The Subtle Use of Disability in Five Survive by Holly Jackson

If you've talked to me in the last 2 years about books, the first thing I would have told you is "OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO READ A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER IMMEDIATELY". I've recommended the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (AGGGTM) series to everyone in my life who reads including my sister, who hates any kind of mystery, crime, or suspense storytelling.

So, when I say I adore Holly Jackson's writing style, flawed characters, world building, etc., I mean it. Holly Jackson's fourth novel (here we are not counting her novella prequel to AGGGTM) is Five Survive. Unlike the AGGGTM series, Jackson steps away from our beloved Pip to introduce a new heroin, Red. Five Survive takes the audience through one night of a road trip with Red, her best friend, her best friend's brother, that brother's girlfriend, her male friend, and her crush. The group is traveling in a worn out RV for Spring Break when the secrets start to bleed out into every conversation. Jackson's work here has more concentrated suspense than her previous creations. If you're looking for a thriller with the DNA of Jackson's character focused narratives, Five Survive may be right for you.

I want to dive a little deeper into Jackson's characterization. Red is not so subtly coded as having ADHD. Please note that Jackson has not commented on her character and the disabilities they may or may not have, but a quick google of Holly Jackson and ADHD and Five Survive comes up consistently. To make a long story short, I am not the first person to make this comparison.

Red's ADHD is used first in the story as a plot device to establish our narrator's sense of self. Red sees herself as different and less than her peers for many reasons, but the first reason we're given is that she can't remember what she was doing in a given moment. This theme is repeated throughout the story, but most importantly it serves as an important plot point of Red's inability to escape the situation she is put in throughout the novel as well as her hardships in her home life before the story begins. Jackson uses a common disability like ADHD and reminds the audience of its disabling affects. We're often taught in culture to see ADHD as the boy in class that can't sit still but is mostly harmless to overall quality of life. ADHD as portrayed in Five Survive is debilitating, self-esteem crushing, and a danger to one's physical safety at times. I think that this characterization of ADHD rings true which makes Red a sympathetic, flawed narrator, but the writing does not buy into a pity disability trope. Red's ADHD is integral to who she is from the moment we meet her, but she has other character virtues and failings.

As we are finally beginning to see more disability representation in media, I think Jackson's use of an invisible disability like ADHD captures a lived in experience showing the whole of a disabled person instead of painting with a monolithic brush. For me, this added to my reading experience. Have you read Five Survive? Let me know what you think about the use of disability here and are you more of a Pip or a Red.

#FiveSurvive #HollyJackson #AGoodGirlsGuidetoMurder #ADHD #disability #invisibledisability #YAfiction #AGGGTM #YAliterature #YAlit #YAmystery #YAsuspense #YAthriller #books #booktok