Title: Crash Into MeAuthor: Albert Borris
Release Date: 1st July 2009 (Not currently available in Australia)
My Rating: 3/5
Blurb:
Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: they all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens make a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives.
As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.
My Review:
Albert Borris has done a fine job addressing such a tough and delicate subject. Crash Into Me, in my opinion, is a story about making a connection. It is about four teenagers with a heart-breaking outlook on life who decide to go on an obscure road trip, with the aim to commit suicide at the end. All is not as it seems though and not everything goes according to plan. Our characters have no self-worth, barely any hope and absolutely zero self esteem. Can they stave off drinking, hiding behind suicide facts or shielding themselves with false bravado long enough to find the acceptance they crave?
Owen is extremely insightful and knowledgeable about random facts, and like our other characters, Frank, Audrey and Jin-Ae, he is sad, depressed and lonely. We connect far more to Owen throughout the road trip (I spent most of the time wanting to wrap him in a massive hug), due to the story being told from his POV, and because of this, we only really discover which path he will choose. Most of the ending is predictable and I felt it was finished too quickly. It is hopeful, but the fate of some of the characters remains uncertain. Despite this, it is still a very well written book and it stayed with me long after I finished it.
The story of their road trip is broken up by snippets from the chat room where they all first met. This helps provide a back story and explains how they came to be taking such a random road trip in the first place. The other little extras are the lists that they compile while on the road (some are serious, others, silly). For example 'Top Ten Places to Visit that Aren't Graves' (Area 51, Roswell and the Icelandic Phallological Museum both make the list) and the 'Top Ten Reasons to Live' (Gay bingo and pink socks).
Despite it's morbid subject matter, Crash Into Me still has funny moments and witty banter between the pages as our characters face emotions they didn't know they had and discover what it is they really want for themselves.
Will they find what they are looking for in the most unlikely of places?
As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.
My Review:
Albert Borris has done a fine job addressing such a tough and delicate subject. Crash Into Me, in my opinion, is a story about making a connection. It is about four teenagers with a heart-breaking outlook on life who decide to go on an obscure road trip, with the aim to commit suicide at the end. All is not as it seems though and not everything goes according to plan. Our characters have no self-worth, barely any hope and absolutely zero self esteem. Can they stave off drinking, hiding behind suicide facts or shielding themselves with false bravado long enough to find the acceptance they crave?
"Real self worth comes from mastery, from getting good at something. It doesn't matter what. Then you don't have to worry about empty compliments. You don't worry about what other people think. You have self respect."
Owen is extremely insightful and knowledgeable about random facts, and like our other characters, Frank, Audrey and Jin-Ae, he is sad, depressed and lonely. We connect far more to Owen throughout the road trip (I spent most of the time wanting to wrap him in a massive hug), due to the story being told from his POV, and because of this, we only really discover which path he will choose. Most of the ending is predictable and I felt it was finished too quickly. It is hopeful, but the fate of some of the characters remains uncertain. Despite this, it is still a very well written book and it stayed with me long after I finished it.
The story of their road trip is broken up by snippets from the chat room where they all first met. This helps provide a back story and explains how they came to be taking such a random road trip in the first place. The other little extras are the lists that they compile while on the road (some are serious, others, silly). For example 'Top Ten Places to Visit that Aren't Graves' (Area 51, Roswell and the Icelandic Phallological Museum both make the list) and the 'Top Ten Reasons to Live' (Gay bingo and pink socks).
Despite it's morbid subject matter, Crash Into Me still has funny moments and witty banter between the pages as our characters face emotions they didn't know they had and discover what it is they really want for themselves.
Will they find what they are looking for in the most unlikely of places?
Nice one! I may have to add this to my To Read List.
ReplyDeleteI like the little details you've included in this (the top ten lists, for example. I love lists in books).
ReplyDeleteThis sounds kind of intense but a little bit quirky at the same time.
I haven't read many road trip novels (I always get car sick on road trips, haha).
Liked your review jess! :)