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A review by erica_cronje
Five Survive by Holly Jackson
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I read this in one day, Holly Jackson has done it once again.
<spoiler alert>
This entire books feels like its based on the saying of people's true colours shine in moments of stress or panic and how that affects everyone around them. You have a group of friends, and right at the beginning of the book tensions already rise with some throwaway comments made by characters about someone else in the group. Soon enough, they start to turn on each other and close to the end, some of them are willing to offer up one of their friends to be killed, so they may live.
Something else that really amps up the tension is the fact that the entire book takes place in a RV, therefor the characters are constantly in each others space with nowhere to go to het space. It takes a while for secret to start spilling, since that is what the sniper wants, and soon enough everyone is suspicious of everyone, accusing each other of having secrets and hiding them too long and chaos runs amuck.
This tension between all the characters is what keeps you so invested , i was honestly interested to see who would have the secret and although i was certain it's Red from the start since she is the main POV, so she would probably also not die, but then who would. The other big question that kept me reading is how would the one friend die, is it by die sniper's hand, or does one of the friends commit a crime?
And the best part is that the tension is constantly building, and as the characters grow more and more impulsive i honestly did not know who to trust anymore, everyone seems to be hiding something and there was a point where i didn't even know who to root for anymore, and anytime i have some sense of who i like and want to live, something would happen and i would doubt them all over again.
I really enjoyed this book, both for the plot and the character development, how some of them degrade to almost an entirely different person by the end, whilst others start to show strengths that no one knew about or cared about before. This equal parts of plot and characters is what makes this book a 5 star read to me
*note to self: I changed my rate to 4.75 since i am trying to reevaluate exactly how i rate my books, I do honestly think I give 5 stars to easily, i do love this book, but more the writing and the intensity, and the moral compass of the characters, but do i love, absolutely adore this book as a whole? I don't know yet, so it might change again after some rereading and reevaluation.
<spoiler alert>
This entire books feels like its based on the saying of people's true colours shine in moments of stress or panic and how that affects everyone around them. You have a group of friends, and right at the beginning of the book tensions already rise with some throwaway comments made by characters about someone else in the group. Soon enough, they start to turn on each other and close to the end, some of them are willing to offer up one of their friends to be killed, so they may live.
Something else that really amps up the tension is the fact that the entire book takes place in a RV, therefor the characters are constantly in each others space with nowhere to go to het space. It takes a while for secret to start spilling, since that is what the sniper wants, and soon enough everyone is suspicious of everyone, accusing each other of having secrets and hiding them too long and chaos runs amuck.
This tension between all the characters is what keeps you so invested , i was honestly interested to see who would have the secret and although i was certain it's Red from the start since she is the main POV, so she would probably also not die, but then who would. The other big question that kept me reading is how would the one friend die, is it by die sniper's hand, or does one of the friends commit a crime?
And the best part is that the tension is constantly building, and as the characters grow more and more impulsive i honestly did not know who to trust anymore, everyone seems to be hiding something and there was a point where i didn't even know who to root for anymore, and anytime i have some sense of who i like and want to live, something would happen and i would doubt them all over again.
I really enjoyed this book, both for the plot and the character development, how some of them degrade to almost an entirely different person by the end, whilst others start to show strengths that no one knew about or cared about before. This equal parts of plot and characters is what makes this book a 5 star read to me
*note to self: I changed my rate to 4.75 since i am trying to reevaluate exactly how i rate my books, I do honestly think I give 5 stars to easily, i do love this book, but more the writing and the intensity, and the moral compass of the characters, but do i love, absolutely adore this book as a whole? I don't know yet, so it might change again after some rereading and reevaluation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship