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emmareadsya 's review for:
Five Survive
by Holly Jackson
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC to read and review!
When I tell you I SCREAMED when I got this one. I love Holly Jackson. I loved the GGGTM series. I was excited to see how Jackson handled a single, faster-paced thriller, and she did NOT disappoint. If you like closed-room mysteries, unreliable narrators, and high-stakes action that doesn't stop, this is it. I felt a few twists were a little predictable, but some still were truly twisty, and the nature of our narrator helps a LOT with that.
In fact, our narrator, Red, is what I found most remarkable and interesting about this book. She's probably one of the most unique characters I've read a POV from, especially in this genre. Her mind is constantly racing, absolutely unsettled, cannot focus on a single thing (or, as it would have it, hyper fixates on the wrong thing - WHAT PATTERN WERE THE CURTAINS, HOLLY?) Though it isn't named, I interpreted Red as either having some form of neurodivergency or an extreme lasting trauma response. Red does not have a clear head, but she's the smartest one on that bus and she's vital to the group. It was a great way to direct the action of the novel, and I never knew for sure what was true because of Red's racing thoughts.
The novel stayed tense throughout, and I was on the edge of my seat tearing through it. Fantastic thriller from Jackson once again.
When I tell you I SCREAMED when I got this one. I love Holly Jackson. I loved the GGGTM series. I was excited to see how Jackson handled a single, faster-paced thriller, and she did NOT disappoint. If you like closed-room mysteries, unreliable narrators, and high-stakes action that doesn't stop, this is it. I felt a few twists were a little predictable, but some still were truly twisty, and the nature of our narrator helps a LOT with that.
In fact, our narrator, Red, is what I found most remarkable and interesting about this book. She's probably one of the most unique characters I've read a POV from, especially in this genre. Her mind is constantly racing, absolutely unsettled, cannot focus on a single thing (or, as it would have it, hyper fixates on the wrong thing - WHAT PATTERN WERE THE CURTAINS, HOLLY?) Though it isn't named, I interpreted Red as either having some form of neurodivergency or an extreme lasting trauma response. Red does not have a clear head, but she's the smartest one on that bus and she's vital to the group. It was a great way to direct the action of the novel, and I never knew for sure what was true because of Red's racing thoughts.
The novel stayed tense throughout, and I was on the edge of my seat tearing through it. Fantastic thriller from Jackson once again.