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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Oh West. My heart just ached for this guy. Couldn't believe everything that went down in this book! Wowzers. I love reading these books! Can't wait for more!
I love reading books where the girl is a tough badass. The fact that Haley is able to show up a rich boy is awesome. Them ending up together, even better.
My biggest beef with the West and Haley is that they're both martyrs. It's like they had a sign on their forehead saying, "Blame me for your problems!" Honestly, these two would probably blame themselves if it rained too hard. I didn't enjoy [b:Take Me On|18333898|Take Me On (Pushing the Limits, #4)|Katie McGarry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392908659s/18333898.jpg|25881456] nearly as much as I did [b:Pushing the Limits|10194514|Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits, #1)|Katie McGarry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1322770025s/10194514.jpg|15093690] or [b:Dare You To|13561164|Dare You To (Pushing the Limits, #2)|Katie McGarry|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354200468s/13561164.jpg|19135892]. It was hard for me to connect with Haley and West because their storyline was very formulaic (poor girl meets rich boy, where have I heard that one before?) and they didn't have as much zing as Noah and Echo. However, I've been reading this series from the start and I admit there is something about it that keeps me coming back for me. Athough I did not initially care for West and Haley they began to grow on me half-way into the story.
Compared to her other books in this series, this is by far my favorite. I think Katie McGarry has come a long way since her first book. As I recall I remember it being forced and didn't really sound like teenagers, but I think she's finally found her stride. I liked the overall premise of this book, and I liked both characters. It didn't feel like insta-love, there was time for the relationship to build and it felt real.
I don't really have any complaints, even though I did like it, I don't quite think it's a 5 star. Katie is definitely on her way up, however.
I don't really have any complaints, even though I did like it, I don't quite think it's a 5 star. Katie is definitely on her way up, however.
All you need to know about this book is that it is written by Katie McGarry. Seriously. What more do you need to know??
Love me some Katie McGarry
Love me some Katie McGarry
This might be my favourite one of the four.
I NEED AN ETHAN AND ABBY BOOK OKAY BYYYE
(Make it happen Katie McGarry, it's my birthday tomorrow)
I NEED AN ETHAN AND ABBY BOOK OKAY BYYYE
(Make it happen Katie McGarry, it's my birthday tomorrow)
"it doesn't make falling any less frightening."
"Don't think of it as falling. Think of it as jumping-with me."
"How is jumping better?"
"Falling happens. Jumping you choose."
This was so cute. Haley isn't someone who I loved instantly. She had to grow on me. She's tough, she's been through some tough times and that's made her crawl into her shell instead of come out fighting.
West, on the other hand, has lived a pretty posh life. Money and a prestigious last name, he's had lots of girls, drinks drugs and a fun life.
But their two lives suddenly collide and watching them stumble around in each other's worlds was a great read.
"Don't think of it as falling. Think of it as jumping-with me."
"How is jumping better?"
"Falling happens. Jumping you choose."
This was so cute. Haley isn't someone who I loved instantly. She had to grow on me. She's tough, she's been through some tough times and that's made her crawl into her shell instead of come out fighting.
West, on the other hand, has lived a pretty posh life. Money and a prestigious last name, he's had lots of girls, drinks drugs and a fun life.
But their two lives suddenly collide and watching them stumble around in each other's worlds was a great read.
The first thing I thought when I opened this e-galley was “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph this book is 544 pages long!” Five-hundred and forty-four. Basically from the moment I picked this book up I was biased against it because oh my god, who really needs to read a 500+ page book about teenage angst? As I was reading two things happened. First, I kept thinking how crazy it was I still had 400, 300, 200 pages to go, but I also was never bored. Second, the book is actually only (only!?) 455 pages long, the other 90ish pages are the novella Crossing the Line.
Let’s talk about my history with Katie McGarry. When I read Pushing the Limits I really liked it, but looking back I more remember what annoyed me than what I liked, so I’m not sure what I think of it. Dare You To remains my favorite of the series, in my mind it’s the least dramatic, although I don’t think that’s true. Plus, I just loved Beth and Ryan. Crash Into You was kind of a combination of the things about Pushing the Limits and Dare You To that I didn’t like. There was an incredible amount of drama and going against common sense and there was something about Isaiah and Rachel’s relationship that just got under my skin.
