Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols
Published by MTV Books on July 10, 2012
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

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.

Such A Rush is another fabulous contemporary novel from Jennifer Echols. Seriously, it’s like this woman does not know how to write a bad book. Fans of young adult contemporary novels will adore everything about Such A Rush!

Leah is not your typical heroine. She’s a bit cynical, a total loner, kind of aloof (sometimes seeming cold), but still totally able to amp up the hotness when it comes to super cute boys (like Grayson and Alec.) She is a little hard to relate to in the beginning but by the end of the book readers will totally adore her. She’s very brave, fierce, and oh-so-capable. This is one girl who doesn’t need a guy to look out for her. It’s so rare to see a girl like her in a contemporary story and it was supremely refreshing.

As for the boys, nothing new here, at least not for Jennifer Echols. There are two boys in the story but it’s not your typical love triangle. I don’t want to spoil anything about the book so I won’t say any more than that but both boys are totally swoon-worthy in their own ways. Grayson is the bad boy trying to be good and Alec is his twin brother who is his complete opposite. Grayson and Alec might be twins but they are so completely different. Grayson definitely had more of a personality than Alec did but Alec was a total sweetheart. Grayson was very hot-headed, a little bit controlling, and sometimes a bit of a bully. Alec seemed a little clueless at times but he was such a nice guy. Grayson and Alec’s relationship was a bit messed up but it was so obvious that they cared for each other and I loved the dynamics of their relationship.

One of the biggest differences between Such A Rush and Jennifer Echols’ other books is that this one was a little slow to get into. It wasn’t that it was boring, it just took a little time to connect with Leah and really see Grayson’s good side. Such A Rush also had a ton of information both about planes and about flying. Jennifer Echols clearly did her research with this one and she assumed (correctly) that her readers might not know a lot about flying planes. I found all the information very helpful but there was quite a bit of it and it didn’t really help speed the book up. However once readers get to see Leah’s softer side and really get to know her they will be hooked and completely unable to put the book down. =)

Overall, I continue to be impressed with Jennifer Echols’ books. She is one of my favorite contemporary authors and I have no doubt that I will love whatever she writes in the future. If you haven’t read one of her books yet (or all of them) I highly suggest doing so now!

Looking for more reviews of Such A Rush?
IB Book Blogging’s review
YA Bliss’ review