Eight hours. Six Friends. One Sniper…. Five Survive!
That tag line really peaked my interest when I was looking at winter 2022 book releases and came across Five Survive by Holly Jackson. A lot of my family members love Holly Jackon’s previous series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and I’ve been intrigued by it, and when I came across this title on NetGalley, I was excited to jump into this YA thriller!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
This book follows Red and her friends as they are traveling by RV to their spring break location. They get lost along the way in the middle of nowhere and one of their tires blow out. With no cell phone service, they decide to brave the dark and unknown and change their tire. As soon as they get ready to head out, all four of their tires are shot out by a sniper they can’t see. They find out the sniper is wanting a secret from one of them and he won’t stop until he gets it. The next few hours are terrifying for this group as secrets come out, stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night in a small RV.
I really enjoyed this story! I think Holly Jackson does a great job making the story atmospheric and claustrophobic as these characters fight for their lives stuck in this RV. It’s fast paced as a lot of the story is told through dialogue and makes the ready experience very simple. It never felt slow in any places and really was a fun thriller to read in one sitting. It’s very bingeable as you are on the edge of your seat trying to figure out the character’s secrets, the sniper’s motivation and everything in between.
I wasn’t really invested in the characters themselves. There was something about them that fell a little flat. That really didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story and I overall had a good time and left guessing at what was really true and what wasn’t in this story. A solid 4 stars!
Late Night Reading 