Thank you Allen & Unwin for this book in exchange for an honest review.

“The noise throws us from our beds. It’s too huge to be heard; it bombards us. It’s the sound of the end of the world”

Synopsis:

Leira is starting her initiation as a priestess when her world is turned upside down. A violent earthquake leaves her home in Pieces. And the goddess hasn’t finished with the island yet.

With her family, Leira flees across the sea to Crete, expecting sanctuary. But a volcanic eruption and tsunami throw the entire world into darkness.

In the resulting chaos, Leira finds her noble-born privilege reduced to nothing; alone with her injured mother and elderly nurse, Leira’s only hope of survival in her own resourcefulness.

Review:

Before I start talking about the book, I need to say that as an Australian, I wasn’t aware of Wendy Orr who moved to Australia at the age of 21. When I received this parcel from Allen & Unwin and this book was inside, I was stoked. I have always been a massive supporter of Aussie authors and I cannot get enough of them, whether they are self published or not.

Overall, I found that this book wasn’t for me. There were a lot of elements that I liked about the book but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to keep me enticed. Which is disappointing as I was looking at other works written by Wendy Orr but now I am not in a rush to go out and purchase her other books. Though one day I will, I hope to find her other books more enthralling.

I loved that young girls and women are empowered in this book. Usually in historical works, woman are usually just the barer of children. They have no say, they have no power and usually kept in the background and quiet. In Swallow’s Dance, woman have a powerful place on earth and it truly is inspiring to see.

What I also loved is the effort Orr went through with the research/ idea of this book. At the start of the book you find a little author’s note where Orr goes into details about a archaeological dig on the island of Santorini or as it was formally known as Thera, where a small village was discovered with their valuables still inside. When the volcano erupted those that were not injured had the chance to escape, the rest were buried for centuries. Basing a novel on what was found under the earth is truly fascinating and I found Orr’s imagination with this story is fascinating. The plot of the story itself was ingenious and had so much promise to it.

However, I believe that this story would have been better told from third person rather then first. I am not a massive fan of first person, for me it generally leaves the reader spending to much time in the characters mind rather than following the character through out the story. What was a massive disappointment in this book was our main character Leira spent most of time questioning herself, even in hectic situations where you would think instinct would take over. I mean who really stands still when a volcano is exploding and really start question their next moves. Me? I wouldn’t think twice about grabbing my family and running like hell.

Unfortunately another fact about this book that let me down was the fact I couldn’t relate to any of the characters. There would have been no remorse or tears if the characters died or suffered. They didn’t draw me in, even when their survival was at risk.

Overall the plot and the history behind this book were amazing however, the characters and the writing style just didn’t work for me. Though I will still keep an eye out for her other works.

Rating: 2/5

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

ISBN: 9781760297879