Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 192 Pages (September 23rd 2014)
From: the Publisher
Format: ARC
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK
Synopsis: 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.
Review: 4 Stars - Adrenaline Crush by author Laurie Boyle Crompton is more than just a story about a female high school student who just so happens to be a thrill seeker. It has a great message that readers of all ages will appreciate.
When I first started reading this title I could tell it was not only going to be a great story but I also could tell it was going to be a fast read. Once I was finished I was right on both counts. The story itself is told from the main character Dyna who lives in a small mountain town. She loves doing all activities in the outdoors from mountain bike riding, to climbing and anything that’ll get her adrenaline pumping. Her whole family is the same way so she’s grown up doing these things her whole life.
It’s not until she injured while taking a risk to gain the attention of a boy one summer that her life changes. She’s forced to slow down, to let heal her ankle or it just might have to be fused together and she’ll never do the things she loves again. Her mom is kind of a hippy, her dad is a tattoo artist and her older brother a free spirit who doesn’t know what he should be doing with his life other than skydiving. Each of them comes with their own thoughts on Dyna’s healing process. It’s not until her mom finds an alternative healing center that she’s forced to attend that she finds a greater meaning to her life and what she believes.
Dyna as a character is a somewhat typical teen. She has all of the typical teen emotions and feelings yet when she meets the fellow people in her group at the healing center, including a War veteran she is given a lot of other things to think about when it comes to her life, healing and the world around her.
There’s an important message that’s written in the story for both Dyna and the reader that there’s no way to miss. There’s romance and choices and family. And in the end it’s the flow of the book that pulls everything together to give readers a great YA title.
The additional characters in Dyna’s life also help her to understand where she was, is and should be. They help her to figure out her life and what she wants other than what’s she’s being given, or taking the easy way. These secondary characters were a pleasure to read and I wish there was more time to spend with Pierce, however with such a short book there’s only so much time within the pages to get to know who each of the characters are.
I would recommend this title to anyone who loves a great contemporary read with YA characters. There is talk and a scene with drugs. There’s talk of drinking and sex but nothing more than kissing so it’s a bit on the cleaner side for those who might like that info. If you want a sweet story with a great message that’s a quick read, look no further this book fits the bill. Enjoy!
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