It was a quick but captivating read. I flew though it and liked the plot/characters the author created. 4/5 stars

Overall it was a good book with great writing and plot. It made me nostalgic for those hidden young adult books I'd go hunting for at the book store when I was younger.

Definitely see the Outer Banks comparison which wasn't a bad thing. The group of teens felt natural to me, but maybe a little stilted. There was certain points I was questioning if any of them were even really friends with each other.

I think this would have just worked as a coming of age thriller because I don't think the sea horror elements worked. And at times it felt a little corny. Also, don't go into this expecting any massive amounts of horror, it's kind of scratch the surface kind of horror and doesn't fully go where any potential could lead. The small bit of body horror was great tho! There was too many loose ends and storylines that felt like they didn't end up anywhere. Our main girls priorities felt off at times too lmao

Still - I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the authors future work.

Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and the author for the arc!

I started reading this book tonight because I couldn't sleep and wow... I could not put it down. It's 4am as I write this now, still thinking about what on earth I just read.

This was incredibly unique, but I could see fans of Outer Banks and White Lotus really enjoying it. Reiss slowly dips your toes into the action, and I felt as though I was diving deeper as each mystery intensified. It had moments of claustrophobia, but it only made me want to keep reading!

If you're looking for a thriller with a little bit of everything, supernatural elements, romance, amazing storytelling and suspense, this one is for you! I'll likely edit this review once I've had a chance to process - it was a fantastic read!

I was kinda excited when I got this, because a scuba-diving horror/thriller sounded so good to me. But, unfortunately, this didn't quite deliver on the premise like I hoped it would.

Despite the whole premise hinging on this group being friends, I don't think anyone in tis group genuinely liked each other except maybe Phoebe and Gabe, but even with them the romance was flat and more telling they loved each other rather than just showing us. I spent so much of the book being annoyed at everyone's secret keeping, Phoebe being jealous and spiteful at her friends' wealth, and just the lack of enjoyable, three dimensional personalities. There are also some villains who pop into the plot who are more caricatures than characters who are used as plot fodder; they exist for no other purpose.

The mystery was so weak and not explored well enough. We learn some vague backstory about the cave, only to get hints of connections, like the matter of Phoebe's mom, that are never fully answered by the end of the book when Phoebe and Gabe accept they are fish people and stay in Australia to live out their lives. Phoebe figures her mom either died in the cave or turned fully fished, but the book is more interested in her realization she posted the pictures that sent the treasure hunters on her and her friends. Her not remembering she did that was such a contrived plot detail, only rivaled by the fact it was Gabe who kept the last pirate coin to sell it off and pay for her grandma's hospital bills. That annoyed me so much, because it was only after him revealing that did Phoebe realize who magically paid off all those bills. The plot structure of this book infuriates me so.

The only thing I somewhat liked was the seemingly faithful depictions of scuba diving. I wouldn't known since I haven't done it, but apparently the author is a deep sea diver herself, and it shows in the descriptions whenever the characters dive. It made the atmosphere heavy sometimes, but that's about it.

Summary: A group of young divers plan a diving trip as a high school graduation celebration. What they encounter out in the water is beyond anything they expected, a terror straight from old sailor’s stories.
Genre: YA, thriller, suspense, horror
Content Warnings: body horror, underwater horror

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this digital book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I can’t help but wonder, why do people go into the ocean? As a land-dwelling mammal, it baffles me. I have the utmost respect for any massive body of water, but anything that goes on under the surface is none of my business. That being said, this book was so good. I knew from the title that it would be a terrifying read. From the first scene where the characters are underwater, I started to sweat. But this is what good suspense is made of! The story gripped me in a tight fist and didn’t let go.

“It’s the unwavering fear that we’re lost, stranded in unchartered waters, and no one knows the way out.” That’s a good summation of how I felt reading this book. It was an intensity I hated to like, in the best way possible. Phoebe and her friends, Gabe, Will, Isabel, and Lani, are sea divers, going out to the ocean any time they can. It’s clear early on that there is an old fracture in the group, something that happened in the past that still haunts their friendship. The author does a great job bringing all the hinted plot points to a satisfying conclusion, and I found the writing to be concise, straightforward, and effective.

Phoebe is a great narrator. I liked her immediately. She is the only one from a different economic background – the rest of the group come from wealthy families. This causes her to feel insecurity in her role and importance in the group, but I found her friends to be sincere and loving, if not for a moment here and there of tension with one of the boys, but there is a reason for that. Their support and encouragement in their strengths and abilities was refreshing.

