Book review by Corey
In an Instant
In an Instant follows sixteen-year-old Finn Miller after a terrible car accident sends her family’s camper off a mountain during a snowstorm. Finn dies in the crash, but instead of moving on, she stays close enough to watch the people she loves fight to survive and then deal with the choices they made when everything went wrong.
I knew something bad was coming, but I wasn’t prepared for how much some of it would hurt. What really worked for me was seeing how differently everyone reacted under pressure, because some choices were understandable while others honestly made me angry. The survival part is tense, but the aftermath is what stuck with me most, especially the guilt, grief, and way one terrible night changed every relationship around it.
The Goods
- Strong emotional impact
- The survival scenes feel genuinely tense
- Interesting look at impossible choices
- Finn is an effective narrator
- The aftermath gets as much attention as the accident
The Bads
- Some characters are very frustrating
- A few emotional moments feel pushed
- The supernatural element stays pretty simple
- Certain decisions are hard to forgive
- Some of the family drama gets heavy
My Recommendation
This is a strong choice if you like emotional family stories mixed with survival, grief, and a little supernatural fiction. I liked that the book didn’t stop once everyone was rescued, because the choices people made during the accident ended up mattering just as much afterward. If you enjoy stories that put ordinary people into impossible situations and then make them live with what they did, In an Instant can hit pretty hard and definitely gives you something to think about afterward.
