Review: Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Adrenaline Crush by Laurie Boyle Crompton

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.

Publishes in US: September 23rd 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Genre: YA contemp
Source: MacMillan
Series? No

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    I wanted to read Adrenaline Crush because I am drawn to books about injuries or illnesses, so when I saw that she was slowed down by the pretty serious ankle injury it peaked my interest... And then mentioning the war vet, it sealed the deal. I like to read about men in uniform esp the younger ones, they bring a unique perspective and I have all respect for the military heroes. 

    I liked Dyna, and although I am certainly not a daredevil nor do I enjoy high adrenaline things like biking and rock climbing. She is a big risk taker and she loves the natural high from pushing herself and being outdoors. Personally I would almost always rather be inside curled up with a book, its nice to hear from the other camp of girls. She goes through a big trauma and injury and through these things we get to see her grow and overcome fears. 

    It was a fast read and I read it in a few sittings. It kept my attention but the romance was a bit problematic. Slight spoiler... There is one boy, very much a protector and he is with her after she races him on bikes and then she shows him her secret swimming hole. After she pushes beyond what even she normally does at this location, Jay is there and he pulls her from the water and is with her to the hospital. They form a friendship and then relationship pretty quickly when he comes around to the house and with her for her recovery. And I liked him, he was a nice guy, smart and funny. But I knew from the synopsis he's not the vet, so I didn't let myself get attached to him even though he's such a great guy. But he doesn't challenge the part of her that is wild and wants to be outdoors. And of course that turns into a problem.

    And then there is Pierce. Dyna meets him during therapy, where they open up and talk during the first part, a talk therapy type thing, and then they do the physical therapy the last part. The group is very diverse and there are all sorts of reasons for the members to be there. They all learn from each other, and help each other face their fears and overcome injury by doing assignments, developed to help them face whatever it was to get them into therapy. I liked this aspect because we have people from all walks of life, all different personalities, but they are brought together because some part of their body isn't working right. 

   But back to Pierce. He is intense and he pushes himself. He offers quiet advice and for Dyna, she has someone to help her get back, to go just a bit further through the pain. And ultimately he helped her realize what she was holding back and missing from her life. So, there is some cheating in this one. And that made me mad because even though I felt the chemistry and saw how good they could be together, there is above mentioned boyfriend. I guess it serves to add the extra tension, but I wish it could have just been Pierce instead of the love triangle. I also wanted to pull for Pierce because that interest and chemistry grew over a bit more time than her and Jay. But I guess I was warned in the summary that it was going to be chosing between two boys, I just hate when one never really seems to have a fair shot. And also, I know that him saving her made a huge impact on the speed in which they connected and started dating, but it did feel like it was a bit of insta-love since they hadn't really talked much before then.

    I liked the family aspect as well. Both of her parents were present in her life. They weren't cookie cutter parents though, which was nice. They rode harleys and her dad is a tattoo artist. I like that they are tough but they are also present and involved in their kids lives. Her brother Harley also provides another secondary character arch that I enjoyed seeing him realize his own dreams and potential even if that didn't come right out of high school. 

    It was good overall and I liked the growth of Dyna, as well as the chemistry between her and Pierce. 

Bottom Line: Fast paced and fun to read.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
Are you an outdoors or indoors sort of person?