Crashed

Reader: Meghan K
Age: 15
Title: Crashed
Author: Robin Wasserman
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub Date: 9/8/09
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teen’s Top 10: Yes
Did the cover tempt you and/or reflect the contents of the book: This cover is bad. Bad. With a capital B. For one, it looks too much like the cover of the Uglies series, and it also proudly displays some of the worst photoshopping I've ever seen. The cover of the first book in this trilogy is really good. What happened?
Recommend: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Crashed is the second book in an as-of-yet unnamed trilogy, about Lia Kahn, whose consciousness was transferred into a robot body after a car crash. After the events of the first book, Lia is living with other people who have been transferred into robot bodies. The 'mechs', as they call themselves mostly keep to themselves, trying to avoid prejudice. The characters are interesting and well-developed, and this book is well-paced.
Compelling Aspect of the Book: I think one of my favorite things about this series is the realism. The characters are genuinely flawed; they make rash decisions, they misjudge people, they lose their tempers. This makes them so much more interesting to read about than most characters in YA novels. It seems most authors are genuinely afraid to give their characters any consistent flaws. This book was refreshing in that the character flaws were established early on, and remained throughout the book.
Were you disappointed with the book at all: This book does not stand on its own. You won't be able to understand it without having read the first book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a personal thing. Other than that, I have no complaints.
Age Range: 12-17
Quality: 4Q Better than most
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal