Twelve teens from elite boarding schools are invited to Paris for a chance at winning a scholarship. For Emily Walters, it would mean everything. A chance at college. A new life. A new beginning. However, things turn deadly when it becomes apparent a killer is amongst them. Emily must figure out who the killer is before she becomes the next victim.

I am not a fan of airplane thrillers but I really enjoyed this. From beginning to end, I was pulled in. I also loved how it wasn’t predictable. The ending and reveal took me by surprise and it was great! There were so many plot twists but it never felt scattered or choppy. There were also plenty of tense moments and lots of suspense, just a way a thriller should be. I have never been on a private jet so I can’t comment on the accuracy of the plane. My only gripe was the use of the insta-love trope. The romance happened too quickly for my liking.

There are 12 boarding school students and an eight hour flight to Paris yet only one college scholarship. Seventeen year old Emily is one of those students competing as she is hoping to use that prize to get herself out of poverty. As soon as the plane takes off, the competition begins. However someone is starting to mess with the students. It starts off with a food allergy and the next is murder. Is the company who provides the scholarship behind this or is it one of the students? Will any of them make it out alive?

This is a YA mystery/thriller whodunnit. The plot is very good but the execution entirely is just okay. The twists and turns in this novel was fun to read. The first half of the book is pretty slow and not a lot happens but the last 30% of the book is very well done and the pacing picks up! Twelve students is too many to be following in this book and it becomes hard to keep track of everyone in the beginning. The main character, Emily, and the rest of the students we find out are not good people. It is nice to see flawed young characters, however it makes it hard to root for most of them. Overall it was a fun read!

Ok, first of all, if you like airplane thrillers and you like them spooky, definitely give Flight 171 by Amy Christine Parker a read. I had no idea airplane thrillers were a sub genre so I want to make sure to write down my recommendation before I forget it.

Second, let’s dive into what I liked about this book. It was perfectly plausible and implausible. Would there really be 12 kids from boarding schools on an airplane to Paris to compete for a scholarship? Probably not, but I don’t know that! Furthermore, would they all have insane secrets? Also probably not but you know what, everyone has secrets so the premise of this story was just wild enough for me not to question it but also so wild that it fit the thriller vibe.

I also loved the red herrings in the story. It actually took me a while to sort out who I thought the villain was and I appreciate that.

My one bugaboo with this book is sort of a personal bugaboo. Right in the beginning of the story, there is a small portion of the plot that hinges on a “peanut allergy” which is used interchangeably with “nut allergy”. Taylor says she has a peanut allergy but yet she was “poisoned” with “nuts”. As a person with a tree nut allergy (but not a peanut allergy) I learned that peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts. So, I wanted more clarity on that allergy. It just felt poorly researched.

But, overall, this was a solid thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When twelve contestants get on a flight to enter into a competition to win a scholarship that would set them up for life, what they didn’t plan for was to for all their deepest darkest secrets to be revealed and one of them to be a killer killing off the other contestants. Emily Walters is a seventeen year old boarding school student who has been keeping some dark secrets: she’s in love with her best friend’s boyfriend, she cheated her way into this competition, and she is currently living in a car with her mom. Emily knows she isn’t suppose to be in this competition but she’ll do whatever it takes to win because she desperately needs the money... but when the stakes get higher and dead bodies start appearing and all their secrets are being revealed, Emily begins to realize that everyone on this plane has something to hide and someone is willing to kill for it. Now she has to figure out who she can trust and how far she is willing to go to win. This is a locked door mystery with a bit of romance. Let me first start off by saying I adore locked room mysteries, but this one really missed the mark for me. Emily was a very unlikable protagonist, and yes i know she’s a teen going through a rough time and is meant to come off unlikable so that when she has a “growth” moment later on in the story we are rooting for her, but if I’m being honest I definitely wasn’t rooting for her. Then there’s the killer reveal which was completely odd because it came out of nowhere, like the motive and the actual reasoning behind why they did what they did was not great at all. The romance was unnecessary and I didn’t really believe it. Sadly this one was a miss for me but if you enjoy locked room mysteries maybe give this one a go, maybe you’ll like it and have a better time than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Razorbill for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

First things first, I love the retro comicbook-y cover. I just want to acknowledge that.

This is a YA/teen novel, and although I am not a YA/teen, I still enjoy the genre. This book, however, felt too young for me. You have to really-super-suspend your disbelief to accept the plot--but if you can do that, it's fun. I didn't feel bored reading it and wanted to find out what happened.

