Rocky Callen’s Crashing Into You is a beautifully raw and heartfelt exploration of grief, love, and self-discovery. The story follows Amelia, a girl grappling with her mother’s death, as she navigates the chaos of her emotions and relationships. Callen’s prose is evocative, painting vivid pictures of Amelia’s pain and resilience, while offering a tender, unflinching look at how trauma shapes us.

What stands out most is the book’s emotional depth; it doesn’t shy away from the complexities of mental health or the messy process of healing. Callen weaves themes of hope and connection into every chapter, leaving readers both heartbroken and uplifted.

Perfect for fans of emotional contemporaries, Crashing Into You is a must-read for anyone seeking a story that stays with you long after the last page. A stunning, impactful debut!

this book was very Young on the YA spectrum and not for the good. It just wasn't for me. not a fan. it was fast paced and spotty and just not my cup of tea.

2.75⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.
This was an interesting read, it was heartwarming yet heartbreaking at the same time. I liked the found family aspects. I liked the thrill of racing, that part was so fun. I liked jacob and how caring he is. I liked leti and how she doesn’t let people walk all over her. Heres what i didn't like: leti’s pick me tendencies; im not talking about her feeling left out and not ‘girly’ cause thats totally valid. Im talking about her saying she wants to drag a girl by her fake lashes, and calling her ‘fake lash girl’. I also dont think the autism representation was done well, you can write an intriguing and realistic autistic character without simply making him an awkward robot baby who just discovered earth. Others might disagree, and thats alright. I didn’t completely click with the main character, but she’s complex and interesting. I found the romance to be cute, but they’d probably just end up as friends in the end. Here’s a quote i liked: “I need to be someone, i need to be something. Otherwise, everything that was lost won’t be worth it, I won’t be worth it.” This book handles grief in a unique way.

Need a modern fast and furious movie, but with a super strong female protagonist in your life? This novel is it! This high octane, fast speed novel will careen your emotions all over the place as you cheer for Leti and then start cheering for Jacob and soon you're shipping them and cheering for them together.

Leti has street racing in her blood. Her brother taught her the ins and outs and she's determined to make a name for herself. But when Leti meets Jacob, her life veers off track into a spin into a romance story with a tragic twist. Jacob's life has spun out of control as well: his dad passed, the bills are piling up and an eviction notice is on the horizon. Leti decides to help get both their lives back on course by entering a race: the prize money would help Jacob and she could make a name for herself. What could go wrong? (if you guessed it crashes and burns... you wouldn't be wrong). Can Leti and Jacob survive the flames and the fallout?

What I loved most: Leti's passion for racing, the fierce crew that loves and protects Leti, the use of Spanish, the sweet relationship between Jacob and Leti

rocky callen's CRASHING INTO YOU is fast and furious x high school drama x living with grief

i went into this audiobook knowing next-to-nothing about what i was getting other than street racer romance. first of, i'd like to say that the narrator, stacy gonzalez, did a great job bringing the story to life. although she didn't necessarily have a different voice for each character, i think that she portrayed them well. i will say that there were times as i was listening where i wasn't sure if i was hearing inner dialogue or things that were actually being said out loud. i'm not sure if this would be a narration issue or a writing issue, but it wasn't so much so that i was completely lost.

leti was sassy and just wanted to prove that she was good enough and could be better than the guys. i think that she acted her age, though i'm not sure how she expected to fix everything on her own. her relationship with jacob was very sweet, and i love how they always met each other where they were at whether that was due to their grief or just personal preferences in relationships.

jacob was my favorite character. i really enjoyed how callen wrote him. i didn't realize i would be reading about an autistic mmc, but i was pleasantly surprised when i met jacob. i think he was portrayed in a way that was real and did not rely on harmful stereotypes. i really love how he always wanted to protect leti.

the side characters at the shop were entertaining and definitely helped to lighten the mood. i never fully got the gist of who was who, but that didn't have a huge effect on the story. they were leti's family and they were happy to help her and be there for her as much as they could,

i found the accident towards the end to be a little cliche and drawn out, especially with the memory-loss added after.

while this story didn't blow me away, it was a good read and i would recommend it to my fellow YA lovers. and if you enjoy reading with your ears, then you can definitely trust stacy gonzalez to bring it to life!

