Sunday 17 June 2012

Review: Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols


Such a Rush




  Title: Such a Rush
  Author: Jennifer Echols
  Publisher: MTV Books
  Publication date: July 10th 2012
  My rating: 5 stars

 
 





Seventeen year-old Leah has always lived by airports growing up.   Living next to one in a trailer park is the cheapest rent and thanks to Leah's loser mom, that's all they can afford.  Leah actually doesn't mind being close, she loves planes and longs to fly.  Determined to make the best of a situation and not follow in her mother's footsteps, Leah gets a job with Hall Aviation at the airport next door.  Mr. Hall takes her under his wing and is like the father she never had.  Despite her close relationship with Mr. Hall Leah feels like an outsider every summer and school vacation, when his sons come to visit.  They help fly the banner planes that make up the majority of Mr. Hall's business.   His sons are gorgeous and complete opposites, even though they're twins.  Leah stays back as a silent observer, secretly crushing on Grayson.  It's a shock and a blow when Mr. Hall dies unexpectedly, and Leah makes arrangements to work elsewhere figuring the business will be sold.  When Grayson and Alec show up to run the business, she's surprised but doesn't think it'll last for long, and Leah has no intention of staying.  However, Grayson digs something up in Leah's past and blackmails her to stay on to help fly the banners.  In addition to forcing her to stay, Grayson also wants Leah to persuade Alec to date her.  Grayson threatens Leah's future hopes of flying so she has no choice but to cooperate with his scheme.  She can't figure out why Grayson wants her to attract Alec, and he refuses to tell her.

One of Jennifer Echols great strengths as a writer is her ability to write perfectly flawed but relatable characters, so I connected with Leah instantly.   I felt protective of her and rooted for her to triumph and rise above her situation.  This is an accomplishment with the horrible excuse of a mother she has, one of the worst I've come across in fiction!  Her mother only cared about herself, and Leah had to be on constant guard so she wouldn't take advantage of her.  The mother relied on Leah to work and pay bills while she had no job, being too occupied with her current disaster of a boyfriend.  In the beginning of the story I was on edge because Leah was vulnerable as a target from the shady characters in the trailer park.  All because her mother's neglect left her open to these kinds of situations.  I was glad she had the airport as safe haven to escape to.

Grayson was another flawed character that grew on me.  I didn't like him at first.  He wasn't all that nice, and his insistence for Leah to lure Alec in irritated me.  Also he made assumptions about Leah I didn't care for.  But as the mystery behind his behavior unravels, I began to understand his motivations and ended up falling hard for him.  Grayson fights but can't help his attraction to Leah.  He truly cared for Leah and was protective of her.   Another one of Ms. Echols strengths is her ability to write some knee-weakening, steamy scenes.  Trust.  She delivers in this story:

"Hey, I told you.  Lately my brain isn't working right.  I feel one thing, but I act a different way and it surprises me.  I don't know where my words are coming from half the time.  But you…" He kissed my check.  "Gosh…"  He kissed my lips, then backed away to look at me again.  "You know what?  Let me show you how I feel."  I gasped as he trailed kisses down my cheek, down my neck,……...  Well, you get where this is going, so I'll just leave it at that.

I highly recommend this.  It's right up there with my other favorite Jennifer Echols novels: Going Too Far and Forget You.  This does not disappoint!

Thank you so much Tina for lending me your precious copy!!



21 comments:

G. Taylor said...

Will be adding this to my list of books to read!

Beverley said...

I've never read a book by Jennifer Echols so maybe I should start with this one. I enjoy books with relatable characters so I think I'd warm to Leah quite easily too and I'm very curious about Grayson...

Thanks for another great review, Rachel!

Anonymous said...

I love Jennifer Echols, but her last 2 books have been a disappointment to me. Going Too Far and Forget You were my favorite books as well and now that you've compared Such A Rush to them, I have no doubt I'll enjoy this one. :)
Plus, that quote had me majorly swooning. :)
I love flawed characters so much and Leah seems exactly that. :)
Oh and her mother seems like a horrid role model. I must be mentally prepared to hate on her when I get to read the book next month. :P
Grayson seems like a jerk, but I'm glad that it gets easier to like him once his past is unraveled.
I loved the review, Rachel. You have me waiting for an excellent book. :D

Nicola said...

