Since I loved Falling, I had incredibly high hopes for Drowning, and it didn't disappoint. Over the hours that I binged this book, I went through a range of emotions - fear, excitement, worry - and grew to love the brief glimpses we saw of each character. I hope to see Drowning made into a movie someday, as it's incredibly fast paced and engaging. Absolutely loved it!

If you liked T. J. Newman's first book Falling, then this one will not disappoint. This one was an intense, roller-coaster ride of disaster, humanity, forgiveness, ingenuity, and white-knuckle suspense. While my worse nightmare of ending up in a plane crash that falls to the bottom of the ocean is the subject of this book, I still read it in almost one setting. Highly recommended.

I read this in almost one sitting and finished with my coffee the next morning. I couldn't turn the pages enough. The action starts immediately and races thru the whole book to the very last page. I WILL be recommending this to all my book friends!!

Seriously good. It was one of those books that I couldn't wait to get back to. I finished in only a couple of days and now I'm sad it's over! As much as I loved "Falling," I think I loved this even more! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

WOW! WOW! What a book! I was so excited to start this book! Had me hooked on the very first page and didn’t let up! Read this book in on day-I could not put it down. Loved the characters and the story was great. Awesome book! Thank you to NetGalley, TJ Newman and Avid Reader Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC..⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Not sure if I’ll ever get on a plane again!

4.75 stars rounded up to 5!

One word, WOW! This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! This book was packed with action from start to finish and I could not put this down. If you liked Falling, you will love this book too.

Minutes after flight 1421 takes off it suffers a catastrophic failure and the plane needs to be ditched in the ocean. People are panicking and trying to get off the plane but Will ends up convincing a few people it is safer to stay inside the plane. Things take a turn for the worse and the plane ends up sinking to the bottom of the ocean with some passengers and crew inside the plane. Their only chance at rescue/survival is an elite team that is headed by Chris, Will's wife. Will they all survive?

I really loved the vivid descriptions and details of the book. T.J. did a lot of great research and it shows. I also really loved each of the characters in the book. They each brought something to the story and I enjoyed reading from everyones POV. This book should be made into a movie, it was that good.

This book hits shelves on May 30th, make sure to get a copy!

Thanks Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a very good book It had a lot of action Read it I two days Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher
For the Chance to read this Hopfally this will be a movie too Just like her first Falling already is which will also be good

WOW! This is going to be THE book of summer 2023! It is edge of your seat, gotta read just one more page, can't possibly stop (or eat, or sleep, or...) until you are done kinda good. I loved Falling - this is better! It is not, nor is it meant to be, fine literature - it is a great story by a very talented author. T.J. Newman is a rising star and I don't think she can write a bad book. Read this - you won't be sorry.

TJ Newman is back with another fast paced plane disaster that makes me never want to step foot onto an airplane.

Just six minutes after taking off, Flight 1421 plunges into the Pacific Ocean in a burst of fire. Many of the passengers attempt to escape the plane, but Will, an engineer, tries to convince them to stay put, that it’s safer inside the plane. Only 12 believe him and as the plane sinks to the bottom of the ocean, they aren’t sure they made the right choice. Now, the Will, his 11 year old daughter, and 10 others have only each other and the hope that someone above the water is coming to rescue them. Time is ticking, the water is rising inside the plane, and their oxygen levels are getting dangerously low.

If you liked her first book, Falling, I can’t imagine that you won’t like this one. It’s just as fast paced, it’s just as heart pounding, and it makes you think just as much about what you’d do in this situation. The will to survive is strong with the twelve passengers we’re following, but so are tensions and that makes for an interesting dynamic between them.

One of the rescuers is Chris - Will’s ex-wife, Shannon’s mom - which just adds another layer of heartache to the story, especially as a parent. But you know that she will stop at nothing to save her family, even if it means risking her own life.

I’ll be honest in that I liked this just a touch less than Falling and I think it’s only because there was a lot of language around the plane itself - more technical terms that I had a hard time picturing. Plus, sadly, it’s easier to picture the scene inside of Falling, rather than the one inside Drowning.

There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and at the beginning of the book it seems like you’ll never get them all straight. But by the end, you’ll find yourself just pleading for all twelve of them to make it out of the plane safely.

I absolutely flew through this book, inhaling every heart pounding minute. Especially toward the end of the book, the last 20% or so, when one thing after another seems to go wrong, this is when it feels as if TJ Newman really shines.

This book will be featured on an upcoming episode of Reading Through Life podcast.

This book was such an edge of your seat suspense! A few minutes after take off, the plane suddenly has a malfunction and the only place to land is the ocean.
I was hooked the whole time reading this. The author went really in depth in research and I did have to google a few things. I also loved that a woman came up with an idea on how to rescue the people still stranded underwater in the plane.
I did like the first novel from the author and this book was just as good!

HOLY WOW. I thought Falling the author’s fist novel had me on the edge of my seat but this one ramped up the tension a thousand fold and I don’t know that I took a breath while it was happening. It was just a wonderful read and I hope to read more from TJ Newman as soon as possible.

I grew up watching every disaster/airplane catastrophe movie so I knew this book would be right up my alley. Another great book by T.J. Newman that will keep you reading through the night. Fast paced and suspenseful with plenty of turns that will keep you guessing.

