Book Review: Crush

Before you do anything, you absolutely have to go back and read CRAVE because this cannot be a stand alone. You can read my review for that one here and that book was so good. SO GOOD.  

Crush - Tracy Wolff

Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am.

Just when I start to feel safe again, Hudson is back with a vengeance. He insists there are secrets I don’t know about, threatening to drive a wedge between Jaxon and me forever. But far worse enemies are at our doorstep.

The Circle is caught in a power play and the Vampire Court is trying to drag me out of my world and into theirs. The only thing Hudson and Jaxon agree on is that leaving Katmere would mean my certain death.

And not only am I fighting for my life, but now everyone else’s is at stake—unless we can defeat an unspeakable evil. All I know is that saving the people I love is going to require sacrifice.

Maybe more than I’m able to give.

I want to tell you about this book and tell you all of the things but I'm trying to control myself. *I am really squealing on the inside and bouncing in my seat.*

Deep breath. 

In this book we begin back in Katmere Academy and learn that Grace has actually been technically gone for months. While people are happy she's back, the discovery of what Grace is is startling. She really is special but special isn't always what you want to be. 

Not only is Grace back but so is Hudson. Well, only kind of. He's seemingly connected to Grace, to both of their detriment, and the entire book is centered on the quest to get rid of Hudson for good. Unfortunately for everyone, Grace begins to form an unlikely friendship with Hudson, and it is hard not to because he is always with her. All of this is also putting on a strain on her relationship with Jaxon, her mate. 

I have to stop telling you anything more because it gives away some major plot points. I'm dying to tell you all of it. I loved this one. I loved that the author continues to write Grace as a bad ass and self sufficient character. This series is heavily compared to TWILIGHT and I can absolutely see the similarities, but one of the things that set this apart is Grace is no Bella, and thank god. Bella was the absolute worst and I am so glad Grace wants to be in charge of her own future and she's going to be the one making her own decisions and I am here for it. 

I loved we have creatures we don't hear of much at all (there's your hint) in the paranormal genre (at least I haven't), we have new plot twists coming at all angles, we also end with a bang (literally) and I finished this book completely blown away, I switched teams but I don't think it's a bad thing and it makes me feel better about another little tidbit mentioned in the book. 

Of course none of that makes sense to you because you haven't read it, but you need to because I need to talk to someone about it. I have so many things to say about this book but I can't. I'm so sorry. I know this is a cliffhanger of a review but it is the best I can do. Book three, COVET, is coming in March and book four, COURT, is hopefully not too far after. I'm crossing my fingers, lambs. 

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Book Review: Fractures (Echoes #2)

I am really struggling and this week definitely was tough. Not even just the events in the world, which were bad enough, but my legs are killing me. I am so incredibly tired and just every day I feel run down and awful. I hit a real wall with reading and I think I might take a few days off just to see if I get back into it. 

I absolutely could not pass this one up though! 

Fractures - Alice Reeds

They survived a plane crash.

They survived life on a deserted island.

They survived being hunted.

Now they must survive the truth—they are not who they think they are.

One minute they’re in Poland, subjected to gruesome tests they keep failing. No friends to support them. No family to claim them. No hope of ever living a normal life again.

Then suddenly, they’re trapped on an abandoned freighter in the middle of the ocean and forced to fight for survival. No food. No drinkable water. No way to get home. And strange memories of another life they don’t understand.

But how can they be living two separate lives, trapped in two separate places, at the same time? They’ll have to find the connection and uncover secrets that someone went to great lengths to keep hidden...if they’re going to survive long enough to find out who is behind it all. 

If you haven't read the first book, Echoes, you absolutely MUST. Immediately from page one of this one you will be completely and fully lost if you haven't read the first book. I didn't know that this was the second book so I ended up ordering the first one so I could understand why they were on a boat, not moving, in seemingly the middle of nowhere. I'm so glad I did. 

Odd thing though, is that Echoes is written in Fiona's point of view and I somehow missed the switch because Fractures then goes on to be in Miles's point of view. Which, is fine I guess, but I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have them switch on and off depending on the chapter. It was hard for me to mentally remember that I'm with Miles mainly versus Fiona. 

My next issue is Fiona. I didn't really feel any particular way about her in Echoes, though I did like Miles but mainly because his character reminded me of others I've read in different books. Fiona though, she isn't a very nice person in Fractures. Alarmingly so, and the flip flop reminded me of Peeta in Hunger Games. Remember when one minute he's in love with Katniss and the next he wants to kill her? Maybe it isn't quite the same degree here but the sudden shit threw me for a loop and I had a hard time liking her. 

