This one was too difficult for me to get into. The narrator was difficult to understand and there wasn't enough of the actual relationship to make me care.

DNF @ 10%

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, unfortunately. There were aspects of it that were enjoyable, and I did like getting a glimpse into the world of F1. So much of the book was spent on Travis being concerned about Jacob after the crash, that it seemed like that was the sole focus. It made it difficult to push through those portions of the book to get to the meat of the story.

I will say, though the story left some to be desired, Gary and Patrick did a phenomenal job with the audiobook.

When they were together it was great, they were cute, but they were apart for more than 90% of the book, I am not joking; half of the book it was Travis worried about Jacob because of the crash and having to deal with Jacob’s awful parents, then as soon as Jacob woke up he breaks up with him in the most terrible way and then they are part almost until the end, when Travis takes him back immediately, Jacob didn’t even grovel as he should have.

DNF @ 6%. THE F1/F2 storyline wasn't working for me nor was the narrator. I had to slow my audiobook way down to understand him and it just wasn't working. Thanks to NetGalley & Harper Audio Adult for an advance copy

Thank you so much to HarperAudio and NetGalley for letting me listen to this book early! I had a really great time listening to it.
The way that the story was told and the way that the book opened really added to my interest and enjoyment of the story. I kind of feels like you're entering into the middle and then getting flashbacks and context throughout the rest of the story. This style of storytelling is always really intriguing for me and I thought it worked really well for Travis and Jacob's story. The narrators for this audiobook also made it so much more enjoyable because of their performances.
I really love stories that keep me engaged and wanting to know more and this book definitely did that! I really enjoyed watching Travis and Jacob both grow to better know themselves throughout the story and how they used that understanding to be better for each other. The F1 aspect of the story was also so much fun and offered a good balance with the romance.
This was my first time reading a book by Amy James but I do want to look more into her work in the future!

OH MY FREAKING GOD THIS BOOK!!! 😭 😭 😭 😭

Going into Crash Test, I honestly knew nothing about it. I knew it was an MM F1 romance and that was it.

Friends had read it and claimed it their new favorite book and talking about how much this book hurt them and if there's one thing I love, it's a book that hurts.

BOY DID IT HURT. My heart literally could not deal. Starting off in the middle of the aftermath of a horrible crash and getting to see their love story develop in flashbacks told by Travis as Jacob is fighting for his life was different than other books ive read. I was very surprised by how amazing the format of this book was truly. I really really enjoyed how this story was told and how easy it was to fall in love with these characters.

The narration on this was amazing. There was not a single thing I would have changed. It made listening to this story such a breeze. It pulled on all my heart strings and truly made me fall in love with Travis and Jacob harder. This story will truly stay with me forever. 😭

I enjoyed this more than I expected. The beginning portion of this book packs an impressive punch. I could feel the shock and the desperation of feeling pain for something that has been hidden.

The way the POV's were handled had a few hit and miss moments, and I did struggle with Jacob in the middle. I think there needed to be a little more depth to his struggles that we didn't see. And the ending wrapped up painfully quick and I cringed a little there, but there were so many excellent moments, especially with side characters, and some very great lines. I will say the F1 aspect is definitely on the back burner for the book, but it almost made the emotional part of it a little more important which was fine (and I couldn't get cranky about the lack of accuracy haha). Overall, I really liked it.

The narrative structure of this was so interesting. I’ve never read a book that started at this point in the story and yet somehow still managed to get me so emotionally invested in the main character. And then, when the POV switched, I suddenly saw a lot of the memories through a different light. Really great storytelling.

I did think it was less successful as a romance. I was fine with the first portion of them being together, but I thought the post-break up resolution was not fleshed out enough for it to make sense (we, the reader, understand the work that went into each character’s growth but they don’t? I don’t feel like they talked enough) and I wish we had gotten a little more time of them genuinely being together at the end.

The narrators for this were fantastic. This is a book I would specifically recommend on audio instead of other formats because of how well done the narration was. Having it be duet style really added a lot to the experience, and both did a great job conveying emotions and personality.

If you're sensitive to angst then buckle up because this start off with a bang (or should I say crash???). Travis is such an awkward little sweetheart and my heart was breaking for him in the first portion of the book as we see him struggle to keep it together while Jacob's in the hospital.

