Reviews

Crash by Lisa McMann

bookwrm129's review

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4.0

I liked it a lot. It was really good and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

celjla212's review

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5.0

Julia Demarco has pretty much decided she's going crazy. After all, her grandfather killed himself after a bout with depression, and her father has manic highs and lows in addition to being a hoarder. So, when the sixteen year old starts seeing a vision of a snowplow crashing into a building and leaving behind nine body bags in its' wake, she's shocked and figures the crazies in her gene pool didn't help matters much.

Through incessant bombardment with the vision, Julia finally figures out that the building being hit is a restaurant belonging to her family's rivals. There's more than one problem with that, though: Julia has been in love with the enemy's son, Sawyer Angotti, since they were children. Their families forbid them from any contact years ago, but Julia can't let that get in the way of saving Sawyer's life. That is, if he believes her.

This book left me awed! When I finished it, the cliffhanger ending made me just sit there holding the book going, "What?!?!" Crash had a little bit of everything: family drama, romance, supernatural events, and a main character I loved.

Julia is kind of an outcast at school. She and her younger sister have to drive to school in her family's food truck, which leads to crude jokes at their expense because the truck just happens to be topped with two giant meatballs. Her only friends are her siblings, and their close relationship is really amazing and reminded me a lot of the ones I have with my sisters and brother. When Julia's visions begin, she has no one to turn to, and who would want to tell people that was happening to them, anyway? I liked Julia although I didn't always agree with how she handled things. She came off as a bit OCD (although this was never expressly noted in the book) and her thought process was really one I could relate to.

Events moved along pretty quickly, and I enjoyed seeing Julia deduce what was going on in her visions. For a girl of only sixteen, it's really impressive that she didn't have a nervous breakdown or anything like that, since everywhere she turned all she could see was the deadly crash. Once she had her eye opening moment, she was amazing from then on and didn't let anything get in the way of what she had decided to do.

Julia and Sawyer's romance was heartbreaking and sullied by family drama that really had nothing to do with them. Is it a bit Romeo & Juliet? Maybe the tiniest bit, but the reasons that Sawyer and Julia were forced apart were heartbreaking and actually were for the good of them both, at the time. Sawyer is a great guy, and hopefully they can overcome their families' old problems.

I wouldn't call this a paranormal novel, because there's only one out of the ordinary thing, happening to just one girl. We are never really told the reasoning behind Julia's vision, but this is a series and maybe that will be explained later. I cannot wait for the next installment.

4saradouglas's review

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2.0

I thought this book was immensely stupid. The summary sounded pretty good, and I liked the cover, and I liked the book Wake, so I thought I'd give it a try. The entire story was predictable... absolutely no surprises (except for the last page which made me laugh out loud with its stupidity). The main character is annoying and stupid and the whole reason the two families are fighting is just ridiculous. The constant "five reasons why" and "Oh my dogs" got on my nerves A LOT. Really disappointed in this one.

shayboote's review

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2.0

A slow start, but McMann's character development of Jules is great. That said all the potentially wonderful characters, like Trey, were left more in shadow. Jules internal banter and relationships with her brother and sister are a fun component and really the most real and emotional interactions when you consider the life they live in close quarters and family secret keeping. In spite of the strange situation Jules finds herself in, she chooses to not be a victim. I felt a little flat while reading this book, loving McMann's earlier books, I was a little disappointed, but I am holding out hope for book two in the series. I would really like to feel a greater connection between Jules and Sawyer, it feels a little forced and superficial compared to her relationships with her siblings. With Trey's heroics, I would also like to see him become a greater part of the story.

books4susie's review

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5.0


"She can't believe her eyes."

Jules Demarco has harbored a crush on Sawyer Angotti since they played together during indoor recess in the first grade. Her family runs Demario Pizzeria restaurant. She is shunned at school because she smells like pizza. The family lives in an apartment over their restaurant. Her father suffers from depression and is a hoarder so she never invites friends over. Her mother is the driving force behind the business since her father stays in the apartment most days. The middle of three children, Jules is further shunned at school by the vehicle she drives. For advertising, her mother has her drive their food truck. It has two giant meatballs on the roof but she get ten bucks a week from her older brother not to have to be seen anywhere near it. Most of the students at her school like Angotti's Trattoria restaurant better, owned by Sawyer's family. Friends throughout school, Sawyer's father made him break of their friendship in the seventh grade when he discovered it. Their families have feuded for years. Supposedly, the Angotti's stole the sauce recipe from the Demarco's and now sell it by the jar in local stores.

