Review : Such A Rush by Jennifer Echols

Summary (from Goodreads)

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

High school senior Leah Jones loves nothing more than flying. While she’s in the air, it’s easy to forget life with her absentee mother at the low-rent end of a South Carolina beach town. When her flight instructor, Mr. Hall, hires her to fly for his banner advertising business, she sees it as her ticket out of the trailer park. And when he dies suddenly, she’s afraid her flying career is gone forever.    

But Mr. Hall’s teenage sons, golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson, are 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.

Personal Thoughts

Jennifer Echols is like the Queen Of YA contemporary romances because she is that awesome. If you have never read anything by this brilliant author then I suggest you stop reading this and go fix that ...
Lately though, I haven't been satisfied with her works. Love Story was a huge disaster for me, so when I went into Such A Rush with much trepidation. After reading it ,however, I can confidently say out loud : Jennifer Echols is back !

Such A Rush introduces us to Leah, an 18 year old aspiring pilot. She has always lived in trailer parks near airports all throughout her life. When Mr Hall, a flight instructor, hires are, she is beyond thrilled. Soon, she even starts receiving flight courses free of charge from him. But when Mr Hall, suddenly dies, Leah is convinced that her dreams have all gone down the drain. What Leah doesn't expect is Grayson, her long-time crush and Mr Hall's son, asking her to work for him. But working for him comes with a price : Leah must seduce Grayson's twin, Alec, or he will ruin her future plans.

Leah was a typical Jennifer Echols main character, tough, but somewhat broken on the inside. She had had a pretty rough childhood what with her irresponsible mother neglecting her and depending on her daughter to pay the rent. People at school don't really like her and consider her to be "thrash". So, all in all, life wasn't about smooth-sailing for her. It was really easy to connect with Leah because she was likable and genuine. There was nothing fake about her and it made her character seem appealing. I, personally, thought she was a vibrant and colorful character who shielded herself behind a reserved cloak. The few occasions that her colors would burst out was when she was flying. Passionate about flying, Leah came to life whenever she was on a plane. Those were my favorite moments with her. She was such a realistic character that her emotions became mine. Throughout the story, she gradually began to unwind the shield she had tightly coiled around herself. She learned to stand up for herself and to show her true feelings to the people around her. Overall, I thought Leah was a beautifully crafted character who was easy to identify with.
Now, Grayson wasn't as easy to like as Leah. He was a complex character and unveiling him was quite a chore. Since childhood, he had always been somewhat reckless. Much like a dare devil, Grayson craved for adrenaline-rushing experiences. Upon his father's death, he acted in a very frustrating manner. He was downright rude, bossy and manipulative with Leah, constantly blackmailing her without even considering what she might be undergoing. My opinion of him didn't really change until he surprised me by showing peeks of himself being sweet and caring. Around then, he started to grow on me. The reasons behind his manipulative behavior shed light to the emotional battle that he was suffering from inside. I started to really feel bad for him, but that didn't mean I approved of his behavior towards Leah because he basically used her. Alec and Molly were the only characters I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy, not because they weren't well-fleshed out, but because their entire demeanor from start to finish bothered me. Jennifer Echols truly knows how to give life to her characters.

I was a little worried that the love triangle in the book would inhibit my enjoyment of the story, but once again, Jennifer Echols proved me wrong. The romance in the book was perfectly executed. It was at the same time sweet and sexy. There was no instant-love, but the characters get to know each other via long conversations dealing with delicate topics about each others lives. It was raw and simply beautiful. One other relationship that I really enjoyed was that of Mr Hall and Leah. Mr Hall was a father figure in Leah's life and I adored how she opened up to him and let him see the real her. That she really loved him as a real father was very much translucent to the reader. Although Mr Hall died early on in the story, his presence lingered throughout the book. He ,indirectly, helped the characters to grow as the story unfolded. The highlight of the book, for me, was most definitely the flying aspects. I simply loved learning to know so much more about planes and the author really did a good job at explaining the different aspects of flying without overwhelming me with too much information. Jennifer Echol's writing flows smoothly and keeps you glued to the pages like always. She is a real talent in the YA genre.

Such A Rush was a thrilling read with it's gorgeous cover, raw and stunning characters, emotional tornado of a plot and the sizzling romance. Fans of YA contemporary books will devour Such A Rush ! 

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5