Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Review by Jessica Dall

 

Joining her other teen romances such as Forget You, Love Story, and previously reviewed Going Too Far , Jennifer Echols’ Such a Rush hits shelves  today July 10^th, much to the delight of many of her fans. Having gotten the chance to read an advanced copy, I feel safe in saying they won’t be disappointed.

Like Echols’ other books, Such a Rush is a standard boy meets girl story. High School Senior, Leah Jones, lives in a trailer park with her absentee mother on the “flophouse” side of a beach town in South Carolina. With the trailer park located next to the town’s small airport, Leah saves up all her money for flying lessons, wanting nothing more than to be a pilot—especially if it gets her out of the trailer park once and for all. However, when her flying teacher (and employer) Mr. Hall passes away suddenly of a heart attack, it seems like all of Leah’s hard work may have been for nothing. Until Mr. Hall’s twin sons, Grayson and Alec, decide they’re going to try keeping their father’s business running. Each tangled up in their own plots, Grayson and Leah butt heads, but can’t seem to fight the attraction between them.

All in all, the plot of Such a Rush is nothing out of the ordinary. There are some enjoyable twists and turns, a couple of surprises, but nothing groundbreaking. For those familiar with boy meets girl stories, it may even be possible to predict the majority of the ending from not more than a couple of chapters in.

This is not to say, however, that Such a Rush is not an enjoyable book. On the contrary, where the plot may be rather generic, the characters shine. Where it would be simple to throw stock teen romance characters into the storyline, Echols manages to make each character, no matter how big or small, feel real. Love them or hate them, not a single character leaves the feeling that they were placed their as generic filler. Each has been wonderfully crafted in such a way that every action is believable, and every situation—no matter how predicable—feels organic, true to the world Echols has built for us. Even having figured out the ending chapters earlier, running low on pages leaves you feeling a little distressed, simply because you don’t want to leave the characters behind.

 

As before, those looking for a story they have never seen the likes of before or something to leave them thinking for hours after finishing, Echols’ Such a Rush is probably not the best choice. More than likely, it won’t leave you on the edge of your seat; it won’t change your views about the world. What it will do, however, is allow you into a wonderfully built world with captivating characters who make for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

 

Such a Rush (320 pages) will be released July 10, 2012, through MTV Books.