Saturday, 14 February 2015

Review Tour ~ FIRST IMPRESSION, by Pauline Creeden


First Impressions (A Shadow Maven Paranormal)
by Pauline Creeden
Genre: YA Paranormal, Coming of Age, Teen Sci Fi



Chira Kelly thought she didn’t need anyone…until she met Ben. 

Because of one ugly rumor, Chira lives as an outcast at her school. Which is fine with her, because she works better alone. Always has, always will. And at least she has her one and only true friend, Tasha. When Tasha insists that they join a group to visit a possibly haunted abandoned old schoolhouse, she's wary, but joins her friend. Because of that decision, their lives are in jeopardy as a malevolent spirit targets the group. Tragedies and accidents pick them off one by one, and Chira finds herself drawn to the one person who can see the truth. But can he protect her?


***copy generously received in return for an honest review***

  Paranormal stories are not usually my go-to choice of 'what to read next'. But, with the chance to change this view of mine, I jumped at the opportunity to review book one of the Shadow Maven series, by Pauline Creeden, First Impressions.

  This story was a super quick read, yet despite being so, I was quickly gripped and instantly intrigued by the lead female character, Chira Kelly. 
  Connecting with Chira, was pretty easy. She's a character I felt that many readers would strike a familiar cord with. There's a little of everyone within her. She's suffered tragedy with the death of her father. She is not the 'popular' girl in school, often ostracised and suffers regular criticism from her fellow peers. And, her home life with the step father from hell, isn't the greatest.
  All in all, I loved Chira and admired her strength despite everything she has and still does go through.

  However, I did not connect with Ben, the male lead character on the same level as I did with Chira.  I didn't feel I had enough information about his abilities, and would have loved for this to have been covered and explored further within the story. I felt that there was so much more that the author could have expanded on, played with a little more, and also given a little bit more mystery and intrigue to Ben. The little bit of info I did learn I just felt 'yeah, but...what can the character do with it? Where is this going?'
  Despite my thoughts, I'm looking forward to reading where The author is going with the Shadow Maven series. To discover more about his abilities, but most importantly to see what will become of Chira and Ben.

  All in all despite my niggles, I truly did enjoy this story. The writing was flawless. Flowing beautifully throughout, and the story most definitely has the potential to become something amazing. Well done Pauline...I can't wait to read more

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 and a half...almost 4 star read :)




Pauline Creeden is an award-winning author, horse trainer, and overall book ninja. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long. 

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Gold Award for First Place YA Horror Novel.


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