Rush by Kandi Steiner

Rush by Kandi Steiner

Release Date - August 25, 2015

Publisher Website - Self Published 
Publisher Social Media - Twitter

Pages - 339 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**purchased**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Written like your favorite drama television show, the Palm South University series has been called "a mix of Greek meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Friends." Follow seven college students as they maneuver unrequited love, teacher/student romance, the tangles of “no strings” relationships, love triangles and more. Each “season” has six “episodes,” and just like when your favorite show hits Netflix, you can read just one episode at a time or binge the entire thing. With the perfect mix of angst, emotional romance, and romantic comedy, the Palm South University series is your next guilty addiction.

Drama. Lies. Sex.

Welcome to Palm South University.

The weather isn’t the only thing heating up in South Florida. At a school where fraternities and sororities don’t exactly play by the rules, relationships are bound to be tested. Parties and sex are definitely key ingredients in the Palm South recipe, but what happens when family issues, secret lives, and unrequited love get tossed in the mix?

Follow Cassie, Bear, Jess, Skyler, Erin, Ashlei, and Adam as they tackle college at a small, private beach town university. Written in television drama form, each episode of this serial will pull you deeper and deeper into the world of PSU.

Where the sun is hot and the clothes are scarce, anything can happen

Sometimes a book's hook is the style in which it is written. Rush is written to mimic your favorite binge worthy television shows with each book being a season and broken down from there into 'episodes' (or chapters/sections). This hook definitely made me curious and after finishing the first book in the series I would say it proved to be quite entertaining as well.

Greek life is something that I have no first hand experience with. My familiarity extends to what I have seen on television/movies or heard about in the news. This book's world revolves around the sororities and fraternities of the University it is set at. I have no basis to determine how authentic it is but it fits my understanding of what it means to belong to these organizations. It all seems a realistic scenario that feels heightened for dramatic impact which fits the television show vibe the series has going for it.

The only downside is that the cast of characters is rather large and I didn't feel like I got to spend a lot of time getting to know them. It is very plot driven novel filled with dramatic events and that makes it extremely readable but I hope the characterization expands in subsequent novels.

The large cast equals a few different points of view that the story is told from. I anticipated that it might be hard to follow, but once you settle into the rhythm of the book it is not an issue at all. It, in fact, allows for more secrets and interesting story arcs as you follow the different characters. I am interested in some story arcs, like the budding love triangle, over others but they are all interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. 

This book really has all of the plot elements you would expect to find in a book like this. It focuses on the friendships, romantic entanglements, and struggles that these students would face. It packs a good balance of angst and intrigue to make the story progress.

Rush is an entertaining, quick read that will be perfect for those who are fans of the soapy, drama filled CW television shows. It offers the kind of escapism that I predict many will be happy to discover after a heavier read.