Caleo by james crawford

Caleo

by 

james crawford

 

 Every High School has their social outcasts. The band nerds, the math geeks, the chess club, the girl that chews her hair, but at Butler even the creepy nose picker in the chess club is more popular than Caleo Anima. No matter what he did, his pale skin, snow white hair, and piercing blue eyes always made him an easy target. He used to think that the only way things could get worse would be if someone found out that he was gay, but that isn't even the tip of the iceberg of problems after a mysterious stranger shows up and changes Caleo’s life forever.
Hidden amongst our society, a secret and magical race of people known as ‘Leeches’, have been engaging in civil war for decades. Both sides are desperately searching for a weapon with unlimited power that will give them the advantage they need to rule their world. This wouldn’t mean anything to Caleo, except for one problem...He is that weapon!
Forget making it through High School. Caleo has bigger problems! As the search for him goes on, the world is quickly crumbling around him. He's now fighting for his life and the life of what little family he has left. With the help of new friends, he has little time to try and master his newly found powers as he tries to figure out who he can trust, who is trying to use him, and who just wants him dead. One wrong step and being the awkward pale outcast will be the LEAST of his worries.

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~*~My Review~*~

The cover is what pulled me in then the book kept me hooked!

 This book was intense! I loved reading it and by the time last page came around I was screaming for more! 

At first I thought that Caleo was a very confused frightened angry, yet deeply honest, passionate, funny boy. I still think all those things, although I would have to add brave. I enjoyed reading about him and how he changed and grew and discovered more of who he is. 

 I went into this book after reading the blurb having missed the entire sentence that he was gay. I have nothing against him being gay, although I thought it quite odd looking back to when he was teasing the two boys in the locker room, just seemed an odd thing to do to me.  I don't tend to read many books dealing with gay characters, even though I have enjoyed those that I have read. Someone who is very close to me is gay, and I really liked how this subject was brought up in the book. As in what the Blessed thought of homosexuality, and how they dealt with females as well. I am sincerely hoping that  book 2 explores this more. I haven't read yet how many books there will be beyond two, but I truly hope that this continues.  I think it seems logical that this particular subject may force a change of opinions among the Blessed, considering their 'leader' is gay.

 I loved how we followed Caleo's growing attraction to Nolan, and even the attraction that I think was there with Jack. I know Jack is attracted to Caleo, but I am still unsure how much Caleo likes Jack as more than a brother. I thought the relationships between each character were brilliantly done, and loved every moment of reading about them. 

Stinky/Mickey was an interesting twist, and I am hoping that it is explained more in book 2. I kinda thought maybe the cuffs could have been explained more, I am still a tad confused by this. I am hoping Alix is also explained a bit more in book 2 and even Thorn. I have questions about Gabriel if there are more leeches like him, with his power. I am curious to find out what happened to Nolan, and what this means for the next book.  I am also curious to learn more about Leeches, and what it all means and what role an Angel plays within this separate species.

I give this book a 4.5 star rating overall, and I encourage those who enjoy reading YA paranormal books with deep emotional tones and issues, to read this book! 

Very well done Mr. Crawford!

~Author Bio:~

james crawford (all lowercase please) grew up in Foxbourgh, PA. I currently live in Hornlake, MS with my partner of five years.

As of right now I am currently in the midst of finalizing edits for the re-release of Caleo Leech: Book 1. In between edits for Book 1 I am also working on Jack Leech: Book 2, which I will have a cover for soon and a release date that is somewhere in the near future. Keep an eye on the blog for news of that and many other things.  

james crawford's website 

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provided by james crawford.
 

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