ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & 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.

Book Links: Goodreads l Amazon l Smashwords l Barnes & Noble l Musa Publishing

Author Bio:

Dusty Crabtree has been a high school English teacher 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. She resides with her husband, Clayton, in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they often serve their community as foster parents. Apart from the obvious reading and writing, she also enjoys serving on the praise team and drama team at church and watching movies. Shadow Eyes is Dusty’s first novel, but there will definitely be more to come!

Author Links: Blog l Facebook l Twitter 

My Thoughts:

I'd been cursed with seeing the shadows and bright figures ever since my fourteenth birthday. I never liked to talk about what happened that fateful day to bring about the sudden visual awareness  but since then, I'd been forced to view the world as a much darker place than anyone else could possibly imagine.

Ever since an incident on her fourteenth birthday, Iris Kohl has been able to see the evilness of the shadows that lurk around and whisper in people's ears encouraging and manipulating their thoughts and choices. This makes life hard for Iris because she see's the shadows in abundance at school. Although her small group of friends know nothing of the things that Iris can see, they are used to her periods of quietness as she tries to avoid situations where she will be overwhelmed by shadows. Aside from the shadows Iris also occasionally sees figures of light that evoke such feelings of goodness. She gets the same feeling of calmness whenever she is around her new teacher and new classmate Kyra who she quickly becomes firm friends with.

Iris can't believe how lucky she is when the flirting with the quiet and shy Josh escalates and he asks her out. But then a new boy enters her classroom and Iris can't help the feelings that she has for him. Besides Patricks good looks and witty charms , he is shadow free and that's so appealing to Iris.

I swore he knew he had tremendous sensual and alluring powers and it was his goal to use them against me. Whether that was a good or a bad thing, I hadn't yet decided.

The idea of the lurking shadows was such an original concept. I hadn't read anything like that before. It takes our everyday actions and adds the concept of being influenced in the choices and decisions we make. Good verses evil and wrong verses right. How the things that occur in our lives can influence the choices that we make.

His voice was a whisper. "I don't want you to give up on me."

My Breath caught in my throat. "Then I won't"

Dusty Crabtree was able to keep me guessing throughout the whole book. What part exactly did Mr Delaney and Kyra play in regards to the shadows. Where does Patrick fit into things? Is he all that he seems?

And then there is the often eluded to incident that happened on Iris's fourteenth birthday. It's not until almost the end of the book when we learn what it was. To say I was shocked would be an understatement!! What occurred had never entered my mind at any point during the book. 

Shadow Eyes is a fantastic story!! I loved Dusty Crabtree's writing. I loved the way the story developed. I loved the paranormal aspect of the book. I loved the characters, the good and the bad. While lots of aspects of the story ended up neat and tidy there were also enough questions left unanswered so that I'm left patiently waiting for the next book. 

4.5/5 Stars!!

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