Sometimes there are books that can create an emotional bridge between the reader and the story. It’s not the same as being completely enamoured by characters, a plot or experiencing empathy and a rush of emotions for certain elements of a story. It’s the kind of bridge that connects words and heart.

The story is about two young people who become connected forever when a plane goes missing with their loved ones on board. Air thinks there has been a mix-up and Christopher isn’t willing to speak about his own truth just yet.

Air takes Christopher on a road trip of sorts. In a way she is revisiting places she has been with her brother in the hope he will either be there waiting or hoping she will be able to feel him while she is there. Air keeps that sliver of hope alive for herself and for the readers. Perhaps it isn’t beyond the realms of all possibilities that Blake could pop up somewhere along the route – he definitely got on a different plane, right?

I’m not sure if I can capture exactly why this story evoked such a visceral reaction in me, perhaps because I can understand the need to hold on to hope, even when the truth is that all hope is lost. It’s a curious part of human nature, the part of us which needs unequivocal proof before accepting certain things. This is especially the case when it comes to death. It’s often not enough to hear or read the words, sometimes we need to see and feel for it to be accepted as real.

Macgregor shows the similarities between two young people dealing with grief and the differences between the two of them. The result is a canvas bag full of emotional turmoil waiting to implode as they navigate the depths of their loss, and also as the reader waits for the external explosion. The finality of acknowledgement as it pours over the characters like a heavy spring rain shower.

This is a contemporary read, and although it comes under the genre of YA it is a read for all ages, because it is something everyone can relate to in some way, eventually. I loved the subtlety and softness of the approach to the topic of grief.

In this book we meet Air, who is responsible for her kind of careless older brother, Blake. It’s the eve of their sisters wedding and Blake has gotten onto the wrong plane so Air must now road trip across the country to get him to the wedding on time. 

At the airport Air immediately knows something is wrong. The plane is delayed but nobody can give more information. Air, however, is convinced her brother didn’t get on that plane. With the help of Christopher, a boy she met who was waiting for someone on the same plane, they decide travel back to the wedding together.

It’s very hard to talk about this book without spoiling it so I won’t go too deep in this review. I love emotional, hard hitting contemporaries and that is certainly what it is. These two characters both have loved ones on a missing plane and you really get a sense of their worry and disbelief.

During the road trip they inevitably start bonding and start getting to know each other, and as they get to know each other we get to know them and you do come to care about them. 

But honestly I found this all a little strange. These two characters were not acting like I would expect two people who were worried about loved ones would act and some of the things they did and the decisions they made didn’t sit well with me. I also found Air to be very frustrating sometimes.

Road trip books are always strange for me; they're almost all set in a America, and I have only a very hazy idea of America's geography, so I never really know if the trip described is long, short, difficult or anything else. This one, though, very effectively conveys the sort of numb panic that sets in when there's literally nothing to do but keep moving forward. I did get a little confused about the timing...I was sure several days had passed in the car, but then someone comments that it all happened two days ago, but it can't have been that long. I was probably thrown off by the fact that the characters are sleeping at odd times and driving over date lines a couple of times.

This book took me by complete surprise. I went into relatively blank as I didn’t want to be spoiled as to what this book was going to be about, so when the main event happened, so even the prologue took me by surprise. I enjoy the feeling of going into a book completely blank and uncovering everything while you’re reading it, whether that’s good or bad. Sometimes descriptions and trailers give too much away. But what I’m about to says in the description, but I’ll try not to give spoilers.

The story follows Air (Ariadne) and Christopher and their journey and story after the plane, UKFlyer0217 from Heathrow has gone missing. Both of them have someone on that flight, or think they have someone on that flight as Air goes into complete denial. She goes on a journey of her own, as she booked a completely different flight for her brother Blake, so why did he get on this flight? Still holding on hope that he got on the flight she booked for him and he got confused and sent her the wrong details. Christopher however, knows his dad was on the flight, as his dad was the pilot and he keeps seeing his face popping up everywhere.


This book was so beautifully written and with the imagery it described. There were moments of pure bliss and peacefulness, then you’d remember what this book was about. There were times I'd find myself chuckling. It was done so well. To look at these two characters, barely 17/18 years old and how they deal with such events. It was gripping and had me hooked. It’s such a delicate subject, death always is and it was done perfectly.


It was an emotional read because of how realistic it is. There are scenes that I just won’t forget, especially when Air finally gets to the wedding and after the eclipse. There’s one scene in-particular that just got me, which I want share because of spoilers, that made me feel bad for Christopher and brought me back to the prologue and how he’ll never know.


Must read! It's being published on the 18th April 2019 and I definitely and highly recommend it. I hope this isn't her only novel.

Air's job has always been to wrangle her older brother, and this weekend is the most important mission of all; get him to their sister's wedding in time to sing the song he composed for her. But he's taken the wrong plane, and as she waits in the airport rumours start circulating; the plane went down. It's crashed into the sea. No survivors.

Determined to prove he wasn't on it, she starts out for the airport he was supposed to arrive at. Accompanied by a teenage boy who also has a relative on the missing flight, she crosses America in a desperate bid to save the wedding.


Road trip books are always strange for me; they're almost all set in a America, and I have only a very hazy idea of America's geography, so I never really know if the trip described is long, short, difficult or anything else. This one, though, very effectively conveys the sort of numb panic that sets in when there's literally nothing to do but keep moving forward. I did get a little confused about the timing...I was sure several days had passed in the car, but then someone comments that it all happened two days ago, but it can't have been that long. I was probably thrown off by the fact that the characters are sleeping at odd times and driving over date lines a couple of times.

I enjoyed this read very much and will look forward to selling it.

I adored, adored, adored this book!

How the author was able to incorporate such a heavy and hard to execute topic of a devastating plane crash, yet let two teenagers find themselves-and each other- was amazing. 

Christopher seemed absolutely adorable and Air was such an amazingly spunky character I couldn't help but fall in love with them too. The plot was so different to other YA books. 

Thanks so much for this ARC! :)