tlaynejones's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Xenophobia, Racism, Car accident, and Gun violence
scburhans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I found it really cheap and frankly disgusting that Newman chose to play into stereotypes and make the bad guys Middle Eastern/Islamic. It's 2022, it's time we stop demonizing an entire ethno-religous group because of the actions of a few men 20 goddamn years ago. There were moments where it felt like Newman was trying to overcome this, but it fell flat and just came off as in bad taste. The whole brown guy = bad guy bullshit is overplayed, overused, and fucking disgusting.
I also didn't care about 90% of the characters. Theo, Jo, and the kids were pretty much the only people I cared about and, not so coincidentally, they were the only ones with complex characteristics! Bill was such a cookie cutter, rah-rah-All-American hero character that I could not care less about. So much of the plot was unoriginal as well. There were whole chapters that were almost scene for scene recreations of a Criminal Minds episode, season 10 episode 3 to be exact.
Worst of all, somehow, I was bored throughout this entire book. I have no idea how she did it, but I could only read a few pages before I would get bored and go do something else for a while. Very rarely have I ever been so incredibly bored by a thriller. Somehow, it was both faced paced and slow as hell. Everything happened quickly, but it wasn't fast enough apparently.
Not my cup of tea, probably won't reccomend it to anyone either.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Self harm, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Vomit
riella_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence
khronreads's review
4.5
Graphic: Car accident
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
That being said, I did enjoy the flight attendants and their interactions; you can tell the author brought her real-life flight attendant experience to this story. The premise kept me hooked and dying to know what would happen and if they would be okay. It was definitely the definition of a thriller and was enjoyable to listen to on audio. Short chapters that always end on some kind of a cliffhanger and lots of POVs bouncing the story around so we get to know everything that's happening made for a good book.
Thanks to Libro.fm, Simon & Schuster Audio, and the author for my ALC.
Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Grief and Suicide attempt
bookmaddie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
I could think of many more interesting and thrilling back stories than the one that was cooked by up Newman in this. Corporate espionage anyone???
The "living and learning" line at the end made me literally want to puke, like what the fuck?
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Car accident
weeta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Islamophobia
Minor: Car accident, Death, Gore, Racism, and Suicide attempt
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Falling is the debut novel from TJ Newman, former flight attendant, and takes the reader on a thrill ride up in the skies and a hold your breath race on the ground.
As much as a pilot's family could be kidnapped for blackmail against a full planeload of passengers, the only thing that held me back from really enjoying this thriller is the I found it just a little unbelievable that there wouldn't be backup procedures, more thorough background checks, just more protection against this happening.
Doubts aside, Falling sucks you in from the first page, and until it's safe to land to won't want to put this book down!
This book was sent to me by BetterReading and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Moderate: Death
Minor: Blood, Car accident, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Racism, Suicide, Torture, and Violence