Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Snowy Thriller Doesn't Quite Live Up to the Promise of Its Premise
11:57 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
A student at a special arts high school in San Diego, 18-year-old Mira Hayes is heading home to Pittsburgh to spend the holidays with her mother. Christmas Day will be the first anniversary of her mom's twin sister's death and Mira knows her mom's anxiety and depression will be through the roof. Mira needs to be there for her. As her plane descends into Newark, however, Mira gets some bad news: worsening winter weather has grounded all flights out. Phoning home only increases her worry about her mother's mental health, so when Mira's glamorous seatmate from the plane offers her a ride home in the car she and some friends are renting, Mira accepts.
It doesn't take many hours on the road for Mira to realize that something is not right with the situation. Not only are her four fellow passengers not friends with each other, but they're actually complete strangers. As the weather grows increasingly stormy and important items—like cell phones and laptops—go missing from the car, Mira finds herself more and more cut off from the outside world with people she's finding harder and harder to trust. With no way to contact her mother or anyone else, she's not just nervous, she's terrified. Discovering alarming secrets about each of her traveling companions only increases her fear. Although the storm outside is nasty and threatening, it's nothing compared to the danger Mira faces inside the car ...
The premise of Five Total Strangers, the newest YA novel by Natalie D. Richards, is a simple but compelling one. When I first read the plot summary, I knew I had to read this book. Unfortunately, the promise of the premise didn't pan out as well as I wanted it to. The novel is definitely atmospheric, with a tense, unsettling vibe that makes the story deliciously suspenseful. That's what kept me reading. It certainly wasn't the characters, who are almost wholly unlikable. As far as plot goes, the tale is engrossing and compelling, even if a lot of it feels contrived. Not all of the plot elements make logical sense—some of them go nowhere at all while others never come full circle. In spite of these irritants, Five Total Strangers sucked me in and kept me turning pages. I didn't end up loving it like I wanted to, but I liked it well enough to keep reading. Overall, it was just an okay read for me.
(Readalikes: Reminds me a bit of No Exit by Taylor Adams)
Grade:
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR | 202414 minutes ago
-
Ten Books I Can’t Wait to Read During Spring 202458 minutes ago
-
-
Daily Prompt 18 March monday5 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
Harris, Robert "Fatherland"18 hours ago
-
Breath as Prayer19 hours ago
-
-
The Magic All Around By Jennifer Moorman23 hours ago
-
-
Books from the Backlog #81 day ago
-
-
Don’t Foget Me by Rea Frey1 day ago
-
-
-
-
Sunday Post3 days ago
-
-
Timeline by Michael Crichton3 days ago
-
33. Ferris4 days ago
-
-
Persistence: A Review of Ghost Coach4 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Witch Hat Atelier: Kitchen, Volume 11 week ago
-
Catching up1 week ago
-
Review: Dating Dr. Dil1 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?5 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra8 months ago
-
-
-
Sundays with Sam – The Sunday Post11 months ago
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ▼ 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)