I find the construction here frustrating. We see this too often - a teen gets a fantastic opportunity that gets co-opted by someone intent on revenge. Its privileged kids being held accountable in heinous and inhumane ways. Interesting once, maybe, but tiresome very quickly.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!! I really enjoyed this book; definitely something I will tell my friends about!

Locked room murder mystery on a private jet en route to Paris- what's not to like?

Turns out, the characters, twelve boarding school teens vying for a scholarship are mostly despicable, as we find out in a game of two truths and a lie. As the body count rises, the stakes get higher as well. Is it just part of the game or is someone truly unhinged?

3/5 stars, concept was more fun then this actually was

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group & Razorbil for the arc through netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Flying is something that always scares me before I actually do it, so the concept of a thriller and murder mystery happening on a plane, especially for a competition sounded exactly like something that would get to me. I was really hopeful that it would be creepy and interesting, but unfortunately it just overall fell flat for me. The concept ended up being much more interesting than what happened.

One of the biggest things that disconnected me from this story was my inability to connect with the main character, and also remember all the side characters. The main character was never very compelling to me, she also didn't seem like the best person for most of the book. I am all for having unlikeable main characters with complex motivations, but I just didn't end up really liking her and some of her actions in the beginning, which made it hard for me to enjoy her later on. As well, I think there were too many side characters to really allow the story to shine through. With competition stories, this can be difficult to manage, but I wish there were fewer.

As well the story just didn't keep me as invested as I hoped, while the prologue chapter had me interested right away, this quickly waned away as the story progressed. This was very disappointing as I was intrigued to see a closed-door romance on an airplane. This unfortunately just wasn't a book that connected with me as much as I hoped it was going to.

[TW: blood and gore, murder, cancer mentioned, homelessness mentioned, anaphylactic shock]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙-𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙔𝘼 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧.

Lately, I haven’t been enjoying YA thrillers as much as I used to, but I still wanted to give this book a try. The synopsis had me so intrigued and I always love a locked-door thriller.

This book focuses on twelve contestants from different elite boarding schools who were all competing for a scholarship. With there being so many characters I had to make a chart to make sure I didn’t get confused.

None of the characters were too likable with their secrets being revealed, but I also think they were interesting to read about. Also, I loved the idea of this taking place in a place - and the characters dying off one by one.

While I thought the story was fun, there were a few things that didn’t work for me. I felt like the story was so predictable and not as thrilling as I was hoping. I also didn’t care for the romance subplot, and these characters made some decisions that had me annoyed.

Overall, the book is suspenseful and enjoyable. I liked the setting and idea behind the story, there were some missing pieces here and there, but I would still recommend this to those who want a YA version of And Then There Were None.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

Eight hours. Twelve contestants. A flight none of them may survive.
✈️
Emily Walters did some pretty unforgivable things to have this opportunity to compete against other prep school students for a scholarship. With her and her mom currently living in their car, it’s the only way she’s making it to college. She, along with eleven other contestants, board a private jet to Paris and from the beginning there are rules and games to play…until people start dying.
🛩️
This was a fast-paced YA thriller that had me hooked from the beginning. @kelliemparker did a great job creating tension, unreliable characters and a twist I didn’t see coming. Fans of Jessica Goodman and Diana Urban will love this new voice in the genre.

CW: blood, death, murder, homelessness, suicide (recounted), cheating, alcohol, hospitalization, cancer (mentioned), knife violence, fire, abortion (mentioned), drugging, drug use

You all know I love a locked room mystery, so how could I pass up the chance to read one with such a unique setting? A luxury plane filled with teenagers competing against each other…sold!

Right from the start there is a sense of tension and unease as readers get to know our main character, Emily. She’s got some serious secrets that she wants to keep hidden and it seems like someone is out to get her on this plane. It’s not just Emily who has earned herself a spot on the killer’s radar, however, so the readers are treated to getting to know our secondary characters in quite a bit of detail. There are a few standouts that we get to connect with on a deeper level, who plan a vital role in helping Emily put together the clues to our mystery.

