Blog Tour: The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay by Aoife Lennon-Ritche, presented by Tantrum Books...Review & Giveaway!

 

Hope you enjoy learning more about this book and read my review below!

There's also a giveaway!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay
by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie
Publication Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher:  Tantrum Books


This winter, siblings Ruairi and Dani Miller visit their ancestral homeland: the legendary Viking island of Yondersaay. Even with Granny Miller's storytelling to pass the time, the pair manage to find trouble. In less than twenty-four hours of their arrival, Ruairi is mistaken for the lost Boy King of Denmark, kidnapped by Vikings, and scheduled to be sacrificed at sundown. Granny isn’t very pleased.

But when everyone except them goes Viking, the three turn to Granny’s epic tales of the legends of Yondersaay, The Gifts of Odin, and King Dudo the Mightily Impressive for clues. But not all stories end happily, and Ruari, Dani, and Granny will have to write their own happy ending.

The Princess Bride meets Vikings in this enchanted tale of high adventure, buried treasure, villainous treachery, violent ends, and – of course – true love. Aoife Lennon-Ritchie's debut middle grade novel, THE EXTREMELY EPIC VIKING TALE OF YONDERSAAY, is a humorous and heartwarming story for readers ages 9+.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Irish actor and writer Aoife Lennon-Ritchie studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, the Universita di Catania in Italy, University College Dublin in Ireland, and the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Aoife holds diplomas, degrees and a Masters in the multiple fields of business and information technology, English and classic literature, theatre and creative writing; she looks forward to doing her PhD in Film and Media. Always searching for new adventures, Aoife has lived in the UK, France, Greece, Italy, and several US cities, including Chicago, New York and Pittsburgh. She speaks three (and a half) languages. Although she was once an investment banker, she much prefers acting, fencing, writing, and being a mum. She currently lives in Cape Town with her handsome husband and two small children.

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MY REVIEW

Title: The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay

Author: Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

Format: Digital ARC

Source: Publisher

With a title like “The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay,” this book had quite a bit to live up to, and I must say that it certainly managed tried its best with a fun story, fascinating characters, and unique plot twist that I definitely see coming.

Siblings Ruairi and Dani and excited to be spending the Christmas holidays in Yondersaay with their great-great-great-grandmother, or as everyone calls her, Granny.  On the long journey to Yondersaay, their Granny begins to entertain them as well us readers with stories from Yondersaay’s past and of King Dudo and Odin.  She continues these stories throughout the entire first part of the book and I found them to be quite interesting.  They are interspersed throughout the day to day comings and goings of the family and Granny frequently gets distracted when telling them by other things she mentions in the story which occasionally leads to an unrelated tangent that the children must put a stop to and get her back on track.  Having a grandparent who tends to do that herself, I could completely relate to the kids at that point and I fell a little bit in love with Granny as she made me miss my own Granny.  

Granny was easily my favorite character, however, her frequent stops and starts and the time between the stories (when daily life was going on as usual…although I understood the point of this in the second half…won’t say more because it could spoil it) at times made the stories confusing and difficult to follow and keep up with. But through her storytelling, we got to know Granny and her quirky personality shined through.

In the second part of the book, the children and Granny have woken up to a changed Yondersaay on Christmas Even Morning.  They must figure out what is going on with their neighbors and also, eventually, Granny and Dani must rescue Ruairi when he is taken and figure out why Dani and Ruairi’s mum is acting strangely.  The second half of the book is more of a race against time/adventure for the siblings and Granny than the relaxing story time the first half was…and I kind of enjoyed the first half a lot more for some reason.  I just can’t quite put my finger on why exactly.

As for the Dani and Ruairi, I loved the relationship and bond between the two siblings. Born less than a year apart they are practically twins.  True they squabble just like brothers and sisters do, but they truly love each other and would be lost with one another, which is evident as you read the story.  Children who read this book might recognize themselves or their own sibling relationship in this story, which is a great thing and wonderful way to be able to relate to the characters.

The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay was a fun read that not only made me chuckle at times, but also touched my heart.

My Rating: 3 ½ Stars

*I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

GIVEAWAY!

• One (1) winner will receive a scrabble tile book cover charm (US ONLY)
• Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of The Extremely Epic Viking Tale of Yondersaay by Aoife Lennon-Ritche (INT)

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