Jay McLean – Kick Push (Kick Push, #1)

Synopsis

There’s a single defining moment within every skater.
It lasts only a second. Two if you’re good.
Three if you’re really good.
It’s the moment you’re in the air, your board somewhere beneath you, and nothing but wind surrounds you.
It’s the feeling of being airborne.

The sixteen-year-old version of me would’ve said it was the greatest feeling in the world.
Then at seventeen, I had my son.
And every single second became a defining moment. Even the ones that consisted of heartbreak when his mother left us.

Seventeen. Single. Dad.
That’s what my life became.
Yet, every day, I managed to find that feeling of being airborne.
Or at least I convinced myself I did.
But I lied—to myself and to everyone around me.
Until she showed up; Tanned skin, raven dark hair, and eyes the color of emeralds.

You know what sucks about being in the air?
Coming down from the high.
Sometimes you land on the board and nail the trick.
Then kick, push, and coast away.
Other times you fall.
You fall hard.
And those are the times when it’s not as easy to get back up, dust off your pads and try again.
Especially when the girl with the emerald eyes becomes your drug…
And you become her poison.

Published August 4th 2015 (first published July 27th 2015)

*FRISSÍTÉS: A kötet magyarul is érkezik a Könyvmolyképző Kiadó gondozásban Jay McLean: Kick, Push – Lebegés címmel, 2019. november 21-én. *

Véleményem a könyvről

Hihetetlenül tetszett ez a könyv! Annyira szép volt ez a történet, rengeteg fontos gondolattal és néhol igencsak különleges írási stílussal. Nagyon tetszett, hogy több aspektusból is megismerjük a szülőséget és ennek minden végletét. Ilyen szempontból igencsak feszegeti a határokat ez a könyv, de talán ez adta meg igazán a történet mélységét.

A könyv főszereplője Josh, aki 17 évesen kényszerül feladni versenyszerű gördeszkás karrierjét, az apaságért cserébe. Amint kiderül, hogy a barátnője Natalie terhes, a szülei kirakják otthonról, így egy időre a legjobb barátjánál, majd Nataliék alagsorában húzza meg magát. Mikor megszületik a baba, Tommy, az életük még jobban feje tetejére áll, főleg miután a lány egyik éjszaka csupán egy cetlit hagyva maga után, eltűnik. A lány szülei ezután rövid úton az utcára teszik Josht a két hónapos babával együtt. Ezt követően egy igazán szívet tépő darabkát kapunk Josh kilátástalan helyzetéből, amelyből egy nap egy önzetlen idős hölgy menti ki, szállást és munkát ajánlva a fiúnak. Eltelik 3 év, miközben a fiú a Hawaiiról hazatelepült furcsa hölgy garázsa feletti lakásban lakik, mikor egy napon Chazarae az unokájával együtt tér haza. Becca egy furcsa lány, aki nem beszél, nem szereti, ha megérintik, és szinte soha nem megy ki a házból. Egyetlen szenvedélye van, a fotózás.

Becca egy nagyon különleges szereplő volt, akit sokáig nagyon nehéz volt megkedvelnem. Eleinte nem értettem őt, és kicsit gyengének is éreztem a karakterét, de mikor megismerjük a múltját…. Hát én tényleg rengeteg New Adult könyvet olvasok, szóval láttam már ezt-azt, de még így is döbbenetes volt számomra, hogy milyen traumák érték a lányt, így azt, kell hogy mondjam, hogy kész csoda, hogy Becca csupán ennyire van összetörve.

Josh és Becca szépen lassan összebarátkoznak és megnyílnak egymás felé, majd a barátság szerelemmé alakul. De létezhet-e feltétel nélküli szerelem és szerethetünk-e úgy valakit, hogy sohasem ismerjük meg teljes egészében?

Talán kiszámítható a könyv, és talán nem volt tökéletes, de ez nem zavart. Fordulatos volt és szeretető, Tommy pedig egy kis tündérbogyó, akit imádtam! 🙂 Ez a kötet elvileg összefügg a Where the road takes me című regénnyel, ahol Chloe és Hunter történetét ismerjük meg, akik Josh legjobb barátai. Még nem volt szerencsém a kötethez, de ezek után biztosan lecsapok rá, mert nagyon megkedveltem mindkét szereplőt ebben a részben.

A Kick Push így is szép kerek történet volt, de egyetlen szál nem lett lezárva, ami miatt nagyon várom a következő részt. Annyira tetszett ez a könyv, hogy még azt is megbocsájtom az írónőnek, hogy nem a More Than sorozat beígért következő része a More Than Enough jelent meg idén. Sőt talán azt mondom, hogy az a sorozat jó úgy, ahogy van, inkább ennek a folytatását várom. :))

My Review in English

I truly loved this book! It was full with beautiful thoughts, it had sometimes really special writing style, and it shows us the parenthood and all its extremes from several aspects. In this regard the book sometimes is pushing the boundaries, but maybe this is what gave the true depth of the story.

