Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Crush by Tracy Wolff

13 reviews

lamianoctalis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5

Starten wir mal mit dem Cover: WOW
Es ist unbeschreiblich schön und sobald man weiß, was es zeigt, kann man es nur noch mehr wertschätzen.
Und umso geschockter sein, wenn man weiß, was für Monster den Blutstein woraus geschaffen haben.


Was die Story betrifft:
Ich kann nur sagen,  dass mich Band zwei der Katmere-Academy-Reihe gefesselt hat und ich auch diesen Band verschlungen habe. Die Geschichte ging stets voran und man wusste gar nicht, an welcher Stelle man das Buch zur Seite legen darf zum Schlafen, Zähne putzen, essen (das geht wunderbar parallel).
Mir war relativ früh klar, dass Hudson nicht das ist, als was er dargestellt wird und habe irgendwann angefangen für ihn zu fiebern, während ich Jaxon immer nerviger und machohafter fand. 
Ich weiß bloß nicht, warum Xavier sterben musste :´(
Ich kann Tracy Wolff nur loben, wie sie die Leser auf den nächsten Bösewicht vorbereitet und immer wieder wissen für die Zukunft einfließen lässt.


Wie gut, dass ich den dritten Band schon bereitliegen habe
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scarlett_librarian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

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kirahaycock21's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

It took a long time to get to the “exciting stuff.” But once you got 50% of the way through the book, it was impossible to put down. 
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littletiramisu'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? Yes

4.25

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hckilgour's review against another edition

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

2.0



This book managed to combine the worst aspects of Vampire Diaries and Twilight. 

I do not need this “strong” female character that breaks at almost fucking everything/is also simultaneous Uber strong, with overprotective mates. And and let’s not forget the love triangles. 

Also, this book just took forever. And I almost dnf’ed it almost every 20 minutes of the audiobook.

I love how Hudson has a British accent but Jackson doesn’t. How does that work? Aren’t they brothers raised in the same household?

Also, how did the ending make sense. Someone please explain how burying Grace saved her?

Oh and Grace having a mate bond with Hudson, called it.

The only good things about this book were the chapter titles and Hudson’s sarcasm. And the inclusion challenge was written well.

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takarakeireads's review against another edition

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

2.5

A little better than the first one, but ya know... it's like watching trash tv. You can turn your brain off and just enjoy the chaos.

Mad that Xavier was killed off, like what was the point in his character to just be killed. I get someone had to die at that point but it was a dumb decision.

Also lmao at the ending. Jump scare for the narration change to Hudson.

2/5 🌶️
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ix37lexi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

4.5

A great step up from the last one, it delved deeper into world building and added new characters while developing the characters we already know and fleshing out their personalities even more. I would definitely reread to see what I missed the first time around because there’s little Easter egg details that are easy to miss throughout.
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michellebub's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was way longer than it needed to be. It wasn’t that bad but it wouldn’t been better if 200 pages shorter 
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cady_sass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Twilight, but make it Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets, but also make it the Harry Potter and the goblet of fire, but also make it gen z. 
Not as good as good as the first but enjoyable. You can see the final page twist coming from 4000 miles away, but I don’t hate it. Just a little cliche.
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ashleyvharris's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Crush is a disjointed follow up to Crave that unfortunately falls into the sophomore slump trap.

Although Crave was certainly not my favorite book, I enjoyed the campy—if not cringey—mashup of Twilight and Harry Potter. The second book of the series throws so many things at readers that it often feels like Wolff was trying to work in every YA fantasy/romance trope possible. This resulted in the story feeling almost like a parody of YA fantasy at times. 

As a reader, I don’t mind plot twists or multiple character objectives, but I like to have a strong sense of where the story is headed. Crush never really settled on what it wanted to be; instead, it oscillated between half-hearted/suicidal Scavenger Hunt, knockoff Hunger Games, and Grace going insane. Choosing one plot element to ground the story would have made this a stronger book.

One major issue working against this sequel is the length. There’s simply not enough complexity to justify nearly 700 pages. I was expecting a lot more world-building and explanation of the magic systems/history/school/paranormal government. A good fantasy series is able to find the balance between the magical and reality. The magic in this series feels as though it’s decided on a whim based on what the author needs her characters to be capable of in any given moment. For example, Grace flys for the first time and days later is seemingly an expert at death-defying maneuvers. Hudson is conveniently able to leave his unbelievable powers with Grace? Many details like these are sprinkled throughout without any solid foundation or explanation.

One thing that Crush offers is an expanded cast of characters. Our little world of paranormals at Katmere expands past Jaxon’s friends to include new witches, dragons, and wolves—not all of whom are friendly. I enjoyed the less savory but definitely fascinating characters of Cyrus and Cole. While their backstories are severely lacking, I’m hopeful that we will understand them more in future installments.

Hudson was clearly the standout character here. Despite being exclusively in Grace’s head, Wolff managed to establish a dynamic new character with wit and complex emotions. A classic brooding misunderstood antihero… we love to see it. Getting those last few chapters and extra scene from Hudson’s perspective was *chef’s kiss* and I desperately want more from his POV.

The biggest struggle reading this book was the writing style. The characters’ dialogue and choices of phrasing felt like what a parent assumes their children talks like. I got a TON of secondhand embarrassment while reading. Wolff also recycles turns of phrase a lot. “If someone had told me 6 months ago that I’d be [strange paranormal experience], I’d tell them they’re crazy.” 

Overall, Crush fell flat and lacked the focus needed for a solid second book, but successfully introduced new allies, villains, and love interests to carry the rest of the series forward.
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