Crave Series Book 2 (Crush) Review

Wow. Let me just say. This series is exploding! I definitely liked the second book of the Crave series a bit better than the first. And let me say, Crush definitely kept me on my toes! This series is addicting and I am already more than halfway done with the 3rd installment! While it still gives me all of the Twilight feels, it has more depth in the paranormal world in this book and we start to get a picture of the twisted politics that they all have to deal with.

Disclosure: Going forward there will be spoilers, so please read carefully! Also, this is strictly my opinion and how I felt about this book. I am not compensated for any of my reviews.

Crush (Crave series book 2) – 3.5/5

In the second installment, we pick up right where we left off. Grace has come out of being stone and she does not remember anything that has happened. Everyone around her is shocked that she is back and she learns that she was gone for about 4 months with Hudson. Jaxon, Macy, Flint, and her Uncle Finn were hoping she could tell them where Hudson had gone but she has no clue. They decide that it is best for her to go about her normal days over the next week to find some normalcy. Unfortunately, that is just not in the cards for Grace. She ends up beating up Cole, the wolf alpha, unknowingly and doing more things when she blackouts. It is then that she realizes that Hudson did not come back in a corporeal sense. Instead he is living inside her mind and is able to take control of her body whenever he wishes.

Because of this, Grace is struggling with trusting him and trying to get him out of her head so they can give him the punishment he rightfully deserves. However, as they are hunting down the artifacts in order to perform the spell to remove him from her mind, she grows to really like Hudson and ends up trusting him. They go on many adventures to get the artifacts and even participate in a dangerous school tournament to receive one of them. Through these adventures, Grace learns that there is 1 other gargoyle in existence that is chained up under a mountain. She vows to release him once she can get her own stuff sorted out.

Unfortunately, she learns that it is going to take more than just hope to get this squared away for her. Because of the tournament that they win the school tournament, Jaxon and Hudson’s parents (the vampire king and queen) come to the school to hold the tournament and present the award. When they present the award to Grace’s team, they also tell them that they are going to make Grace come live with them to learn her powers as she is the only gargoyle in existence (or so they think). However, this doesn’t work for Grace because she knows that Cyrus (Jaxon and Hudson’s dad) killed all of the gargoyles a thousand years ago so she knows her safety is in jeopardy.

Instead, she challenges them to seat on their precious circle. This is a political circle that has the leaders of each faction. So, there is the vampire king and queen, the dragon king and queen, and the same for the witches and wolves that sit on this circle. Grace makes the argument that gargoyles need representation and it is her right to fight for a seat on the circle. Typically, the battle is the same tournament as their school tournament without all of the magical protections and is meant to be done with a mate. So, she and Jaxon plan to perform in this tournament and win.

Unfortunately, as they approach the tournament, Cole find the spell to break a mating bond and breaks Jaxon and Grace’s mating bond which forces Grace to do the tournament alone. AFter this happens, Grace gathers all of the artifacts that they have found to free Hudson and frees him before the tournament so he is now corporeal. It is nearly impossible to do the tournament alone but Grace manages to win the tournament. Lots of ups and downs here – gotta read the book for specifics!

After Grace wins, Cyrus refuses to let her walk away and bites her with his eternal bite. That is his power and is meant to mean instant death. However, that doesn’t work for Grace and Hudson takes her and buries her alive. He knows that gargoyles can heal from the earth and Grace absorbs all of the stone and earth around her and survives. At the end, Jaxon picks up Grace and Hudson threatens him to stop touching her because Grace is his mate. Sooooo, definitely set up a love triangle for the next book!!! And that is where we end.

Why 3.5/5?

While this book was better than the first, I do think it still reads a bit juvenille and too similar to Twilight. Now we are drifting farther from Twilight because there is more depth developed into the paranormal world so I am hopefully that the rest of the series is more detailed and original. There were some moments that were predictable and it was annoying that Grace didn’t try at all to remember the 4 months she had forgotten. I really thought she would try to start there by getting her memory back but it didn’t even crack the top 5. I understand the urgency to get Hudson out of her mind but having her memories would have helped with her relationship with Hudson and probably would have gotten him out faster. So that annoyed me a bit. Other than that, it was action packed and really kept me on my toes so that is why I thought it deserved a 3.5/5. Gotta give it read!!