Five Total Strangers

By: Natalie D. Richards

3.5/5 Blizzards

Mira is newly 18 and on her way home for Christmas. Flying from California to Pennsylvania wasn't fun to begin with, but when Mira lands in her connecting airport and sees cots and loads of travelers, she knows it's about to get worse. Rather than wait for a flight the next day or so, Mira's flight-mate, Harper, offers her a seat in the new rental car she just procured.

Along for the ride is three other college-aged people: Kayla, who always sleeps, Brecken, who seems to be hiding something, and Josh, who has a torn ACL. At first, Mira assumes that these four people know each other, but about an hour into the ride, it's clear that they're five total strangers. Mira begins to panic, but refuses to allow the paranoid behavior of her mother to manifest itself into her. She ignores her instincts and continues with the ride in an increasingly dangerous blizzard. As the strangers continue driver, one thing after another goes wrong. Mira, an unreliable narrator at times, begins to wonder what everyone seems to be hiding. Will the strangers make it home for Christmas?

This book was No Exit with a touch of You. I was completely engaged at first, and truly couldn't put it down! One of the aspects I liked the most was that I didn't even know if I could trust Mira's narration. She wasn't an unreliable narrator in the traditional sense, but Richards wrote the book in such a way that it felt impossible not to question every single character. Even when I thought I had the "mystery" figured out, a new turn of events would make me question everything all over again. This was done incredibly well on Richards' part! I felt the panic and insanity of the characters, and could see myself falling into their mistrust of each other.

Unfortunately, the end of the book fell a little flat for me. I didn't dislike it, but I was expecting something more... pronounced I guess. I also felt the book ended with some unanswered questions and some plots felt like a waste of space at the end. I am being vague in an attempt to avoid spoilers, but the ending wasn't entirely shocking. Honestly, when I had about 40 pages left I began reading faster just to get through the book. At some point, it was just a little too much for me. It's hard to put into words because I truly didn't dislike it...

Overall, though, I would still recommend this book! I would just recommend others ahead of it.