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Our rating: 5 stars
Book summary:
The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life-that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.
Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look.
But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.
Glass: I've been waiting for Isaiah's story... forever. My heart broke for that sweet, tattooed bad boy in the first book, Pushing the Limits.
Tanja: Yes, also I'm so happy that we finally see him more than just a tattooed bad boy. He is so more than that. Remember when in Dare You To, Beth broke his heart? I cried so much for him and here I continued to do so. Basically my heart ached for him throughout all three books. Even though deep down you know he'll find his safe heaven, Katie throw some unexpected twists here. But let's introduce Rachel first. What do you think girl? I always wanted to have a huge family and few older brothers, but now I'm not so sure.
Glass: Me too, but I think it was more that we were delusional that they would be our big, strong protectors and we'd be little princesses. Well, we know better now. To be completely honest with you, I wasn't the biggest fan of Rachel when I first started reading Crash into You - she looked too dramatic for me and not very convincing with whole fragile good girl/cars lover image. I'm still not one hundred percent sold on that idea, but I got to understand her. But, speaking about Beth, I kind of hated her in this book...
Tanja: I wasn't convinced at the start either. But yeah I could understand her, that's for sure. We all want to make our parents happy, I guess. Ah, yes! I wanted to slap her when she started acting like nothing happened. What do you say about Abby, Isaiah's friend? I really liked her and I'd love to see her book too.
Glass: Oh, she is my favorite female character in this book - you know how much I love kick-ass girls. I really hope that Katie McGarry will give us her story too, but I think hers would be the darkest book in the series so far. It looks like she had tough life and that she was forced to do a lot of things she didn't want to.
But let me tell you - Crash into You has the best first kiss scene ever!
Tanja: Oh, hell yes!! It was the hottest and the most innocent first kiss in the world of YA first kisses I've read so far. Even I got goosebumps. I don't think that any kiss after that one was so strong and emotional. But then again we're used to Katie writing emotional and powerful scenes. Did you have any troubles with this book. I've got a few. First one is Rachel's parents. I wanted to slap them both. (and I do respect older people)
Glass: Me too. At first I was most annoyed with her mother, but later her father. Even older brothers had few not very likable moments. My biggest problem with this book is the fact that it reminded me too much of Perfect Chemistry series and lot less of previous books Katie McGarry's novels. All that street/ghetto background of the story wasn't quite believable - it felt little bit "fake". It's not that I didn't loved this book, I just had impression as if I was reading modern fairy tale about princess and stable boy.
Tanja: True that. I loved every emotional aspect of this story but like you said, setting was sometimes off. That's basically the main reason why for me, this book is the weakest in this series. It's still a five star read but Dare You To was more coherent to me. So West's story is next. What are your expectations?
Glass: Honestly, not much. I'm not completely sure how long this series will be interesting to the readers. She already gave us stories of three central characters - everything else is just playing on safe card. I think it is time for her to write something completely different, don't you think? But Tanja, we will read sequel! No matter everything I said. Got it?
Tanja: I totally agree, Somehow I think Katie should move on and give us something new (but after we get Abby's story). You're the boss, girl. Till then we're gonna reread that first kiss scene. *wink*
Until the next time,
***NOTE: Copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher, Herlequin Teen, via NetGalley. Thank you.
We're not paid for writing this review - we do it as lovers of written word. All opinions are personal.
I absolutely loved Rachel in this novel too, ladies. I was so impressed by her growth and especially the unique take on her situation . McGarry always manages to include such incredibly moving relationships in her stories, which I always appreciate. Wonderful joint-review my friends! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI just hope her next novel will have a little bit different plot, it would be bad if this series gets to be repetitive.:(
IzbrišiThank you.:)
I loved Abby a ton too-so glad to be introduced to her and I really hope she'll be getting her own book. I feel like she has so many layers to be explored and only her own book will do so!
OdgovoriIzbrišiTotally agree. I truly hope we'll get her book. Thanks :)
IzbrišiI'm so glad you ladies enjoyed this book. I adored Rachel's growth throughout the book and she might be my favorite of the 3 books. Plus, I think Rachel was the most normal one out of the 3. (Well, relatively speaking of course).
OdgovoriIzbrišiAnd of course, Isaiah! He was a little too soft at times, but I still loved him.
I agree with Glass. The author will have to come up with something a bit new next time because I am personally getting fed up with the overly dramatic situations the characters seem to get into in her books. It gets boring after some time. I was hoping that the characters in the next book would be normal, but that's not happening from that excerpt.
Lovely review.
Yeah, at least the most realistic. But I liked other girls too. :) Yeah maybe she could try something new now. Thanks Nick :)
IzbrišiThat first kiss scene was wonderful, and lit my insides on fire! I agree, I think this was the weakest of the three books, and there was too much going on in this one. I did still enjoy it and I'll read the next in the series. Great joint review, ladies! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiIndeed :) I'll read next, orders are orders ;) Thanks Rachel :)
IzbrišiIt's good to hear that even though you both didn't like Rachel at first, you both warmed up to her. That's some character growth, my friends! I love when this happens. OMFG. I WANT TO READ THE KISS SCENE NOW!!! Have you both read Hopeless/Losing Hope? This has the best non-first-kiss ever. *gets giddy just thinking about it* Heh :) "I'm not completely sure how long this series will be interesting to the readers."-- I KNOW! It's like with Cora Carmack for instance or Abbi Glines. It's like.. Yes, we do love these characters, yes, they're awesome, yes yes yes, but can we freaking move on already and leave them be? Give us something else to talk about. I'm more than sure that West's story will be read by many, many fans, but it's about time these ladies gave us something else as well :) Lovely discussion girls!!!!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI've been talking about that on GR yesterday - I agree with you. I haven't read Hopeless, but I plan to. I've read a lot of mixed reviews so I'm not sure what to expect, but than again we loved Slammed - we might like Hopeless too..)