I enjoyed the suspense and thrill of underwater danger, but also the hint of supernatural prowess. The knowledge that a cave can perhaps be sentient, the near transformation of preternatural proportions within the group. I found the relationships reflected authentic love and friendship and respect. The friends handled conflict with open communication, they confronted each other and held each other accountable. It was a sign of their deep maturity and emotional depth.

I liked this book very much and I look forward to reading more of this author’s work. I will recommend this book to my book friends.

4/5

Out of Air is an absolute wild ride from start to finish! I couldn’t put this book down for a second—it's the perfect mix of heart-pounding adventure, chilling mystery, and a whole lot of underwater intrigue. If you loved Wilder Girls or Outer Banks, then you’re in for a treat with this one.

Phoebe “Phibs” Ray is the kind of character you can’t help but root for. She’s tough, determined, and completely at home in the water, where she and her friends get caught up in a treasure hunt that takes a seriously dark turn. They find an underwater cave that’s rumored to be hiding a lost treasure, and trust me, things definitely don’t go as planned. I’m talking strange powers, creepy whispers, and some seriously disturbing changes that Phibs and her best friend Gabe start to undergo. I loved how the book managed to balance the thrill of discovering treasure with a creeping sense of dread. It’s not just about the hunt anymore—it’s about survival, and that means diving into some seriously unsettling territory.

I usually don't read these kind of book, but I thought i would give it a shot and i'm glad i did! What a wild ride that gave me chills the whole time.

I really enjoyed this! It was tense and claustrophobic but I couldn’t put it down. It got a little off at the end, but I still overall enjoyed it!

This was so mysterious and kept me hooked. I highly recommend this one to those who love the ocean and thrilling adventure.

This story follows a tight-knit group of teens who are into diving and decide to take one last trip together before college or other life changes. They head to a remote island, soaking up the ocean and having fun—until they discover an underwater cave rumored to be full of treasure. But of course, things aren’t that simple. Folklore warns of dangers for those who dive there. The group discovers far more than they bargained for, including desperate treasure hunters willing to do anything for the riches. And most importantly, the cave holds a danger none of them expect—the very air inside it has a deadly secret.

I loved the storyline, especially all the diving details. It really felt like I was diving right alongside them. The book also had some emotional depth, touching on themes like Alzheimer’s and loss, which made it even more compelling. I also really enjoyed the group dynamics. They had their moments of bickering, but in the end, they always had each other’s backs, making their friendship feel real.

The pacing started off a little slow, but once the action kicked in, it became super engaging. Overall, it was a really enjoyable read.

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Very few books scare me anymore. I have read so many horror novels, that I have become immune to a lot of what humanity finds scary. I am terrified of sharks and the deep ocean. That's why I wanted to read this book. I was legitimately terrified at one point.

This is a good story of young adult relationships and decision making. Love, friendship, family bonds, and fear all mix together into one fantastic story.

I loved this book.

This book is so deliciously claustrophobic ! I have a HUGE fear of large bodies of water and this played on that fear so beautifully. This was written so well I couldn’t put the book down.

**Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy!*
#NetGalley

The best parts of this novel were the beautiful and horrific images created by Rachel Reiss' writing. It is very evident that she loves marine life and diving. When Reiss describes the various animals and corals that our protagonists were seeing, she creates such beautiful visualizations of them that I could imagine myself floating alongside the squad. I also LOVED the scene with the sea wasps. Terrifying. Especially because I could see them just wavering in my head.

Where Rachel Reiss exceeds in her descriptions of the sea life and body horror, she falls flat everywhere else. The plot is driven by unrealistic coincidences. You mean to tell me the senile grandmother remembers her mind enough to put together a murder cover-up plan that WORKS and then the next day, conveniently forgets that she did that. Sure, Jan.
Additionally, the plot hinges on the characters acting selfishly and stupidly even though they are supposed to be a group of diving prodigy best friends. None of them seem to like each other very much, which is hard to reconcile with the "Salt Squad" theme that is pushed down our throats. They also consistently pride themselves on being smart divers, and yet, this all starts because they break the first rule of diving of not going into unexplored tiny caves alone without enough air.

I just think there was too much going on in this novel. If it focused on just her familial relationships, or just the cave and the transformation, or the romance, or even a combo of two of them, I think this book would have been a huge success. There are unfortunately just too many plotlines to get invested into any of them, especially since they do not end satisfactorily.

