Reviews

Five Survive by Holly Jackson

tsimone00's review against another edition

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2.0

2.5

senkia9's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

gstree's review against another edition

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3.0

For a book that happens over one night that is supposed to be fast paced, I felt like it dragged on for the first 85% of the book. The last 15% was pretty satisfying, which is why I’d give it a 3-3.5/5. I kind of wish Red’s character was fleshed out a little bit more (aka was she neurodivergent or was this a clumsy way of portraying what depression does to your mind) and in general many of the characters felt pretty one-dimensional which may have been why it felt so slow for the majority of the book. Not HJ’s best, but I will hold out hope for her next book.

lauraowl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

meli_books's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Very entertaining. It seems long but once you start reading you can't stop. Of all the things I expected, I didn't expect to end up crying with the final letter 😭 

j2trappy's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

the_raven_writes's review against another edition

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3.0

Five Survive is a tense YA thriller that is full of surprises. It is told from the POV of Red, a teen struggling to keep herself together in the wake of her mother’s murder. What starts off as a fun vacation for six young people soon turns into an epic tale of survival. I enjoyed the pacing and watching how each character comes clean with their secrets which might hold the key to their escape. Red was an excellent character, even if she was a too hard on herself. Oliver was quite a force of nature. The only thing that hindered my enjoyment was that, towards the end, the plot seemed a little far fetched. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

kaypaw's review against another edition

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2.0

now what did I just read

sarahsummer's review against another edition

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2.0

I had a decent time reading this as it was very fast-paced and the beginning basically pulls you right into the story. But man, do I have a bone to pick with the overall storyline and some of the details. I get that the ending is left open for interpretations, but the fact that we never find out who the other person was that voted yes for Red to leave the RV. As well as the fact that we also never know what the stupid curtain patterns that red keeps thinking about throughout the whole book even was. Lastly, we don't even know if there was/will be any justice for Red's mother's death at all. After all of the events of that 24 hours, there was still no truth to come out into the outside world to finally answer some questions and settle things regarding her death. There are just way too many plot holes and loose ends here. And although the story was fascinating at the start, the ending just left me extremely unsatisfied.

P.S. I hate to say this (even about fictional characters) but I am so glad that the god-awful character of Oliver was killed. Though, in my opinion, he deserved an even more gruesome death.

herbyvore's review against another edition

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4.0

ending went crazy