Welcome to The Cover Contessa's stop on the Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits #2) blog tour hosted by YA Bound.
Crash into You (Pushing
the Limits #3)
Release Date: 11/26/13
Publisher: Harlequin
Teen
Hardcover/e-book
474 pages
Summary from Godreads:
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.
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.
Katie's Other books in the series:
The Cover Contessa's Review:
I want to thank Harlequinn Teen for providing me with an early ecopy of this book to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way influenced my opinion or review.
So, having read the first and second books in this series, you can imagine I was anxious to get to the next story. But I can honestly say that I wasn't thinking I was going to love it as much as the others. Reason being: I wasn't a huge Isaiah fan. His appearance in Dare You To kind of left a bad taste in my mouth and I wasn't sure why. But, because I know that Katie can write, I wasn't going to give up the chance to read this and see if she changed my mind about him. And guess what? SHE DID! I'm not sure who I like more now, Isaiah or Ryan!
Isaiah is the boy you don't bring home to mom. At least he's the boy you look at and think, this one is trouble and my parents would not approve. But deep down, he's so much more than you think he is. Sure, he's got the tats and the earrings and the attitude. But underneath this gruff exterior is a boy who is craving love, but scared to go to it. A boy who's seeking acceptance, but doesn't really want anyone to know. And, above all, there's a boy who has a true heart, one that once you've gotten into it, wraps you in warmth and never lets you go. Did I mention he's also swoon worthy? So, cast aside all the thoughts you might have about Isaiah because once you read this, you'll see he really is not what you think he is. He's much more complicated and deep, and really quite amazing. And he's passionate: passionate about cars, passionate about being who is without barriers, and passionate about keeping those he loves safe.
Now Rachel, she's also not quite what you expect. At first, she's this girl who can't handle pressure, who runs from things. She's gives off this innocent vibe and I felt like perhaps she might be one of the angst ridden teens I just cannot stand in YA books. But there is much more to her than meets the eye. Sure, she's rich and has everything she could ever want, but the one thing she really wants seems to be out of her reach: love. The love of her family, especially her mother. And she's boxed in by her four brothers who guard and shield her and go above and beyond to be over-protective. So much so that she has no friends, I mean zero, and seems to have no idea how to even be someone's friend. And she walks in the shadow of her deceased sister and can't seem to break free. But all this pressure to be perfect and do as her family wants leads her in the other direction. A direction where she craves speed, and takes chances she shouldn't. She's also sure that it won't ever be possible for someone to love her the way she wants to be loved: for herself and not for someone she was molded to be.
The secondary characters in this book are really great. I think my favorite is Abby. She is this gruff, unexpected twist in Rachel's life. She becomes this critically important piece to helping Rachel break free of her mold. I love how their friendship evolves. It's not all all what I think it would have been. And Rachel's, man, I spent most of the book wanting to smack them upside their heads. For each of them everything was about them and, while on the surface it looked as if they were trying to protect her, really they were just smothering her as they worried about themselves. I hated watching them constantly make her feel as if it were her duty to keep their family together. That's so much pressure for a girl who just wanted to be loved. And we also get to see so many of the characters we've grown to love from the previous books: Beth, Ryan, Logan, Echo, Noah. I especially loved watching a bit about Logan. He's a risk taker, and becomes an essential part of Isaiah's life when I never thought he would!
I will say that there was a bit of insta-love from the start of this book. And this worried me a bit, as it did with the first two books. Not surprising since this seems to be a theme in this series. But, while this usually really bothers me, it doesn't have the same feeling for me in these books. I am actually happy to jump right into a relationship with these characters. And the underlying plot is realistic, and a bit scary! It involves topics that many teens would possibly run into: drugs, drag racing, owing money. There are no slow areas in this book. You just keep wanting to push through to see how the action unfolds. And, yes, there is action, but there are also romance scenes that will make your toes curl.
And gosh darn can McGarry write. I mean her words just fly right off the page. Her pacing is spot on. And her characters are realistic and so easy to love, or hate depending on which ones you're reading about. They are well developed and you really care about them, sometimes too easily! McGarry writes these intense scenes that sometimes rip you to shreds, but she also have the ability to build you back up and make you fly. There's nothing sedate or boring about her writing. It's just amazing. You can see where she has done her research, especially in the area of car racing which I can't imagine is easy to write! I know nothing of racing, but with each description I can picture the races in my head so easily.
So, did I like this book? NO! I LOVED this book. It's right up there with the second one for me, which says a lot since I rarely like contemporary reads. But I think McGarry has totally changed my mind about what is good contemporary writing. With each of these books she takes things to a higher level, making the next one better than the last. How she does this, I have no idea, but I can't wait to keep reading these books and see where she goes next!
5 stars!
See my other review of Katie's books here:
Pushing the Limits
Crossing the Line
Dare You To
So, having read the first and second books in this series, you can imagine I was anxious to get to the next story. But I can honestly say that I wasn't thinking I was going to love it as much as the others. Reason being: I wasn't a huge Isaiah fan. His appearance in Dare You To kind of left a bad taste in my mouth and I wasn't sure why. But, because I know that Katie can write, I wasn't going to give up the chance to read this and see if she changed my mind about him. And guess what? SHE DID! I'm not sure who I like more now, Isaiah or Ryan!
Isaiah is the boy you don't bring home to mom. At least he's the boy you look at and think, this one is trouble and my parents would not approve. But deep down, he's so much more than you think he is. Sure, he's got the tats and the earrings and the attitude. But underneath this gruff exterior is a boy who is craving love, but scared to go to it. A boy who's seeking acceptance, but doesn't really want anyone to know. And, above all, there's a boy who has a true heart, one that once you've gotten into it, wraps you in warmth and never lets you go. Did I mention he's also swoon worthy? So, cast aside all the thoughts you might have about Isaiah because once you read this, you'll see he really is not what you think he is. He's much more complicated and deep, and really quite amazing. And he's passionate: passionate about cars, passionate about being who is without barriers, and passionate about keeping those he loves safe.
Now Rachel, she's also not quite what you expect. At first, she's this girl who can't handle pressure, who runs from things. She's gives off this innocent vibe and I felt like perhaps she might be one of the angst ridden teens I just cannot stand in YA books. But there is much more to her than meets the eye. Sure, she's rich and has everything she could ever want, but the one thing she really wants seems to be out of her reach: love. The love of her family, especially her mother. And she's boxed in by her four brothers who guard and shield her and go above and beyond to be over-protective. So much so that she has no friends, I mean zero, and seems to have no idea how to even be someone's friend. And she walks in the shadow of her deceased sister and can't seem to break free. But all this pressure to be perfect and do as her family wants leads her in the other direction. A direction where she craves speed, and takes chances she shouldn't. She's also sure that it won't ever be possible for someone to love her the way she wants to be loved: for herself and not for someone she was molded to be.
The secondary characters in this book are really great. I think my favorite is Abby. She is this gruff, unexpected twist in Rachel's life. She becomes this critically important piece to helping Rachel break free of her mold. I love how their friendship evolves. It's not all all what I think it would have been. And Rachel's, man, I spent most of the book wanting to smack them upside their heads. For each of them everything was about them and, while on the surface it looked as if they were trying to protect her, really they were just smothering her as they worried about themselves. I hated watching them constantly make her feel as if it were her duty to keep their family together. That's so much pressure for a girl who just wanted to be loved. And we also get to see so many of the characters we've grown to love from the previous books: Beth, Ryan, Logan, Echo, Noah. I especially loved watching a bit about Logan. He's a risk taker, and becomes an essential part of Isaiah's life when I never thought he would!
I will say that there was a bit of insta-love from the start of this book. And this worried me a bit, as it did with the first two books. Not surprising since this seems to be a theme in this series. But, while this usually really bothers me, it doesn't have the same feeling for me in these books. I am actually happy to jump right into a relationship with these characters. And the underlying plot is realistic, and a bit scary! It involves topics that many teens would possibly run into: drugs, drag racing, owing money. There are no slow areas in this book. You just keep wanting to push through to see how the action unfolds. And, yes, there is action, but there are also romance scenes that will make your toes curl.
And gosh darn can McGarry write. I mean her words just fly right off the page. Her pacing is spot on. And her characters are realistic and so easy to love, or hate depending on which ones you're reading about. They are well developed and you really care about them, sometimes too easily! McGarry writes these intense scenes that sometimes rip you to shreds, but she also have the ability to build you back up and make you fly. There's nothing sedate or boring about her writing. It's just amazing. You can see where she has done her research, especially in the area of car racing which I can't imagine is easy to write! I know nothing of racing, but with each description I can picture the races in my head so easily.
So, did I like this book? NO! I LOVED this book. It's right up there with the second one for me, which says a lot since I rarely like contemporary reads. But I think McGarry has totally changed my mind about what is good contemporary writing. With each of these books she takes things to a higher level, making the next one better than the last. How she does this, I have no idea, but I can't wait to keep reading these books and see where she goes next!
5 stars!
See my other review of Katie's books here:
Pushing the Limits
Crossing the Line
Dare You To
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.
***Author Links***
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