I think a great dystopian book has to have great secondary characters to push our main characters forward, and we have that. I also can't say this is strictly a dystopian novel, which I am usually 50/50 on, I'll either love it or not like it at all. I actually loved this because this book gave us the thriller element, lots of suspense, a solid dash of mystery, a little bit of romance, but lots of action. This is a book you basically put on an end cap because it could fit in so many different specific genres than the blanket of young adult. 

I have to say another reason I really enjoyed this is it focuses on past lives. Once Fiona and Miles reach Poland, and are supposedly learning about what the heck has happened, they are told they have different names, that they were never really Fiona and Miles, and it's confusing for sure because the memories they have feel real. So do you just go with what these people are telling you or do you believe what you remember, trust your memories over evidence that contradicts them? If you've been reading my blog long enough you know that I have short term memory loss but I also have long term memory loss as well. It's a really strange thing to see photos of yourself getting married, for instance, and you have zero memory of it. Obviously it happened because here are the photos but what if? What if  you didn't and it's all smoke and mirrors? 

So that thread in the story interested me the most. I highly suggest reading them back to back because that is what I ended up doing and I think if I had more time between books I would have forgotten some smaller details. 

I have to thank NetGalley and Entangled Teen for getting an ARC to me for review, all thoughts are my own. I highly suggest keeping an eye on Entangled Teen's books because I've read a few this year so far and they have all been really great and unique. I've got my eye on a few more coming this year, so stay tuned! 

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Book Review: Crave

If you've been a follower for long you know that I was a pretty big Twilight fan. A Twi-hard, if you will. I am, and will forever will be, Team Edward. You know why? Because werewolves like their own butt and I can't get down with that. It has been a few years since I've been able to get that fix. Sure, I've read a few vampire books and they just haven't given me that feeling that I got when I read Twilight.

You guys? I found it. I found our new Twilight.

Crave - Tracy Wolff

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.

I don't want to compare this to Twilight because the only thing I really felt were comparable were the personalities of some of the characters, Grace's choice between Jaxon (vampire) and Flint (dragon), and a few other ideas were borrowed but absolutely, undoubtedly improved upon. While Twilight had Bella fairly helpless and dependent on everyone else, this story gives us Grace who knows life is short and wants to help herself. She's determined to use logic and doesn't fly off of the emotional handle. She's cool, calm, and collected and is the heroine we all deserve.

With all of that said, I absolutely loved CRAVE, and I cannot wait for more. I hope with everything in me I can be on the next tours because there will be more. CRAVE is set to be a trilogy and I am more than excited to read this and have it sit all pretty on my shelf!

OK. In this book we have Grace, forced to move to Alaska because her parents have died and she has no options. Her uncle Finn is the headmaster at Katemere Academy, which at first glance looks like a weird, elite boarding school in the middle of a frozen nowhere. Once you start really looking around it is quickly obvious that the students here aren't your run in the mill high schoolers. Grace is rooming with her cousin Macy who is being evasive when Grace tries to ask her questions. It turns out to be a terrible idea because Grace finds herself in danger at every turn. She assumes her accidents are all coincidences but Jaxon, the terrifying classmate that Grace is wildly attracted to, is trying to tell her that someone(s) is out to kill her. 

Of course, she refuses to believe this so she isn't using her brains at all. She refuses to believe that anyone would have any reason to kill her so she continues to learn about her classmates (once learning that monsters are real and they are all around her) and "making friends".

I absolutely LOVED Jaxon and all of his dangerous angst because its clear he really cares for Grace and eventually comes to love her. Jaxon is a born vampire from the reigning King and Queen of vampires, so he runs The Order (of vampires) at school. (Imagine the Vulturi from Twilight and how they walk around together... Jaxon and his friends walk through school like that, and command the attention of others.) I liked Macy, Grace's cousin, though I can't understand why she was so reluctant to tell Grace about school and the people there. I kept screaming throughout the book that someone needed to explain to Grace what the hell was happening, and why, because I felt like so many of her "accidents" and the end could have been different if they gave her a little more credit at being able to handle information.

I cannot go into all of the reasons I loved this book because it might ruin certain parts of the book for you and believe me when I tell you this book is worth your time. And money. If I had to give you anything that I would change, it would maybe be a little more at the end. Of course there is a big scene at the end and just when I thought we would ease into a cliffhanger, I'm left with a major character being... unavailable? I mean, I guess that's what I'd call it. Ha! I wanted to know how that kind of thing happened, first of all. But also, it made me think about all of the similar things like this that were in the library and it makes me excited to think of them maybe coming to life? Which would be amazing and bananas at the same time!

Of course, none of that makes sense but it will once you read the book. PLEASE read this book so we can talk about this because I have so many thoughts and I need someone to talk to about it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

   

I have to give a HUGE thank you to EntagledTeen and MB Communications for having me on this tour and sending me easily the best book mailing I have ever received in exchanged for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. This post contains affiliate links.