Amy James

Crash Test

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, as I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I haven't ever read a book where the main characters were F1 drivers, so that was pretty interesting. I really enjoyed seeing the flashbacks of their relationship and how everything tied together at the end. I got really immersed in this book; I felt heartbroken for Travis when they broke up. When I first started reading in Jacob's POV, I kind of hated the guy and wanted to go back to Travis', but I honestly enjoyed both of theirs. It was so interesting seeing both of them grow apart, and I was especially happy that Travis got his own group of people. This is a great story of how a breakup can honestly be the best thing for a relationship, it gives people time to grow on their own, but that they can still love each other through it all. 

Maggie Hotmer

Rated 4.25 on Storygraph and 4.0 on Goodreads.

Confession: I have an impulse control issue when it comes to requesting ARCs on Netgalley. I am a hoarder at heart, and my Kindle is not safe from my hoarder tendencies! I open NG, scroll through the LGBTQ+ books, and request, like, eight trillion at a time. And then I’m all sorts of shocked when I get accepted for a majority of them! Who does that?

. I requested it before I realized that it was set to release soon, and then before I knew it, I’d received an email telling me that my request was approved. Cool! I’m excited!

 was published on July 1st, and let me tell you what: I’m a little annoyed with myself for pushing off reading it for so long. It’s described as the lovechild of Formula 1 and Casey McQuiston’s 

, and honestly? I kinda see it. I’m a huge McQuiston fan, and I have quite a few friends who are hardcore F1 fans, and I guess it helps that I’m kind of into cars! James does a fantastic job of exploring the world of Formula 1 (as far as I know; ask my best friend once he finishes reading this–he’s the F1 guy) and the nuances of relationships, especially queer ones, when you’re in the limelight.

I also have to say that I really enjoyed the way James broke the book up into sectors. There are three of them: 

. The first two are from the perspective of either man, respectively, and the third sector’s POV is split between the two of them. I think that James’ decision to split the sectors up like this gives us access to who she envisioned each character would 

 Travis’s perspective on things is a little stunted, I think, with his lack of experience in so, 

 many things, on top of his slight inability to socialize. He’s a little anxious, quite standoffish, but 

And then there’s Jacob. I can’t say I 

him much while I was reading his part of the book. While I was crying to my friend about Jacob and Travis, I outright said that I hated Jacob. He was a massive prick! I think, though, that I failed to put all of his struggles into perspective. I’ve never been in a life-altering car accident that very well could’ve ruined my career, I’ve never been a public figure, and I don’t have a family similar to Jacob’s. Do I think he could have and should have handled things differently? 

 I am also a firm believer in the idea that there’s no such thing as a perfect victim, and while Jacob’s choices negatively impacted my boy Travis, I refuse to fault him entirely.

The two boys aside, I loved the found family aspect of this book. Heather, Hunter, Matty, Erin, and even Stefan were all so, so important to me by the end of the book. These people felt so lively, and honestly, I found each of my friends in their personalities. Amanda and Kelsie were also total hits–I think there was a good few chapters where I liked Amanda better than I liked Jacob. No surprise there.

I found the ending to be a bit lackluster–I wish we’d been given 

I would’ve liked to have seen more of Jacob’s career before the end of the novel, but I also respect James’ choice for how she ended it.

 was super fun, and I feel like it was a gentle way to ease myself out of a reading slump. I will definitely be reading more from Amy James in the future.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

bucky

Rated 4.25 on Storygraph and 4.0 on Goodreads.

Confession: I have an impulse control issue when it comes to requesting ARCs on Netgalley. I am a hoarder at heart, and my Kindle is not safe from my hoarder tendencies! I open NG, scroll through the LGBTQ+ books, and request, like, eight trillion at a time. And then I’m all sorts of shocked when I get accepted for a majority of them! Who does that?

I do. That’s what happened with Crash Test. I requested it before I realized that it was set to release soon, and then before I knew it, I’d received an email telling me that my request was approved. Cool! I’m excited!

So, Amy James’s Crash Test was published on July 1st, and let me tell you what: I’m a little annoyed with myself for pushing off reading it for so long. It’s described as the lovechild of Formula 1 and Casey McQuiston’s Red, White & Royal Blue, and honestly? I kinda see it. I’m a huge McQuiston fan, and I have quite a few friends who are hardcore F1 fans, and I guess it helps that I’m kind of into cars! James does a fantastic job of exploring the world of Formula 1 (as far as I know; ask my best friend once he finishes reading this–he’s the F1 guy) and the nuances of relationships, especially queer ones, when you’re in the limelight.

I also have to say that I really enjoyed the way James broke the book up into sectors. There are three of them: Travis, Jacob, and Travis and Jacob. The first two are from the perspective of either man, respectively, and the third sector’s POV is split between the two of them. I think that James’ decision to split the sectors up like this gives us access to who she envisioned each character would be. Travis’s perspective on things is a little stunted, I think, with his lack of experience in so, so many things, on top of his slight inability to socialize. He’s a little anxious, quite standoffish, but goddamn it is he talented.

And then there’s Jacob. I can’t say I likedhim much while I was reading his part of the book. While I was crying to my friend about Jacob and Travis, I outright said that I hated Jacob. He was a massive prick! I think, though, that I failed to put all of his struggles into perspective. I’ve never been in a life-altering car accident that very well could’ve ruined my career, I’ve never been a public figure, and I don’t have a family similar to Jacob’s. Do I think he could have and should have handled things differently? Absolutely. I am also a firm believer in the idea that there’s no such thing as a perfect victim, and while Jacob’s choices negatively impacted my boy Travis, I refuse to fault him entirely.

The two boys aside, I loved the found family aspect of this book. Heather, Hunter, Matty, Erin, and even Stefan were all so, so important to me by the end of the book. These people felt so lively, and honestly, I found each of my friends in their personalities. Amanda and Kelsie were also total hits–I think there was a good few chapters where I liked Amanda better than I liked Jacob. No surprise there.

I found the ending to be a bit lackluster–I wish we’d been given more. I would’ve liked to have seen more of Jacob’s career before the end of the novel, but I also respect James’ choice for how she ended it.

Honestly, Crash Test was super fun, and I feel like it was a gentle way to ease myself out of a reading slump. I will definitely be reading more from Amy James in the future.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crash Test

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