Five Survive by Holly Jackson

I absolutely loved Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, so I was excited to snag this one for a weekend read.  It was a wild ride (pun intended).  Although this one didn't grab me as much as her previous reads, I still enjoyed it.  The story follows six teens taking an RV to the beach for spring break, each one harboring some kind of secret.  After several wrong turns, the RV ends up stranded down a dead-end road in the literal middle of nowhere.  A few minutes later, with no phone reception in site, the wheels of the RV are shot out, and the group realizes a sniper is nearby.  The sniper knows their identity, and is asking for a confession from one member of the group.  The teens have to figure out which one of them has a secret worth dying for, all while trying to get help.  The tight quarters of the RV made this an especially tense setting, and I really enjoyed the characters as well.  Obviously, the title alludes to the fact that they won't all make it out alive.  This was a fun read, even though the "whodunnit" surprise at the end didn't shock me too much.  If you're looking for a quick, YA thriller, this one fits the bill, and I suspect it will be pretty popular amongst Holly Jackson fans and my high school mystery readers in the library.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis: Eight hours.

Six friends.

One sniper . . .

Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for.

A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night. 

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

I got major Jordan Peele vibes from this book-super creepy, but also more of a social commentary horror.  I got this one for the library, and after reading the summary, I was definitely intrigued – a Disney like theme park at the end of the world?  Sounds intriguing, right?  The story is all about Jay and his friends living in Karloff Country (basically a Disney knock off).  All of the residents work at the theme park, and their lives are pretty self-contained, eating food grown on site, even attending school at the resort.  Things outside the resort are starting to deteriorate-food shortages, climate change, its all happening.  Life inside the resort, while a little creepy, is well managed and safe.  However, when the world becomes actual end-of-days apocalyptic, the resort gets bombarded by the rich and famous, and uses the workers to meet their every need.  People start to disappear, and violence starts to run rampant.  I can’t say much more without giving the plot away, but it was a very smart and very creepy read.  It is not overt horror, but does a great job of keeping you on your toes, all while commenting on racism, capitalism, and classism. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis: “Welcome to the funnest spot around . . .

Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that.

As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only... they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not.

Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew--and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls” 

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

This author rarely makes a wrong move, but I’m pretty sure The Weight of Blood is one of her best.  I picked this one up first because of Tiffany D. Jackson, and second, because I saw it was a Carrie retelling.  I’m not a huge Stephen King book fan, but I thought this would be a pretty neat concept.  I was totally unaware of how much more was packed in to this novel.  First, the concept of telling the book through narrative story, news pieces, podcasts interviews, etc. made this so much more compelling to read.  You knew how the story ended, but I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out how we got there. 

The conversation this will spark regarding racisms, segregation, and the black experience should not be ignored.  It was powerful, and I think the author absolutely nailed it.  So many deeper themes ran here – the “I was just joking,” the rooted in tradition, the unwillingness to change or challenge the status quo, the concept of privilege, and oh - the characters that were written with so much depth – whew.  This was just a great one and I highly recommend you pick it up. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis: “Author Tiffany D. Jackson ramps up the horror and tackles America’s history and legacy of racism in this YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom.

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation... Maddy did it.

An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.

But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret... one that will cost them all their lives.”

If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin

This book kept appearing on Tik Tok, so I snagged a copy a Barnes and Noble.  I started it at 6:00 one evening during my daughter’s swim lesson.  Only stopping to make dinner, I read until the wee hours of the morning, finishing the whole thing in one sitting. 

First, be aware, this book does not have a happily ever after, and you figure that out within the first five pages.  After reading that, I honestly questioned if I could continue, but I kept pushing through.  I got so distracted by the story that it didn’t matter anymore.  But beware, tears will come with this novel.  This book is such a good representation of growing up, making (and losing) friends, navigating family, and of course, the thrill of a first love. 

This one will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, so be prepared!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Synopsis: I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts. What they do not know—the cause of the argument—is crucial.

So let me tell you... 

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

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The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

The Stranded by Sarah Daniels