This book had everything! Fast & Furious vibes? Check! Angsty high school drama? Double check! Beyond precious characters? Absolutely! I had the most fun ride watching these characters connect and grow amidst some really tough themes. Rocky tackled these topics with so much grace and understanding, and it really showed throughout the story. I felt super connected to the characters, which just goes to show how effortlessly Rocky made Leti and Jacob both relatable and authentic. I can't wait to dive into more of this author's work. Simply beautiful! 💖

I had a lot of fun with this one. I laughed, I got a bit emotional and I even learned some things. I definitely wanted a race car of my own 😂 This was fun and I highly recommend!

I'm kinda sad to say this, but it was a bit of a disappointment. I read Rocky's debut last year and loved it, so seeing as this followed similar themes, I was really excited to read it. Unfortunately, it felt a little short to me.

I never really connected with any of the characters. Both grief and healing as well as family dynamics are important aspects of the story, both for the main character and the romantic interest. The themes it explores are interesting and there are some things about the way the author wrote them that really struck me, but I never really got completely into the story. I liked the car racing aspect and everything around it, although some of the situations seemed a little sketchy. I don't have much to say, for the most part it was entertaining, but it's not something I'll really think much about.

As for the audiobook, while the narrator did a great job, I didn't think the voices/tones fit the characters and that might be a personal thing, but it also affected my overall reading experience because I felt like they didn't express the right emotions.

Not a bad book by any means, just not for me.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from a YA romance with a street racing FMC and autistic MMC, but OMG I adored this SO much. It's like Fast & Furious meets high school drama.

There were some surprising tears shed while listening to this story as it does touch on some difficult topics including grief, mental illness, poverty, etc.

Leti, our FMC, is a sassy, bad ass, curvy, Latina street racer who just wants the opportunity to prove that girls can do it too. Jacob is a bit of a loner, who loves all things space, wants to become an astronaut and is on the autism spectrum.

Leti and Jacob quickly strike up a friendship by finding common ground of being outcasts and grieving the loss of a parent. Their friendship is so sweet and their connection was tangible. I found myself excited to keep listening to their story as it took me through all the emotions: happy and light hearted, to heart broken, to determined and everything in between.

The characters felt well developed given their age and shared experience of losing a parent. I appreciated Leti's determination to never give up and Jacob's passion for keeping his connection to his late father.

I'm a fan of Stacey Gonzalez. Her narration portrayed all the emotions Leti was feeling perfectly. Her performance even pulled a few tears from me along the way.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advanced listener copy.

Leti is a street racer who is still in high school, the school she goes to is very different since it’s private and they have all different groups as you see in movies and stories. Though there is a boy Jacob who she just feels drawn to and his drumming on the desk soothes her, when he missed a week she gets worried and the next time she sees him she checks on him. Jacob is different he is Autistic and there are a lot of things about him and the things he does that others call him names. Leti finds out Jacob and his Mom will be losing their home and so she decides to race for him in a tournament and give him the money so he can stay. Though the kids at school are horrible and there are a lot of obstacles that they encounter.

I read this thinking oh curse a YA Romance they are always cute and it will be a great break in the murder mysteries I usually read. It was a great break and it also had me so emotional all through the story. This is one of the best books I’ve read it shows family, love, loss, and determination. I think Rocky did a great job writing this and hope to see more from them.

⋆.˚✮🏎️ crashing into you 🚀✮˚.⋆

this book was so bad, that it was so friggin entertaining
2.5 stars...

