Crash Into You - Katie McGarry

Synopsis: 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’m not sure what kind of magic Katie McGarry weaves into her books, but it’s certainly powerful. Her stories are magnetic and her characters are so well written they feel like people you’ve known your entire life. I finished this book a few days ago, but as I was getting ready for bed last night I thought – I should read more of Crash Into You before I fall asleep…and then I remembered that I’d finished it. But she just writes the kind of stories that don’t feel like the characters stop existing when the words stop coming, so it’s easy to think you can just slip back into their narrative.

Every time I read a new book from Katie, I meet characters I could never imagine I’d love so much. Noah and Echo just stole me away, but then Ryan came along and he was everything you could want in a fictional boy. So I went in prepared to love Isaiah and Rachel, but they were so much more than I could have hoped. Isaiah surprised me completely and won me over quickly. Rachel was actually my favorite of the three girls, with her strength and determination. She was unique and ballsy, despite her situation and I completely admired her. Then you put Isaiah and Rachel together and they’re just intense, powerful and amazing.

One of Katie McGarry’s strengths as a YA writer is her ability to write teenagers that don’t exist in a bubble. Isaiah has his social worker who is trying to get him to talk to his mother and Rachel has her crazy family to deal with. Despite the street politics and the threats over their heads, everything just feels so authentic because of the exceptional way secondary characters are written. Even better, she builds secondary relationships, and I don’t know how she does it without it being overwhelming. Both Rachel and Isaiah have strong relationships with people outside of each other and the dynamics shine through so well.

Katie has definitely turned into a drop-everything-and-read writer for me. Every time, I think her books can't be better than the one before, but she always out-does herself. I dare say that Crash into You is my favorite book from her so far. The story was amazing and kept me turning the pages. I was on edge, I was nervous, and scared for these characters because they just went directly to my heart. 

Dare You To - Katie McGarry

Synopsis: 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 get too close is daring herself to want it all....

I fell in love with Katie McGarry's writing and storytelling in Pushing the Limits. I had very high expectations going in to Dare You To and McGarry definitely met all of them. She has the power and skill to create such well-rounded characters that feel as though they are really off living their lives somewhere. Even after I finished Pushing the Limits, I would find myself, days later, thinking about Echo and Noah and what they were up to now. I felt the same way after finishing Dare You To - Ryan and Beth don't disappear when you close the book.

Ryan stole my heart in the first page of this book. He is the ultimate. I love baseball, I love writing, and I don't know why I didn't realize before - but OF COURSE the most perfect boy on the planet is an extraordinary pitcher and an eloquent writer. Plus, he's daring and sweet. He knows exactly what he wants and he's not afraid to fight for it. I could write poetry about this boy. If I could sing, I would definitely sing songs about him. I love him, I love him, I love him.

Overkill? Nah. He really is all kinds of amazing.

Beth was frustrating in so many ways, but you can't help but totally be on her side. It's hard because sometimes she seems so determined to keep doing things that make her miserable or to help the people who hurt her, and she seems completely blind to the good things in her life. But the flip side of that is that she's wonderfully stubborn, determined and fiercely loyal. And she balances Ryan out so nicely. She makes him step up and fight for what he wants and she makes him fight for her. Where she teaches him to fight, he shows her that her life doesn't have to be a constant struggle.

I love the way they come together. Their relationship happens organically, it starts out slowly and then it just happens all of a sudden. I like the way the dares play into their story as well. It's a way for Ryan and his friends to just be boys - to be competitive and to liven up a small town. But Ryan meets Beth because of one of those dares, but where it matters, he's totally up front about it. Even where they both seem to self-sabotage, they still manage to turn it around to make their relationship strong and real.

One more thing I love about Katie McGarry's books is the way that adults come in to play. She writes really strong adults that come in and do their best to help out the teens in their lives. In Dare You To, it's Beth's uncle who is just amazing and he puts up with so much just to make sure Beth's life will improve.

This was another amazing book from Katie and I can't wait to meet the other characters she has waiting in her brain for a chance to spring to life. The same way I still occasionally think about what Echo and Noah are up to, I know I'll be thinking of Beth and Ryan and wishing they're happy. I have a feeling that as Katie keeps writing, I'm going to have a group of friends that I'll have to keep reminding myself are fictional. 

