Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Falling by T.J. Newman

11 reviews

elskabee's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

 In premise this was a thriller that sounded right up my alley, but ultimately the execution didn't work for me. Too many POV's slowed down the pacing at crucial moments and I never connected much to any of the characters. Plus the writing style wasn't one I connected with.
If I hadn't seen the author photo in the back, I would have thought this was written by a man, because it's such a "dad book". So this wasn't totally for me but I can definitely see other audiences enjoying it more.

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jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

My heart was pounding from beginning to end. I was deeply engaged in the story,  which felt like it could happen here and now. We take our safety for granted and trust flight crews, the TSA, the air traffic controllers, ground crews, and the FAA to ensure the human and mechanical parts of air travel work smoothly. With headlines about plane malfunctions,  frequent flight schedule problems,  and combative passengers, it is easy to forget about the darker threats thwarted without the public even knowing about them.
Newman did a great job humanizing the "bad guys" and demonstrating the complex emotions that can paralyze people in crisis.  Her decision to include the aftermath and trauma of survival levels the story up above the typical beach read.

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perfectcupoftea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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tlaynejones's review

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2.5


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scburhans's review against another edition

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

2.0

Yeah, this book was not for me. This is for several reasons: the Islamophobia, the Xenophobia, the half-assed and shallow characterization, and (surprisingly) the pacing.
I found it really cheap and frankly disgusting that Newman chose to play into stereotypes and make the bad guys Middle Eastern/Islamic. It's 2022, it's time we stop demonizing an entire ethno-religous group because of the actions of a few men 20 goddamn years ago. There were moments where it felt like Newman was trying to overcome this, but it fell flat and just came off as in bad taste. The whole brown guy = bad guy bullshit is overplayed, overused, and fucking disgusting.
I also didn't care about 90% of the characters. Theo, Jo, and the kids were pretty much the only people I cared about and, not so coincidentally, they were the only ones with complex characteristics! Bill was such a cookie cutter, rah-rah-All-American hero character that I could not care less about. So much of the plot was unoriginal as well. There were whole chapters that were almost scene for scene recreations of a Criminal Minds episode, season 10 episode 3 to be exact.
Worst of all, somehow, I was bored throughout this entire book. I have no idea how she did it, but I could only read a few pages before I would get bored and go do something else for a while. Very rarely have I ever been so incredibly bored by a thriller. Somehow, it was both faced paced and slow as hell. Everything happened quickly, but it wasn't fast enough apparently.
Not my cup of tea, probably won't reccomend it to anyone either.

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riella_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.5

 This was such a wild ride. Fast paced and action packed, but I saw the "twist" from the very beginning. 

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khronreads's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

4.5


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thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I would have liked this book more if there was a different reason for why the pilot's family was taken hostage. It relies on some stereotypes that are harmful and seemed like a lazy way to give a reason for why this was happening. The story could have easily gone a different way and been just as (or even more) exciting and thrilling. Instead, the terrorists are stereotypes.

That being said, I did enjoy the flight attendants and their interactions; you can tell the author brought her real-life flight attendant experience to this story. The premise kept me hooked and dying to know what would happen and if they would be okay. It was definitely the definition of a thriller and was enjoyable to listen to on audio. Short chapters that always end on some kind of a cliffhanger and lots of POVs bouncing the story around so we get to know everything that's happening made for a good book.

Thanks to Libro.fm, Simon & Schuster Audio, and the author for my ALC.

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bookmaddie's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

I just want to echo everything @moerreads wrote in her review (much more eloquent than I could hope to be; https://www.instagram.com/p/CR9XyXmL5QX/). The entire terrorism plot line is just.. cheap, and an easy way to pander to white American readers. This book just felt sooo American and patriotic in a way that really grossed me out.

I could think of many more interesting and thrilling back stories than the one that was cooked by up Newman in this. Corporate espionage anyone???

The "living and learning" line at the end made me literally want to puke, like what the fuck? 

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weeta's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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