Crave by Laura Burns and Melinda Metz
Release: Sept 21 2010 Here is authors' website
Book link goes to Book Depository and teaser from Goodreads.com
"Shay has had a rare blood disorder since she was born. In fact, her mother married one of Shay’s doctors, Martin, who left his world-renowned leukemia research to try and figure out exactly what the disorder is and how to cure it. When she turns seventeen, Martin begins to give her new blood transfusions that make her feel the strongest she has ever felt. But she also has odd visions where she sees through the eyes of a vampire. At first, she thinks she must be imagining the visions, but when she begins to see Martin’s office in them, she knows she has to check it out. That’s when she finds Gabriel, a sexy, teenaged vampire, imprisoned in Martin’s office. The connection she has built with Gabriel compels her to set him free. But when he kidnaps her in an attempt at revenge on Martin, their lives become deeply intertwined. She doesn’t know the half of it."
**My Rating: 4/5**
*My Review*
Crave is very fast paced, and gives us a new twist on vampires, and it throws in another element that I like to read about- a girl with an illness. I felt like I could connect okay with Shay the main character, it didn't get too emotionally involved in the first part of the book, where it focused on her illness and her limitations. When she starts receiving the blood transfusions and feeling better she does some crazy stuff, and while I understand where she is coming from, she is being a bit selfish toward her mother, and her friend Olivia. Both of which have a great presence in this book.
Shay's mother is written as how I see a mother should be- making her children a priority, loving and sacrificing for them, wanting the best for them. This is a new trend that I am seeing a bit more and liking in the YA genre, rather than the absent parents. Olivia, her friend, knows her and balances (well in my opinion, but not so well in Shay's opinion at times during the book) treating her as a normal girl, and being concerned and alert enough to her condition and the signs of weakness. This really touches my heart because you have to be pretty mature to maintain a friendship like this.
The book starts picking up and adding the element of mystery when Shay gets the "tweeked new and improved" blood transfusions. She starts seeing visions, experiencing the life of a vampire named Gabriel. She sees snippets of his past while she is receiving blood.
In the second part of the book we get to actually meet Gabriel. She rescues him, and this becomes a theme of rescuing each other for the rest of the book, and it is downright sexy to read. Gabriel's character is a unique mix of traditional vampire and Burns and Metz' own ideas. They explore what it means to really live, experience, and feel.
The reasons that I could not give full 5 stars is there is a few of the more explicit curse words (at least in ARC) that really don't seem to be necessary. And the ending!! Oh my goodness, can you say CLIFF HANGER???? I wish that there was some bit of closure, but it is almost like there is about 50 pages missing and I need a bit more resolution until my next feeding (ie the next book).
However, that said, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend this to YA, paranormal romance fans. They have a good something going with this first book, and I am craving more!!
I would love to hear what you think of my review and/or this book.
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