Hooked - Liz Fechera

Synopsis: HE said: Fred Oday is a girl? Why is a girl taking my best friends spot on the boy's varsity golf team?
SHE said: Can I seriously do this? Can I join the boys' team? Everyone will hate me - especially Ryan Berenger.
HE said: Coach expects me to partner with Fred on the green? That is crazy bad. Fred's got to go - especially now that I can't get her out of my head. So not happening.
SHE said: Ryan can be nice, when he's not being a jerk. Like the time he carried my golf bag. But the girl from the rez and the spoiled rich boy from the suburbs? So not happening.But there's no denying that things are happening as the girl with the killer swing takes on the boy with the killer smile... (From Goodreads)

Here's the thing: I really liked this book, but I can't point out why. It's odd, because I could point out all the things this book did wrong, or that would get to me in any other scenario, but for some reason they really didn't bother me in this book. This book was thoroughly enjoyable - it was cute, sweet, and it actually dealt with some tough issues.

I've read quite a few books that have Native American characters, only a few where they were the acutal protagonist, but I think this was the first I've read where the main character is both Native American and female. That was refreshing. I think books like this are important becuase they aren't heavy in subject matter, but they still provide an access point for the general reader to gain an understanding of another culture. Fred deals with a lot, and she's sequestered the other people at school because of her heritage and where she lives. But I really like that it isn't overwhelming or even the main focus of the book.

The fact that she lives on the Rez is a big part of it, but it's accompanied with a lot of other issues. Like socioeconomic classes, girls playing boy sports, and even just being a girl in high school who's falling in love for the first time. This book reminds me a lot of Perfect Chemistry, where you have this window into gang life, but it's not the main thing going on, making it so much more accessible.

There are some issues with the story line. I kind of missed how the connection between Fred and Ryan started. The emotion behind their relationship was very real, but I missed how they changed from hating each other to being attracted to each other. There are a few things in their relationship that seem rushed as well. The parents are a little too bipoloar in their treatment of their children. And an incident at the end that seems far too convienient to make everything okay again. Still, all the emotions where there and while I was immersed in the story I didn't question these things too hard, so I kind of give them a pass.

Actually, what makes this book are the rare appearances by seconary characters. Fred's dad is amazing. Sam is uber sweet. And Ryan's best friend is such an evil dude. He actually rouse the most emotion out of me because he was pure evil, yet there was some conflict behnd his actions as well. All these characters are ones I'd love to read more about and find out more of their story.

I did really enjoy this book and I really thing that fans of the Perfect Chemistry series or of Miranda Kenneally will really enjoy this book. It has meaning, but it's a light, quick read. Also, Liz Fechera is giving away a pre-order of the book and some other Harlequin Teen titles, so make sure you check that out!

Pushing the Limits - Katie McGarry

Synopsis: No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.  Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again. (From Goodreads)

There are literally mascara marks across the pages of this book. Actually, I'm pretty sure my hands were entirely black from trying to avoid black streaks down my face at certain points of this book. The thing is, this is one of those books that doesn't really warrant bawling, but it kind of happens anyways. I was just hit so hard by these characters whose lives were great until a certain event caused it all to turn terrible so fast. Both Noah and Echo lived relatively normal, so their failed attempts to get back to the life they knew before was just devastating. They worked so hard to get past their issues and it wasn't easy.

But I really think what got me going was that these two are so frustrated, so let down by all the people in their lives. They really don't have anything or anyone they can count on and they have every reason to be bitter and to shut out the world. But they don't. They feel things so fiercely, there is so much passion and life in their relationship that it's intense and just beautiful. I think one of the strongest things you can do is hold the reasons not to love, and love anyway. And this strength just shone through these characters.

This book does have hints of Simone Elkeles's Perfect Chemistry. This book has those elements of a boy with a bad reputation meets a rich girl who has problems of her own. They shouldn't be together - especially in terms of social acceptance - but they find they can't stay apart. Those are the bones of this story - but McGarry's story is so much more intense, raw, and real than Perfect Chemistry.

Noah is perhaps one of the most amazing characters I've read in a long time. He starts out as a boy who's earned his bad reputation and he grows so much - and it all happens after a lot of work and adjustment on his part. Because that's the other thing that's real about this book. Noah and Echo have a lot of issues but they do really work at them. They don't just meet each other, fall in love, and find everything is miraculously solved. They work at changing things in their lives, at understanding what happened that caused them trouble, and working at finding a new kind of happiness. They are there to support one another when they need it, they're there to defend one another, but they don't function to actually fix the other's problems.

