Chronicles of Steele: Raven – Pauline Creeden ***BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY***

I received an ARC of this book in return for my honest review. All thoughts are 100% my own. The Giveaway is hosted by Xpresso Book Tours and not myself.

Raven by Pauline Creeden
(Chronicles of Steele #1)
Publication date: October 2014 28th
Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, Young Adult

Synopsis:

This is the complete Steampunk Fantasy novel – all four parts of the serial in one volume! Also includes bonus features not found in the episodes ~

Human life has value.
The poor living in the gutter are as valuable as the rich living in a manor.
The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint.
Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed.

Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23277025-chronicles-of-steele

Purchase:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NLL6S42/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00NLL6S42&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-chronicles-of-steele-pauline-creeden/1120594003?ean=9781502357595

My Thoughts

Raven Steele is ready to give up her reaper ways. She’s wanting to settle down with the man she’s set her heart on and she’s about to tell him so, when a runaway carriage brings her a mission she can’t refuse…to do would cost a young Baron his life. So, swearing this is her last mission, she takes it on. And this is the story of her adventures during this mission. In this story we’re introduced to several interesting characters. We have Raven, of course, the young Baron Darius, Captain of the Guard Jack Grant (who I couldn’t help but hear Dan Stevens’, of Downton Abbey fame, voice), Monroe, Dr. Gregory, and a host of others.

This is my first steampunk novel. And normally I can barrel through a novel in no time flat. This one took me a while because things seemed so out of place. And really, it was just because I was VERY unfamiliar with the steampunk universe and how things worked. Raven truly lives by the code, take a life/redeem a life. And she operates pretty black and white. And unfortunately for her, life is never black or white but a bunch of grey. Captain Grant (the other POV character) is also pretty black and white, but he’s much more flexible than she is on where what boundaries are. Both are quick studies and soon find themselves doing things that they otherwise would never do in order to accomplish the goal. And the love story (COMPLETE side story and not a focal point) is a sweet one. It’s in the small touches and glances. It isn’t overly stressed and it isn’t crude. It’s slow to develop and it’s the greatest lesson in the book. Well, love over all is. Raven, is a woman who starts out with only one person in this world. She finds out that he isn’t really hers anymore, at least not in the capacity that she originally thought. She ends up with an entire group of people who care for her and she for them.

Pauline Creeden created a world that threw me for loops several times. But from what I gathered it was par for the course in steampunk. The world is built well, the characters are well developed. As a matter of fact she’s talking of making a Chronicles of Steele:Darius as well. I can’t wait to read it when it comes out. 🙂 She created a character who’s voice was so clear to me that I could hear it in my head as I was reading it. I positively love when that happens. It means that the characters aren’t different parts of one, but rather so completely individual that they even have their own sound. And to be honest, I know earlier in the review I mentioned Dan Stevens as Captain Jack Grant, his isn’t the only voice, but rather the only one I recognized. And even then, it isn’t Dan Stevens, but rather someone who has a similar voice to his. Because lets face it, he has a very distinct voice. So, the question remains, am I a fan of steampunk? Based off of this book alone, I could become that way. It definitely left a good flavor in my mouth. Better yet, would I recommend this book to my family and friends? Why yes I would. I would recommend this to anyone who’s a young teenager on up. I think it has that much crossover appeal.

About the Author

In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. 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. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. It is also the 2013 Book Junkie’s Choice Winner in Historical Fiction. Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Reader’s Choice Gold Award for Best YA Horror Novel.

Author links:

http://paulinecreeden.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5284782.Pauline_Creeden

https://www.facebook.com/PaulineCreeden

https://twitter.com/P_Creeden

******THANK YOU XPRESSO BOOK TOURS!!!******

Here’s the fun part. Xpresso Book Tours is offering a tour wide Giveaway! It will be a $20 Amazon Gift Card and the giveaway will end on Jan. 22, 2015. How cool is that?!?! Well, if you want an entry, hit up the rafflecopter below.

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And check out the rest of the book tour by following the link.