I received an advanced copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This book made me so MAD. Seriously, Jacob's parents are the actual, literal worst.

Anyway, this is tied for first with Slipstream for my top favorite F1 novel. I mean I've only read 3, but still. This book is TOP TIER pining and angst and longing and (complimentary) fools in love.

F1 driver Travis is very much a loner, portrayed as sort of shy and socially awkward. (Apparently he's also very attractive, which Jacob's friend says much later on, but I legitimately have no clue what either of these dudes looked like!) He and F2 driver Jacob have a chance meeting and begin hooking up and eventually dating, despite Jacob sort of keeping Travis at arm's length.

The book actually opens in the middle of the story, with a huge F2 crash involving Jacob. Travis races to the hospital and is confronted with BIG SURPRISE homophobic parents. Travis's half of the book alternates between flashbacks and going forward from the crash, meeting Jacob's parents and being rejected by Jacob. Jacob's half is told going forward from his return home, and is mostly focused in the present.

The longing in this book is palpable, leaving you as desperate for Jacob and Travis to get back together as they are. Because they both are desperate. It's very sweet and soft and cute and MEN GO TO THERAPY??

Definitely recommend for readers who enjoyed Something Wild and Wonderful or fans of Casey McQuiston and maybe M.A. Wardell (who I haven't personally read but is on my tbr and seems to have a similar vibe?) I really enjoyed this one! 4.5/5 stars

Thanks to HarperAudio for the ALC!

5 stars

Gah I completely devoured this in basically one sitting! And look I really enjoyed the wordle based romance by this same author but this was a on another level! From the jump, you are completely drawn in to the drama and then we get flashbacks to the relationship starting and coming together and it worked SO WELL! It was gripping and even though I knew this was a romance and would have to have an HEA, at times I was really worried I would end up devastated. I also cried so many times throughout the book. During the hospital stuff and the flashbacks, during the breakup period and the reconciliation. Speaking of the reconciliation, it was fast but it really worked for the story and then we got multiple chapters after which I loved.

The narrators! Both are fantastic, and the acting was AMAZING! I usually listen at 2x but I did slow down to 1.5x because some of the quieter parts were hard to hear/understand at that speed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ALC!

I really preferred the second half of this book. I liked the structure of this story and how the crash was what forced both characters to grow and heal apart from one another, but the first fourty percent was depressing in a way I don’t prefer in a queer story. The second half was more hopeful I liked following Jacob’s journey I think he developed a lot. The side characters were my favourite the whole time though.

Of all the sports romances I’ve read, I think that Crash Test might be my favorite! As a Formula 1 fan, I was immediately drawn in by the premise, and it did not disappoint.

F1 driver, Travis, and his boyfriend, Jacob, have their worlds turned upside down when the latter is in a horrible F2 crash. Will Jacob pull through, and what will this mean for his relationship with Travis and career in racing if he survives?

The story is told through split POVs and unfolds in dual timelines. We follow Travis and Jacob as they deal with the aftermath of the crash in the present, and we also see their relationship develop over the course of the past year.

The main characters are flawed, vulnerable, and experienced growth over the course of the story. They were surrounded by a lively crew of supporting characters as well.

I really enjoyed Amy James’s writing. She wrote an emotionally charged story, and I was already tearing up by the end of the first chapter.

The audiobook was read in duet, and both of the narrators were excellent! They each embodied the characters and conveyed their emotions they felt so well.

Thank you to HarperAudio for providing this advance listening copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

I have never read a book that centers around F1 or any car racing. I'm not a fan of any type of car racing IRL but this book really intrigued me so I had to give it a try. I'm so glad I did it was so good! I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions the entire time. One chapter I was so sad and the next I was happy and then I was angry and then back to happy. Back and forth the entire time. But it was worth it. I loved every moment of it even when I hated what was happening I still loved it. Just be warned this book starts out rough right from chapter 1 so be prepared. I thought the way the story was split up was a great choice. It worked really well with the story. When the POV changed it made a lot of sense for the story. I will say that in part 3 when it has booth characters' POVs instead of just one it would have been nice to have an indication at the beginning of each chapter especially since it's in first person, but that being said there was enough context right away to figure out who was speaking. It's even easier on audio because there are 2 narrators.
Overall a fantastic story that takes you on an emotional ride you hopefully won't regret going on. And even though I have never been interested in F1, I now want to read more books centered around it. Another sport to add to my list of sports romances. I can't wait to read more from Amy James.

