Review: Creed by Trisha Leaver & Lindsey Currie

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Author(s): Trisha Leaver & Lindsey Currie
Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Thriller
Publisher: Flux
Publication Date: November 8, 2014

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.

***SPOILERS BELOW***


Review
It's hard being a Horror Fan. It's even harder when you have a catalog of films and books to pull references from while reading or watching anything in the genre. Unfortunately, I can't switch my brain off so comparisons are bound to happen and I definitely noticed my fair share while reading. However, I could spend all day talking about some obscure Horror reference that most of you probably won't even know or I could do the sensible thing and just stick to the basics of why this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. I think I'll go with that latter.

Anyway, In no particular order here are the reasons why Creed by Trisha Leaver & Lindsey Currie just didn't work for me.

1.) Inconsistent writing -  Co-Authored books just don't really work for me. It's hard finding two Authors whose voice can blend together seamlessly. Creed felt choppy. The beginning was strongly written and then the story just drops off in the middle. The end is just a jumbled mess of both writing styles and it just did not work for me. 

2.)The Characters - OK, I actually didn't hate the characters. Sure, Dee and her friends didn't make the wisest decisions and yeah I didn't really care that some were sacrificed along the way but overall, they weren't bad. What I did hate was Dee's backstory really serving no purpose. Some could say it was so that she could sympathize with Joseph and his plight but really, it was unnecessary. The story could of worked just as well if Dee was a lone child with a rebellious streak or even a book nerd who for the first time decides to defy her parents and attend a concert with her boyfriend. Thus ending up in the situation as a result.

3.)The Ending - After all the trials and tribulations these characters go through, in the end, they all just decide to keep quiet about everything and move on with life. I just can't wrap my head around it. At the very least the story should have ended with Dee waking up, thinking she's safe and having Mrs. Hooper come into the room with the nice cop who wants to ask some questions. Mrs. Hooper leaves, Dee recognizes said cop as crazy cult guy and with an evil leer things fade to black. Boom Sequel, boom non annoyed reader. I literally, wanted to throw my Kindle on the ground when I realized that the ending was going to suck. I don't know which Author wrote it but shame on you. 

4.) Been there, done that. - OK, I know I wasn't going to talk about all the Horror references but I can't NOT talk about one obvious one and that is the stories similarity Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Granted this didn't make the story bad and it is in no way a direct copy but I also felt like the story of a town hiding in plain sight but covered up oh so neatly yet unbelievably had been done before and by much better writers. 


Overall, while I liked the concept of the story, I can't help but be disappointed in how the execution played out. Creed had so much potential to become a truly unique Horror story but instead of taking risks with the characters it relied on old tropes seen time and time again in other stories. Plus that ending was awful and really cheapened the entire story for me. So I guess that begs the question, Would I recommend Creed? Yes, although I had problems with this story, those who aren't as heavily into this genre as I am might find it much more enjoyable.  

With that being said, I'll be rating Creed by Trisha Leaver & Lindsey Currie ★★★.

Recommended For Fans Of:
 GatedThe Lottery ,The Wicker Man and Escape From Eden.                                     
 *Copy reviewed provided by publisher.  All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in an which way  for providing them.

Want to learn more about this book or Author(s)? Click the links below!
Lindsay lives in Chicago, Illinois with one incredibly patient hubby, three amazing kids and a 160 pound lap dog named Sam. She's fond of tea, Halloween, DisneyWorld and things that go bump in the night!

An author of young adult and middle grade fiction, Lindsay's middle grade novels are published with Simon & Schuster/Aladdin. Her young adult novels are published with Flux/Llewellyn, Merit Press and Spencer Hill Contemporary. For more details on Lindsay's upcoming books, please visit the My Books tab at the top of the page. 

Lindsay is represented by Kathleen Rushall, of Andrea Brown Literary Agency.  Any inquiries regarding her work should be sent to her attention.  

Follow Her on: Twitter - Goodreads - Instagram

Trisha Leaver lives on Cape Cod with her husband, three children, and one rather disobedient black lab. She is a chronic daydreamer who prefers the cozy confines of her own imagination to the mundane routine of everyday life. She writes Young Adult Contemporary Fiction, Psychological Horror and Science Fiction and is published with FSG/ Macmillan, Flux/Llewellyn and Merit Press.

Follow Her on: Twitter - Goodreads - Website

Comments

  1. "I don't know which Author wrote it but shame on you." LOL! Blame them both. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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