Started off this year by reading "Flight 171" by Amy Christine Parker. This book has been on my to-read list for a while; in fact, I've probably wanted to read it since it got published, since I first saw it when I worked at the local library and it was a new book. It's a solid book in the same vein as the old Fear Street or Point Horror series, clocking in at a fast-paced 275 pages.
Twenty-four graduates from Greendale High are traveling to Denver for their senior trip; among them is Devon, who is mourning the loss of her twin sister who died in a hit-and-run. However, the flight is taken hostage by a demonic force: before the flight's scheduled end, the students must choose one person to serve as its new host; if not, everyone aboard will die. As the demon taunts them by revealing their darkest secrets, Devon quickly realizes that she can use this situation to discover the identity of her sister's killer.
Spoilers ahead:
About a third of the way through the book, all of the unnamed characters get drunk and black-out, leaving us with the characters who were named in the first three chapters. I tried making a chart of their seating arrangement, but everyone got out of their seats and moved around the plane anyway, so it didn't matter. In order, we meet:
Devon. (Technically, we meet her second, but she's our protagonist and viewpoint character.) Devastated after the loss of her sister Emily, Devon tries to keep her alive and honor her memory. Her way of doing this? Dressing in her clothes, hanging out with her friends, and trying to emulate her. A part of Devon feels like she should've died that night, not her more-beloved sister. Devon used to be a rebel, skipping school to practice with her band, where she was a drummer, with a massive crush on the school's resident bad boy.
Spencer. Somewhere between the class clown and the dumb jock, with some bully-ish tendencies. A knee injury has forced him to retire from sports.
Billy. Spencer's best friend, another dumb jock, though he's much more invested in his appearance.
Kiara. Devon's friend, and the once-best friend of Emily. She's the student council president, desperate to prove herself after fundraising money was found in her locker—though she insists she didn't take it. Perhaps she was framed...?
Jack. Devon's former crush. He used to be the resident bad boy, but after Emily's death he was withdrawn from the school and began homeschooling. Devon believes that he is responsible for Emily's death, even to the point of publicly accusing him.
Wes. A quiet, scrawny kid who keeps to himself. Noteably, he was Spencer's main target for "harmless" bullying.
Carter. Devon's former best friend; after Emily's death, Devon distanced herself from him. He aspires to be an actor, and he's generally kind and supportive.
Andrew. Kiara's boyfriend. They've been together for years. He's known for his charitable work and community service.
Yara. One of the most popular girls at school and Carter's crush. She wants to direct horror movies someday, so she spends much of the book recording everyone on her phone. You know, "for evidence."
Rebecca. As the book describes her, 90% whiny and 100% annoying. As soon as the book says that she wore a cross necklace, implying that she was a Christian, I knew that she'd be written as a complete hypocrite who bows to the demon's influence immediately and deserves no sympathy from the reader. And I was right. I'm so bored of this trope in horror that I'm going to complain about it later.
Mai. Jeanne's best friend.
Jeanne. Billy's girlfriend and semi-popular influencer.
A lot of these characters are just written to be annoying teenagers with secrets; they don't get to be much else and don't need to be much else. For example, Rebecca had been fighting with Kiara for control over the situation and being generally annoying. However, she later volunteers to do something dangerous and frightening, saying that she "needs to make herself useful or her nerves will get the best of her." I thought that this line was setting up Rebecca to have some hidden depth and potential to grow, but no. As soon as the situation backfires, she goes back to being a snivelling, finger-pointing annoyance because Parker can't let her be anything more than "100% annoying." Although, it is a staple of the horror genre that everyone starts to act their worst, and this isn't Gillian Flynn, this is an Underlined-brand paperback. But I still wished that the author could elevate the genre.
(Speaking of wishes, I wish that Carter had done some of the things that Jack ended up doing.)
I read this from a Christian perspective, and I don't think the author really accounted for Christian readers, even though the story had its moments. In-universe, we learn that "there is more after this life," which feels oddly affirming despite the book's subject matter and closing stinger. The addition of Devon's sister as a guiding and protective spirit also bolsters this perspective. However, I wouldn't say this book is generous or sympathetic to Christians: the most prominent Christian character does not act faithfully or charitably, and is instead a violent hypocrite willing to sacrifice others to save herself. Devon has a brief conversation with another Christian-coded character that originally seemed like a juxtaposition to Rebecca, but (to say this as spoiler-free as possible,) nope. Honestly, I see hypocritical and phony Christians in mainstream books more than accurate Christians. I know that this trope is popular because it's meant to illustrate how powerful the evil antagonist is, but at this point it's predictable.
The book ended on a stinger that felt oddly hilarious to me, like the music video for Thriller. Michael Jackson looks at the camera, his eyes suddenly glowing like a werewolf, and Vincent Price cackles. While it was pretty funny for this book to end almost identically, I do feel a bit let down. There's a reason why that ending works for films and visual media, and not for books. Devon had finally broken free from her guilt and discovered the truth; I wanted her to have a chance to move on with her life.
Overall, it does exactly what it should as a quick, YA-horror read.