And oh boy did I struggle with how to feel towards Jacob. He struggles with alot of internalized homophobia in the story and Travis ends up being the target of so much of his anger. His family is absolute garbage and it's clear he's never had anyone show him true love and care up until Travis. I personally felt like he didn't do enough to make up for all the hurt he caused Travis by the end of the book.

I loved the audiobook for this since it was performed in duet narration. Thank you Avon for an ARC and HarperAudio for an ALC of Crash Test!!

I have very complicated feelings about Crash Test.

The narration was absolutely masterful. The use of duet narration for the (relatively few) scenes where Travis and Jacob are together was really smart. Gary Furlong did a great job, as always, but Patrick Zeller's performance was a tour de force. Listening to Travis suffer so much pain for most of the book was really difficult for me, but I was so invested in Zeller's narration that I powered through the most difficult parts in solidarity with Travis. It really did feel like a car crash: I couldn't turn away.

Travis is an incredibly sympathetic character. This is a man with a huge heart and coping with terrible loneliness. His family is dead, he has trouble making friends, and when he finally gets a boyfriend, he has to keep it completely secret. On top of that, Jacob is (we learn) terrified of being outed, in part because his family is viciously homophobic (and horrible in general). But after a devastating break-up, Travis goes through a lot of emotional growth, coming out of his shell and building a life for himself with friends and found family. I was in his corner the whole time.

Jacob is a different story. It was difficult for me, as a reader, to forgive him for his behavior throughout the book. Even once the POV switches to him, and we're reminded that he's only 23 and just nearly died, he's still an incredibly shallow and selfish person. Despite all his efforts to confront his flaws, I was still questioning till the very end whether he had matured enough to be the partner Travis deserves. I really want these two to work out, because they're clearly so unhappy apart, but I think they have a long way to go. And I must agree with what I'm seeing in other reviews: there was definitely not enough groveling.

Story: 2.5 ⭐️
Steam: 3 🔥
Audio: 4 🎧

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. While some of it was enjoyable it was mostly frustrating. I almost DNFd about 15% in but I’m glad I didn’t cause I do think it got better.

My main issue in the beginning was that the time jumping was super confusing. We didn’t get any time indicators (ie Present, 4 months ago, etc) so I had no concept of how long they had been dating. Because of this I felt there was not really an emotional impact of Jacob being in the hospital. Like I don’t know him or this relationship. Then with every flashback I liked Jacob less and less. I felt like the flashbacks were just times they had hooked up and Jacob blew off Travis and minimized his feelings.

I wasn’t rooting for them to be together the entire book. I thought maybe the author would do something to make the readers like Jacob more and maybe have him redeem himself but mostly it felt self centered. I don’t think he groveled enough or showed much respect for Travis.

Overall I think it could’ve been more fleshed out and maybe given us more from Jacob to make him more likable.

Audiobook performance: I liked both these narrators but the one who read for Travis had volume issues. I felt like he would be quiet then loud and then quiet again. It made it difficult to listen to when I had to turn it up and down. But the performances were good!

This is one of those books that just sticks with me. I can’t stop thinking about Jacob & Travis.

It starts with a bang and keeps going with an amazing blend of angst and beautiful character growth on both sides. I already want to relisten.

This was pretty unputdownable. Very entertaining and pulled at my heartstrings off and on - even got some tears out of me. I can't tell for sure how well-written I think it was or was not - sometimes when I read with my eyes and listen quickly I lose track of that. The narration style was interesting - the author who voiced Travis was tres dramatique and while I appreciated the commitment, it was sometimes a bit over the top (and thus distracting). But it worked pretty well that they merged the two narrators during dialogue. The story and the characters had me hooked regardless!

The first POV was so good, I loved Travis how he told his story with little flashbacks to his relationship with Jacob over the past year while he is in a coma from a crash.
Then we get Jacob as he recovers from the crash, of course he is angry and unsettled by his recovery and his overbearing family. Therapy was good for Jacob as he worked on himself. I did enjoy reading. Filled with tension heartbreak recovery and love. I loved how the story concluded I was very invested.

I first wanted to start this review by thanking a few people for both the audiobook and ebook copies of this story including NetGalley, @HarperAudio, @Avonbooks, and @HarperVoyagerUS.

This book had me hooked from page one. I seriously couldn’t put it down and stayed up all night to finish it because I JUST HAD TO KNOW. I was literally only like 10% into the book and I had already been crying for several pages at that point. Because I had both the audiobook and the ebook I was able to read along as I listened and the narrator for Travis’ POV specifically was AMAZING! I was able to feel and hear all of the emotion. I could hear the tears in his voice, I could hear his smiles, and his blushes, and his love just from the narrator’s voice. It was amazing. This was in part I think due to the amazing writing of Amy James as well.

