Welcome to the Crash Into You blog tour! I'm honored to be a part of this review tour. I hope you all enjoy my review! There isn't a ton of gushing and OMG-love-so-much, but I'm sure someone will find it informative :)
Check out the rest of tour HERE.
Crash Into You by Katie McGarry:
Book Three of the Pushing the Limits series
Publisher: Harlequin TEEN
Publication Date: November 26, 2013
Rating: 3 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a good girl with a reckless streak, a street-smart guy with nothing to lose, and a romance forged in the fast lane
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.
What I Liked:
This book was easily one of my most anticipated contemporary reads of 2013. Of course, Dare You To was as well, but both of these books are 2013 releases (craziness! Katie McGarry is a machine!). I knew that I just HAD to read Isaiah's story. Isaiah wasn't always someone that I liked, but after I read Dare You To, I definitely wanted to understand him better.
This book does just that, and more. I love how well McGarry is able to flesh out her characters. Book after book, this is something at which she continually proves that she excels. And not only can she flesh them out, but she can expound upon their differences, their uniqueness, their personalities. You'd think that with writing each book in dual points-of-view, one girl, one guy, that the perspectives would grow tiresome and similar and repetitive and boring.
But no. McGarry has a way with keeping each individual character unique and him/herself. Noah, Echo, Beth, Ryan, Isaiah, Rachel... they are all very different. This isn't like those New Adult contemporary romance novels, where the heroes are all macho alpha males, and the heroines are "tough" girls who need a man. No. I love how original the characters of each book are, and different each story is.
This story is VERY different from the other two. Isaiah and Rachel get into some scary business - they owe a guy a ton of cash in a short amount of time. And it isn't just about the money; it's about control, like a power struggle. People could get hurt, or worse, killed. And unfortunately for Isaiah, he's caught in the middle of it, without even meaning to be.
It's kind of all Rachel's fault. If she hadn't wanted to drag race (or whatever), none of this would have happened. But that's okay. I forgive her (ish), because this book wouldn't have happened without that mistake. But anyway, this book is all about Isaiah and Rachel, and their struggle to come up with the money, to protect themselves, to start a relationship, and to reconcile issues within their families.
See how complex that is? So many things are happening in the book. It's more than just a love story. It's more than just Isaiah and Rachel. It's about Isaiah, getting in touch with his mother - the mother he absolutely loathes for leaving him. It's about Rachel, getting the help she needs, and standing up to HER mother (and entire family). It's about getting that money. It's about staying alive.
I really like Isaiah. I feel like I understand him so much better, now that I've read things from his perspective. I kind of want to go back and read the entire series again, now that I have the knowledge of what happened with Beth/Ryan and Isaiah/Rachel.
What I Did Not Like:
I feel like there are a lot of little things that I didn't like, and I've already forgotten most of them, because they were minor things. But some of the big things were annoying.
Like, for example, Rachel. I just did NOT like her. I couldn't connect with her at all. She thinks she's weak - she's got that right. Physically, mentally, emotionally... she's weak. She's definitely dense, as Isaiah once described her, and she's stupid, in my opinion. I get what McGarry was going for - the stereotype of a rich, ditsy girl - but Rachel is EXACTLY THAT. I tried and tried to get past that image, but that's all I could see.
Mistake after mistake, event after event, Rachel kept proving to me that she doesn't exactly use her reasoning skills, and she is not mentally strong enough to handle herself, let alone others. I mean, I get it, you don't want to upset your mother. But seriously?! You let yourself be pushed around for SO LONG, to live up to a dead girl? Screw that. NO ONE is worth pretending or losing myself. I would NEVER stoop that low, to make my mother happy. Sorry, Mommy, but you're never getting anything but the real me.
Okay, so I really just did NOT like Rachel. Weak. Stupid. Naive. Doesn't-deserve-Isaiah.
And I felt like the romance was kind of off. Like, yes, this book is almost five hundred pages long, and somewhere in those five hundred pages, Rachel and Isaiah fall in love. But I feel like in the beginning, the romance is thrown at readers. It isn't progressive, in my opinion. It's not there, and then suddenly, it is. In the previous two books, the relationship takes time - probably about half the book or more. In this book, it seems like Rachel and Isaiah are all the other can think about, after seeing each other one time.
I'm not okay with that.
It's not quite insta-love, but it's more like really rushed first stages of the relationship. We know they are going to end up together. Slow down and let us enjoy reading that.
I can't think of anything else. That must be it.
Would I Recommend It:
Despite not absolutely LOVING this book, I would still highly recommend it. So many other bloggers read and LOVED this book - there are so many five-star ratings and reviews out there, for this book. So, you should read this one, if you planned on it! Especially if you've read and enjoyed the first two books.
Rating:
3 stars. I enjoyed this book, but it definitely isn't my favorite of the series. However, I will be reading Take Me On! I can't wait to get into West's head.
Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!
About the Author:
KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie would love to hear from her readers. Contact her via her website, katielmcgarry.com, follow her on Twitter @KatieMcGarry, or become a fan on Facebook and Goodreads.
The Giveaway:
Thank You !! I was wating for this book ;)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed getting your review thoughts on the book. I'm not fond of that sort of heroine either, but I really want to read Isaiah's story. My favorite character is Beth. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this giveaway!! I like Isaiah because he's so caring and loyal!!
ReplyDeleteI like Noah! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of them yet.. =/ but I've always wanted to! I hope I can start on this series this Christmas break!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Dare You To or Crash Into You yet, so I would have to go with Noah because he's pretty swoony.
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