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Horizon #5
Liferaft
The spires.
They've been looming in the distance the whole time, watching silently as the young survivors of the crash-landed Aero Horizon Flight 16 crossed a gauntlet of dangerous, unnatural landscapes.
After weeks of terror and heartbreak, Molly and her friends have reached the eerie structure they spotted at the start of their journey, all in a desperate bid that it will provide answers to their ordeal... and perhaps a way home.
Here, the survivors will finally learn the truth behind the rift.
And here they'll encounter a monster far deadlier than anything they've faced yet.
They've been looming in the distance the whole time, watching silently as the young survivors of the crash-landed Aero Horizon Flight 16 crossed a gauntlet of dangerous, unnatural landscapes.
After weeks of terror and heartbreak, Molly and her friends have reached the eerie structure they spotted at the start of their journey, all in a desperate bid that it will provide answers to their ordeal... and perhaps a way home.
Here, the survivors will finally learn the truth behind the rift.
And here they'll encounter a monster far deadlier than anything they've faced yet.
151 pages, Hardcover
First published September 3, 2019
33 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 18, 2024
I don't like to sound harsh, but I had such high hopes to the ending of this series that this was a letdown for me. I'm unhappy with the ending, and I do hope they will reconsider how to end the series and bring back books #6 and 7. Anyone who has stuck around for this series and really felt it reached it's peak moments in book #4 will understand what I mean. I think we were all in shock and amazed by book #4. Some said it felt much darker/scarier than the others, and it did. The stakes were raised so high in that book, this conclusion just felt entirely different and out of place. I don't like to be so negative, but I did not really enjoy the ending.
November 24, 2019
I avidly enjoyed the first four books in this series, despite being rather older than the target demographic. The vivid characterization, exciting action sequences, and sharp writing kept me interested as the characters adapted and overcame their ever-increasing list of challenges in the mysterious landscape.
Until this book, it never bothered me that the author changed each time. The transitions, if not quite seamless, blended together well. Unfortunately, Aditi Khorana did not seem interested in pursuing any of the interesting dynamics or plot threads that earlier writers had established. The search for Oliver and Hank's determination to unseat Molly as leader were dropped entirely.
On the other hand, the conflicts that remained were resolved in ways almost more unsatisfying than even being handwaved away. For example, the tension between Molly and Yoshi that has ebbed and flowed since the first book was finally resolved... in a chapter narrated by another character entirely, who told them both how they felt and got them to hug it out. The reader is never allowed to hear either Yoshi or Molly's own perspective on their sudden reconciliation.
The other issue with this book was the insistence on not showing, but telling... and telling... and telling. A certain amount of 'Kimberly decided this' or 'Yoshi felt that' is fine, but when that information is repeated three or more times in a 150-page book, it becomes grating.
I can only conclude that Aditi Khorana was either uninterested in writing a book for this series and churned it out as quickly as possible, or has simply not had much practice writing for the middle grade demographic and worried that she needed to keep things much simpler and clearer than she does in her writing for older teens. Either way, it's sad to see such a lackluster finale to a truly clever, exciting series.
Until this book, it never bothered me that the author changed each time. The transitions, if not quite seamless, blended together well. Unfortunately, Aditi Khorana did not seem interested in pursuing any of the interesting dynamics or plot threads that earlier writers had established. The search for Oliver and Hank's determination to unseat Molly as leader were dropped entirely.
On the other hand, the conflicts that remained were resolved in ways almost more unsatisfying than even being handwaved away. For example, the tension between Molly and Yoshi that has ebbed and flowed since the first book was finally resolved... in a chapter narrated by another character entirely, who told them both how they felt and got them to hug it out. The reader is never allowed to hear either Yoshi or Molly's own perspective on their sudden reconciliation.
The other issue with this book was the insistence on not showing, but telling... and telling... and telling. A certain amount of 'Kimberly decided this' or 'Yoshi felt that' is fine, but when that information is repeated three or more times in a 150-page book, it becomes grating.
I can only conclude that Aditi Khorana was either uninterested in writing a book for this series and churned it out as quickly as possible, or has simply not had much practice writing for the middle grade demographic and worried that she needed to keep things much simpler and clearer than she does in her writing for older teens. Either way, it's sad to see such a lackluster finale to a truly clever, exciting series.
