My TBR List Review ~ March ~ Crash Into You ~ Katie McGarry

My To-Be Read List is a meme hosted by Michelle @Because Reading. I think it's a fabulous idea because it gets y'all in the game and it helps me knock off some of the many, many books on my TBR list. You're more than welcome to join in the fun! I've included the basic rules below but you can click on the graphic above to hop over to Michelle's site where you can find all the details. 


Crash into You by Katie McGarry
Pushing the Limits #3
Release Date: November 26, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 5 Bookworms
Challenges: #TakeControlTBR
Goodreads

Synopsis
The girl with straight A's and the perfect life--that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy family...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 after the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind.

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.

This book.... THIS. BOOK. I. LOVED. IT! The end. :D

Caution: Gushing ahead...

Really I could just say that I love everything about it and be done. But I didn't love everything because I hate thinking about a system that creates situations like those Isaiah and Noah lived in. I hate thinking about there being families like Rachel's - seemingly having it all and yet being so inherently broken. However, McGarry's writing, her storytelling skill, wrapped both these things into a story around Isaiah and Rachel that was riveting. I didn't want to put it down!

Isaiah...to say this guy just can't catch a break would be an understatement. He's been in the foster system since he was 6, bouncing from home to home, suffering both physically and emotionally. He's learned in 11 years that nothing stays constant and he's beginning to believe his own hype - that hs'e someone to steer clear of, never risking his heart. Then he meets Rachel. This girl after his own heart - one who's into cars and sees past his facade to the real guy he is.

Rachel...oh man. This poor girl. I can't imagine living a life knowing you're a replacement for a child who didn't live, feeling like you'll never measure up, having to who you really are so everyone else will be happy. Gah! I wanted to shake every single family member. On the surface, her life looks perfect, but all she wants is to be able to be validated for who she is, what she likes...and to work on her car. Then she meets Isaiah, a guy who's a little rough around the edges, but one who, upon closer inspection, is so much more. He takes the time to look, really look, at Rachel.

These two together make little sense and at the same time, they're perfect together. They both have lessons to learn - Isaiah to figure out that not everything is in his control and Rachel to stop hiding who she is - and they stand by one another on this journey. There were hiccups, of course. An edge of danger. Together though, they could weather anything.

Besides Isaiah and Rachel, what I enjoyed most was the huge cast of characters in Crash Into You. Not only do we spend time with Noah and Echo, Beth and Ryan, but Logan is features, as well as Abby and Rachel's brothers, West and Ethan. I felt the cast added that much more depth to the story. And I hope to get more from more than a few of them.

So yeah, the story was excellent...realistic, gritty, exciting, and heartbreaking at times. I can't wait to see what McGarry has on tap next!

Review ~ Dare You To ~ Katie McGarry #BloggerShame, #COYER, #ShelfLove

Dare You To by Katie McGarry
Pushing the Limits #2
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. I voluntarily provided a review.
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #BloggerShame, #COYER, #ShelfLove
Goodreads

Synopsis
Ryan lowers his lips to my eat. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to  touch me again...

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does...

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock -with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams - and his life - for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone too close is daring herself to want it all...

I cannot believe I let this languish, y'all. I'd totally forgotten I had it but I'm oh so glad I found it!

As a parent, Beth's story as well as Ryan's, broke my heart. I was a teen once (yeah, a looong time ago but still) and I remember how difficult is was - trying to figure out who you are and to define your place in the world. I'm watching my own children experiencing it. That neither Beth nor Ryan had the support behind them to make these decisions and help the transition to adulthood - yeah, heartbreaking. Things should have been looking up for Beth when her uncle took custody of her but she felt the weight of responsibility for her addict of a mother - something no child should ever have to endure. On top of that, she'd been removed from her normal and Beth has learned, the hard way, to never depend on anyone.

Enter Ryan. The perfect jock boy with the perfect life. He offers Beth a hand - okay, so it started as a dare - but Beth knows the score and that boys like him don't fall for girls like her. But Ryan's life isn't as perfect as it looks from the outside. His brother left and his parents barely speak. And his father has Ryan's life planned for him - nevermind it might not be what Ryan wants.

Watching as these two learn to trust and depend on each other was touching. Ryan had to work hard at chipping away Beth's wall. They both grew emotionally and figured out a few things about themselves in the process.

One trope I'm not fond of in YA is bad/neglectful/absentee parents but McGarry does it well, making the story so realistic and riveting. I felt for Beth and Ryan - understood where they were both coming from, and I wanted to hug them both as well as applaud their decisions and growth.

McGarry also built a great supporting cast and I enjoyed getting to see Noah and Echo again. I'm also eager to see some of the cast get their own story. I don't have the next in the series hiding, unfortunately, but I will be continuing this series soon. It's one I know my library carries. :)