Crave by Maria Llovet

2.25 stars

*** Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for the arc in exchange for an honest review! I’m incredibly grateful! ***

So I wouldn’t say this is not enjoyable, but you have to squint to find the plot under all the raunchy sex scenes. I’m all for the sexiness and darker parts to it, but some of it took away from the story in my opinion. Crave’s characters are very one note, but I still found myself liking a few of them. Sofia, Albert and Julie are the best of the lot!

This is a quicker read, but even then I felt it lacked the depth it needed and wrapped up so quickly that I needed to go back and make sure I understood it properly. The way this is marketed is on point, yet I still feel a little let down.

TWs *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*: Sexual Content, Suicide Attempt, Drugs, Bullying, Mental Illness, Violence, Murder, LGBTQIA+ Outing, Toxicity, etc.

This one was different. I didn’t really enjoy. There wasn’t enough development and material. I know it’s limited with graphic novels but I didn’t really get a sense of the characters at all.

At a university, every student suddenly finds the app "crave" downloaded on their phone. It claims to be able to make their desires come true. The school quickly descends into chaos as the app begins encouraging violence.

Overall, it's alright. It's an interesting concept but it lacks the depth it needs to be great. There could have been a lot to explore here, but unfortunately it was more about sex than plot.

The colors in the art work were very pretty though.

To me this seemed like a very sexual black mirror episode.

When your cravings can be fulfilled with just a few clicks on an app that’s spreading like wildfire through campus, it’s not surprising when things suddenly descend into chaos.

‘Be More Chill’ but make it a graphic novel. Art style is lovely and carried for me. Very fast paced with little to no character development. Didn’t feel a bond with any of the characters. The romance wasn’t very believable, but the story was fast paced and fun.

TWs: student teacher relationship, suicide/suicide attempt, dubious consent, revenge porn, forced outing and domestic abuse
I picked Crave up because of the cover, I loved the coloring and the design of each character tied together with vines and ivy, and I'm glad I did! I thought Llovet had a lot to say about the use of technology and how our personal data is used by the companies for anything they want - whether we consent to it or not. I also really enjoyed the use of color throughout the story, it was really important for setting the mood and it worked so well. I do wish that the e-arc I read hadn't included the next issue previews, but I'm assuming that won't be an issue (get it?) with the final version. I could've done without as many shock value sex scenes too, but after looking at the author's other work it appears erotica is a large focus in her stories, so that shouldn't come as a surprise to those familiar with it. Overall Crave was a sexy and thought provoking read, and I'm hoping for a sequel!

requested the arc randomely honestly because of the cover. loved the art style but I wish there was a little but more character development for David because other characters really drove the story. the romance fell flat and the interaction felt too lustful which did not provided I good seperation.

the art style was good but not exceptional. And I found the story to be not that good? The pacing had issues.

The premise of the book is what made me want to get an arc, but I expected more.

Crave is an interesting introspection on sex, relationship and technology. I just wish it was done better. All the elements are here but not formed correctly. It's as if someone was creating "the monster" from Frankenstein and put his feet where his head is supposed to be. The art is also not my favorite but that's more my fault then the illustrator. I should've looked it up and would've known then.

The story is about an app that can unlock all of your desires, which in theory sounds great.

Two big points of issues. First is we should've started before the events of the story. It left me a plot already moving forward with not great development and, to be frank, characters I didn't evolve to care about. The second thing is the story doesn't end well. What I mean it gets really generic and nothing is really explained or if it is it done in a way that's not super enjoyable.

I would have a hard time recommending for that reason alone.

I really enjoyed the concept of this graphic novel - an app takes over everybody's desires and gives them ways to satiate their "desires". Cool concept - boring execution.

You hardly get to know who the characters are - I honestly couldn't tell you one name of a character. The dialogue between everyone seemed stilted.

I also did not like the drawing style, that's more against me than the book itself.

I just found this book lacking in everything - interesting concept, boring execution.

This was fun and intriguing, and I really really liked the art in it! I was hoping there might be more about the app and what seemed to make everyone act weird after using it, but this was still a fun, if short, read!

