Review: We Will be Crashing Shortly

Info: 
Title: We Will Be Crashing Shortly
Author: Hollis Gillespie
Series: April Mae #2
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: June 15, 2015
Source: I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
April Mae Manning from Unaccompanied Minor is back, and back in trouble, but this time, she's run out of chances...

April Mae was raised on airplanes by her flight-attendant parents. But since her dad's death and her mom's remarriage to the nefarious pilot Ash Manning, April's been in nothing but danger: two airplane crashes; two car crashes; and now, as a student pilot, in an old plane crippled over the Caribbean. Can she survive, and save her friends, or is this the watery end to "Crash" Manning's story?

Praise for Unaccompanied Minor: "A laugh-out-loud thriller about family court, money laundering and skyjacking" ~Kirkus Reviews

Review:
April Manning is back in this sequel to Unaccompanied Minor and her life is just as crazy as ever! There something fishy going on with the wealthy Colgate family, which also happens to include April's best friend Malcolm. That dirtbag/stepfather Ash is back, but April is ready to face him with help from her friends Flo, Ned and LaVonda.

Realism is definitely not the goal of this series. So much crazy stuff happens that I highly double would ever happen in real life. But if you go in not expecting a realistic story, you will have a ton of fun!

My favourite character is still Flo. She's so feisty and funny and I hope I am like her when I get old! Officer Ned is another favourite and I loved the crazy, over-the-top things that LaVonda would say. And don't forget the oh-so-lovable Captain Beefheart!

This series hasn't wowed me so far, but it's just so much fun in the moment that it doesn't really matter and I hope that there are more crazy stories for April "Crash" Manning. Could you imagine if she became an actual pilot!?!?!

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Review: Unaccompanied Minor

Info:
Title: Unaccompanied Minor
Author: Hollis Gillespie
Publisher: Merit Press
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Source: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: 
Fourteen-year-old April May Manning spent her life on airplanes with her flight attendant parents. When her father dies in a crash, April's mom marries a pilot who turns out to be an abusive jerk, and gets Mom confined to a psychiatric hospital. So April takes off, literally, living on airplanes, using her mother's flight benefits, relying on the flight crews who know she's been shuttling between divorcing parents for a year. Then, there's a hijacking, but why is April's "dad" on board? April flees to the cargo hold with another unaccompanied minor she's met before, and they fight to thwart the hijackers, faking a fire, making weapons from things they find in luggage. At last, locked in the cockpit with a wounded police officer, the boy, and his service dog, April tries to remember everything her parents said to do in a crisis above the clouds. But she knows it won't be enough.

Review:
Unaccompanied Minor and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. At first the main character, April, really rubbed me the wrong way. She was super snarky and had no respect for authority (which, to be fair, authority doesn't always do the right thing).

However, as the book continued, I began to enjoy the story and April a lot more. I'm not sure if she got less snarky or I got more used to it or I just saw her other traits that made me like her a lot more.

One thing about this story is that it felt really unrealistic. April goes through more crap before her 16th birthday that anyone should in their whole life. I know people have hard lives, but it felt like such a huge level of crazy that it didn't really feel real to me. However, if I set all of my disbelief aside, Unaccompanied Minor is a very entertaining read. I mean, it's a pair of teens (and company) saving a hijacked plane with only a their wits, a flight attendant manual and an impressive knowledge of MacGyver.

The secondary characters are probably my favorite part of this book. Flo is just awesome and so funny. Officer Ned is such a great guy, despite his gruff persona. 

Give this one a try if you like snarky young protagonists who know how to take care of themselves or airplanes.

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