Crave by Melissa Darnell

Book:  Crave

Author:  Melissa Darnell

Publisher:  Harlequin Teen

Date:  October 25, 2011

Source:  Netgalley

My grade:  B+

Savannah Colbert has never known why she's so hated by the kids of the Clann. Nor can she deny her instinct to get close to Clann golden boy Tristan Coleman. Especially when she recovers from a strange illness and the attraction becomes nearly irresistible. It's as if he's a magnet, pulling her gaze, her thoughts, even her dreams. Her family has warned her to have nothing to do with him, or any members of the Clann. But when Tristan is suddenly everywhere she goes, Savannah fears she's destined to fail.

For years, Tristan has been forbidden to even speak to Savannah Colbert. Then Savannah disappears from school for a week and comes back…different, and suddenly he can't stay away. Boys seem intoxicated just from looking at her. His own family becomes stricter than ever. And Tristan has to fight his own urge to protect her, to be near her no matter the consequences….

My Review
I really enjoyed this book.  I love vampire books and I have since I was little.  I enjoy seeing each author’s take on the vampire myth.  Yes, even vampires that sparkle!  I realized after reading this that I haven’t really read many vampire books this year because I think that publishers are moving away from them.  That’s too bad.

I have read some scathing reviews of this book, but honestly, I don’t see why.  The main character, Savannah, does make some really dumb decisions, but then again, so do most 15 year old girls.  I hate it when people expect high school students in books to act differently from high school students in real life.  I could definitely see every bit of what happened in this book actually happening.  Well, if there were really vampires and witches. : )

I thought that this book was an easy read and that it moved fairly quickly.  I became very engaged in the budding romance and the way they had to creatively have dates and things.  It was an interesting twist on the standard Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers theme.  It was obvious that the author is setting us up for the next book in the series, because there was quite a bit of exposition in the novel.  However, I found the relationship that was developing to be compelling enough to keep me reading.  Also, all of Savannah’s physical “developments” were interesting to watch.  It kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what things would manifest themselves next.

My grade for this book is B+.  I enjoyed it.  A little more action would have been nice, but it’s obvious that more is going to happen in the next book.  Ms. Darnell made me care about these characters in this book and that is going to keep me reading the next installment.

Thanks to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.