quippe | Entries tagged with holly jackson

The Blurb On The Back:

You can’t see me but I can see you. If you try to run, I will shoot.

Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Red’s best friend, her older brother, his perfect girlfriend and a classmate.

When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, they soon realise that this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead.

With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or work out which one of them is the target. Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels.

Now all of them will survive the night …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Holly Jackson’s standalone YA thriller is a disappointing misfire. I get what Jackson was going for - an external threat becoming less dangerous than the internal threat that emerges within the group. Unfortunately the characterisation is poor, especially Red whose guilt comes across as flakiness while Oliver’s mummy issues never convinced me while the plot points and motivations don’t make a whole lot of sense when you think about them.

FIVE SURVIVE was released in the United Kingdom on 8th December 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Dead girl walking.

Pip Fitz-Amobi is haunted by her last investigation. But soon a new case finds her and this time it’s all about Pip.

She has a stalker, one who keeps asking: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Pip soon discovers a connection between her stalker and a local serial killer, but the police refuse to act. As the dangerous game plays out it’s clear that if Pip doesn’t find the answers, she’s as good as dead …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The conclusion to Holly Jackson’s YA thriller trilogy is a dark and unsettling affair that works as a natural progression to the earlier two books (both in terms of plot and character) but there is a disturbing message here about how police and criminal justice system failures justify turning vigilante without any real consideration of proportionality or personal responsibility and I think the book loses something because of that.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Someone is missing. Nobody’s talking. But this time EVERYONE is listening …

Pip Fitz-Amobi is not a detective any more. Her true crime podcast about the murder case she solved last year has gone viral. Yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to go back on her word when someone close to her goes missing and the police can’t do anything about it. If they won’t investigate, then Pip will, uncovering more of her town’s dark secrets along the way. But will she find the answers before time runs out?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Holly Jackson’s YA thriller sequel accomplishes that rare feat of being an even better read. Jackson sensitively deals with the fall out from the first novel (for Pip and her friends and family) and then creates a new mystery that significantly overlaps with the first. I have some nitpicks (mainly around the rape trial but also some about Cara) but it is a genuinely gripping read and I am looking forward to the concluding book in this trilogy.

The Blurb On The Back:

The case is closed.

Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final-year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Holly Jackson’s debut YA thriller is a page turner that’s perfect for SERIAL obsessed readers that cleverly mixes third person narration with extracts from Pip’s report notes to provide background, advance the plot and allow readers to take stock. However, there’s perhaps too much plot for this novel and some strands don’t get developed as much as they should, while the revelation at the end didn’t quite convince in terms of motivation.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.