Crash by Nicole Williams (New Adult, both 4/10 and 8/10)

Don't get fooled by the ballet shoe!

6th June 2013, Simon and Schuster, 378 pages, Paperback, Review copy,

Themes: high school life, few mentions of ballet, being a rebel, ignoring good advice, trusting the wrong people, jumping to conclusions, being unsure of yourself, depression, taking risks, playing it safe, not so fun parties, parents putting their foot down but you ignore them, being the centre of gossip, cyber bullying, wanting life to be simple, different forms of grief, saving animals, compassion

Content: frequent moderate to strong adult situations, drinking, bad language, frequent inneuendo, teen motherhood,

Summary from Simon and Schuster

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 knows she needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. But she's about to find out that staying away is the only thing she's incapable of.

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 knows she needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. But she's about to find out that staying away is the only thing she's incapable of. - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Crash/Nicole-Williams/9781471117619#sthash.pvmmn7Jt.dpuf

Nayuleska's thoughts 

The reason there are two grades for this book is that I felt a bit betrayed by the front cover and the blurb. I thought Lucy was a dedicated dancer. It takes 200 pages or so before she really lets her love for dancing show -until then the reader is told about it, not shown through Lucy's passion. I'm not really sure why a ballet shoe was used for the cover - when a major dancing event happened it felt like it wasn't as big of a deal as it should have been, and ballet was a fraction of the book.

The reason I give it 8/10 for a second grade is that it was funny. The teen angst and melodrama which makes me laugh in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight (I love both the books and films - they are my light read) is whacked up on high. A book that makes me laugh is always good. I may not like Lucy much, but I could understand her bizarre reasonings for certain actions, and there were clever plot twists which shows a strong skill of writing. A very mixed bag - if ballet hadn't been suggested as Lucy's passion, thus creating certain expectations in my mind, then I'd have given just 1 grade somewhere in the middle of 4 and 8. 

You can find out more on Nicole's website. 

Suggested read

For another New Adult read check out Grounding Quinn by Steph Campbell