Selina Penaluna - Jan PagePages: 371
Publisher: Corgi
Release Date: 2nd July 2009
Other Titles by This Author: Juggling Lessons, Drummer, Rewind
Dropped as a baby into a deep pool on the Cornish shore, Selina Penaluna emerges a different child - a mermaid changeling - and is forever drawn to the sea. Abandoned by her mother, neglected and abused by her father, she desperately wants to escape her lonely life.
Ellen and Jack are twins, evacuated from East London to Cornwall at the start of the war. The family that takes them in are well-off and a little stuffy. Ellen relishes this opportunity to better herself, but Jack finds his new life stifling and seeks freedom in the arms of Selina, the mysterious fisherman’s daughter whose wild beauty turns every man’s head.
Selina’s siren song has Jack captivated - but leaves his sister cold with jealousy. Can the young lovers find solace and build a new life together? And how will Ellen deal with being left behind?
A spellbinding novel full of passion and tragedy, that will enchant older readers.
Selina Penaluna is a story full of mystery and intrigue set on the stunning Cornwall coast.
I was surprised that the narration was split between Selina, young Ellen and old Ellen. It gave a dimension to the story that couldn’t have been obtained from just one narrator. Seeing the events from two different points of view and also as a memory gave different takes on events and also displayed the widespread effects. It was a very clever way to tell the story and suited Selina Penaluna perfectly.
After reading the blurb on the back of the book I instantly expected to dislike Ellen. I don’t know why, but I did. So imagine my surprise when it’s Jack I take dislike too. He was whiney, selfish and incredibly rude. Although I understood why he was like this it still irritated me. Ellen was everything that I expected her to be but she had a charm that just wouldn’t allow me to get annoyed at her.
The ending was the most dramatic part of Selina Penaluna. It packed a subtle punch; it crept up on me and I was so surprised that I forgot to be shocked! I didn’t seeing it coming at all and I thought it ended brilliantly, though it did just increase my dislike for Jack!
Selina Penaluna is the perfect read for lovers of stories full of magic, mystery and the tragedy of World War II.
Sophie
Awesome Review... I'd Love To Read this Book And I Love The Cover Model...
ReplyDeleteShe Looks Awesome!! I've Seen Her On About 4 or 5 More Books...
xoo
RagDollVampGirl
I can't wait to read this book, it does look amazing. Thanks for sharing your great review.
ReplyDeleteWow. I'd only seen the cover of this book, and hadn't realised what the book was about. But it's interesting. I don't think I've ever read a book with split narration quite like this. Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDelete- Alex
The cover reminds me scarily of that of North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Hedley!!
ReplyDeleteSounds good, will try and read it.
Ooh, intriguing! Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDeleteNice review matey! I'm really looking forward to reading this :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Review!! I had not heard of this book before, but the cover....hmmm...Evermore and North of Beautiful share the same cover.
ReplyDeleteNorth of Beautiful by Justina Chen Hedley popped into mind. Wow! This cover model is indemand, huh?
ReplyDeleteAwesome review.
I was going to say that the cover is the same as North of Beautiful and Evermore too! Sounds good though and since I like that picture, I like all three covers!:)
ReplyDeleteAwesome review. This sounds like a great read. I'm waiting for this book in the post :D
ReplyDeleteGreat review! This book is now added to my WL!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to read your review because I'm interested in this book. But I found it really hard to read the blog comfortably because of the colours. I don't know if it is my screen, or my eyes or what. The contrast is very low, almost the same between the red and the black. So any chance you could alter the colours to give a better contrast?
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I didnt realise it had WWII tahnks for mentioning that as it is to go with my list of resources for WWII fiction for year 7 & 8 in November :D
ReplyDelete