Publisher: Mira Ink
Release: 26th November 2013
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Received from the publishers in exchange for an honest review
Goodreads Summary:
"The girl with straight A's, 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
My heart broke for Isaiah in Dare You To and so right from the start of Crash Into You I was rooting for him to finally find the love and happiness he deserves. I’d seen a few mixed reviews before reading this book and knowing that a big part of it is about cars and street racing (something I know next to nothing about) I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t enjoy this book as much as the other two in the series. I needn’t have worried, despite Isaiah and Rachel’s car talk going over my head at times, I actually loved the thrill of the car races and the excitement it added to the story. To my surprise I ended up loving Crash Into You even more than Dare You To although Pushing The Limits still remains my favourite.
I think the reason I loved Crash Into You so much is because of Rachel and her story. Rachel appears to have it all; wealthy parents, an expensive education, and four protective big brothers. Behind the façade her family are crumbling from the heartbreak of losing Colleen – a sister Rachel never knew and was born to replace. Colleen was girly, confident and had a strong bond with their mother. A bond that Rachel is desperately trying to forge by being who her family wants her to be - essentially another Colleen. However Rachel is nothing like her sister was; she’d much rather tinker around with her beloved car than go for pedicures with her mom. Rachel is crumbling under the pressure of living in Colleen’s shadow and as a result suffers from crippling panic attacks. Being somebody who suffers with anxiety I instantly connected with Rachel and felt sympathetic towards her situation. Rachel sees herself as selfish and weak and I loved reading about her growth as a character as she came out of her shell and realised that what she saw as her weakness actually takes strength to live with. By the end of the book I was so proud of her and got all emotional at how far she’d come.
A reoccurring theme throughout Crash Into You is how appearances can be deceiving and that was certainly true for Isaiah as well as Rachel. I’d read in a few reviews that people felt like Isaiah’s personality completely changed in this book but I just think that we finally got to see the real Isaiah behind the front he puts on. Isaiah’s the kind of guy you’d cross over the street to avoid if you saw him coming with the tattoos, piercings, and his reputation for being a bad ass. We learn in this book that that isn’t Isaiah at all but an exterior he wants the world to see. It’s the armour he uses to protect himself and stop people from getting too close or messing with what’s his. I loved getting to know the Isaiah underneath all that – a guy who is deeply damaged by his past and fiercely protective of those rare and special people who he lets in.
I loved Rachel and Isaiah’s relationship and thought that they had fantastic chemistry. Although there was an immediate attraction between them I liked how Isaiah still struggled with his feelings for Beth and how they didn’t just disappear as soon as Rachel came along. Rachel was the perfect match for Isaiah; she loves cars as much as he does, isn’t intimidated by how he looks and takes the time to get to know the person underneath. Not only did Rachel and Isaiah bring out the best in each other but they also challenged one another. Isaiah had to find faith that Rachel wouldn’t be snatched away from him like so much in his life has been and Rachel has to show Isaiah that she’s strong enough to take care of herself and that he doesn’t need to protect her.
Overall I absolutely loved Crash Into You! I laughed, I cried, I swooned and I’m left desperate for stories featuring Abby, Logan and Ethan who were brilliant secondary characters that I want more from (maybe Abby with one of the guys?) Katie McGarry has done it again and I’m looking forward to West's story in Take Me On.
