Review: Crash Into You

Book: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Publication Date: November 26, 2013
Series: Pushing the Limits (#3)
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: 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.


Overall Review:
Okay, you don't even have to have known me 5 minutes to know that I am so in love with Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits and just her books in general. While Dare You To is amazing, I didn't love it as much as I did Pushing the Limits and I was really looking forward to Crash Into You because I just adore Isaiah. I really really do. Katie McGarry is on my auto buy list with her amazing books, surprisingly lovable characters, and her adorable and addicting way of telling a story and trust me when I saw that Crash Into You was no exception! Crash Into You was a longer book but honestly I didn't notice because it just flew by, as McGarry's books always do. McGarry has once again threw me with her ability to write heart breaking and down right tragic lives for her characters, causing me to like them when I never thought I would. While Echo and Noah's lives in Pushing the Limits and even Beth's life in Dare You To could be down right horrific or tear worthy, Crash Into You was the one to really get my emotions, mostly anger, out in a way that I wasn't expecting. I always manage to feel bad for McGarry's characters but this time was different because even Rachel, a seemingly normal girl that does have baggage but quite frankly seemed to have the least amount of problems in her life, had to deal with so much crap with nobody to understand her. Her life, as perfect as it appeared, down right sucked and I felt for her so much in ways that I've never felt for any of McGarry's characters, even Echo (and she's my favorite!) There were a couple of cliche moments that either made me roll my eyes or giggle, but for the most part Crash Into You was addicting, fun, thrilling, intense, and swoon worthy! It's the type of book that could make you want to punch something in honor of its characters but also hug it to your chest and cry from all the feelings you have. And trust me, you will have tons of feelings running amok inside of you while reading.

I was surprised by how much I adored Rachel. Not that I thought I would dislike her or anything, but before reading she seemed kind of plain despite the fact that she hid the fact that she was in love with cars and racing. That was certainly interesting to find out given the fact that she's a straight A, rich girl with an overbearing, over protective family. I figured she'd be the kind of character that I enjoyed but for the most part would be just there. So I was caught completely by surprised over the fact that I was protective of her, I adored her, I just wanted to hug her and be her best friend! She was kind to a fault, far too trusting for her own good, naive at times but very knowledgeable and mature far beyond her years at other times, and she was just an all around good person who wanted a simple life where she could be herself and not worry about anything. I felt for her, I really did. Sometimes I felt she was far too nice because her family just pissed me off so much, but she was ever forgiving and loving to them. She was a heck of a lot stronger than I ever would've given her credit for. She seemed weak at first but really she's a strong, independent girl just waiting for people to realize it. Everyone underestimated her and for that I felt even more for her, but others soon realized just how amazing she truly was and I was so happy about that.
Isaiah. Oh my god Isaiah. He and I have been down a very bumpy road together. In Pushing the Limits I adored him, sympathized with him, even pitied him (don't tell him I said that) and when I found out he was getting his own book I was just freaking out. Which made me all the more excited to read Dare You To because there was more Isaiah! However, he came off a complete jerk, huge control freak, and pretty darn selfish if you ask me. After that, I wasn't sure what to expect from him! I was honestly a little nervous because I wanted the Isaiah from Pushing the Limits back and not whatever the heck he turned into. I had nothing to worry about though because Crash Into You made me fall in love with him all over again. He's sweet, protective, loving, and loyal beyond belief. He's been through a lot and while he does have some scars on the outside, the real scars run deep and it shows. He's honestly the kind of guy that I couldn't help but love and want to help because life has kicked him down far too many times and he is one of people who deserves that the least of all. He could be a little hardheaded and stubborn sometimes, but I never held it against him. Honestly, after reading Crash Into You I don't think I could ever not love him. He could rob a bank and punch a blind guy in the face and I'd still swoon over him. Weird right?

I was a little hesitant on the romance in Crash Into You because unlike with the others, where they meet and hate each other before becoming friends and then dating then falling in love and stuff like that, there was definitely more of an instalove/instaobsession thing going on. It wasn't a huge deal really, but it caught me off guard and kind of turned me off, if you get what I mean. I don't have a problem with instalove if done right but there's been very few cases were it has been done right. While it takes a bit for Rachel and Isaiah to get together and start being cutesy and romantic, I do think that McGarry did an excellent job with the instaobsession thing. It seemed pretty authentic to me and worked so well with both Rachel and Isaiah that I felt silly ever being nervous about it at all. If McGarry knows how to do anything, it's how to write an adorable, swoony, addicting romance! And write book boys. Man can she write book boys!

Crash Into You was pretty fast paced and over far too quickly, as McGarry's books always are (which makes me want to cry). Her books are seriously like a drug to me, I can never get enough. Katie McGarry has done it again with this beautiful, heart wrenching, heart pounding story. I was so looking forward to Isaiah's story and I was not at all disappointed! While I felt a lot of things for McGarry's previous books, Crash Into You was the one that really got me fired out and sent my emotions haywire. I felt anger, sadness, love, suspense, and many more that all completely caught me by surprise. It's the kind of book that really gets you feeling for the characters in such a way that you either want to cry out at the injustice of their lives or hug the book to your chest and never let it go. I cannot tell you how much I adored reading this. Rachel's character completely threw me off guard. I never thought I'd like her as much as I did, and still do. I felt for her in such a way that I haven't felt for any of McGarry's other girls, not even Echo! I wanted to hug her and befriend her and comfort her and help her and just make life easier for her because she was one of the nicest, sweetest, most trusting girls ever. Isaiah was another surprise. My feelings for him have been pretty rollercoaster-y (yes I just made that up) due to his behavior in previous books so I wasn't at all sure how he was going to be in Crash Into You. Well I fell for him and I fell hard, harder than I did for him in Pushing the Limits. He's been through so much and he doesn't deserve half the crap he gets. He's a nice guy who is one of the most loyal people you'll ever meet. He's just amazing. I was a little hesitant on the romance in the very beginning because of that new instaobsession that took place but after getting into it I found myself acting silly for ever being worried. McGarry pulled this off in such a beautiful, heart warming, and adorable way. I love Isaiah and Rachel together so much! Can I just say how gorgeous that cover is? I'll admit it took me awhile to get used to the Isaiah (because I didn't picture him like that) and the bright redness of the background but I soon fell in love! 



Overall Rating:
I give Crash Into You a 5 out of 5 star rating, and I never suspected I'd give it anything less. I adored this book so much and felt it was over far too quickly. It's almost impossible to explain how much I loved Crash Into You and Katie McGarry's books in general. The fact that I rated all three of her novels with 5 stars should definitely say something to you all. I totally recommend this book, as well as the others (especially Pushing the Limits which I do quite frequently on Twitter!) to anyone. If you like contemporary, you'll love this. Even if you don't really read contemp, give these books a chance. They were the reason I started reading contemporary in the first place. I can't recommend Katie McGarry's books enough to people. They are just perfection! The wait for Take Me On is just torture! Thanks for reading!

5/5 stars

~Kayla~