Jules should be happy. She saved a lot of people’s lives and she’s finally with Sawyer, pretty much the guy of her dreams. But the nightmare’s not over, because she somehow managed to pass the psycho vision stuff to Sawyer. Excellent.
Feeling responsible for what he’s going through and knowing that people’s lives are at stake, Jules is determined to help him figure it all out. But Sawyer’s vision is so awful he can barely describe it, much less make sense of it. All he can tell her is there’s a gun, and eleven ear-splitting shots. Bang.
Jules and Sawyer have to work out the details fast, because the visions are getting worse and that means only one thing: time is running out. But every clue they see takes them down the wrong path. If they can’t prevent the vision from happening, lives will be lost. And they may be among the casualties…
Jaime’s Review!
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I adore this series. I think that I can honestly say that Lisa McMann is at the top of the list in the best of category for paranormal contemporary. Have you read Crash yet? No? Then don’t read any further, because there may be some spoilerish things happening down below!
At the end of Crash, I closed the book and internally cursed Lisa McMann… I mean it was a bit of a cliffy after all and those just kill me. Â I needed to know what exactly was going to happen with Jules and Sawyer!!
Bang opens right after the end of Crash. Sawyer is now experiencing visions that he can’t explain or understand… what he knows is that there is a shooting and there are a lot of dead people. Jules is determined to help him, but as the visions take their toll on Sawyer they finally admit that they will need some help.
Enter Rowan and Trey. If you read my review of Crash, you’ll note that I love love love the family dynamic that McMann has created within this book. The siblings are wonderful with each other and, just as in book 1, it’s shown that they’ll go to any lengths for each other if they need to. And again, I think it’s what I loved most about this book… well, that and the Sawyer swoons.
While the visions that Sawyer is having is the main focus of this book, we also get to see Sawyer and Jules struggling to make their fledgling relationship work. With unsupportive families they struggle and bend rules to see each other and not only because they are boyfriend/girlfriend, but because Jules is the only person who can really help Sawyer with the visions, having gone through it herself.
I found it interesting that McMann did this book again in Jules perspective. She could have easily switched to Sawyer’s in order to make it easier to follow along and understand his visions. I found myself identifying with Jules frustration along the way… she couldn’t see what Sawyer was seeing and neither could I… I was getting the same information that our narrator was getting and that that was a genius move on her part.
I loved that we got to see Trey’s character expanded a bit, and I hope that because of where the end of this book went, we’ll get a bit more of him and even Rowan in book 3.
Finally, the vision. While the topic encompassed several VERY touchy subjects I think it was handled in a wonderful way, and that’s all I have to say about that! LOL If you want to know more, you’re just going to have to read the book!
If you’re looking for a fast-paced story, that makes for a quick and exciting read definitely check out the Visions series.
And… now I have to go fight my friend Stacee for Sawyer… (just kidding – I’ll just thank her for getting me the advance copy of this book and let her add Sawyer to her boy collection! LOL THANK YOU STACEE!!)
3.5 stars.
Be warned – I will do my best not to put any spoilers in here but continue reading this review with caution. If you haven’t read Crash yet, definitely stop, go read it and then proceed with caution if you decide to come back.
With that said, Bang is book 2 of the Visions series and it picks up right where Crash left off. If you recall, McMann ended book 1 with Sawyer’s and Jules’ first kiss but also included the little surprise of who was going to be having the next vision. Somehow the visions have transferred from Jules to Sawyer.
While I liked this book, I think the thing that made it tough was the fact that Sawyer was the one having the visions but the story was from Jules’ point of view. In order to get to the detail of the vision Sawyer was having, there was a lot of back and forth questioning from Jules and Trey. What was super engaging about the first book (in my opinion) was seeing how Jules worked her way through the visions she kept seeing and trying to figure out the clues. Since the book was from Jules’ point of view – this was included but it was almost like looking at it from the outside in.
The parental issues are woven through book 2 and will most likely continue through the series. In seeing where McMann is going with some of the things Jules observes about her father, I am very interested to read book 3. I am hoping it will explain some of the questions Jules (and I) have.
One of the things I like best in this series is the relationship the Demarco siblings have. I loved seeing Jules, Rowan, and Trey rally around Sawyer and show him how family supports each other. Since Sawyer is an only child and has a fairly strained relationship with his father and grandfather, I think it helps him to make a decision toward the end of the book that will impact him going into the next book.
I also liked seeing the progression of the relationship between Jules and Sawyer. One of the great things is that the main story about the visions stays front and center and the developing relationship is secondary to that. I never got the sense that McMann was trying to twist it and make the relationship the main focus which I appreciate.
Bang was a pretty quick read and definitely fast paced. There is the mystery of trying to figure out the details of the vision and how to stop it without taking away from the characters and the rest of what is going on in their lives.
If you haven’t yet begun the Visions series, I recommend you definitely go out and get Crash and continue with Bang as soon as you can.
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