Crash into Me by Albert Borris

Title: Crash into Me
Author: Albert Borris
Year of Publication: 2009
Genre: YA
Pages: 257

First Line: "The third time I tried to kill myself I used a rope."

Summary: Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae have one thing in common: They all want to die. When they meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, they make a deadly pact: They will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will do themselves in.  As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living -- or if there's no turning back.

Source: Back of book.

Review:  Borris does a great job capturing the mindset of suicidal teens.  His plot is so-so and his characters, though varied, are a little flat, but the point of the novel is clear, even if he does try a little too hard sometimes.  Throughout the novel, I felt as if it was missing something and I decided, ultimately, the book needed another main character.  Like my previous read, this novel is told in a format that is somewhat atypical -- Owen, the main character, keeps an electronic journal during their road trip with insertions of previous online conversations with his suicidal friends, Jin-Ae, Audrey, and Frank.  Some of the "twists" in the novel (specifically regarding Owen's father and brother) made it feel like Borris was really trying too hard and stretching it, but I enjoyed going on a trip with the characters and visiting places in the country I probably otherwise won't get to or have already and seeing it from another's point of view.  Probably worth a read for teens who have ever experienced suicidal thoughts or depression, but maybe not so much for others.


Disliked: That missing piece in the novel.

Liked:  Audrey was a pretty cool character, though I was confused about her motives.

Rating:  2 out of 5 stars


Author's Website: None