Crave is a pure YA romance novel –don’t let the cover deceive you. Yeah sure, it might have a bit of a fantasy and even realistic fiction feel to it, but the entire book is centered around two central characters of the story, our female and male protagonists who are named Grace and Jaxon, respectively. Now, with that said, I’d give this book a solid 3.5/5 stars. With this rating, I feel like I’m oddly being harsh but also generous at the same time, if that makes sense. Frankly, the plot was pretty “trash,” and the characters and setting of the novel (a castle-like high school in Alaska where the students are actually witches, warlocks, dragons, werewolves, or vampires) made it feel like a simplistic crossover between the Harry Potter and Twilight series. However, the book was also weirdly engrossing at the same time. I guess it is saying something if I managed to finish this long novel, but anyway, let’s dive into the specifics and reasoning behind my rating.
Firstly, the dialogue was decent. Taking into account that the dialogue makes up a good majority of this book, I’d say it’s a pretty nice plus for Crave. However, I’d have to say that the first third of the book –roughly 170 pages– was a pretty boring introduction of the main character and setting, so if you’re willing to endure that, be my guest. Despite the setting being pretty standard in the realm of fantasy YA, my curiosity eventually won the battle for those 170 pages, though, so maybe it will for you as well. I’ve got to admit, in the 1st third of the book, the author had me thinking Crave would be a 100% realistic fiction story about a girl adjusting to a simple and new life in Alaska after the death of her parents (a tragedy in the protagonist’s life that is established early on).
Second, the author did a better job than many others in making the story of a character who has lost his/her parents seem believable. There were a couple of scenes throughout the early parts of the novel depicting Grace emotionally coping with the loss of her parents and the initial stresses of moving to Alaska. In addition, to make the whole picture/idea of Grace settling into a new and unfamiliar place feel more genuine, Tracy Wolff even included some moments, albeit awkward ones, in the book where Grace was exchanging some texts with her best friend back in California.
Third, there were some unique aspects to this novel, I have to admit. One that stuck out was how the chapter titles were all sentences rather than phrases or single words. I felt that they were a plus because they helped the novel set itself apart from all other YA fantasy books, but some titles were also slightly cringey. Overall, they came off as a unique stylistic choice on the part of the author, which was nice.
Fourth, there were some choices made by the author in this novel that I felt to particularly awkward and stick out like a sore thumb. For instance, Wolff includes a part where Grace expresses her obsessive interest in the indigenous cultures of Alaska when Grace decides to visit the library in her new school. Grace even talks about her concerns regarding how those groups of people and their cultures are being threatened in the present, which is an issue I find concerning as well, but highly unfitting for a romance and fantasy novel. If an author sticks something related to their personal beliefs into their book, I believe that it should have a high degree of relevance to that book before being inserted for the sake of flow. Otherwise, such a part can easily be off-putting and even encourage readers to quit reading.
Another awkward aspect of this novel was Grace’s speaking style and choice of words. She’d be speaking quite formally at one part in the novel and using a word like “hella” not long after. For example, take the following part of the book near its beginning: “Second, it’s elegant…Vaulted arches, flying buttresses, and giant, ornate windows dominate the structure,” and contrast it with this excerpt from not long after: “Going to school in an actual castle, complete with halls whose bloodred ceilings are lined with Gothic lancet arches, is hella cool.” Although it may be considered by many as insignificant, such inconsistencies often lead readers –and myself with this novel– to become confused with how I should perceive certain characters and respond to their thoughts and actions.
To echo Grace’s awkward diction, the opening of the novel was hella weird for me as well. The immediate connection and initial interaction between Grace and Jaxon were strange, and although Tracy Wolff attempts to explain this later on by saying that Grace was destined to be Jaxon’s “mate,” which I also found to be strange, I felt myself squirming inside from the awkwardness that event made me feel. Of course, you may have a different reaction, but I feel like that will be something this book did for me, or rather to me, that I will forever associate with Crave.
If you haven’t been able to infer from my commentary on this novel yet, the author takes painfully long to get around to developing the plot. The interactions between Jaxon and another boy at the school who we think is competing for Grace’s interest are amusing yet cringey and the only major plot development for a good half of the book. It is only towards the end that it is revealed that a vampire character who has been posturing as the central characters’ friend for the entirety of the novel actually backstabs them (big surprise…) and is trying to revive her dead boyfriend, who also happens to be Jaxon’s brother. Unlike books with actually good plot twists, though, such as Losing Brave (check out the review for this book at this link), I found myself indifferent, maybe a bit disturbed, at observing Grace’s and Jaxon’s new threat/danger.
To the author’s credit and to end on a good note, there were some parts of the book that made me laugh, although I’m not sure you’ll laugh at the same parts or interpret certain scenes the way I did. I felt Crave to be specifically suited for lovers of the YA romance genre. There’s plenty of love scenes throughout the book and around four more sequels in the Crave series for you to indulge in, so if you are into that sort of thing, I encourage you to go for this book. While it wasn’t particularly good, Crave wasn’t terrible either.
Review by ~ Andrew
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