Review: Crash (Crash, #1) by Nicole Williams

Crash by Nicole Williams 

Release date: December 18, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 384

Reading Level:Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Series: Book 1 (Clash, Crush)

Source: Purchased (e-book)

Links: Author's Website/Goodreads 

Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Jude Ryder and Lucy Larson are this generation's Romeo and Juliet: Explosive. Sizzling. Tragic.
A steamy summer encounter with bad boy Jude means trouble for Lucy. Her sights are set on becoming a ballerina, and she won't let anything get in her way . . . except Jude.
He's got a rap sheet, dangerous mood swings, and a name that's been sighed, shouted, and cursed by who knows how many girls.
Jude's a cancer, the kind of guy who's fated to ruin the lives of girls like Lucy—and he tells her so.
But as rumors run rampant and reputations are destroyed, Lucy's not listening to Jude's warning. Is tragedy waiting in the wings? This racy romance is hot, hot, hot!

Review: 

I have heard a lot of positive things about Crash, so was excited to dive into it when I downloaded it onto my Nook. Unfortunately, Crash was not really the book for me. I seem to be in the minority though, so be sure to check out other reviews as well. 

To begin with, Lucy was not the most likable character. Her love of dance is just about the only realistic thing about her and that is barely mentioned at all. At times I felt like it was only being brought up to remind readers that oh yes, Lucy wants to go to Julliard because she is an amazing dancer. When she enters her new school, she is immediately the most popular girl there. Everyone thinks she is gorgeous and likable and all of the guys want her right away. I found this a bit annoying because Lucy really did not seem that great to me. I have heard some people saying how funny and sarcastic she is, but most of it seemed over done. 

The main plot of the book is Lucy's relationship with the town "bad boy"- Jude. I have to admit I can sometimes see the appeal of "bad boys" in the sense that they're outsiders or a bit rebellious, but in Jude's case he was way more than that. He had been in jail more than ten times, he had been with more girls than he could remember, and he had a killer temper. I can understand wanting to date someone that would stand up for you, but I don't know how Lucy could deal with the fact that he wanted to punch any guy that even talked to Lucy and was so controlling and possessive of her. There were certain aspects of Jude's character that I liked and I know he did really care for Lucy, plus I could see the chemistry between them at certain times, but, as a whole, Jude's character frustrated me. 

There were a lot of twists and turns in the plot that kept me reading and while a lot of things were predictable, there were several surprises. The main characters were very complex and layered, but the secondary characters were incredibly flat. 

This was the first in a series, but I do not think I will be reading the rest of the series. I was frustrated by the characters and the writing was a little weak. I'm not entirely sure what this is being classified as? I originally thought it was New Adult, but the characters are all still in high school. I guess the only thing that could make it "New Adult" was the sex and violence, but I wish that wasn't all it took to classify something as NA, so I'm sticking with calling this one young adult. But that's a discussion for another day!

All in all, while Crash was not the book for me, I may check out other books by Nicole to see what else she has to offer. Also, if you've read this and enjoyed it, feel free to link to your review in the comments so others can see a different point of view.