Creed Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Creed blog tour! Today I'll be sharing my review of the book with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Creed

Authors: Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie

Genre: YA Thriller/Horror

Release Date: November 8, 2014

Publisher: Flux

Description:

Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were.

When their car breaks down, Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike walk through a winter storm to take refuge in a nearby town called Purity Springs. When they arrive, the emergency sirens are blaring and the small farming town seems abandoned. With no other shelter, they spend the night in an empty house.

But they soon discover that not everything in Purity Springs is as it seems. When the town's inhabitants suddenly appear the next morning, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves at the mercy of the charismatic leader, Elijah Hawkins, who plans to make Dee his new wife. Elijah's son, Joseph, offers to help them escape . . . but the price of his help may be more than Dee and her friends can bear. 

Creed is a gripping young adult psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the entire time and reading as fast as I could to see what would happen. Our three main characters: Dee, Luke (Dee's boyfriend), and Mike (Luke's brother) - are on their way to see a concert by Luke's favorite band. Dee has been saving money for months to make this weekend happen; she wants to celebrate Luke and her 2 year anniversary with something special. After getting of the interstate to take a back way to the concert, the car runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere. With no other choices, the three teens walk to the nearest town to get help. Only this town isn't normal - nothing is what it seems. When they arrive, there's a siren blaring and the town is completely empty. The following morning, the residents have returned home and our main characters realize that Purity Springs is hiding deep, dark secrets - and they are trapped. When the town's lead, Elijah, decides that he wants Dee to be his wife, the three know they have to get out of there as fast as possible. Joseph - Elijah's son - offers to help them escape the town. But his help comes with a price - and it might just be too high for them to pay.

One of my favorite genres is horror/thriller novels. I've always felt that there is a real lack of YA books in this genre - especially ones that actually live up to their label. When I read the description of the book, I decided I had to give it a shot. I'm so glad I did! This book turned out to be one of the best YA thrillers I've read this year. The characters are all very realistic - especially our three main characters. Dee has had a hard past and is now living with a kind older couple, The Hoovers, who decided to take her in and give her a chance. She's incredibly grateful to them for this and finds herself becoming a stronger and more trusting person than she thought possible. Luke, Dee's boyfriend, is incredibly smart and a fantastic football player. He's already scored a full ride scholarship to college. He broke through the walls that Dee had built up around herself and now they are inseparable.  Finally, we have Mike - Luke's younger brother. He's the third wheel, but is fun to hang around with and the brothers are close - so Dee doesn't mind him tagging along. The setting of the story - the town of Purity Springs - was perfect for the book. The author has the teens arriving at night in the middle of an ice/snow storm, which only ups the creepiness factor of the whole thing. Every part of the town that we read about - from the perfect houses and lawns and the downright strange townspeople - really made the intensity of the plot come to life. I felt as if I was right there with Dee, Luke, and Mike as they experienced all the creepy and weird things in the town - and the horror that comes soon after. The author did a fantastic job building tension in the story. I seriously devoured this book in a few hours  - 3 at most. I couldn't and wouldn't stop reading until I had finished. Once I started the story, I was fully immersed until the very ending. There's so many twists and turns that you don't see coming - it definitely kept me on my toes. I would think I finally knew what was going on and then BAM - a huge twist in the story knocked me back to square one. The writing was incredibly well done - it had a fast pace and drew me so far into the story that I felt as if I was there. It's hard to describe how I felt while reading the book. The creepiness, twists and turns, tension, and the overall feeling of the book were phenomenal. It was this blend of techniques and styles that had me so enthralled in the story and completely blew my mind. I don't know how else to describe the feelings the book evoked in me or how the story had me on the edge of my seat, dying to find out what was going to happen. Overall, this was by far one of the best YA thriller/horror novels I've read this year and I very highly recommend it to fans of the genre, as well as readers who are looking for a really twisted and well written novel.

Trisha Leaver graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Social Work. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association, and the Cape Cod Children’s Writers. 

Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tleaver 
Website: www.trishaleaver.com
Instagram: @trishaleaver
 

Lindsay Currie graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL with an English Literature degree. She is a member of the SCBWI, the Horror Writers Association and a contributor to the YA Scream Queens.

Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lindsayncurrie 
Website: www.lindsaycurrie.com
Instagram: @lindsayncurrie

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