I also want to note that it says it's "formula 1 meets red, white, & royal blue" I honestly don't really see how it's red white & royal blue besides the fact that there is a secret and I guess because they're in the public eye. . But I would have expected politics or royalty. It just doesn't scream red white & royal blue to me.


audiobook specific: I loved both of these narrators! They were amazing. Will definitely need to check out more from them both.
Content warning: car crash, homophobia, biphobia coma/medical content (no amnesia), death, some spicy content

Thank you HarperAudio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen early.

I loved this book. It was so emotional and so beautiful!
It had some of my favourite tropes
•found family
•I only sleep good next to you
•secret relationships
•grumpy x sunshine

Travis and Jacob are to racing drivers. Travis: F1 and Jacob: F2. They have been in a secret relationship for a year when Jacob gets into a 6 car crash that has his life in critical condition.
The first half of the book is from Travis‘s perspective of him, dealing with the aftermath of the crash as well as reminiscing on the past year. I found at times Travis’s narrator was very difficult to understand so I had to have the volume turned all the way up only for him to essentially yell the next line.
Part two of the book follows Jacob with his recovery from the crash and dealing with self hatred. HIS FAMILY SUUUUUCKS. Jacob’s narrator was easy to understand.

Part three is Travis and Jacob finally talking and reconciling. Here Travis’s narrator I could understand the whole time.

Over all, I really enjoyed the audiobook. I just wished some moments I could understand a bit better. It had me wishing for subtitles 😂 (that’s just the book silly)

I personally really enjoyed the pacing of this book. I liked how we started with Travis’s POV and seeing his emotional turmoil with the present and past POVs and then also the way it transitioned to Jacob’s POV and the trauma and healing he was experiencing and the parallels of his present and past POVs. I teared up for them, I got angry for them— I was experiencing similar emotions as to when I read Forget Me Not by Julie Soto. Following their journeys to recognizing their love and how different it was for each of them— I was just hoping for the day that either Travis found peace or that Jacob found his healing and that they would find their way back to one another.

Also I love the support characters— the friendships Travis made and also Jacob’s therapist. Quite frankly, I’m glad she really called him out on his BS.

Thank you Harper Audio for the gifted ALC.

Grabs you from the first chapter and doesn't let go.

Overall: 5
Spice: 2.5
Narration: 5

Patrick is an F1 racecar driver known for his surly demeaner and lack of a social circle. He has been seeing a fellow driver, Jacob, for the last year in secret and is finally finding some happiness. That is all in jeopardy when Jacob is in a horrific accident during a race. Can Patrick keep their relationship a secret while Jacob's family is hovering and will Jacob want him when he wakes up.

The word on IG was positive for this one, so I was excited to get the ALC on NetGalley thanks to Harper Audio. I sped through this book because its written in a way that wouldn't let me hit stop. The first part of the book is all from Patrick's POV and then switches to Jacob's around the mid point. Each of their parts is unique in its tone and approach just as the two characters are unique. This is one I would highly recommend enjoying on audio due to the great casting and the duet narration. I just listened to another book with Patrick Zeller and thought he was mis-cast, but he is *perfect* as Patrick in this one - you feel Patrick's emotions. I knew nothing about F1 racing going into this book and it didn't hamper my reading at all. For spice, this one is hard to pinpoint a rating. There are a few spicy scenes, but they use vague imagery and fade to black for most. A perfect read for Pride Month and understanding how far we still have to go for everyone to feel accepted for who they love.

Unfortunately, this couldn't catch my attention and I never found myself reaching for it. Great concept though and I love a good F1 romance. The narrators were great, but the first few chapters just didn't draw me in.

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!