Clash by Nicole Williams

About the book

Clash is the second book in the new adult series ‘Crash’ by Nicole Williams. It was published by Simon & Schuster on 6^th June and the book is 288 pages long.

Plot Synopsis

Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder’s relationship is definitely not easy. The only thing that is, is the fact that they love each other so much. Now they’re both at college, separate colleges, things are going to be even tougher. Jude’s temper gets the better of him while Lucy’s insane jealousy of other girls threatens to ruin their relationship. For Lucy, she begins to realise that having the bad boy of her dreams as well the dance career she’s always dreamed of might not be possible. She’s going to have to make a decision but it may mean losing the one thing most important to her forever.

What I thought

After loving the first book in this series so much, I just had to pick up Clash immediately after putting down Crash.

This book picks up slightly after where Crash left off, with Lucy and Jude both at the colleges of their choice which are a few hours apart. Their relationship is far from perfect due to revelations revealed in Crash but they are working on things and trying to get to be in a happy and loving place. That doesn’t last very long though and quickly Lucy and Jude are at each other’s throats again for one reason or another.

What I loved about this book is that is shows the importance of the work that needs to be put in to a relationship. Lucy and Jude have a hell of a lot of problems between them and while this does get in the way of their happiness throughout the book, it also teaches them that relationships are far from easy. There are some great lessons to be learned from some of the other characters in the book who teach both characters what it means to be in love and the sacrifices that must sometimes be made in order to have a happy relationship.

Although Jude is still the bad boy I had grown to love in Crash, he has come on a hell of a long way since then. Yes, he still has a terrible temper and will kick someone’s ass just for looking at Lucy but he has also become calmer and more mature in so many ways. He’s trying to change his life after Lucy helped him believe in himself. He’s trying to be a better person and to realise that the past doesn’t define who he is in the present. Jude is by no means perfect but that is still what I love about him. He realises when he is wrong, he knows he has flaws but he is trying to work through those things to be a happier and better person.

Unfortunately, Lucy’s character development was pretty weak in this instalment. In comparison to the first book, where she didn’t trust Jude at all or believe anything he told her, she hasn’t come very far at all. Considering all of the mayhem caused by her lack of trust, I would have thought that now she would be able to listen to Jude and believe what he told her, instead of jumping to conclusions again – which is exactly what she did again in Clash. It seemed as though Lucy blamed Jude for an awful lot when it really wasn’t his fault. I wish that Lucy could have grown and learned from the mistakes make previously but she didn’t really.

I was a little disappointed with the plot in Clash as it just seemed to go over a lot of old ground. While the moral lesson of working hard to make a relationship work was great, I felt that there were just too many arguments and characters running away when things got rough… which was often. I would have loved for there to have been one bigger problem maybe rather than so many small ones. Even so, with the ending of this book, it makes me want to read the third book which is out in July so luckily not too long to wait.

Although a good book, it wasn’t quite as good as the first.