂 can’t say I’d have guessed a sniper if it hadn’t been on the front cover many thanks to #netgalley and #harpercollinsukaudio for gifting me an #arc in exchange for an honest review

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

I have long given up on finding a YA thriller which will genuinely surprise me, and sadly Five Survive is no exception. Having said that, this is a genuinely enjoyable listen and is by far one of the best examples of its genre.

Five Survive is the story of a group of friends on their way to spring break when they get caught in a nightmare situation. After going off road, a sniper shoots out all of their tyres and holds them hostage. Their only hope for escape is for them to correctly identify the secret the sniper wants, and potentially sacrifice that person to the sniper.

As mentioned, this book did not surprise me once. I think it is painfully clear from the first few chapters why the teens are held hostage, as well as a few other 'reveals' from later on. It would be nice if a few of these story elements were masked a bit better because it does undercut a lot of the tension.

The main strength of this book is the characters and the tension they provide from being trapped. Oliver in particular is a super interesting character, and Red herself made for a reasonable enough protagonist. I do think there was scope to develop characters even further. Maddy in particular is very important to the narrative throughout, but we barely learn anything about her despite her being Red's best friend. They never speak independently of the group or really interact properly, which seems super weird.

I had a few issues with the audiobook specifically. Some of Red's inner narration is quite annoying when it is read aloud to you, though I think this would be better in print. Several times the narrator says a line and then the speech tags say a completely different delivery (for example, shouting a line then following it with 'Maddy said quietly') which was just jarring to listen to.

Overall, I think this book would be very much enjoyed by a teen audience but it doesn't have much reach beyond that. In terms of YA thrillers, it is one of the better ones out there. I would probably recommend the text version over the audiobook, just because of the minor narration issues I pointed out

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Six teenagers are stranded in the middle of nowhere, there’s a sniper outside and one of them has a secret, that’s about the gist of the story. Sounds great right? Five Survive was very promising but unfortunately the focus on the secret came rather late into the story. Red is the main character, the one who doesn’t really fit in, the one whose mother was killed in the line of duty and the one who’s always strapped for money. Is any of this relevant to what’s happening? You’ll just have to read/listen to the story yourself.

Whilst I very much enjoyed the denouement at the end, the rest of the story didn’t blow me away like her previous novels. A lot of time in the story is taken up by their attempts to escape. At a certain point there was also an elaborate mirror trick put in place to determine the position of the sniper but despite the very detailed account I still couldn’t see how it worked without any of them actually going outside. Other than that there was definitely some added shock value that I wasn’t really prepared for so I liked some of it very much and some of it was a bit tedious.

The tension could also been a little more present as I found they were relatively in a safe place as long as they stayed inside. It was only when they finally might receive some help that I became quite anxious. The title reveals that one of them dies and I was constantly wondering who wouldn’t make it, and why. I had no idea who the victim would be although I did want to put one of them up as the story progressed because there’s one selfish, egoistic character in that RV and if not given a choice I would know who to sacrifice.

I loved the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy so much so my expectations were quite high and while I’m impressed with the who and why of it all, I just didn’t feel it reached the same awesomeness level as her previous work.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like the narration at all. The narrator (Emma Galvin) had a hard voice and apart from the shouting going on she talked with a raised voice so much even though it wasn’t mentioned explicitly in the text that it got on my nerves and probably influenced my opinion of the novel as well, even though I don’t want it to have an impact.

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

Tense and well-plotted, this novel was a fast-paced and breathtakingly wild ride. I felt as trapped as the central characters and tore through the pages to find their secrets revealed and to hopefully return them to safety. I could guess the trajectory early on but this didn't ruin all my enjoyment in the story and in discovering who the characters truly were.

It is hard to avoid the hype surrounding Holly Jackson’s books if you are actively online. It was down to this hype that I picked up A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder which unfortunately I did not enjoy. Despite that, as soon as I saw she was releasing a new stand-alone book I wanted to give it a read and see if this one would live up to the hype. Although Five Survive did not completely live up to the hype surrounding it, I did enjoy giving this one a read.

Eighteen-year-old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. Despite the long drive, spirits are high until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There is nobody around to help and no mobile phone reception and as the wheels of the RV are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There is a sniper out there, watching the, and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

I was expecting this one to be fast-paced right from the start so was a little disappointed when it a little while for the pace to pick up. When that did happen though the book was incredibly fast-paced and began to take some unexpected twists and turns which I did enjoy. I did enjoy the number of twists and turns that happened throughout this book. They were all shocking and took me by surprise. I did manage to guess one of them but that didn’t take away from the shock of when that twist actually happened. One thing I found really interesting was that this entire book is solely set on an RV. It made imagining the setting incredibly easy and allowed me to understand how trapped the characters must have been feeling.

The characters in this book are so varied and complex. Red, the main character, is easily the most complex of them all. She is a character I didn’t know whether to trust or not at first but I grew to like her in the end. I just wish she had stuck up for herself a little more though. Simon was my favourite character in this book. He is very easy to like and his humour brought some much needed light-hearted moments to the story. Oliver and Arthur are two characters I hope to never meet in real life. They both bring some really interesting things to the book but I just didn’t get on with them personally. Finally Maddy and Reyna in my opinion were forgettable characters. They felt as though they were there to add numbers but that being said they did allow for some interesting dialogue.

