Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits, #3)

by Katie McGarry

'KISS ME,' Isaiah whispers.

My heart beats frantically

Isaiah is hot and scary and hot.

Why would a guy like him want to be anywhere near A GIRL LIKE ME?

People expect Rachel Young to be the good girl who always gets straight As.

But Rachel's keeping her real life secret.

Her wealthy family have no idea that she loves racing strangers in her mustang. Or about dangerous, intense Isaiah Walker

Isaiah has secrets, too. And the last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl slumming it.

But when their shared love of speed puts their lives in jeopardy, Isaiah and Rachel have six weeks to come up with a way out - and to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Praise for Katie McGarry

'The love story of the year' - Teen Now on Pushing the Limits

'A real page-turner' - Mizz onPushing the Limits.

'A romance with a difference' - Bliss onPushing the Limits

The Pushing the Limits Series

1. Pushing the Limits

2. Dare You To

3. Crash Into You

4. Take Me On

• ISBN10: 037321099X
• ISBN13: 9780373210992
• Publish Date: 26 November 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: CA
• Imprint: Harlequin Teen
• Edition: Original ed.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[pagingserenity]

I enjoyed reading Crash into You more than Dare You To. I was able to connect to both characters more easily. I really felt for Rachel and kind of hated her family situation. I also thought she was a bit naive. Like with Beth, I loved getting to know Isaiah better and finally read about his background story. That being said, I thought the story was a bit stagnant to me. While I was able to connect with the characters, I couldn’t really emote with the conflict they had. Does that make sense? I didn’t feel an urgency for them to solve their huge problem even though their lives would be really messed up if they couldn’t do so.

[Sam@WLABB]

Oh Katie, how you tried to trick me there towards the end. I got a little verklempt and shed a tear.

Loved the new characters, Abby especially. The way Rachel and Isaiah complete each other, sigh.

[boghunden]

Isaiah er min yndlingskarakter i den her serie, så derfor havde jeg selvfølgelig glædet mig til at læse den. Desværre blev jeg ret skuffet. En meget stor del af bogen handlede nemlig om biler og drag race. Det interesserer mig ikke rigtigt, og desværre blev det heller ikke rigtig gjort interessant. Jeg mistede fuldstændig interessen omkring 40% inde og den kom først igen de sidste 20-30% af bogen. Rigtig ærgerligt.

I forhold til karaktererne, så må et af kendetegnene for den her serie være, at det er komplekse karakterer, der har større problemer, end hvad tid, de skal være hjemme om aftenen. Til at starte med elskede jeg Rachel. Hun var så nem at holde af og jeg identificerede mig hurtigt med hende. Hvad der begyndte så godt, endte desværre skidt. Selvom det er lidt ondt at sige, så synes jeg faktisk, hun blev patetisk. Hun tog overhovedet ikke ansvar for sit eget liv, men blev ved at køre i, at ”jeg gider altså ikke være, som mine forældre vil have, men det er jeg jo nød til.” Gal, hvor blev det bare trættende at høre på! Isaiah var bedre, men blev ved at tale om den kriminelle løbebane, så man til sidst bare sad og tænkte ”så gør det dog!” – så ville man nemlig slippe for at høre mere på det.

Jeg er glad for, at Beth var med i historien. Hende har jeg savnet lige fra sidste bog af. Derudover kan jeg også nævne Abby, som også var en rigtig skøn biperson, som jeg faktisk ikke husker, at have hørt om før. Hun var simpelthen bare helt fantastisk! Hende kunne jeg godt bruge en bog om… Hun har helt sikkert noget spændende at byde på!

