Five Survive in think later, read now ୨୧

Jul 28, 2024 bookworm ꣑ৎ‎ ˚. (more active) rated it it was amazing

ᯓ★ pre-read review ₊⊹

ready to cry my heart out AGAIN 🤷‍♀️✋🏻

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Jul 22, 2024 Bella The Bookworm rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommendations

4.5 stars.
Okay so I don’t even know where to start with this review, but here we go.

One thing that really stands out to me about Holly Jackson’s books is how distinct and individual the characters are. They’re interesting. Poorly written characters is something a lot of mystery books can get away with since they’re not really the center of attention, but Five Survive had well written and unique characters.

To start off, Red. I love her. I can relate to her in so many ways and I found that her hea 4.5 stars.
Okay so I don’t even know where to start with this review, but here we go.

One thing that really stands out to me about Holly Jackson’s books is how distinct and individual the characters are. They’re interesting. Poorly written characters is something a lot of mystery books can get away with since they’re not really the center of attention, but Five Survive had well written and unique characters.

To start off, Red. I love her. I can relate to her in so many ways and I found that her head was a fun one to be stuck in. A lot of people don’t enjoy a repetitive inner monologue, but I always love it because it brings such great character voice. Red was fun. I also write lists on my wrists. I think her backstory was interesting and well written. Like her guilt is written so well, I felt so bad for her. Plus, through one night, we got such a great character arc from her, it was fantastic.

Oliver managed to make me so mad. That’s another common theme with Holly Jackson’s book. She’s able to make one character that I hate very, VERY much. Oliver was that stupid character for me. Yes, I hate him.

Arthur, I don’t know what to think of. Like, I liked him because Red liked him, and he was interesting.

I liked Simon. There’s not much to say about him since he isn’t explored that much, but what you do see from him makes him annoying, but not in an annoying way. He’s fun.

Reyna was another character I don’t know what to do with in my head yet. Like, okay girl. She is not who I expected her to be. I doubted that she would be explored much when I first started reading, and if anything she would just be in support of Oliver, but she was unexpected.

And finally, Maddy. I fought with Maddy in my brain the entire book. I hated how she felt so Team Oliver, but I also sympathized with her. And she ended up being great.

This mystery was amazingly well plotted, and though it happened in just one night, it never felt rushed or slow. Like perfect pacing all the way around. The plot twists were insane and I just love the feeling of putting everything together along with Red. Some were especially satisfying. I would say there were too many, but honestly, I can’t because it all connects so well.

Overall, I loved this book. I didn’t give it five stars for a reason I can’t exactly give, just because I wasn’t getting five star feeling. But I still really loved it. It made me feel such a wide range of emotions and I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend! ...more

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Mar 24, 2025 anna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

TOO GOOD

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Oct 30, 2024 zooey(mini hiatus for a bit) rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own

(This is gonna be a messy review so bare with me <3)

Ok first things first. I know that the ending was all you know but the last little fragment?? I won't even lie it was one of the cutest things I've ever read. It shouldn't be lol but it was.

(WARNING: CHARACTER RANT COMMING UP) But anyways.
This book was good, it had a good concept, good twists and well thought out connections. But I could not connect to a single one of the characters. And I don't mean connect like relate to them I mean connect ...more

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May 29, 2025 rii. rated it it was amazing

𝗜 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗧𝗠. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆.

𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘵 ⋰∴★

I really enjoyed the plot, it was a bit slow paced at the beginning but it picked up at the end. I never see plot twists coming and that’s something I’m grateful for, for it makes my experience ten times better. So I did not see any of them, either. I love how it played out, how the ending came together.

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 ∴⋰★

I loved our MC. She certainly was a very interesting one. She had a different wa ...more

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Aug 28, 2024 Lily🥀 -Semi-hiatus- rated it really liked it

I actually really liked this book. Wasn't expecting the plot twist, that really got me. I personally thought that Oliver was a manipulating dick, but thats just my opinion. All in all, it was a good book ...more

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Oct 22, 2024 skylar ₊˚⊹♡ [busy] rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: cried, my-love-mine-all-mine, the-writing-feeds-my-soul

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ➜ ┊: (5 stars) ᵎ ✰

-- 𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑺𝒊𝒙 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑭𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆.

I didn't dislike anything about this book. It was unpredictable, (a key part in this sort of detective/suspense/thriller story) it made me literally feel the adrenaline like I was in the book, and it was shocking overall.
Part of me knew it was going to be connected to Arthur because I've read books from Holly Jackson before (AGGGTM I love you) and I just knew she was going to pick the most devastating option, it just made sense. Reyna, ➜ ┊: (5 stars) ᵎ ✰

-- 𝑬𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑺𝒊𝒙 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑭𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆.

I didn't dislike anything about this book. It was unpredictable, (a key part in this sort of detective/suspense/thriller story) it made me literally feel the adrenaline like I was in the book, and it was shocking overall.
Part of me knew it was going to be connected to Arthur because I've read books from Holly Jackson before (AGGGTM I love you) and I just knew she was going to pick the most devastating option, it just made sense. Reyna, Oliver, and Simon were too disconnected from her, and I didn't suspect Maddy (though she did have ties to it).

Before I get to the really emotional parts of the book, I wanted to say that the hatred that this book made me feel for Oliver was unmatched. I genuinely wanted to yell at him for Red, when he was clearly hurting her. Throwing her out of the RV? If she had died, her blood would be on his hands, and he would've murdered two people. But it was about the Lavoys, it was about him, and he wouldn't have gotten caught and neither would his mom. It really annoyed me how he prioritized his life over theirs, even before things went really south. Whether he took the least dangerous job in his plan or talked over people when they were suggesting the secrets to come out. He couldn't die, neither could Maddy, and that was it.

I will not sit here and pretend I didn't cry while reading this. I want to highlight the part where Red is dying and she hears her and her mom's voice on the walkie-talkie.
"'𝑨𝒉𝒂, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒚,' 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕-𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄. '𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕.'
𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅, 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔."
--
"'𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑹𝒆𝒅.'
'𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑴𝒐𝒎.'
𝑹𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆-𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒚."
Genuinely, this part brought me to tears and does each time I read it. She had been wrong about her mom's final moments, she knew then that her mom hadn't been feeling anger or guilt or shame. And there she lied, staring at the walkie-talkie gripped in her hand and thinking of her mom. Anything with moms brings me to tears, and it's obvious why.

One thought trapped inside my mind about this book...was I supposed to be mad at Arthur? Was I supposed to be angry that he had done all that, trapped them there, when really he was trying to catch Catherine Lavoy? The murderer? No, I don't think I was supposed to be, and I don't think Red was, not really. I know it wasn't said at the end of the book, but I think she would've gone to the Pier, I don't think she would have blamed it on him. Another thing that brought me to tears? His letter to her.
"𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰'𝒎 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚."
It's always Holly Jackson, making these impossible stories where I can't quite pinpoint who was in the wrong. Was Arthur really? Was Red, when she had taken that bribe? Was Arthur's family? No, I don't think they were.

Genuinely mad at this book for being so good. My eyes were glued on the pages, and I was practically hunched over the book whenever I got a chance to read. SO GOOD. ...more

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