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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Crush by Tracy Wolff

33 reviews

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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honeybunchesofoats06's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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haleybre's review against another edition

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

3.75

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kassidyreads's review against another edition

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

3.0

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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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michalaj10's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

 I really liked the concept and storyline of this book but was it told in the best way.. no not really.
The book was just so long, certain parts did not have to be as long as they were. I also don't like that Grace has literally only been "present" in Katmere Academy for almost 2 weeks and ALL of this has happened in that little time span. It's just chaotic but I'll continue reading for one reason and one reason only...HUDSON. 
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rinku's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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
 The Crave series is such a guilty pleasure for me, and I can’t help it but enjoy it so much. The second book, Crush, was no exception to this. Objectively, there’s so much to criticise but man, sometimes even I am just enjoying a book. 

Grace awakes after the events of the first book, with no memory what has happened to her in the last month. We only know one thing: she has turned into a gargoyle and is the first one of those in centuries. After some time, she notices that she’s sharing her body with Hudson, the supposedly evil brother of Jaxon. To get him out of her head, her and her friends have to collect some MacGuffins – one of them includes some arbitrary sports event they have to win. 

I’ll have to say that the plot is weird and just absurd in some parts which is probably one of the reasons why it’s so enjoyable for me. Especially the whole Hudson thing was just so weird. He’s apparently in Grace’s body but when he talks to her, she can also see him? Is he part of her mind or is he actually there? Can he interact with the world around him? And why is no one caring about the fact that Grace is talking to herself before they know about this? The random sports event I’ve mentioned is also kinda bizarre because it’s won after just one goal. Also, I’m pretty sure that the students never go to school, even though they are at a boarding school. Nevertheless, the setting is still amazing. 

But the last 200 or so pages become randomly so great. The writing style got so much better, the plot more interesting, and there were many dramatic scenes that were written so well, like
Xavier’s death or Grace’s apparent death. Talking about Grace, her going alone to the second Lundares is definitely her defining moment, it was so amazing
. At other points, those things are lacking, especially the writing style that is so try-hard teenager-like that it’s funny again. 

When it comes to the romance, I’m not a fan of love triangles with brothers. On the one side, Grace is crushing on someone who seemingly only exists in her mind. Hudson is such a cliché love interest aka he’s annoying and flirty. But he develops so much in the course of the story, and I actually started to like him. Jaxon is on the other side and suddenly, Grace has some problems with him. I think those are caused by her gargoyle side? I wasn’t a fan of this since I used to like them. It comes to the big drama when
their fateful connection – not the biggest fan of this trope – is cut apart by a spell that the evil guys find
. It was also interesting to get to know other people from the Vega’s family, like their father Cyrus. He’s such a cliché villain but I still love him. 

Grace is still quite the stereotypical protagonist and now, she’s also the chosen one being the only gargoyle in existence. It’s also a bit annoying how she survives everything that should be deadly under normal circumstances – but I still like her. Besides Grace, the cast became quite big, especially with the team that trains together with Grace for the sport events. But I’ll have to admit that I liked them all and I also really started to like Flint. It’s furthermore nice that Grace’s old best friend is not forgotten. 

Like I’ve said, Crush is such a guilty pleasure read. It abandons some YA clichés, while going along with other ones. Because of the absurdity of the plot, you’re never sure what will happen next – which makes the book so engaging. 
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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Tracy Wolff, we have to talk. I need to know what kind of substance you laced in this series that makes it so addictive!!!! Okay, maybe I already know. It's good, old-fashioned, nostalgic YA paranormal romance reminiscent of the pinnacle 2010s.

I'm not sure I've ever listened to an eighteen-hour audiobook so quickly. I genuinely could.not.stop. Once I picked it up, it was all I could think about. I'm basically making these books my entire personality at this point and I will sit here, hyping them up until everyone reads them.

There's something so incredibly satisfying about reading pure fluff. There's nothing about these books that makes me have to work. That might sound terrible, and don't get me wrong, I love a book with a deep plot point, political intrigue, and thought-provoking dialogue. However, because I read so many other fantasy books with those elements, having one that just allows me to enjoy without effort is divine!

Just like Crave, this installment in the series had all the tropes. I mean seriously, it's like the author had a list of the most popular tropes in YA books and just decided to add each and every one of them at random - or not at random, but at the perfect places so that it's obnoxiously satisfying to be like "of COURSE that person died now" or "of COURSE he's in love with her now" at any given moment. These books are simultaneously predictable and surprising and I just love it so freaking much.

I mentioned that I listened to the audiobook and I just have to touch on that a little bit. I try to avoid fantasy on audio because I tend to listen while I'm doing other things and fantasy can be so intricate and full of so many unique words and worlds, etc. that I can find myself losing focus and entirely missing critical plot points. Usually, I only listen to contemporary romance on audio so that if I miss a little fight or whatever, it doesn't feel catastrophic. Needless to say, this book felt like listening to a fluffy romance. Yes, there are a couple of crazy tournaments (because it's the sequel in a cliche fantasy series so of course there is) and even some really "scary" fights, but I never felt like I missed an important detail!

ANYWAYS, all I want to do now is dive into the next book. Actually, just like with Crave, I want to drop everything and read the entire series in one sitting, not doing anything but drinking coffee as I go. Alas, I have to wait a bit, but I can't wait to see what comes next!!!
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maddie_rae_reads's review against another edition

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

4.0

I am loving this series! My biggest complaint is the swearing to be honest-not really my thing. It felt more excessive in this book than book 1. I definitely have a ton of unanswered questions going in to book 3 and I hope they get answered before the end of the series. Like who is the Bloodletter and why was Jaxon raised by her? Does Grace ever remember? Will Jaxon ever figure out the truth? What did Grace’s parents know about her abilities? 

I am excited to see what happens next! Tracy Wolff is a wonderful storyteller. I love how she references the books and stories that have influenced her and how she can make a character you want to hate become the hero in their own way. That choices are hard and there aren’t always clear cut answers. And that we are stronger than we know. 
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determinationss's review against another edition

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

5.0

i cant even come back to my body after the end of this book but it’s one of the best things i’ve ever read 
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