pagingserenity
Written on Jun 30, 2016
Based on the plane hijacking that the author experienced, Girl on a Plane tells the story of Anna, a teenager who’s on the plane to return to her boarding school in the UK.
I thought that Girl on a Plane told a great story, and contained a lot of great messages. Not only does it recount a terrifying plane hijacking, but it also goes over why the plane is being hijacked. I loved how many of the “villains” are humanized, in a way, and that the reader could clearly understand their motives for acting like “monsters”.
The story was intriguing and written in a way that drew me in. But while the book often contains a lot of helpful details, it sometimes fails to accurately convey Anna’s feelings. I felt that Girl on a Plane relied heavily on my own expectations and emotions to garner a feeling of terror, fear, exhaustion, etc.
It is also important to note that Girl on a Plane was pretty simple, in terms of writing. It felt more like a middle grade novel than a YA one. That being said, it was still enjoyable to read. However, there were times when it felt kind of flat.
In fact, many of the characters from Girl on a Plane were hard to connect to because they were a bit flat and didn’t feel particularly well developed. This is definitely more of a plot driven novel, than a character driven one, which is interesting given that most of the story focuses on Anna and what she is going through.
Another problem I had with Girl on a Plane is that when the story doesn’t focus on Anna, it focuses on her mom and what her family is going through for roughly three separate chapters. While I do appreciate the extra little peeks behind the curtain, I felt that the switch in point of view was unnecessary and disrupted the flow of the story a bit.
Still, despite all of the problems I had with it, Girl on a Plane was an interesting story that had me hooked the whole way. I could not bear to put it down until I had finished the whole story and found out what happens to Anna.
In conclusion, Girl on a Plane is more of a middle grade book with writing that sometimes falls flat and characters are a bit difficult to connect to. Still, it is an addicting story to read; one that’ll keep you turning the pages. Girl on a Plane is a story that allows you to fully understand the motives of the villains and shows that there is always more than one side of a story.
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