Saturday 25 October 2014

Oksa Pollock: The Heart of TwoWorlds by Anne Plichota & Cendrine Wolf (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

9th October 2014, Pushkin Press, 400 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Content: some fighting, some humour, tragedy, tissues definitely needed

Summary from Pushkin Press
Oksa's heart-stopping adventures continue, as she journeys to her enchanted homeland


Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, torrential rain... The Earth is in turmoil. Fleeing a flooded London, Oksa and the rest of the Pollock family set off in search of the Entrance Portal of Edefia, their magical home. It is their only chance of restoring the Earth's balance. To get there, Oksa is forced to ally herself with the terrible Felons, mortal enemies who could betray her at any moment. Luckily she also has some real friends at her side: Pavel, her shapeshifting father; Gus and Tugdual, the two rivals for her heart; and, of course, her formidable grandmother Dragomira, along with her menagerie of Edefian creatures. But little does Oksa know, not only will she have to brave countless dangers to reach the portal, she must also pay a terrible price to enter the hidden world... And what will await her on the other side?

Nayu's thoughts
Oksa is my Harry Potter. She has some highly cool powers, but she needs them to save the world – no, save two worlds. She finally gets to go to Edefia in this 3rd book in the series, but how she gets there, and what happens when she gets there is horrifying. So much so that although I love the stories, and I'm desperate to read it, and I can read French so in theory can read the rest of the series (which are all out in France), I'm not going to. I can wait for the English translation to be published. It is a heavy emotional read for me. There are heart wrenching scenes which you'll need tissues for. I needed super cute and fluffy anime to counteract the harsh reality of Oksa's world. 

Most of it is hard going, but the Edefia creatures provide great entertainment in exaggerating events, stating the obvious that no one wants to say. Oksa struggles with her relationship with pretty much very teen, especially moody Gus. I don't blame her as they were pretty close in book 1, but now they seem so distant and unable to speak what they truly feel. Oksa also struggles with how everyone - including their enemies - treat her. She just wants to be normal, which is something she'll never be. 

Find out more on the dedicated website.

Suggested read
Naturally read the first two books Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope & The Forest of Souls (Children's, 11 years +, 10E/10E)


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