Five Survive Review
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .
Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.
A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.
Holly Jackson is my ride-or-die author, so it is no surprise that I absolutely devoured Five Survive. I wouldn't say it is as good as A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but it comes pretty close. It was a fast-paced read that took me less than a day to get through. Unsurprisingly, the high stakes and riveting tension instantly drew me into the story of six teenagers trapped in an RV together.
However, the characters were all pretty unlikeable. Most of them didn't have characteristics or quirks that made them stand out, which meant I didn't really form a connection with them and desperately rooted for them to survive the sniper, except for the comic relief, Simon. I loved him and his commentary. His character was a small relief in the growing anxiety, and things just kept getting worse for the group of kids.
However, I never felt true rage until I met Oliver in Five Survive. I was borderline ready to throw my book across the room every time he opened his mouth. If it came down to being trapped in an RV with Oliver or the sniper, I would choose the sniper. He probably developed the most out of all the characters, but it was not in a good way. Red, the main character, also had a lot of growth as she went from spacing out and keeping to herself to standing up to Oliver when he needed to hear the hard truth. But the girl needs some serious therapy afterward. Actually, all of the characters need therapy after the hell they went through in those 8 hours.
Plot and mystery-wise, I enjoyed this book. I don't read thrillers very often, but I've never heard about a book where teenagers are trapped in an RV, being hunted by a sniper. It was just such a unique idea to me. Most of the plot twists had my jaw on the ground, especially when the group started revealing secrets. I'd like to think that I pick up on foreshadowing in books, so I guessed pretty early on who would die and who the sniper was hunting, but I did not guess a single secret. Each secret revealed 10 more that I would never have guessed. Everything was so interwoven together, and no one ever thought to put it together.
The only thing I didn't like about Five Survive was the ambiguous ending, but that is a staple of Holly Jackson's books. It always leaves me hoping for a sequel that I know is never going to happen. However, at the same time, I loved the ending because things weren't wrapped up in a pretty bow with a happy ending; it made the story feel so much more real.
Holly Jackson needs to be studied for her ability to craft crazy plot twists and stories, and I can't wait to read her future books!
Written by Carlie Renee
