Book Review and Tour and Giveaway!: Shadow Eyes by Dusty Crabtree

Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.

Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend.

As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.

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Shadow Eyes was ultimately a good read. For the first 3/4ths of the book, I just took my time. Reading it here or there, whenever I felt like it. It was an interesting but slow read.

For the last quarter of the book, I had to sit down and read it in one sitting. I felt like I was finally getting to the good stuff. Pieces started to click, mysteries were revealed. At one point, I even felt my heart racing a bit. That's always a good sign.

The story was interesting and strong. Iris was pretty likeable, if somewhat a little lacking in confidence. There were a few times when I wanted to say, "Really? You just walked away from that?" She has the unique ability to help people and she completely avoids the situation rather than even contemplating how she can help at all. I would have liked to have seen her ease into it, even if she only did one or two good deeds through the whole book.

Patrick, the off limits love interest, was a gem. He was suspicious, and I had my preconceptions about him being a bad guy. But by the end of the book I was hoping there was some way he and Iris could be together.

There were a few things I didn't love. The dialogue between Iris and her friends sometimes felt forced, possibly fake. Occasionally, the similes left me scratching my head.

I liked that the characters were put in believable situations; things that young adults today actually face. There was no swearing and a few scenes of intense romance, though nothing explicit.

The ending was a pleasant cliffhanger that makes me anxious to find out the rest of the story.

**Don’t forget to enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a print copy of Shadow Eyes, your full name in the sequel, and a KINDLE FIRE!**

Author Bio:

Dusty Crabtree has been a high school English teacher at Yukon High School in Oklahoma since 2006, a challenge she thoroughly enjoys. She is also a youth sponsor at Cherokee Hills Christian Church in Oklahoma City and feels very blessed with the amazing opportunities she has to develop meaningful relationships with teens on a daily basis.  Her passion for teens has poured into her writing as well.  She is the author of the young adult urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes, through Musa Publishing, which she wrote in order to give teens an intriguing and provocative book series that promotes moral messages.  She lives with her husband, Clayton, in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they often serve their community as foster parents.

Check out Dusty’s blog at http://dustycrabtree.wordpress.com/
Find her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dusty.crabtree.1
Follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/dustycrabtree
Buy Shadow Eyes at http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=176 (also available at all major online bookstores)






*The author provided me with a copy of Shadow Eyes in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I received no compensation for my review.

And now for the Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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