Book Review: Crash (Visions 1) by Lisa McMann

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.

Crash by Lisa McMann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading Crash feels like I’m once again pulled into the world of the Wake trilogy, only this time it’s a whole lot better.

Although this book has been sitting on my to-read list for quite some time now, I do believe Lisa McMann is one author to look out for and Crash is surely a great start to another remarkable series.

Jules Demarco has an ability she cannot explain and have no control over. She sees things no one else can. Things that are dangerous, deadly and terrifying. And when Sawyer Angotti turns up dead in one of Jules’ “visions”, the latter will do whatever it takes to stop it and save the one boy she only ever loved.

Reading Jules’ thought is never boring. She’s facetious, impulsive and upbeat. The “lists” she made was very amusing and I love reading them. Jules can be infuriatingly stubborn and she never gives up once she sets her mind on something. She’s very resolute and has a one track mind.

But surely if there’s one thing anyone should know about Jules it is that she’s head-over-heels in love with Sawyer Angotti for as long as she can remember. It bothered me at times how Jules was overly lovesick that the first chapters of the book went like - sawyer this, sawyer that. Now I’m just wondering if she’ll go to the same extent she did (no matter how dangerous) if it wasn’t Sawyer she saw dead in the vision but instead someone she doesn’t know. I didn’t let this get to me though ‘cause I was completely hooked and intrigued in the twists and turns the story took.

I loved how Crash was written in that easy, effortless way Lisa McMann does. It’s a good, engrossing book with thrill, mystery and a touch of romance.

And speaking of romance, I like Sawyer. A lot. I could’ve said I love him but I just felt like I didn’t get enough of him. I’m hoping to see the relationship between him and Jules grow in the next book.

Sawyer is the kind of guy girls would fall for. With his simple yet luring smile that he can use to charm his way through anything, Sawyer can be irresistibly sweet and a jerk at the same time.

What most intrigued me about the book is the overly competitive, fierce rivalry between the Demarcos and the Angottis. I knew there was something more behind the hatred between the two families, and it’s good that I was right and that it wasn’t just for some shallow, nonsensical reasons.

Crash is a book that will keep you edge. I admire the well-developed characters that are dynamic and amusing. I liked Trey the most. He’s the brother I wish I could’ve had. He’s protective and thoughtful in a not so overly cheesy way. He’s the kind of brother who makes jokes out of serious situations to diffuse the tension but still makes you feel reassured just because he’s there to help.

The relationship between the Demarco siblings also stood out to me. I have siblings of my own and there are times that I see us in them. We argue, laugh, make jokes, throw insults at each other, we fight. But still at the end of the day, we are all what we’ve got and we stick by each other.

Mystery, romance, drama and excitement all mixed into one, Crash is an absolute must-read. Readers who love an intoxicating novel will love this! And that reveal at the end? Total cliffhanger.

’I think about how weird it is that loving someone just makes everything hurt so much more. But I guess it’s that pain that means you’re alive, and love and pain are so . . . so twisty. I wonder if love would feel as good if there wasn’t any pain. I don’t think it could. So I guess that’s kind of what makes life worth living.’

“It was nice of you,” he says. “Kind of weird, but nice. I’m sorry I accused you of spying. Kneejerk reaction. Or maybe just a jerk reaction. It was stupid.”

Keep the books coming -