‧₊˚✧🏎️ the plot 🚀✧˚₊‧

Leticia (or leti bc "people keep butchering her name") dreams of becoming a famous female street racer and she wants to get into this big competition to prove girls are better than boys.
She befriends the other loner of the school Jacob, whose dream is to become an astronaut. AnD tOgEtHeR iN hEr CaR tHeY bOtH fEeL LiKe ThEy’Re fLyInG 🥹💗🙄
"These streets are mine and if they don’t wanna give them to me then I will take them "



‧₊˚✧🏎️ the characters 🚀✧˚₊‧

leti
So I’m gonna describe Leti by how Jacob described her, um have fun:
so basically she said: does this dress make me look fat
him: yes
her: you werent supposed to say that
him: its true, you fat and your thighs are so big they touch and your stomach jiggles and youre big ect, ect
her: *HORRIFIED*
him: but it makes you YOU and I love it and youre so soft and wtv

Him describing her like sweetish i guess, BUT NO. RUN LETI. PLEASE NO. I WAS DYING OF LAUGHTER ON MY BIKE THIS LITTLE BOY GAVE ME A WEIRD LOOK, I KID YOU NOT. I WAS ALMOST IN TEARS OML. AND THEN THIS OLD MAN GAVE ME THE SWEETEST SMILED AND I JUST TRIED TO SMILE BACK THROUGH THE TEARS

anyways…
‧ Ok, so Leti is Mexican right? and I respect that. but if you’re gonna talk in Spanish, GIVE ME A TRANSLATION PLEASE. I didnt understand half the book 😭
‧ I do have a lot of respect for Leti, she knows what she wants and tries her best to achieve it and won’t let anything or anyone get in her way and thats honestly something that I aspire to be like.
"I know where I’m going so you can either ride shotgun or get out of my way"

‧ Leti is probably the weirdest fmc I have ever read about. Want some examples? I got you
She wants to:
1. Nuzzle her nose into Jacob’s dimples
2. Kiss his eyelids (acceptable ig?)
3. Climb up his torso like a koala
4. Wrap him in a blanket and reattach her jaw???


jacob
‧ ok, I’ll describe him as the characters described him too. Jacob is climbable, devour-able, he has a nuzzle-able dimple and talks like a robot…
‧ words cannot describe how much I hate him with a passion dislike Jacob.
Has he lived in isolation his whole life?? Like 0 social skills and doesn’t know how to act like a normal person.
THEORY: he’s an alien that crashed onto earth and wants to become an astronaut to go to space and find his planet. I’m so smart fr
AT HIS BIG AGE HES MAKING HER PINKY PROMISE
BRO RECITED HOW LOW THE CHANCES OF SOMEONE SURVIVING A CAR CRASH WAS WHILE SHE WAS IN TEARS BC SOMEONE SHE LOVED GOT IN A CAR CRASH LIKE WHAT THE HECKKKK
‧ SPOILER: Listen, Jacob is about to lose his house bc his dad just died and instead of getting the money himself, he gets let to give him her prize money. END OF SPOILER. HES MANIPULATING HER AND I KNOW IT. SHE MIGHT NOT SEE TROUGH HIS PETTY ACT BUT I SEE THROUGH YOU JACOB.
SPOILER listen I know, I KNOW hes autistic, but this behavior is too out of hand I’m so sorry. END OF SPOILER
‧ you know how I mentioned Jacob wanted to be an astronaut? Well you need to be specific height for it (to fit in the rocket), and Jacob grew a couple inches and well…
leti: JACOB ASTRONAUTS CAN ONLY BE 75 INCHES TALL.
…..
jacob: "AHHHHHHH" proceeds to hit his head trying to make himself smaller 😭



the crew
Obviously Leti has a crew and honestly, I loved them. They were so destructive and chaotic and just made the story a lot more fun. The nicknames were so cute and they were just the best part of the book
This is my crew always having my back. Reminding me they will always bet on me.



