A Review for Whirl (Ondie Quartet #1) by Emma Raveling

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie 
Published Date: October 7th, 2011
Finished Date: November 23rd, 2011
Publishers: Mandorla Publishing
Source: For Review from Author
Format: E-Book
Pages: 258
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The Blurb from Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Kendra Irisavie is an ondine, a water elemental caught in the middle of an ancient war. The Aquidae are immortal dark demons who will stop at nothing to destroy the fragile balance of the Elemental world. Fierce and independent, Kendra has always played by her own rules. Gifted with the powerful magic of Virtue and trained to be a deadly fighter, she has spent her life breaking hearts and getting into trouble. When her life explodes one violent night in a northern California city, a dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past. Alone and with no one to trust, she must now navigate through a dangerous new world, face the temptations of a forbidden romance, and remain true to her duty and destiny. All while the Aquidae continue to hunt her down, in the hopes of eliminating her forever…

The Review: Kendra is an Ondine, she has been raised and trained everyday of her life so that when she came of age she could join her Mother in her daily hunting of the Aquidae, their natural enemy, evil demons intent on destroying the balance between the elements and killing the people who possess the magic of the elements. After the sudden death of her Mother, Kendra is sent to live with foster parents until she receives a note on her 17^th birthday telling her that she must go to Haverleau and that someone would come for her because now she has come of age the Aquidae will be able to sense her all the more and she is no longer safe. After being thrust into the enemy, she is rescued by a mysterious stranger who just happens to be her ride to the secret community of the Ondine. Once there and enrolled in school she finds out some shocking news about who she is and where she’s from and that everything she’d been brought up to believe isn’t the norm. So whilst struggling with the usual school drama, boys, bitches, friends and falling for the wrong person  . . . she also has to master her magic and become something she never wanted to be and all whilst avoiding attempts on her life.

I really liked this book, it’s a really good start to a series of four. Whilst it’s reminiscent of Vampire Academy in the basic plot the overall story is not. This is the first time I’ve read anything to do with Ondines and it was a nice change compared to all the vampires and werewolves kicking around. Kendra is a great character, feisty and independent, used to doing her own thing when and where she decided, She always knew she was going to hunt the Aquidae just like her mother did but when she dies and Kendra’s life is turned upside down we see a more determined Kendra. She had always moved around and didn’t make any attachments but was given the opportunity at school, she made friends and found she had things to fight for when she thought she had been alone and caged in. Everything she knew and thought to be right, was wrong and instead of bowing down to it, she challenged it and showed them all a different way. I can’t wait to see how her character develops in future books. I’ll try not to be too spoilery because I don’t want to give anything away . . .  I loved the plot, we get the enemies fighting each other, a community hidden from enemies, a boarding school full of the usual cliques, magic, different races in the Ondine community, teen angst, secrets and lies, multiple love interests, an interesting binding/marriage thing, forbidden love and a big fat prophecy! What’s not to love about all that?

The world the author has created is quite interesting and I’m curious to see where it’s going to lead. While everything is wrapped up nicely in this book I still have lots of questions and my own thoughts on where I want the story to go and arghh, the ending . . . .  please don’t leave it like that. . . . loved it and I need the next book now!