Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Crash (Crash #1) by Nicole Williams



Crash by Nicole Williams

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 

Three/five stars

Uh, I feel so conflicted. I do not know if I liked this book or not. It reminded me of a really crap, high school version of Beautiful Disaster. The characters were totally cliché, the plot was all over the place and the writing was... I don’t know how to describe the writing. It just didn’t work for me. Apart from that, Crash was kind of intense and suspenseful and sometimes even a little bit romantic. 

When money becomes scare at the Larson household, the family packs up their belongings and moves to their beach house right before Lucy’s senior year. In the beginning of the book, Lucy admits she is a romantic at heart and wants to find the love of her life, or at least a boyfriend. When she locks eyes with a gorgeous boy at the beach one day, Lucy knows there will be no turning back. Unfortunately for Lucy, the gorgeous boy, Jude, introduces himself as, point blank, a man-whore. “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.” Lucy, ever the romantic, turns Jude down and continues on her way. But she can’t stop thinking about him; and he just can’t leave her alone. How on earth will this relationship work?

Crash was disturbingly similar to Beautiful Disaster, in that there was a “boy with beautiful eyes and an ugly past”, actually, isn’t that in most contemporary books now? I was really looking forward to reading this book because it was so hyped! I was also looking forward to reading the dance side of the book, but I was bitterly disappointed. There was mention of dance, and the emotions regarding it, but there really was no connection with ballet, which made me sad. I don’t dance anymore, but I did for a long time, so it means a lot to me and I love reading about anything dance. The girl on the cover is dressed in dance clothing, complete with pointe shoes, and there were mentions of Julliard, but I didn’t get my ballet fix from this book. I was also interested in the Julliard side of things because I’m a musician and Julliard would be amazing. There wasn’t much about Julliard in Crash, but I’m sure there will be in the next book, or I hope there will be. I was definitely disappointed in this book.

At first, Lucy didn’t bother me at all. She was a fine character, neither good nor bad. She was just… average, with years of practiced discipline from dancing. She had an abnormal family (surprise, surprise), ripped apart by grief and a shitty relationship with her mum. When Jude came into her life, Lucy just lost it. She wasn’t herself, she was dictated by men. It was annoying. She needed to be herself and not someone’s “girl”. The only thing I liked about her was her addiction with dance and her name. 

I felt absolutely nothing for Jude. Normally, I’d be fangirling or something like that over most book boys (I even had a soft spot for Travis from Beautiful Disaster), but not Jude. He was unlikable, emotionally unstable, angry, controlling, and arrogant. I did not like him at all. He was always ready for a fight and had huge anger issues. From that alone, Lucy should have left him straight away. Although he did show some soft spots for Lucy, he usually just left her, high and dry. He continually went back for her, and led her on, only to tell her he was “cancer” and that she should “stay away”. I hope to see a nicer, more devoted side of him in the sequel. 

The writing annoyed me and I don’t know why. The sentences were way too long and they just lost me. It was all very… cynical and there were lots of riddles too. Also, stupid metaphors and similes that just went over my head. I know that is all part of creative writing and stuff, but I think Williams went a bit over the top, and most of it didn’t even make any sense. Sometimes the writing and the dialogue was witty and humorous and had me laughing out loud.

“This is Luce,” [Jude] said, tipping my chin up with his finger and pressing the sweetest kiss I’d ever been give onto my lips.
“She’d have to be if you’re with her.[Allie]”


The plot wasn’t hard to follow, but I always felt like there was too much going on. There were lots of irrelevant things happening too. And lots of things were repeated. It just frustrated me! Seriously, sort ya shit out and grow up Lucy and Jude.

Crash was… eventful. I don’t really understand why the book is called "Crash". Is it because of how they met? Hmm, I don’t know. But anyway,Crash was interesting. I didn’t enjoy it very much, but the drama kept me entertained. I will be reading the sequel, just to see how everything plays out.

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