Esme’s Wish: BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY!

Today is the official launch of the blog tour for ‘Esme’s Wish’- an exciting young-adult fantasy novel by Elizabeth Foster that will leave your mind reeling and heart throbbing for a magical adventure. My blog happens to be one of the first stops of this tour so I’m here to review Esme’s Wish and provide you with exciting bonus content like teasers and giveaways! 

 

 

“A fresh new fantasy of an enchanting world.” – Wendy Orr, author of Nim’s Island and Dragonfly Song.



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?



But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know. 

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.

 This fresh, inventive tale is an ideal read for younger teens.

Esme’s Wish is the first of a series with the next book- Esme’s Gift is due later in 2018

 

My Review

 

I devoured this lovely book within less than 24 hours and decided to give it a 4/5 star rating! Let me break it down for you with my spoiler-free review!

The Writing

• One of the best things about Esme’s Wish is the way it’s written. It is simply undeniable that Elizabeth Foster has a magical way with words as she weaves her story across the pages for the readers.
• Her vocabulary was quite strong and I simply loved her extensive use of comparisons throughout the book to portray the characters’ feelings. It truly struck a chord with me and made the book quite relatable despite it being set in an imaginary fantasy world.
•  The descriptions were on point as they were neither long and detailed enough to bore you nor short enough to leave you filling the gaps all on your own. Each and every setting was vivid and beautifully described to the point that I could actually see the city of Esperance in front of my eyes.
• DRAGONS. There were breathtaking and gorgeous dragons and now I just want to own one, no this isn’t an unrealistic wish, okay?
• But there was also a downside to Foster’s writing style. I felt that her writing pace was quite fast and the scenes kept moving ahead rapidly, leaving me with little time to catch up and I often had to re-read some of the parts. It’s not like particular events were rushed- the whole writing was and it left me quite disoriented.

 

The Characters

• Esme

The main protagonist a.k.a Esme Silver is an intriguing character with a mix of interesting personality traits. She is a bold risk-taker and an adventurer, ready to go to any extent to find her lost mother. As you follow her journey you can make out the firm determination and pluck that Esme has and her heart-warming relationship with her newfound friends, Lillian and Daniel. And there’s also the fact that she is pretty slow to catch up on things… sometimes Esme failed to spot the most obvious things. We also get slight glimpses of her lust for power and extremely trustworthy nature that might cost her heavily in the end.

• Daniel

Daniel was a really fun and mischievous character and from the moment we were introduced to him I knew he was going to be one of my favorites. Not only is he a reliable friend and always has his friends’ backs(even when they might not want him) he always manages to keep the atmosphere light. This boy is simply adorable. And hello- he works with dragon rangers and actual fire-breathing dragons- what else do you want?

• Lillian and Miranda

I decided to combine the reviews of these two characters because there really isn’t much to say about either of them…

Despite the fact that throughout her journey in Esperance Esme was staying with Lillian and her mother, Miranda we don’t have much content on either of them. Miranda is shown as a kind and hard-working single mother who is very passionate about her work and as a result is almost never there. But her absence really gnawed at me especially when the trio of this book went on a week long trip and she still didn’t have much to say and wasn’t even there to bid goodbye. I mean was she a mom or just a care-taker?

And then there is Lillian- a member of the teenage trio on whom this book is based upon. It’s not like that she wasn’t a part of this book or went missing here and there- on the contrary she seemed to be almost everywhere but still I was unable to gain an insight on her character. Aside for some simple facts and slivers of past, we really don’t get to know much about her and she has almost no role in propelling the story ahead. Some pieces of her backstory do come up occasionally but are only briefly touched before we rush on to the real story. A little more about the snarky little teenager would have indeed been delightful.

• Minor Characters

I felt that the other supporting characters who made brief appearances like Celia and Professor Sage were quite well-developed and made the whole story quite interesting. They were quirky and diverse, each of them special in their own ways and I just wish that we had a little more on them. I’m hoping that they do get more stage time in the future books of this series!

 

The Plot

• And finally we come to the plot- the base and foundation of every story! Esme’s Wish had a strong and compelling plot that surged ahead rapidly. I loved certain incidents and parts of the storyline like the sirens and dragons but at some points there wasn’t enough action for me to say ‘oh wow’.
• I’m especially talking about the climax scene where Esme finally finds the villain, or rather the villain finds her. I was eagerly waiting to see how Esme would handle the situation and what her reaction would be. The scene was surprising, to say the least, but it was over too soon. I definitely wanted more from a climax scene that we had been anticipating for since the beginning of the story and was left feeling like something was missing.
• Other than that, I loved how the ending was written, tying up some of the loose ends while at the same time paving the way the next book in the series

 

Overall I found this book enthralling and a beautiful and exciting adventure to traverse. I would especially recommend it to young teenagers or teenagers who are just entering the world of reading and need something that isn’t too complicated- this is the perfect book for you! And here’s a short little teaser to convince you.

 

Teaser

 

Enter the Giveaway!

Now that you are fully informed about this wonderfully magical book let me give you some more good news! You can win a printed copy of Esme’s Wish and some exclusive merchandise upon simply entering a giveaway by clicking here.

So what are you waiting for? Go try out your luck in this fantastic giveaway. And if you are on Twitter you can also participate in a Twitter chat with the author of Esme’s Wish herself, hosted by @bookshelfbitch at 9:00 pm EST on 24rth February!

 

 

Have you ever heard of Esme’s Wish before? Well now you have! Go get reading and feel free to tell me your views on this book in the comments below. What did you think of this review? And don’t forget to follow this blog tour and participate in the Twitter Chat. See you later!