The main character is Josh who must give up his skater carrier when he becomes a dad at 17. After it turns out that his girlfriend, Natalie is pregnant, his parents kick him out. After that he lives for a while at his best friend’s house, then at Natalie’s. When Tommy – their baby – arrives, their life goes more upside down, especially when after a month Natalie leaves him with the baby left behind only a short note. Not much later Natalie’s parents also kick Josh out to the street with his two months old son. At this point his life seems so heartbreakingly hopeless, that it truly wrenched my heart. Then one day an old lady saves them with her kindness, and she gives them a home at her house. Three years passes, when one day the old Hawaiian lady, Chazarae, brings home her granddaughter.

Becca is a really special character. She doesn’t talk, she doesn’t like touching and she almost never leaves the house. She has only one passion, photography. Especially at the beginning I didn’t understand her, and I couldn’t truly like her. But when her past turned out… Okay I read a lot of New Adult books, so I saw a lot of things, so I can say after what happened to her, it is a miracle that she is broken just this much. Josh and Becca become friends and slowly the friendship forms to love. But do unconditional love really exist? And do we want to be with someone who we can never know entirely?

Maybe the story was predictable, maybe it wasn’t perfect but I truly didn’t mind, because I just fell in love with this book. It was twisting and lovable, and I loved Tommy so much, he was the cutest thing. 🙂 This book is connected to Where the road takes me, another book of the author. That book is about Chloe and Hunter who are the best friends of Josh. Up to now I didn’t had a chance to read it, but I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

The Kick Push does not particularly end with a cliffhanger but there is one unclosed thread in this book. Because of that I just can’t wait to read the next part of the series. I liked this book so much, that I must forgive Jay McLean that she released this book instead of the next part of the More Than series (the More Than Enough, which I waited so damn much), moreover I say that More Than series is good as it is, now I am much more excited about the next part of the Kick Push. 🙂

My Favorite Quotes From the Book

“Hey Josh?”
“Yeah Chloe?”
And I’ll never forget what she says next; “There’s a big difference between being happy and being selfish. Choose to be happy. Fire truck the rest.”

“There are some sacrifices greater than love. And some loves greater than any sacrifice. Tommy’s greater than both.”

“With my eyes closed, I could feel every stone, every bump, every crack of the pavement. The wheels spun—gripping tightly to form that perfect relationship with the ground.
The board, the ground and me—we were one—nothing to hide, nothing to lose.”

“Seriously, how many times can a person break before the only things left are shattered fragments too small to piece back together?”

“You remember the talk we had when you were twelve and I was trying to convince you to start competing but you said you were too scared of failing?”
I nod once.
“Do you remember what I said?”
“You said that life’s just like skating; I just need to kick forward and take a chance,push off the ground and follow through. And when everything works out, I’ll coast.”
He smiles. “Kick. Push. Coast,” (…) “Time to coast, son.”

“Tommy pulls back slightly, his eyes on hers and his hands on her cheeks, wiping her tears. She doesn’t flinch—not for him.
“You have a booboo?” he asks her and she nods.
“Where?”
She chokes back on her own sob, her eyes only for him. Then she points to her chest. Tommy frowns and kisses the spot on her chest she just pointed to.
“Daddy say kisses make all booboos better,” he tells her.
I hold my breath.
She smiles sadly and taps her nose followed by her chest. He nods and throws his arms around her neck, squeezing tight.
“I love you, too, Becca.”

“I get asked a lot how I do it: raise a kid on my own and not be bitter about the life that’d been handed to me. Here’s the answer: I wake up every morning.
That’s it.
There are no hidden secrets, no words of wisdom or encouragement.
I wake up.
Breathe new air.
And fall even deeper in love with a kid I created.”

5 – Kick Push Coast – Stars

5 stars

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About the Author

Jay McLean is an international best-selling author and full-time reader, writer of New Adult Romance, and most of all, procrastinator. When she’s not doing any of those things, she can be found running after her two little boys, playing house and binge watching Netflix.
She writes what she loves to read, which are books that can make her laugh, make her hurt and make her feel.

Jay lives in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, in a forever half-done home where music is loud and laughter is louder.

Connect with Jay:

Facebook Page: http://buff.ly/1ETfmOq
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Email: jay@jaymcleanauthor.com
For publishing rights (Foreign & Domestic) Film, or television, please contact her agent Erica Spellman-Silverman, at Trident Media Group.

The Road Series

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