Burn Bright Book Club - Crash by Lisa McMann
Bel:
Cover
I adore this cover art. I acquired my copy from Book Depository and it’s in hard cover format. When I opened the package I was blown away by the finish on the dust cover. It is very much like my copy of Chime, in that it has a dewy shimmery finish to the picture, however the real kicker is the effect of the flames on both the back and the front.
I seriously gush about how special these flames are. They’re not quite holographic, not quite embossing, and it is almost 3D in appearance. It feels like it may have been laser enhanced and it definitely goes on the list of really awesome cover details. Congratulations to Jessica Handelman on a job well done.
Characters
There was a minimalistic cast list in this story and it helped solidify the relationships and conflicts between the Demarco’s and the Angotti’s.
Favourite
Trey, he’s cool enough not to drive the meatball truck to school, yet sweet enough to keep an eye out for his sister without being an overbearing ass.
Least Favourite
I think I have to agree with Lisa on this one. Jules had me wanting to pinch her by the time the storyline was kicking into high gear.
Beginning
Jules sees visions of a vehicle accident on billboards and on the TV, instead of the things that are actually there. She tries to ignore the vision until she recognises one of the bodies.
Storyline
She decides she’s going to alter the future and save lives.
Ending
Read it and find out.
Thoughts
I like the family dynamic between the 3 Demarco siblings. It makes me almost wish I’d had a sister. (almost)
There are some touching moments between Jules and Sawyer that warmed my heart.
And MAN after flying through this, I wanted pizza something terrible. Load me up with everything, just hold the cheese if you please.
Quote
‘Trey follows my glance. “Oh,” he says. “The enemy. Let’s wave!”‘
Lisa:
Cover
Due to not having seen the cover in person, I don’t feel right judging it by a 250 x 250 pixilated image from my computer screen.
Characters
In general I really enjoyed most of the characters and the relationships between them.
Favorite
I’m stuck deciding between three; Jules’s brother and sister, or Sawyer. I loved the relationship the siblings had and it made me wish that older brother and I were closer. It seemed like they were more like best of friends than siblings. But I also really liked Sawyer. Unlike Jules, he was down to earth, and acted realistically (well, as realistically as anyone can act, when someone like Jules is telling him he’s going to die).
Least Favorite
Jules… I’m sad to say this, but yes. I thought she was funny towards the beginning of the story, and I figured that my liking for her would grow as I continued reading the story. But I was wrong. When things got intense, and the visions started becoming clearer, Jules started to act a bit immature. She handle the visions and the entire situation childlike; like a twelve year old, instead of a seventeen year old.
Beginning
We are introduced to the main character Jules, who is no one special. She doesn’t have many friends, just her brother and sister. She works for her family’s restaurant almost every day. Jules and her siblings are forced to take the food truck to school, even though it has two big meatballs sitting right on top. Jules seems quirky and funny, and the beginning of the story really pulled me in.
Middle
After we get to know Jules and a little bit about her family, the reader is introduced to the boy she has always loved, Sawyer. This is where Crash becomes really similar to Romeo and Juliet, where Sawyer and Jules can’t be together due to their families’ restaurant rivalry. I didn’t really mind this at all, it was a funny and interesting spin on the classical story we read in middle school.
Ending
The ending is what’s making me want to read the second book! The ending shows that Jules isn’t the one seeing the visions any more… but someone else is; meaning this nightmare isn’t over.
Overall
I liked the story. The beginning is what hooked me in, the middle wasn’t to my taste, and the ending is forcing me to read the second book. The beginning was funny and had me interested. The middle had no twists or turns, and Julie was getting on my nerves. The ending was the biggest twist, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. I was also confused as to why the reader never finds out why Jules is suddenly having these visions… but maybe McMann is saving that for the second book.
Krista :
Cover
I agree the flames in the centre of the eye is what drew me into the cover. I found it fit the story very well and great imagery. It leads the reader to thinking this is going to be a very intense and dangerous story.
Characters
Two families, both in the restaurant business that have been enemies for years. We follow Jules, the daughter of one of the restaurant owners as our main character.
Favourite
I am tied between each of Jules’ siblings, and Sawyer. They all seemed so down to earth and especially her sister, very responsible, caring and helpful even at her younger age.
Least Favourite
Jules! Ouch I know that the main character really carries the story but man was she a pain. There were several points in this story that I rolled my eyes at her actions and decisions.
Beginning
Jules is constantly seeing a vision of a fiery car crash on repeat throughout her whole day and decides that it’s too much of a distraction, since she is the only one that can see it, it must be her destiny to stop it from happening.
Storyline
When Jules realizes that she knows one of the people dying in the crash, and he’s very close to her heart she will do everything in her power to stop the event from happening.
Ending
Not as predictable as I would have thought, it did have a twist to it and in a way Jules raised the bar a little on my original feelings for her.
Thoughts
I had a harder time reading this story than I thought I would. It was something that I was really looking forward to reading this year. Yet at times I found myself wishing it (the story) wasn’t so dragged out and had been in fact a short story or novella instead. The lengthening of the story into the novel is the most likely reason that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought because of how frantic Jules became, as the story went on. Without her siblings and Sawyer making her calm down at points, she would have been unbearable. So thanks to friends and family playing a big part in this one!
Quote
“The crash is my life.”
“I do not have 25 hours and 22 minutes to save the world, I have one hour 22 minutes. ”
I chose these quotes because it shows how much Jules takes this vision on as a personal issue. It becomes her and she becomes it, nothing else in her life matters – completely obsessed.
http://lisamcmann.blogspot.com.au/
Hardcover, 233 pages
Published January 8th 2013 by Simon Pulse
ISBN: 1442403918 (ISBN13:9781442403918)
