Much more than a romance: a searing look at racial identity and the 1%

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of Robinne Lee’s Crash Into Me (releasing 7.7.26), and my best advice is to go into this one blind. While I expected a standard romance about growth and change, Lee delivers something much more complex. At the heart of the story is the ill-fated, unexpected reunion between Cecilia Chen and Anouk Ferrand. After twenty years apart, a chance meeting forces them to confront a past they both swore to bury.

The romance is just the tip of the iceberg. We follow Cecilia, a Jamaican-Chinese immigrant who has spent two decades in France, as she relocates her family to the alien landscape of Los Angeles, while her husband Francois directs the next big Hollywood film.
Watching her navigate the Hollywood elite while grappling with American realities, such as gun culture, racial profiling, and the isolation of being the only Black woman in the room, was incredibly moving.

“To be a negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all the time.”

The relationship between Francois and Cecilia is strained - there's a backstory that is complicated, unsure of itself, and on the brink of collapse. Cecilia is discovering who she is as a mother, wife, and in a talented career as a photographer. But what truly defines her? How important is it to be a woman of color who stands on her ground, and has to do it all?

"We don’t lose our beauty. It simply changes. this for the first time, wrinkles and all. I think about actresses who have been in the limelight for twenty, thirty, forty years—and my heart aches for them, a little. Because they’re constantly being compared to their younger selves.”

While this book takes place before a certain election occurs, it has a lot of resemblance to what is happening now. I learned a lot about the different cultures and races in the islands, colonization, and how we perceive the rich and constantly evolving people who have come from the islands around us.

"A series of portraits featuring mixes of West African and English and Scottish and Irish and German and Chinese and Indian and Syrian and Lebanese and Taino and Arawak.."

“We’re not safe here,” I say, my voice soft. “The way their politicians talk about immigrants, Fran . . . And these frightened, armed police . . . We’re not safe. Your kids are not safe.”

This is a propulsive, deep dive into complicated marriages, the weight of status, and finding love in the wreckage of the past. Robinne Lee is a master of her craft and I cannot wait to see what she does next!

Thank you St. Martin for the ARC! #CrashIntoMeNovel #RobinneLee #StMartinsPress

I’m a huge fan of The Idea Of You so when I saw Robinne had a new release coming out I was thrilled. This is yet another masterpiece of contemporary romance. I can already see this being adapted for the screen. I love the way Cecilia found herself and also found love. Her love scenes are so tasteful but the chemistry is always palpable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC!

Man, Robinne Lee can WRITE. She writes complex love stories for the girls, for the WOMEN. Because what Robinne knows, even though so many authors seem not to, is that life and love and indecision and messiness and growth doesn't stop in your 30's.

Yes, a sapphic affair is part of this story. But just a PART. It's so much more than that. Readers will most likely sensationalize this book but man, like I said it's so much more than that.

A deep analysis of aging, race, the state of America, beauty, parenthood, marriage, and self worth- this book contains multitudes and layers galore.

I appreciate a nuanced, gray area story and I held on tight- ignoring my inclination to say "HOW COULD SHE/HE ???" Instead i enjoyed the ride and Lee's beautiful prose. And I learned a lot along the way. Good stuff.