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A review by reba_reads_books
Crashed by Robin Wasserman
1.0
I changed this 4 star rating to 1 star, because this is a one star series, and here's why.
Original Review:
I feel bad writing this review, because I read the first in this series years ago so I don't remember why I'd rated it 5 stars besides the fact that I remember blazing through the story wanting to know what happened next. I did that with this one too. The plot builds, tension mounts, and the author presents many paths for the main character Lia to choose...so, as a reader, naturally you're hooked to keep reading to find out which she chooses. However, this didn't feel like a five star book to me. I agree with some other reviewers that Lia's philosophical inner monologues were amazing in the first book but made me raise an eyebrow in this one. I was disappointed in Lia; for the entirety of this book she's totally neutral, so many sides to choose and you don't get the sense she's rooting for any one. This says something interesting about the moral dilemma they're in, but it unfortunately doesn't make for interesting character development. I wanted to be in *any* of the antagonists' heads...at least they *believed* in something. At least they'd *monumentally* grown since their bodies had failed them...whereas Lia, well, she seemed just as lost as she was in the first book, except this time she was cynical about it rather than heartbroken, which doesn't make for a likeable character. Also, the Riley/Jude/Lia romantic tension felt fake and forced...like it was expected to be there, which is why it was there. But seriously...Lia has basically turned into an asexual aromantic, so what motivation does she have to pursue romance? I couldn't help but wonder, she thinks so hard about everything else, why did she never think about her relationships? Her friendships? At least never in any deep way. Any thought that wasn't about her own immediate dilemmas and emotions was pretty much immediately dismissed. It made her come off as incredibly selfish, which is contradictory to the growth she seemed to have done at the end of the first book. I'm giving this four stars because, despite my criticisms, I really want to know what happens next. I care about the outcome of this plot, even though I'm still unsure if I care about the characters. And, I gotta give it to Wasserman, she's a talented writer; I lose myself in her prose every time. She makes it so easy to fall into the world she's created, like swimming into an ocean you don't want to emerge from.
Original Review:
I feel bad writing this review, because I read the first in this series years ago so I don't remember why I'd rated it 5 stars besides the fact that I remember blazing through the story wanting to know what happened next. I did that with this one too. The plot builds, tension mounts, and the author presents many paths for the main character Lia to choose...so, as a reader, naturally you're hooked to keep reading to find out which she chooses. However, this didn't feel like a five star book to me. I agree with some other reviewers that Lia's philosophical inner monologues were amazing in the first book but made me raise an eyebrow in this one. I was disappointed in Lia; for the entirety of this book she's totally neutral, so many sides to choose and you don't get the sense she's rooting for any one. This says something interesting about the moral dilemma they're in, but it unfortunately doesn't make for interesting character development. I wanted to be in *any* of the antagonists' heads...at least they *believed* in something. At least they'd *monumentally* grown since their bodies had failed them...whereas Lia, well, she seemed just as lost as she was in the first book, except this time she was cynical about it rather than heartbroken, which doesn't make for a likeable character. Also, the Riley/Jude/Lia romantic tension felt fake and forced...like it was expected to be there, which is why it was there. But seriously...Lia has basically turned into an asexual aromantic, so what motivation does she have to pursue romance? I couldn't help but wonder, she thinks so hard about everything else, why did she never think about her relationships? Her friendships? At least never in any deep way. Any thought that wasn't about her own immediate dilemmas and emotions was pretty much immediately dismissed. It made her come off as incredibly selfish, which is contradictory to the growth she seemed to have done at the end of the first book. I'm giving this four stars because, despite my criticisms, I really want to know what happens next. I care about the outcome of this plot, even though I'm still unsure if I care about the characters. And, I gotta give it to Wasserman, she's a talented writer; I lose myself in her prose every time. She makes it so easy to fall into the world she's created, like swimming into an ocean you don't want to emerge from.