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FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS by Natalie D. Richards


Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: October 6, 2020

I love cold weather/snowy suspense novels, so the cover of this book was screaming for me to read it. FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS is a locked-room-on-wheels YA thriller that left me with mixed feelings.

The protagonist Mira is a high school student flying home to Pittsburgh to be with her mother on Christmas. A snow storm cancels connecting flights and leaves her stranded at the Philly airport. Desperate to get home, she makes the BAD decision of hitching a ride with four college-aged strangers who were on her flight. In a blizzard with strangers on desolate backroads? What’s the worst that could happen? Mira is about to find out…

First of all, I loved the creepy, frozen atmosphere the author created. As odd things start to happen, Mira becomes convinced that someone in their party doesn’t want them to get home. But why? There were a lot of tense moments, and my thoughts on who was the bad one was constantly changing.

Though the book kept me guessing, I thought the first half moved too slowly, and the ending was too abrupt. There were loose ends and unanswered questions that annoyed me, plus the reasoning behind the bad one’s actions wasn’t convincing, and also, what an absurd plan. You’re in a blizzard!?!

Overall though, I did enjoy the author’s descriptive writing style, and I wouldn’t hesitate to give her other books a try. β€” 𝓓𝓲π“ͺ𝓷π“ͺ

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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4 thoughts on “FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS by Natalie D. Richards”

  2. I’m totally into snowy type thrillers or mysteries. I share most of your thoughts- I liked this one a lot in some ways but didn’t love it, per se, but I would read more of her books.

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  3. Sounds very atmospheric and I always love a wintry setting. Bummer about the ending but I’ll still keep this book in mind should the right mood strikes.

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  4. This was an uneven read for me. I loved the setting with all the snow, but it fell apart for me a little at the end. I didn’t believe her stalker could track her like that…and what was the deal with the mysterious hitchhiker? But it was fast and fun in places.

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