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Synopsis
A hitched ride home in a snow storm turns sinister when one of the passengers is plotting for the ride to end in disaster.
When Mira flies home to spend Christmas with her mother in Pittsburgh, a record-breaking blizzard results in a cancelled layover. Desperate to get to her grief-ridden mother in the wake of a family death, Mira hitches a ride with a group of friendly college kids who were on her initial flight.
As the drive progresses and weather conditions become more treacherous, Mira realizes that the four other passengers she’s stuck in the car with don’t actually know one another.
Soon, they’re not just dealing with heavy snowfall and ice-slick roads, but the fact that somebody will stop at nothing to ensure their trip ends in a deadly disaster.

Title: Five Total Strangers
Author: Natalie D. Richards
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult, Suspense, Thriller
Review
This book was fabulous! With so many twists and turns I literally had no idea what was going to happen next. This book was exactly what I hoped it would be! It had plenty of dodgy characters, everything in the world going wrong, and absolutely no way out.
I’ll start with the characters since I believe they were so well developed. I loved that each character had different sides to them. This made it especially hard to figure out who to trust. The characters each changed so much from the beginning of the book to the end and as they were put in so many dire situations. I loved that each character was unpredictable in their own way. It really made things so confusing (in a good way) and that much more interesting!
Also, I really appreciate the circumstances of this book. It would have been one thing if they were all just road-tripping home, but since it was in the middle of a blizzard, things got crazy. They hit a lot of obstacles because of the snow and got themselves in some wild situations. I just kept waiting for the next bad thing to happen because it always did.
As well, there are creepy letters that are shown every few chapters which just amps up the suspense. I won’t say anymore about them, but just know, they’re great (in a creepy way).
I have some mixed feelings about the ending, but I think I’m mostly happy about it. It’s a little open-ended, but I also think that might have been necessary for the book. I was totally shocked by the outcome of things which I’m pleasantly surprised about. I love it when I’m wrong about the ending of a thriller.
Overall, this book was one crazy ride from hell that everyone should read. It was a great thriller that had me anxious and nervous and open-mouthed in shock for most of the book. A must-read for any thriller/suspense fan out there!
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating

To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Natalie D. Richards, go to her GoodReads profile or her Twitter profile.
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