High Flying by Kaylin McFarren

High Flying, the bold novel by acclaimed author Kaylin McFarren, elevates the time travel genre to new heights – literally. It boasts an instantly engaging protagonist in the persona of Skylar Haines, a volatile powerhouse of a character with an adrenaline addiction and a dark, troubled past.

While flying a plane in one of her daredevil acts, Skylar Haines barely manages to make a safe landing during a terrifying storm, but soon realizes she has somehow slipped back in time. Faced with the prospect of being able to change her family’s past, Skylar must reckon with the timeless conundrum of altering her own future.

With sparkling prose and incredible sensitivity to challenging subjects – including self-harm, depression, gender roles and familial chaos – McFarren steps out strong in her first book since the end of her well-known Threads series. There are some moments where the descriptions stumble in terms of ingenuity, and the imagery occasionally falls back on cliched pairings, but this is an entertaining read all around. A final sweep through the book to polish those less impressive moments could make this book shine, but it already has a unique luster.

With an indefatigable female lead and a bold, in-your-face writing style, this thriller will undoubtedly leave readers satisfied, but it also asks challenging questions that will linger after the final twists are revealed.

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