Orenda
by Ruth Silver
Orenda #1
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Patchwork Press
Release Date: April 13, 2014
Edition: E-Book
Page Count: 232
Source: E-book in exchange for an honest review
Dark forces, magical creatures, and the world Lil thought she knew collide when a dream transports her to the strange world of Orenda. Stunned and terrified, Lil comes face to face with her doppelganger, Willow, who possesses the ability to travel between the two worlds. Everything Lil knows logically says that Orenda can’t exist, but a small clue may be proof that it was more than an ordinary dream. With the threat of her sister in danger, Lil crosses dimensions but it may cost her even more than she bargained for.
A sword wielding girl, the eternal suit, and a parallel universe come together in this action- packed Young Adult fantasy adventure that will keep readers of all ages turning the pages. Orenda is the first novel in the Orenda series.
GOODREADS . AMAZON . B&N
Review: Let me begin by telling you all just how wonderful Ruth Silver is as a person. While this was the first book that I have read by her, I have spoken to her several times up to this point. I always find it wonderful when authors are willing to have conversations with their readers/fans. She even answered a few questions for me about writing a book when I emailed her about them. I think that says a lot about a person as an author/writer, and it automatically makes me a huge fan. Along with that, Ruth's book Orenda was GREAT. I really, really enjoyed it. I also own her Aberrant series, and cannot wait to get started on it.
The beginning of Orenda captured me right away. Here we have the main character Lil, who is transferred to what seems like an alternate universe before she wakes up and shakes it all off as a dream. Only it obviously was not, as their are signs left behind that it must have actually been true. What she does not know is that she was in the world Orenda, a place where her doppelganger lives and can travel back and forth to. When her identical, Willow, gets into trouble, Rawlie seeks Lil out to help, sure she is the only one that can do so.
From that point forward, Lil is in Orenda where she has to learn all about how the world works while trying to figure out how she will save this other girl she does not even know. In the process, she meets a lot of other great characters, too. While sometimes having a lot of characters turns me off from a book because it can be a lot to keep up with, I did not feel that way in this novel. All of the characters seemed to have a purpose, and that was something that I appreciated. First of all, Lil has her own family back home, but then she also has her best friend Bray. For me, it was impossible to figure out what the feelings were there. I'm not sure that Lil has romantic feelings for Bray, but it is quite obviously that Bray feels something for Lil. Love triangle? I'm thinking yes!
Then there is Rawlie, who is in love with Willow, which is why he is putting so much effort into getting her back as quickly as possible to make sure that she is alright. In the process of training to save Willow and Bray (who have both been kidnapped), Lil meets Hudson. They don't get a long at all at first, but then their bickering quickly turns to flirting until there are clearly feelings there. Then something upsetting happens towards the end of the book, but I don't want to give too much of that away!
There was a lot of action in the book, which is something I appreciated. While some parts were a bit confusing or not completely developed, for the most part I believe that the world building was quite good. Their was romance, suspense, and action...pretty much anything that I look for when reading a good fantasy YA novel. The ending left us wondering what is going to happen next, of course, so I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
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