Book Review: Welcome to Katmere Academy!

Crave by Tracey Wolff

Publication date: April 7, 2020

Summary from GoodReads:

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.

Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.

Confession:

A lot of the reviews I have seen for this book have been comparing it to Twilight, and yes there is a lot that is similar. But there are a lot of differences and that is what made this book such a delight to read. I liked it a lot better than Twilight mostly because Grace is such a better heroine, but also because the plot and setting where fantastic.

What I liked:

I absolutely love when authors have chapter headings, especially funny ones! This book had some great ones, a couple that even made me chuckle.
Grace was a lot of fun to spend time with. She had a back bone and didn’t take crap from anyone. She was a bit naive when it came to what the academy was really all about, but hey, you keep telling yourself that monsters are not real even when they are practically standing right in front of you. She also tells corny jokes which I totally love.
Jaxon was everything you want in a brooding vampire plus even more powers than you can imagine. Loved the extra chapters at the end of the book that were from his point of view. I really hope the next book includes more from him. He also likes corny jokes.
Flint, I will admit, was my favorite character. He is a dragon shifter and he was awesome. How can you not love a guy when he toasts marshmallows for you? (I totally would have picked him over Jaxon, but that is just me and my love of dragons.)
I adored Macy, Grace’s cousin, and really hope we see more of her next time. A bit clueless about what was really going on, and she could have explained things a bit more to Grace once the true nature of the academy had been revealed. Things might have gone differently if she had.
The setting of Alaska was awesome as was the castle that the academy is in. Loved the gothic architecture and furnishings.
Lots of snarky dialogue among all of the characters.
The plot wasn’t just about the romance, although that was a huge part of it. There was a lot of other stuff going on which was pretty interesting and kept you going through the romance.
I also liked how the author picked from a lot of different vampire legends to build a type of vampire that worked for this story. I also liked her explanation of why they could go outside in sunlight, and not have it be for sparkly reasons.

What I didn’t like:

I think my biggest issue was the romance. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Jaxon and Grace together, I did (although I would totally choose a dragon over a vampire) but their whole relationship was a bit over the top. Too much time spent on thinking about his kisses and touches and, yes, his bites. It got to be a bit much. Plus insta love on both sides. Not my thing.
It was a little easy figuring out who was trying to kill Grace, although the why was a bit of a surprise.
The huge reveal in the last chapter, that was totally unexpected.
We needed a bit more about Jaxon’s past and how the vampire culture works in this world. I have a lot of questions still that just are not answered.

Overall I really did enjoy this one. I was not at all expecting it to be such a fun read and I really loved that dragons were included. It looks like book two is coming out in September, so if you haven’t read this one yet, you still have time.