Wow this only took me weeks to get out to you. I finished it before Evernight, yet here we are getting it after the series review. WHOOPS. LOL It is what it is. How is NaNoWriMo going for you all? I hope its fruitful and amazing for you all!
As a side note, I think this series is hilarious on the selling sites:
The Crave series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Crave
Book #2 Crush
Book #3 Covet
Book #4 Court
So this is written there, but Covet is not out yet and won’t be till March 2021. Obviously Court is not out yet. However, what I love about this is that because this is here, you know the whole series is planned. What I find funny about this is the phrasing of it as if they are already out. IDK it makes me smile.
Onwards!
Customary warning: This is a reminder that these are my personal opinions. My thoughts and feelings are not your thoughts and feelings. I may not always be the target audience for a book; sometimes I am. If I do not like a book, that doesn’t mean you’ll dislike it. If I love a book or simply like a book, you may hate it. Take everything I say with this knowledge. If it sounds interesting to you despite what I’ve said, then go ahead and read it. You’ll only know you like something if you read it yourself.
That being said… Spoilers ahead.
Crave by Tracey Wolff
Synopsis From The Book
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.
Romance – Paranormal | YA- PW |Talk of Genocide, Talk of Murder, Character Death, Near Death Experiences | True Love, Trauma and Loss, Identity and Growth
Initial Thoughts Before Reading:
Who else is ready for the new vampire book like I am? After Blue bloods, I’m in dire need of a series that does make me want to rip something. This is a 571 page book. I have book club in little more than 8 hours. Can I do it? You know I will!
Initial Thoughts After Reading:
Oh! Me. Goodness. I def was yelling at half this book. She gets a book about a girl falling in love with a vampire, from a vampire, and she has the audacity to ask if he’s an alien? PLEASE CHILD. READ. Honestly, once she did learn though, everything was far more entertaining. The twist did not surprise me. I did like this book a lot.
Plot Overview:
Grace’s parents died a month ago, and she finds herself standing in Alaska having had to be shipped to her uncle as he is the only family she had left. She arrives at the school, that she will be attending: Katmere Academy. There, she meets Jaxon Vega, who is dangerously sexy and tells her to lay low because she does not belong there. Shortly after Macy, her cousin, and Flint, a charming boy, help her to her room. After staying in her bed for a day because of altitude sickness, Grace sneaks out of her room and is confronted by two boys who almost throw her out into the snow. Jaxon saves her, and tells her to not leave her room at night. The next day Grace goes to a party with Macy. There at the party she sees four distinct groups within the party. She talks with Flint and Jaxon ignores her. She panics and runs to the library where she meets a girl named Lia.
Grace makes her way back to her room, to find Macy who says Flint invited them to a snowball game. The next day Grace joins in, after warning from Jaxon who says she needs to keep an eye out. When she is climbing a tree for a better vantage point, she falls out and Flint dives to save her. Jaxon is there then and yelling at him, he takes Grace back to her room, princess carrying her when she can no longer walk because of a sprained ankle. He takes care of her, and almost kisses her. The next day, the first day of school, Grace is stuck in bed. Jaxon texts her and sends her breakfast, which she happily partakes in. He also sends her a copy of Twilight, which she doesn’t read. Jaxon shows up at her room and warns her to stay safe. The next day, when she does go to class, Jaxon is there with her and Grace realizes just how differently the school treats him.
Between classes, Grace moves with Flint in the underground tunnels and meets Lia when an earthquake happens. They find Jaxon at Grace’s art class and he yells at Flint. Grace defends her friend and snaps back at Jaxon. He walks away. That night she goes to him and watches a meteor shower with him. After watching it, they kiss and another earthquake happens and glass goes flying. Grace wakes up in the hospital, and then finds that she has vampire bites on her. She demands to speak to Jaxon after finding out what he is, but he is not there at his room. His friend tells her he’ll be back soon. Macy tells her it was the nurse who bit her, to save her life. Macy goes on to tell her everything about the school. They go to eat, instead of waiting for Jaxon to return. As she is traveling across the room, the chandelier falls and Jaxon saves her life. He tells her people are trying to kill her.
Grace goes to the library to learn more and finds Flint who tells her a bit about dragons, as he is a dragon. They then are cut short when Flint is alerted that The Order (Jaxon and his friends) are on the move. They hurry to find Jaxon knocking down wolf shifters with cold and calculated moves, only allowing for them to be done when he lets them fall. Jaxon then takes Grace to his room. Grace learns all about him, and he sucks her blood, and then they talk more and she returns to class when her uncle goes to almost expel Jaxon. Lia finds Grace and invites her over for the night for facials, but Grace declines to be with Jaxon. She does tell Lia to try to be his friend again, even though Jaxon was forced to kill Lia’s lover and his own brother: Hudson. (Hudson was advocating for genocide. Look. He had to die.)
That night she arrives at his room, they make out and dance under the aurora borealis. That is, until, Jaxon goes mad and has to force Grace from his room. He’s been drugged, and Lia appears and shoots him to knock him out. She then kidnaps Grace. Grace awakes to a dark cell and she tries to escape. She finds Flint, as a dragon, and he tries to kill her when Jaxon saves her. Lia takes the opportunity to take Grace to the alter room and tries to bring back Hudson with Grace. Jaxon is able to step in, and kills Lia but the ghost/smoke body of Hudson is brought to the world. Grace has to give Jaxon her blood to save him.
Everything seems alright four days later, and Jaxon and Grace are officially together, when out of nowhere Grace see’s Hudson’s ghost appear and in order to save Jaxon, she has to put herself between him and the ghost. She turns to stone. The novel ends with Jack demanding that they get her back, and the reveal that she is a gargoyle.
What I Liked:
Grace; My girl ain’t no weak damsel. But also like… Girl. He gave you a book about vampires and you ask if he’s an alien? REALLY? I do feel for what happened in the book, Grace did get hurt a lot and had to be saved a lot. And for what it’s worth I let it slide because super natural things were trying to kill her and she didn’t know, and she couldn’t have saved herself. She really couldn’t have. So… I let it go. I like her, so I don’t want her to be damseled in the future books. Now that she can be a badass, I’d like her to be allowed to be one. Thanks.
Jaxon Vega; Look, you can’t see this character pop up in the 3rd (I think) chapter and not say two things. Oh. he’s a vampire. and OH HE’S A VAMPIRE. Like look, it was so obvious he was, there was no reason to hide it. But also, Jaxon is described as the swoon worthy angsty protagonist and honestly I’m here for it. He has to be that way, because he literally had to kill his own brother and the world is out to get him. AND him having emotions is directly tied to how his powers react. I like the reasoning. We must protect him.
Flint; He was such a sweet character. Why did he have to have such a cruel arc and, you know, try to kill the MC. Also he and Jaxon used to be friends, until, you know, Jaxon’s brother began to advocate for the genocide of all non-vampires. I do hope he gets a nice thorough redemption story and arc and isn’t just tossed to the side. Cuz I love him.
Macy; What a cousin. Goodness. I was angry at her for a bit. Why wasn’t she telling Grace anything? IDK but she was a sweet character and I really hope we get more of her.
Lia; I liked her as a character. It was sort of campy in a, you know this is the villain but not exactly how they are going to attack, sort of way. She was entertaining, and I did get her motivations. Since she didn’t bother me enough for me to feel anything but “okay” about her, she’s good in my book.
Swoon; Was I swooning? I’d lie if I said no. This book got me. I won’t lie. It did get me and I was rooting for Grace and Jaxon the whole way.
What I Would Have Liked or Changed:
Telling Grace; Look. I know it makes sense for the plot, but you’d think that if you were sending your niece to a supernatural boarding school, you’d let her know first? No? I guess it’s just me.
The Jokes; Take them away. (Honestly I loved every single one of the bad jokes and puns, but I have a reputation to uphold with my friends as someone who can not tolerate bad jokes.)
Time Line; Jokes aside. This book felt long because of what happened, but in terms of actually the amount of days it was less than a week. A week. That is so freaking fast, even for soul mates or whatever the heck Grace and Jaxon are. It was so fast. This point alone allows me to forgive how they didn’t tell Grace anything. Because if I saw this girl passing out three times in one day and almost dying twice the second, I really don’t think I would have told her either. Goodness.
Book Club:
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who thought this was good fun, but not worth serious thought. It is such a twilight rip off that we were laughing all about it.
Rating: 4/5
Notable Quotes:
‘Maybe if that textbook is a horror novel. One he’s reading upside down and backward.’ – pg 5 (I really laughed at this)
Marlena Marie 
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