Parker manages to connect the reader fully to the situation at hand, while building a fantastic sense of anxiety, by keeping the pacing of the story at a relatively quick rate. I loved guessing what was going to happen next, who would fall victim, and who I could trust. Parker even throws a bit of romance into the story, which normally isn’t my cup of tea, but I felt like it lends itself to the story and the actions of our main character.

If you enjoy YA reads and locked room mysteries, this is definitely one to check out!

A huge thank you to Penguin Teen for my gifted copy!

2.5 stars!

I was excited for Thin Air because I love a locked room mystery, I love the idea of a reality competition, and the cover of this book is absolutely incredible. However, where I think things really fell apart was the actual mystery. I love a mystery where the clues are laid out and I could have theoretically figured it out. I don't even mind suspending my belief sometimes, but this was doing absolutely too much. It also just read a little too young and I can't say I liked the relationship between her and her best friend's boyfriend (and this was just unresolved??)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this was a fun quick read. I like the plane setting. It's claustrophobic and everyone is trapped inside. Locked room mystery but better if you ask me. Though I will say I had a hard time picturing this plane. It sounded unrealistic to me but I don’t get out much 😅

Many times I thought I knew who the killer was but it took me a while to figure it out. I’m usually much quicker!

The storyline was interesting and I loved that we couldn’t trust a single person. It made the book that much more fun.

Overall this was a good YA mystery. Just what I needed.

Emily Walters boards a plane for Paris, expecting to compete with eleven other kids for a prestigious scholarship. It starts out that way - but that's before people suddenly start dying, and everything points to her. Emily is about to learn that everyone on this flight has secrets, some worse than others, and someone knows all of them and intends to use them to kill. If she doesn't figure out who the killer is fast, Em may end up taking the fall.

This book was so much fun, so fast-paced, action-packed, even scary in places that I had to devour it in three days. To me, the book hearkened back to "Red Eye", another thriller with a killer set on a plane. I also saw a bit of Hitchcock in the claustrophobic setting no one can escape, the suspicion of other players causing people to unravel, and the constant suspense and raising of stakes.

Ms. Parker has done a thoroughly excellent job with this novel, and aside from some minor typos, I have very little to critique here. Five stars. I'm recommending it to friends and excited to see her next book. Thank you to Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill, and Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy. This is my voluntary review, left honestly without compensation of any kind.

When a group of competitive teens are stuck together on an airplane, the results may be deadly. Each year, the Bonhomme Foundation offers a college scholarship to one deserving boarding school student. This year, Emily is competing for the prize. Along with eleven others, she boards a plane for Paris. As the competition begins, it soon becomes clear that something isn't right. Everyone on this plane has a secret, and one of them is a killer. Will Emily survive this flight, or will she be taken down over the Atlantic? Pick up Thin Air and find out.

This was an enjoyable YA murder mystery. I like the plane setting. It's claustrophobic and everyone is trapped inside. Though I'd imagine it wouldn't be the easiest to sneak around in. None of these characters are saints. They've definitely all made mistakes (some worse than others), but as they get to know each other, you get to see them open up emotionally. I also enjoyed the romance between Emily and Liam. Emotions are high in this tense situation, and the romance was a nice positive element amidst all the stress. The mystery was twisty; lots of blame tossed about and several red herrings. I didn't see the ending coming. It was a bit out of left field though, so how could I. I did enjoy the read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This will be a popular one amongst my thriller readers in my high school library. I'm not a giant fan of locked room thrillers, but I think this one will be a hit amongst my readers.

This was a chore to get through, mainly because Emily is a train wreck and an all-around unlikeable character; she doesn’t even get pity votes for her situation with her family. The story itself started out well but falls apart for me when people are dying and all Emily can think about is hooking up with one boy or the other (again, completely unlikeable). About the only thing I liked was when they’re told they all deserve what’s coming. I have a difficult time believing that all these teens would have free reign to run around a plane with no supervision and that these tasks would have even been assigned on a transatlantic flight. Just not for me.

