DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

This book was a quick read and heartfelt, but just a little too insta-lovey for me! If you like that trope, then you will like this book. For me, it all just felt a little too rushed to really connect with the characters and their struggles. I also did not appreciate having a major plot reveal in the synopsis, as I felt like I was always waiting for something else to happen as well. However, Ashley Schumacher's writing is lyrical and beautiful and there were so many lines that I found myself rereading because of their beauty. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Schumacher's first book, Amelia Unabridged, is absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2021. As soon as I saw she had another book, I put in on my GoodReads TBR shelf.

After reading the synopsis, though, I was confused. Didn't that seem like the entire plot of a book, spoiled?

Yes, yes it is.

I'm having a hard time separating my feelings about the writing and characters in the book from how frustrated I am at the synopsis spoiling everything that happens in the text, including the major event that happens 85% into the book. My enjoyment as a reader comes a lot from the ride of a book, enjoying and being surprised at the events. In this case, the publisher's synopsis totally destroyed that. I would really like them to consider changing this before the publication date. I'm not sure what the intention is, but I think it's a major mistake.

All that said, here's the rest of the review!

Full Flight is a love letter to high school marching band, and anyone who participated in theirs and likes YA will love this read. Anna started band in 9th grade in a Texas town where football and band are both a big deal. Most of her bandmates started in elementary school. So she's struggling with an assigned duet when she storms in Weston's practice room and all but demands he help her.

Weston's a little bit of an outcast after his parents' divorce and a year at another school. He wears a leather jacket and it is rumored he chopped down the school's Memorial Tree. He's not a cookie-cutter rebel, though, and I like that about him. He still cares about his friends, especially best buddy and drum major Ratio. He's sad but feels a quick connection to Anna in all of her exuberance and Christmas socks.

Their romance is a little forbidden, a little awkward, but overall very sweet as they learn their duet ... in band and as people. (Yes, that's totally cheeseball and I regret nothing.)

Schumacher's writing is just as lovely as in Amelia Unabridged. This never feels rushed and the characters are well-developed. Like Amelia, it's maybe a touch on the sappy side, but so am I.

This book I guess wasn't for me. I enjoy love stories where two people aren't meant to be together but they have to fight the odds to end up together in the end. That said, this book was more of a love at first sight where after two weeks or less the characters are saying "I love you" and losing their virginity. It was too quick, too clean. It was like nothing really happened for most of the book. For the last quarter or so, it really felt like I was reading a different book. Like the author had a plan for a big plot twist but no idea how to get there so they just threw it in, no matter what, and prayed it worked. It didn't.

Final rating 3.5/5 ⭐

I connected immediately with this authors other book Amelia Unabridged. It was my favorite book of it's release year.
So I went into this one with extremely high expectations.
And it was okay.
It was pretty insta-lovey. I wanted more background into what the male protagonist was going through internally. And that ending....was something.
I also am very aware that this book wasn't for me. I dont have the connection to music that can be felt all through this book.
However. I love Ashley's prose. I love the way she describes things. You can feel the passion for what she is writing about on every page. You can fall deep into her characters and feel what they feel.
All and All I would reccomend this book to a friend. With the warning that they are gonna need tissue close at hand cause this book is emotional.

Thank you NetGalley for sending this arc for an honest review!!

Honestly I just cried. I knew I was going to cry the moment I saw the style of that cover. Read many books with that particular cover and each time I can put with swelling eyes. I loved the pace of the book, I loved how it hooked me and how poetic it was I loved the adventures of the two MCs and the things they would do beyond reach for each other. Many things in this book correlated to a life of realism. The perspective of struggle and luck. That we are all human. We are all working hard to better ourselves!

Overall 4/5

"The pain is in the absence, I think. Not in the love."

Anna is one of few people in the small town of Enfield, Texas to join the school band as a freshman, which leaves her constantly scrambling to catch up with everyone else. When she’s given a duet with Weston Ryan, the boy who’s trouble and may or may not have murdered the school tree, she’s worried she’ll never be able to get it right. But Weston turns out to be an excellent tutor, and the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes how much the town has misjudged him. If her parents find out they’re dating, she’ll be in a world of trouble, but Weston is the one person who makes Anna feel like it’s okay to be completely herself. When the unthinkable happens, Anna has to find a way to move forward without a partner to answer her call. I received an invitation to read a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin’s Press. Trigger warnings: character death, car accidents, divorce, bullying, vomiting, grief.

