REVIEW: Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

Edition: Harlequin Teen Australia Paperback

Release Date: November 26 2013
Pages: 464
Series: Pushing The Limits #3
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Romance
Source: Received as an eARC from Harlequin Teen Australia via Netgalley (Thank you)
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website | Buy the book

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.

I really enjoyed Isaiah and Rachel's story. I've just learnt to expect amazingness from Katie McGarry because I'm such a fan of The Pushing the Limits series. Katie has an ability to create flawed and diverse characters who match beautifully together. While Crash Into You was my least favourite of the three, I still enjoyed every moment of it.

Rachel's story was one I sympathized with deeply. I just really liked her as a character and I really felt for her. Rachel has grown up in the shadow of her deceased sister Colleen who passed away from leukaemia, whom she never met. Since the death of Colleen, Rachel has always been expected to be the perfect child and was basically kept on a tight leash. Rachel has reoccurring panic attacks that her family believe she got rid of years ago. Which causes quite a problem when her mother asks her to make speeches on Colleen's behalf. Her parents and 4 protective brothers, extremely aggravated me. I found their behaviour selfish and inconsiderate. I just really wanted to give Rachel a cuddle. After finishing Dare You To shortly before hand, it was really interesting to see the huge contrast between the personalities of Rachel and Beth. I'm hoping that we'll get to see a bit of Rachel in Take Me On, which is going to be about her older brother, West. 

Everyone seemed to fall for Isaiah in the two previous novels whereas I didn't really know how to feel about him. Isaiah is a Foster kid whose a little rough around the edges. Tattoo's, earrings, the lot and after loosing Beth he's not ready to trust again. I quite liked Isaiah's chapters and I really enjoyed seeing a softer and sweeter side to him. Although I would have loved more detail in some of his storylines because I would have really liked to read more on his relationship with his mother and his backstory. 

I loved that our two main characters who were total opposites, got to bond over their love of cars. Even though it was like a foreign language to me. When Rachel and Isaiah get wrongly accused of something, they end up in debt to bad guy Eric. It was a interesting storyline and I was wondering how the were going to get the money on time. Some situations I felt got anti-climatic and some storylines sort of faded away.

The romance was very sweet and quick forming. It was verging on insta love and it formed a lot quicker than the other two in the series. A bit of build up would have been perfect, but it was still a very believable and cute relationship. My only complaint was that it got a bit too angsty and conflicted for my preference, but sometimes that happens in YA.

I loved that the whole gang made an appearance in the one book, it made me so freaking happy! Like always with Katie McGarry's books, Crash Into You was addictive and hard to put down. I loved that she even managed to thrown in a last minute plot twist and boy did that thing come in like a wrecking ball. I may have had an minor heart attack. I had a few small issues with Crash Into You but this series is most definitely a favourite of mine. It was a great read and I loved every moment of it. Katie McGarry is and will continue to be on the auto-buy list and I'm super excited for Take Me On. Take Me On will be in Australian Stores, June 1st.