Title: Crash Test
Author: Amy James
Series: N/A
About this Book: Twenty-four-year-old Formula 1 driver Travis Keeping is halfway through an incredible racing season, with the championship well within his sights. But when a massive crash in Formula 2 leaves driver Jacob Nichols in critical condition, Travis’s world is flipped upside down. No one knows, but he and Jacob have been dating for almost a year.
Now the only boy he’s ever loved is clinging to life, his F1 team can’t understand why his performance is faltering, and he’s locked in a cold war with Jacob’s parents, who want him as far away from their son as humanly possible. Travis is sure everything will get better when Jacob wakes up, but he soon realizes he’s underestimated Jacob’s parents’ influence on their son.
As the F1 season barrels on, Travis and Jacob find themselves alone and miserable on opposite sides of the globe. But with some new friends by their sides, both drivers will be pushed outside of their comfort zones and onto a journey of self-discovery—one that just might lead them back to each other in the end.
My Thoughts:
This book starts with a tragedy in more ways than one. Not knowing much about F1 beyond what a casual viewer would know, I must say it kind of hit me upside the head. It is jarring, and the point of view may not be for everyone, but personally, I loved it. You find yourself following Jacob and Travis from their first meeting from Travis’ point of view to the current time, post-collision for the first section or sector of the book.
Travis’ life has been about tragedy from a very young age to the point that he had blocked himself off from everyone and I’m not even sure if he as character realized why he did it at first.
There are many people in Travis’ portion of the book who show him great kindness and who remind him that there is more than racing and being alone. There’s also some not great people too.
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Jacob is a hard character to figure out at first, especially the view you get of him initially which is from Travis and lovers can sometimes make the most unreliable of narrators.
That being said the way he is seen in Travis’ eyes isn’t unattractive. He’s aloof and fun, and easy to care about, but that’s not all he is. And it’s not all he continues to be after the crash.
This book is not quick and easy but not all books should be. Sometimes you need to sit with the characters, take a minute and imagine yourself going through what they’re going through. I think it’s one if the reasons readers are able to show a great deal of compassion.
This book made me cry, there’s no lying about that and my heart ached for not only these two main characters but for every character touched by the horrific accident outlined at the beginning.
There may have also been a moment in the book where I had to bury my face in my pillow and scream but that’s neither here nor there.
There is such care in the way this book is written, for all the characters and the relationships between them and I just adore it.
I need to stop getting books from the library I immediately want to own because it’s becoming a problem.
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