The Flight Attendant
2020 • 482 pages
Ratings14
Average rating3
15
Ratings14
Average rating3
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful thriller about the ways an entire life can change in one night: A flight attendant wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man—and no idea what happened. • Don't miss the acclaimed HBO Max series! Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police—she's a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home—Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did? Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home. Look for Chris Bohjalian's new novel, The Lioness!
Reviews with the most likes.
First of all, thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I'm apparently in the minority considering that this book has such good reviews so far. Maybe it's because I don't already have a fondness for the author; this is the first of his novels I've picked up. I really did not enjoy it. I found the protagonist, Cassie, to be unrelatable. She continually makes ridiculously bad choices which is understandable with an addiction but she seems like she just doesn't care. It's hard to empathize with that. Also, sorry, but we GET that Cassie likes alcohol a little too much. Does it really need to be repeated in EVERY single paragraph?
The Flight Attendant is marketed and described as a suspenseful thriller but it was neither suspenseful or thrilling. Instead, I found it rather boring and predictable. Nothing drew me in. If it wasn't for the fact that I needed to review it as an ARC, I wouldn't have bothered to finish the last few chapters as it was clear how it would end. The characters were shallow and one dimensional. I had high hopes in the first few chapters but it quickly went downhill for me and it was just a chore to finish reading it.
I was a flight attendant (back in the day) and I hated this book. The protagonist was unlikable. She was basically sabotaging her life in the entire story. I thought it would be a fun mystery, but it turned out to be trash!
The Flight Attendant A Novel by Chris Bohjalian published by Doubleday Books is a good read. I want to thank all parties who made this book possible and many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my arc of this novel.
I like many readers out there feel that the thriller genre is highly saturated but this novel has such unique qualities that it makes it a gem in the genre. Chris Bohjalian does an amazing job painting his female lead in many dimensions. While she comes across like a drunk party girl who enjoys a good time in every part of the world she lands, she is also a devoted aunt a strong female and a sister. For those who do not know much about alcoholism it is a very interesting ride watching Cassie spiral then picking herself up. I felt that the slow pace of the novel actually didn't bother me. Why you ask well that simple because I think the slow format makes the story more digestible for the reader there for making it a more enjoyable read. I think the only thing I didn't much care for was the character of Viktor while I get the role he played I just want a fan. Over all I think this deserves a read from anyone who likes a thriller with lots of twists.
Liked the first few chapters. Then wanted to bang my head against the desk because of this woman's poor choices. Sure it's a character flaw, character flaws are good. But isn't she supposed to learn from it? Also that ending.. ugh.
