The title of this post is admittedly an overstatement because I didn't actively dislike book 2 (Dare You To) in Katie McGarry's Pushing the Limits series. It's just that the first book set such a high standard for challenging and troubled teen romance that it was difficult for the second installment to live up to the first. I also had trouble connecting with Ryan, the male protagonist of the second book. I didn't have any of those problems with this third book, Crash Into You. The third installment picks up Isaiah's story and pairs him with new character, troubled teen Rachel Young, who has difficulty living up to her family's unrealistic expectations of her.
While the relationship between Isaiah and Rachel never quite lives up to the relationship established in the first book between Noah and Echo, it comes very close. Isaiah and Rachel are both powerfully drawn characters with unusual struggles. Much of what Isaiah is coping with mirrors Noah's struggles from the first book - a child produced by the welfare system facing the challenges of making something of his own life when all the cards are stacked against him.
In many ways, Rachel's challenges mirror Echo's from the first book as well. She comes from a family that has suffered a terrible tragedy (death of a child to leukemia) and she herself has had to "replace" the dead sibling in many ways causing her to face unrealistic pressures. While the family set-up for Rachel is different to Echo's set-up in Pushing the Limits, there are reflections of Echo's struggle in dealing with a family coping with the loss of a sibling.
Fans of the first two books will be happy to see Noah and Echo playing a significant secondary role in this book, and we even get several glimpses of Beth and Ryan from book 2. Overall, the writing here is a strong as ever from Katie McGarry and the plot is much stronger than the plot in Dare You To, but never quite meets the emotional depths of Pushing the Limits. There were some points at which I had to be prepared to suspend my disbelief at how the storyline developed, but the narrative was so engaging that I was happy to do so. While the book deals with first love and the physical attraction that goes along with it, there is nothing too explicit on the page so the book is accessible to, and suitable for, younger readers. I recommend this installment and look forward to book 4 - Take Me On - of which a short extract appears at the end of this book (at least the hardcover version I read).
While the relationship between Isaiah and Rachel never quite lives up to the relationship established in the first book between Noah and Echo, it comes very close. Isaiah and Rachel are both powerfully drawn characters with unusual struggles. Much of what Isaiah is coping with mirrors Noah's struggles from the first book - a child produced by the welfare system facing the challenges of making something of his own life when all the cards are stacked against him.
In many ways, Rachel's challenges mirror Echo's from the first book as well. She comes from a family that has suffered a terrible tragedy (death of a child to leukemia) and she herself has had to "replace" the dead sibling in many ways causing her to face unrealistic pressures. While the family set-up for Rachel is different to Echo's set-up in Pushing the Limits, there are reflections of Echo's struggle in dealing with a family coping with the loss of a sibling.
Fans of the first two books will be happy to see Noah and Echo playing a significant secondary role in this book, and we even get several glimpses of Beth and Ryan from book 2. Overall, the writing here is a strong as ever from Katie McGarry and the plot is much stronger than the plot in Dare You To, but never quite meets the emotional depths of Pushing the Limits. There were some points at which I had to be prepared to suspend my disbelief at how the storyline developed, but the narrative was so engaging that I was happy to do so. While the book deals with first love and the physical attraction that goes along with it, there is nothing too explicit on the page so the book is accessible to, and suitable for, younger readers. I recommend this installment and look forward to book 4 - Take Me On - of which a short extract appears at the end of this book (at least the hardcover version I read).
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