I enjoyed Amelia Unabridged despite its sadness, so I thought I was prepared for the sadness of this book. I was wrong. I finished it in the morning, and the gloom of it hung over me for the rest of the day and my face hurt from crying so much. Little known fact about me: sometimes crying makes me mad (and the reverse is also true: make me mad enough and I’ll probably cry, which makes me more mad, etc. it’s not a fun cycle), so all the feelings walking away from this book were Smad. There are a handful of books I feel are worth crying over (Looking for Alaska, The Song of Achilles), but this isn’t one of them. It’s just grief with no silver lining. Tragic shit happens and there’s no message or meaning in it. While I find that useful as a life strategy–sometimes things just hurt, and there is no why–it’s not that satisfying in fiction.

Further, knowing that the Big Tragic Thing was coming limited my enjoyment of the rest of the book. It’s hard to get invested in characters when I know something bad is coming for them (the main reason I have never read They Both Die at the End– it’s right there in the title!), so I struggled to get invested in Anna and Weston’s relationship. I like them well enough as characters, and I like the character development that their relationship brings about. I like Anna’s relationship with her family and Weston’s with Ratio. All are well done. But I read a lot of YA romances (weirdly? somehow? how did this happen? I’m supposed to be the horror girl.), and some work well for both adults and YA while some feel very YA, and Full Flight is the latter. That’s not in any way a bad thing; it’s actually perfect for its audience, but as an adult, I found it hard to connect with some very teenage problems.

One thing I’ve noticed about both of Schumacher’s books is how deeply entrenched they are in a certain topic. Amelia Unabridged is a love letter to books and fandom, and as a book lover it was like sinking into a cozy bath. Readers are my people. Full Flight is organized around the school band, and I emphatically do not relate. I can see band kids really loving it, but I quickly got tired of reading about marching and band practice and uniforms and Gilligans. But that’s the problem with books that are so immersive. The very thing I didn’t enjoy about it is probably going to be the thing that makes it someone else’s favorite book. I don’t have any reservations about recommending Full Flight to someone who finds the premise interesting. It does what it sets out to do, and it does it fairly well. But in terms of things I enjoy (and my ratings reflect enjoyment at least as much as anything else), I found it needlessly sad.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

A beautiful, heartbreaking story! It isn't a fast read, but one that I needed to soak in.
*Great book to recommend to band kids.

“It’s devastating. It’s complete.” I may need some time after this one. I read this book because I read Ashley’s first book and was impressed with her elegant writing style. This did not disappoint. She creates a world, a love and beautiful imagery throughout the entire story. She builds you up, gets you all tingly and high school romanced and then crushes you. Be prepared. I only skimmed the summary before going in so I was completely caught off guard. I’m not ok. Thank you Ashley and NetGalley for this ARC.

My expectations were definitely high for this book after loving Amelia Unabridged. This book delivered including the waterworks!

I really enjoyed watching Weston and Anna's relationship grow even outside of being band duet partners. . It's amazing how music can mirror our relationships with others.

I also loved the meaning and part the leather jacket plays in the story. It makes Weston a bit quirky, but that's what Anna loves most since it is just simply "him."

The ending definitely tore out my heart, but it is a great thing when a book can bring out your emotions that strongly. I can't wait to see what Ashley writes next!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First- I read and loved Schumacher's YA debut 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 (Don't miss it)
Second- this cover. Stunning right?
Third- I was a marching band drum major in high school so I loved all the band elements.

At the core, this YA story is about the journey of first-love through a common passion- in this case, marching band. Anna and Weston's story is compounded by friendships, overprotective parents and false assumptions. The writing had a beautiful prose that just tugs at my heart. It's lovely. And as a former Drum Major, it made me nostalgic for my high school days spent rehearsing with my fellow brass section, laughing on the bus and marching in formation on the field.

All that said- there were elements that didn't work for me. Around the 80% mark something pivotal happens that felt unnecessary. The shock factor was a major, yet the resolution felt rushed and unresolved. I also never bought into or understood why Weston was such a "bad boy"

The Quick Cut: Two teens with very different reputations end up paired together for a band duet. Things get complicated when they develop feelings.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing the ARC for an honest review.

Everyone remembers their first love. The first kiss, that fluttering of emotion? It's unforgettable. Anna and Weston are about to experience that together in this YA romance.

In small-town Texas, life is all about football. For the kids on the marching band, it's about contest season. A new musician named Anna joins to show her skills as the latest member and ends up paired with Weston for a duet. While Weston has a reputation as a bad boy, Anna is the new girl with overprotective parents. Will opposites attract? Or will they blow up one another's lives instead?

The description of this one sounded nice and sweet and something I could get into, but the longer I read the more uninterested I became. Young adult romance is a dime a dozen and even more so opposites attract. Here though, it just felt like nothing new to the genre.

