Thursday, December 19, 2013

Review & Giveaway - Imperfection by Phaedra Seabolt


Title: Imperfection
Series: Pure Blood #1
Author: Phaedra Seabolt
Release Date: July 23, 2013
Pages: 146, eBook
Goodreads Rating: 4.57 stars
My Rating: 3/5 stars
My Content Rating: 18+ (Explicit sex)

Summary from Goodreads: Meara Falk always followed her parents' rules, until one night in March when the temptation to let loose changed her life forever. Nine months later, disowned and with a baby on her hip, she discovers werewolves are real after being on the wrong end of one’s teeth and claws.

When her first change is upon her, werewolves attack her home, stealing her son and driving her out of her home. Now she’s looking for the man who kidnapped her baby and turned her life upside down.

A war is brewing between the two packs with Meara’s son being in the center. Will she be able to get her son back before losing everyone she cares about?


Imperfection is an unique werewolf story that focuses on a mother and her child and gives an interesting mythological perspective on the origin of the werewolves.

The negatives:
  • Lack of connection. The only reason that this book didn't get four or more stars from me is that I just never quite connected with the main character.  Despite Meara's difficult circumstances, I just didn't feel her pain.  I think this is because her emotions are just never really spelled out for us.  When her parents want her to abort her child, she says that she would never do such a thing, but I didn't get a real sense of how she felt.  I never really felt a sense of love for the baby. even though Seabolt obviously intended for us to believe that Meara loves her child.  When the baby is kidnapped, I didn't feel any real sense of panic or urgency from Meara - it all just felt a little hollow to me.  So, while the story was good, I just couldn't really connect to it.
  • Too short.  In some ways, this felt like a half of a book to me rather than the first installment in a series.  The book ends kind of in the middle of the action and none of the storylines are resolved.  I don't mind cliffhangers, but I prefer for a book to have some sense of closure and to feel like there is some resolution.  This doesn't happen with this book.
What I enjoyed:
  • The plot.  I loved the idea of the plot - Meara, a straitlaced girl who always obeys her parents' rules, gets drunk one night and ends up pregnant.  What she doesn't know is that her pregnancy was no accident and that the werewolf who got her pregnant plans to steal her child the first chance he gets!
  • The werewolves.  I thought that Seabolt did a great job of creating the werewolves' world and giving us the mythology to go with it.  I am still curious about what it means to be a Pure Blood wolf (including how Meara is one and why she is "imperfect") - hopefully that will be explained a bit further in the next book.  But, I liked how the battle between the Pure Bloods and the regular werewolves has been set up and I enjoyed learning about how the Pure Bloods originally came about.  The wolf characters are interesting and I'm definitely intrigued enough to want to learn more about them!
  • No romance for Meara.  I actually found it refreshing that the main character wasn't caught up in a romance in this book (there was a subplot with Meara's friend and her romance).  There is a fling at the beginning of the book, but other than that, Meara is focused just on her own life and her child.  I'm not sure if Seabolt has romance planned for Meara's future, but in this first book, I was fine without it.
Imperfection is an interesting new take on werewolves.  It's an enjoyable read, but you'll need to wait for book #2 in order to get the whole story!  Overall, I give it 3/5 stars.

***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***


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ABOUT PHAEDRA SEABOLT

Phaedra Seabolt is the youngest of four and the only girl. She spent her childhood trying to be the best she could be at everything she did which drove her to attend college long enough to attain her master’s degree. Now she is a stay at home mom and happily married.

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