Five Survive
“She wasn’t thinking about last words, she was thinking about all the words, all the memories. It was love; thorny and complicated and sad and happy. But it was a red feeling too.”
Six friends. One RV. One killer. Many, many secrets.
Summary
It's Red's senior year, and her friends are embarking on a RV road trip to Florida for spring break. Red, her best friend Maddy, their friends Simon and Arthur, Maddy's older brother Oliver, and Oliver's girlfriend Reyna have been driving all day, and are nearing their campsite for the night when they suddenly lose service, and therefore their map. Going off instincts, they drive the RV deeper into the woods. With tensions already high, one of the tires goes flat, causing the friends to get out and change it. But once they're inside again, they find that all four tires have once again gone flat--but this time they've been shot.
The next eight hours are hell. The six find a walkie-talkie hanging from the side mirrors, and thus begins their communication with the sniper in the woods, the man who refuses to stop shooting and let them go until one specific secret is revealed. Of course, rather than talking to each other and figuring out the secret, chaos ensues as they attempt to escape. Oliver, ever the self-preserving asshole, immediately takes charge, refusing to listen to any ideas other than his own, and placing blame on everyone but himself. Reyna, his girlfriend, keeps shooting looks at Red, and seems uncomfortable with Oliver's decisions, despite the fact that they seem like the perfect couple. Simon won't stop drinking, Maddy can't seem to choose to follow her psychotic brother or her best friends, and Arthur is the quiet but protective presence in the corner.
Out of all of them, Red has the most knowledge about the subject. Her mom was a police chief, and Red and her used to play pretend cops all the time when she was little. Before her mom died. But despite Red's expertise, Oliver refuses to listen, and Red can't seem to escape the guilt and traumatic memories of her mom's death.
As the hours increase, the shooter gets more and more impatient, and as the violence grows, so do the tensions. Eight hours trapped in an RV changes people, and the friends will never be the same if they reveal their secrets--or will they?
Thoughts
I LOVED the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy. I really connected with Pip and found her to be a very compelling protagonist and storyteller. I loved the romance and ongoing, connected mysteries, and the small town it was set in. However, this book didn't have the same magic as AGGGTM. I didn't find Red to be as good of a narrator, and the single setting "locked room" scenario made for a somewhat repetitive plot. I didn't particularly like or connect to any of the characters, and while the story was terrifying, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and the twist to happen.
Nevertheless, I did really enjoy this book, and I do hope Jackson writes a sequel or makes this her next trilogy, purely because the ending left me wanting more of a conclusion (which I hope indicates her plans to continue). I think Red and Arthur have potential to be a good pairing, and would love to see where the rest of the mafia plot goes.
Overall
Holly Jackson continues to be one of the best YA mystery writers, and I will always read her work with a vengeance. I'm excited to see where this premise goes, and would love a trilogy, as I think the sequels would have a great opportunity to build on the mafia plot.
My rating: 4/5
Goodreads Average: 4.07/5
Information
Five Survive by Holly Jackson (Delacorte Press)
Publication Date: November 29, 2022
ISBN: 9780593374160
Hardcover: $19.99