Book Review: Esme's Gift by Elizabeth Foster

Esme's Gift

by

Elizabeth Foster

Publisher: Odyssey Books
Publication date: 30th November 2019
Series: Esme #2
Genre: Middle Grade / Young Adult
Pages: 266
Format read:  Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the author

In the enchanted world of Aeolia, fifteen-year-old Esme Silver is faced with 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 confront their deepest fears and find hope in the darkest of places. Esme’s Gift, the second instalment in the Esme trilogy, is an enthralling fantasy adventure for readers 12 years and over.

Esme’s Gift carries straight on from Esme’s Wish. Esme returns home to try and convince her father to return to Aeolia with her. Fearing for her mental health he makes an appointment with a psychiatrist. Esme flees to Aeolia in a last bid effort to save her mother.

I really enjoyed Esme’s Wish and the second book in the trilogy didn’t disappoint.

Esme joins again with friends, Lillian and Daniel, on a dangerous quest to find the rare ingredients for an elixir to save her mother’s life. There are people that do not want Esme to complete her quest and she must decide who she can and cannot trust.

The city of Esperance, with it’s magic now returned, is preparing for a mayoral election. The magic gifts bestowed upon the citizens were imaginative and unique. There was also plenty of humour as the school students were learning to control their gifts.

The story has plenty of action and danger with splashes of humour interspersed throughout. As well as magic a slight paranormal element is introduced into the story.

The city of Esperance is well developed and exquisitely described.

Esme’s gift is another enthralling installment in the Esme series and I’m hoping for more inclusion of the dragons in the next book.

Age level 12+
Mild violence

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  5/5

 

 Elizabeth Foster read avidly as a child, but only discovered the joys of writing some years ago, when reading to her own kids reminded her of how much she missed getting lost in other worlds. Once she started writing, she never looked back. She’s at her happiest when immersed in stories, plotting new conflicts and adventures for her characters. Elizabeth lives in Sydney, where she can be found scribbling in cafés, indulging her love of both words and coffee.

Click on the book cover to read my review

 

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 

and the Australian Women Writers challenge