“Black Mirror meets Eyes Wide Shut in this dark and sexy erotic thriller.” YES, PLEASE. How am I supposed to pass up a graphic novel with a cover as beautiful as this? The answer is I can’t. With a cover this gorgeous, I couldn’t possibly pass it up Crave by Maria Llovet if I tried.

Amazon / Goodreads

Synopsis:

Black Mirror meets Eyes Wide Shut in this dark and sexy erotic thriller.

CRAVE, a mysterious app that promises to make your desires come true, spreads among the students of an elite university who use it as a hookup app. David, a top student, engages in a game of seduction with the unattainable Alexandra. But as requests to the app escalate and wreak havoc on campus, David and his friends’ only chance to stop this spiral is to find out what really lies behind Crave.

In this dark, sexy mystery, writer/artist MARIA LLOVET (Luna, Faithless, Sandman Universe Thessaly) explores how we connect to the world and to others in the dawn of AI.

Collects CRAVE #1-#6

Review:

A hook-up app goes wild amongst the university students at an elite school, but it’s much more than just a hook-up app. Students start acting out of character, some start making dangerous decisions, and the school’s technology appears weirdly tied to the app. Crave centers on one group of friends and the relationships that begin and end because of the app.

With unhinged university students, a mysterious hook-up app, and a university full of technological dangers, Crave is what modern dark academia dreams are made of. It’s thrilling, sexy, and unique in the comic/graphic novel space. The characters aren’t really likable, but that’s par for the course in dark academia. Crave is erotic, but at its core, it’s a mystery. I promise there’s a plot past the spicy scenes! Llovet’s art is incredibly detailed and gorgeous, and that alone would have kept me moving through the story to the end.

As for what I didn’t like, there isn’t much. I didn’t like a couple of the side storylines, but I didn’t dislike them enough to mar my view of the story. Crave gets quite deep and dark near the end, which feels like a departure from the rest of the story. See my content warnings below my rating at the bottom of the post for more information.

Final Thoughts:

Crave is an excellent example of how dark academia can work in modern comics and graphic novels. I think those who enjoy New Adult stories, mysteries, and complicated college relationships will fall in love with Crave.

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

Thanks to Image Comics for providing me with an arc! All the above thoughts are my own.