Crash

Goodreads 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, 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 needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. Staying away, she's about to find out, is the only thing she's incapable of.

For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love's about to become the thing that tears them apart.

My Thoughts
I will start by saying that I give this book 4 stars. This will not be a book for everyone. Those who understand that cyclical relationships are not healthy will not like this book. I get that. It's why I can't watch The Notebook the same way I did in high school. However, the love between these two was so palpable that I couldn't help loving this book.

Lucy is a typical teenager. She starts a new school her senior year due to some money issues, but she is determined to not let this drag her down. She isn't a whinny 17 year old like we see in so many books these days.

Jude is a mess. He is just a flat out mess, but when he meets and gets to know Lucy he softens a little. He's had a really (I wanna swear, but I wont) life. He is the reason he and Luce break up so many times. He's insecure about his past and uses the whole "I don't want to ruin you" routine. If I didn't completely believe that these two loved each other, I wouldn't support this (fictional) relationship. If she were a friend I would tell her to run and never look back. Hell even Jude told her that.

I could have done without some of the characters though. Sawyer was an unnecessary element to this story. He just added so much animosity between Jude and Lucy that didn't strengthen the story at all. Then there was Taylor. I would have preferred it if Lucy made no friends than hang out with someone like Taylor.

Nevertheless, this book was written well. I could have done without some of the drama, but that's what you get when you read contemporary.