Review: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Title: Crash Into You
Author: Katie McGarry
Series: Pushing the Limits, book #3
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: November 26, 2013
Source: from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

I liked Pushing the Limits, and I enjoyed Dare to You even more, probably because I'm often drawn to the bad girl/good guy dynamic more so than the opposite.  I've been looking forward to reading Isaiah's story ever since he had his heart stomped on, and I have to admit I was curious to see what type of girl would set him right.  And if this story had only been told from Isaiah's point-of-view, I might have enjoyed it as much as the previous books.

I had a really hard time empathizing with Rachel.  Lying to your family about an illness is never a good idea, but it's even less so when it makes you even sicker to do so.  Also, I'm not discounting that severe anxiety and panic attacks are a big deal, but I was just kind of hoping this Mary Sue's problems would be BIGGER, more on par with what the girls in the previous books have had to deal with.  I did appreciate that if felt like Isaiah gave Rachel the push to save herself, though, rather than him swooping in to save the day -- though there was kind of one of those moments, it was more about him admitting that she was strong enough on her own, and that's why he was there.

Getting inside Isaiah's head was a bit different than I expected.  Initially, I thought he and Beth were so much alike, and hence, perfect for each other.  But upon further reflection, and especially after reading from Isaiah's perspective, I can see how unevenly matched those two were for each other, though perhaps that's due to the fact that Isaiah in this book sounds nothing like the Isaiah that Beth knew.  I'm not saying I'm 100% on board with his and Rachel's relationship -- honestly, I still think he could do better! -- but I did appreciate the way it developed realistically, and that they share a mutual love of cars and family drama. What greater way to bond than over shared passions and problems?  :P

I didn't really understand Eric as the villain either; he just never really gave off that villainous vibe.  You want a car-racing villain who's crazy malicious and does give off that dangerous vibe?  Check out Kavinsky from Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves.  I tried imagining Eric as that guy while I was reading so that I'd get why other people would do his bidding and why others feared him.  It only worked so-so.

Also, there was mention of Echo returning to her former self, in which she covers up her scars and draws into herself once more, but I don't think much explanation was given for that, if any.  If it wasn't going to be expanded upon in this book, I'd just rather it not have been mentioned because now I'm worried about her character all over again, and it's doubtful we'll see much of her in future books, especially knowing who the next book focuses on.  I was hoping the next book would be Abby and Logan's story maybe, but it appears that it will be West's and some unknown Hayley character.  =(  I'd like to see a book about Rachel's twin Ethan, too.

I didn't not enjoy this book; I just didn't enjoy it as much as the previous books.  And I'm starting to sense a pattern, both in the writing and in the storylines.  It's fairly easy to predict how these stories are going to go as soon as the characters meet for the first time.  I'm hoping that the fact that I don't know West's character very well from the little I saw of him in Crash Into You means I'll actually be surprised some by the next book.

About the author:

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and she 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.

Writing has given Katie an excuse to pursue her passions. Research for her books has provided her with the amazing opportunity to train with baseball players, ride along in a drag car at ninety-six miles per hour  and experience boxing and mixed martial arts. Katie loves to visit schools and talk to teenagers about her research, writing and the truth that no dream is out of reach.

Find Katie:

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Labels: contemporary, harlequin-teen, katie mcgarry, pushing the limits, reviews