Five Total Strangers is a miss. The reason I do not recommend this novel is because there is no intrigue. This novel about five total strangers is really about five total strangers. There is no sense of connection within the characters or true human action creating a disconnect from reality whilst continually being propelled forward by improbable situations that as a reader, you cannot wrap your head around.

This novel requires too much suspension of disbelief to push the plot forward drawing away from the potential this young adult thriller had to be amazing. This is not worth your time because it was not worth mine. I skimmed through multiple pages of the novel because I was never intrigued and I truly don't think you will be either.

If you are looking for a good thriller written in 2020, check out The Girl From Widow Hills, that is worth your time. This is not.

There have been better storylines written about strangers stuck in improbable situations. A quick summary of the plot - Mira's second flight is cancelled and she joins her seat mate Harper on a road trip home to Pittsburg. The hook? She's traveling with four total strangers in an insane snow storm and all of them are carrying secrets.

With an intriguing and promising plot, it sadly doesn't hit. Nothing momentous occurs, there is no intrigue, and more often than not you may think - why? Five Total Strangers contains a plot that you will forget about.

The characters in Five Total Strangers were solid enough. What you will find frustrating about them is that they continuously make silly decisions; decisions that typical adults, even young adults, would not make.

If you decide to read Five Total Strangers, you will understand that comment.

I skipped the last 30 pages to read the ending, read it and went - oh. It is a lacklustre ending and does not finish the novel off well. With an insane plot, the ending creates no resolution or lesson which can leave you feeling flat.

This is not a novel I recommend reading because of the cumulation of feelings the plot and ending give. An aeroplane novel one may say but it is always up to you to decide if this is worth your time.

At no point did I get chills during Five Total Strangers. It eerily resembled No Exit by Taylor Adams with the concept of strangers banded together during a snowstorm. There is a clear good guy, there is a good but then turned bad guy, and there is a secret. The similarities in the novels caused a similar reaction after finishing - "eh." It was all a bit mundane and so improbable. I cannot fathom getting into a car with a stranger and four? Absolutely insane.

The drive of the main character was a bit frustrating. Her desire to get home to her mother because of depressive episodes? Absolutely understandable and reasonable but to put herself in danger MULTIPLE times whilst KNOWING there is an impending ice storm and that she most likely won't make it home anyway and then NEVER EVER listening to her gut which was continuously mentioned throughout the novel? Girl, you crazy. I did like that aspect of the novel, Mira had drive and would do anything to be home with her loved ones but it was frustrating reading about such silly decisions to fulfill that drive.

At the first sign of danger when her phone goes missing, she should have run! The novel should have been called "Mira doesn't think logically about danger," and then I would have been more prepared. It was all so improbable and the fact her parents NEVER worried about her despite being written as worry-wart parents did not make sense. What parent that is a professed worrier of their child would not be continuously checking on them? Mira literally told both of them they were strangers and still, no bells? No follow-up calls? Nada?

Why did they keep on harping about Harper needing to be home? Did she know Brecker? Were these questions answered in the 30 pages I skipped? I guess I am comfortable never knowing.

It always is upsetting when you do not enjoy a novel and I sadly did not enjoy this one. It felt like a cheesy B-List horror movie where each move was the complete opposite of what typically would happen.

Stay at a hotel? No, go with strangers. Figure out how to pay for gas? No, flee. Hit and run? Okay, flee again. Five Total Strangers is an insane novel and I will be letting the plot flow out of my head to make room for more memorable reads. If you read this novel, did certain confuse you?