I started out really enjoying this book. But. Oh, why does there have to be a but?

We get lots of teen drama. I know it’s a YA book, but Phoebe, the MC, was just so annoying. She constantly referred to herself as an outsider, simply because of her financial status, despite the fact that her friend group had clearly accepted her. She whined a lot, which got on my nerves.

Then the plot took all sorts of weird turns that didn’t work for me.

And finally, we were left with loose threads and issues that weren’t explained.

I had both the ebook and the audiobook. I felt the audiobook narrator leaned a little too heavily into Phoebe’s dramatic tone. I mean, she got it right, but it only reinforced my need to get away from Phoebe.

In fairness, this book is intended for a YA audience, which I absolutely am not.

*Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free eARC, and to Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook download.*

Treasure hunting with a dose of supernatural- yes, please. The world-building needs the reader to fill in quite a bit - something you really enjoy or really don't. There is a lot of ambiguity- again, something you really enjoy or really don't. Someone else wants their treasure. Someone else wants to save the treasure. Someone else wants to spend the treasure. Someone else wants to be famous. Phibs just wants to keep her friends safe. With all the different wants, this might be an impossible goal.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story blends the eerie, atmospheric vibe of Wilder Girls with the adventure and friendship dynamics of Outer Banks, set against an exotic Australian island backdrop. The concept of scuba-diving friends discovering treasure—and then facing a mysterious, transformative power—felt fresh and intriguing.

I enjoyed the underwater setting and the mix of suspense, supernatural elements, and coming-of-age themes. The tension between friends and the threat from treasure hunters added some exciting stakes.

That said, the pacing was uneven, and some plot threads felt underdeveloped or rushed. The characters, especially Phoebe, had moments of strong voice but didn’t always feel fully fleshed out emotionally. The horror elements were atmospheric but could have been deeper and more unsettling.

Overall, this was a solid, engaging read with unique worldbuilding, though it didn’t quite reach its full potential. Fans of dark YA adventure with supernatural twists may find a lot to enjoy here.

The narration was decent—clear and easy to follow—but it didn’t quite bring the story to life for me. The pacing felt a bit slow at times, which made some of the atmospheric moments less impactful. The narrator captured Phoebe’s voice well enough, but overall, the performance didn’t fully elevate the story.

An okay listen if you enjoy YA supernatural adventures, but not a standout audiobook experience.

**3.5-stars**

Out of Air is a YA Thriller novel that follows a group of scuba diving teens, who get in too deep after discovering a legendary cave, and the power that dwells there.

This sounds creepy, right? And that's exactly why I picked it up. I love the idea of following a group of teen divers, and honestly, caves kind of scare me, particularly those you access via water. I think there so much that can be hidden there, or go wrong, so the possibilities are endless!

This story is full of teen drama, and mainly follows Phibs Ray, and her five friends, who 6-months ago discovered a handful of ancient coins while on a dive. This find boosted them into some social media stardom. In the current timeline, they have just graduated high school and are taking one last scuba trip together to an island off the coast of Australia. It's there that they discover the cave, which seems to cause strange changes in some of the young explorers after surfacing.

From there we have some interactions with other treasure hunters, as well as spooky physical and mental ailments going on with the teens. Overall, this was a good story. Reiss brought some interesting concepts to the page, and I loved that we were following teen divers. With this being said though, I did find the construction a little messy and I'm not sure how memorable it's going to be long-term.

Even a few hours after finishing it, I had already forgotten all the character's names except for Phibs, which to me just sort of shows that it lacked that special something to make it lurk around in my brain. Also, the Horror aspects of the plot were slow to get going, and there wasn't a ton of distinction between Past/Present in the audio version, which made it slightly confusing. It would say it at the top of the chapter, but it all felt very one note, so was easy to get lost in time.

These are small quips though, overall, it's entertaining, and I think it would be a great Summer Read for Teens interested in diving and ocean exploration. Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would definitely pick up future work from this author. I'm intrigued!

