Five Survive by Holly Jackson [BOOK REVIEW]

Going into “Five Survive” by Holly Jackson, I didn’t know what to expect, but I ended up enjoying the story so much. This is my second Holly Jackson book, “A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder” being the first one, a book I devoured! Five Survive was different because I listened to the audiobook, but Holly Jackson’s writing was still incredible.

There is something very odd about driving to work and listening to a story about six teenagers going on a road trip in their RV, and they’re suddenly being held at gunpoint. But this is the kind of atmosphere that excites me, and I can proudly say I enjoyed my eventful drives to work. There is an interesting, psychological game in the story. You take six characters that know each other or are related to one another, and you threaten to kill them. Unless one of them gives you a secret. And then you let time pass by and you’ve got yourself a social experiment and an incredibly intriguing story for a book.

Pages: 391

Genre: YA Mystery, YA Thriller

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

Thoughts:

It’s that suspense of people breaking under pressure, revealing their deepest secrets and doing incredibly brave and reckless things in order to rescue the situation. All common sense goes out the window and only the survival mode is unlocked. The author has perfectly described the chaos that ensues in this vehicle in the duration of a few hours, all whilst giving every character a background story deep enough so we stay invested. Even though all the characters are equally important and have their own stories, I feel like Red stood out to me. I cared for her just a little bit more and felt for her. I also had chosen my villain in the story, and although I won’t reveal any names, I really wanted to slap this person and I am glad how that story wrapped up in the end.

In terms of the plot twists and reveals, I knew which person’s secret would be the one that matters, but I could not have predicted the other twists at all. Once some clues were revealed, (bad time for a knock, knock joke?) I could guess the majority of the rest, but I wouldn’t have figured it out on my own. If you want to read a fast-paced “escape-room-esque” YA mystery, “Five Survive” is a great place to start.

About The Author:

Holly Jackson was born in 1992. She grew up in Buckinghamshire and started writing stories from a young age, completing her first (poor) attempt at a book aged fifteen.

‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ is a YA Mystery Thriller and her debut novel. She lives in London and aside from reading and writing, she enjoys binge-playing video games and pointing out grammatical errors in street signs.