"Crash" by Lisa McMann (AA1 & AA2)

Boom

Crash

By Lisa McMann

 



# Pgs: 256

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Overview:

If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first of four books from the New York Times bestselling 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 she sees. 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.

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Review:

This book wasn't impressive. I mean, there was nothing really about the plot that stood out to me. Everything just seemed so... predictable. The situation in the book is alike to Romeo and Juliet- two characters that are forbidden from being together due to some "unknown" family feud. It's like a case of he said, she said the entire time. The source of the family problem isn't revealed until the end, and by that point I was just so exhausted from reading the first part of the book that I wasn't surprised or shocked or anything. It was just information that "went in one ear and went out the other". I mean, there really wasn't anything about the book that stood out to me.

There was light humor, don't get me wrong. And the main character was relatable. But... I mean, there really wasn't anything else that I liked about this book. Maybe it was just the different times that I took to read the book (I put it down quite often) but it was boring. The only thing that kept me reading it was my desire to see if I was right about how it would play out. And I was.

Not even a third of the way through the book I predicted how it would turn out. To me, it just seemed like the main character, Jules, was overcomplicating everything. She tried her best to figure out the clues she was given so that she could stop the crash, but at times it just seemed like the author was purposely making her oblivious. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad book; it was just unimpressive and slightly disappointing. The only originality that came from this book appeared at the end, when the situation resolved itself and then a new, strangely similar situation reappeared- which preps the reader for the next book in the series- and also from the Jules' father's depression which was ultimately a result of the reason behind the family feud- but even the feud itself wasn't at all that difficult to figure out. Maybe this book just wasn't for me, but I wasn't hooked at all.

The reasoning behind the visions Jules is having is not explained at all, so maybe that's also supposed to hook us into the next book in the series.

I don't know. Going into this book, I guess I expected more. I'm disappointed. Everything about this book felt like it should be for a younger generation than it is. It was just so childish to the point where it wasn't cute or funny or endearing. It was just exhausting. Not for high school-ers. Maybe middle school-ers. Maybe it's just "to each their own".

It wasn't a horrible, disgusting excuse for a novel. In that, I suppose it doesn't deserve a rating any lower than a one and a half. It was just so disappointing, and really not all that enjoyable to read. It didn't capture my attention. I didn't get hooked. I only wanted to see if my predictions were correct or if the book would surprise me at all, but it didn't. I was right.

Recommended for those around twelve years of age, who like Romeo and Juliet type of forbidden love books, with just a tough of what seems like it might be supernatural. Kind of random in that aspect, really. The visions, that is. Whatever. I've given up. I don't like this book, but I didn't hate it with every fiber of my being. Maybe you'll like it. Who knows? Just... be careful.

With that in mind, thanks for reading- leave a comment if you feel like disputing the situation that presented itself. Leave a comment if you have no idea what that means. Or not. You know, whatever works.