Based on the synopsis, I expected this to be a book about grief, dealing with what happens to Anna after her boyfriend dies. Halfway through, I was starting to wonder if I'd misremembered what the book was going to be about. You know when the boyfriend finally dies? EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT IN. Frankly, I feel cheated by the synopsis and I think the content that's promised in it gets really glossed over and rushed.

This might have had more of an emotional impact on me had I been enjoying the book, but the writing style really didn't work for me, and I didn't find myself caring about these characters. It felt like a really bland, generic story. Had the book actually done what the synopsis promised, it might have been reminiscent to You've Reached Sam, but as it is it didn't work at all and I just kept waiting for something to happen.

A great love story for all band geeks alike, past and present. As a former band geek, this brought back memories and a nostalgic feeling, and will for those former band geeks, as well as touch those present geeks.

This is another book by an author I have previously loved. And it is a YA love story about Band kids! LOVED this premise. Initially it is a story about a “good girl” with strict parents who falls in love with the forbidden “bad boy” (the bad boy is actually not very bad). It’s almost a love at first sight situation but they spend a lot of time fighting about little misunderstandings.
The predictable drama of the parents finding out and forbidding the relationship and the coming around happens. Should be happily ever after.
Then at 90% in— as the description dates “the unthinkable happens” and the girl has to move on. I just didn’t see the purpose of this. I guess to show how she grew as a person from being with him, but why?

Marching band ✅
A love story ✅
A heartbreak that cannot be taken away ✅

Ashely Shumacher has done it again. She warmed this former band geek’s heart and shattered it at the same time. Anna and Weston are two halves of a whole, brought together by music…and homework. We watch as they come together, first love, first everything, only to have the unimaginable happen. Just as she did with her first novel Amelia Unabridged, she takes the reader on a journey of self discovery, acceptance and a love that survives across the heavens.

Full Flight by Ashley Schumacher- This one was just okay for me. I felt the story was beautiful and had a great message, but the execution of it was off. The transitioning from chapter to chapter felt choppy. I still love Schumachers written and look forward to her next book, but this one left me a little disappointed.

This book ended up being a DNF. Rating is based solely on the content I did read. I ultimately found the pacing and development of the story and/or characters not engaging enough to continue on and finish the complete book.

I absolutely loved Ashley's previous book, so I was excited to pick this on up. I really enjoyed this one too, it sorta caught me by surprise. Be prepared to have your heart string tugged with this one.

Oh my goodness, this was heartbreaking but beautiful. It really shows the all encompassing teenage first love. Ashley Schumacher does such a great job eliciting all the emotions, from love to grief.

Oh. My. God. The tears and ugly sobs that just left my body.

This books was so innately heartbreaking, yet beautiful. To read about young, first love - with a forbidden romance trope thrown in - I just adored everything about this. It was magical and everyone needs to read it, NOW.

And now, I need to read all of Schumacher's backlist.

Decent quick read love story with marching band backdrop. Pretty predictable plot and characters that seemed like stereotypes, but a nice way to pass a Sunday afternoon.

“Full Flight” by Ashley Schumacher is a bittersweet YA love story.

First of all, do not read the book blurb. It gives the whole story away.

Anna James and Weston Ryan are assigned a duet in their marching band. Anna needs extra help as she hasn’t been in band as long the others. She gets Weston to assist her with her part and she helps him keep his grades up. They are supposedly opposites with Anna being known as the happy, cheerful girl and Weston being the town’s weird guy. However, the more the get to know one another they realize they’re exactly what the other needs.

While I was expecting to love this, it just didn’t work for me. Schumacher writes beautifully and I did come to care about Anna and Weston and some of the side characters. The problem was that this is a new level of insta-love where Anna and Weston basically make eye contact and instantly KNOW and adore one another. I am not a fan of insta-love so I was aggravated from chapter one and while I did enjoy the story once they started actually getting to know each other, I never really got over my initial aggravation.