A locked room murder mystery only on a plane! I'm all for remote location murder and this one started off promising but I must confess, I did get a bit confused with the characters. There's a lot to keep track of and I spent a bit of time going back and forth on character refreshing.

The premise gets a little bogged down by the MC who's on a quest to win a scholarship competition. She's both highly driven (yet not enough to get their honestly) and wholly preoccupied with boys. So, there was a bit of duplicity I was having a hard time reconciling with. Along with this, things took a turn for the outrageous towards the end when the big reveal occurred.

All in all, entertaining and fun.

This book started so strong. I was so excited only to be let down at the end.

First things first there are a ton of characters. I think fifteen? 12 of them are the students that are competing and the other 3 are the stewardesses.

Our main character is a 17 year old who is on some seriously hard times. I felt so bad for her. Even after learning some of the things she did to secure her position in the competition. I was like “well, she’s in such a bad spot.” But as the story wore on, the wore thin.

Bodies start dropping. It’s bad, a girl dies and now everyone’s on edge. Especially after a twisted version of two truths and a lie. It gets everyone rattled.

Tell me why this girl is so focused on boys? Relationships? She is here to get a position at the college of her choice with money that will make tuition not a problem and fix her and her mom’s lives. So why is she so absolutely obsessed with boys>

I was a 17 year old girl once. And yes, I did focus on boys but not when stuff was on the line. And that was just public school. I had a job, my parents and baby sibling and serious health issues. But this girl? Boys. Any time she sees them it’s wondering about relationships, etc.

It got on my nerves so bad. And the boy who came with her? Got on my nerves as well. Can’t lie.

This was a locked room mystery so I fully expected a great ending. And it let me down so hard. It did the one thing that I absolutely can’t stand in mysteries. Who was this character at the end that handled it all? What was the point of the other characters at all then? Also the killer does the movie thing. Just starts monologuing and won’t shut up. It was annoying.

Oh, and there’s cheating. Insta-love and cheating. Yeah, I can’t.

This book gets 2 stars from me for the beginning because it was so strong but the rest? I couldn’t stand it.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

If you are looking for a fun, thrilling locked-door YA thriller, this is the ONE! This story is about a contest set on a flight to Paris with 12 teenagers as the contestants and a huge prize at the end. It has all the elements of a good thriller, a great mystery, a fast pace and gripping tension that leaves you breathless. I really enjoyed it!

Thin Air is like the ultimate locked room scenario. Taking place on one international flight, bodies will hit the floor. When we are so close to getting what we want, but people stand in our way, I guess people will have to die. Thin Air has murder, betrayal, lies, and competition. It's cut throat. Emily soon finds out she cannot trust anyone, even longstanding friends. That everyone has secrets they are willing to die to protect.

I so wanted to love this one - and unfortunately it fell short in the final stretch.

The good // this is a fast-paced, well-developed novel with an interesting premise. It's a twist on a locked-door mystery, as most of the novel takes place on a plane mid-flight. I truly enjoyed the various twists and turns, and the group of main characters trying to genuinely figure out the situation they are in.

However...my two biggest qualms are the main character's focus and the ending. First, the main character is obsessed with boys - all the way to the end of the boy - she seems more focused on boys and her relationship with them than the truly life-or-death situation she finds herself in. It just seemed odd, immature, and like she was underdeveloped.

Then, the ending truly ruined the whole book for me. There is nothing I hate more than a random character popping up in the final act to resolve everything - I think it takes away from the audience trying to figure out the ending as they read. It just takes some of the drama and clues woven into the plot away from the audience.

Overall, a largely enjoyable read, but I won't be recommending to others.

Oh my god this book was a masterpiece! The twists truly kept me on the edge of my seat and every time I thought I guessed the culprit some other plot twist would leave me in utter shock and with no idea where the book was going which I LOVED! And the ending was so well done and really stood out to me compared to other boarding school Murder mystery books and I loved every second of it.

I was enthralled with the setting of this book-talk about a unique experience! A locked room mystery on a plane amidst a competition for teens was quite an interesting set up and truly made for an immersive and explosive storyline/plot, in my opinion!