Title: Creed
Author: Trisha Leaver
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Horror
Length: 264
Rating: 2
Description/Synopsis:
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.
Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
I was really in the mood for a good little horror story, and this fell far below what I was expecting. I what I got instead was a lot like watching a really bad, cheap horror movie. The kind where you can see the strings attached to the bats and the tins of paint they have used for the blood.
The writing style is what fell short for me the most. I was enjoying myself to start off with, I was hopeful and eager for a good read. It didn’t last long. There was an over emphasis on certain things to try make things more dramatic and ‘meaningful’ I think. The effect didn’t work the way I think it was intended. The result was me feeling like someone was forcing these things down my throat, begging me to believe the words but it just ended up making me gag. Two glowing examples of this would be the love Luke and Dee have for each other, its was more powerful than the sun guys. The next was Dee’s horrible past and how no one but Luke and Joseph can even begin to understand.
The characters were also the most stupid people you will ever find. It follows the standard car breaks down and they wonder into a freaky town where all the houses look exactly the same and no people can be found. In their searching for petrol they find signs that the towns number is decreasing rapidly. The boys decide that it would be a great idea the stay the night. Dee seems to be there only one with a brain here. Her brains don’t seem to last long though because then they find this guy Joseph that tells them the town in basically a cult and its run by his father. Then they all choose to follow him! Nothing could go wrong. Nothing. It will be fine mate.
Safe to say its not.
The boys and Dee get separated and she gets tortured but its nothing new to her because of her deep dark past. This past which has been shoved down my throat so much now I actively think the book is lying to me and is just trying make herself seem more interesting or something. Then we also have Elijah, Joseph’s father, who is just so evil it becomes just silly. He is all magical and controls everything. He is basically god. If he says you weren’t born then you were not and you will believe it!
The ending of this book was just a huge downer for me. I was looking forward to at least getting a bit of revenge but that does not happen. God strikes again. I also found great issue with:
Three went in. Three came out. None even a shadow of who they once were.
How do we know that? Once we leave the town we never hear from one of them again. You can say two are not the same, but the third literally just vanishes (which annoyed me greatly), so how on earth do we know how they are?
I would not recommend this book to anyone. Its not worth the frustration. That being aid though I think Leaver’s book that is coming out next year sounds really interesting and I want to pick it up.
Till Next Time…
