Isle of Wings: A Silverglen Companion Novel by E.A. Burnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of Roana and Iniko, Roana is nineteen and is desperate to leave the Isle of Wings, since the death of her family which she has been blamed for and the taunts, songs, physical abuse and near drowning by the local children, she has formulated a plan to leave. Iniko is a young man who is working on a ship with aspirations to one day have one of his own, complete with a crew and goods to sell across Skye Lake, he also has a troubled past and secrets of his own to keep.

We start with Roana and her sister sitting with their Grandpa as he sings, tells stories and exchanges riddles with them, a memory of happier times when they were still alive, she then moves to thinking about her Nan and how she has had to leave her and her dog behind on this venture, but also regretting not leaving a note when she left to say goodbye, she only thought of getting herself into the box of baskets and onto the ship. As she is being lifted o the boat, she hears snippets of conversations until her dog makes her way onto the boat and starts sniffing around her crate and the sailors see her in there and decide to open it up, so Roana grabs her knife and as soon as it is, she leaps out preparing to defend herself, as she does, they discuss who they think she is and doesn’t notice the other porters coming up behind her, but as she prepares herself to fight, so as not to be taken to the merchant who she tried to avoid paying fees to, a fearsome woman who is rumoured to be a sorceress as well, she feels a pulling sensation and her panic begin to ebb away from her. When she has been apprehended, she is sent to the sorceress, all the while thinking about how Iniko had managed to control her, but Iniko is wondering whether she is stupid or brave, realising that she is neither and just desperate, he is also trying to place where he has seen her before, he also notices that the dog isn’t all it seems either.

As they are walking, Iniko is trying to figure things out, he realises that although Roana didn’t want to be found, she needed to be and that his intuition was something he followed trusted, he explains why Roana is being brought and much to Roana’s consternation agrees to wait with her dog as it is not allowed in the building they are walking to. As Iniko’s friend leaves him to wait with Roana’s dog he reminisces about the last year which he has spent on the Isle and what his father taught him about being a shipmaster, as well as his dream about the ship he one day wants to own. Meanwhile, Roana is escorted to a room full of hundreds of snakes to wait for the sorceress, as she is marched there, she sees things in the rooms she passes which are mysterious and disturbing at the same time, but this is nothing compared to her meeting with the sorceress herself and the conversation they have about her past, present and possible future, as well as a glimpse into the sorceresses at the same time. Roana has no idea what just occurred when she is taken away from the room of snakes and led towards the outside, but when the guard is distracted by a serving woman, she is admiring the items she can see and considers stealing something to pay for her way off the island with her dog and grandmother, however as she is trying to find her way back she hears someone approaching and goes into a room to hide, but she finds an egg of a powerful and large species of bird and on a spur of the moment impulse, she decides to take that instead. When she leaves and goes to find Iniko, she declares that he is her husband and so embroils him in her scheme, Iniko is shocked to say the least and despite worrying about the consequences, he goes along with this strange womans plans and pretends that she is with child and stubborn with it, this being sorted out, they leave and make their way through the town and end up running away from a merchant whose property they broke, but Roana is determined to see the egg back to its rightful home, but this plan does not go smoothly either and they are attacked by the birds, so in the end Roana decides to take the egg home and raise it.

This is where Roana and Iniko’s lives meld together and as their situations become more precarious and the dangers they have brought upon themselves increase and things happen beyond their control, can they work together and use their combined skills to overcome their barriers, or will the sorceress find them and bend them to he will? The only way to find out is to travel along the path with the two and discover everything at the same times as they do, prepare yourself for a story full of magic, danger and love which keeps you guessing until the end and leaves you wanting more.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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