Review: Crash Into You

Crash Into You

by Katie McGarry

Publishing Date: November 26th 2013

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 037321099X

Received from: Edelweiss

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.

Review

"What people project to the world never shows what's lurking on the inside."

So being me I've managed to pick up this series on book 3 and with it being my first Katie McGarry book I have to say I'm in awe! She has a style of writing that is full of emotion and speed that makes you turn the page. It will make you smile and tare out your heart. With the themes of this book being very car orientated it gave the whole story a sprinkling of old school charm that made me feel like I was in an old 1930's race car movie. It was damn near perfect! 

The story follows Rachel and Isaiah, two very different seventeen-year-olds who get into trouble after a drag race gone wrong. The book is all about their relationship and the things they have to do to pay off Eric - a notorious gangster type character. Both character's have a truck load of personal issues, that sometimes leaves me wondering how they even get up in the morning but there's also a humour within the text and a romance to make you swoon. Katie is an amazing story teller and I may have just become a bit of a fangirl.

This is yet another dual narrative. Although we do get an equal amounts of both Isaiah and Rachel which means we get the full picture of the events that unravel throughout the course of the book. I feel like I've said this a hundred times but I'll say it again. Dual narratives are hard to get right! A lot of the time if I know it's being told from more than one point of view I won't even pick the book up but Katie has this insane talent for creating voices that are rich, real and above all else completely unique. 

"I can't give you the world, Rachel, but I'll give you all I got."

Out of the two characters I personally connected a lot with Rachel, however it was Isaiah's half of the story that drew me in. He's damaged and rough around the edges. He has this way about him that screams 'I don't give a f*ck' but you can tell that he doesn't do anything unless he believes it's what needs to be done to keep the people he loves safe. Once I had finished reading I went through the notes I had made and all the highlighted quotes were from Isaiah. If there was ever a book boy to swoon over this would be the one. I've not read a character quite like him before and I feel sorry for the character's in the next book I read as Crash Into You casts quite an impressive shadow. 

It wasn't perfect though, there were moments when I could't tell if I was meant to like certain characters or not and I, for one, hated Rachel's brothers. I found them over protective to the point where I wanted to slap them! Especially West, who I just wanted to shake out of the book at one point. 

Then there was Abby. This is a book full of broken toys and she is probably the most fractured of them all but I loved her. I wanted to bundle her up and give her a better story. I don't know if Abby is one of the character's that's been covered in the Pushing The Limit's books so far but if she isn't then I really hope she gets her own book soon. 

Rachel and Isaiah's story is a compelling and an all round wonderful read that will have you captivated from the first page. It will draw you in and make you take note of every little detail. I'm struggling to put into words how much I enjoyed this book without gushing. And I hope that - like myself - you are all heading to your local bookstores to pick up the rest of this series! It's a must read and another book perfect for the summer. 

"I'm waiting, angel."

**I received this book as an ARC from Edelweiss to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**