Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Five Survive

Woooow! This book was a wild ride! I simple could not stop at 1 chapter in this book, almost every chapter ended in a cliff hanger that made me want to read more. Our 6 characters are stuck in this RV throughout this incredibly intense situation, honestly, I don’t know if I could have handled that! One of the characters is a complete manipulative asshole, he uses and blames every other character for their situation. I don’t think I ever hated a character as much as him, so good on Holly Jackson because I’m sure that was her point. The twist at the end kinda got me! At a certain point I was able to connect it together but only a few paragraphs before the reveal. I only wish we got to see the aftermath and how our main character reacts at the end. I guess it ok that it ends with out own interpretation, but I enjoy a finally say. Overall, great read!

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thebookishnerd_'s review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I absolutely flew through this book, it kept me hooked and was incredibly fast-paced. Six friends are trapped together in an RV, with a sniper outside and tensions rising page by page. What not to like? We're placed in the shoes of Red, a teenage girl with a secret. I must say I really enjoyed her point of view, I felt that her voice was well-developed and her personality shone through the pages. The reader is left guessing who the sniper is after much like the characters. Each with different secrets that get revealed as the book goes on. I found the characters well-written and realistic in their actions, despite being flawed. I hated Oliver with a passion, for how he treated the rest of the group, especially his own girlfriend and sister! It was so frustrating and I love how his character became undone under stress. While the plot only happens in the span of 8 hours, so much goes on. The twists, while somewhat predictable were impactful and shocking. I unfortunately wasn't a fan of how the final twists were executed. I found it to be an overload of information being told to the audience. And that's the flaw of having it in one setting. Anything that wasn't happening at the moment had to be told to us rather than shown. Which made it tedious. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it kept me on the edge of my seat for hours. I recommend it to those looking for a quick and easy mystery thriller.

**SPOILERS**

I honestly didn't expect Aurthur to be in on it, and I'm not sure how I feel about his character. He was so adamant about not hurting anyone, but in the end, he's okay with killing Oliver and Maddie's mom? He didn't do it directly but he was still fine with it. It felt like a complete 180 for him. Other than that he was a nice potential love interest. He felt like a typical quiet boy in the back - obviously, now we know why. But he was unassuming. The rooftop light did annoy me. You're telling me he memorized morse code and is able to send out codes whilst everyone's panicking and Oliver is threatening everyone. I know he's in the mafia but behind the scenes not a part of any of the danger. It felt cheap.

Oliver, nope, hated him in the best way possible. He made my blood boil every time he opened his mouth. Typical older popular guy, hard-headed, quick to action, taking everyone's ideas as his own. It was definitely interesting to see him spiral from a calm leader to the paranoid hot headed mess he became. Especially when they voted on Red staying in the RV or forcing her out. And then he pushed her out anyway! Even jeopardizing his own sister almost killing her in the process!

I like Red, she was definitely one of my favorite characters, and probably the most developed story-wise. I enjoyed her way of thinking and found it to be very real. She seemed to be one of the more rational people on the RV, only doubting her skills because everyone else was more confident.

I wasn't a fan of the ending, the way it was all wrapped up in a letter. Just explaining the ending. It felt like there was no other way to end the story. So it ended up being a letter to Red detailing the aftermath of the RV. I guess any other way would also feel jarring- when you spend 400 pages in an RV where else can you go? But a letter from Arthur admitting everything including Claire's murder and a meeting place and time where Arthur (who went into hiding) would be. It didn't gel well for me.

I really enjoyed this book, everything felt thought out and was really interesting. The ending just didn't fit personally. I still recommend this book, its great to get out of a reading slump.

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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really liked it and thought that the pacing of this thriller was phenomenal.

There was one point where I thought that things were wrapping up a little too quickly and too nicely (a little after the 5:00 pm mark when you find out about Arthur) but I’m glad that there was a little bit of a wrench in that (the cop) because it would’ve been to clean cut of an ending. I also wasn’t a huge fan that Arthur would willingly give up all his information so easily being the son of a mafia boss like… that didn’t make sense to me but otherwise I really liked Red. I was scared that there would be something up with Maddie (there was) but honestly I was expecting it to be WAY worse.

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sophiemar's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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