Crash by Nicole Williams

Things haven't been going well for Lucy for a few years. And her senior year in high school is no different. She had to leave her prestigious private school, leave the house she grew up in, and move to the shabby beach house her parents bought awhile back to go to a public school, which has metal detectors at the doorway.

Not exactly what she had in mind for senior year.

But then she saw him. Jude Ryder. Bad boy to the extreme and for some reason kept attracting her attention whenever he was in the same room as her.

Only he was arrogant. The first words out of his mouth were, "I don't do girlfriends, relationships, flowers, or regular phone calls. If that works for you, I think we could work out something special."

So Lucy said no, she didn't want that. Which is how she got the one guy in all of Southpointe to get out of his 'use-her and lose-her' philosophy.

Now the whole school thinks she's either a slut or a magician, because Jude is not the same guy who left their school last year.

He pays attention to her, follows her to her classes, and is pursuing her rather than having Lucy chase after Jude.

But Lucy is unsure if her and Jude will work out. She needs to keep her nose clean because she wants to go to Julliard to be a dancer. She dances any type of dance, has since she was 3, and she's not going to chance losing that opportunity over a boy who has been to jail too many times to count and has dealt drugs, stolen cars, started fights, etc.

Only she can't stop thinking about him and when she's with him, everything just feels right.

Lucy has no idea what to do, and then the worst thing that could happen, happened.

It may be too much for Lucy and Jude to get past, because the event that unfolded 5 years ago has connected these two much more than they ever thought possible, or ever wanted to know about.

Can Lucy and Jude find a way to be together despite all odds? Or will it be too much for them? Read Crash by Nicole Williams to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Many reviewers have compared this book to Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, and I can see the resemblance a little bit, but I don't think it was as great as BD was.

For some reason, the characters rubbed me the wrong way. Some of the things that occurred in the book didn't fly for me either.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great novel with unexpected twists and turns that made my jaw drop when reading them. But I felt like there was too much in one novel to really delve deep into the characters and that the reader only got the dramatic love you/can't stand you scenes.

Which is how Lucy and Jude's relationship was.

So anyway, Lucy is an okay character. She likes to self-doubt herself, likes to make excuses, and happened to date the wrong boy who had a dark past because she couldn't get over Jude and made a dumb decision.

Jude has had a harder life than Lucy maybe. So to say he's a troubled boy would be an understatement. And for some reason I absolutely loved him. He was possessive, angry (very, very angry), and reckless. But somehow he pulled it off.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I would give it a 2.5 rating, because I really loved it and I really hated it. Others who've read it have adored it, so I must be in the minority.

For anyone who wants to read a book somewhat similar to Beautiful Disaster, this might be a book you could try. I'm not making any promises, just a suggestion.

Also, there is a sequel coming out, Clash, in September 2012. So basically, now-ish. I might *might* get it to see how things go for Lucy and Jude now that they are in college, but I'm not sure if I will or not. Guess I'll just have to wait and see!