Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for my place on this book tour.
Esme’s Gift is the continuation of Esme’s Series. Part One, Esme’s Wish was published in 2017.
A brief summary of Esme’s Wish:
When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the action of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother, Ariane – so why can’t she?
After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about her mother, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all. (From Goodreads).
Esme’s Gift
Synopsis:
Terror was within. Terror was without.
Like her mother, she was at the water’s mercy.
In the enchanted world of Aeolia, fifteen-year-old Esme Silver faces her hardest task yet. She must master her unruly Gift—the power to observe the past—and uncover the secrets she needs to save her mother, Ariane.
In between attending school in the beguiling canal city of Esperance, Esme and her friends—old and new—travel far and wide across Aeolia, gathering the ingredients for a potent magical elixir.
Their journey takes them to volcanic isles, sunken ruins and snowy eyries, spectacular places fraught with danger, where they must face their deepest fears and find hope in the darkest of places.
Esme’s Gift, the second instalment in the Esme trilogy, is a gripping fantasy adventure for readers 12 years and over.
Fans of Harry Potter will love this book for its similar themes. The genuine friendship of the characters make this book a satisfying read, and hints at a healthy romance in the next book. The conclusion of the trilogy will be greatly anticipated! Sorcha, Goodreads
From dragons diving into volcanoes, Esme and her friends portalling out of art class and deep underwater adventures, Esme’s Gift is quite simply a thrilling and exciting read. Jean, Goodreads
Esme’s Gift.
Purchase Links
*****
My thoughts:
I was absolutely enchanted by Part One of Esme’s series and couldn’t wait to start Esme’s Gift! Whenever you love the first book, there is also a bit of apprehension: is it going to be as charming and adventurous? How are the characters going to develop? Is the pace going to be as fast?
Esme’s Gift as wonderful as Esme’s Wish and I liked it even more.
After Esme’s brief stay with her father Esme returns to the enchanted world of Aeolia and its capital city Esperance. Now there is an additional dread of knowing that Aaron and his new wife may try to commit Esme to a mental institutions if she continues trying to persuade her father that Aeolia is real and Ariane is alive. Esme is only happy to come back to her new friends and so was I because it meant new adventures!
Esme’s bond with her mother is strong and tender, but there are more complicated feelings mixed in now. Esme is finding it difficult to accept that it was her mother’s choice to spend extended stretches of time away from her and her father. Perhaps, she is a bit jealous? Perhaps, she is questioning her mother’s love? Or perhaps she is trying to understand what her mother is really like.
One thing is clear. Time is running out. her mother’s condition is getting worse and Esme needs to collect special magic ingredients for a potion that could save Ariane and this means a magic quest with her loyal friends Daniel and Lillian. For all her life Esme used to be a loner, that strange Silver girl. Now she is learning to trust and share her feelings.
I loved the new setting of Pierpont College – Esme’s new school where students are encouraged to experiment with their magic gifts and learn to control them so that they won’t hurt or offend others. After all, Esme needs to master and understand her own magic ability of travelling to past. She needs to face her fears and learn the power of past to influence present.
There are dragons, ghosts and sirens and lots of other magic creatures. Elizabeth Foster created a beautiful and exciting world that is waitng to be discovered by new readers. There are also bigger issues- politics and equality in society, history and justice.
Fast-paced, packed with adventure and a mix of tender, funny and sometimes scary moments, esme’s Gift is a great sequel to a fantastic middle-grade series. I’m really looking forward to the third book and returning to Aeolia once more.
About the author:
I read avidly as a child, but only discovered the joys of writing some years ago when reading to my own kids reminded me how much I missed getting lost in other worlds. It’s never too late to find and follow your passion! I now have two books published and am about to start writing the third and final story in the Esme series. My home base is Sydney, where I can often be found running (just kidding – walking) by the water, or scribbling in cafés.
website / twitter / facebook / instagram
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to Win 3 x pairs of e-books Esme’s Wish & Esme’s Gift (Open Internationally)
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Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy reading Esme’s Series as much as I did!
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