{Review} ADRENALINE CRUSH by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Visit Macmillan for more information about ADRENALINE CRUSH!

 Check out today's guest post with Laurie on writing!

Laurie previously visited A Backwards Story with a guest post regarding her previous novel,

BLAZE (Or Love in the Time of Supervillains.)

I've also previously reviewed BLAZE!

O P E N I N G   H O O K:

   MY DARK HAIR WHIPS MY bare back as I gain on the form cycling through the trees up ahead. 
   I may have just found my afternoon plaything. A perfect male specimen riding though the forest alone.  
   Exactly what I need.

(Page 3, US ARC edition)

Dyna is invincible. She fears nothing. The riskier an idea, the better. Until the day her fearlessness gets the best of her. After a horrible accident that requires months of recovery with no guarantee that Dyna can ever return to her daredevil ways, the seventeen-year-old discovers fear. She also finds love with the classmate who saved her life, Jay. At least, she thinks she does, but is she confusing love with gratitude? Beginning the long road to recovery, Dyna realizes there's more to life, love, and living to the fullest than she ever thought possible. 

I really appreciate the way Laurie Boyle Crompton brings real, ordinary, everyday human beings to life. In BLAZE, she featured, among other things, a girl who loved comic books--and drawing them. In ADRENALINE CRUSH, she brings more non-traditional characters to life, from tattoo-decorated parents (complete with a mother sporting purple highlights) to a young, disabled war veteran. It's so nice to see characters that break the "normal" mode and think outside the box! The main character, Dyna, doesn't feel alive unless she's outdoors embracing life. Very little seems to scare her, and she's always willing to try new things. At times, it seems like Dyna is hiding something painful, but she always cuts her sentences short. Whatever it is, she didn't even reveal it to herself. And maybe "it" didn't exist outside of my own head. It took a while to embrace Dyna. Her personality completely changes as the novel progresses and she becomes more likable, though at the same time, I would have liked a little more consistency. Then again, maybe Dyna is hiding who she is after her accident. She's been scared into reality. Or maybe she just didn't want to rely on the shock factor when trying to build new relationships. I don't know. I did like her more as she evolved, however. 

I also have mixed feelings on the alternative healing center that Dyna attends. I think it's awesome that patients are taught to conquer and overcome their fears. Certain assignments, however, are dangerous. Not everyone in the group is able--or willing--to do every assignment, and they shouldn't be required to. What if something goes wrong or not everyone is properly prepared/equipped to face someone else's assignment? I think the theory is great in moderation, and the group therapy sessions definitely helped Dyna, but I know I wouldn't sign up for this treatment style.  

While there were a few problematic elements, there were some great ones, too. I loved the strong, healthy family dynamic so much. It's too rare in YA these days. And I love the ultimate message that Dyna embraces toward the end. The book is also under 200 pages, so it's great if you're looking for something laid-back to read in one sitting!

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C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: PG13 ( kissing; innuendo; speculation )

Language: PG13 ( sexual innuendo )
Violence: --

Other:  ( pot use; memories of a war victim; reckless daredevil actions )

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C O V E R   D E S I G N:

Playful and carefree. The girl jumping looks like she doesn't have a care in the world. It embodies Dyna's spirit. 

I also like the happy, vibrant yellow, which suits the mood of the image well. I like the way the byline and the title blurb intersect the title in bold black. The coloring is great overall, very appealing to the eyes, imo!

  ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: ADRENALINE CRUSH
Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux // Macmillan

SUMMARY:

When a daredevil teen pushes herself too far, she must choose between two boys: the one who wants to keep her safe, and the one who dares her to return to her old self.

Seventeen-year-old Dyna comes from a family of risk takers and is an avid thrill-seeker herself, until the day she splinters her ankle in a terrible fall. Her whole life goes from mountain biking and rock climbing to sitting at home and attending group sessions at the bizarre alternative healing center that her hippie mother found. The boy who witnessed Dyna’s accident believes her injury is a wakeup call and he encourages her mild new lifestyle, but a young Afghanistan War veteran she meets at the healing center pushes her to start taking chances again. Forced to face the consequences of her daredevil impulses, Dyna finds herself in danger of risking the one thing she’s always treated with caution—her heart.

Laurie Boyle Crompton is the YA author of BLAZE (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) and THE REAL PROM QUEENS OF WESTFIELD HIGH (Sourcebooks, 2013 & 2014) as well as the upcoming ADRENALINE CRUSH from Farrar Straus Giroux. Laurie graduated first in her class from St. John’s University with a major in English and minor in Journalism. She’s written for national magazines like ALLURE as well as numerous trade publications and has appeared on Good Day New York several times as a Toy Expert. Yes, that is an actual thing that people sometimes get to be.When she’s not writing Laurie enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, cross-country skiing, running, going to the movies and drinking tea by the gallon. She lives near NYC, but loves to escape to the mountains in New Paltz, NY where she and her family can often be found climbing over rocks or tromping through the forest.  She is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Agency.

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