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ashley_dang096 's review for:

Five Survive by Holly Jackson
2.0

Six teens, one RV, a trip that goes awry... and now they are stranded with no signal and a killer with a rifle watching and listening to them... the only way they can get out is if one of them reveals the secret... or they all die. Red Kenny is going on a road trip with five friends: her best friend Maddy, Maddy’s older brother Oliver, Oliver’s girlfriend Reyna, Red’s secret crush Arthur, and a classmate, Simon. But when their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service, they soon realize that it was no accident as all their tires are destroyed, there is no cell signal, someone is taking shots at them... and a walkie has appeared with a killer on the other end telling them that everything that has happened has been planned. With eight hours until dawn they’ll have to figure out how to escape or which one is the target. But things get more complicated when they all have secrets and when it comes to light... will they be able to face each other. Oliver and Reyna committed an unspeakable act, Simon has a family member that might be involved with crime, Arthur is the mysterious unknown person, and Red has a deep dark secret of her own.

Let me start off by saying it was interesting at first but quickly, and I mean quickly became dull. The characters were pretty unlikable and unbearable, but I guess we have to give them a pass for being teens? Honestly, I adored the author’s previous books so this one was disappointing to read because of how much it lacked. You could honestly skip 30% of the book and still figure out the ending. Sadly this one was a miss for me, though I would definitely recommend giving the author’s works a read because her other series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is fantastic.

SpoilerOliver killed Reyna’s secret boyfriend and they never told anyone, Simon’s uncle sells stolen cars, Red lied about being the witness to a major crime case and is in fact taking money to lie about it, Arthur is working with the gun man to reveal who the real killer is in the case his father is being framed for and who he knows Red is lying about. Red is taking money from Oliver and Maddy’s mom because she wants Red to help her win the case so she can become DA while she in fact killed Red’s mother, a Captain of the police force Maddy knew her mom killed Red’s mom.


*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*