August 2015, Mercier Press, 320 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Summary from Mercier Press
After the death of her beloved grandfather on her twelfth birthday,
Ebony Smart’s world is turned upside down. Orphaned for a second time,
she is sent to Dublin to live with her weird Aunt Ruby, with only her
pet rat, Winston, for company. With every window nailed shut and a
mysterious locked room, 23 Mercury Lane is brimming with secrets. Warned
against entering by a voice in the shadows, Ebony is fearful for her
future, but has no idea how much her life is about to change.
Aunt Ruby informs Ebony that she is part of the Order of Nine Lives - a
special tribe of people who reincarnate. She claims Ebony has one week
to break a terrible curse or else die – and if she fails, the future of
the Order of Nine Lives, and her family, is at risk. With so much at
stake, Ebony discovers it’s difficult to trust – especially when there’s
somebody else trying to race her to the finish. Does she have what it
takes to succeed when nothing is what it seems?
Nayu's thoughts
This
is an absolutely awesome read! I'm squee-ing as I write this because
just because Ebony has a lot of hardship to overcome. Wherever she
looks there are questions about who she is, and each time she learns
a new piece of information there's more mystery staring her in the
face. She is plucky, has a few fears but when there's not choice but
to leap into the unknown she does it. She isn't alone though –
aside from her weird relatives who aren't all they seem, she has her
faithful companion Winston, who saves the day more than once. It's
hard when Winston leaves her at a point in the novel, because then
she does feel alone. She does make a few other allies – some really
can't be called friends since they turn on her, who have their own
peculiarities which make them memorable.
This
book has a great deal of mishaps which look as if they are end of the
world type events, but I promise that Ebony's outlook on life and the
sheer joy when things go right for her make it worth sitting through
the negative situations, as well as the plain weird ones (I'm into
more positive reading at the moment, but books like this an
exception). It's a joy to know there are 2 more adventures for Ebony
to embark on, both which I'm sure will have higher stakes.
Find out more on E. R. Murray's website.
No comments:
Post a Comment