Orphans of the Tide ~ Struan Murray

Expected UK Publication Date: 20th February 2020

I’m not going to pretend any differently, I picked up the proof copy of Orphans of the Tide because the cover is really pretty. Then, I read the blurb and it intrigued me. There is something about fantasy religions and mythology that I really enjoy.

Orphans of the Tide is children’s fiction that starts with a whale washing up onto a rooftop. Inside the whale is a young boy. The residents of the City (the last remaining city) believe that the boy is the Enemy, the god who drowned the world. Ellie, a young inventor, believes he’s not.

Ellie is the main character of this novel and when she was first introduced, I loved her immediately. Then, a few chapters in, I didn’t like her. To me, Ellie was rude to her friends and a bit of a know-it-all. She doesn’t treat her friends very well, keeps secrets from them and refuses to talk about certain subjects. The reader doesn’t know what these secrets are either and I found it very hard to like or trust her until the secrets began to unravel. Once you understand why Ellie is like she is, she becomes a lot more of a sympathetic character.

The plot of the book was predictable. As soon as you began to understand the world this is set in, it becomes quite easy to guess the outcome of everything. I don’t know how well the age group this is aimed at would guess the plot but as an adult reading this, I thought it was quite predictable.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book. Once I got past my dislike for Ellie, I enjoyed the story and read it quite quickly. I think, had I been in the correct age group, I would’ve devoured this novel, probably in one sitting. Overall, I give it three stars.

C🌙