Reviews

Aeropuerto by Arthur Hailey

octavia_cade's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

3.0

This airport thriller was first published back in the 1960s, I think, but a lot of it still feels contemporary. I think it's because of the very effective focus on all the different interlocking parts of the airport and the people who work in it. Hailey has clearly done his research, and the different jobs, stresses, and priorities of everyone from traffic controllers to mechanics to pilots, administration, and stewardesses are given genuinely thoughtful treatment; the parallels to today are easily drawn. I enjoyed it, and the last third, in particular, was tense and exciting... but my goodness, the glacial pace of the first two thirds! Because there's so much focus on all these different characters and elements, this book is heavily weighted to set-up. I didn't give the blurb much of a read, to be honest, before I started on this, so at the halfway point I was genuinely wondering if I'd misunderstood the genre and this was just going to be a slice-of-life novel about tensions at an airport during a snowstorm, or if something thriller-ish was actually going to happen. Well, it did happen. Eventually. 

Very eventually. And it was worth it when it did, but it took a long while to get there. 

humito's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

katewryna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

raeleechoins's review against another edition

I just really didn’t care about anything that was happening or any of the characters 

catsflipped's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book started off fairly slow as we were introduced to the characters and their lives, the personal problems that were going to impact on their day.  The storm making everything just that bit harder, delaying getting the job done.

As we progress through the chapters the pace slowly builds, things are becoming clearer and the impending disaster unfolds.

The last few chapters start racing by, can anything be done to save the day, will decisions made earlier come back to haunt us.

The gripping final pages are edge of your seat stuff, brilliantly written keeping you in suspense to the very end.

sanchan's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

starcake's review against another edition

3.0

This book was ok.I read it on a request of a friend who realllyyy wanted me to read it so I obliged.Reading the blurb I wasn't sure what to expect so I went in blind. The book is from the perspective of many different airport employees who go on with their daily lives and how they manage the airport and later deal with an emergency.
The start was slow and took some time to read as I wasnt really sure where it was leading.The middle where it really caught my interest as it all started leading up to the somthing big. Alas, the ending felt a bit anticlimactic to me as the said big thing they were leading upto ended rathar quickly.
The book ended up disappointing me with the finale that felt a little rushed.On the bright side,I did learn a lot of things about the airports back then.

alenab's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

jbrito's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

picsnbooks18's review

1.0

Never thought I would finish this. The best part of the book was the action which is towards the end.