Waiting on Wednesday #14: Such a Rush

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine.

 My pick for this week is:



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.
---
I have enjoyed Jennifer Echols' other books, and I can't wait for this one to be released.  It sounds like a great story, and the flight aspect will be interesting.  I'll be sure to pick this up once it is released on July 10th.


What are you Waiting On this Wednesday?

Katie

Review: Don't Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

Joy Delamere is suffocating...

From asthma, which has nearly claimed her life. From her parents, who will do anything to keep that from happening. From delectably dangerous Asher, who is smothering her from the inside out.

Joy can take his words—tender words, cruel words—until the night they go too far.

Now, Joy will leave everything behind to find the one who has offered his help, a homeless boy called Creed. She will become someone else. She will learn to survive. She will breathe... if only she can get to Creed before it’s too late.

Set against the gritty backdrop of Seattle’s streets and a cast of characters with secrets of their own, Holly Cupala’s powerful new novel explores the subtleties of abuse, the meaning of love, and how far a girl will go to discover her own strength.

My Review:

Don't Breathe a Word was an amazing portrayal of runaway teenagers living their lives on the street.  It showed the bad things that can happen living on streets, and it didn't shy away from these realities.  I really enjoyed the story and the characters.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Joy is the protagonist of the novel, and she is very well-developed.  She feels trapped in her life with her abusive boyfriend and her family watching over her to make sure she doesn't get sick from her asthma.  While her boyfriend, Asher, never physically hurt Joy, he hurt her with his words and threats.  He also makes her burn herself with his name to brand her as his.  She feels like she cannot stay in that life anymore, so she fakes a kidnapping and goes to live on the streets of Seattle.  She has once met a homeless boy who told her to find him if she needs him, so she is determined to find him.

I enjoyed meeting and learning about Joy's new "family."  The three people in the family are Creed, Santos, and May.  They are all homeless teens, and they each have their own story and their own past.  Creed is a musician and he has escaped from his family because his dad abuses his mom.  There are many sweet moments between him and Joy, and he becomes her love interest.  Santos comes from the foster child system.  He didn't like the foster parents, so he ran away.  May has never met her dad, and her mom also lives on the streets and is a drug addict.  All three characters reveal their stories throughout the book.

If you like contemporary YA with some darker elements, read this book.

Katie 

Review: Keep Holding On

A romantic and empowering book about bullying

Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

My Review:

I really liked Keep Holding On, and it may be my new favorite of Colasanti's book.  The story and the characters are well-written.  The book has a powerful message about bullying.  The message is that no one should have to be bullied.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

Noelle is a  well-developed character, and it is impossible not to feel bad for her.  She used to have a mother who actually took care of her, but once her mother's boyfriend died, Noelle's mother began to neglect her.  She does not keep enough food in the house for Noelle to eat, and she never asks her daughter anything about school or her life.  She has dinner with Noelle and complains about work the entire time.  She blames her daughter for making her life miserable, and she always talks about how hard it is to be a single mother.  Noelle not only has to face life at home with her mother, but she also has to face life at school where she is picked on for being poor.

There are many secondary characters in this book.  They are all developed and have a role to play in the story.  Simon is the editor of lit mag, and he recruits Noelle to be his coeditor.  This saves her from the cafeteria because she can go to lit mag during lunch.  Simon is a good guy, and even though he is wealthy, he is not stuck-up like the others at the school.  Sherae is Noelle's friend, and she is a good person.  She doesn't care how much money Noelle has.  I liked the friendship between these two.  Julian is a good guy.  He likes Noelle, but she thinks she isn't good enough for him.  By the end of the book, he convinces her that she is good enough.  Matt is Noelle's secret boyfriend, and I didn't like him.  He has a girlfriend, but he doesn't tell Noelle.  He only sees Noelle in secret to make out with her, and he doesn't want anyone else to know.  Audrey, Carly, and Warner are all bullies and I didn't like any of them.  They make Noelle's life miserable.

If you like YA contemporary, read this book.

Katie