Another issue was the reasoning behind Weston’s being an outcast. Apparently, in this small Texas town, having divorced parents and wearing a leather jacket makes you the local pariah and I just didn’t understand it. He is literally the misunderstood sweet guy with a heart of gold that has a bad reputation that keeps him apart from everyone else. I also had a slight problem with Anna’s happy-go-lucky attitude on the outside while covering up her “shadows.” I understand putting on a front but this felt like it was a bigger problem and I didn’t appreciate how the shadows went away with Weston’s love. I don’t love the message that some person’s love can change you or help you so I was iffy on that.

Now for things that did work for me! Being a teenager can be a hard time for a lot of kids and I loved seeing Anna and Weston grow and evolve and realize they’re not as alone or as weird as they imagined. Also, I love Schumacher’s writing! She has an almost lyrical style of writing that works for me without it being over the top or showy. She’s one of those writers that I’ll sometimes go back and read a line just because it was so good. She also knows how to brings the emotions. In her characters and the reader. I love books that make me feel and Schumacher has brought that in both of her books.

Overall, I think this will work better for others. It wasn’t a me book but I can see how others will feel differently.

I received an ARC from Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It unexpectedly made me cry on my plane ride home, so you know it really packs an emotional punch. However, I disliked one aspect of the book, which I see to be a common trend in YA contemporary novels. Instead of addressing or facing that the characters may have an undiagnosed mental illness, or perhaps to hide the underlying mental illness (depression), the author instead makes the characters super quirky and unique. Perhaps this was me just reading too much into by the mention of constant shadows and feigning happiness in front of others, but the characters did not seem to be adjusting well. This was quickly brushed off by obsessions with Christmas and their newfound love. My complaint may be on the more nitpicky side, but this truly was an enjoyable read.

I really love Ashley's writing. And I think she's able to capture grief in some of it's most raw forms and make you feel all of the emotions.

That being said, I lost my sister this year, and this was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me. I was not prepared for this kind of grief.

This was a bittersweet love story about who teens who fell in love in marching band. I loved the marching band setting, as I don't think I have EVER read a story about kids in marching band. And I loved the way this story connected with a group of teens that are rarely represented in fiction.

I liked Weston and Anna. Their romance was cute and a bit awkward and it felt realistic. I didn't love how the story ended, but since i read the summary, I was not surprised either. The summary of this book spoils pretty much the whole book, so I would avoid reading that if possible!

I loved Schumacher's previous book Amelia Unabridged. Full Flight didn't pack quite the same emotional punch for me, but it was still a sweet story that represents a teen audience that is often ignored.

I am a fan of Amy Schumacher’s writing style in the YA genre of writing. She has a beautifully descriptive style to her. I didn’t love the overly band/musical side of this one personally. It was just a little too much for me, and this could be me never playing an instrument or just too far past that sort of high school phase to feel fully engaged.

I absolutely LOVED the author's previous novel, Amelia Unabridged, so my hopes and expectations for this one were very high. Perhaps that was a mistake.

Small town Texas reveres football, but saxophonist Anna James and the other 43 members of the marching band take contest season just as seriously. Paired with mellophone player, Weston Ryan for a duet, Anna finds herself curious about this boy the rest of the town thinks is trouble.

I love YA and I find much of the criticism leveled at the genre to be unfair. I have heard other readers classify it as angsty, with annoying teenagers and unrealistic dialog. This may be one of the first times I feel some of that rings true. It felt very slow and plodding and I think would have benefitted from tighter editing. I cared for the characters, but this time out felt the tension was forced.

On the strength of Amelia Unabridged, I will definitely read more of this author's work.

Thanks to the author, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the complimentary digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Full Flight is a young rom-com that pulls at the heart strings. It’s about Anna and Weston who secretly need each other but who try not to make it to obvious.

I knew when reading this book that it would be about two different people who fall in love. Yes it is a little insta love but was cute anyways. I love the two different perspective.

Thank you Wednesday books and Netgalley for providing and early read for an honest review.

I loved this book! So sad (it made me cry at the ending) but at the same time I couldn't put it down, even if I had an idea of where it would end.

I'm still thinking about this book. I had to put it down a few times to collect myself and stop crying all over my e-reader! So heart-wrenching and so good.

The sweet relationship between Anna and Weston was just everything, I loved every second of this book. It felt very real and vulnerable.