Latest Read: Crash

Here are the basics ...
Book: Crash
Author: Nicole Williams
Site: http://nicoleawilliams.blogspot.com/
Category: Young Adult

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.  He's got a rap sheet, has had his name sighed & cursed by more women than Lucy dares to ask, and lives at the local boys home where disturbed seems to be the status quo. Lucy had a stable at best, quirky at worst, upbringing. She lives for ballet, has her sights set on Juilliard, and has been careful to keep trouble out of her life. Up until now. For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love's about to become the thing that tears them apart. (Adapted from Goodreads.com) 

My thoughts…

So why did I decide to read this book? It's been labeled as New Adult (basically mature YA, which I love), awesome reviews and there are POINTE shoes on the cover (I'm a sucker for anything ballet-related). It seemed like a winner.  But it just didn't work for me.

For one thing, Jude Ryder was clearly inspired by Christian Grey.  From the grey eyes to the scars on his body, right down to the possessive quick-to-rage personality that borders on mental.  On the plus side, Lucy was no Ana Steele.  She actually has goals and passions that she pursues and she's a lot more outspoken.  But the internal monologues where she gushes or agonizes about Jude and their relationship, I could've done without. It was hard to really get their relationship. There's instant lust, he's over her house having dinner with her parents practically the same night they meet, his crazy foster brothers try to set her on fire (yes, you read that right), he disappears, they see each other again, they sorta kinda get into a relationship, then soon after he's out of her life for a few months but they love each other and then he comes back.  I think you get my drift. I wanted to see their relationship progress.  There were these fleeting moments of banter between them and the way they encouraged each other (her with ballet, him with football) that I wanted more of.

The plot and all the subplots were just way over the top.  I wish the author had picked one or two facets of their lives to focus on instead of all soap-opera like drama.  We learn early on that Lucy and her family have experienced some sort of tragedy but halfway through the book, I actually forgot about it until it became a major plot point in a last minute twist.  I think if the twist had been revealed right away and then Lucy/Jude worked through that, the book would've been more compelling (to me, at least).  I mean, I get the appeal of the book to a certain degree.  It's a classic tale of bad guy, good girl and an instant attraction everyone knows is wrong but they can't help wanting to be together anyway.  Personally, I want something more.  Something that would've set it apart or characters that make me want to root for them and this book lacked that.

Do I recommend?: If you're a fan of mature young adult and Fifty Shades, then you'll probably like this book. But if you're anything like me, you might want to just pass on this one.

Happy reading!