I wasn't expecting to love this one as much as I did. It was so good! I loved the characters and I felt genuinely sad for Charlotte. Honestly, even though she was the "villain" or whatever, she was still someone we could relate to and empathize with. Although, realistically, Crave is the real villain here. It was erotic, sure, but the story itself was an interesting and important topic to discuss and the art made it so much easier to digest. I absolutely loved this book. Thank you NetGalley and Maria Llovet for allowing me the opportunity to read it. I can't wait for everyone else to pick it up too. It's definitely worth the wait.

This was such a fun read and something I don’t normally go for but I really enjoyed - just wish it was longer. Thank you for sharing it with me and allowing me to try something different.

I’m obsessed with the art style (it’s just so pretty). I’ve put 4 stars but it’s more like a 3.5 but strongly leaning towards a 4. The concept was absolutely brilliant and there was certainly places where it lived up to it but some bits I felt just weren’t explored enough, although hopefully there will be a sequel and those will be expanded and addressed. As someone studying dystopian literature at A-level it’s really interesting to see the theme of surveillance and omniscient technology in this graphic novel. Honestly the book was pretty brilliant and I would definitely recommend it to people in my classes who feel the same way about graphic novels, eroticism and dystopian literature as I do.

An okay read, not good or bad, just wish the plot had some more depth to it. Art style was interesting, I liked the contrast in colors.

I absolutely loved this comic book. The storyline was very addictive and It had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what’s gonna happen next it kind of reminded me of the movie Nerve because of the whole app control thing lol. The illustrations of each scene was so gorgeous and on point, especially the spice scenes, I love those it had a nice touch to it with a different colors, and you could sort of see the characters aura in the background of each scene of the comic, which I Love. I’m not ready to move onto next book until I do a reread at least five times and then I go to my next book because this is too good. I can’t wait for the next comic. All of the couples are my favorite, especially Charlotte and Julie( in my head they’re a couple once Charlotte felt better hehe).

Thanks to Netgalley and Image Comics for the eARC - All opinions are my own.

TLDR: Easy, quick read with an unique art style and interesting take on AI capabilities. Enjoyable read but was left wanting more. Be aware there is mild/ moderable sexual nudity and content depending on your preferences.

You give a bunch of university students an app that will fulfill their desires and what do they use it for? Basically tinder (which sounds about right).

The idea of an AI powered dating app and the potential rewards and pitfalls is quite an interesting concept explored here and also the underlying narrative that most people would be perfectly happy to give up all their data and privacy if it meant they could fulfill their "desires" and how some would use that sort of app for harm.

The art style is unique and has its own charm, although I wouldn't be a personal fan of the "messy" style it has. However, the portraits of Alexandra are absolutely stunning, especially the main piece.

The characters are good and definitely have their own feel but you just never feel all that connected to them as you never have the chance to. Crave moves at a lightning pace and a large part of the comic is taken up by the sex or hookup scenes. While I don't mind the scenes being there, the sheer volume of them does hinder the enjoyment of the story as you get less time with the characters and you also learn very little about the app in the end (why it was created, why didn't Kei say anything properly before he left, why did it never get out etc.).

Overall, Crave was enjoyable and if there are further additions I would definitely check them out, just would have a better understanding of what to expect. Solid enough story, good art work with really nice pieces throughout - 3 stars!

This was definitely out of the norm for me to read, but I thought the art style was really neat and the concept was interesting. I did find myself kind of disconnected overall from the story since it's not your typical layout of storylines, but I did enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone!

3.5 Stars, rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy

This was a quick read for me due to the panels being the same sort of layout on pages (they all tended to be rectangles, that flowed down the page)

It was an enjoyable black-mirror type story, highlighting the addiction of technology and apps.

There are a few content warnings in this app, with abuse, dubious consent and attempted suicide.

The art style itself is really nice pastels, that I think contrasts very well to the darker nature of the plot.

I found this an interesting read. It was unlike anything else I have read, and there were enough characters to give different storylines, but not too many that they get mixed and lost. The concept of the plot was intriguing, it kept me interested throughout the read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The content is definitively adult only (18 years plus) but I enjoyed that this was for adding to the plot, not just added unnecessarily for shock value.
The format of the book was clear, and it was easy to follow. I read this on my phone and it was very straightforward.
I'd definitely revisit this story in the future. It was a great read.