Reviews with content warning for Blood - Drowning

Out now! [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a gifted copy!]

Rating: 4/5 stars

Will and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon’s are in the air for six minutes when their plane crashes into the ocean and begins to sink—leaving Shannon’s mother and a team of rescuers to try and save the passengers before time runs out.

The synopsis of Drowning promises a pulse-pounding edge-of-your-seat action thriller, and honestly, it delivers. The tension and drama is palpable from the first page, and I found myself continually reading because I just had to know what would happen.

There is also an almost surprising amount of emotion in this book—you might expect it to deliver only tension and chaos, but I found myself tearing up more than once, and the entire ending hits like a gut punch (and then resolves in near-perfection).

In short, if you want a super fast, super exciting read this summer, this is the book you should be reaching for.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: action thrillers; rescue stories; ensemble casts

CW: Death/injury (including fire); child death; grief

Content Warnings

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I am in awe of this book! I loved everything about it.

It was fast paced, it {mostly} had a full cast of characters you could root for (screw you Andy), it was tense, it had beautiful character development, and I adored the writing. I have never cried while reading a thriller before, but this book had me bawling! There were numerous times that I was reading along and stopped to say, “This is so good!”

Highly, highly recommend!

I received an ARC from Avid Reader Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

tamsterdam_reads's review against another edition

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challenging tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Drowning is an action movie wrapped up into a novel. Right off the bat, you’re taken on a rollercoaster ride of being on Flight 1421 crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Because it’s written in first-person perspective with multiple POV’s, there is no lagging within the book. What is delivered is a fast-paced and intensive journey.

There are heroes who wonderfully provide the beacon of light in the story. As they raced to get the people out of the plane from more than two hundred feet below the surface, I couldn’t help but consume this gripping story within no time. There are also villains who just make more issues for others and know how to make the reader angry with their antics; which attests to Newman’s writing style that keeps a reader entertained and listening on to find out what happens next.

The dual narrations of Steven Webber and Laura Benanti were fantastic and I highly recommend listening to this book.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada for the arc and Simon Audio for the alc. Thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Content Warnings

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