I virkeligheden var det jo også langt fra en dårlig bog. Den var bare ikke lige så meget mig, som de øvrige bøger og noveller i serien har været.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/01/crash-into-you-by-katie-mcgarry.html
The Pushing The Limits series is an incredible young adult series, amongst my favourite contemporaries. Book one left me an emotional mess, book two was a miss as I don't particularly like Beth's character, but I loved Crash Into You. It's a mixture of adrenalin, passion and insecurities and if Isaiah isn't the hottest character in young adult of recent times, I'll eat my hat. I'll admit, he wasn't a favourite of mine in the previous two books, he seemed to be portrayed as just a tough thug with no aspirations. I couldn't have been more wrong. He's probably the closest character to being realistic as you could find. A guy portraying that he's tough, fearless and wants to be left alone, but he's scared, vulnerable and his self esteem won't allow himself to believe he's worthy of someone like Rachel.

Rachel isn't without her faults, she lives her life as a replica of her deceased sister, but not by choice. No one wants to see their mother unhappy, so her brothers, including her twin Ethan and father, constantly push her to become the image of Colleen that her mother mourns. It's only with Isaiah where she finds she doesn't need to pretend, but having never had a boyfriend before, she's walking on eggshells with the boy she finds herself slowly falling for.

Katie McGarry's writing is effortless. She doesn't indulge in long speech dialogues between characters, which gives the storyline a realism that most contemporaries seem to lack. She's fast becoming one of my favourite authors, with her emotional, realistic, feel good storylines.

And thank you for the Kellan Lutz lookalike model on the cover Ms McGarry. Thank you.

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read this review and more check out my blog!

4.5 stars
I don't know how McGarry does it, but she does it like a boss! Damn, this book was good. I finished it in one sitting, and it's by no means small. It was that grabbing!

I admit I wasn't sold on this book before reading it. Isaiah wasn't one of the characters I was in love with from the other books. Though, to be honest, neither was Beth. Anyway, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this book. Especially with the cars angle (I know nothing about cars) and how he's described to get high all the time in book 1.

Turns out, I didn't need to worry! McGarry does here what she does best - creating the sweetest fake "bad boy" on the planet. And he is a "fake" - it's all a front to ensure nobody messes with him. He's not a pot head... he's actually a very sweet and caring guy, who can't afforded to be publicly either in the world he lives in. It's all rather endearing.

Speaking of "faking it"...
To read the rest of this review, go here

[e_rodz_leb]

Well, color me surprised! I didn’t think that I would love a book in this series as well as I did Pushing the Limits, but McGarry has proven me wrong. Crash Into You was absolutely incredible!

I think what I liked most about Crash Into You was the characters. To be honest, I was ready to dislike Isaiah, but I really fell in love with him. He is overprotective to be sure, but he’s also honest, loving, loyal, and strong. I really liked being in his head. He is a foster child and has suffered a lot in his life, but he has always strive to do what he thinks is best and to improve himself. His love and knowledge of cars is his ticket out of system.

Rachel, is a gorgeous, rich girl. She is also a lot more than that. She feels like she has to lie and pretend to fit in her family and understandably so. I felt so bad for her and so mad at her parents and even her brothers for putting so much pressure on her. Even though she thinks of herself as weak, she is not. She cannot see herself clearly, because of the way her family treats her. Her panic attacks were so painful to read, and what sucks is that she felt she couldn’t cry out and get help.

In this installment, we get to see more of Noah, Beth, Echo, Ryan and specially Logan. Rachel’s family is introduced too, which includes four gorgeous brothers. Ethan and West being my favorite. Avery is an unexpected and welcomed addition to the group and she becomes fast friends with Rachel, which she needed a lot.

The writing is, as always, so very good. I particularly love Rachel and Isaiah’s dialogue and how McGarry portrait family and friend dynamics. The story is simple and yet I found myself surprised by some of the unexpected turns. I will most definitely anxiously wait for Take Me On, the next installment in the series and West’s story.


About the cover: This is my favorite of all. It shows Isaiah and Rachel lovingly embracing each other on the back of a car.

[lizarodz]

Well, color me surprised! I didn’t think that I would love a book in this series as well as I did Pushing the Limits, but McGarry has proven me wrong. Crash Into You was absolutely incredible!

