Flight 171 by Amy Christine Parker || The Storm of the Century, But For YA Readers

Flight 171

Devon Marsh is haunted by secrets. Like the identity of the person who killed her twin sister, Emily, in a hit and run accident last Halloween, which Devon has vowed to uncover. Like the things Devon said to Emily just before she died.

But she’s determined to start fresh when she boards a four-hour flight along with her classmates for their senior class ski trip. Devon never could have guessed those secrets would surface in the most terrifying way when a supernatural creature hijacks their flight and gives the students a deadly ultimatum:

Choose one among them to sacrifice before the end of the flight. Or the plane will crash.

As the clock ticks down, the creature slowly unearths the passengers’ deepest, darkest secrets—and reveals that one of the teens on the plane is responsible for Emily’s death. The students must agree on a sacrifice, or there won’t be any survivors. But can Devon find a way to stop the creature, or will she give in to her anger and let revenge take control?

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Storm of the Century vibes, but more fitting for a YA audience
• A locked room setting where everyone has secrets
• Supernatural villains pitting people against each other
• The claustrophobic feel of being stuck in a plane with something otherworldly
• Plenty of plot twists and turns and surprises
• Creepy reads perfect for fall

Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and TBR & Beyond Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Not gonna lie, I had sort of a personal reason for picking this book up. I mean, other than the fact that flying in and of itself terrifies me, so a plane seemed like the perfect setting for a horror book. The blurb, though, really caught my attention. I had identical twin cousins, and one of them was killed by a drunk driver when she was 18, so the premise of a twin desperately trying to find her sister’s killer immediately grabbed my attention.

Flight 171 is like a YA version of The Perfect Storm, where teens are trapped in a dangerous situation and the only way to get out is to turn on each other. And oh, by the way, everyone has a secret. Some are just deadlier than others.

Parker captures the claustrophobic setting of being trapped in a plane really well. Combined with plenty of plot twists and turns and tons of suspense, and I whipped through this book in one setting. I just couldn’t put it down! The ending has that creepy open-ended feel that I’ve loved ever since the Goosebumps series, which were my very first horror novels. You know, the sense that it’s over . . . but is it?

As if flying isn’t terrifying enough in and of itself, all aboard Flight 171, where something dark and sinister is lurking amongst the crew.

Parker does a magnificent job of capturing the claustrophobia of being trapped in a setting so removed from society and having to go through the unthinkable. Talk about ratcheting the tension up to 12 right out of the gate! If you already have a natural fear of airplanes and/or tight spaces (like I do), this is definitely going to play up the creepy, horrific atmosphere, guaranteed! If not . . . well, that’s okay. Wait for it.

Because this isn’t your normal flight. Far from it. In a fashion similar to Stephen King’s Stormy of the Century, the teens aboard the plane have a choice to make: sacrifice one of their peers to save the rest of them. On its surface, one life for many may not seem like a huge sacrifice, but what about if you’ve known each other since kindergarten? What if you have to look someone in the eye as you doom them to eternal suffering? Not such an easy choice!

While choosing a sacrifice amongst peers might seem difficult, it’s made a little easier by the fact that everyone aboard is harboring a secret. And some are deadlier than others.

I’ll admit that some of the secrets were fairly easy to guess and didn’t really come as a surprise. I was a little disappointed that people weren’t as upset about some of them as they should have been and they were sort of swept under the rug as if it was nothing. Except it wasn’t? I mean, the very first secret is shrugged off like nothing at all when it was, in fact, not only a crime but extremely messed up.

What sort of secrets could a group of teens have? Well, many of them are things you might guess just from that sentence . . . but not all. Can’t say more than that or I’ll ruin the surprises, right?! Some of these are the sort of secrets people would give anything not to have revealed. As more and more secrets come to light, the group begin to turn on each other, and arguments break out. The atmosphere is incredibly tense, and it leaves everyone wondering, what worse secrets are there still waiting to come to light?

Devon has a little more at stake than most of her classmates, because her twin sister was killed last Halloween . . . and someone on the plane is the one who killed her.

This is really the crux of Devon’s character. After all, she’s lost her twin, who was, arguably, a better person than her. She’s not doing great. Not only is she guilty that her sister died and she lived, she feels guilty for the role she played in the accident on Halloween. Not knowing what happened and who’s responsible for Emily’s death is slowly killing her. Now, it might be killing the rest of her peers, too. Because the killer is aboard the plane with them.

This was so tense! On the one hand, it’s hard not to root for Devon uncovering the truth, right? On the other, this is maybe not the exact setting to learn that particular piece of information. This part is intense, not just due to the supernatural stuff, but because it’s such a powerful, emotionally draining thing Devon is grappling with, on top of all the stress and guilt that she’s already feeling.

Flight 171 is a short, quick read, one that’s hard to put down as more secrets are revealed and things necessarily devolve into panicked teenagers trying to make good decisions.

Let’s be honest, teenagers aren’t known for having the best decision-making skills on a good day. Not even the smart ones. These kids, though? Phew, they take poor decision-making to a whole new (not unsurprising) level. They’re relatable in the mistakes they make, but their reactions to the mistakes of their peers had me scratching my heads at times. Yeah, okay, they cheated, but does that really mean they should be forced to endure the worst eternal suffering imaginable? From a high school relationship? I can see how you might think so if you’re the one being betrayed and finding out in that moment, but . . . eh.

I guess I’m the weird one, because some of the reactions of these teens just utterly baffled me, whereas things I thought would be common sense were glossed over and not even considered. Needless to say, I don’t think I would’ve survived on that plane.

All that being said, I was absolutely hooked to the mystery and finding out who they would choose and what was going to happen. I was glued to my Kindle, turning page after page. It’s not a very long book, so it’s one that’s easy to get through in one setting, and I absolutely wanted to, because I had to know how it would end!

About Amy Christine Parker

AMY CHRISTINE PARKER is the author of the critically acclaimed duology, GATED and ASTRAY as well as the standalone thriller, SMASH & GRAB. GATED was a nominee for both the Sequoyah Book Award and the South Caroline Junior Book Award and was a YALSA Quick Pick for reluctant readers. Amy’s latest novel–her first horror/thriller mashup, FLIGHT 171, releases in October 2022. She writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and two very mischievous cats. Visit her at amychristineparker.com and follow her on Twitter @amychristinepar.

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