A review by kupids
Five Survive by Holly Jackson

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

 
“..she took apart the walkie-talkie. Piece by piece, wire by wire, but she never did find her mom’s voice hiding inside.”


the plot of this book was severely underwhelming - the 'plot twist' reveals felt cartoonish and convoluted, springing out of no where with pretty much no way for the reader to discern what really happened without it being spelled out to them. certain characters felt infuriating and completely senseless, making decisions that wouldn't even have a chance of working when faced with a traumatizing situation like the one they're in, it was easy to tell that these subplots were just created for the 'wow factor'. unfortunately, those moments really pulled me out of the story and made it so so hard for me to actually care about any of the characters or what was going on.


despite that, i did enjoy holly jacksons writing. it was fast-paced and definitely tense at times, the descriptions of grief were beautiful and not what i expected out of this book. these discussions were genuinely heart-wrenching and i found myself near to tears at the end of the book (those who know.. know) so thats increased the rating dramatically. i loved the idea of this book but the cartoonish actions of the threat and the unexplained stupidity of the mc's threw me off way too much, because of this i can't give this book higher than a 2.5.

edit; 97% of the reveals were also extremely predictable, i guessed the main-ish one in the first couple chapters.. woops.
 
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