The story is another with a Hunger Games-esque (cough cough Battle Royale-esque cough) setup, plus murder mystery. I think there Parker could have shaved off two of the characters; it was often hard to keep track of who's who when they're more than just a District number or whatever. The main character, Emily, does some pretty awful shit and doesn't suffer the consequences (sure, someone tries to murder her, but on a SMALLER scale she's quickly forgiven). As for the writing, the references to Emily's feelings about her home life felt repetitive, and there were numerous descriptions of characters appearances and clothes, which always reminds me of fanfiction. One thing that irked me was the insinuation that Paige was 'bad' for hooking up with guys and having an abortion - sure, that was the murderer talking, but it wasn't mentioned again. I'd rather have a sex-positive, pro-choice teen on my team than a kid who shut down a major metropolitan power grid for funsies. But even better than that would be a chick skilled with a bow and arrow.......

I kind of felt like I was duped but that was my own fault for not reading the description. I wanted the competition to be on the airplane but it was different than I thought

Twelve high school students. An eight-hour flight. The opportunity of a lifetime.
Emily Walters has been chosen to take part in a competition for a cash prize along with a scholarship to the university of her choice. Surrounded by eleven other prestigious students, Emily can’t help but feel a little out of place and it’s not because of the massive private jet she just boarded.
With Paris awaiting along with an opportunity that will no doubt allow Emily and her mother to escape their newfound poverty, she knows she has to get her head into the competition. But, it doesn't take long to realize someone here is willing to do whatever it takes to win.
Secrets are spilled. Someone is found dead.
Emily doesn’t know who she can trust. Her secrets are safe… for now. But does anyone trust her? Can she figure out who is behind the mayhem and survive for the next eight hours?
She shouldn’t even be here.

***
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a wild ride.
I have a bad habit of trying to predict what will happen, especially when it comes to mystery/ thrillers novels. We can blame this on years of watching too many horror movies.
I am happy to say that this one kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat until the end.
With such a large cast of characters, it’s hard to give each one enough detail and attention but Parker has pulled it off quite well. Each character felt fully developed and even likable. That isn’t an easy task to pull off from a singular point of view.
Thin Air has a bit of everything. A thrilling mystery/ whodunit with a touch of a budding romance with a plot that keeps pushing you along at a steady pace.
This is a wonderfully crafted novel that pushes to the edge of being a bit too much when it comes to the more gruesome aspects but never teeters over the edge.
There’s nowhere for the characters to run and hide and you almost feel trapped in the plane with them.
There’s no escape and you just keep turning the pages and before you know it, it's all over.

CHARACTERS:

At first, I struggled a little to keep all of the characters straight but I soon was able to, for the most part. Parker did a nice job of giving them each a unique aspect that she highlighted to keep them all different. Aside from Em though, we don't really get to know the other characters. However, that might just be due to the fact that murder mystery doesn't per se lend itself to characters really getting to know each other, and the fact that there are twelve characters.

The romance felt unrealistic, basically because it all happened super fast. The book takes place over 7-8 hours. It was a little too insta-lovey, in my opinion.

Em was a great choice of POV character since her personal secrets make her almost have a little more at stake than the other characters.


SETTING:

Using a luxury transatlantic flight for the setting was fun and creative. It certainly trapped the characters in their situation. Parker did a nice job of incorporating the setting and having it impact certain parts of the plot. There were a few times when I forgot that they were on a plane, but that's probably because I've only ever flown economy class. 😉


PLOT:

Until the first death, the plot almost feels like it's going to be about who can solve the puzzles/challenges/whatever the board throws at them. When the second body is found, the thriller/mystery aspects really get going, with all of the characters being on edge, pointing fingers, and trying to figure out who the killer is.

I was definitely caught off guard by who the killer ended up being... and not in necessarily a good way. I might have missed it, but there didn't seem to be any foreshadowing of who the killer was. Normally when reading a mystery, I can generally realize the foreshadowing I earlier missed when I finish the book. That wasn't the case in Thin Air. Again, it's possible that I missed the foreshadowing, but it resulted in the reveal feeling a little bit off-kilter.


OVERALL:

Thin Air was a fun read for an afternoon. However, I didn't connect with it enough to see myself rereading it in the future.

Cautions: a few kisses; moderate/heavy romance; brief mentions of hooking up; brief mentions of a character having multiple girlfriends; brief mention of a character having had an abortion; brief mentions of characters using steroids and being addicted to pain medication; three blasphemies; several instances of a swear word being cut off; a few instances of coarse language; semi-graphic descriptions of blood and corpses; brief, non-detailed mentions of a character's friend having committed suicide; one of the murders is staged to look like suicide; semi-graphic, moderate/heavy violence

Eight hours. Twelve contestants. A flight none of them might survive. A flight to Paris full of teenagers seeking opportunity turns deadly in this suspenseful, locked-door YA thriller.

The mystery and suspense was fantastic throughout the whole story. You’ll think you know who did it and you’ll be so very wrong every time. Definitely a must read in my opinion for adults and YA.

This is the first book written by Kellie and she did a damn good job with it and I can’t wait to see what next she has planned for all of us.

