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:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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

Waiting on Wednesday: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's WoW selection is...

Title: Murder of Crows
Author: Anne Bishop
Series: The Others, book #2
Publisher: Roc/Penguin
Publication Date: March 4, 2014

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard — Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader — wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

Love that cover.  Love the term "murder" of crows.  Loved the previous book.  So, obviously this was a "no question about it" add to the TBR, but after seeing Written in Red in one of the Goodreads Awards "best of" categories, I started getting a little antsy for the second book.  I need this book yesterday!

Now that you know what I'm dying to read, what are you waiting on this week?  Feel free to share it in the comments or leave a link so I can stop by!

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Labels: adult, anne bishop, fantasy, mythology, paranormal, penguin, shifters, the others, vampires, waiting on wednesday (wow), werewolves

Teaser Tuesday #86: Being Sloane Jacobs by Lauren Morrill

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here's what I'm teasing this week:

Title: Being Sloane Jacobs
Author: Lauren Morrill
Series: stand-alone
Publisher: Delacorte
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

My teaser:

"Let me at least help you to the door."  He gives me the single most genuine smile I've ever seen.  My chest aches.  I don't want to say good night to him.  It's like saying goodbye to home all over again.

- Loc 1797, 50% of galley

Aw.  My chest aches for her.  But I can't help but think that these two girls brought this "parent-trap" type dilemma on themselves. :-/  I loved Lauren's debut and I'm loving her sophomore novel just as much.

What are you teasing this week?  Share it in the comments or leave a link so I can visit!

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Labels: all the swoons, beautiful covers, being sloane jacobs, contemporary, favorites, lauren morrill, must-read, random house

{Movie Review} Movie Monday #19: Catching Fire

We all delight in seeing our favorite books brought to life on the big screen.  We cringe at casting.  We scoff at release dates.  All the while, we're gearing up to see if the director's vision lives up to the world we've conceived in our own imaginations.  Sometimes it does...and sometimes it doesn't.  We could lament the movies that don't measure up, or we could return to the books for a re-read, possibly with a slightly different mind-set.  All's fair when it comes to artistic vision, right?





This week, I'm featuring the following adaptation:

Title: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Sam Claflin
Release date: November 22, 2013
Based on: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

I purposely didn't re-read Catching Fire prior to seeing the movie.  I'm always disappointed when I do that because it makes it that much easier to pick up on all the things that an adaptation is lacking.  But with this movie, I honestly don't think anything was missing.  The power, the message, the emotion of the book...it was all there for the world to see in the movie.

Jennifer Lawrence is just awesome.  I don't even really think I need to go into that because you've seen her act, you've seen the interviews, and you've seen her spaz out over meeting Jeff Bridges.  She is the girl you want to be best friends with.  Sam Claflin as Finnick was Finnick.  Holy hotness!  And lots of people are finally giving Josh Hutcherson the praise he deserves after his role in this sequel, but I've been a fan since Bridge to Terabithia.  I cried like nobody's business at the end of that movie, and I know he'll have me crying again in Mockingjay.

But what really surprised me, though, is how much I love Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket.  Admittedly, I kind of despised this character in the books because of what she and the Capitol stood for, but when brought to life on the big screen, I can see her character for what she really is:  a woman who is only now witnessing the horrible injustices served up at the hands of the Capitol.  Effie was oblivious to it all before the Quarter Quell, I think, and that doesn't make it alright, but now her eyes are open and she's come to think of Katniss, Peeta and even Haymitch as family.

Oh, and the costumes, especially Effie's...I think they were even more elaborate and gorgeous and just stunning this time around.  I mean that twirling "girl on fire" dress in the first movie was amazing, but the dress with the mockingjay wings?  That was beyond impressive.  And the statement it makes!  The costume designers on these movies are simply amazing.

I'm hoping to see the movie again with my sister to pick up on all the nuances I missed while I was fangirling the first time around.  Also, she's pissed that I saw it without her, especially since I was the one who got her to read the series in the first place.  Oops.  =)  But maybe I'll re-read before I see it this time.  Just in case I really did miss something.

All in all, I thought the movie was absolutely brilliant.  The cast and the acting were phenomenal, even better than in the first movie, and even though this movie isn't quite as sad and emotionally draining as the story in the first, my eyes still welled up a few times.  These adaptations are really living up to the supremely high expectations the books set for them. My only complaint is that I wish the final book weren't being split into two movies.  :(

Have you read the book?  Have you seen the movie?  How do you think this one fared as an adaptation?

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Labels: adaptations, favorites, from book to screen, movie mondays, movie reviews, must-see, suzanne collins, the hunger games

{Short Story Sunday} Review: Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor

Short stories are awesome.  They give us in-depth insight into characters, providing anecdotal proof of why some characters are they way they are.  They entertain by creating a certain mood or focusing on a singular effect...some instance in a previous body of work (or one to follow) that might have been glossed over or ignored completely in a longer novel. 

And so I would like to highlight some short stories and novellas set in worlds I've already come to love and learn a little more about some of the secondary characters in my favorite novels.   In addition to offering up a mini review of these short works of fiction,  I'll be underscoring some of my favorite aspects.

