📖 Book Review 📖

📘🎧 "Drowning" by TJ Newman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
published May 30, 2023

The author is a former flight attendant and the vivid details that went into this novel showcase her love and knowledge of aviation. When a commercial jetliner crashes into the ocean, just 6 minutes after takeoff from Maui it is the worst outcome imaginable. A water ditching, fuel being leaked onto ocean surface, a fire and a change in wind direction, ultimately causes 3 crew and 9 passengers to shut the plane doors and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Luckily the plane lands on a volcanic ledge about 180m down…this is the story of how they are rescued.

The ingenious engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon and Chris Kent, a professional diver and Shannon’s mom make this book. The love of family, impossible odds, suspense, plus all the emotions made me race through this story. I found the last chapters intense- with so much happening and time running out, it was a sweat, pray, can’t read fast enough feeling.

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I can safely say I am obsessed with T.J. Newman's writing. She does such a great job at character building and really makes you connect with the characters in her books. As a fellow aviation girly, I also love that she has past experience in the aviation world and feel it really helps to make the stories feel so REAL.

'Falling' is one of my favorite books ever, so this had a lot to live up to and I feel it fell a *bit* short comparitively, but I still LOVED this. It was so suspenseful and kept me guessing 'til literally the very end. I typically don't cry from books and this one had my tearing up. My only issue is I felt there were a few too many characters working the rescue and really struggled to keep them straight. Regardless, YOU MUST READ THIS!!

"Time is luck. You grab it. You hold on tight. And you be there. You have to be there for it. It's going, with or without you. And no one knows for how long. No one knows."

CW: Plane crash

Thank you to @avidreaderpress, @simonandschuster and @netgalley for the ARC.

Y'all, this was a ride and a half. Holy smokes. Fast-paced, unpredictable, heartbreaking, suspenseful and inspiring. I read it in a day and a half because I couldn't put it down. A perfect thriller, unless you have any fear of flying or plane crashes. Then don't read this and take the book way off your TBR.

There's no doubt Newman is a former flight attendant with the way she skillfully writes about being in the air and on a plane. There was a lot of technical action in the book and I admittedly grazed over some of it but for the most part it was accessible - and somewhat believable (or maybe that's because I couldn't fully grasp it haha). There were twists and turns and the characters had unexpected layers that made you cheer even harder for their survival. There were heartbreaking moments, heartwarming moments and the end packed an emotional punch I was not expecting. If you can handle the plane crash element, pick this one up. You'll be entertained and sucked in and you'll hug your loved ones a little tighter when you're done.

Newman delivers an adrenaline rush in story form. This story picks you up and sweeps you along for the ride. There was a lot of technical jargon that lost my interest a little along the way, and I didn’t get completely engrossed in the characters, I felt like I was seeing them at arms length instead of totally engrossed in their actions. I did however enjoy the fast pace and action throughout the book. I was pleased to recieve a review copy from NetGalley.

LOVED LOVED LOVED. This book was everything I wanted it to be. Read it in less than 24 hours because I couldn’t stop!

I was SO excited to get this ARC! I loved this author's first novel and could not wait to get my hands on this one! And the book did not disappoint. It was fast paced and kept my attention the entire time. I read it in on sitting!

“It didn’t matter if you died in a car crash or peacefully in your sleep at 102 or if you drowned in a plane at the bottom of the ocean. The end result would be the same. That was all life was. Shifting the balance, every day, to make room for joy and grace and in whatever circumstances you’ve got before your time runs out.”

Drowning is a gripping suspense that starts off with a bang right away! And this continues all the way to the very end.

Thanks NetGallet for the e-copy ARC! I both read the ARC and listened to the audiobook. It was interesting to see/hear the subtle changes made throughout now that it’s a finished work.

I listened to Falling last year and liked it so when I heard Newman was releasing another I had to add it to my tbr. Both are perfect summer reads that hold your attention. In Drowning we are given the POVs from both those in the trapped cabin, the rescue crew, and the estranged wife of one of the passengers. Newman has an incredible inner knowledge of airplanes, protocols, and goodness her imagination with these novels makes you wonder how she wrote these without experiencing it firsthand! That knowledge makes these stories so much more realistic but as long as you don’t have a fear of flying, you shouldn’t be too paranoid to step onto a plane after reading either of her novels.

Content and trigger warnings include tragedy violence, drowning, loss of child/spouse, profanity.

Amazing 2nd novel by former flight attendant T.J. Newman. This was a fast pace, edge of your seat rescue mission. Shortly after departing Hawaii, this commercial jetliner crashes into the Pacific Ocean and it is a race against time and oxygen to save the people still inside the plane now underwater. The technical details were not overwhelming, but you can tell the author had done her research. The characters were well developed, diverse and I became very invested in their well being. Laughed, cried, stayed up all night. A++

A plane crashes into the ocean with twelve passengers/crew members trapped inside 😱
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This was a non stop action packed thrill ride! It was claustrophobic and anxiety inducing for me, as the coast guard/navy worked to rescue everyone and conditions deteriorated inside the plane. I won’t soon be getting on a plane, I can tell you that 🤣
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I thought we got to know the characters really well, and I was even choked up and misty eyed at the end, which I was not expecting!
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Really enjoyable read and I look forward to the author’s next book!

Omg this book, whew! Newman’s books are always a wild, heart pumping thrill ride and I love for it. Im so glad I didn’t read this before my Hawaiian vacation because I would’ve had to take a Valium to make it on the flight. This book plays out like a movie and I just couldn’t stop once I started.