5 stars?! Whoa! I am so going to get my hands on a copy of this when it's out. It really sounds like my kind of thing. Awesome review Rachel! <3

The Teen Book Guru said...

Yayay!! So happy you loved this book as well, Rachel! :) Jennifer Echols is super amazing and sweet and a genius. I love all of her characters so much! And OMG I fell so hard for Grayson too! Loved him, and I especially loved how he's such a bad boy but is also really sweet and cares for Leah. Leah was such a kick-ass heroine, no?? She is probably one of my favourite heroines ever. But I hated her mom! -.- Ugh and her stupid best friend too. Great review, Rachel!! This is definitely one of my favourite books of 2012 so far! Jennifer Echols ROCKS! <3

Rachel said...

I totally agree Nick, the last two were not as good as Going Too Far and Forget You. The Jennifer Echols I know and love is back with this one though! :)

Michelle Chew said...

The story looks good! Seems to me that there are some mystery involved, especially with Grayson. Why did he want Leah to attract Alec? This is one big question in my mind. Can't wait to find out the answer. Wonderful review! I definitely want to grab this. :)

Michelle

Pooja. S said...

I LOVED Going Too Far And I think I'm going to love Such a Rush as well! I can already sympathize with Leah. And I wonder why Grayson would force her to date Alec?! The airport setting sounds so great, just like the setting was unique and amazing in Going Too Far as well. Jennifer Echols is amazing and that cover is pretty awesome as well. Great review, Rachel. So glad you loved it :)

Eunice said...

Uuuugghhh! That quote...you're killing me here, Rachel! LOL! I'm so glad to hear that this get to be one of your most favorite of Jennifer Echol's books. And 5 stars? Wow! I'm more excited to read this book now after reading such a wonderful review from you, Rachel.

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

I still haven't read a Jennifer Echols book! I remember you convincing me to get Going Too Far and I completely forgot I even had it. :P I am really looking forward to reading Such A Rush now after your review. I love the way you describe Leah - flawed but relatable. Can't wait to get my hand on this! Brilliant review, Rachel. :)

Unknown said...

Fantastic review, Rachel! <3 You always know how to put on the best quotes ever - they tease me to the point of making my hands itching to grab whatever book you're reviewing! x) I hear amazing things about this book, so I can't wait to grab this book when it comes out! The cover is very cool too, I think it matches the title very well! x)

Mimi Valentine said...

As if I wasn't already so excited for this book... Your review is feeding flames to the fire! I love it when you feel fiercely protective about a character because that means that the author wrote that character in a way that made it EASY to feel that way about them. I already don't like Leah's mother, but Leah is also already stealing my heart!

And that quote? *flushes down to my toes* I think I died a little :') Beautiful review as always, Rachel! <3

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I read another great review of this one the other day. I have not read an Echols book yet, gasp.
This will be the one I try. I love reading about perfectly flawed yet relatable characters and the flying part should be great as well. I am not looking forward to the mom and her messed up life. Thanks for sharing, Rachel.

Shane @ItchingforBooks said...

I love your reviews! Awesome book.

Unknown said...

Great work, Rachel. I'm so looking forward to reading this. I'm glad you loved it!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I believe I have Going Too Far, but I haven't read any of her books yet. Sounds like I need too, because I LOVE books that have great characters that are relatable in the good and bad ways. And I like this cover, and it's cool that the model (even from the side) looks older. I feel like a lot of them seem too young for their character's actual age in the novel.

I'm intrigued. Thanks!

-Lauren

Erin W. said...

I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Echols and this book - especially with that teaser - sounds fantastic! Great review!

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

Okay, first, OMG that cover. Second, OH, MY GOD, that cover. It is SO gorgeous.
If I choose to read contemporary, which I don't do often, than I want my characters to be exactly how you described Leah and Grayson, flawed, but more importantly, relatable. Otherwise, what's the point. I will have to read one of Echols' books soon.
Amazing review, Rachel.

Unknown said...

Hello! Thanks for the review. I'm glad you say that Jennifer Echols is back in form. I was sooooo disappointed by Love Story. I'll try Such a Rush then...

Vegan YA Nerds said...

Yay! I am so, so glad you enjoyed this, I loved it too! Jennifer is such a fantastic author!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of contemporary YA although I have read some good ones but it's not my preferred genre. In saying that, however, you got me at "She can't figure out why Grayson wants her to attract Alec, and he refuses to tell her."

I've got to find out!

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