Five Survive may not have been my favourite read of the year but it was an enjoyable and fast-paced one. It has definitely changed my opinion on Holly Jackson books and I will be looking out for what she is going to be releasing next as I will be sure to give it a read and see what I think. I listened to the audiobook of Five Survive and the narration really helped to bring the story to life in a different way and definitely added to the tension of the book.

Overall, Five Survive is the perfect book to pick up if you are looking for something packed full of twists and turns. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and hook you in straight away.

This book is absolutely fantastic and I can't get enough of Holly's writing! She's definitely the UK's very own Karen McManus.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of the audiobook of ‘Five Survive’. This is a great audiobook and I know it would go down a storm with some of my advanced readers at school. I did have a few moments in the early stages of the book where I found the storyline a little predictable, but the latter stages more than made up for this. The narrative focuses on six friends who go on a road trip and get lost. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal they also get a flat tyre. It becomes obvious soon after that their misfortune isn’t as accidental as it may seem.

It must feel like an impossible task, writing a new book after your first was as popular as Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Especially when that book is so popular for being so different (at least that’s what I think).
In many ways, Holly Jackson achieved this. Five Survive was a thrilling, edge-of-the-seat book. It was a really interesting premise with a really interesting set-up… if a little unlikely. And it was so different from AGGGTM, in terms of plot and character and location.
But I felt like it lost the heart of what made me love AGGGTM so much. Unlike many mysteries, AGGGTM made me care for the characters and made me want to solve the mystery so they would get closure - I didn’t love the characters in this. As they were all keeping secrets from each other, we didn’t get to know them and didn’t have motivation to solve the mystery - other to get them out the RV.
I wasn’t surprised by the mystery either. There were details I didn’t guess, but I certainly felt like I predicted more than usual.
So… I liked it, but didn’t love it. I think AGGGTM was a mystery and this was more a thriller and maybe I should have considered that when I read it - maybe I would even have liked it more had I gone into it with that in mind.

Five Survive is a a very exciting high octane, high energy book about six seventeen and eighteen year old young Americans who are setting off on their spring break in an RV (31 feet!) ready for some relaxing time with their friends before the next school term starts. They head off, but soon get a little lost along the way and break down in the middle of some woods and of course, there is no phone coverage.

Red is the main character to this story and has an bit of a back story. The other 5 on the trip are Maddy- her best mate, older brother Oliver and his girlfriend - Reyna and friends Arthur and Simon. Its not long before they realise thing are seriously wrong when they realise that their tyres have been shot out and all is not as it seems. Great characters and enjoyed how they developed over the short period in the book.

The audio version is narrated by Emma Galvin who she does a really good job. I was initially surprised it was an American narrator, but made complete sense as the book is set in the US.

I've not read any Holly Jackson books before, but will definitely be on the look out for more.

I received the audio version from HarperCollins UK Audio, Electric Monkey in exchange for a for an honest review and enjoyed every moment. I can easily see this being made into a teen thriller movie.

Perfectly crafted, full of tension and suspense and suspicion. I love a Holly Jackson book so was excited to see what the queen of YA delivered with this one … let me tell you…. A MASTERPIECE

I tried, three times, to listen to this as I loved Jackson’s previous books. However, I did not like the narrator at all. I will wait for the paperback.

Six friends head out for a road trip in an RV. When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere they suddenly find themselves under attack from a sniper. Initially they believe it's because they've strayed on to someones property but it soon becomes obvious that they've been targeted because one of them has a secret.

Author Holly Jackson takes her time at the beginning of Five Survive to set the scene. Lead character, Red, is still struggling to come to terms with her mother's murder. Her father has given up on life and Red is floundering emotionally and financially. Her best friend is aware of the strain and tries to help without being too obvious, hence a road trip in an RV for spring break, rather than flying.

Red is a sympathetic character, someone who doesn't put herself forward, doesn't make demands, but I found her constant inner monologues annoying. Red was the only person among the group of friends who really had any appropriate skills for the situation they found themselves in but allowed herself to be railroaded by more assertive members of the group.

The premise of the story is great. When the sniper demands that one of them gives up "the secret" we discover that there may be more than one secret being withheld; secrets which link to a high profile court case involving a local mafia boss. Having the story contained within the space of a few hours in an isolated location keeps the pace moving. The fact that the sniper seems to know exactly what is happening inside the RV also means that the friends begin to wonder if they can trust each other.

While the story-line was great I wasn't gripped by it. I needed to keep reminding myself that this was written for a YA audience. I wasn't enamored of the narrator either, this could be part of the reason I found the inner monologues annoying.

I listened to the audio of this and it was really good. I enjoyed it a lot. The characters were good, one in particular I actually ended up shouting at because he was insufferable so well done Holly for creating such an arsehole lol. I liked the plot thought it moved along quite well and definitely kept me guessing though I did suspect something very close to the truth in the end.

Great story and enjoyed it much more than I thought (I was very disappointed in the third Good girls guide book so was apprehensive but happy to be wrong)

This book had many twists and turns! Found myself constantly guessing where it was going and who had the secret! I must admit I didn’t guess it when was finally revealed! This haven’t happened in a while so was a nice surprise to be surprised!!

Excellent YA thriller. Couldn't listen to this on my own at times as it was very tense and scary! Love the whole plot and the unknown sniper. This was not at all what I expected and very well written.