Not going to lie. I was super disappointed with this one. I mean look a this cover. High expectations. However, when I got into the story there wasn't much substance there. I didn't connect with the characters. They characters were a little annoying. Just not what I expected. I would not recommend.

Thank you to Macmillan Audubon and NetGalley for letting me read and enjoy this book.

I love this cover and the total, it sucked me in and I knew I needed to read it. I’ve never dived before but it’s on my to do list before I die, so whenever I have a chance to read about diving I take it. This was a YA maybe more of a NA since our characters were heading off to college or at that age. I enjoyed the mystery thriller aspect to this book, but as we went on I think it got caught up in trying to don’t many things at once and it didn’t work for me. I didn’t realize this one would have a fantasy element to it or I wouldn’t have read it, I don’t like when my genres cross and when it’s not sold like that. Form the synopsis I was fully expecting someone to run out of air while diving and I can imagine the panic and claustrophobia that would go along with it, we had a tiny experience of that but it wasn’t the whole book or story. But then it switched to this fantastical element that wasn’t explained properly and changed the whole story. I didn’t care for it.
I listened to the audiobook and I didn’t like the narrator, her voice was fine but the way she read was like everything was an emergency. The urgency never left her voice. It was quite stressful to listen to.
I’m not too sure if I would recommend this one, but maybe.

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss is a tense, exciting story that made me feel like I was right there, scuba diving with the characters and running out of air. The audiobook was amazing. You could really hear the fear and the gasping, which made it even more real.

Some of the characters were a bit annoying at first, but the flashbacks helped explain why they acted the way they did. The mix of past and present kept me interested the whole time. If you want a story that pulls you in and doesn’t let go, this is a great pick.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Really interesting premise, but didn't really connect. Definitely felt the tension throughout the story, just didn't really like any of the characters and felt like there was a lot of side info that distracted. Still a good read, just not for me at this time.

"Out of Air" was an eerie, atmospheric listen that kept me intrigued with its unique blend of scuba-diving adventure, supernatural transformation, and psychological suspense. I loved the ocean setting and the claustrophobic tension of deep-sea exploration. It felt like a cross between The Descent and Into the Blue, with a creepy twist.

Phoebe "Phibs" was a solid lead, and the friendship dynamics gave the story emotional weight. That said, some parts dragged a bit for me. The pacing slowed just when I wanted the mystery to ramp up, and I found myself drifting in and out of focus. Still, the premise was creative, the horror elements were unsettling in a good way, and the audiobook narration helped carry the mood.

If you're into:

Deep-sea horror
Found treasure gone wrong
Supernatural transformations
And themes of identity, friendship, and survival...
...this one's worth diving into.
But beware! What lurks beneath the surface might just follow you back up.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for granting me access to this title!

This YA thriller was way outta my comfort zone, but so good.

I enjoyed the dual timelines, as well as the friend group/found family aspects, particularly the class disparity between the groups’ members.

I loved learning all about diving and the ocean and thought treasure hunting aspect pretty cool.

The writing was fantastic, descriptive and thrilling.

The whole book was tense and claustrophobic – in the best way – leaving me wide-eyed and wheezy.

I DID NOT LOVE the gore. I mean, it was VERY WELL WRITTEN, and vital to the story, but, like, I can HEAR the squelching in my head.

Blurg.

Out of Air is a fast-paced supernatural YA thriller told in dual timelines around two life-changing scuba dives for the Salt Squad, a group of teens in their last summer before college. I found the dual timelines of the different dives set about 5-6 months apart a bit confusing. Some of it reads like a fever dream, especially as the supernatural elements take center stage. This book was not for me. I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and the FMC spends a lot of time lying and hiding things from her best friends. There are a few situations that do not make any logical sense.
Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for this ARC!

I think this one ended up just trying to do too many things and the book ended up not knowing what it actually was. Was this a treasure hunting adventure book? A body horror book? A supernatural thriller? A lot of things that could have been scary ended up coming off as cheesy and then that was super weird when the next scene would be a grotesque body horror sequence. I think tonally, this was just so confused. I also didn't love that this was so focused on the teen angsty side of things. I really just wanted this to be a claustrophobic body horror diving story and not enough of the book focused on that.

