Jude is worthy of a MCM!

Clash by Nicole Williams

What emotions should a reader expect to experience while reading a good book?  Well it depends on what type of book it is, but for a good young adult/new adult book, I expect to laugh, maybe not out loud, but a small chuckle when a character says or does something in character that is funny, or you think “Oh, that Jude, he’s always finding himself in trouble.”

I also expect to be upset at one point.  One of the characters is going to do something that is upsetting, like find them in a hard to explain situation, for Jude that seems to always include another girl.  And the characters usually need a good sit down conversation where both parties are open and honest and trust what the other person is saying.  This does not always happen and that is usually where I get upset.  I’m thinking, please just sit down and explain yourself a little more openly and this mess wouldn’t be happening.  With Clash, I was upset with Lucy because she just kept getting in the way of the best relationship in her life.  I was upset.

I don’t always expect to cry, but if a book brings tears, it goes way up on the list of books that I enjoy.  I think when characters are so ingrained in you that you cry over the situation that is not really happening, but you feel it so deep within yourself to shed tears, that equals a good book to me.  I cried in Clash.  While Williams was explaining the looks on Jude’s face and the emotion that Lucy could see or hear in his voice.  I felt it.  I wanted to slap Lucy and hug Jude pretty much this whole book. 

I immediately started reading Clash after I finished Crash.  Both books were fast paced and easy to read.  I enjoy the characters and even the secondary characters like India (Lucy’s roommate) and Tony (the receiver that plays football with Jude).  I love the intimate moments between Jude and Lucy where we get to see their conversations and struggles within their relationship.  I also love that Lucy’s family is coming around.  It sounds like her dad is getting better and her mom is less “Ice Queen-ish” than in Crash.

Even though dancing is a huge aspect in Lucy’s life, I feel like we know more about Jude’s football than Lucy’s dancing.  She talks about it and says she went and practiced, but I just wonder if there should be more about what it means to Lucy, I just feel like it’s an afterthought and I felt like that in Crash as well.  My best friend was a dancer and everything about her screamed dance from the way she carried herself to how she walked, to how she talked about dance, every example from life could be brought back to dance.  All that to say, I think I figured out what I was missing in between Crash and Clash with the dancing theme feeling lost.  I wonder if we heard a chapter from Jude’s perspective if we would see more of who Lucy is as a dancer since Lucy obviously wouldn’t tell us how she walks, etc.

So, I liked it.  I can’t wait to jump right into Crush and see how this whirlwind ends up.  I’ll keep you posted!

Keep Reading my Friends!