Natalie D. Richards

From bestselling author Natalie D. Richards comes a pulse-pounding new thriller about a blizzardy road trip that turns into a disaster. She never should've accepted that ride... Mira needs to get home for the holidays. Badly. But when an incoming blizzard results in a canceled layover, it looks like Mira might get stuck at the Philadelphia airport indefinitely. Until Harper, Mira's glamorous seatmate from her initial flight, comes to the rescue. Harper and her three friends are renting a car to get home and can drop Mira off on the way. But as the drive progresses, the weather conditions quickly turn perilous. And Mira realizes the four other passengers she's stuck with don't actually know one another--they're all strangers. As one by one, they start to turn on each other, Mira wonders: Is one of the other passengers intentionally sabotaging this trip? And, if so, is it possible to stop them before this claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing ride becomes fatal?

Five Total Strangers

From bestselling author Natalie D. Richards comes a pulse-pounding new thriller about a blizzardy road trip that turns into a disaster. She thought being stranded was the worst thing that could happen. She was wrong. Mira needs to get home for the holidays. Badly. But when an incoming blizzard results in a canceled layover, it looks like Mira might get stuck at the Philadelphia airport indefinitely. And then Harper, Mira's glamorous seatmate from her initial flight, comes to the rescue. Harper and her three friends are renting a car, and they can drop Mira off on the way home. But as their trip begins, Mira discovers her fellow travelers aren't friends like she thought—they're total strangers. And every one of them seems to be hiding something dangerous. Soon, Mira is in a panic. The roads have gone from slippery to terrifying. People's belongings are mysteriously disappearing. Someone in the car is clearly lying...and Mira beings to suspect that one of them is sabotaging the trip. If she wants to make it home alive, she'll need to uncover the truth about these strangers before this nightmare drive turns fatal.

Ipshita Kanungo

Jasper

୨ৎ : “i think that’s what grief does. it reminds us that we are small. that we are not in control.”

this book was just extremely predictable. the author tries to make everyone seem like a suspect, sprinkling in random people that actually dont even matter, which just makes it more obvious. 

a quick read, but once again very boring. 

୨ৎ : “i think that’s what grief does. it reminds us that we are small. that we are not in control.”

— ☆ 1.5/5

this book was just extremely predictable. the author tries to make everyone seem like a suspect, sprinkling in random people that actually dont even matter, which just makes it more obvious. 

a quick read, but once again very boring. 

Solid thriller, mystery aspect was kinda eh. It's pretty obvious who the perpetrator is in the first third. So the book does its best to throw together mod podge of red herrings and try to make you forget what you read previously. Which makes for l 1-2/5s in the middle where I'm just slogging through for the endgame.

I honestly don't think that the "You" style letters add much to a book that has plenty of intrigue and tension on the base premise. I think there's a better motive / villain arc hiding somewhere in this story.

And I know it's a YA, but the preaching re: drug addiction and re: judging appearances knocked it down a star for me personally. Made the whole wrap-up feel like an after-school special.

Solid thriller, mystery aspect was kinda eh. It's pretty obvious who the perpetrator is in the first third. So the book does its best to throw together mod podge of red herrings and try to make you forget what you read previously. Which makes for l 1-2/5s in the middle where I'm just slogging through for the endgame.

I honestly don't think that the "You" style letters add much to a book that has plenty of intrigue and tension on the base premise. I think there's a better motive / villain arc hiding somewhere in this story.

And I know it's a YA, but the preaching re: drug addiction and re: judging appearances knocked it down a star for me personally. Made the whole wrap-up feel like an after-school special.

Ooof. This book was RoUgH. If I had to pinpoint a perfect example of trying too hard, I'd pick this book. To start off, the first couple chapters weren't actually that bad, and the premise of the whole book was pretty cool, but the execution was painful. I could honestly feel the author trying to be mysterious instead of BEING mysterious. As a reader, the last thing that I want when reading a suspense novel is to be constantly told by the main character's narration that someone is being weird. I should just inherently know that. There were also a LOT of plot holes that were just never explained. For instance, the entire time Mira, the main character, keeps getting these weird "gut feelings" about people or feeling suddenly nauseous, but there is not explanation. The "strangers" all also seemed to know each other, but how they did was never explained. The ending honestly felt like a shot in the dark. I wish that I could say that there were parts that I liked, but this was difficult to get through. I would NOT recommend. 

Kendall V

I feel like there was so much going on but not enough character development to support it.

Holly

a fun little thriller with some good twists. easy read and had some interesting thoughts and takes with the morality system. 

Hannah Williams

It was amazing! Once i started i could not stop, however i would not read this book again. (I am just very picky about my books)

mars

Susan 

Oh my God, I am so glad I didn't give up on this book! I give it 4.5 stars.

I borrowed this book from the library but didn't finish it before it auto returned. I didn't intend on going back and finishing it any time soon but it became available when I was looking for something and here we are. Two snow days later, I finished it. Seems kind of fitting for the book.

I'm going to be honest, I had no clue who the stalker was. I thought I did then it was revealed and I was completely wrong. I will say, I want more. I want to know what happen to the others in the car and how all the situations were wrapped up. 

Natalie D. Richards is starting to become one of my favorite writers. This is the second book I've read of hers with one more on the shelf, I can't wait to read more!

Angelina Wu

It was really interesting but the ending wasn't that good because it didn't really give enough details about what happened to Kayla, Josh, Harper and Brecken afterwards.

