Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Crave

The short review and main lesson: Big book doesn't mean good book. Now let's break it down.
Characters: Ugh, the main character wanted to be so different that it hurt me as a reader. The background story and her flaws were based around the most basic trope "both of my parents died". Not that this isn't scaring and unrealistic, it's just over used and the easiest way to scar a character. The love interest was actually well down but also uncreative. A postive I want to mention is the diverse cast! She has done a great job at giving a little bit of their ethnicity away and leaving room of interpretation.
Cliché and Tropes: I don't know which category this will fit but I want to talk about the use of clichés. I'm not sure how to put it in words but the book wanted to be "not cliché" so bad but exactly that (a cliché / basic situation) happened over and over. As a reader this is so frustrating!!
The fantasy aspect: I was so amazed by the world building, honestly! It definitely helped to make it feel more cozy, tense, etc.. Where she went completely wrong in my opinion is unwrapping the actual fantasy. The MC is a normal person, so she spents 50%+ of the book discovering these mysterious beings. But why? It's literally so obvious? I don't get it, should it seem more realistic that she doesn't belive in e. g. magic? Which wouldn't make sense since she is a reader herself...
Last but not least, the end build-up: In the last (around) ten chapters it suddenly starts to be so chaotic for no reason!? I was so overwhelmed while being bored since it wasn't authentic anymore. Then, expecting closure it has an open ending-
Now you could think that my rating is too high for ranting that long about it, I honestly need to admit: I'm attached to the characters and the world and can't rate it lower :( Anyway, not gonna continue with the series. It takes to much energy.

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chilivanilli28's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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bourni_bibliobibuli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Am I going to pick up the next book? - Yes
Did it remind me of twilight? - 100%
Did I love the characters? - I'm always a sucker for protective, brooding, bloodsucking love interest
But did I love it? - Not really

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

UPDATE: Re-reading since book 6 comes out next week. I still stand by my original review; this book was hella entertaining to me! I’m not sure I caught that it takes place in just one week the first time I read it though! Things sure escalated quickly! But it didn’t keep me from becoming super invested in Jaxon and Grace again, even though I know what’s coming…

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Oh man, this was campy and trope-y and great distraction! I’ve seen this book/series mentioned EVERYWHERE, but just never got around to it. I get some of the complaints that are lobbed around some of the less flattering reviews, but that didn’t make this any less entertaining for me. Sure, the world building and magic system could have been more fleshed out, but, in the book’s defense, it’s all from Grace’s POV and since *she* doesn’t know how things work, *we* don’t know how things work. I’m hoping that is rectified in the next book. But honestly, even if it’s not, I don’t think it’ll bother me too much—there’s enough drama to keep me coming back! My favorite thing though, hands down, had to be when Jaxon sent Grace a copy of Twilight because COME ON! THAT is freaking HILARIOUS! IYKYK 🤣

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tscarey13's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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brooklynncm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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michalaj10's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Was this the best book I've ever read? Not even close
Will I read the rest of the series? Absolutley, they're my new guilty pleasure.

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kelleykamanda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

I would have loved this when I was a teenager and I understand that many people would find a lot of joy in this book. The writing was really difficult to get through. The text language (I.e. “af”) was rough. Also, the addition of the tropes- girl who is perfect with no personality has a guy who is a killer fall in love with her- hurt. I mean, this is definitely a Twilight fanfic, which for someone wanting that, might make it a perfect read.

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