February 11, 2020
This book was the conclusion to the Horizon series I didn’t mind the author’s writing style. She kept all the details from the other books and made sense of everything. I thought it lacked depth into the characters. I guess by book 7 the characters are established but their thoughts and feelings were quite superficial. I liked the events in Life Raft. There just weren’t a lot of events that took place. The climax felt kind of anti climatic. They’ve been going to this destination for 6 books and now that they made it and it was kind of not disappointing but just uneventful. This book wasn’t a huge page turner. All the other books I had read in a day or two this book took me literally a month cause I was just kind of like eh I’ll get around to it. I like how it ended and what was at the end of their journey but I just think so much more could have been done with it.
September 12, 2019
This was amazing. The answers were great, but the only thing I’m confused about is that in Deadzone robot Oliver said they would see him at the spires, and normal Oliver came back for a few seconds, but this said he was dead.
January 17, 2020
Highly anticipated and ended the series very well
November 26, 2021
Considering this is the last book in the series, I believe a full review is in order. I started this series when I was a middle schooler in seventh grade and had to patiently wait for each book release. Now that I am a freshman in high school, I can see how I have outgrown the target audience. Even so, I can't say I was ever disappointed with the series.
This series is for young adults, but safe for younger kids as well. Unlike most YA novels, there is no unsuitable themes or elements, making the books appropriate for younger middle school kids, along with the usual YA audience.
The first four books and authors were enjoyable in my first read. Now that time has passed and I have reread all of them, they are still as enjoyable now as they were then. When reading the last book in the series, Liferaft, I was not disappointed with the writing. I can imagine it was difficult, as a new author of the story, to wrap up an entire five-book series that she had no hand in writing previously.
With this being said, the end was not what I was expecting.
In my theories, I thought the kids were somehow chosen by a team of scientists or higher beings to be put through a series of rigorous testing. Through the whole series, I imagined a Hunger Games x Maze Runner plot, with these characters going through an experiment of some sort.
However, with the introduction of the alien, I was shocked and a little doubtful. I had a difficult time accepting the explanation of the rift. Supposedly, the biomes were created due to an alien crash landing in the artic. Only one extraterrestrial survived, but the intelligent technology of the ship created a "copy" of the alien's home planet all around the ship. Over hundreds of years, this environment flourished and protected the ship from any threat or danger in the form of robots. However, the ship also seeks intelligent life to repair itself. So, that is why the kids were chosen and survived. But, since the aircraft was meant to seek help but also protect itself from intruders, the two variables opposed one another, creating a deadly combination of alien technology. All of these explanations given to the reader make coherent sense, even though it is not exactly the resolution I wanted or expected. The wrap-up seemed hasty. I wish the book was lengthened or another was written describing the alien, its home, its intent, and a fuller, detailed explanation of the rift itself. I can't seem to understand why all of the characters were chosen. The ship seemed fairly easy to repair considering the robots and mites could have done it all along. The only thing the kids really did was wake up the alien. I think another book describing the technology of the ship and having the kids repair it would be much more satisfactory. Even so, I feel like so much was condensed and glazed over. I understand the author trying to cut out unnecessary detail to fit all the new information into one book, but if you do not have the intent to write another book, at the very least, you can give a sufficient explanation of the rift which answers all the reader's questions from the previous books. I do not want to seem like I have so many bad things to say about this book. I did love the amount of Anna chapters, seeing she is my favorite character and I felt she did not get enough time in the rest of the series. I really do enjoy the series as a whole, but I wish more time was spent on the explanation and resolution of the story. All in all, these books will always be a part of my childhood and youth that I spent much time on. Taking all of this into account, I would in fact recommend this series.
This series is for young adults, but safe for younger kids as well. Unlike most YA novels, there is no unsuitable themes or elements, making the books appropriate for younger middle school kids, along with the usual YA audience.
The first four books and authors were enjoyable in my first read. Now that time has passed and I have reread all of them, they are still as enjoyable now as they were then. When reading the last book in the series, Liferaft, I was not disappointed with the writing. I can imagine it was difficult, as a new author of the story, to wrap up an entire five-book series that she had no hand in writing previously.
With this being said, the end was not what I was expecting.
In my theories, I thought the kids were somehow chosen by a team of scientists or higher beings to be put through a series of rigorous testing. Through the whole series, I imagined a Hunger Games x Maze Runner plot, with these characters going through an experiment of some sort.