A note before I begin: If read on page this is probably a 2-star book. I was invited to review the audiobook, and that impacted my overall opinion of the novel.

I think there’s an audience for this book, and perhaps that audience just isn’t me. Still, I have to take issue beyond just differing tastes with a lot of what’s happening here, beginning with the fact that the mystery itself is a bit clunky despite an intriguing premise, and that there’s a clammy, Scooby Doo-ish bent to the central characters’ discussions that is pretty hard to take. Call it all tell, no show.

But a lot of the reason the story is difficult to get into is that the characters aren’t especially likable and are not at all nuanced, and they also don’t seem to like each other much. They spend a lot of time shouting at each other/other people/themselves/no one,and it’s both exhausting and irritating. For some reason there’s also a bit of romance thrown in, which felt half baked and not at all compelling.

All of that said, I expect this is better on paper because the audiobook was, unfortunately, almost unlistenable. I really do not like theatrical narrators, and if you do perhaps you’ll tolerate this better than I could. The pitch is near-hysterical almost all of the time, which as a listener just feels like eight straight hours of someone shouting at you. Any intensity that this style intends is completely drowned in the shrill, irritating, and frenetic style.

The redeeming feature here are the details on diving, which are both interesting and well-described. That said, this isn’t worth reading for that alone (plenty of scuba-centric books out there to choose from), but if you decide to try it, at least stay away from the audio version.

Out of Air was an interesting read. I loved the thriller feel of the book and the characters were well explored. I would read more from this author.

#ad much love for my finished copy @wednesdaybooks #partner
& @macmilla.audio + @netgalley #partner for the ALC

A debut book that just blew out of the water - and I suspect - will make a huge splash! Ohhhhh this book was so good guys!! It’s tense, mysterious, and full of action. I finished in one sitting.

They call themselves the Salt Squad. A group of 5 friends. Twin brothers, Gabe and Will, Lani, Isobel, and Phoebe. But their friendships are tested when something goes horribly wrong after a dive.

They found the cave and all agreed to never tell a sole. They’ve heard rumblings of rumors of terrible things happening to those who dare dive there. But it’s too late for that now. Because the cave where they found some treasure is cursed, and they’ve been marked.

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss is a fast-paced YA thriller that you won’t be able to put down. Alternating between the present and 5 months prior there’s never a dull moment. It’s so full of twist and turns that’ll it’ll give you whiplash.

This book delivered!!! Oof. The suspense and action in this book is something you can actually feel. I love diving/cave thrillers and I loved this one so much.

The narrator did the most superb job narrating this story. During the high-tension moments she shift her voice at the most perfect places. She’s one of those narrators that make the story come alive. Just fantastic!

Cannot wait to see what this author creates next; because if it’s anything like this book I’m gonna be hooked! ALL THE STARS!!

This would make the perfect movie or limited series!! Where you at Netflix, Hulu?????

Triggers
Alzheimer’s
Death and Dying

If you like scuba diving in caves, beware, this story might scare you off that hobby. This is a fast-paced, entertaining, and creepy paranormal thriller for fans of YA and treasure hunting. The audiobook narration by Gail Shalan added to the overall vibe.

As someone who has only snorkeled and never gone scuba diving the vivid descriptions of life under water were so fun, as was the body horror and adventurous Outer Banks treasure hunting mystery.

The audiobook was a fun and engaging listen. It can be hard to distinguish a large cast vocally, and I appreciated the effort but overall felt some of the voices landed more believably as teens than others.

As a new diver myself this book was very eye opening and I feel like even if you aren’t a diver you should read this

Wow. So as I read this I was super mesmerized with the descriptions of all cave and the ability of Phoebe to find hidden treasures. What exactly were they changing into? Will we find out more in another book? I’m super hooked!

Great story! It was different, intriguing, mysterious, and little sci-fi, a little romance. And the ending was not perfect, which is so much better than unrealistic fairy tale endings! I will be adding this to my library. high school collection and recommending it to students. Thanks for the chance to listen to it on Netgalley.