Clash by Nicole Williams

Clash by Nicole Williams
Series: Crash #2
Published by: HarperCollins on November 20, 2012
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 288
Source: Purchased
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Rating: ★★★★★

Their Romeo-and-Juliet-level passion is the only thing Jude and Lucy agree on. That, and fighting all the time . . .

Also not helping? Lucy's raging jealousy of the cheerleader who's wormed her way into Jude's life.

While trying to hang on to her quintessential bad boy and also training to be the top ballet dancer in her class, Lucy knows something's going to give . . . soon.

How can she live without the boy she loves? How can she live with herself if she gives up on her dreams? If Lucy doesn't make the right choice, she could lose everything.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to like this book as much as Crash. Here’s what scared me from the blurb:

That, and fighting all the time.
Lucy’s raging jealousy of the cheerleader who’s wormed her way into Jude’s life.

When I read that, I made two assumptions: 1) that Jude and Lucy were going to be fighting all the time, and 2) that Jude was going to have a wandering eye. In Crash, Jude always made it clear that he loved Lucy and only wanted to be with her. So naturally I was terrified that suddenly this was all going to go out the window and he was going to start checking out other women. I’m so glad to say that didn’t happen at all!

So let’s just get right down to it…

Vix Bitch aka Cheerleader Barbie aka Adriana is the kind of annoying, manipulative, makes-me-want-to-pull-hair-out home-wrecking bitch that I love to hate. She tries to worm her way into Jude’s life and I HATE IT! But not in the “it was so annoying so I didn’t like this book” way. It was more in the “I really enjoyed screaming at her and yelling at her and telling her to go fuck herself and the anger made me feel good” way. Vix Bitch made Lucy really jealous, and the thing I liked about that is that it felt realistic. If some hot skanky piece of ass waltzed up to me and said:

“You don’t do his laundry, you don’t clean his room, and I can tell just by looking at you that you don’t put out, so what good are you to him? A guy has needs. He might be yours today. But what about tomorrow? You want to know what happened to the last girl who stood in my way? Who knows? I never heard anything about her again after I landed her man. She was drowned in my wake.”
Vix Bitch, Clash by Nicole Williams, Page 48-49

I would be scared. I would feel insecure and worried and upset and HULK-LIKE ANGRY. Normally I hate the saying “I trust you, it’s her I don’t trust”, because if you trust your guy then you know that he won’t let anything happen, no matter what crap the other girl tries to pull. But in this case, the saying totally fits.

Holly makes a bit more of an appearance Clash and I adored her! I actually wish she showed up a few more times (she’s only really there at the beginning). She turned into that best friend character that I absolutely love! She was freaking hilarious. I loved her plotting and scheming against Vix Bitch. Seriously, Vix is no match for Holly’s scheming.

And of course, Jude. Jude is as sweet, badass, and tortured as ever in Clash! He still loves Lucy so much, despite her insecurities. And honestly, I didn’t blame Lucy at all for her insecurities. All the problems they face as a couple are realistic and relatable. Of course, they’re heartbreaking as well. The entire last quarter of the book, I was a complete mess.. crying, freaking out, texting my boyfriend all sorts of things.. sigh. In Clash, the intensity of their relationship really steps up a notch. In Crash it had that sweet, first love feel to it. But Clash is more about whether or not their relationship can stand the test of time (they’ve been dating for much longer now) and conniving bitches like Vix.

“Tell him my girl comes before football. Tell him my girl’s breakfast comes before football.”
Jude, Clash by Nicole Williams, Page 40

There’s no doubt about it, Clash was a crazy, insane, emotional roller coaster.. and I loved every second of it! There are so many ups and downs that you will almost get whiplash, but it’s in a great way. I almost feel like a masochist having enjoyed the constant back and forth of love-pain-love-pain. But there’s something really thrilling about the ride, and moving through all the hurt and pain and tears, just hoping and praying that there’s a happy ending on the other side!

The Verdict