However, with the introduction of the alien, I was shocked and a little doubtful. I had a difficult time accepting the explanation of the rift. Supposedly, the biomes were created due to an alien crash landing in the artic. Only one extraterrestrial survived, but the intelligent technology of the ship created a "copy" of the alien's home planet all around the ship. Over hundreds of years, this environment flourished and protected the ship from any threat or danger in the form of robots. However, the ship also seeks intelligent life to repair itself. So, that is why the kids were chosen and survived. But, since the aircraft was meant to seek help but also protect itself from intruders, the two variables opposed one another, creating a deadly combination of alien technology. All of these explanations given to the reader make coherent sense, even though it is not exactly the resolution I wanted or expected. The wrap-up seemed hasty. I wish the book was lengthened or another was written describing the alien, its home, its intent, and a fuller, detailed explanation of the rift itself. I can't seem to understand why all of the characters were chosen. The ship seemed fairly easy to repair considering the robots and mites could have done it all along. The only thing the kids really did was wake up the alien. I think another book describing the technology of the ship and having the kids repair it would be much more satisfactory. Even so, I feel like so much was condensed and glazed over. I understand the author trying to cut out unnecessary detail to fit all the new information into one book, but if you do not have the intent to write another book, at the very least, you can give a sufficient explanation of the rift which answers all the reader's questions from the previous books. I do not want to seem like I have so many bad things to say about this book. I did love the amount of Anna chapters, seeing she is my favorite character and I felt she did not get enough time in the rest of the series. I really do enjoy the series as a whole, but I wish more time was spent on the explanation and resolution of the story. All in all, these books will always be a part of my childhood and youth that I spent much time on. Taking all of this into account, I would in fact recommend this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2020
This book gets two stars because it concluded the Horizon series, and it should have been climactically amazing. I was compelled to read this book because I had read the previous books in the series, and I had to have a spectacular ending. Unfortunately, a two-star story is what I was given. It was pretty dull. The writing was lifeless. There was no engagement with me, the reader. My favorite character, Anna, ended up in some sort of Twilight-esque infatuation with Yoshi. "...she couldn't ever have imagined holding Yoshi's hand and telling him something so close to her heart." Barf.
The characters make their way through the rift and voila! Bizarre explanations for everything, and then the main characters pretty much make it back home. Well, not all of them...
In the end, each of the survivors earns inexplicable prizes, and the remaining Cub-Tones, who unfortunately leaped forward in time, get to visit any of their old friends, who may still be living, in their nursing homes.
The pathetic ending to an otherwise captivating series ironically ends, "And that was the best that anyone could ask for." I don't think so.
I thought that this series was really going to go somewhere when I first started reading it. Whoever was masterminding the enterprise got lost half-way through and couldn't recover. I really wanted to be able to recommend the series to my 5th graders, but now I will guide them elsewhere so that they don't waste their time. Apologies to the earlier authors who trailblazed the initial path.
The characters make their way through the rift and voila! Bizarre explanations for everything, and then the main characters pretty much make it back home. Well, not all of them...
In the end, each of the survivors earns inexplicable prizes, and the remaining Cub-Tones, who unfortunately leaped forward in time, get to visit any of their old friends, who may still be living, in their nursing homes.
The pathetic ending to an otherwise captivating series ironically ends, "And that was the best that anyone could ask for." I don't think so.
I thought that this series was really going to go somewhere when I first started reading it. Whoever was masterminding the enterprise got lost half-way through and couldn't recover. I really wanted to be able to recommend the series to my 5th graders, but now I will guide them elsewhere so that they don't waste their time. Apologies to the earlier authors who trailblazed the initial path.
December 30, 2020
Loved!!!
Universal review for the whole series:
Okay, people trash this but lets keep in mind it’s a MIDDLE GRADE. Even though I’m older than the target audience, I still really enjoyed it. I kept thinking to myself “If they redid this series but more in-depth for an older audience, it would be so much better.” It was a quick read, I flew through them all, and it was just so fun. I would definitely recommend. There’s not as much character building at first, but as you read on, you’ll certainly get attached. If you can’t stand middle grades, then maybe don’t pick this one up. But if you just want a quick read and a good story, you picked up the right book!
Spoilers:
AHHH WHY. My HEART!! Why Molly whyyyyyy?! Also the Yoshianna in this one!? Yes and YES. The whole book series we never got an age for any of the characters but FINALLY they say “high schoolers”. It was driving me CRAZYYYY. Crazy. I loved the explanation of the rift. I cried when Molly left Javi. Everything was beautiful. Waaaa waaa waaa. Loved it.
Universal review for the whole series:
Okay, people trash this but lets keep in mind it’s a MIDDLE GRADE. Even though I’m older than the target audience, I still really enjoyed it. I kept thinking to myself “If they redid this series but more in-depth for an older audience, it would be so much better.” It was a quick read, I flew through them all, and it was just so fun. I would definitely recommend. There’s not as much character building at first, but as you read on, you’ll certainly get attached. If you can’t stand middle grades, then maybe don’t pick this one up. But if you just want a quick read and a good story, you picked up the right book!