I liked Take Me On a lot and enjoyed reading it so what I’m going to say next is odd: it’s actually a lot like Crash Into You. West, Rachel’s brother, meets Haley when he nearly runs her over with his car. Haley is fleeing some thugs, one of whom is her ex-boyfriend’s brother, who are after her father’s medication. Haley is a former champion kickboxer whose family is down on their luck. Her father was laid off from his job and through a series of unfortunate circumstances her family lost their house and pretty much everything else and are now forced to live with her dictator uncle and his family. Haley also quit fighting after breaking up with her d-bag ex-boyfriend.
When West nearly runs into Haley he immediately wants to protect her and tries to stand up for her with the guys who are after her. Haley has to step in and save him, but that means fighting, something she’s sworn she’d never do again. Haley, who’s been beaten down over and over for the last year, fights off the guys, but loses her dad’s medication and once again feels like a failure. West is intrigued by Haley and when he starts at the public school the next Monday (he was expelled from his fancy private school), he runs into her and wants to get to know her better. The only problem? Haley’s crazy ex-boyfriend is upset that his brother got beat up and wants someone to pay. This leads to the brother challenging West to a cage fight and West getting two months to train.
Sound familiar? To me this was so much like Crash Into You that I was turned off by it. Rachel and Isaiah get several weeks to pay back money and Isaiah has to teach Rachel to drag race. Haley and West get several weeks before West fights the brother and Haley has to train West on how to fight. I’m not imagining the similarities here, am I?
That said, I liked this book and I liked West and Haley together. All of Katie McGarry’s books have guys and girls who get together and save each other, I’m not a fan of this trope, but I’ve accepted that that’s how Katie’s books work and I’m not going to dwell on it. My fondness for West and Haley comes down to the fact that I didn’t find them, or their relationship, annoying. There’s no silly pet names or gushy lovey moments. They also both have strong, different, and interesting personalities that allowed them to stand on their own as characters.
One of my favorite parts of Crash Into You was the dynamics of Rachel and West’s family. I continued to like the Youngs in this book, especially because we get to learn a lot more about the parents, but I was confused about why Katie McGarry set the book when she did. The story takes place almost right after Rachel’s accident when she’s still in the hospital. If you read Crash Into You, which I have to assume most people reading this will, you already know what happens with Rachel and the rest of her family which made that part of the story rather anticlimactic. This did allow West to explore his guilt around what happened to Rachel, since he didn’t know that she ends up being ok, but as a reader I was underwhelmed.
Haley’s situation on the other hand was one of my favorite parts of the book. Haley is so beaten down and closed off, but there was something about her that was so dynamic and really drew me in. Learning about how her family lost their house and ended up with her uncle just seemed to real to me and like something so many people in the last several years could relate to. The way Katie McGarry told Haley’s story left me feeling every emotion that Haley was feeling. I hated/was terrified of her uncle, my heart sped up when she ran into her ex-boyfriend, and my stomach filled with butterflies when she spent time with West and opened herself up to him. I really enjoyed reading about West, but Haley is the reason I liked this book.
As I said earlier, even though this book is rather long I never felt like it dragged. Even though much of the story is about Haley training West there weren’t any long kickboxing sequences that bored me. Haley’s ex-boyfriend and the fight were always in the background, but most of the drama in the story revolved around Haley and West’s family situations and I definitely appreciated that.
Bottom Line: Even though Take Me On borrowed a bit too much from Crash Into You for my liking I still enjoyed it far more than I enjoyed Crash Into You. Haley and West were great protagonists and I really empathized and felt what which of them was going through, especially Haley, even though I have no personal knowledge of their situations. I would rank this one as my second favorite, after Dare You To, in the Pushing the Limits Series.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.