‧₊˚✧🏎️ overall 🚀✧˚₊‧

This was very bad yet I really enjoyed laughing at how friggin bad this was.
Like: "What were the last words I said to him 'I HaTe YoU’" I WAS HYSTERICAL, NO I’M ACTUALLY CRYING BC ITS TOO FUNNY I’M SORRY

And like I didn’t expect it…but I actually cry. Bro whattt
"When your start to lose yourself, everyone loses"

the cover tho? GORGEOUS

in conclusion, if you wanna have a good laugh and cringe like crazy, I definitely recommend <3

“Don’t race leti bc you are afraid. Race bc you are leti Rivera. The queen of the streets. Now all you have to do is show them"

This was a beautiful ya romance. I was hooked from the start. Finished it in 24hrs! I loved the diversity in the characters. I also really loved the autism representation. This book does a wonderful job at representing grief as well. This really was a beautifully written story!

The audio was perfect! It truly brought everything together!

I'm a huge Fast and Furious fan, although this isn't like that it is about street car racing and really helps you see the visions in your mind. Female fast car drivers! It's huge! The rough streets of LA serve as a backdrop! Neon lights, fast cars, screeching tires! The author’s vivid descriptions put you in the driver’s seat. Feel the vibrations of the engine, taste the adrenaline, and experience the rush of acceleration. Both have family's that are less than perfect. I loved the raw emotion, unforgettable characters, and a pulse-pounding romance. This is on that makes you question which way it's going. Twisting and turning makes you turn the pages guessing. Loved it!! Rooted for Leti the entire time!

I really enjoyed this book! I was instantly hooked, and the audiobook was fantastic. The story revolves around a young woman who dreams of becoming a race car driver and meets a sweet boy with autism. It was a very moving and heartfelt story that focused on themes of grief and aspirations for the future. The racing car aspect of the story was also fun to read about. Overall, this was a great book and I would recommend the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Audio for my copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the audio book.

I appreciate the female main character being into street racing - super unique, I don't think I've ever seen a book about a female street racer before. I love motorsports so I knew I needed to read this one.

I also appreciate the representation of the autism spectrum, as the male main character is on the spectrum. I felt this was well done.

Overall I felt like this book gave major Fast and Furious vibes in the best way. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys YA with a strong female character and anyone who is into cars/motorsports.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Fast and Furious meets High School drama in this YA story.

Up until 68% I loved this book, I was really engaged and deeply involved with the life of the characters. The autism rep was done very well and I liked the way Leti, the protagonist, deals with the realization the boy she is in love with may have different needs.
Jacob was a precious precious character, definitely my favorite of the book.

Around 68% of something big happens plot-wise and I found the way teenager Leti deals with it very relatable, yet annoying. She is a teenager adrift, she never met her mother, lived with an absent father (whom I really hated), and now had to deal with yet another tragedy in her family. The accident was ok, I liked it, but the memory loss was too much.
And to take on her shoulder all the responsibility for Jacob´s house? What was Jacob´s mother doing? I don´t know, some things really gave me the ick.

Overall I would recommend it, mainly if you like cars and for the autism representation.

The audiobook was well narrated. The voice actress really did a great job with all the Spanish words. So applauses to her :)

Rocky Callen's "Crashing into You" comes alive in the audiobook format, narrated with exquisite nuance by Stacy Gonzalez. This fiercely moving YA romance novel immerses listeners into the high-octane world of Leti Rivera, a seventeen-year-old street racing enthusiast with dreams of fame. Gonzalez's dynamic narration perfectly captures the intensity of Leti's passion for racing, as well as the emotional turbulence that follows when tragedy threatens to derail her ambitions. The vivid descriptions and heart-pounding scenes are given new life through Gonzalez’s energetic and emotive performance.

