Review: Rush by Eve Silver

Rush by Eve Silver 

Publisher-Katherine Tegen Books

Release- June 11th 2013

Pre-Order- Amazon / B&N / Chapters

So what’s the game now? This, or the life I used to know?When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.

My Thoughts:

Well now, how do I go about explaining the crazy-awesomeness that is this book? 

Rush is a such a bold, inventive, exciting story. The moment I read the first chapter I knew that this isn't like my usual reads. In fact, this was probably one of the most unique books I ever had the pleasure of experiencing, it's completely refreshing. There is a lot going on here plot wise and I'd be lying if I said I understood everything in complete details, but I did get the overall general idea. Now, just a heads up, this is a pretty out-there concept my friends. It may be hard to grasp or even wrap your head around it, but if you keep an open mind, I firmly believe that readers will have a real blast with this book!

Miki Jones, first heard a boy whispering her name while sitting around on an average sunny day at Glenbrook High gossiping with her friends, but when she tries to find the source, no one's there.  Still, the voice keeps whispering her name. Then out of no where, Miki sees a little girl in the middle of the street, the voice pushing her to act quickly, she doesn't think twice before she throws herself on the road and pushes the little girl away before the truck ends up hitting her, along with a guy named Luka, who ran after her. 

When Miki wakes up, she's in a grassy clearing covered with trees and boulders, while a guy named Jackson looms over her accessing the damage before activating her Con-bracelet and preparing her for an ultimate battle. (Yup!)

See, Miki is in a live version game, but it's not really a game, it's actually real life and she and her other team mates, gets 'pulled' through space and time from their original reality, gets sent to the lobby, which is like a holding area and awaits mission instruction. They must complete any missions they are assigned, and for this case, they must terminate an evil alien species called the Drau who have been evading earth far greater then anyone knows and threatening humans life as we know it. It's within the teams survival that will ensure the safety of the entire world. After a successful mission is complete each individual team member gets regenerated back to their normal lives. In till the next time....

Pretty cool concept huh? And the writing? Even better! Kudos to Eve Silver, she must know her games cause this was a pretty intricately detailed story-line with highly entertaining fast paced action sequences that make you feel like your in this world. I loved that it's  based on an idea of gaming complete with point systems- hits/bonus/timelines and life-calculation, or health, in this book. The backdrop is a virtual reality setting, or a world within our world, throwing these characters in an ultimate battle zone ready to fight to the death if need be, but tries to avoid it at all cost. No one wants game over. This is seriously smart, sharp and clever writing with an ingenious imagination. But just to warn you, it's also very evasively written, meaning, we only get pockets of information scattered throughout the book. We know when Miki knows and it can get pretty confusing and frustrating for the both of us. 

Now,  despite the 'every man for themselves' rule, Miki, Luka, Jackson and Tyrone make an unbelievable team! I loved their energy, dedication, good-humor and even though distraction can get you killed, they're all willing to to put themselves out there for the next person.

Miki is a fantastic protag! With all things considering, she takes the news that she's dead but not really dead and must fight extraterrestrial's with no real choice, pretty darn well. She freaks out mind you, but at least she doesn't sit around waiting for her life to be pulled, she demands answers and she gets them.

Jackson is one of those irritatingly gorgeous guys who is impossible, overly cryptic, arrogant, complex, maddening and who is keeping a deep dark secret. So, naturally I simply adored him to pieces. The feisty banter and comical zingers and the push and pull dance between Jackson and Miki was priceless and so utterly adorable. I was very surprised to even find a sweet bubbling romance in a story like this. I mean, when you think guns-a-blazin' and guts-a-splatin', it doesn't normally scream love story included. Read me. So I was very pleased with all the sigh-worthy and grin-to-stupid-grin moments we ended up getting.

Bottom line, I had such a blast with this book. It's such a fun experience, it's wildly original, endlessly entertaining with wicked characters and fantastical writing! Sadly it does leave us on a cliffy and an evil one at that, so I can't wait to see where Silver takes these characters next!! I can see this appealing to gamers, teenage boys or if your like me someone who's looking for a new spin on their sci-fi fantasy escape but still wants some heartwarming romance on the side. More! 

Find the author:
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                                                                   4.5 snowflakes