Thursday, September 23, 2010

Review: Crave by Laura Burns and Melinda Metz

CraveCrave by Laura Burns and Melinda Metz Release: Sept 21 2010 
Book 1 (can't find info about book 2 release date)
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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10 comments:

  1. Great review! This one actually intrigues me...despite the fact that I don't usually like anything involving vamps :)

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  2. I absolutely love the cover for this book!! The sexy boy drew me in and then I loved the synopsis. Great review! I can't wait to read this.

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  3. Nice review! This one does sound interesting, and a bit different from the standard vampire fare.

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  4. I liked the review, very nice, oh and cliffhanger, good to know about that, I hate those, I want the next book at once

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  5. Great review! I really enjoyed it! :) I like to know in advance about curse words. Also, doesn't the guy on the cover look like Jonathan Rhys Meyers? Yummy!

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  6. Okay, if there is a cliff hanger the first thing I have to find out is how many books will be written as part of this series or is Crave a stand alone by the author.. Next thing I have to do is actually read it for myself to decide whether care enough to read the next one if there is one coming out any time in the future..

    I like the fact you broke it down just enough to give a "feel" for the plot and characters without doing any big reveals that would spoil actually reading the book for the rest of us, good job Brandi now my "craving" is more of a certainty to want to read Crave!

    jackie ^_^

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  7. I'm glad you mentioned the cursing .. my Not So Bebe Girl likes YA and romance and paranormal, but isn't so hot on books with a lot of swear words or explicit scenes. Thank you for the review!

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  8. I think I would have read this just because of the model on the cover, alone. Haha. <_<;

    This sounds really intriguing! I'm really glad a lot of authors are incorporating parents into YA books now. I hated the theme of missing parents. I'll have to check this one out! Great review. :D

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  9. Hmm, not too sure about this one - a bit of cursing I can cope with but I don't like a lot of it and don't think it, generally speaking, adds anything to a book. A shame as I really liked the cover.

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  10. This is def a bit different from standard vamp fare! I enjoyed it and recommend it.

    The guy on the cover is very yummy indeed-- it attracted me to the book and then the story did the rest.

    The cliffie is bad, but I have seen worse. I still would have read it even knowing there was a cliffie, and I had to wait for some time.

    It is not necessarily a LOT of cursing, it is just the word choice and I a bit sensitive to it. It doesnt add to the story, but I still would read it again, just being aware that it is there and try not to focus on it.

    Thanks everyone for your comments!

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