Let’s talk about my history with Katie McGarry. When I read Pushing the Limits I really liked it, but looking back I more remember what annoyed me than what I liked, so I’m not sure what I think of it. Dare You To remains my favorite of the series, in my mind it’s the least dramatic, although I don’t think that’s true. Plus, I just loved Beth and Ryan. Crash Into You was kind of a combination of the things about Pushing the Limits and Dare You To that I didn’t like. There was an incredible amount of drama and going against common sense and there was something about Isaiah and Rachel’s relationship that just got under my skin.
I liked Take Me On a lot and enjoyed reading it so what I’m going to say next is odd: it’s actually a lot like Crash Into You. West, Rachel’s brother, meets Haley when he nearly runs her over with his car. Haley is fleeing some thugs, one of whom is her ex-boyfriend’s brother, who are after her father’s medication. Haley is a former champion kickboxer whose family is down on their luck. Her father was laid off from his job and through a series of unfortunate circumstances her family lost their house and pretty much everything else and are now forced to live with her dictator uncle and his family. Haley also quit fighting after breaking up with her d-bag ex-boyfriend.
When West nearly runs into Haley he immediately wants to protect her and tries to stand up for her with the guys who are after her. Haley has to step in and save him, but that means fighting, something she’s sworn she’d never do again. Haley, who’s been beaten down over and over for the last year, fights off the guys, but loses her dad’s medication and once again feels like a failure. West is intrigued by Haley and when he starts at the public school the next Monday (he was expelled from his fancy private school), he runs into her and wants to get to know her better. The only problem? Haley’s crazy ex-boyfriend is upset that his brother got beat up and wants someone to pay. This leads to the brother challenging West to a cage fight and West getting two months to train.
Sound familiar? To me this was so much like Crash Into You that I was turned off by it. Rachel and Isaiah get several weeks to pay back money and Isaiah has to teach Rachel to drag race. Haley and West get several weeks before West fights the brother and Haley has to train West on how to fight. I’m not imagining the similarities here, am I?
That said, I liked this book and I liked West and Haley together. All of Katie McGarry’s books have guys and girls who get together and save each other, I’m not a fan of this trope, but I’ve accepted that that’s how Katie’s books work and I’m not going to dwell on it. My fondness for West and Haley comes down to the fact that I didn’t find them, or their relationship, annoying. There’s no silly pet names or gushy lovey moments. They also both have strong, different, and interesting personalities that allowed them to stand on their own as characters.
One of my favorite parts of Crash Into You was the dynamics of Rachel and West’s family. I continued to like the Youngs in this book, especially because we get to learn a lot more about the parents, but I was confused about why Katie McGarry set the book when she did. The story takes place almost right after Rachel’s accident when she’s still in the hospital. If you read Crash Into You, which I have to assume most people reading this will, you already know what happens with Rachel and the rest of her family which made that part of the story rather anticlimactic. This did allow West to explore his guilt around what happened to Rachel, since he didn’t know that she ends up being ok, but as a reader I was underwhelmed.
Haley’s situation on the other hand was one of my favorite parts of the book. Haley is so beaten down and closed off, but there was something about her that was so dynamic and really drew me in. Learning about how her family lost their house and ended up with her uncle just seemed to real to me and like something so many people in the last several years could relate to. The way Katie McGarry told Haley’s story left me feeling every emotion that Haley was feeling. I hated/was terrified of her uncle, my heart sped up when she ran into her ex-boyfriend, and my stomach filled with butterflies when she spent time with West and opened herself up to him. I really enjoyed reading about West, but Haley is the reason I liked this book.
As I said earlier, even though this book is rather long I never felt like it dragged. Even though much of the story is about Haley training West there weren’t any long kickboxing sequences that bored me. Haley’s ex-boyfriend and the fight were always in the background, but most of the drama in the story revolved around Haley and West’s family situations and I definitely appreciated that.
Bottom Line: Even though Take Me On borrowed a bit too much from Crash Into You for my liking I still enjoyed it far more than I enjoyed Crash Into You. Haley and West were great protagonists and I really empathized and felt what which of them was going through, especially Haley, even though I have no personal knowledge of their situations. I would rank this one as my second favorite, after Dare You To, in the Pushing the Limits Series.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
This review first appeared on my blog.