When asked for a recommendation on a good romantic supernatural suspense series, one of my go-to authors is Lisa McMann. I absolutely adored her Wake trilogy, which grabbed my attention right away from the first book. The captivating and quickly moving plot and extremely likable characters are the main reasons I think McMann's books are hit with reluctant readers. You simply don't have a chance to be bored, especially when the author started a brand new, four book series called Visions. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series which is available now.
Description: 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.
Review: Crash is a mash-up between Romeo and Juliet and the horror movie series Final Destination. Julie Demarco keeps seeing on vision of an out-of-control snowplow crash into a restaurant, causing an explosion and killing several people inside on nearly every flat surface--billboards, televisions and road signs. With a depressed grandfather who committed suicide and a moody, hoarder father, she's almost certain that her visions is a sign of some mental illness. She keeps the terrifying images to herself, certain her Italian family will commit her if they find out about her visions. In addition to the puzzling and horrific images, the restaurant in jeopardy belongs to no one other than their rival pizza parlor, and one of the dead is Sawyer Angotti, Julie's one time good friend and her secret, lifelong crush and son of the adversarial restaurateur.
McMann succeeds in creating another unput-downable supernatural thriller. With quick pacing, realistic dialogue, and the right amount of romance (which thankfully isn't insta-love), the story takes flight and I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next. Julie is a strong female protagonist, who is aware of her shortcomings but her determination to thwart a disaster regardless of who is involved is admirable. Instead of impulsively plunging head first like most of the heroines we encounter, Julie uses clues from her ever more frequent visions to try to figure out the exact time of the crash in an attempt to prevent it from happening, risking her already shaky standing with Sawyer, her parents and her classmates. Her relationship with Sawyer and her siblings are natural. McMann fleshes out Sawyer's character as he becomes his own person as he and Julie discover some dark family secrets. My only complaint about Crash is the lack of explanation of how the vision works and I'm hoping this will become clearer as the four book series continues. While the book doesn't end in a cliffhanger per se, there are many questions left unanswered and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the second book told from Sawyer's point of view called Bang, which is set to release later this fall.
Rating: 4 stars
Words of Caution: There is some strong language in the book and some disturbing images. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.
If you like this book try: Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann, The Bodyfinder series by Kimberly Derting, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Description: 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.
Review: Crash is a mash-up between Romeo and Juliet and the horror movie series Final Destination. Julie Demarco keeps seeing on vision of an out-of-control snowplow crash into a restaurant, causing an explosion and killing several people inside on nearly every flat surface--billboards, televisions and road signs. With a depressed grandfather who committed suicide and a moody, hoarder father, she's almost certain that her visions is a sign of some mental illness. She keeps the terrifying images to herself, certain her Italian family will commit her if they find out about her visions. In addition to the puzzling and horrific images, the restaurant in jeopardy belongs to no one other than their rival pizza parlor, and one of the dead is Sawyer Angotti, Julie's one time good friend and her secret, lifelong crush and son of the adversarial restaurateur.
McMann succeeds in creating another unput-downable supernatural thriller. With quick pacing, realistic dialogue, and the right amount of romance (which thankfully isn't insta-love), the story takes flight and I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next. Julie is a strong female protagonist, who is aware of her shortcomings but her determination to thwart a disaster regardless of who is involved is admirable. Instead of impulsively plunging head first like most of the heroines we encounter, Julie uses clues from her ever more frequent visions to try to figure out the exact time of the crash in an attempt to prevent it from happening, risking her already shaky standing with Sawyer, her parents and her classmates. Her relationship with Sawyer and her siblings are natural. McMann fleshes out Sawyer's character as he becomes his own person as he and Julie discover some dark family secrets. My only complaint about Crash is the lack of explanation of how the vision works and I'm hoping this will become clearer as the four book series continues. While the book doesn't end in a cliffhanger per se, there are many questions left unanswered and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the second book told from Sawyer's point of view called Bang, which is set to release later this fall.
Rating: 4 stars
Words of Caution: There is some strong language in the book and some disturbing images. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.
If you like this book try: Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann, The Bodyfinder series by Kimberly Derting, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
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Wow, great review!! Ive seen this one around, and I haven't been interested till I read your review on it. Ill have to put this one on my GR list!!
I enjoyed Crash, too, but not as much as Cryer's Cross, which I absolutely loved. I *still* haven't read the Wake series, though, as I've heard conflicting opinions on it.
I have to admit, though, one of the things I like about McMann is the fact that I know I'm in for a quick read. She doesn't write lengthy stories--which is probably why she appeals to reluctant readers--and while that sometimes works for me, I've also also wished that her stories were meatier.