It's a wild ride that's worth every moment! Very propulsive and will have your heart pounding! You're going to be irritated with whatever real life has you doing until you can get back to it.

Drowning by T.J. Newman
Spice: 0/5
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 /5 stars
{Spoiler Free Review}

THE PLANE IS SINKING INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND THEIR ONLY CHANCE AT SURVIVAL IS A TEAM OF PROFESSIONAL DIVERS LED BY NONE OTHER THAN CHRIS KENT, ONE OF THE PASSENGERS SOON TO BE EX WIFE AND ANOTHER PASSENGERS MOTHER.
Can I say I found a book both heartwarming and heartbreaking? A book that features losing souls but also a found family?
This book blew my mind in all the good ways that a book is able to. Talk about multiple fears coming true. A plane crash and drowning at the same time is absolutely the most terrifying thing I can imagine happening.
How T.J Newman was able to write an entire novel purely about the plane crash is mind blowing, and the details within the story are amazing. When I am telling you, that I was sitting on the edge of my seat during my entire reading experience and I no longer have any fingernails left is not an exaggeration. I felt like I was actually there, I could picture the details so clearly and so vividly.
I do wish that we were able to get to know the main characters better, because as they were crashing/drowning I did not feel any sort of attachment to them, but other than that there were not many other scenes that I would change if I rewrote this book.
If you can handle talk of death, crashing, drowning, and survival, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try. It was such a fast paced read!

Loved this book!!
Read it shortly before the eerie Titan submarine accident too. Sooo suspenseful and playing on a bunch of different personalities that were randomly thrown into crisis together as a plane crashes into the sea shortly after takeoff. I can see why this is being made into a movie. There is the unlikely-but-devastating dynamic of a divorced family being on both sides of the crisis - father & daughter onboard, mother we asked her way onto the rescue team and knows better than the special forces leads assigned to the case. This feels like a movie trope - a parent in the unique position to save their family despite *seeming* unqualified, but it makes for a good story. I devoured this in 2-3 sittings. Would recommend and see the movie.

Looking for an action-packed, adrenaline-fuelled, binge-able read to get you out of a slump? Look no further! Presenting DROWNING, a uniquely claustrophobic, captivating, edge-of-your-seat disaster thriller🙌🏽

Page one drops us immediately into the action and the tension and momentum doesn’t let up till the very last page. This book has all the elements required for a perfect thriller, but it’s also so much more: it’s hard-hitting emotionally, with a focus on family dynamics + the kind of character focus and development that thrillers can sometimes lack.

I switched to audio about a quarter of the way in, and the narration of the audiobook was absolutely brilliant.. as someone who is terrified of both flying + large bodies of water, the fact that I was so immersed in the plot that I didn’t really think about this, evidences how entirely gripping this book, and the narration, really is. Newman’s flight attendant experience shines through in the details and it’s clear a lot of research has gone into writing this book.

I will say I didn’t enjoy this 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 as FALLING— possibly the difference between reading + listening, or the fact that this was predictable in parts, as any plane crash book/movie is. Regardless, both are fantastic books that I’d highly recommend 👏🏽

[𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 @𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 (𝘐𝘎), 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩.] —— 𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🫶🏽

Thank you, T.J. Newman, Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the eArc! This book starts off with a bang, literally! Within minutes of takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the ocean! We are now trapped with the passengers as they are forced to make difficult decisions and struggle to survive. This book takes you on a wave of emotions as you quickly turn the pages and as time runs out for this group of characters, who are innocently on this flight hoping to make it to the end of their journey. Perhaps read this while at home, rather than on a flight, 😀. If you loved Falling, you will love Drowning! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Drowning immediately hooked me and I didn’t want to put it down. The characters are realistic and their situation is terrifying. I look forward to what T J Newman comes up with next! What a terrific writer!

T. J. Newman's latest tour de force, "Drowning," propels readers into an electrifying world where fear and suspense converge at thirty thousand feet above the earth.

As a former flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author, Newman's intimate connection with aviation infuses the narrative with an authentic and chilling edge, leaving one to wonder if she herself harbours a hatred for the skies. Her adeptness at crafting heart-stopping thrillers is unmistakable, and in this, her second novel, she once again has us gripping the edge of our seats, questioning our confidence in flight.

Drowning was a suspenseful and exciting thriller. Once I started reading, I was immediately hooked and could not put it down. I appreciated that the chapters would alternate to different character's viewpoints of the story, it kept me engaged in the book and seemed to make the storyline move faster. Since TJ Newman has a background of previously being a flight attendant, you definitely get a realistic account of what it would be like to be trapped on a crashed plane trapped in the ocean. The only minor comment I would have is that the reader might have to be willing to suspend reality just a little bit, considering the amount of activity that occurs in the plane under water. I had no problem with this, but I can see where some readers might. I binged this book in a few days and then immediately jumped into Falling. So excited to see that Falling is going to be adapted for the screen, and that TJ Newman is writing the screenplay. Thanks to both of these books, TJ Newman has definitely become an auto-read author for me. It's going to be hard to wait until next summer to get another book written by her.

I love T.J. Newman and will read anything he comes out with! Edge of your seat thriller. Highly highly recommend.

This book is a great success, a solid thriller with characters you’ll actually be rooting for. New man’s last book left me wanting a whole lot more—I felt it was a little too plastic and patriotic. However, this one is full of flesh and bone characters delivering real life saving procedures and following flight staff protocols, real underwater welders and rescue workers, real fathers and daughters. I couldn’t put it down, I tore right through it.