Review: 3/5 for Crave by Melissa Darnell

Crave by Mellisa Darnell

Paperback, 416 pages

Published October 25th 2011 by Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
Buy the Book: Amazon : B&N : Goodreads

From Goodreads:

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….

This is a book you will either like or absolutely hate. The story has a little more originality to it than I've seen with others, but I hit many walls of frustration while reading it.

The characters are likeable and probably the best part of the book, especially the grandmother. She reminds me of what I think I would be like at that age and had her affinities. :) Savannah, on the other hand, is a typical teenager...at first. She deals with many teenage conflicts even before her life goes haywire. Afterwards, it goes to whole new level of challenges. Savannah finds herself drawn between two worlds, each with their own very strict rules. While she does well, there are a few incidents where she show her age in them. She does compromise and makes good decisions about her school activities that I was proud of, but I felt that she could have stood up for herself just a little more. It seemed that she either was told or chose to take the road that benefited her the least. Tristan is her downfall in good and bad ways. He provides the connection to humanity that she needs, but is also the one thing she's not allowed to have. The valiance he showed throughout the book is truly admirable and makes him one of my favorite male characters. The things he does just to make the situations possible and in his favor are wonderful. Every girl wishes for someone like that. I loved and hated the parents in this book. Everything about them was inconsistent. There were many times I just wanted them to get over themselves and get their crap together. It's obvious to the reader that they both love their daughter, but their methods of showing that to her are vastly different. This is probably due to the different backgrounds they come from and a part of tension that is supposed to be there. However, a little more collaboration wouldn't have hurt at all. The grandmother is my favorite character. She provides the most consistent support and critical advice for Savannah. I feel that I could honestly say Savannah would be nothing and in a world of hurt without her. She pretty much keeps the story together.

The plot and pace of this book was its downfalls in my opinion. While contributing originality to the over-worked vampire genre, the book lacked a good pace to keep the reader attached to the characters. The prologue is very good, but after that it is not until after 75% of the book that it picks up again. Good characters or not, I felt like I just kept waiting for something to happen. It has a lot of back story during this time, but the secrecy from the parents and other characters keeps Savannah and the reader from being able to move forward. I was turning in circles with her, not realizing what had happened and had to re-read a few parts to catch up.
I do the like the dual POV with Tristan. Darnell does pull this off well where others bomb on it. Tristan managed to save the book for me in this aspect. He grounded Savannah's maddening world into something a little more civil for me.

Overall, this was a good book. Does it have issues? Yes, but there is a lot of potential for the series as well. The book ends well enough for me that I can safely say I will read the next one. I do hope that there will be an improvement in its timing and pace.