Having read and enjoyed T.J.Newman’s Falling, I erroneously assumed that her years and experiences as a flight attendant led to the creation of that novel and that there would not be a second book. Boy, was I ever wrong! Drowning is an extremely difficult book to read — unless, of course, you don’t mind reading a book with a constant lump in your throat and tears streaming down your cheeks.
The story begins with a crash of an airplane moments after takeoff and, somehow, it creates the feeling that the reader is actually on the plane. Words like exciting and thrilling do not adequately describe the emotions felt by this reader who quickly became enmeshed in the lives of the characters — both on the plane and those involved in the rescue and recovery process.
If it were possible to give this novel more than 5 stars, I would! I thank NetGalley, Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster, Inc. for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication. A special thanks to Ms. Newman with the hope that she has more excitement in store for us.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.
************************************************************************************************
The flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman—whose first book Falling was an instant #1 national bestseller and the biggest thriller debut of 2021—returns for her second book, an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean, and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside, and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.
Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashed into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.
More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.
Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.
There’s not much time.
There’s even less air.
With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds

This book is gripping and engrossing and will make you question flying almost as much as TJ's previous novel Falling. At least flying over water! The characters and their backstories were lovely and I did do an ugly cry more than once (no spoilers but it's rough after a plane crash when you are trying to survive!)
I will highly recommend this to all friends, family and patrons and anyone I see reading on the train to Montreal and congratulate them for not flying! (I have had some of the best conversations about books on a #viarailcanada train!)
#shortbutsweetreviews

I tore through this book in one night; literally could not put this down. Incredible, thrilling read. I've been hearing about this book for weeks on Bookstagram and Booktok and it did not disappoint. The traumatic set-up, the character development, the backstory - it was all so perfectly crafted. I felt on edge and so tense the entire time, my heart racing, adrenaline pumping. Almost as if I were watching a film. Which, by the way, I cannot wait for this film adaption, and I read the film rights were part of one of the biggest bidding wars of the year! I can't wait to buy this book for friends and family and share. Thank you NetGalley for the early digital copy. I will be thinking about this book for a long time - especially any time I'm on a plane!

Just minutes after takeoff the engine of Flight 1421 fails. Soon after the plane crash lanes into the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. While most of the passengers scramble to get off, Will senses more danger in getting off the plane versus staying. Him along with 11 other passengers, including his daughter, close the doors to the plane. But their hope to safely float quickly turns deadly as plane sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

Jumping from the perspective of a handful of the passengers this had me 100000% on the edge of my seat the entire time! Talk about INTENSE. The actions starts on page 1 and doesn’t let up until the final chapter. Literally this was a FANTASTIC SUSPSENE READ! Tons of action and character building I binge read this entire book in four hours. Thankfully it was a Friday night, but make sure you have time to read the entire thing at once! This would be a perfect quick vacation read, but may I suggest not reading it while flying!

I didn’t read T.J. Newman’s debut Falling but I have already added it to my immediate TBD, because Newman’s writing is just phenomenal. While the ending was fairly predictable, I still loved every single minute of this book. All the stars!

Drowning comes out May 30, 2023. Huge thank you to Avid Reader Press and Simon & Schuster for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

This is one of those books that will have you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. Similar Newman’s debut Falling, Drowning was another airplane drama filled with action and suspense, but I truly appreciated how different the plot was. I loved the character development, the vivid descriptions and the various POVs. The audiobook was also performed in a duet style, which was amazing as I felt like a movie was unfolding with the back and fourth dialogue and male/female narrators.

I loved this book so much! It will leave you biting your nails, sitting on the edge of your seat, eagerly flipping pages, wanting to know what comes next. The whole book just takes place in a couple of hours, so it is incredibly fast-paced. T.J. pulls you in and does not let go until the last page, and even then, you'll be left thinking about the story.

I enjoyed T.J. Newman's Falling immensely, so I was so excited to receive an arc of Drowning. Drowning was good but not as compelling a read as Falling. The main problem for me was all of the technical jargon. I understand that a book such as this one needs technical language, but there was just so much of it. There were parts I skipped over or didn't understand because of it. I am still a fan and will definitely read the next book, but the technical language brought it down a star. Thank you to Avid Reader Press and Simon and Schuster for the eARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Avid Reader Press (Simon & Schuster) for an ARC.

Drowning is pegged as an aviation thriller, and I thought it would be a lot more chilling than it aw. It didn’t feel suspenseful for me and I am someone who hates and fears flying. This novel is more like a sappy romance, unfortunately.

Some parts of Drowning seemed unrealistic, like when some passengers wrote a message in a bottle. However, the author added some character nuances and mannerisms that provided some comedic relief.

There were many weird depictions of grief, like when the MMC and a female character hear his young daughter talking about her dead sister, and the female character asks, “do you miss her?” I mean, who doesn’t miss their deceased child on the daily? I don’t get that question. It was a botched attempt at sappiness.

The ending did not redeem the book as I’d hoped. If you love sappy stories with light suspense, go for it. If you are looking for a true thriller, pass on this one.

I will say that the content is very well informed regarding aviation and diving.