Early review: Bang by Lisa McMann

Title: Bang
Author: Lisa McMann
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Series: Visions #2

Hardcover, 256 pages

Publication: October 8, 2013 by Simon Pulse

Source: Arc received from publicist in exchange for a honest review All opinions are my own. 

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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…

Bang is the second book in the Vision series by Lisa McMann. Bang takes place a couple of weeks after the events in Crash, Jules is just released from the hospital and is still healing from the snow plow incident. At the end of the last book, Jules somehow passed her vision problem onto her long time crush and now boyfriend Sawyer Angotti. Sawyer has a vision of a massive shooting, and in order to stop the visions from coming true, Sawyer going to need all the help he can get.

When the vision problem passed onto Sawyer at the end of Crash, I was wondering how can the story possibly work with Jules narrating. I’m happy to say that McMann made it work. Readers are still able to feel the anticipation, fear, and horror of the visions even from Sawyers perspective as Jules helps him make sense of what he’s seeing. Everything I loved about the first book is still found in this second book, plus more. We not only learn more about Sawyer’s character but also Jules and her family. Jules relationship with Trey and Rowan is something truly special. They bicker like all siblings but will always have each other’s back, they support one another immensely and most of all they don’t care about the pizza/Angotti-Demarco family feud. I also enjoyed seeing the blossoming relationship between Sawyer and Jules…it’s quite sweet but also so fast but then again they’re both young and in high school. 

The storyline (shooting) in Bang might bother some folks but I am glad to see that McMann wasn’t afraid to use it as part of its story. Bang was just as great as the first book, if not better and definitely didn’t suffer second book syndrome. The pacing and mystery was perfectly balance, and I found myself glued to the pages as Jules and Sawyer put clues together. The entire time I was reading, I got major chills because the situation/shooting they have to stop is pretty terrifying.  I highly recommend this series to everyone if you haven’t already read the first book, Crash. Both books are pretty short under 300 pages but it packs a punch. I CAN’T WAIT for the next book!