Crave

TITLE: Crave

AUTHOR: Melissa Darnell

SERIES: The Clann #1

PUBLISHER: Harlequin

FORMAT: e-ARC

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I received this book for review through Netgalley, please know that no outside concerns have affected my review.

I must admit; I had seen the many bad reviews of this book before, though I still stubbornly stuck to my liking of the prose and the enticing synopsis. I’m afraid to say now that having read it; i should have listened to those people. With an upbeat start that quickly went downhill, it took a momentous effort for me to force myself to finish, and even now I’m not sure why I bothered.

For the purpose of not going on and on, I’m not going to write a full synopsis on here. Suffice to say the actual synopsis sparked quite an interest in me, so much so that I requested it from Netgalley and began reading it as soon as I could. From there…it became very hard for me to judge, based on what it was and what it could have been. The prose does have some serious potential, the mythology used was interesting and had the ability to be spun into a captivating story. Unfortunately, for me it was let down by clunky writing, clichés, unnecessary fillers and sometimes OTT dramatics.

One of the biggest things that spoilt it for me was right at the beginning, when it is revealed to Savannah her heritage and what she truly is. This was done abruptly, and with a sense of indifference that actually made me want to yell ‘what? You just found out you’re a BLAH and THAT’S ALL?’. Savannah was a sweet and mature heroine, but at times I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to smack her or laugh at her, most of the time I compensated by pitying her.

This story is told from a dual narrative, the reader getting up close and personal with outcast Savannah Colbert and golden boy Tristan Coleman. While I liked being inside these characters heads and getting both perspectives, the switches between them came very frequently; often when there was no need. In fact, it seemed to emphasise the lack of things happening, drawing out the story as we read both perspectives of the same act when just one would be fine.

On the plus side I really like the lore behind this novel, both that of the Clann and its strange practices and Savannah and her…uniqueness. Darnell obviously did some thinking outside the box here, and I seriously congratulate her for not going with the abused and overused vampires, werewolves, fairies or angels and demons. I guess probably one of the best things was Savannah’s complete innocence in the situation, and the reader gets to learn all the fascinating mythology with her as she is immersed deeper into the life of the Clann and that of her heritage.

A restless 3, brought down to a 2.5, Crave was certainly an…interesting experience that left me confused on many levels. Though my thoughts seem mainly negative I don’t know whether I actually disliked it, and all I know is that I’m not sure whether I’ll read the sequel, Covet, any time soon.