The YA's Nightstand: YA Contemporary Romance

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.**

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary (From Back Cover)

Cath and Wren are identical twins and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not easy for Cath. She would rather bury herself in the fanfiction she writes where there's romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.

Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realising that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible...

Review

I think that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling right now! Holey Moley that was a good book - yes I said Holey Moley! In fact I think it was one of my favourite contemporary reads ever. Fangirling for Fangirl, seems to be the common tag line for this book, although I think I'm fangirling for Levi! Yes that's what's happening... I'm fangirling for Levi. I'm also going to stop saying fangirling now as it's starting to sound really weird.

The story is about Cather, and it's a true coming of age story, where she has to figure out who she is and how she fits into college life, away from all the comforts of home. And she has to do all this without her other half, her twin, Wren. She has to find a place where she can be happy, but with so many tangled ties to her past can she really move forward into the adult world alone?

"Underneath this veneer of slightly crazy and mildly socially retarded, I'm a complete disaster."

I adore Cather! Full stop, end of story. She has her moments where you kind of want to shake her into doing something, but at the same time you always understand where she's coming from. Why she makes the decisions she does. I'm not a huge lover of fanfic but throughout this story you start - if you didn't already - to develop an admiration for these writers. I also found the way in which Rowell uses Cath's Simon and Baz tales to emphasise the struggles that parallel in the twins lives a really nice touch. Especially the idea that the end of a story doesn't actually mean the end. There's never an end if you keep believing in something, or maybe, someone.

I think that one of the biggest story plots of this book is the twins mother - or lack of one as the case may be. They both deal with the whole 'mum' situation in different ways which pulls them apart, leading them down two very different paths. I found that even when they weren't specifically referring to her, the fact that she abandoned Cath and Wren seemed to seep into every inch of this book. I couldn't say what I would do in that situation, but I think I would be team Cather.

SWOON ALERT! Levi... he's our obvious fictional crush, he has a couple of layers to him but in the end he is what he is. Which in my opinion? Makes a refreshing change from all the male leads where you spend half the book figuring out if they're a decent human being or not. And apart from a dodgy middle section, I really like the way he treats Cath! But to be fair was that really his fault?

Character to look out for... I think it has to be Reagan! She's blunt and honest and real and I love her. Simple as.

Overall this is a really interesting read. It had my attention from the first chapter. It's real and gritty at times, not shying away from reality or sugar coating it. But at the same time it doesn't ever take it too far, it's still a sweet and enjoyable story that will have you pestering all you friends to read it just so you can talk about it! Or maybe that's just me... Either way, if you haven't read this then you need to! It's the perfect YA Contemporary Romance.

So, before you lovely people rush out to buy a copy of Fangirl I wanted to leave you with one of my favourite quotes of the book, and a little something that I think this story deserves!