But I Smile Anyway…

Recently I was contacted by a fellow author, Shaun Hume, with regards to reading and reviewing his book.

Now I am no professional reviewer by any means, but I was happy to lend my humble opinion. I decided that I would purchase my own copy of the book, (we all need to support each other, and then I would not feel obliged to give a glowing review, if I didn’t feel it was deserving) and it went on my rather long TBR pile.

After struggling with Americal Pastoral, I didn’t want another big read straight away, and my Kindle told me initially that this book would take me 9 hours to read!

Ewan Pendle and The White Wraith by Shaun Hume is compared to Harry Potter, and I haven’t read that series because it never interested me. That wasn’t going to stop me. After taking a chance on Shelley Wilson’s Guardians series, which was YA fiction, and loving it, I was up for a new challenge!

Reading the blurb at the back, I felt tempted to give it a go.

Ewan Pendle was weird. Really weird. At least, that’s what everyone told him. Then again, being able to see monsters that no one else could wasn’t exactly normal …

Thinking he has been moved off to live with his eleventh foster family, Ewan is instead told he is a Lenitnes, one of an ancient race of peoples who can alone see the real ‘Creatures’ which inhabit the earth. He is taken in by Enola, the mysterious sword carrying Grand Master of Firedrake Lyceum, a labyrinth of halls and rooms in the middle of London where other children, just like Ewan, go to learn the ways of the Creatures.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am not usually one for this genre of writing. I haven’t even read the Harry Potter series, so when I decided to purchase this book as an opener to this genre, it was with trepidation.
Ewan Pendle is a young child, moved from foster placement to foster placement, with nowhere to call his home. Seeing ‘creatures’ didn’t really help endear him to his foster carers either.
During his move to the next carer, he finds himself with a strange woman, Enola, who escorts him to the Firedrake Lyceum, where he learns that he has a skill for seeing creatures and he is not alone.
Here we enter the world of Lenitnes, Vilmhieds, White Wraiths and the Masters of this secret institution. Ewan meets new friends, and new enemies, and embarks on an adventure to solve a mystery that is ongoing through the book.
I won’t go into the story too much, but what I will say is that I was actually really drawn into the story. Hume uses great skill to release snippets of information which goad you on to want to read more and find out what will happen next. Who were his parents? Is the White Wraith really dead? Are the Masters all really ‘good’?
When it ended, I was a little sad that the sequel was not already there for me to read straight away!
If you are a Harry Potter fan, I can see this being a good choice of read for you! If you aren’t or you haven’t read it, try this first! It was a great read!

Reviewed on Amazon and Goodreads.

If you are interested in taking a chance on Ewan, purchase from Amazon by clicking here!

Shaun, I will be waiting Book 2!