Title: Whirl - Ondine Quartet Book 1
Author: Emma Raveling
Published: September 2011
Format: Ebook provided by author for purpose of review
Available for purchase at: Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple iBookstore
Links:
Whirl
From Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Kendra Irisavie is an ondine, a water elemental caught in the middle of an ancient war with the Aquidae, immortal dark demons who will stop at nothing to destroy the fragile balance of the Elemental world.
Fierce and independent, Kendra has always played by her own rules. Gifted with the powerful magic of Virtue and trained to be a deadly fighter, she has spent her life breaking hearts and getting into trouble.
When her life explodes one violent night in a northern California city, a dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past. Alone and with no one to trust, she must now navigate through a dangerous new world, face the temptations of a forbidden romance, and remain true to her duty and destiny.
All while the Aquidae continue to hunt her down, in the hopes of eliminating her forever…
An edgy urban fantasy/paranormal romance, Whirl is recommended for older teens and mature readers due to strong language and mild sexual situations
In the beginning of this book I was a little put off by all of the customized terms that seemed to have little to no definition. As the story went on, more definition was provided, and it became easier to follow. As it turns out there was a glossary of terms at the end of the book. In an ebook it is not as easy to flip pages, I would have really liked to see this at the beginning.
This book is about an ondine (a water elemental) named Kendra, who has been living a rogue life with her mother, outside of the community of other water elementals. Her mother has taught her to be strong, independent, and to take care of herself. Suddenly her mother is gone, and Kendra is alone. A gardinel named Tristan shows up to bring her back to Haverleau – an elemental community. There she will attend school and develop her magic. But this ruffles Kendra’s feathers, as she has always led a very different lifestyle. The elementals are in a war with the Aquidae, the soulless demons who hunt her and others like her.
While I really enjoyed the story, and meeting all of the characters, I feel the main character Kendra Irisavie, seemed a bit arrogant. It seems to me that she really felt everyone in the elemental community was below her for one reason or another. She feels she is the smartest, the toughest, the strongest, most cunning… A couple characters even broached the subject with her. She needed to be part of a community, a family in a broad sense of the word. This is the ultimate goal in her story, she needed to learn that she was a part of something bigger than herself and that she didn’t need to do it alone – that she couldn’t do it alone.
There were a lot of people in this book to meet. I enjoyed all of them, for different reasons. Kendra’s friends, mentors, family, and rivals all gave a unique flavor to the story. I do feel this is a book worth reading. I don’t have any real complaints about it at all. I would enjoy seeing more history on Tristan, he seems to have a rich past and there is something happening in his future that sounds interesting.
All in all, this was an enjoyable read. I do recommend it to anyone interested in urban fantasies involving elementals.
Here is the trailer for Whirl, which is terrific. I love the imagery and music