Kristen Claiborn

I seem to have stumbled on a number of books all set in the mountains of Pennsylvania (as someone who grew up in the Rockies, that sentence is odd to me). I’m not sure how that happened, but apparently the peaks of Pennsylvania are places where danger lurks, so I’ll be rethinking any trips there in the future. That’s too bad, because based on the bridal magazines I browsed longingly in my youth, the Poconos is the most romantic honeymoon getaway in the country. 
	I was a kid once (a LOOOOOOOOOONG time ago), and I remember my mother telling me, multiple times and with parental gusto, that I should NEVER EVER EVER get in the car with strangers. I recall telling my own children that same message. STRANGER DANGER! Even as an adult woman I’m still leery of overly friendly strangers (especially men), so I can’t imagine I’d be inclined to hop in a car with four randos, in the middle of a record-breaking blizzard, and at night. Nope. That’s a no from me dawg. So clearly Mira is a big of an idiot, which is pretty much where this book goes south. From the minute they all hop into the rental, it’s clear that nobody in the car is a “good guy,” except maybe Mira. Also, I found it so horrifying that she didn’t tell a soul where she was going…that’s also a lesson learned in personal safety 101: always make sure somebody knows where you are. Maybe this should be a “things you shouldn’t do” required reading? In all though, it’s not a terrible book, I just got frustrated with the poor choices.

✧*̥˚ ema *̥˚✧

McKenzie McWhorter

** spoiler alert **
           I really enjoyed the fast , thriller pace of this book. Trying to figure it all out kept me coming back, and when she found the letters I was on the edge of my seat. 

I did think the man with the hat was too convenient and a real scape goat, he just happened to stop at all the same places as them? Up until the end, he added a nice distraction from Josh but once it was revealed I felt like it took away from the story over all.

LeAnnza

Probably one of the greatest mystery thriller books I have ever read. It had me questioning every single thing and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

kendall p

This is a classic YA thriller centered around 4 strangers trying to get home for Christmas. 
The kicker is, they all aren’t actually strangers. You will finding yourself switching belief on who is the bad guy. The author does a good job at showcasing traits to point out the strange parts of each of them. The depiction of grief is good as well. I found myself relating to Mira in that sense since she was missing her aunt. 
 We have Mira, the main character - she’s struggling with grief from losing her aunt, and needing to get home to be with her mother. 
Harper is your typical smart, preppy put together college girl. 
Brecken is the epitome of rich, NYC private school boy. 
Josh is the quiet, always reading type guy 
and Kayla is the addict we don’t here a lot out of. 
The four characters meet at the airport, after flights are canceled due to a blizzard, Harper decides to rent a car in order to get home. We instantly see the strangeness that takes place, and it just grows from there. 
The premise was very interesting, I didn’t know if I would like it but I did. I was very intrigued to see how it could pan out. The writing wasn’t bad. It kept me entertained and wanting more. I enjoyed the letter sprawled out throughout the chapters, and the constant flip on who could actually be the dangerous one in the group. 
But, the ending was Awful. 
It felt like the author forgot to include the actual ending! I mean, who is the man with the yellow hat? What happened to Corey and his dad? What happened to the rest of them? If this book actually had closure, or answers to questions then it would have been a 4 star read.

Jordan

Such a good book!! It had lots of twists and turns, although it was a bit slow getting there. Overall, the author had a great writing style and beautifully written characters!

Molly Morgan

This was a pretty predictable read. I didn't realize it was YA when I borrowed it from the library. This would probably be a fine, thrilling read for a teenager!

stephanie archer 

a sad excuse for a ya thriller 
extremely, painfully predictable.

Samantha Alukas 

As a life long I-80er, a liiiittle offended with all the trash talking (#teamI80). Other than that, the book was okay enough, if not a bit boring and repetitive. Not to weirdly flex on the Midwest’s superior ability to brave snowstorms, but this read more like a melodramatic traffic report rather than thriller. Actually, I was 0% thrilled, which is significantly less thrilled than you want to be when reading a thriller. 

Edit: apparently, this is a YA novel, so I’m willing to cut it some slack, but no additional stars. Holding my ground at a solid 2 star rating.

Kaley Catron

What. Did. I. Just. Read. 

That was a horrible ending. Like what about Harper and Brecken? Why is she making this list? What was the purpose of the creepy ass yellow hat stalker guy that followed them the whole freaking trip? Y’all. I can’t even process what I read 😂

Emma Jacqueline

I mean it as a compliment when I say this has huge Until Dawn / Dark Pictures Anthology energy. The set up feels very choose your own adventure. Unfortunately, the main character never listened when I told her to just find a house and knock on the door.

3.99 ⭐WOAH. This one's the deal. It was fast paced, short & the point. No unnecessary dragging, just as much we needed to know to get on wid it. The culprit kind of turned up on whom I had my suspicions, like tbh I had suspicions on two of 'em but loved how it unfolded. The whole book made me tense, restless, scared. 
It has it downs. Like I wanted the ending to make an impact on me, but it didn't. Also, the reveal didn't really make me go holy crap which I kind of knew but still. 
But these don't matter unless the book keeps u hooked and on the edge which this totally did. If u want to go out of slump, or want to get into something that's quick, or just want a good thriller, this one's for ya

Haley Quinton

Mimi

When you decide on a book to read, I find the title and cover and blurb are what will sell you on a book. And I was sold on this one.

We join 5 strangers who take off in a rental to make their way home after being stranded in an airport during a blizzard. 

What could possibly go wrong??

It was definitely a slow burn novel. In fact it didn't even reach the climax of the story until there was around 17 minutes left in the book. 

Five Total Strangers was worth the read.

nuha ✨️

An okay book. The main character felt a bit annoying some times, but it was okay in the end

I figured out who it was about halfway through but it was still a small shock when it was revealed. Richards does a nice job of making everyone seem like the possible culprit

Five Total Strangers

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