Girl Underwater by Claire Kells is one of the books that I read on my long road trip (read my post How to Survive a Long Road Trip to see the role that books had in the experience). It was a perfect book to read on a road trip, because I was able to give it concentrated attention and read it over a short period of time. At only 304 pages, it’s one that you could probably finish in a weekend under most circumstances.
Avery fled her Boston home and slightly overbearing father for college in California. She’s swimming on the college team, though she’s stuck with middle distance, not the long distance swimming that she loves because it allows her to lose herself. One of the other swimmers — the best swimmer — is on her Thanksgiving flight home to Boston, and in spite of trying to avoid him, he ends up sitting right beside her.
When the plane goes down, Colin’s presence calms her. She and Colin end up with three boys from the flight, fighting for survival and waiting for rescue in the Colorado mountains.
The story is not told in any sort of chronological order, with information being filled in as we learn about Avery’s time in college before the accident, her time at home after the accident, and most importantly, what happened as they waited for rescue.
This wasn’t a tension-filled suspense novel, but it was a page-turner. Learning what exactly Avery was hiding, and why she wanted to avoid Colin and what exactly happened after the plane crash kept me reading.
Though this is not a young adult novel, it’s one that would definitely interest older teens, especially including the “new adult” market of 18+.
I knew that this was the paperback release, but I didn’t know that Dawn reviewed it in hardcover on our site. Read her review HERE.