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skyelore_'s review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
To me this book was just… okay….. I really loved her Crave series but Wolff does have a tendency to over write, she has so many chapters in her books, this one had 93 chapters + epilogue 🫠. And nothing even remotely interesting happened until chapter 49…. 49!!
A lot of the chapters leading up to 49 were a repetitive inner monologue by the FMC. How many did times did she tell us she has been trapped on the island since birth? That anytime anyone graduates the school and leaves, they die because their powers are too much for them after being suppressed for so long? Or that Jude just randomly ghosted her?… the list goes on and on…and on. This book is 500 pages… but why? This book could have EASILY
been 300-350 and been plenty informative. Also the epilogue doesn’t make any sense.. it’s like it’s trying to leave you on this cliffhanger but nothing interesting enough happened to make me want to read the next one 🥲
I love the world building Wolff does and she has an amazing imagination but the over writing and the constant repetition of stuff… only for nothing to be happening… at all, really tends to put me off of her future books.
A lot of the chapters leading up to 49 were a repetitive inner monologue by the FMC. How many did times did she tell us she has been trapped on the island since birth? That anytime anyone graduates the school and leaves, they die because their powers are too much for them after being suppressed for so long? Or that Jude just randomly ghosted her?… the list goes on and on…and on. This book is 500 pages… but why? This book could have EASILY
been 300-350 and been plenty informative. Also the epilogue doesn’t make any sense.. it’s like it’s trying to leave you on this cliffhanger but nothing interesting enough happened to make me want to read the next one 🥲
I love the world building Wolff does and she has an amazing imagination but the over writing and the constant repetition of stuff… only for nothing to be happening… at all, really tends to put me off of her future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing
capsandclauses's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
What in the CW was this lol.
I did have fun though. Sweet Nightmare is the first book in the Calder Academy series by Tracy Wolff. I'm not going to touch on the drama that has been occurring with the author as I was unaware of it when I read this book.
Loosely, this book follows Clementine, the daughter of the principal of Calder Academy. She has spent her entire life on the island, which restricts the manifestation of magical abilities. When monsters begin to run rampant on the island and students start losing control of their powers, it is up to Clementine and her childhood best friend/rival Jude Abernathy-lee to stop it.
This book is absolutely ridiculous in a truly CW kind of way. There are shifters, sirens, mermaids, vampires etc. There's petty romantic drama and reasonably predictable twists and turns. Its a wild ride.
I did have fun though. Sweet Nightmare is the first book in the Calder Academy series by Tracy Wolff. I'm not going to touch on the drama that has been occurring with the author as I was unaware of it when I read this book.
Loosely, this book follows Clementine, the daughter of the principal of Calder Academy. She has spent her entire life on the island, which restricts the manifestation of magical abilities. When monsters begin to run rampant on the island and students start losing control of their powers, it is up to Clementine and her childhood best friend/rival Jude Abernathy-lee to stop it.
This book is absolutely ridiculous in a truly CW kind of way. There are shifters, sirens, mermaids, vampires etc. There's petty romantic drama and reasonably predictable twists and turns. Its a wild ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
britneyfan19's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury
dblue236's review
adventurous
dark
slow-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
3.0
It took me a while to decide whether I should go with two or three stars for this one, but I decided to give it the extra one because I did really enjoy several of the characters. Unfortunately, that was pretty much where the positives ended. The whole thing felt like Twilight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a baby, and that baby featured more monsters but was less appealing than either of those franchises. I wanted to like it, but it felt very juvenile and meandering and by the end I wasn't really sure what the point was or why I had bothered. I guess I might have appreciated it more if I was a teenager, and hopefully whoever ends up with this copy next will get more out of it than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Murder
yelnats23's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Make sure to check the trigger warnings. This book was not for me but I read it since I loved the Crave series.beckyremillard's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
lestie4short's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was an incredible book and I absolutely loved it! I can’t wait for the second one, I’m so excited to see where the story and characters go next! I didn’t realize how much I was CRAVEing a new book in this world until I read this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Abandonment
rinamadlyn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief
bellebookcorner's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.25
The Calder Academy was a spin off series of Crave series – Tracy Wolff’s other book series.
I haven't read the Crave series yet but I can totally enjoy this one just fine!
The plot was interesting and the short chapters kept me glued to my kindle.
This story have some parts that can be quite dark/ sensitive to some readers so I suggest checking out the trigger warning below before reading this one.
The world building is interesting with a variety of different supernatural beings - vampires, fae, phoenix, dragons, sirens, etc which I think fantasy readers would love.
The characters are pretty good, the bantering within the gang really liven up this dark and scary story of survival in a middle of a storm with a bunch of monsters running rampage.
I also like the romance between Jude and Clementine, I was a little bit frustrating at first with Jude playing ‘push and pull’ with Clementine but I totally adore them together!
There are so many dark secrets especially surrounding Clementine - her power and her past.
The last chapter ended with quite a huge bomb for Clementine, that cliff-hanger really made me wish I had the 2nd book with me!
Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I would definitely want to check out the Crave series now!
<i>Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tour, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily! </i>
⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: graphic violence, gore, death, blood, vomit, fire and burning, drowning, venom and poisoning, bullying, hallucinations, profanity, monster attacks that relate to common phobia, and natural disasters are depicted. Death of family member is also discussed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying and Cursing
Minor: Death of parent