Author: Jennifer Echols
Date of Publication: July 10 2012
Pages: 325
Source: Mari- Epic Recs!

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

Review:

I had heard wonderful things about Such a Rush for a long time. It was Mari who pushed me to read it as her Epic Recs for February. I went into the book having not read the synopsis, so I really had no idea what to expect beyond what other people kept telling me. Everyone said Such a Rush was amazing, and I guess I'm a little disappointed because it didn't really interest me all that much.

I don't often read contemporary romance but I have enjoyed a few... Dare You To comes to mind. I guess the thing that I require for the romances is for me to fall for the guy too. I don't feel like romances have super distinguishable plots (at least in my head) so to make it work, I have to adore the guy. I guess that never occurred in Such a Rush.

There's nothing wrong with Grayson. He is a good guy. He's just not a guy that I really connected with, and I don't know, I guess the story overall never really interested me.

Maybe it's my problem with romances, but really, did I for one second doubt what would happen? Such a Rush never surprised me and I hate guessing what happens. It wasn't unpredictable in the slightest, so as I was reading I knew the end result. That diminished my interest in the process because I didn't have that one character to grip my attention.

Then, the end was too easy. Everything gets resolved, everyone is happy, the girl gets the guy and they all live happily ever after. I guess when they were in conflict, I wondered how they would deal with it. But, the ending just felt weak to me because everyone almost instantly let go of their anger and I was left wondering where all this goodwill came from. The beginning before the spark dragged out, the foreplay was too short, and the ending was too fast.

I'm being overly picky right now, but that's because I was not invested in the story. Leah is a character I want to see succeed, but I didn't relate to her all that strongly. Plus, I'm a little irritated that everyone was either rich or poor. There were no middle-class characters, or even working class characters. The mean girls were mean for what seemed like no reason. There was an unnatural amount of douchebaggish guys.

I'm analyzing the story too much. Mari told me to just enjoy it, but I can't. It was a light story, and I guess normal teen contemporaries don't work with me unless they're emotional.

I will try to think of some positives to Such a Rush. The airplanes were cool. I admired Leah's passion for them. I also loved Leah's comfort with being herself. She was feisty and independent.

On another note, what in the world is the cover? It doesn't fit this book at all! The cover looks a little dystopian, maybe even paranormal while Such a Rush is totally light contemporary.

It took me a week to read Such a Rush and when I finished, I was excited because I could move on to another book. Full disclosure that this week I have an awful cold and I read the second half of Such a Rush with a headache. Maybe I psyched myself out of this book. Either way, it just isn't my type of read. 2 stars.

-P.E.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

Biggest flirt

May 20, 2014

The yearbook votes have been cast. Senior year is about to get interesting.

Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. And her first order of business? New guy Will. She can’t get enough of his Midwestern accent and laid-back swagger.

As the sparks start to fly, Will wants to get serious. Tia’s seen how caring too much has left her sisters heartbroken, and she isn’t interested in commitment. But pushing away Will drives him into the arms of another girl. Tia tells herself it’s no big deal…until the yearbook elections are announced. Getting voted Biggest Flirt along with Will is, well, awkward. They may just be friends, but their chemistry is beginning to jeopardize Will's new relationship—and causing Tia to reconsider her true feelings. What started out as a lighthearted fling is about to get very complicated…

Goodreads

I'm super excited for this one. Jennifer Echols is one of my favourite contemporary authors and I have yet to dislike one of her books.

Biggest Flirt sounds like a fun senior year read, especially since I can finally relate .....

Not really, Canadian HS's don't have all the fun stuff like homecoming etc. Now that I think about it, I would love a pep rally!

Anyways, it sounds hilarious. I love the biggest flirt tid-bit and the hint that it's not all lighthearted is also intriguing.

What Are You Waiting On?

-MARI

Such A Rush - Jennifer Echols

Release Date: December 18, 2012

Publisher: MTV Books

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 336

Buy the Book: Amazon

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers.

When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly.

For Leah Jones, reality is life in a rundown trailer park with an irresponsible mother. But there’s one escape. With an after-school job at the local airstrip, she manages to afford cut-rate flight lessons. At the controls of a small plane, she leaves the trailer park far below, swooping out over the sea in the ultimate rush.

By her senior year of high school, Leah’s dreams come true: she snags a job flying for an aerial banner-advertising business. Then the owner dies suddenly, leaving everything in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she tries to stay clear of the apparently doomed business—until Grayson digs up her most damning secret. Holding it over Leah’s head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. She’s been drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

Synopsis and cover taken from Goodreads.  

Why It's Awesome:

- Set in an airport with pilot protagonists.

- Twin brothers.

- Girl from trailer park and the airline owners sons.

- Coming of age story.

- Emotional roller-coaster

- Perfect beachy/ summer read with the perfect amount of love, lose and fun!
 

Similar Titles:
Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles
Dare You To - Katie McGarry
Lock and Key - Sarah Dessen
Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols
A Midsummer's Nightmare - Kody Keplinger
The DUFF - Kody Keplinger


Comment: 
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Echols and her books. I've read them all except for 2 and I have adored each and every one. Saying that, Such A Rush completely blew me away. It is my favourite of all her works and I hope you guys decide to pick it up and give it a shot!

-MARI

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by the amazing people over at The Broke and the Bookish.

 Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

This is my first time participating in this meme, but I've seen it around for a long time and always wanted to join the fun. So when I saw this weeks topic, I thought why not as I actually love me some summer books! Here goes in no particular order!

1. Why not start the summer tbr list with some contemporary romance!? I'm really excited for this one as I really enjoyed Smith's debut, The Statistical Probabiloty of Love at First Sight. Also, the synopsis looks amazing.

2. There isn't a lot in the synopsis, but it remind me of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski, which I really enjoyed.

3. This one is more of a sober one. The topic is a tough one, but one that should be covered, as with the increase of mobile devices and social networking these situations have increased. If you don't know what I'm talking about click on the picture to be directed to the Goodreads page and read the synopsis.

4. This one looks amazing! I read Osterlund's Academy 7 a few years ago and  adored everything from the sci-fi setting to the intelligent and well written characters. This one is a bit different from that one, but I love the idea of having a Mexican immigrant boy who is smart and headed somewhere. I love Alex Fuentes (Perfect Chemistry) but I don't want to read other authors' different versions of him.

5. One of my most anticipated reads of the year, this one is a no brainier as I am a huge fan of Jennifer Echols, as you guys will come to know with time. I've loved all the books by her that I have read, which is almost all of her books. Either way, this one looks amazing and I love the cover!

 6. On to the more action packed reads, I saw this one a while ago on Goodreads and love the cover then I read the synopsis and it was compared to Terminator and I was sold!

 7. Another one I've been anticipating for a while. I read the first in the series last year and absolutely adored it so can't wait to continue. I had no idea what I was getting into at first but loved what it turned out to be.









 

8. Another really epic looking one. I love the idea of absorbing another's DNA and turning into to them. Also, love the fictional FBI unit, Forces with Extraordinary Abilities!

9. This is one I'm hoping to read early on in the summer. Love the synopsis, trailer and cover. A must reads!









10. Last and definitely not the least, Catherine is a modern retelling of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I haven't seen any of the movie adaptions or read the original book but I hope to do so. Also, I read Jane, which is the retelling of Jane Eyre by the same author and really enjoyed that so I'm looking forward to reading more!