I was hoping for a locked room mystery. Instead I got a girl running around a plane making instant assumptions about every single person. She was either in love with them or convinced they were a killer. Or both. On an 8 hour flight with people she just met. Every character kept making the dumbest decisions ever. “Let’s stay together for safety!” Two sentences later, “I wandered off in the dark alone.” And the killer was obvious, Not the motive. That was just dumb.

A group of students vying for a scholarship find themselves trapped with a killer on a plane to Paris. No one can help them until the plane lands, and they must decide who they can trust in order to save themselves.

This book, by virtue of the setting and plot, was full of suspense and scares. Everyone is seemingly in danger at every moment, and Parker doesn’t pull any punches. Each contestant also has three deep dark secrets the killer knows, which adds another level. This is a good read, especially for Spooky Season.

Thin Air is a twisty mystery 35,000 feet in the air! Emily Walters boards a private jet to compete against 11 other high schoolers in a contest that could change her future. Immediately after takeoff, it becomes apparent that all the contestants have secrets, secrets that they are willing to go to great lengths to hide. Who can she trust? Once one contestant winds up dead, she knows they are all in trouble and no one knows where to turn. The next 6 hours across the Atlantic are a closed door thriller where the clues keep changing. Which one of them wants to win enough to murder?

Kellie M. Parker definitely sucked me in right away with this one. I was immediately drawn into Emily’s story and I kept rethinking who I thought the murderer was until the very end. Entertaining, easy read!

Short and Sweet Review
Emily is chosen for the opportunity of a lifetime, she’s going abroad to France for a chance to win a cash prize that will allow her to choose the college of her choice, and help her and her mother get out of poverty. When Emily boards the plane she realizes that her other 11 competitors are no joke, and someone is even willing to kill to get what they want.
So Emily and her fellow competitors are on this plane for the next twelve hours and someone knows all of their secrets and isn’t afraid to pull them out. When the first game is started everyone notices that something is off and someone must be playing a prank on them but things continue to go down hill, especially when students are being killed. This was an interesting take because there’s 12 people anyone of them could be a suspect and there also stuck on a flight for 12 hours so there’s really no escaping. Emily was an okay character, she’s having some troubles on home and also she really doesn’t belong on the flight for reasons I don’t want to spoil. Anyway Emily does know one person on the plane her best friend Nikki’s boyfriend that she has a crush on for whatever reason because homeboy is the definition of trash. Speaking of her friend Emily loves to bring that girl up but for what reason, she’s not on this flight but it starts to make sense once secrets are revealed. The pacing was okay, but I also think its pretty predictable because you know its someone on the plane and we also know some of them will die, its just learning the secrets and the motives that someone would go out of their way to do all of this. Now the culprit of this book was a hot mess, honestly just mind boggling, because why is a grown person going out of their way to get revenge on these 12 kids?
Overall, this was an okay book, the things I didn’t enjoy would be Emily as a character, her decision making was very questionable and also the ending and the culprit was just a head scratcher. I will say I enjoyed the premise of the book and how they were in this confined space with a killer.

A great teen thriller/drama! It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, but I'm not sure that I would want to read this while on a plane! Would recommend to teens looking to get sucked into a good thriller.

When Emily is picked for an elite opportunity to fly to Paris and compete against 11 other boarding school students from affluent boarding schools in the US she is happy her best friend‘s boyfriend Dylan is going to be her companion on this trip. Every school has two kids picked, they have the writer the athletes the theater student the cheerleader the thinker The filmmaker the beauty queen and of course the heartthrob but where does this leave Emily? It is obvious from the beginning that she has done something immoral or illegal to be on this flight to Paris she strikes up a friendship with heartthrob Liam but her best friend Christie’s boyfriend Dylan is also acting as if he has more feelings for her than she initially thought which on some level is a dream come true because she has had a secret crush on him since middle school. Right before dinner however they’re each given an envelope with two truth and a lie the only problem is all of that is horrible and all of that is true and before the end of dinner one person has almost been murdered and everyone except Emily has had the dirty laundry toll to the rest of the group. It gets even worse but for some worse is being murdered and for Emily worse is having the evidence all point to her. Who could be behind this and why is a real shocker and in hindsight I can say oh I could see that but it’s only with hindsight I could say that I love teen horror books and although I will be honest and say Emily was not someone I was “rooting for“ because she does have some really shady characteristics it just makes for a better book when you can honestly say you are rooting for the main character I did love Liam but Emily not so much. I still read this book from beginning to end and for the most part I definitely recommend it it just would’ve been better had I been rooting for Emily. I want to think penguin young readers group and Net galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this title.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. It was super fascinating and fast paced. This book was such a quick and easy read. It was pretty action packed from start to finish. I enjoyed the locked room mystery feel of this book. Overall, this was a pretty solid YA thriller.