I think what I liked most about Crash Into You was the characters. To be honest, I was ready to dislike Isaiah, but I really fell in love with him. He is overprotective to be sure, but he’s also honest, loving, loyal, and strong. I really liked being in his head. He is a foster child and has suffered a lot in his life, but he has always strive to do what he thinks is best and to improve himself. His love and knowledge of cars is his ticket out of system.

Rachel, is a gorgeous, rich girl. She is also a lot more than that. She feels like she has to lie and pretend to fit in her family and understandably so. I felt so bad for her and so mad at her parents and even her brothers for putting so much pressure on her. Even though she thinks of herself as weak, she is not. She cannot see herself clearly, because of the way her family treats her. Her panic attacks were so painful to read, and what sucks is that she felt she couldn’t cry out and get help.

In this installment, we get to see more of Noah, Beth, Echo, Ryan and specially Logan. Rachel’s family is introduced too, which includes four gorgeous brothers. Ethan and West being my favorite. Avery is an unexpected and welcomed addition to the group and she becomes fast friends with Rachel, which she needed a lot.

The writing is, as always, so very good. I particularly love Rachel and Isaiah’s dialogue and how McGarry portrait family and friend dynamics. The story is simple and yet I found myself surprised by some of the unexpected turns. I will most definitely anxiously wait for Take Me On, the next installment in the series and West’s story.


About the cover: This is my favorite of all. It shows Isaiah and Rachel lovingly embracing each other on the back of a car.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Review coming soon.

[KitsuneBae]

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

This review first appeared on my blog at: Thoughts and Pens.

This book has just brought me to hell and back again.

Since this is an ARC, Luxa and I decided to get away from the lengthy interview review approach. Thus, consider yourself lucky for being spared of Luxa’s err~ cheesy jokes. Right. So if someone asked me right now to describe Crash Into You in one sentence, then it would be this: Crash Into You’s the bookish and more dramatic version of The Fast and The Furious. Oh how I love the said movie series and Crash Into You really had me swooning. The best part is that it is Isaiah’s love story. Cool eh?

Even from the start (Pushing the Limits), I had my eyes on Isaiah. For some reason, he really jumped out on me. Even with his tattoos, he was Noah and Beth’s guide and pillar in times of need. He’s the type who does not judge immediately and would see the two sides of the coin first. So you can say that I was hyping and jumping after I finished Dare You To (TBH, I finished the Pushing the Limits Trilogy in 2 successive days). I was excited to dive into this immediately. I mean, Isaiah + fast cars= WIN!

As what the summary said, Crash Into You is Isaiah’s story. In this sequel, he’s already living with Noah, a struggling college student now. While Isaiah is still mending his broken heart, a new set of problems has come his way which involved going back to his foster parent’s house, reuniting with his dark past and a new girl.

Just like the previous two books (Pushing the Limits and Dare You To), one of the greatest strengths of Crash Into You is its characters and their relationships. As I’ve mentioned, Isaiah’s my favourite among the f**ked up three. Beneath the tattoos and the earrings is a gentle and broken soul. And his loyalty and protectiveness to the people he loves had me crushing all over him. I mean, he really makes an amazing boyfriend because despite his flaws, he always managed to come through for the people depending on him. For some reason, I despise Rachel because of this. I have a love and hate relationship with her. At some point, I admired her boldness, her unconditional love for Isaiah and her family (even if it means getting really sick). BUT her insecurities and her sometimes lack of self-preservation makes me want to cringe. There was this scene in the book where she accused Isaiah of being a control freak and undermining her capability when in fact the latter is just desperate to protect her. That scene got me so worked up that I have to knock off a 0.5 star from this review. I understand her need to prove but it doesn’t mean that she has to be brainless about it. To make the story short, I prefer to see the bold Rachel, the one who doesn’t hesitate to tell Isaiah that she wanted to kiss him back.

Even the antagonist, Eric, has made an impression on me. He is subtle and cunning. I love how his mind worked and how he greatly reminded me of a snake ready to strike out any given moment.

