Review: Crash by Nicole Williams

Title: Crash (Crash #1)
Author: Nicole Williams
Published: July 19th 2012
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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.

So here’s the thing I have read so many amazing New Adult books that sometimes I wonder when will they hit the downfall. I was hesitant to read Crash, because the hype is so big around this book, but I did it anyway. I am forever glad I did, because this novel was really good and I can’t thank hype enough! Luckily, in my case, I'm a big fan of Beautiful Disaster, so mini-Abby and mini-Travis didn't bother me. If you didn't like Travis and Abby, I am pretty convinced you won't enjoy Jude and Lucy either.

“The name’s Jude Ryder, since I know you’re all but salivating like a rabid dog to know, and I don’t do girlfriends, relationships, flowers or regular phone calls. If that works for you, I think we could work out something special.” 

Crash is a trilogy of Jude and Lucy – the two adolescents with broken lives. Yes, at first sight it seems like Jude is the one who is destroyed, but when we dig deeper into the story and see the full picture laid out in front of us we realize, that Lucy is as much broken as Jude and together they might be able to survive the heartache they’ve had enough to last five lifetimes.

Lucy is a dancer and since I’ve been dancing since I was 4 years old, I’m so happy that this is something that excites, consoles and completes her. She is looking for a way to make the world better and this is one of the first things that Jude notices about her. Jude is probably the last person Lucy should be attracted to, but he understands her, makes her feel safe and is the very reason her heart races like a racing horse whenever she is around him. They’re so wrong for each other, but at the same time absolutely perfect.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Jude and Luce. I think Jude is like a laid back version of Travis Maddox. However, there were two things I didn’t like: 1. I thought the portrayal of Sawyer was a bit funny, but not in a good way. 2. I-found-all-these-writing-elements-annoying-because-they-were-everywhere. I know I, too, write like this sometimes, but enough is enough. Other than that, this novel was good!

“I’m cancer, Luce. And not the kind that you can kill off with radiation. The kind that kills you in the end.”

I enjoyed every single second of it and even came home early one night from my friend’s house just to read some more (ok, to my excuse, I wasn't a fan of the movie we were watching so of course a book won the battle going on in my head) and the first thing I did after waking up the next morning was finish this book. Loved the characters and how everything was tied together. Nothing was over- or underdone. This is a book I will re-read when it's rainy and cold or life feels like shit, pardon my language, because even though it handles different dark topics, in the end, it leaves you in a good place.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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