Book Review~Sheltered by Debra Chapoton

Title: Sheltered

Author: Debra Chapoton

Publisher: Big Pine Lodge Books

Pub Date: October 2012

Format: ebook

Pages: 236

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Supernatural, Psychological Thriller

Links: Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Book/Author Site

Synopsis: Living together unsupervised, five troubled teens confront demonic forces and are compelled to deal with their problems in distinctly different ways. Paranormal meets psycho meets Goth in this story of a supernatural haunting and budding love.

High school junior, Ben, hacks into his step-father's real estate holdings and provides rooms in an old two-story house to various outcasts: the schizophrenic kid, the angry Goth girl, and the homeless girl who worships him. When Megan needs a place to live she comes to the rooming house with a different set of problems and the ability to confuse and attract Ben.

One by one strange and mysterious occurrences stretch the teens’ beliefs in the supernatural. How they deal with demons, real and imagined, has tragic as well as redeeming consequences.

Rating: 9/10

Source: Provided by the author for review. A HUGE 'thank you' to the author for giving me a chance to read & review her book :)

Cover Talk: I don't really like the cover. It does not do justice to the book. Yes, it's very much like the theme of the book, but I think it could've been better.

My Thoughts: I really really liked this book! I did not expect to like it this much. The story was unique and I really liked the idea of mixing troubled teens with supernatural. I think the troubled teens thing would've worked fine on it's own too but the supernatural twist added a nice uniqueness to the story. (just FYI, the supernatural in the book has nothing to do with vampires, if you were wondering)

The writing was really good. I love how the story was told from each characters point of view (in third person) and they all had their own voice and style. I never found it boring and I really enjoyed reading Miss Chapoton's writing.

All the characters were well-devloped and likable. My favorites were Megan and Ben since they were the only ones who were sane :P Actually no, I liked Megan because she was strong. And Ben was such a sweet and nice boy. All through half of the book I kept wishing he wouldn't turn out to be crazy too because I liked him a lot and I didn't want him to turn out to be some lunatic. I liked Emily, and then I didn't. I think she could've saved herself, but she was so damn weak and it really pissed me off! I guessed the Chuck-Adam thing before it was revealed in the book, and I'm so proud of myself :P Well Chuck was ok. I really felt sorry for the guy. I kinda liked Cori from the start, even though she was mean. I had a feeling that she would pull through.

The romance was really sweet. I really enjoyed reading Megan's & Ben's scenes. They created a nice balance in the seriousness of other situations. And Ben & Megan's relationship was really cute!

I was sort of disappointed with the ending. I mean, it didn't really feel like an ending. It felt like there was still something left to say. But it wasn't open-ended either. I just wish there would've been a little further progression in the story. Like a complete happy endng.

All in all, it was an amazing book and I really enjoyed reading it. I would highly recommend it if you like contemporary with a little supernatural twist and some sweet romance.

About The Author:

Debra's first YA novel, EDGE OF ESCAPE, reveals the fractured heart of Eddie, an emotionally impaired 18-year-old who has spent most of his school years in special education classes. Stalking gets a strangely sympathetic twist in this story of obsession and survival. (Released in German, spring 2012.) 
In her second YA novel, SHELTERED,five troubled teens confront demonic forces and deal with their problems in different ways; paranormal meets psycho meets budding love. 
Find out more at http://edgeofescape.blogspot.com/
Her children's series consists of 3 adventure books, THE SECRET IN THE HIDDEN CAVE, MYSTERY'S GRAVE, and BULLIES AND BEARS, one fantasy novel, A TICK IN TIME, and a two scary stories in one book, BIGFOOT DAY, NINJA NIGHT. All are appropriate for boys and girls ages 8 - 12.