Moving on, Crash Into You’s complex familial relationships felt real that I can already taste them. It reeked of rawness and all the painful stuff in the world. There’s the Young family which gave me a happy and scary feeling. Rachel’s relationship with her dad and mom seriously freaked me out but her relationship with Ethan and West was one of the best. And then, there’s also Isaiah’s issue with his long lost mother. I adored and loathed the woman at the same time. But I wouldn’t tell what happened to her for fear of spoiling you.

Plot-wise, Crash Into You is clearly driven by its romance, the cast and their complicated relationships, and drag racing. Kudos to Katie for adding the latter as a twist to the whole story. It’s definitely conceivable and made me love fast cars more.

And that ending, so neatly wrapped and a perfect happy ever after. I mean not the fairy tale kind but you know, very realistic. My only regret is that Eric didn’t get his comeuppance. Le sigh.

To sum it up, Crash Into You packed a lot of punch despite its predictability. It thoroughly maintained the gritty tone of Pushing The Limits series whilst adding its own flourish. This is another book that deserves a permanent home in my All-Time-Favorites bookshelf.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Crash into You by Katie McGarry shares with us Isaiah Walker’s story and one I was anxious to read. I have loved Isaiah since the beginning of the Pushing the Limits series and like many was slightly disappointed that he didn’t get his happily ever after with Beth. McGarry had Rachel Young waiting in the wings and the tale that unfolded was an enjoyable and kept me turning the pages. Mini review: sweet, well paced and engaging.

Isaiah needs money to help pay the rent for the dive he shares with Noah and ends up at a street race. He is looking to work for Eric the local street king and thug. Rachel Young is a child of privilege, a misfit and the pressure to be perfect sometimes becomes too much. Her love of fast cars keeps her from going over the edge. A chance encounter at a gas station has her racing that night. When cops arrive Isaiah steps in and helps her escape. The tale that unfolds is romantic, sweet, suspenseful, and has heart-stopping moments.

Isaiah is such a walking contradiction. If you saw him walking down the street, you would see tattoos, piercings and an overall bad-ass. Which is exactly what he wants you to see, but on the inside he is filled with determination, sweetness, heartbreak and such loyalty it’s heartbreaking. He may be a child of the system with a chip on his shoulder, but he is also smart, motivated and resourceful. You would expect to open up his juvey file and see arrests but you will find nothing because Isaiah has a plan. Rachel Young is also seventeen, and has a household full of brothers who have kept her from getting to know the opposite sex. She comes from a upper-class nuclear family, and she too is a walking contradiction. The interaction, banter and romantic moments between them are sweet, tender, and hopeful. I felt their connection and understood their pain. Both of them are flawed and have secrets, fears, desires, and it was wonderful that they found someone they could open up to. Eric the local king thud and villain created tension. I just wanted to meet him in a dark alley and go all ninja on his ass. Let me know if you want to join me. Noah, Echo, Ryan and Beth all make appearances. Abby, Isaiah’s friend, proved to be a very enjoyable character, and I am hoping McGarry shares her story because the girl has spunk.

Crash into You was low on the romantic angst and eased into the romance. McGarry shared this tale from Isaiah’s point of view, and I loved getting inside his head. Car racing legal and illegal are a part of this tale, as well as the inner workings of street gangs. It also touches on stress, family pressure, dysfunctional families and preconceived prejudice. McGarry only skimmed the surface of these issues keeping the focus on the romance. She did, however, add in concerned adults; family members and all of them recommended professional help..Hallelujah. The plot was well paced, and while the romance had moments of “insta-love” it slowly developed and I appreciated that. The tale itself didn’t have the emotionally draining relationship drama we saw with Ryan and Beth and for that I was grateful. The conflicts, and twists throughout the tale kept me searching for my HEA.

Fans of the series, flawed characters and swoon-worthy romances will enjoy Crash into You. While I totally recommend, you start with book one of the Pushing the Limits series but each is designed to work as a standalone. Take Me On the fourth book will feature West Young.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer