This was a pretty intense book based on the two main characters, Birdie and Bash who meet briefly at a party but then are connected through a horrible car accident. Birdie is smart and goal-oriented planning on college, while Bash is barely scraping by with his mom in hospice care and trying to support himself. It's a good story how they end up working together and Birdie learns how Bash is involved in her brother's car accident. I just don't think that it would be that easy to forgive regardless of the attraction. He did try and come clean and his wild friend talked him out of it and he had such a touch life too but still that was a pretty bad thing that they did. The writing is good and I really loved the characters and the story taught about tragedy, family and the repercussions of your actions . Change the cover! It is really misleading!

I wanted to like this better than I actually did. As the title implies, there's a sense of inevitability to the entire plot. As soon as the car accident happens, the rest of the plot can be predicted: lies, secrets, revelations, dismay, redemption. It carries with it a sense of unreality. Bash, for all his lies, is almost too good. So of course everything will work out in his favor. Kyle is the "bad guy", a bad influence and ultimately bad friend driven only by the recklessness of the idle rich. While it is readable, I found I largely did not care abotu the plot or characters. While I applaud the attempt to tell a more complex love story, it is an attempt that does not entirely succeed.

Birdie and Bash meet at a party on a night that will change both of their lives -- not because of their meeting, but because of the tragedy that befalls them later that night. Although both are dealing with their own separate problems, fate seems to be throwing them together. With everything stacking up against them, can they overcome all the obstacles they face and be happy together?

So, first off, we all know that we’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. I judged this book by its cover (sorry) and was really shocked at what I found inside. The cover, with its cartoon drawing of roller skates, with its bright colors and retro style, made me think that this would be a cute, lighthearted romance, more middle grade than anything. It is not.

This book is sad and dark and very much not MG. Even for YA, it’s on the darker side. This is the story of a teenage boy who wants to do the right thing but is torn by his loyalty to his best friend. This is the story of a teenage girl whose baby brother is currently comatose in the PICU because of something that may or may not be her fault. This is a very sad, very emotional book. It’s so sad and emotional that, at times, it can be very difficult to read. You would not get that from the cover.

This book explores some pretty dark themes. The blurb doesn’t make this clear, either. I have no issue with the part of the blurb about Birdie, or the part about the relationship between Birdie and Bash. The bit about Bash, though, makes this book sound very different than it is:

Sebastian Alvaréz is just trying to hold the pieces together: to not flunk out, to keep his sort-of-best friend Wild Kyle from doing something really bad, and to see his beloved Ma through chemo.

Bash is, deep down, a good guy who’s been dealt a bad hand. You wouldn’t know it from the blurb, but he lives by himself in a rundown trailer without electricity. There are holes in the walls. He can feel the wind on his face when he sleeps. He expresses concern about literally freezing to death. It’s no wonder that he’s nearly flunking out when he’s barely surviving.

Bash might not particularly like “Wild Kyle,” but the lazy, entitled, incredibly rich boy is his best friend. And, yes, Bash tries to keep Kyle on the straight and narrow, but what the blurb doesn’t tell you is that he attempts to keep his friend from driving drunk. That’s the “something really bad.” And Bash doesn’t succeed. Kyle drives drunk, and it sets up the whole rest of the book.

“See his beloved Ma through chemo” really trivializes what’s going on as well. Bash’s mother is dying. She lives in a nursing home and has begun hospice care. She is not going to get better. Bash knows this.

Why do the cover and the blurb work so hard to make this book seem like something it’s not? It seems like a good setup for failure, if you ask me. For me personally, I want to know what I’m getting into. If I’m expecting a lighthearted romance and I get death and destruction, it’s going to affect my rating.

I think what I’m getting at was that I was a little unsettled by the plot. And not because I thought it was shocking -- in fact, Huntley Fitzpatrick’s My Life Next Door explores a very similar situation -- but because it wasn’t the kind of story I was expecting.

And maybe it’s because I read (and loved) MLND, but I don’t understand the hate toward Bash in the reviews. He wasn’t driving. He tried to stop Kyle and he wanted to come forward. Kyle is just a kid, yes, but he’s rich and powerful and, above all, Bash’s only friend. I get it. And more than anything, I just wanted to save Bash from his horrible life and protect him at all costs.

This book may not have been what I expected, but it’s a good story about family, about tragedy, and about the consequences of your actions.

I received a free ARC of The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash from St. Martin’s Griffin via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash by Candace Ganger is a contemporary YA novel about family, love, and the tragedies in life that can instantly change you. The cover easily belies the full emotional rollercoaster kept within the pages of Ms. Ganger’s novel. Going into the novel, I was not prepared for the drama and emotion amongst the characters. Ms. Ganger does a wonderful job of setting up her story and introducing her characters. Her well-written narrative and alternating POVs, keeps the story moving, while her tone and voice entices and pulls you right in to the story.