I was kind of worried going into this and reading the summary that there was going to be an amnesia plot line. I’m not a super big fan of those but I can deal with them. There wasn’t one – which made me happy – but there were so many other parts that were so sad and tragic and just made the story so amazing. I honestly have so many positive bubbly emotions about this book that I just can’t get it all down into one review. The ending made me want to cry in a happy way and made me so happy that I just wanted to have more of the story! The spicy level was also a level 5.

Overall, I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 star rating. I would give it a 6 out of 5 if I could. I seriously couldn’t put it down.

Oh my heart…what an emotional romance that took me through the wringer and pieced me back up again. So many strong messages along with the revelation of secrets: self-discovery, advocating for what you feel is right, believing in yourself. The story opens with successful Formula 1 racer Travis visiting his love, Jacob, a struggling Formula 2 racer, after a crash. There’s confrontation and he’s got to stand up for true love. The second half of the story is from Jacob’s point-of-view and is about self-discovery and honesty. This was a heartbreaking and heartwarming MM contemporary sports romance—the writing was heartfelt, the plot engaging and the message of true love really shone.
I started this with my eyes and switched over to audio. The expressions, the emotions, the feelings each of the male narrator’s had was exceptional, I think audio is the way to get the most out of this beautiful story.

This was cute, the first part of the book had me STRESSED. and ngl I did not like Jacob for most of the book, but by the end I was like mmmm okay I guess they're cute. They both put in the work and it was a good ending

This book hooks you from the very first sentence and the grip doesn’t let up once. It’s one of those stories where you hit the ground SPRINTING. There is trauma within the very first chapter. You’ll feel a little weak in the knees from tension after chapter two. And if you’re anything like me, by chapter seven you’ll be openly weeping. *Gary was destroying me (in the best way) at this point with his narration.*

Amy James creates characters you care about from the get-go with a story full of deserved ups and downs, sky high tension, super hot flirting, intimate scenes that are so freaking hot, and the perfect banter. This was the perfect romance read — no damn notes. I adored the platonic relationships within the book too; Matty and Heather added SO much to the story once they came on the scene. One of my favorite funny moments came late in the book when Travis said “‘I got you babe’ my ass!” in response to something Heather says. 😂

I loved everything about Travis Keeping. And I really enjoyed Jacob’s growth. (Because at one point all I could think was Jacob doesn’t deserve Travis.)

I enjoyed every moment of this audiobook. Gary Furlong and Patrick Zeller were absolutely PERFECTION in this duet narration! Patrick Zeller as Travis acted his ass off throughout but man… he packed such a punch when delivering the book’s most emotional lines. Patrick is now the gold standard for narration for me!!!! And Gary Furlong nailed Jacob’s unaffected cockiness. The both of them together made this an unforgettable book experience for me.

Basically I will never be getting over this absolute gem of a book. 🙃🫶🏼

⭐️ A TRILLION THANK YOUs TO HARPERAUDIO ADULT AND NETGALLEY FOR THE ADVANCED LISTENER COPY OF CRASH TEST! Amy James: you’re my hero. ⭐️

wait this was incredible!! the narration was amazing, they deserve a grammy or whatever award is given to audiobook narrators! i went in completely blind and i was hooked from the beginning. travis and jacob are so great together. i especially loved how they were both given the chance to work on themselves. i had such a great time listening to this, i laughed, i cried. the story felt realistic and was genuinely perfectly executed.

thank you netgalley and harperaudio for the arc!! 🩷

Phew! This was a rollercoaster M/M F1 racing romance that has two racers looking back on their relationship when one crashes and lands in a coma. Full of all the emotions, I couldn't get enough of this dual POV sports romance told through flashbacks that has one closeted bisexual driver recovering after his crash, dealing with homophobic parents and trying to win back his ex AND get back into the driver's seat.

HIGHLY recommended for fans of books like Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery and Heated rivalry by Rachel Reid or Sarina Bowen's Hockey guys series. I thought Canadian author Amy James' sophomore romance was even stronger than her debut and really enjoyed the spotlight on how difficult it can be to be out in professional sports! It was also excellent on audio narrated by Gary Furlong and Patrick Zeller. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!