All of that being said, it wasn't really for me. I think if you like YA, you will probably enjoy this book a lot. I have found myself straying further and further away from YA right now, so I think I maybe just read this book at the wrong time. I didn't feel any connection with any of the characters. I also don't really think the whole idea of the competition is very believable. I think I personally would have enjoyed this book more if it were adult and leaned more into the horror elements instead of mystery/thriller.

I would recommend this book for people who really enjoy fast paced, action packed thrillers and also enjoy YA.

From the jump, this book is absolutely gripping. I found myself at 70% in the blink of an eye and honestly didn't want to sleep without finishing it. Take And Then There Were None, set it on a private jet with a dozen boarding school kids, and put them on a transatlantic flight to Paris while they vie for a prestigious scholarship. It's no wonder somebody ended up dead!

I didn't know who to trust throughout and honestly was so rapt that I missed a few details! The ending didn't entirely make sense to me, but after all that trauma? Who cares. I feel like this book is perfect for fans of Diana Urban or who just want a thrilling book to whisk them away for an afternoon.

*Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Interesting concept, high school students are in competition for a scholarship. On their flight to the competition, things start happening and some of the students end up dead. This was a forced proximity, whodunnit investigation. I liked the concept and the overall storyline. At times I felt the novel moved a little slow. There was also a lot of characters to keep track of. It was hard for me to remember the specifics of each character.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This does contain spoilers ….

So basically 12 high school students are on a plane to Paris to compete for a scholarship offered to boarding school students. It starts off fun, everyone being to know each other and the premise of playing games to compete for higher ranking is really cool. However, very quickly there is a change of plans when deep dark secrets start being spilt (which some were so silly…..I have a 2.97 GPA? really that’s your darkest secret?!). We get two very bloody murders, then the whodunnit mystery element starts. Everyone is accusing each other, with really no evidence. In the middle of all this, our main character Emily, is too busy working through feelings for her best friends boyfriend Dylan who’s on the trip as well, while also hoping everyone else will like her and be her friend. literally, they find a body and then some pills in Emily’s bag that could have been used to knock out the flight attendants, and someone accuses her of being the killer. But when everyone else stands up for her she thinks to herself she hopes they’ll be lifelong friends. Not only that, but she somehow starts a long term relationship with another guy on the flight, Liam, who she eventually knocks out cold with a paperweight because she thinks he’s the killer. It’s ok though, they forgive each other. The romance element was so completely unnecessary. Not only does she help her best friends boyfriend cheat, but she starts a relationship?! And there’s kids dying and they’re all in danger (They’ve seen MULTIPLE dead bodies!!) and her concern is if Liam likes her?!

I also found this to be super predictable. Spoiler, I knew it was the flight attendant for sure by about halfway through. And the fact that this grown ass woman is killing innocent kids because she had issues with Emily’s mom in school?!? Are you for real. Send her to therapy and jail. That’s the best we came up with?? She’s killing children like 30 years after her school experience because Emily’s mom “betrayed” her….. oof.

ALSO DID I MENTION emily Is only on this trip because she basically stole her best friends identity (yes same friend who’s dating Dylan), and took all of her friends accolades for herself. And yet their friendship seems to be restored? Or working towards it? I’m sorry, but if my best friend kisses my boyfriend AND messed with my future career by pretending to be me and switching our applications, that girl is immediately blocked.

This just wasn’t for me. I think this would actually be super enjoyable as a movie though. I like the premise and the plot, but the details lost me, which could come across much better on a screen.

Love love love. This was a super cool mystery. It had a lot of twists for who the killer was but I liked it a lot. I was absolutely screaming at the main character to just share information already. There is a weird comment about teenage girls always thinking about food that is definitely from a societal ideal that causes eating disorders. I would suggest chopping that.

Thank you @netgalley @penguinteen for the #gifted copy of this book!