And the secondary characters in this book are all so wonderfully written. I loved their clinical social worker. I couldn't even imagine doing her job. But she does it so well and she helps Noah and Echo so much - even just getting them to trust her was impressive. Noah has a couple friends who support him (or sometimes cause him grief) like a family - and they were vibrant characters. And Echo's best friend - I just wanted to hug her. Echo used to run with the popular crowd- and all of them pretty much give up on her except her best friend who demonstrates unconditional love so well.

I completely devoured this book. I couldn't get enough Echo and Noah, no matter how much they made me cry. Even when I wasn't reading they were on my mind. Even now I find myself wondering how they're doing, as if they are live friends of mine I knew in high school. I so highly recommend this book. It's such an amazing novel that it's easy to forget it's fiction.

The Immortal Rules - Julie Kagawa

Synopsis: In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity. 
Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. 
Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters. 
Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. 
Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for. (From Goodreads)

I read the first book in the Iron Fey series and didn't really care for it (I know, that's terrible - you can throw things at me) and I'm generally not a fan of vampire books. But The Immortal Rules kind of rocked. It was kind of like if True Blood was played out to its worst case scenario. Vampires rule the earth and humans cater to vamps. And instead of vampires slinking around in the night, the humans that are left hide under the cover of the sun.

Allie lives in a post-apocalyptic world (epidemic, diseased apocalypse) in which vampires have taken over to restore their form of "order." This mix between a myriad of different genres could have seemed chaotic, but Kagawa pulled everything together so wonderfully. Every aspect that made up this world had a clear cause, some reason that it has reached that point.

But if vampires ruling the world wasn't enough of a twist, Allie becomes a vampire (it's in the synopsis, I'm not spoiling, I swear!) and joins a band of humans struggling to survive as they chase the dream of a vampire free city. The dynamics of this group were what made this book great. There's kind of a quasi-religious foundation that is rather interesting and the leader appears to have some tendencies towards the cultish - but it really comes down to survival for them all. I really appreciated the way that they reacted when Allie came into their midst, it was very clear that she upset their order and watching them adjust to fit her brought all these characters to life in a real way.

The way this world was imagined was vibrant and clear. Every single setting was perfectly vivid in my mind. Between the characters and the world they live in, this future is an imaginable one - if we really believe vampires exist, of course. But I think that's why I really loved this book. This world is crawling with vampires and the main character is a vampire - but it never feels like that's really what it's about. Vampires are more of a circumstance meant to illuminate the separation in humanity.

Crave - Melissa Darnell

Synopsis: Savannah Colbert has never known why she's so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It's as if he's a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she's destined to fail.
For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….


Frankly, I'm sick to death of vampires. I loved vampires (mostly the Buffy kind,or the Interview with a Vampire kind) before they stormed the YA field and flooded it with cliches. Plus, I've always been a Team Werewolf kind of girl. I try to avoid vampire books, and I choose them sparingly since there are too many opportunities for me to be irked by Twilight comparisons or unoriginal thought. I chose to pick up this book for two reasons: 1) the cover is freaking gorgeous and 2) I like the concept of the "Clann." Needless to say, this book was a nice balance of magic and vampires - so it didn't drive me crazy. 


I did, however, like the magic - witch Clann - half of the book better. When it got into the vampire council, bloodlust thing I felt my eyes glassing over - even so, the book was more about the magic and about the relationship between Savannah and Tristan than vampires so I enjoyed most of it. I do think Savannah gets the raw end of the deal, being torn between the vampires and the Clann - but Tristan does make it all better.


I also have a tendency to criticize those books that focus on the hot, hot boy over the actual plot - but I loved it in this case. Seeing both Savannah and Tristan's point of views, and watching them come together was the entire thing that made this book worth reading. It made the involvement of vampires only an obstacle, rather than the center of attention. Plus, Tristan was pretty dang dreamy...


It was definitely interesting to see the melding of two different paranormal groups and to see how they clash. Also, in my endless fascination of generation gaps - this was great, as these characters are cast based on the choices their parents made (something that I always love to analyze). This book was entirely entertaining - but it didn't rock my world (which might just be the vampire thing...) This is one that I'd encourage you to read and judge for yourself, because my opinion on the book is entirely biased (again, the vampire thing). Still, I did enjoy it and I think it was worth reading. 

(Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for a review e-copy!)