Thank you NetGalley, Kellie M Parker and Razorbill for allowing me to read an ARC of Thin Air due to be published October 17th 2023.

What drew me into reading this book was the concept. Mysterious murders on a plane--nowhere to run or hide. Everybody has secrets. Anybody could be the killer. Sounds cool, right?

Thin Air made for a fun read. There were a few iffy, nitpicky things that bugged me. The ending, for example, was wrapped up too cleanly for me (without a doubt they'd have PTSD after the events they went through--because holy heck). Otherwise, it was great and would make for a cool movie.

I can see this book being popular on Booktok.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me an arc of this book.

This was a fantastic debut, Kellie turned a plane into a haunting setting, something i haven’t seen this well since final destination. The book was constantly building suspense and towards its ending. Which also was never seen coming, I was completely floored when the reveal came. My only story based complain was i wish the kill count was a tad higher.

Emily is on a private plane with eleven other students, on their way to compete for the Scholarship of a lifetime. But right from takeoff, strange things start to happen on the plane. And then somebody winds up dead, and now nobody can be trusted...

This is such a tense and exhilarating story. Twists all the way to a show stopping ending, this is definitely a thriller I'll be recommending.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy.

A tense, compact YA thriller, perfect for fans of Wes Craven! A fantastic ride from wheels up to wheels down!

Imagine being on a plane on your way to Paris with a group of other kids vying for a scholarship, when your fellow passengers start dropping like flies! This was a very fun book, if you can call murder fun! All the kids have secrets they would rather not get out, and when they do, everyone has a motive.

This book really grabs you from the first page! The characters were interesting, and the murder mystery was very well written. Every time I thought I knew who did it, something would happen that would aim me in a different direction. I was kept guessing until the very end, which kept me on the edge of my seat!

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Kellie M. Parker for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a fun book.

I mean there was soooooo much angst and the reason behind everything (and how they did it) was…A LOT. But the book was still extremely entertaining.

I liked, but did not love, our MC. I mean, she’s a teen, so I give her a little leeway when it comes to decision making (bad), boys (worse), and being a truly sucky friend. But I was still rooting for her all the way.

What I really liked? Some of the other contestants! They were so much fun and many ended up having some unexpected depths.\

As long as you don’t think about it too hard, this is a rollercoaster ride of an entertaining read.

Would read the author again!

• ARC via Publisher

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Thin Air by Kellie Parker was a fun whodunnit. Slightly reminiscent of Snd Then There Were None, a group of high school students is on a plane to France to compete for a scholarship when they start dying one by one. All of them have reasons they need this scholarship, and all of them have things they have done wrong in the past. But who has the biggest secret to keep? And will they kill to protect it?

What a wild ride oh man I loved this. It kind of gave me Falling by T.J. Newman vibes. I love airplane based novels I don’t know why they feel more fast paced for me if that makes sense. Oh and all the twists and turns will give you whiplash this was such a good book 5/5⭐️

The premise was fantastic, but I couldn't get used to the writing style. The characters didn't grab me either. The book just wasn't for me, unfortunately, but I'm willing to give this author another chance in the future.

I love a locked room mystery, where there’s a killer in a confined place where no one can escape! This is like Clue, but with teenagers on an airplane. 12 teens are enroute to Europe via private plane to compete on a program that offers a full ride to the college of their choice. All of them are hiding secrets and things take a sinister turn after the plane departs.

I had trouble getting into this because it does take a while to get started. Not much happens for the first 35% of the book and I kept getting distracted and putting the book down. I suppose this was different from what I was expecting; I was expecting a blood bath and bodies dropping and intense fear and claustrophobia for 300 pages. This book wasn’t that at all, seeing it doesn’t even establish that there even is an actual killer until past the halfway point of the book so everyone is just meandering around unknowingly of the danger they’re in. The one death that happened is seen as a suicide, so no one even knows they are in actual danger. So while it is technically high stakes with a killer on the loose, it doesn’t feel Iike a high stakes read for most of this.

Maybe it’s the horror fan in me, but I wanted more. More dark, more gripping, more thrilling. Somehow this book managed to make a book about a killer on an airplane feel like a low stake novel. To be honest, I really just didn’t care about the characters. When a new character died, I literally felt nothing. By the 50% mark I kind of just wanted this to be over. I’m chalking up all the good reviews to people who must not read thrillers or horror usually so they must have lower expectations, because I can’t think of any other explanation for all the reviews saying that this was so gripping and twisty when this took me forever to finish because I literally kept accidentally falling sleep (lol) which is the last thing you want in a thriller about a killer on the loose. Maybe part of it is right before this, I had just read another YA thriller arc that actually was gripping and twisty, so I kept comparing this in my head to that book.

I did like the last 20% though, which boosted this to a 3/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in truth for my honest review.