This book is a perfect example of why I don’t often read page-ripping thrillers. It has some great highs and lows, but the former outweighed the latter and that was enough to bump it to 4 stars.
I don’t often read thrillers because they don’t have great character development. This one does. I felt invested in Cassandra’s plight, even as she was making terrible decisions.
I don’t often read thrillers because they don’t plot themselves well. This one does. Chris Bohjalian spreads out the bread crumbs just enough without being too cheap. It kept me hooked for all the right reasons.
I don’t often read thrillers because the plots are so implausible. Yeah, the plot of The Flight Attendant is impossible but Bohjalian gets enough out of the exchanges between characters to help the buy-in factor. It didn’t bother me as much as it normally does.
I don’t often read thrillers because there’s often an eye-rolling twist near the end. There’s one here but it actually did catch me off guard a little and I wound up liking the ending.
Okay but…
I don’t often read thrillers because the author doesn’t balance POVs well. I really didn’t need the POV chapters with Elena. A major distraction.
I don’t often read thrillers because there are so many coincidences. There’s a big one here and it annoyed the hell out of me, especially because it’s not really needed.
But overall, I’m glad I read this thriller and I’m excited to see how HBO is going to adapt it. I think Kaley Cuoco is perfectly cast as Cassandra.