IzbrišiThank you, Siiri.
I am ashamed to admit that I haven't even tried this series yet! can you believe it? I know I need to and I just need to make myself push it ahead of that pesky TBR pile and finally get to it!
OdgovoriIzbrišiNo, we can't believe it.O.O You should at least read first novel - that one is my favorite.
IzbrišiYAY!!!! So glad you guys loved this one too! I agree with you on Rachel's parents, I wanted to throttle them both multiple times and just scream LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO YOUR DAUGHTER - THE ONE THAT'S ALIVE!!!!! But, at the same time, I found the whole family dynamic fascinating and can't wait to read more about them. I wouldn't mind if we got Abby's story either. She was awesome:)
OdgovoriIzbrišiMy thoughts exactly! I was so furious with them, but it was obvious that the whole family had issues they had to deal with.
Izbriši*Big Sigh* I've still not started the series...I have the first book and I by pass it every time. I will try to get to this series sometime in the next few months. *Crosses fingers* Great double review :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiJanina @ Synchronized Reading
Thank you , Janina. Tanja and I love this series very much - I thing you might like it too. You should definitely give it a try.
IzbrišiAwesome review ladies and yes I want more Abby too, I loved her. Rachel's family is so dysfunctional and it just goes to show that all is not what it seems. From the outside they look successful and happy but behind closed doors..yikes.
OdgovoriIzbrišiYes it's only about appearance so no one will notice the cracks underneath. Thanks :)
IzbrišiLoved them too and yes that kiss was amazing
OdgovoriIzbrišiGlad to hear that Brandi :)
IzbrišiBest first kiss ever huh? :P I'm sold.. but no really I just found out my local library has a copy of the first book and now my hands are itching ha! Great review, I love the way you did this one :D was so cute
OdgovoriIzbrišiYou go and grab Pushing the Limits, like now! :) I hope your library will get this and Dare You To :) Thanks Lily :)
IzbrišiI agree so much! I'm reading this at the moment with Christina from Christina Reads YA and we've discussed a lot of the points here. The brothers, especially. I was also hoping for a sweet protective older siblings scenario, but I've very little love for Gavin and West and the others right now. Some of the car-loving good girl image doesn't quite feel entirely convincing to me either. But I agree about the first kiss. And I'm generally enjoying the romance overall, even though this isn't going to be my favorite book from KM. Brilliant joint review, ladies! :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiBut at the end of the day KM really knows how to build and create romance that will burn inside you :) I cannot wait to see your review girl! :) Thanks :)
IzbrišiThis book. I went into the story so excited because I loved isaiah so much. I still loved Isaiah, but guys, I just never liked Rachel all that much. I didn't quite buy her backstory, why she was so anxious all the time, and especially her family and her parents! They were awful! I'm not sure what it was, something about the setting did seem off to me as well. Maybe it's because I'm not familiar with intercity living, but it just seems unrealistic.\
OdgovoriIzbrišiI didn't dislike the story, I think McGarry is a great writer. I just feel Isaiah deserved better. Great review!
We didn't like Rachel that much too - you're right that whole thing with her panic issues were unbelievable sometimes.
IzbrišiThank you, Andrea.
Unique stalking has now become telepathy somehow. I'm so glad you ladies enjoyed this one. I agree with Glass about how the emotional content of the PTL series is going down and down. PTL was the most emotional and from then on, it wasn't so heartbreaking really. Also, like you Tanaj, I've cried for Isaiah too and I was so happy to see him happy. Yes, even I had problems with Rachel but she turned out to be perfect for our boy. I hope against hope there's a book for Abby too- she was total kick-ass- but like Glass said, she's sure to have a fucked up and deep life story. I enjoyed reading this review, girls- fantastic one!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSarika @ The Readdicts
*Tanja (don't kill me, kill typos)
IzbrišiThank you, Sarika. I've just read your review - LOL, looks like we share same opinions.:)
IzbrišiNow that's unusual way to spell my name dude!! I like it actually ;) Kidding, no worries you should see me trying to spell Janhvi sometimes xD
IzbrišiLove this review format! :-) I agree with you gals about re-reading that kiss scene. I think that's a lovely way to pass the time until Katie's next book. I'd be interested to see her step outside her comfort zone and do something completely different, though of course I won't object to more novels like these either. :-) Great review ladies!
OdgovoriIzbrišiWe will read everything Katie writes, right Tanja?:D
IzbrišiI'd love to read something like that too Elizabeth.
Yup, anyone has her shopping list? :D
IzbrišiOh, I loved that about Isaiah too - he isn't actually as bad as he wants everyone to think. Ethan would probably get his book too.
OdgovoriIzbrišiHaha I love your conversation style review! I'm yet to read Dare You To because I was confused as to the direction of the romance, but I'm definitely motivated to give it another go!
OdgovoriIzbriši