Every few days, Jules sees the same vision. Some times it moves, like on the movie screen the first time she experienced it. Other times it is still like a picture and always on a Jose Cuervo billboard down the street. No matter how Jules' experiences the vision, it is always the same.; "a careening tuck hits a building and explodes. Then nine body bags in the snow." One night after a busy day in the food truck and night in the restaurant, Jules sits down to relax and finish watching a movie on the DVR. After collecting her money for the week from her brother, Jules hits play expecting to see the movie. Instead, her vision occurs. Backing up the footage, she watches it play out on the TV several times in slow motion. The last frame is a scene she hasn't noticed before; a close-up of three of the body bags. On closer inspection, Jules notices that one of the bags is unzipped and the head of a dead body is exposed. Much to her horror, the face Jules sees is that of Sawyer Agnotti.

Her visions are becoming more frequent and in more places than ever before. Jules is constantly checking to see if Sawyer is still alive. On a Saturday night when a group of her classmates come in, she waits on their table. When she tries to take their order and asks "What sounds good tonight ?" She gets "Agnotti's sounds good but they're closed." Panicking, she rushes out and goes to their apartment. She turns on the TV and searches for a phone book. A gardening show is on but suddenly the sound is mute. Looking up, Jules sees her vision again but this time it is longer. The building catches on fire and she notices new details about the structure. She is upset because she doesn't know what to do about the vision. After getting Agnotti's phone number, she calls. A man answers and informs her that the restaurant is closed for the night for a family wedding reception but will reopen the next day. She wants to ask about Sawyer but the caller asks if she is Jules. She confesses that it is and Sawyer tells her that he recognized he voice. That and her family's name came up on the Caller ID? He wants to know if she is spying for her family but she tells him that she wanted to know why they were closed since they never are and to make sure things were okay. Hearing her mother coming to check on her, Jules whispers that's he is sorry and hangs up the phone. She reassures her mother that she is alright and her mother tells her to rest and bit and leaves. Then the phone rings and the Caller ID shows that it is Angotti's Trattoria. Jules doesn't answer the phone.

Jules continues to study her vision on the TV in order to glean some more details and guesses that it might be the back of Angotti's. She sketches out the new details and makes plans to check to see if she is right about her assumption.

What is really happening in Jules' vision? Who else besides Sawyer Angotti is in the body bags that she see? Why is she having these visions? What happens when Jules works up her nerve and tells Sawyer about her vision? Is she able to save his life?

Readers will be clamorring for the next book.

cburgbennett's review

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2.0

Meh. Interesting storyline, but honestly, it didn't draw me in like Lisa McMann's other series did (Wake). Don't know if I will read the second one or not.

justlily's review

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2.0

Except for a couple laugh out loud moments this would have gotten one star. The entire set up, story telling, and every character was just irritating as hell. And whoever told the author that having the MC say "oh my dog" was quirky and cute should be fired.

cathyatratedreads's review

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3.0

Fairly good. But honestly, it just seemed too filled with rough language, especially considering what a short book it is. There were a dozen uses of f-words alone, and then all kinds of other stuff. Perhaps it was also jarring because I've read McMann's middle-grade book The Unwanteds, which (I was about to say "of course") is clean.
At any rate, if I could weed out all that stuff, I would say it's pretty entertaining. But I'm not going to read any more of the series.

Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/crash-visions-young-adult-book-review/

sducharme's review

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2.0

This didn't hold me all the way through. The girl has a vision of an accident that will kill nine people - including the boy she likes. The hand-wringing about what to do and how to stop it drag on. It's a character problem: not enough happening upstairs to feel compelled by her thoughts and feelings.

That said, I did want to know what happened, and it picked up significantly toward the end. The forced reason for a sequel, however, was a turn off.

britt2013fb's review

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4.0

I thought it was a very very good book. It was different then a lot of books i know. I think that it was very well put together. I kept wanting to know more and what was going to happen next. I'm looking forward to reading more of these books.