Anna and Weston are a good combination because their lives are so opposing. Anna is the good girl with strict parents and Weston is the one everyone gave up on. Together, they help free one another from the expectations placed on them to be who they truly are.

The biggest issue I had was the ending. Without spoiling it, again it felt far too cliche a way to wrap it up. You can end happy or sad ending and this one was definitely the cliche version of one of those two.

A romance tale that is missing something unique.

My rating: 3 out of 5

Ashley Schumacher is the only human that I would gladly give all of my emotions and let her use them. (Is use the right word here? idk...) Ashley writes in such a way that builds my love for her characters and then squeezes all of the hope and love and emotion into it until it overflows. While no book will ever take the place of Amelia Unabridged, Full Flight is a story of teen love and finding out just who people are. The assumptions we make and the stories we tell ourselves are very often not true and Full Flight brings all of those preconceived ideas to the surface and blows them right out of the water. I liked this story so much and am basically a lifer for Ashley Schumacher.

This one is a 4.5. I just can't ever place it over my love of Amelia, but its crazy good.

Beautiful and lyrical, Ashley Schumacher does it again. Remember the feeling of finding your first love? This book captures it perfectly. Helps highlight how we love and move on in adult relationships. Must read. Sweet and satisfying.

Ashely will forever be on my list of auto buys. Oh man, what to say about this book. This story of looking past rumors and seeing what is really there, of young love and friendship is a lesson for all of us. Never judge a book by it’s cover is how Anna looks at Weston. Weston, who hears the same melody every time he looks at Anna, is the town ‘bad’ boy. Anna is the town goodie who hides her shadows well. Don’t miss this book.
Thank you Netgalley and publishing house the chance to provide my honest opinion of this book.

I connected with this book so much. I was a band nerd in school so that made it really easy to relate to the MC. And like the MC, I lost a loved one during marching season. I remember my mom telling me to go to my practices, to go to the games. Because that's what Nanny would want me to do. By this point, she was practically unconscious most of the time at a hospice center and I couldn't imagine living life like she wasn't dying across town. But I did. I made memories. My friends and experiences helped me forget the pain even if just for short spurts of time. She was one of 3 grandparents I lost in just a few short years while growing up and it's not until now that I realize how much sadness surrounded my life.

I really enjoyed the friendships portrayed in this story as well as the family dynamics. They show the importance of having a support system to get you through the tough times and to experience every day joys. I really enjoyed the nostalgia brought back by the author's expert descriptions of being on the field practicing and performing a marching show. This book had me laughing at silly band jokes and by the end, I had cried a few times. I love when a story really makes me feel what the characters are experiencing and this one did that so well.

Completing this book took me a while because I just think the book wasn’t for me. I felt like the characters were great, I really connected with Anna and her past with boys and the desire to be perfect all of the time. I liked Weston, I just wish I knew more about him than his pirate smile and the fact that his parent’s divorce really affected him.

What this book had was a strangers to lovers trope, quick romance. It’s like they instantly fell in love and after two weeks, it was “I love you,” and losing their virginities. It was all so fast for something that didn’t really move anywhere.

Then the COMPLETELY unnecessary ending…. I will never understand why that happened. I will never understand the author’s mentality when writing the last 5 chapters…. But the ending was like it came from a completely different book. Nothing really happening for 80% of the book and then a SUDDEN punch to the gut to readers for no reason. No. Reason. At all.

I get that people rate books higher if they have an insane emotional response and that is true for me too…. WHEN THE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IS WARRANTED. This ending was completely off the rails, didn’t need to happen, felt like shock value to me, which brought down the enjoyment.

If it's fall in Texas, it's football season! With football season comes marching band and Anna James works hard to fit in. Weston Ryan is also in the band, but he seems to be her opposite: he knows he's different and he doesn't try to fit in. When they are assigned a duet together in the production number for the competition, they are thrown together to practice and they fall hard. But, Anna's strict parents don't want her spending time with Weston.

A novel of first love and coming-of-age, this one is a hard one for me to rate. I enjoyed it every time I picked it up, but I found myself going days without picking it up and finishing a couple other books while reading this one. I appreciated the different POVs - both Anna's voice and Weston's voice felt authentic. The ending was abrupt, but still hopeful and uplifting.

If you enjoy YA lit, realistic fiction, or emotional stories, give this one a try! 3.5 stars.

Disclaimer: I recieved a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

DNF Review (I have to review every book or it won't count to my NetGalley percentage)

I loved the author's first book, Amelia Unabridged, but the romance in this was far heavier than I imagined and it just wasn't working for me. Thank you though!

Thank you for my early review copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I believe this book will be a huge bestseller.