Hey readers, gotta fun post for you today. I am honored to be taking part in the The Summer of Shambles by Ebony McKenna blog tour hosted by XPresso Book Tours today! Here's a bit about the book and the author before we get to my thoughts:
The Summer of Shambles by Ebony McKenna
(Ondine #1)
Publication date: June 21 2013
Genres: Comedy, Paranormal,
15-year-old Ondine is struggling to fit in at Psychic Summercamp and doubts she possesses any of her family’s magical abilities. She resolves to leave, determined to follow her own path and be a normal teenager. Whatever normal is in a place like Brugel.
On the way home Ondine is shocked when her pet ferret Shambles starts talking – in a cheeky Scottish accent no less! He is in fact a young man trapped in a witch’s curse. When he briefly transforms into his human self, Ondine is smitten. If only she can break the spell for good, Shambles can be handsomely human on a full-time basis.
During the summer, these two misfits uncover a plot to assassinate a member of the royal family and discover a secret treasure that has remained hidden for decades. This attracts the attention of the arrogant Lord Vincent, and Ondine can’t help being drawn in by his bad-boy charm.
With so many demands on Ondine’s attentions – and affections – normal has never seemed so far away.
The Summer of Shambles is the first in the four-part ONDINE series. Fans of The Princess Bride or the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series will love this delightfully quirky fairytale.
Ebony McKenna
Ebony McKenna lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and son.
She has worked as a journalist, market researcher, website editor, and company director.
As a teenager, she lived in a family-run restaurant. This provided the inspiration for Ondine's family, as Ebony has also waitressed, prepared food and yep, she washed dishes. So many dishes.
Now she writes novels for a living, so her hands are dry. Except for when her characters are making her laugh too much and she has to wipe tears away so she can see the keyboard.
She's always loved trivia nights and the Eurovision Song Contest, and wishes she'd put money on Conchita Wurst winning this year.
She has worked as a journalist, market researcher, website editor, and company director.
As a teenager, she lived in a family-run restaurant. This provided the inspiration for Ondine's family, as Ebony has also waitressed, prepared food and yep, she washed dishes. So many dishes.
Now she writes novels for a living, so her hands are dry. Except for when her characters are making her laugh too much and she has to wipe tears away so she can see the keyboard.
She's always loved trivia nights and the Eurovision Song Contest, and wishes she'd put money on Conchita Wurst winning this year.
Author links:
My Thoughts:
Okay, unlike my other reviews, I'm going to keep this one short and sweet, just like our novel!
Summer of Shambles shocked me. In what way? Not only was the plotline great, the characters warming, and the overall idea original, the entire book was thought provoking. Woah, slow down there Ethan. Let me start from the top.
Summer of Shambles follows the journey of Ondine, a 15 year old with paranormal abilities and her talking "pet" ferret, Shambles, through the historical "country" of Brugel. Follow all that? Unique right? The setting for this novel was amongst the most unique and realistic I have seen. Throughout the novel, the author features footnotes documenting various historical facts about the region as well as pointing out cultural norms and phenomena to keep the reader better informed. I had just as much fun reading the footnotes at the end of each chapter as I did following Ondine's story!
Our story clocks in at 163 pages on my ecopy, making it super easy for me to fly through in just a couple of hours. It was a fun two hours, then again, any two hours spent reading usually is! A relatively short read, but fear not as this is just part one of four in the series!
Ondine grew on me a bit in the story. I love YA but I often have issues with the characters just being "too" childish. Ondine was that way for me until about the 2/3 mark of the novel. After I finally started to understand Ondine's character, I had a much better insight to her way of thinking. It was really neat to watch that character development.
Magic, murder plots, a royal family, and a talking ferret that may or may not actually be a real boy (see what I did there?), what isn't there to like?
With such a short read, it is hard to go into many specifics without giving away the plot, so rather than drone on and on about the read, I think I'll just leave it in the hands of future readers! All-in-all I am granting Summer of Shambles a 4-star read. I think it was a great first book for a new series and I am excited to see what the rest will hold! Best wishes to out author, Mrs. Ebony McKenna on her newest literary journey!
Have any of you read Summer of Shambles? Let me know what you thought about it in the comments below!
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What did you think? Sound up your alley? If so, go pick yourself up a copy and get to reading! Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
This sounds like a short, fun read! Glad you liked it, Ethan! :)
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