If you’ve been following me for a while you may know that I love books that are like games and I was so pleasantly surprised to find out this absolutely fit that bill of games and I LOVED IT! (Think Hawthorn Brothers or The Last Passenger by Will Dean)

What it’s about:
Eight hours on a plan with twelve passengers headed to Paris. The end goal is a full ride to college to whomever wins and it’s just what Emily needs. She doesn’t want people to know exactly how she was selected to be a part of this because she doesn’t want people to know just how poor she really is. It’s a cut throat competition and it seems everyone will do anything to win! Dead bodies start popping up and it’s now become a race to stay alive!

Thoughts:
This was such a great YA thriller! It kept me on my toes, it was locked room (my favorite), included games (another favorite) and had a little romance too! I enjoyed the characters of this book because although they were teenagers they were able to make more adult decisions and they didn’t seem whiney or immature. Sometimes I think in YA we run into that and it makes the book harder to connect with but this one was perfect for me! The mystery and games are what made this book for me. It was perfect! I loved to watch how each game and mystery played out and it was fun to try and guess who was behind the madness! I recommend this to anyone who enjoys mysteries, games, and locked room thrillers!

3.5 Thin Air follows Emily who is a high school student who is chosen to participate in a competition that will give her enough money for her. Along with 11 other contestants that board a flight to Europe Emily realizes that this is going to be extremely dangerous. 
This book was kind of predictable to me. Although it was a roller coaster there was so much angst and anxiety that I felt which I actually enjoyed greatly. The plot twist at the end was insane and made me like it more. 
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I don't know what I was expecting but this really didn't fit the bill like I was anticipating. I wasn't that invested in the characters at all.

This was not my favorite locked door murder, but it was enjoyable.

Teens are on a glamorous private jet headed to Paris, when a killer strikes. As the teens start to die one-by-one, secrets are revealed, loyalties tested, and no one can be trusted!

This was fine. It feels as though authors are trying to figure out any way to get teens in a group together and then start killing them off. The premise was flimsy, the word "aft" was used over 30 times (distracting!), and the characters weren't fleshed out enough. There was "drama" but no work to get me actually invested in the characters to care. If my system purchases this, that's fine, but I wouldn't recommend staff to purchase the title.

What is it about boarding school teens that makes mystery writers want them to kill each other so bad? Well, whatever it is, the readers in my library can't get enough of these types of plots, and I think that Thin Air makes for a worthy addition to the selection.

It's got all the usual ingredients that make a plot like this work; a selection of teenagers, each with an assortment of skeletons in their closets of course, trapped in a confined location, set up to mistrust each other for various reasons, having to work out which one of them is responsible for the bodies steadily piling up around the place.

I do think perhaps the novel could have done with a slightly smaller cast of students. Twelve is a lot to keep track of, and I found I was spending a little too much time trying to remember who was where with whom when, as several of the characters were blurring together.

Overall though, thishas got solid pacing, the requisite amount of twists, and an ending I found satisfying. If you enjoy your Karen McManus, Holly Jackson, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, etc you will probably have a good time with this.

Thin Air was such a fun YA locked in thriller. I flew (pun intended) through this one and really loved it!

Students competing for a scholarship are heading to the competition and the games start on the plane before they even get to their destination.

I loved that the entire premise is on a luxury private jet! It has three stories and is very roomy. All the better to Murder people in. So fun and different. One by one these kids are dying and their secrets are getting out. They all have secrets. Lots of secrets.

It’s giving Would You Rather mixed with Truth or Dare and a hint of Scream too! All of the characters here are kinda cringe and stereo types but it works!

Perfect YA locked in. Thanks for my early copy, such a fun ride!

Thanks so much for the ARC, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley! This book was a fun read - it kept me turning page after page! I didn't immediately love any of the characters, but man, they grew on me! I always love a locked-room mystery that has a cast of people who could have done it, and this one delivered!

3.5

Thin Air follows Emily who is selected to participate in a competition if she wins the cash prize will be enough to cover her college tuition. Not only will the money help her with college, but it could also help her get her mother out of poverty. She and 11 other contestants board a private jet to Europe. Emily soon realizes that these people will do anything to win. Soon people end up dead and Emily has to find someone she can trust before she ends up dead.

This was a really interesting book. I had no idea what to expect going into it. This was one of the most interesting thrillers I have read. The whole thing takes place on a plane over the course of a day. A lot of stuff happens in this book. It gave One of Us is Lying vibes. The plot twist at the end was wild and I did not see it coming. I really enjoyed this one. If you are looking for an interesting thriller to read I would suggest this one.