Leah has moved around a lot, following her mother (who follows various boyfriends.) But one thing is consistent in her life -- their trailer parks are always next to an airport, and Leah has a dream of someday learning to fly. Her mother is rarely around, and Leah manages to get a job running a small local airport on the beach in South Carolina.
One of the businesses flying out of the airport is Hall Aviation. They fly advertisement banners along the beach. Leah saves her money, forges her mother's signature, and manages to get Mr. Hall to give her flying lessons. When Mr. Hall dies suddenly, Leah thinks her flying days are over, but his sons, Grayson and Alec, plan to continue with the business, and Leah, after being blackmailed by Grayson, ends up flying for them. Leah has always had a crush on Grayson, but she's now involved in a scheme that threatens to tear the brothers apart.
Problem: I had trouble getting enmeshed in some of the story. I decided it was because, in some cases, I was "told" things that I should have been "shown." Rather important scenes, such as Leah's mother inviting Mark to live with them, was just glossed over like it was no big deal. And then, we are "told" that he and Leah have not had sex. I would like to be "shown" one of those bedroom scenes. The scene where she threw him out was great -- I just wanted more of that for that whole story line. There were other parts of Such a Rush that gave me the same feeling -- sort of jumping over more important emotional parts so that I couldn't feel what the characters were feeling.
I didn't get why Leah didn't WANT to fly for Hall Aviation. That should have been her dream job -- with a guy she has a crush on, and flying on the beach in the plane she is familiar with. Why was it necessary for Grayson to blackmail her to get her to do it? (But, if there's no blackmail, there's no story.)
I just had a problem with the whole Mark thing. Leah is supposedly crushing on Grayson, but when she gets confronted by Mark, she considers starting a relationship with him....really?
The ending of Such a Rush was easy to determine from the outset. The climactic moments played out pretty much just as I expected. And I thought what Leah did at the end to cause the drama was totally out of character. She was always level-headed when it came to flying, and then she lets her emotions get the better of her? I didn't believe it.
Things just went on too long. I read 196 pages, and really had had enough. So, I skimmed about the next 80 pages, and read the last 50. I'm serious, I don't' think I missed anything in the plot by just reading a few sentences on every third page.
I loved the flying part of the book. I loved the descriptions of flying and the scenery below. The setting was well described. I liked that things turned out well for Leah in the end. I know that Jennifer Echols is very popular, and Such a Rush is the first of hers that I've read. I'm not opposed to trying another of her books, but this one just didn't do it for me.
I will still recommend Such a Rush to teens who are contemporary fans, especially those who are fans of Echols.
Published by MTV Books, July 10, 2012
ARC obtained from Around the World ARC Tours
325 pages
Rating: 2/5
I can't really seem to get into any of Jennifer Echol's books either. The premise of this one intrigued me and I thought it had the potential to be better. I'm so sad that it isn't! Thanks for the honest review!
ReplyDeleteHello dearie! I've been looking for more blogs about books/writing and most of the ones I come across are written by well meaning but somewhat annoyingly Barbie-like headed teenagers.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean by that, is that I feel I can't trust their previews, because they wouldn't recognize a predictable love ending if it slapped them in the face!
That said, thank YOU for this sensible review! :) I work at a local B&N, but even though the cover of this book caught my attention, I wasn't sure if I felt like taking the time to read it. Thank you for saving me some time! :) hehe