Review: 2.5 stars rounded up

WOW! I haven't read a book that gripped me from the beginning as much as this one did in a long time. I immediately got vibes of Outer Banks while reading this based on the group of friends, the setting, the class-divide, and the treasure hunting/bad guys coming for them. What took me by surprise was how the horror was manifested in this book. I wasn't prepared for the supernatural elements that took place, and while I didn't necessarily love how they all panned out, I appreciated what the author was trying to do with it.

I really enjoyed the pace that this book followed, the settings, and the way that it took a fresh take on how humans are so small and insignificant compared to the power of the ocean and the natural world.

Thai was a really cool book! I had read something similar in plot and I kept expecting the cuts to turn out to be gills, but the author surprised me. I love to be surprised when I read! It was a good story, great characters, and I loved the plot. I’d love to see what comes next. There’s at least another story or two for the Salt Squad!

The atmosphere, the eeriness, Reiss did a lovely job of describing underwater scenes, delivering the perfect amount of horror and a touch of romance. I've done a good deal of snorkeling and boating in the Keys where the five members of the Salt Squad reside, and the descriptions brought back all the beauty as well as some of the terrifying aspects of the ocean that I've experienced. I can tell Reiss is a writer who writes what she knows, and it comes through in her beautiful underwater depictions.

The Salt Squad is a tight knit group of five friends, fresh out of high school, who form a bond through their love of diving. When Phoebe finds a handful of gold coins on one of their dives, it launches them into social media fame. Before they go their separate ways, the friends decide to take one last journey together, and fly to an Australian island, where they unexpectedly find an underwater cave.

I had some desire to take up scuba diving before reading this book, but now not so much. I felt like I was right there with them exploring the massive underwater cave, the claustrophobia, sharks, deadly box jellyfish, running out of oxygen, but now I think I'll stick to the shallows, or better yet, my comfy book nook where I can safely read about underwater adventures.

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of this book.

I'm always nervous to start books that have anything to do with my hobbies. I learned to dive nearly 20 years ago so picking this up made me weary. I expect most thriller books about diving and the ocean to be written by someone who has never taken a single breath underwater. It was such a breath of fresh air to find out this author is also a diver and the book was so well written.

Reading this I understood immediately the feeling Phoebe felt as she entered the ocean, and dived down further. I could feel the tightness in my chest as I read about her barely being able to fit her body through parts of a hidden cave - cave diving was NOT a favorite of mine, so that really ticked the 'thriller' box for me.

Of course, those who have never dived before will have no issues reading this story, as she explains terms not generally known by anyone who has only spent time on land.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this read. It made me want to go grab my fins and jump in the water. Maybe I can find an ancient cave and you'd never hear from me again.

I was really excited for this. I love underwater sci-fi and horror, and Out of Air sounded so cool. Unfortunately, it did not match up to the blurb and left me majorly disappointed. The horror aspects were really cool and I would have loved more, but so much of this book was focused on a romance that I could not have cared less about. The romance was almost entirely reliant on us being told that the characters were good together and had a good past, because they spent so much of the actual book distant from each other. The characters kept secrets for pretty much no reason, and the main character was boring to follow. Out of Air was entirely misrepresented as a horror book, and it left me bored and annoyed by the end.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Out of Air by Rachel Reiss. This story is an atmospheric blend of mystery, adventure, and just the right touch of the supernatural. Following five friends on a diving trip off the coast of Australia, the book dives (pun intended!) into the secrets of an underwater cave that changes their lives forever.

The alternating timeline between past and present added a layer of suspense that kept me flipping pages late into the night. I loved the vivid descriptions of the ocean—Reiss’s writing made me feel like I was right there, surrounded by the beauty and danger of the deep sea. The friendships felt authentic and nuanced, though I did find myself wanting a bit more emotional depth in certain scenes.

Overall, Out of Air is an engaging and unique read, perfect for fans of atmospheric thrillers with a twist. A solid 4 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, when I first saw this book I thought it would be a shot in the dark and that I wouldn't end up liking it that much but boy was I wrong. I've been a fan of Outer Banks since it came out and this book was recommended to me to cure my Outer Banks hangover. This book was definitely out of my comfort zone but I ended up loving it. Although it's said to be like Outer Banks, I feel like this is a truly original story that fills that void. I wish we got to know a little more about the characters but other than that I have no complaints. I haven't read a book in a long time that made me stay up all night reading but this book has done it for me. Everyone should go give this book a chance!