Book: Crash by Nicole Williams

Self-published by Nicole Williams

Purchased for my Nook (215 pages)

Genre: New Adult- Contemporary

Find out more: Goodreads~Barnes And Noble~Amazon~Nicole Williams

Goodreads.com Summary: Southpointe High is the last place Lucy wanted to wind up her senior year of school. Right up until she stumbles into Jude Ryder, a guy whose name has become its own verb, and synonymous with trouble. He’s got a rap sheet that runs longer than a senior thesis, has had his name sighed, shouted, and cursed by more women than Lucy dares to ask, and lives at the local boys home where disturbed seems to be the status quo for the residents. Lucy had a stable at best, quirky at worst, upbringing. She lives for wearing the satin down on her ballet shoes, has her sights set on Juilliard, and has been careful to keep trouble out of her life. Up until now. 

Jude’s everything she needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. Staying away, she’s about to find out, is the only thing she’s incapable of. 

For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love’s about to become the thing that tears them apart.

I really liked Crash.  I was really surprised by it, but it’s a great read.

I really liked Jude and Lucy, especially as a couple but found that Jude pushing Lucy away only change his mind was really annoying.  And Lucy deciding to ignore Jude’s warning was equally annoying.  They do have their fair share of problems, but it seems like things have worked out for them by the end of the novel.

We know that something horrible happened 5 years prior to the start of the novel, but we don’t learn what it is until the end.  And that is when we learn that Jude’s dad used to work under Lucy’s father, but is fired, and ends up murdering Lucy’s older brother.  I didn’t really care that the big revelation happened at the end, and that everything works out fine in the end, but considering how complicated their relationship seems to be, it’s not a big surprise.  We learn that Lucy’s dad knew who Jude was, and while we don’t know if her mom knew, I think she might have.  She never liked Jude, and while it could be that he’s been in jail, and is just trouble, it could also be because she knew what his dad and is holding it against him.

Still, Lucy does see who Jude could be, while everyone else (including Jude) sees him as what he’s done and what he’ll always be.  They both try to move on, and in Jude’s case, try to break away from this predetermined path he’s on.  She’s still full of optimism and hope, and yet it’s hard for her to be trusting and let people in.

There is a lot of angst, but I actually kind of liked how angsty it was.  A little over-the-top?  Maybe, but it still worked for some reason.

I thought dance would be really important, given the cover.  But it turns out that it doesn’t play a big role in the book.  It’s a shame, because I would have liked to see Lucy lose her in dance because of everything that’s going on.

And is it just me, or did the characters feel much older than their 17 years?  It really felt like the characters could have been a year or two older.

I loved The Beetles references throughout the book, and I really liked all of the issues throughout the book.  I really wanted Jude and Lucy to have a happy ending, because they both deserve to have some happiness in their lives.

Crash gets a 4 out of 5 stars.  I didn’t love it, but I still found myself drawn to Lucy’s story.