Gonzalez brings depth and authenticity to each character, especially in her portrayal of Leti and Jacob Fleckenstein. Her ability to convey Leti’s internal conflict and vulnerability, alongside Jacob’s gentle honesty and warmth, makes their developing relationship deeply compelling. Listeners can feel the palpable chemistry between the two, making their shared moments in the car feel like they’re soaring. Gonzalez's skillful modulation of tone and pace ensures that the quieter, introspective moments are just as gripping as the thrilling race sequences, adding a rich layer to the story’s emotional landscape.

The audiobook reaches a poignant peak when tragedy strikes after a race, with Gonzalez expertly navigating Leti’s spiral into guilt and her heartfelt oath to give up driving. The raw emotion in these scenes is intensified by Gonzalez’s heartfelt delivery, making Leti’s journey of self-discovery and healing profoundly resonant. "Crashing into You" is not just a story about racing; it’s a powerful exploration of love, loss, and resilience. With Stacy Gonzalez’s exceptional narration, this audiobook becomes an unmissable experience, breathing life into Callen’s words and ensuring that listeners are hooked from start to finish.

Leti: a curvy, fierce, Latina girl who loves street racing. Jacob: an ostracized, honest, autistic boy. who loves space. Acquaintances to friends to more.

This book has a YA Fast & Furious vibe to me - loosely since I've only seen 2 or so F&F movies. Leti and Jacob have such a beautiful story independently, but their story together is cosmic. Callen hits on some pretty heavy topics (parental loss, all consuming grief, living in a world not intended for you, etc) with this story and does it really well.

The narration was okay. Stacy Gonzalez's style of narration is generally geared to the dramatic. She often infects in a way that indicates every sentence is of high anticipation/suspense. This goes both ways as for enjoyment/not my fave. I'm sure some listeners absolutely love it while some are more indifferent like me.

This was so good. I requested this book on a whim, and I love when whims pay off.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rocky Callen, and Dreamscape Media for a copy of this audiobook ARC.

This story was really good. I was entertained the entire time and it had me shedding tears a few times. It was definitely Fast and the Furious vibes. It was cute that even the FMC was named Leticia( Letty). I liked that Autism and being on the spectrum was brought up because I felt like it shed light on information that many people may not know. I love the narrator! She was also in the quince project and she is fantastic at bringing to life the Spanglish Latinas.

I believe many people will enjoy this story for the cars, races, romance, and Latino representation. I definitely enjoyed it and hope to see more books like this!


Thank you to the author, Dreamscapes Media, and NetGalley for this audiobook.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced audio copy of Crashing into You, in exchange for an honest review.

In this fiercely moving YA romance novel, Leti Rivera’s love of street racing is put to the test when tragedy strikes her family and threatens to tear her apart from the boy she’s falling for.

*For Mature Audience due to Language and some heavy themes. No Sex or Violence

I originally requested this book for two reasons. First, it had a racing theme, and second because the love interest is autistic. This intrigued me so much. I had a feeling it would not be completely without faults, since you never know what you’re going to get these days when you pick up a young adult novel.

As a lover of cars and street racing, Fast and Furious and the fact that I just so happen to work with an autistic boy, I wanted to read this. I am glad I did. Beyond the language and the typical teenage slang- a beautiful poetic story was told. It was a story about loss, dreams, love and ultimately sacrifice. I was able to look past the bad and see the good. The writing was fantastic, and the audio narration was perfection.

Leti is a fiercely loyal young Latina girl who was raised by her older brother who loves all things racing. She had her “crew” which gave me all the found family, Fast and Furious nostolgia. I absolutely loved her bond with her brother, it was beautiful. Then there was Jacob, who was on the autism spectrum, he was so honest and the sweetest thing. These two characters could have not been more different, but they bond and end up developing an amazing friendship that turns into more. They both go through tragedy and have to lean on one another with ups and downs. It was so awesome to read how their relationship bloomed over time.

This isn’t a typical read for me, and it will not be for everyone, but despite its flaws, I am glad I gave it a go. I would not recommend it for younger audiences due to some of the subject matter and language. I could totally see this becoming a movie someday, but Its definitely for more of a mature audience in my honest opinion.