The novel centers on Bash, Sebastian Alvaréz, and Birdie Paxton, who meet at a party. There is an undeniable attraction between them, but their moment together is over in a flash, and they don’t even exchange names. Neither even know if they will see the other again. Unbeknownst, to either of them, a horrifying tragedy is about to tie them together before they meet again at the local skating rink.

The story of Birdie and Bash is complex and layered with the main story arc that ties Birdie and Bash together. Additionally, there is the separate story of Bash and his mother, as well as Bash’s issues with Kyle. All are intertwined and make the entire novel more interesting as you hope for a positive outcome in the end for the characters.

Overall, The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash by Candace Ganger is a great novel that had me glued to the pages from start to finish. I loved Birdie and Bash as characters, and how they cared for their family. I eagerly recommend and can’t wait to read more by this author.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)

I am not usually one for super tragic books, but The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash drew me in. It tells the story of two people linked by tragedy, though one of them doesn’t know it. One of the main characters, Birdie, is so intelligent, and the author’s writing is whip-smart. However, it is a good idea to have some tissues nearby because this book is an emotional rollercoaster.

This book’s concept really intrigued me. Basically Bash, and his friend are in the car that runs over Birdie’s baby brother, causing him severe injury. There is a low chance of survival, and Bash and his friend never own up to the accident. The plot thickens as Birdie and Bash end up working at a rollerskating rink together while Birdie is unaware of their connection. I enjoyed the suspense that built up as Bash struggled to tell Birdie what he did and being able to understand both sides of the story. This story is so complex and absolutely heart-wrenching, making it an incredible debut.

I really enjoyed Birdie’s character in the novel. She is so intelligent and not afraid to make math jokes. Birdie is also pretty sassy because of her ability to recite random facts, which provided some comic relief. She struggles a lot after the accident and blames herself, so I really sympathized with her. I found Birdie to be such a realistic character and one who is very likeable.

Candace Ganger has a very entertaining writing style. I found the writing in this book to be similar to John Green’s since it is both clever and comedic. Ganger is able to write about tragic events while still incorporating some fun scenes, which I appreciated. It is also clear that she did her research while writing this book because there are some great chemic metaphors scattered throughout the story. This amusing writing really added a lot to the book and is the perfect complement to Birdie and Bash’s story.

The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash is a clever story about two teens who are linked by a tragedy. I loved the main character and her intelligence, and the author’s writing style is so engaging. Though this book is pretty heavy, it’s worth the read.

When we meet Bash, he is going along with best friend kyle to a party, so not his scene but then he see's 'couch girl' at said party and she takes his mind off his friend or his try hard ex at the party.

Then after, a near miss collision between two cars nearly collides their lives before it actually later does in an even bigger way.

As Birdie's younger brother sat in his pushchair it accidentally wheeled down into the road, a driver speeding along hit it and threw him high into the air and this landed him in intensive care in a coma due to extensive brain injuries and head bone fractures.

Birdie needs to distract herself from the chaos happening to her family, she also feels guilty over her mum being distracted as they were speaking when the pushchair rolled away.

As the book moves on we learn more about Bash, having to cover for Kyle and promise to not turn him in when he realises they played a major role in the accident which happened. We also learn Bash's mum has stage four ovarian cancer and as her condition worsens and Bash's guilt builds over the situation with Kyle after he starts working alongside Birdie, will the guilt become too much?

But then Birdie's family hand in a single small piece of possible evidence and a new doctor comes along just before life support is withdrawn from her brother.

Can things get better?

This was a rollercoaster! As Birdie's life crashes then gets slowly better as hope comes along, Bash's life hits turmoil as his mum's cancer gets too much and guilt overwhelms him their lives are so much in and out of sync with each other my head was spinning with all the drama! I loved it, really great and a book you can place yourself into and feel the characters emotion's through their situations.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

As for a YA book 'The Inevitable Collision of Birdie & Bash' deals with lots of serious issues. Starting with addiction, through cancer to loss of a beloved person. Not to mention love. I wouldn't dare saying that it's easy to read. It is definitely way better to say that it's very concise in description and full of situations. Don't read it for relaxing purposes ;)

I'm so glad to have read this book. It could have gone awry what with the "small world-ness" of the whole situation, but it didn't. Instead, it worked to create a realistic complicatedness that is real life. Both Bash and Birdie have flaws. Both are broken in ways we can relate with, even if we've different circumstances or personality make-ups. This story is not formulaic, and there is no pat, sit-com ending. And there's roller skating. And chemistry. So...you know, this book pretty much reaches maximum bonus points levels.