Full Flight
Ashley Schumacher
Wednesday Books
Published February 22, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Full Flight

Everyone else in the tiny town of Enfield, Texas calls fall football season, but for the forty-three members of the Fighting Enfield Marching Band, it’s contest season. And for new saxophonist Anna James, it’s her first chance to prove herself as the great musician she’s trying hard to be.

When she’s assigned a duet with mellophone player Weston Ryan, the boy her small-minded town thinks of as nothing but trouble, she’s equal parts thrilled and intimidated. But as he helps her with the duet, and she sees the smile he seems to save just for her, she can’t help but feel like she’s helping him with something too.

After her strict parents find out she’s been secretly seeing him and keep them apart, together they learn what it truly means to fight for something they love. With the marching contest nearing, and the two falling hard for one another, the unthinkable happens, and Anna is left grappling for a way forward without Weston.

A heartbreaking novel about finding your first love and what happens when it’s over too soon. Ashley Schumacher’s FULL FLIGHT is about how first love shapes us—even after it’s gone.

My Review

This book broke me. Like. I’ve read lots of books where you know the love is doomed and someone is going to die. Sometimes, like with FULL FLIGHT, I know it before I pick up the book because it’s in the cover copy or the title (looking at you, THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END).

But I’ve never read a book like that and had the experience I had with this one. I had so much anxiety about Weston’s death. I knew it was coming. I’d breathe a huge sigh when the next chapter was his point-of-view. I’d panic when it was Anna’s perspective, and skim ahead until I saw him mentioned and still alive.

This one hit me really hard. And it was more than just liking both characters and finding their romance so sweet and adorable. Y’all. The writing here. Wow. I felt completely immersed. Marching band. The friendships. Music. Emotions. It all blew me away.

I loved Schumacher’s debut, AMELIA UNABRIDGED, and to be honest, I was excited about reading another book by her. I was also really nervous because I knew from the outset I was signing up for some heartbreak. It seemed impossible that I could like another book as much as AMELIA, and they’re not the same. But I loved this one, too.

All in all, I loved FULL FLIGHT. I loved the story (the cleverness of skipping chapter 25!), the characters, and how emotionally immersive it all was. Fans looking for laugh-out-loud great friendships, gorgeous romance and total heartbreak– I think I cried for like 30 minutes– definitely need this one on their lists.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Major characters are white. Anna is fat.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently. Both Anna and Weston’s best friend Ratio don’t like him to curse.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mention of a kiss between two girls. Kissing between a boy and girl. They undress and it’s stated that they have sex, but no description of the event.

Spiritual Content
Weston and Anna live in a small town where most of the kids go to youth group and church as a social activity. Anna talks about how she’s been taught not to have premarital sex and to keep her thoughts pure.

Violent Content
Weston received some bullying text messages from drunk classmates a year earlier. He tells Anna about them.

Drug Content
Reference to teens drinking alcohol.

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