Crave by Tracy Wolff

Would I rate my reads only on enjoyment, this one would have been a full stars read…

Themes: YA fantasy, romance

The synopsis

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.

Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.

The review

First, is it just me or does this cover reminds me of another book featuring a vampire?

What else can I say about this read? It was cheesy… like really really cheesy. You have the stereotypical gothic setting with a school created in a castle in the middle of nowhere and obviously, the hero is handsome but moody. Grace is soon discovering that she’s the only human in the school which explains the strange attitude of the other students (not that we see much of them, or the teacher or even the classes…). To be quick, she spends half of the book in her room, dreaming over Jaxon.

And the book doesn’t improve and uses ALL the YA tropes you can imagine: love at first sight (with Grace constantly repeating ‘Oh he’s dangerous, I shouldn’t approach him but I can’t help it he’s so handsome), the hero ignoring the heroine for her own good, the betrayal of a friend (spotted since the meeting scene)… It was so cliché that I was laughing and smiling during the entire book. I think the author had a great time writing it, I even spotted some direct references to Twilight! There’s nothing incredible either in the writing style which is very repetitive as are the events and character’s thoughts. The secondary characters are here only to help the action to move on and even the school/fantasy aspects are not developed a lot.

But, this book is not entirely bad and some points are worth mentioning. First, Grace is in admiration in front of Jaxon but she still has a bit of temper when dealing with him. Then, one of the main subjects is Grace’s grief which was very well dealt with and integrated into the plot. Finally, you have the classic vampires/witches/shifters clans but also some dragons. So, all is not lost!

In brief: if you’re looking for a book full of clichés but that’ll make you smile and that you’ll read very quickly, pick this one. Despite my review full of complaints, this book is good enough for me to pick the next one for one of my future TBR!

My rating: 3/5