Review: Crash Into You

Crash Into You

By Katie McGarry

Published: November 26, 2013

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.

My review:

This third book in the Pushing the Limits series focuses on Isaiah, a guy who looks tough on the outside but is really hurting because of the way he is always being left by those he loves. When I was first introduced to Isaiah in Pushing the Limits, I didn't have the best opinion of him. I liked him more than Beth but he seemed to be more into getting high than anything else. This book really dispels that myth and shows Isaiah's strengths and good qualities (he has also stopped using and was never really into partying). Like with Beth in Dare You To, Crash Into You gives a different view of Isaiah.

Isaiah struggles with his hurt feelings over Beth but meeting Rachel helps him to realize that what he felt for Beth wasn't romantic love. It seems like Rachel and Isaiah bond rather quickly but she does have two important things in common with him: a messed up family and a love of fast cars. In comparison to Echo and Beth however I found Rachel to be a weak character and love interest. It was really frustrating at times. She also has a large family and it was difficult to keep track of the expanding cast of characters along with Beth's new friends. I couldn't remember who some of them were.

Overall I thought this was a good romance but it didn't live up to Dare You To or Pushing the Limits. I would have liked more time devoted to Isaiah and Rachel overcoming their emotional issues and a little less time devoted to cars. It felt like things were resolved too quickly with their family problems and the conflict with Eric. What makes this work however is the desire to see two broken people get a much deserved happy ending. I also liked the glimpses of Echo and Noah and even Beth and Ryan and maybe my favorite character in the book, Isaiah's friend Abby. I hope she gets her own book someday. If you are a fan of Simone Elkeles or Jennifer Echols then consider giving this series a try. I recommend starting with Pushing the Limits. Although this book could be read as a standalone, it works better if you read it in order.

Note: I received an ARC for review purposes courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher