Crave by Tracy Wolff

First of all, who has a surname like Wolff? Like pen names are ok but.. okay whatevs

It’s been 2+ months since dad passed away. And the ONLY thing keeping me sane whilst dealing with my heart-rippingly painful grief are paranormal romances, romantasies, and a whole lot of smut.

Crave by Tracy Wolff is a teenage paranormal romance but extremely mild when it comes to smut or anything remotely spicy.

This has been called the Academia version of Twilight, which, I agree, is partially true. Partially only, because Twilight was an out-an-out romantasy while I would not call Crave that.

About / Plot

Crave the first book in a series of 6 that starts with a newly-orphaned girl, heading to a remote elite school in Alaska where her Uncle and Cousin live because they’re her only living relatives. Turns out, the school is full of paranormal creatures, some of which are out to get her.

The vampire boy, male protagonist, is hot. But Edward here wins. Inevitably everything for me that’s vampire world compares to Twilight. That’s my guilty pleasure.

Anywho, the story is pretty much just that. A whole lot of Gen Z sense of humour which perhaps even a millennial like myself will enjoy. Language is also very text-y, sometimes annoying but it’s targetted at a certain audience and delivers well there.

The good part is, the heroine here is NOT a damsel in distress. In fact, she take charge of her own life after a point in the book, but even before, she’s never struck as a ‘poor little lamb out for slaughter’ a la Bella.

Crave by Tracy Wolff is a long book. And sequels, longer. However, I have decided to go ahead with this because no matter the length of the books, they are light, fun, and engaging as heck. Not addictive, like I can live without it, but a very tangible distraction from my currently-nightmare of a life. It’s actually a whole lot of action and great world building with non-sparkly vampires and a much better explanation on the anatomy and creation of these creatures – along with werewolves and certain others that I dare not spoil

Characters are decent. Protagonists are not half-baked but some of them are pretty two-dimensional. Perhaps it is because this remains the first book in a whole series. And yet, having read several vampire-fantasy-driven books, I know there’s more coming. I just wish they did less timepass in the second book that I just began and got to the point faster. Grace is underdog, Jaxon is typically elitist vampire royalty, Grace’s cousin Macy is quite cute and to be honest one of the better sidekicks I have read.

Conclusion / Final Thoughts

Honestly, this is a whole domain where comparison is inevitable. And this time it’s not Twilight. It’s Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. That was one hell of a ride. I remember reading 6 books in 7 days flat, half a day went in some random household chore I don’t remember now but I am proud of that feat. While Crave may not be that addictive, it sure is as entertaining. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead was a whole lot of intense, despite little to no spice in it.

Read this book. It’s amazingly funny, self-aware and VERY entertaining. Keep brains aside and read – like not in a bad way, it’s just like a typical vamp fantasy with cooler elements added to it. Plus, never explored Alaska in books so that’s a plus.

Grace as a heroine is fiesty, witty and has agency on her own life. It’s a feminist book. I’m yet to see what happens again now that there have been some pretty cool revelations. And you know what? I had already read the whole plot on wiki and this is one of those books that despite knowing what’s going to happen I ended up reading this cover-to-cover. It’s goooood.

All in all, I’d give this a 4/5 purely for the entertainment factor. Also helps me finish Goodreads goals (Was to read 20, read 10 so far. But this is more. So, yay!)