Spoilers:
AHHH WHY. My HEART!! Why Molly whyyyyyy?! Also the Yoshianna in this one!? Yes and YES. The whole book series we never got an age for any of the characters but FINALLY they say “high schoolers”. It was driving me CRAZYYYY. Crazy. I loved the explanation of the rift. I cried when Molly left Javi. Everything was beautiful. Waaaa waaa waaa. Loved it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2020
Boo. When I started this series it was so promising. In my review of #1, I said I *hoped* it wouldn't tank like the TV show Lost, with which it shares some thematic elements.
It tanked.
This short, abrupt end to the series is almost comical in it's simplicity and lack of suspense, lack of story development, lack of character development. It seems like whoever was in charge said "wrap it up, we have to move on!" So, she did.
Throw in a few words that no middle schooler will ever know (nictitating? really?) and some social justice commentary which seemed totally out of place but maybe met some publishing requirement (would they even be accepted back in their country, when people already "suffered for being different - for their religious beliefs, or the color of their skin, for being immigrants, for their gender, for loving who they loved?")... and the whole thing unfortunately just falls completely flat.
It tanked.
This short, abrupt end to the series is almost comical in it's simplicity and lack of suspense, lack of story development, lack of character development. It seems like whoever was in charge said "wrap it up, we have to move on!" So, she did.
Throw in a few words that no middle schooler will ever know (nictitating? really?) and some social justice commentary which seemed totally out of place but maybe met some publishing requirement (would they even be accepted back in their country, when people already "suffered for being different - for their religious beliefs, or the color of their skin, for being immigrants, for their gender, for loving who they loved?")... and the whole thing unfortunately just falls completely flat.
April 18, 2020
I didn't like the ending of this. It was way to abrupt and it didn't really make any sense.
January 7, 2020
Må indrømme at jeg allerede frygtede slutningen af Horizon serien, da jeg var færdig med bog 3. De kunne umuligt få svaret på alle spørgsmål på bare 2 bøger mere.
Da jeg så fik bogen mellem hænderne og så, at den er på 160 sider, skreg jeg lidt indvendigt. Come on altså.
Og tjo, slutningen var sådan set okay...ish, men det her er første gang, hvor jeg virkelig har kunne mærke, at der har været skift af forfatter. Den er meget anderledes end resten af serien.
Det meste af handlingen føles super forhastet i modsætning til resten af serien. De springer fra den ene vilde ting til den næste i et tempo, hvor man aldrig får stederne ind under huden som i de første bøger.
I forhold til at få svar på de mange spørgsmål, så føles slutningen måske også som en billig løsning, der skulle dække alting, men det gør den bare ikke helt. Der er stadig masser af ubesvarede spørgsmål, ting der ikke giver mening osv.
Der var også flere steder, hvor plottet modsiger ting fra de tidligere bøger, og jeg kan ikke finde ud af, om forfatteren bare har ignoreret dem eller simpelthen glemt det... Det føles ret skidt uanset hvad.
Ville ønske vi kunne skrue tiden lidt tilbage, så Horizon igen var planlagt som 7 bøger, for det ville uden tvivl være bedre end den her forhastede spøjse slutning.
Da jeg så fik bogen mellem hænderne og så, at den er på 160 sider, skreg jeg lidt indvendigt. Come on altså.
Og tjo, slutningen var sådan set okay...ish, men det her er første gang, hvor jeg virkelig har kunne mærke, at der har været skift af forfatter. Den er meget anderledes end resten af serien.
Det meste af handlingen føles super forhastet i modsætning til resten af serien. De springer fra den ene vilde ting til den næste i et tempo, hvor man aldrig får stederne ind under huden som i de første bøger.
I forhold til at få svar på de mange spørgsmål, så føles slutningen måske også som en billig løsning, der skulle dække alting, men det gør den bare ikke helt. Der er stadig masser af ubesvarede spørgsmål, ting der ikke giver mening osv.
Der var også flere steder, hvor plottet modsiger ting fra de tidligere bøger, og jeg kan ikke finde ud af, om forfatteren bare har ignoreret dem eller simpelthen glemt det... Det føles ret skidt uanset hvad.
Ville ønske vi kunne skrue tiden lidt tilbage, så Horizon igen var planlagt som 7 bøger, for det ville uden tvivl være bedre end den her forhastede spøjse slutning.
