Release Date: 9/21/10 (Paperback)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Group: Older YA
Pages: 256
Sequel: Arise (Sept. 2011)
Sequel: Arise (Sept. 2011)
Source: Library (Local)
Go Buy It: Amazon★Barnes&Noble
Overall Feelings: Downright delicious! Truly one of the best vamp. books I've read in awhile!Synopsis- "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." Goodreads»»Quick Thinking: A vampire novel at its finest! This fresh paranormal romance tale is stuffed with beautiful detail and insight, phenomenal characters that The Reader gets to know deeply, and an interesting, well-developed, exciting plot that keeps The Reader glued to its pages until the very end. There's pain, sadness, there's intrigue and mystery, and it has a wonderful dose of the supernatural. Find out what it's like to be Shay McGuire and see if you can deal... Fatal sickness, vampire discovery, and stumbling upon love included.
My Thoughts In-Depth: *Warning: May not be spoiler-free.* Take a girl with a mysterious, never-before-seen blood disorder that prevents this girl from living like an average teen, new vampire blood infused blood transfusions, strange visions of a guy named Gabriel and put it all together... Then, pair it up with a reluctant-to-fall-in-love, 400-year-old vampire who despises humans, a developed romance, and an intriguing mystery that envelops it all and what do you get? Well, I'll tell you what you get: one frigging incredible paranormal love story! And yeah, you guessed right, that's Crave in a nutshell...
Gosh, there were so many great aspects of this novel! For one, I've got to shine some light on Shay, the heroine. The Reader is easily able to step inside Shay's mind and get inside her life. Because Shay's been sick since infancy with this rare blood disorder, she's never been able to go out and live a normal life, live and act like an average teenager. Being treated like glass all her life, Shay could never truly express herself, be who she was. And that's a sad thing, something to feel empathy over. And still, despite all of that, she manages to not only be a sweet and endearing character, but a courageous and strong-willed one. How could anyone not be completely satisfied with a heroine like Shay McGuire?
And Gabriel, her love interest... I'm afraid to even get started on him! He's basically every girl's sexy fantasy come to life and then some! On top of that, he's got some substance to him. He's got battle scars on his heart that have yet to fade away, a bad past so to speak, and he's a sensitive, intellectual individual. Really, what more could The Reader want?
Crave was like this magnificent, intense rollercoaster ride! It was mostly unpredictable, yet at points it sorta was. There was wide spectrum of emotion beginning with pain and loneliness and traveling all the way over to kindness and love. Shay was an object, a pawn for revenge, a mere human one moment, then she was Gabriel's love the next. Plus, added to that, there was so much tension! Crazy step dad out to recapture a vampire and ex-patient like mad can be a little...tense. I'm telling ya, a roller coaster! And it was so fast-paced... There was absolutely never a dull moment!
The side characters were pretty neat also, but I couldn't really get into them being that the novel is predominantly focused on Gabriel and Shay, whereas I think, from the looks of how the Crave ended, the sequel will shed a little more light on various other characters.Though, The Reader meets some of the other characters between Gabriel reminiscing and Shay's visions of Gabriel's pasts.
While Crave was told in the third person POV (a huge plus!), what won me over about this particular writing style inside the novel was the simple, yet beautiful descriptions. The words were just so well-combined and flowed so well that created this very appealing air surrounding the novel. I think I could have fed off of that aspect of the novel alone and still have enjoyed it. All in all, in my eyes, this novel was a tremendous success, and I'm panting for the next installment, Arise!
Best Friend Foreva: Sam, Gabriel's 'brother'
Despite my not having truly met him in the novel, based off of Shay's visions of his part in Gabriel's past, Sam seems like the kinda guy I'd hang out with. He's open-hearted, genuine, and kind, but is tough too. Loved him, and barely got to know him...
Wish-He-Was-Mine: Gabriel is worth pining for...I mean, come on he's a smart, sensitive, Greek hunk... Now, tell me, what's not to love?
Frenemy: Olivia, even though she's not so bad, but... I just know she and I would not be a good mix, would not make great friends at all.
Bonus Factor: Um...I thought I mentioned that Gabriel's Greek and a hunk.
Fave Scenes/Quotes:
An excerpt of one of Shay's journal entries:
"That's what Gabriel said, to Ernst. That he'd never known his parents. Then he asked if that meant he didn't really know himself.
But Ernst just smiled. He said that even if your conscious mind doesn't hold memories of your parents, your soul holds on to them. Your body knows who they were; the knowledge is written in your very cells. Who they were is who you are, so there's no need to trouble yourself. That's what he told Gabriel, and Gabriel thought it was so beautiful...
That makes it easier. I might die without ever even meeting [my dad]. I probably will. But that doesn't mean I don't know him in my soul" (92-93).
"'You won't be alone. I won't let you be alone.'Other Stuff: Check out an interview with Laura and Melinda as guest authors as they talk about their novel Crave over at Enchanted by Books!
'Right, you'll be keeping me alive with your blood. I saved your life; you saved mine,'Shay answered.
'Yes. No. Your saving my life is part of it. It showed me something about you. It--"
It showed me that you're incredible, Gabriel thought, the realization striking like a bolt of lightning, bright and frightening. It showed me that you care about me as much as I care about you.
Gabriel shook his head. 'It showed me your compassion. It showed me your heart.'He had to get out of there. He couldn't be so close to her. Not right now, when a terrifying truth was worming its way into his mind" (263).
Preview: 1. Please tell us about your new co-authored YA paranormal novel Crave?
LJB: Crave is a vampire romance, but we went in a slightly different direction with it. Our heroine is introduced to the vampire world in an unusual way, through blood transfusions. She's been sick all her life, and is basically being kept alive by other people's blood. When she begins having visions during a new type of transfusion, she thinks it's probably just a side effect, a hallucination.
MM: Those visions she starts having—they're of the life of a vampire. She sees through his eyes, feels his emotions, and the power of his body. When the transfusions end, she continues to have his strength for a little while, and she's able to live more fully than she ever has before. Click to go onto the rest»»
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