ARC Review: Crash by Lisa McMann

Crash
by: Lisa McMann
Release Date: Jan. 8th/13.
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: ARC received from Publisher
Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads:

If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first of four books from the New York Timesbestselling author of the Wake trilogy.

Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.

What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.

The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more shesees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.

In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.

My Thoughts:

O. My. Dog. A light, quick read with a suspenseful twist.

I read this one in one sitting. Crash is very different from McMann's popular Wake series in terms of writing style- I found it much easier to read from Jules first-person narrative. There's an element of suspense in McMann's latest novel- you know something tragic is going to happen, but you just don't know when.

I found Jules to be a very entertaining narrator, I truly appreciated her wit and she was very down to earth. Here's one of my favourite quotes from her narrative:

     ...we would meet under the slide and trade suckers from the candy jar each of our     restaurants had by the cash register. I would bring him grape, and he always brought me butterscotch, which we never had in our restaurant. I'd do anything to get Sawyer Angotti to give me a butterscotch sucker again. CRASH, p. 8-9

I also enjoyed the supporting characters of Crash, including Trey, Jules' super sweet older brother. McMann does a great job of writing a realistic sibling bond between these two characters, and I found the dialogue between these two very relatable to anyone who has siblings. 

I liked Sawyer as well, he's not book boyfriend material like Cabel but he's sweet and cares deeply for Jules (no matter what his family thinks).

I thought the Romeo/Juliet dynamic between these two was a little over-the-top, bordering on cheesy. The bad blood between Jules and Sawyer's family goes back a couple generations and both families are a bit dramatic with their hatred of each other, but it does help to add that extra bit of tension between these two lovebirds. 

Crash is a very quick read, much like McMann's other novels. What Crash lacks in action, it makes up in it's dynamic characters and suspense. After the way McMann left things off with Crash, I will definitely be reading its sequel when it's available.

If you enjoy Young Adult reads with a snarky narrative, sweet romance and a splash of paranormal, than give Crash a try.

Happy Reading!!!