This week I'm featuring a companion novella from Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone series:

Title: Night of Cake & Puppets
Author: Laini Taylor
Series: Daughter of Smoke & Bone, book #2.5
Publisher: Little, Brown BFYR
Publication Date: November 26, 2013
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

In Night of Cake & Puppets, Taylor brings to life a night only hinted at in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy—the magical first date of fan-favorites Zuzana and Mik. Told in alternating perspectives, it’s the perfect love story for fans of the series and new readers alike. Petite though she may be, Zuzana is not known for timidity. Her best friend, Karou, calls her “rabid fairy,” her “voodoo eyes” are said to freeze blood, and even her older brother fears her wrath. But when it comes to the simple matter of talking to Mik, or “Violin Boy,” her courage deserts her. Now, enough is enough. Zuzana is determined to meet him, and she has a fistful of magic and a plan. It’s a wonderfully elaborate treasure hunt of a plan that will take Mik all over Prague on a cold winter’s night before finally leading him to the treasure: herself! Violin Boy’s not going to know what hit him.

Oh, wow.  I didn't think it was possible to love Laini Taylor or this series any more than I already did, but this short story was absolutely adorable.  It was beyond cute and sweet and completely romantic.  If you've never been swept up in a love affair like this, then this is exactly what you're hoping for one day.  Or, at least, you should be.

Zuzana and Mik are some of my favorite secondary characters, and this novella just served to emphasize why they're so beloved.  It's been awhile since I first read Daughter of Smoke & Bone, but honestly, I can't remember a time when it wasn't Zuzana & Mik.  It feels like they've always been together, that they've always been part of an ampersand.  Which makes their little adventure in Prague even more delightful.

"I mean, who would I be if I'd been raised on milquetoast bedtime stories and not forced to dust the glass prison of a psychotic undead fox Cossack?  I shudder to think."

I adored reading from Zuzana's point-of-view.  As I said, she's a favorite side character of mine, but actually getting in the Rabid Fairy's head was something else.  It was almost as if we were kindred spirits, the way her mind works.  And oh, all the trouble she went to in order to actually "meet" Mik!  I love her even more now.

"I've seen Zuzana out of her outermost layers at least, at the theater, but I've only known her in winter, so:  sweaters, scarves, jeans, boots.  Nary a glimpse of ankle or clavicle, those miracles of girl geometry.  It's very Victorian, but in the depths of a girlfriendless winter, a glimpse of ankle would probably excite me."

And I felt like I really got to know Mik with this story.  He's sweet and perfect for Zuze, but he's also a guy, and he isn't pretending like he doesn't have those "guy nature" type impulses.  A fact for which I am very grateful because even worse than a bad boy who only thinks about one thing is a too saccharine-sweet guy who acts like he never thinks about it. Mik is the perfect amount of guy for me...er, Zuzana.

And, oh, the writing!  The writing is as brilliant as I've come to expect from Taylor, but maybe it's just been so long since the last book that I've forgotten just how brilliant it is.  I mean, she's got these two kids on a collision course of love, and they're feeling the same things and doing the same things, but both sound completely different as they describe the experience, and there's no lack in originality in how they do so:

Mik:  "A little war commences in my brain, "rational self" versus "hopeful self," cage match.  I'm not religious; I don't believe in things -- not out of any determination not to.  It's more like a default setting:  My brain is an inhospitable environment for belief, but I've always said -- and really meant -- that life would be more interesting if those unseen things were real (and dragons, too, please), and of course death would be less of a bummer if there were a heave (hell not so much).  I've just never been able to believe any of it.  Right now, though, to some small detectable degree, it feels like the pH balance in my mind is shifting.  Like my skepticism is being neutralized.  Hopeful self is sitting on rational shelf's chest."

Zuzana:  "I know it's all brain chemicals -- everything is brain chemicals -- but my excitement and dread feel like tiny wrestlers in my heart right now.  I picture Excitement choking out Dread and gently, almost lovingly, lowering his intert body to the ground."

I mean, they're not even describing the same thing here, but they both use the same basic metaphor, and it is delightful. Wait, I think I've used that adjective already, but it's true.  Also, they use poetry and Latin and a treasure map, and it's all just so damn romantic.  They even made me google lines of a poem:  'anyone who's woken up to find the wet footprints of a peacock across their kitchen floor.'  I mean, what?

And what it all boils down to is this:  these two are just so unbelievably in love, and they have been from the very beginning.  There's just no stopping this kind of love, and I hope the elation I feel after reading this short story bodes well for the final book in the trilogy.  Pleasepleaseplease let Karou and Akiva get an ending reminiscent of Zuzana and Mik's beginning!

the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series

About the author:

Hi! I'm Laini Taylor. I am a writer-artist-daydreamer-nerd-person, and simultaneously a mom-wife-sister-daughter-person. I can do a lot of things at once, like for example: I can sleep and dream and also lie very still, all while also breathing and ever-so-slowly growing ten distinct toenails.

I write books for youngish people, but they can also be read and enjoyed by oldish people, aka grown-ups. You know grown-ups? They tend to be a little bigger and hairier than kids. But not always.

I live in Portland, Oregon, USA, with my husband Jim Di Bartolo, who is an amazing illustrator and who I'm always begging to draw me things, and with our wee droll genius, Clementine Pie, age three.

Find Laini:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

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Labels: angels, daughter of smoke and bone, fantasy, favorites, hachette, laini taylor, must-read, novellas, reincarnation, short story sunday