Review: Crash into You by Katie McGarry

Series: Pushing the Limits #3

From acclaimed author Katie McGarry comes an explosive new tale of a romance forged in the fast lane.

The last thing Isaiah needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks. But when their shared love of street racing puts their lives in jeopardy, Isaiah and Rachel will have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they’ll go to save each other.

4.5 Drink Me Potions

Crash into You has that same Katie McGarry spark but has its own unique love story that is sweet and so, so very tangible. I fell in love as soon as I opened it.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read Isaiah’s story. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I loved Dare You To and he was just so sad as the girl he thought he was in love with, Beth, fell for another guy (who was so much better for her, to be honest). I always felt sad for him. His home life is awful, with foster parents that just didn’t care about his well-being so long as they got the money for taking him in.

And here’s the girl who was supposed to be good for him. A rich girl who loved cars. Now, I’m not a huge car lover – and frankly, I know crap about cars or their parts. I may admire a fast car but I’m no speed or adrenaline junkie. So I wasn’t sure if I could get into this book since it seems to centre on this connection Isaiah and Rachel had.

But I was so, SO wrong. And thank God for that. Their chemistry was so right and so present from the moment they both eyed each other.

Rachel was such an easy girl to love and understand. She has extreme anxiety and panic attacks, which makes her think that she’s weak. When you’re the youngest of 5 children, all of the rest being boys, and she being the replacement daughter for the one her parents lost to leukemia earlier, it’s a lot of pressure and stress to be “perfect”. That’s no good with anxiety. I understand anxiety and am so glad it doesn’t get as bad as hers did. But she tried. Honestly wanted to make her whole family happy, yet none of them seemed to realize just how hard it was to be this girl they all wanted her to be to make their mom happy and proud. The brothers called themselves protective but all I saw sometimes was a selfish yearning for her to continue pleasing their mom so that she didn’t sink into any depressive funk and forget about all of her remaining children. It goes to show that having money doesn’t equate to a lower probability on family dysfunction.

And Isaiah was equally likable. He had so much heart but he was so afraid of letting people in ’cause they only seem to leave and disappoint him. He had to face the mother who left him and got thrown into jail, letting him suffer in the system. But he found it in himself to still love Rachel, and he honestly would’ve done anything for her even if she didn’t ask. For a guy who wanted to scare the world and give them an impression that says “KEEP AWAY”, his heart had so much room for love if only the girl he cared for realized just how lucky she was to receive board in his heart. No matter how difficult life was for him at the moment, and most of these stem from financial problems and the unpredictable nature of his future after aging out of the system, he had somehow found Rachel and he didn’t ever want to let go, no matter what it cost.

These two broken individuals were so much stronger together than apart. They both developed so much in the course of the story as they conquered their individual demons together. Katie McGarry is just so good at giving her characters such strong voices and depicting the depth of their situations as if we were facing them along with them. I loved how these two came together, and fought alongside each other. I loved their first kiss and how they made up when they miscommunicated with each other. I just loved them.

And of course, there was the tense main story arc they both had to face: paying off a debt to some guy who was like a king of many different underground operations, including illegal drag racing. I read this in one go as I was desperate to see how it would all end, all the while drawing out the Isaiah and Rachel’s insecurities. I was never disappointed and coming up for air after finishing this book has left me in a little funk.

Honestly, I can’t really piece together the right words to describe the beauty of a story like this. McGarry is honestly a queen of contemporary YA. The ending wasn’t very predicable but it ended on a hopeful and happy note. And along the way, there were just so many feels for our protagonists. After falling so in love with Beth’s story previously, I have to say that I’m surprised Isaiah’s story has captured my heart just as much as hers did.

Overall Recommendation:
Filled with heart and emotions as it typical for Katie McGarry’s books, Crash into You was one speedy ride that tore at my heart for the pain our two protagonists faced in their very different lives. However, McGarry was able to craft together a wonderful connection between Isaiah and Rachel as they bonded over a common goal and enemy. And as they learned to let down their walls for each, the delicious chemistry between them from the start took over and another different kind of thrill took my heart on a ride. I honestly can’t think she could’ve done this book any better than it is. It’s a definite recommendation.