Title: Crush

Author: Tracy Wolff

Pub. Date: September 29, 2020

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am.

Just when I start to feel safe again, Hudson is back with a vengeance. He insists there are secrets I don’t know about, threatening to drive a wedge between Jaxon and me forever. But far worse enemies are at our doorstep.

The Circle is caught in a power play and the Vampire Court is trying to drag me out of my world and into theirs. The only thing Hudson and Jaxon agree on is that leaving Katmere would mean my certain death.

And not only am I fighting for my life, but now everyone else’s is at stake—unless we can defeat an unspeakable evil. All I know is that saving the people I love is going to require sacrifice.

Maybe more than I’m able to give.

This will be a spoiler free review.

Where the hell do I begin?

By begging and pleading for Covet because the ending of this book left me giddy and “omfg-ing” while sitting at work?

By saying that I’m still not over this book and the wait for Covet might kill me?

Or with this gif?

And if you haven’t yet, go read Crave and then come back to Crush and this review. Though, I can’t promise it won’t be anything more than me screaming because what the fuck. 😩

But before I jump into what I hope will be a really convincing review – I have a few other Crave related posts you should check out! A review and a highlight of my 2020 (which I still think about and can’t believe actually happened). I’ve linked them both above so feel free to check them out.

I’ll start by saying that Crave – which came out in what, March? Is one of my favorite reads of 2020. I’m ready for Vampires to make a comeback in YA and Tracy Wolff delivers with the first book in the series. Then she goes right on ahead and blows everything out of the water with this second installment.

I was never bored with this book. I listened to the audiobook version (I highly recommend it) and was instantly transported right back into the world. It took me no time to remember what had happened and this book picks up four months after what transpires at the end of Crave – so you can imagine what Grace is going through…well if you read Crave, you can imagine what Grace is going through.

I was a staunch Jaxon supporter – still am, but y’all, Hudson…jfc that boy. Maybe it’s the British accent or the “I’ll don the cloak of the ‘bad guy’ because that’s how everyone sees me” which I’m a total sucker for – but damn, I fell hard.

I don’t even know who to ship Grace with. So much happens in this book – new and old villains are at play, so much is revealed, and Grace and Co. go through so much. Grace is a fucking badass and her arc in this book was amazing. She went from scared human to bad ass [redacted for spoilers] and it was so, so satisfying. I’ve always liked Grace, and how self-aware she was, and in this book, she comes into her own.

Jaxon is somewhat understandably terrified, and it present in the form of controlling and protecting. He’s scared, hurting and struggles to see Grace as anything but a fragile human. Again, it’s understandable after everything they went through, but he did start to grate on my nerves a little bit.

And then there’s Hudson. I was sunk like a quarter into this book once he became more prevalent. The dialogue and banter between him and Grace is so enjoyable and the connection – the relationship they build is amazing. Then there’s the whole final scene, final line of this book and I legit stopped working, jaw dropped and then I got so damn excited.

I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this book. I loved it. I loved being back in the world, with these characters. It’ll be really interesting (and probably stressful af) to find out what’s next for these characters. I definitely recommend the audiobook – it makes for a really enjoyable reading experience, and I definitely recommend checking out this series if you haven’t already. Don’t be fooled – this isn’t just Twilight 2.0 – this is its own incredibly thing that you most definitely need if your life. If you like vampires, loved Vampire Academy and are a fan of snarky, self-aware, protective, charming characters – then look no further!