June 20, 2025
This book felt rushed. It ruined the characters and what drives them, and left plot holes lying around. What happened with the pod that was rising out of a lake. Didn’t the robots set a trap for the kids to make them trigger it emerging? What was so important about it? Was Oliver even truly dead? Didn’t he go back to his normal self for a few seconds when the robots took over his body? I also didn’t like the way conflicts were either forgotten or were solved within a paragraph of hug it out. I hated the ending it was tacky. This book ruined what the other authors tried so hard to seamlessly set up.
September 9, 2025
I did like this, although I don’t think it had quite the quality of the other books. It had a tidy explanation to the whole alien rift thing, and it was nice to hear a little bit about their lives after they went home. And the twist of Molly not going back was interesting. I didn’t see that coming at all.
But I think it was really cheesy, and that Kimberly chapter closer to the end was honestly weird. Also it was kind of hard to picture Feather, she wasn’t depicted very well.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad book but it could definitely been a lot better.
But I think it was really cheesy, and that Kimberly chapter closer to the end was honestly weird. Also it was kind of hard to picture Feather, she wasn’t depicted very well.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad book but it could definitely been a lot better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2024
A few big surprises in this book. The kids are still trying to get to the spires to find a way home. They encounter Giant walls of ice cracking, hidden entrances and more things trying to stop them. They are exhausted from fighting to survive every minute, they just want the journey to be over and get back home. They want to feel safe again. Is that even possible after so much time, trials and tribulations?
October 9, 2019
This is the final book in a series I absolutely loved....but this one, not so much. There were things hinted about in previous books that didn't come to pass. The ending seemed very rushed, like the author was limited on pages, but this one is shorter than the others. All in all, I was rather disappointed.
June 1, 2020
That felt a bit rushed at the end, and I guess I should have seen certain things coming, but all in all it feels like a bit of a let down. I'm glad that I read this series, and I will recommend it, but all in all, I wonder if I would have liked it even more if there hadn't been such a huge gap between when I read the 4th book and this one.
December 12, 2024
Probably one of the weakest books in the series. It feels like events just happen to happen, and not even just to move the story along-no, just because. It wasn't bad. I mean it kept me reading and I finished the book but that was partly because of pre-investment in the series.
If you've read all the other books, I'd say just read it for the closure of the series. Not for any other reason.
If you've read all the other books, I'd say just read it for the closure of the series. Not for any other reason.
September 22, 2019
This book is published now and titled Liferaft. Not sure why it isn't updated yet, but in the cover jacket it also says, "Critically acclaimed author Aiditi Khorana brings her mind-bending expertise to this gripping conclusion to the Horizon series." So not sure what the next potential 2 books are?
December 1, 2019
Not as exciting as the first books in the series, but a satisfying ending. A great series to put in the hands of reluctant readers or ones looking for an adrenaline rush. Middle grades and up. Even adults might enjoy them.
January 29, 2020
It could have been better. If there had been a different author it would have been a good read. She made things very confusing and didn’t make some of the points happen in the previous books. The ending was also rushed. Disappointing.
April 23, 2020
It seemed like an anti climactic end to the series. I thought there were supposed to be two more books but this one tied up everything is pretty bow. It felt rushed but it did have good ideas going for it.
January 20, 2021
This book brought an unexpected come back of someone important that I was super happy about. I really hope there could possibly be a side series with Molly soon. This book kept me on my toes and I hated it when I had to leave it.
October 27, 2023
Well, I didn't hate it as much as some reviewers, but I definitely didn't like it. This was definitely the weakest of the series, and it felt really rushed. A lot of the characters seemed out of character, too, and this was the first book where it felt like the author didn't even bother to keep anything consistent.
July 11, 2024
This wasn't as good as the others in the series, and I thought it would be a 7 book series, but this seems to be the conclusion. Still good, but the Molly and Hank banter was completely dropped, which made me a little sad, and a lot of my questions went unanswered. I still would recommend this series though
September 21, 2024
This felt rushed. The series did a great job of building up to the last book and then it felt like they just wanted it done. For as much detail as the other books had this one lacked in the same way. Sad.
October 30, 2019
The end book to a very creative adventure. Finally all the mysteries are solved and explained. Still some scary and sad parts, but that is like life anyway.
Read
December 7, 2019The book jacket says this is the conclusion to this exciting series, but I still have several questions!
March 1, 2020
This finally gives some answers and explanations, but they were very thin. I’m interested to see how the last two books wrap everything up, but I wish the explanations were more thorough.
May 27, 2020
This was a good end to the Horizon series. I enjoyed this series
October 6, 2020
Amazing
This book is amazing I enjoyed it very much!! It’s well written and well finished.
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This book is amazing I enjoyed it very much!! It’s well written and well finished.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews