Review by _becandbooks - Out of Air

_becandbooks 's review for:

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss

3.0

I feel as though this book had so much potential to be a great read for me, but it just could not do it.

Out of Air is a horror that features a lot of underwater, almost Eldritch-esque and body horror scenes. Which is everything I want. Had this been written as an adult horror novel, I think it could have been a slam dunk. Even as a young adult book, I think this could have turned out tremendously. But it leans so much into YA tropey territory to be an absolute win.

I know I can't dunk on it too much for that, being an adult reader reviewing a YA book. But some of the romance and coming-of-age dramatics felt too played up, too copy-and-paste from other versions of the trope and honestly a little disjointed from the horror story plot.

I also don't think I can recommend the audiobook. The narrator did her job perfectly. But I don't find it particularly enjoyable listening to the high whine of a stereotypical, highly emotional teenager.

Thanks to Libro.FM for providing me with a review copy of the audiobook. This does not impact my opinions, whatsoever.

Content Warnings