Author: Kendall Kulper
Standalone
Genres: Witches, Paranormal | Young Adult
Release Date: September 4th 2014
Publishers: Orchard Books
No. Pages: 384
Source: Review Copy - Orchard Books
Rating: 
Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants only to take her rightful place as the sea witch of Prince Island, making the charms that keep the island's whalers safe and prosperous at sea. But before she could learn how to control her power, her mother - the first Roe woman in centuries to turn her back on magic - steals Avery away from her grandmother. Avery must escape before her grandmother dies, taking with her the secrets of the Roe's power.
The one magical remnant left to Avery is the ability to read dreams, and one night she foresees her own murder. Time is running short, both for her and for the people of her island who need the witches' help to thrive.
Avery has never read a dream that hasn't come true, but a tattooed harpoon boy named Tane tells her he can help her change her fate. Becoming a witch may prevent her murder and save her island from ruin, but Avery discovers it will also require a sacrifice she never expected. And as she falls in love with Tane, she learns it is his life and hers that hang in the balance.
Firstly, I'd like to state that when it came to reading this book, I decided to take my time. I started it a few day's before the release but because the ebook which is called Salt & Storm isn't released till 23rd of September (I also think it's the American cover but don't hold me to that haha) I wanted to just slow down and take my time, really enjoy it instead of rushing to get it read and reviewed on time ( I confess, I panicked a little because I thought it wasn't out till later on in the month given me plenty of time, but I was wrong haha). Secondly, though I have got back into witches again lately, it was the beautiful cover that first attracted me and urged me to request it on NetGalley. I mean honestly, how eerie and wonderful is this book cover? and do you want to know the best thing, it fits the story perfectly. Though the cover may have captured my interest, it was most definitely the story that gripped me.
I think the most interesting thing about this book for me is the fact that young Avery can read dreams. I don't know about everyone else but it's not something I've heard a lot about, and I thought that using that as her talent in a book about witches was a very smart idea, right from the off we a hit with this essence of uniqueness and as the story goes on it just continues to get better.
From the summary we know that sixteen year old Avery is a witch, what isn't exactly clear from the description is she is the last of the Roe witches, the ones who have looked after Prince Islands whalers and the people who reside there for generations. Avery is due to take over the title from her grandmother, but before she has a chance to learn, the same mother than once abandoned her come back at steal her away from the life. All she has left of magic is being able to read dreams, for a price of course. Everything's she reads comes true, no matter how hard the person try's to run from it or change it, there is no escaping it. So when she reads one of her own dreams, where she will be murdered by someone unknown, she decide that it's time to try even more to run away from her mum and back to her gran in order to find a way to stop it from coming true. After all, everyone knows you can't kill a Roe witch.
Of everything that has happened to Avery, meeting and falling for Tane was not something she expected, but by god is their love beautiful and pure. Tane isn't from Prince Island, but he came looking in search of the witch who could translate his dream and hopefully tell him who brutally murdered his family and the rest of their village, What starts of as just a partnership between them evolves into something never of them saw coming.
As far as the characters go, did I like them? at times I found Avery to be annoying and repetitive but for the most I liked her, and I loved Tane from the start, he was my favourite character without a doubt. Though I didn't feel any deep connection to any of the characters, I did find myself transfixed by the relationship, be it love or family/friendship, and I really think that the thing to shine the most in the book was how well Kendall Kulper had managed to capture the different stages of those relationships.
While reading this book, for some unknown reason I had convinced myself it was a series, so when emotional things happened I just thought 'it's fine, it's only the first book so x y and z can't happen', I was about 70% in to it when I decided to look and found out it wasn't a series like I thought, to which I started to panic haha. I loved this book because I didn't see the ending coming and I thought it was a really clever thing to do, really unexpected. Overall I really liked this it, though it was a little slow to start and dragged a in some parts, I still found myself hooked and would easily devour more. One things for sure, this book is like none other you've read before.
I loved the writing too, I thought when it wasn't flow it flowed really well :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed this and that the writing is great! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of this! :D Thanks for the wonderful review, Stacie.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I had absolutely no idea that this wasn't a series either. I am so excited to read it myself. I should have got to it sooner but I am so behind on everything. I hope I end up enjoying this one, I am quite excited for it.
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