Orphans of the Tide

When a mysterious boy washes in with the tide, the citizens believe he's the Enemy - the god who drowned the world - come again to cause untold chaos.

Only Ellie, a fearless young inventor living in a workshop crammed with curiosities, believes he's innocent.

But the Enemy can take possession of any human body and the ruthless Inquisition are determined to destroy it forever.

To save the boy, Ellie must prove who he really is - even if that means revealing her own dangerous secret {goodreads summary}

Orphans of the Tide is a wonderful adventure story full of twists and turns. It gripped me from the opening chapter, where a whale is stranded at The City's sea wall and a boy emerges from its carcass, and the excitement continued to build throughout.

I LOVED the characters. Ellie, Anna and Seth were all so well defined. I adored Anna's sass and funny quips. She burst from the page and made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Ellie is a superb protagonist and young children will delight in her inventiveness, and hopefully feel inspired to embark on some creating of their own. This is also a story with a lot of heart. It talks about loss, identity and guilt in a way that makes you feel deeply for the characters. 

The interaction between Ellie and Finn was also fantastic. There was lots of mystery, intrigue, and funny dialogue in their early interactions and I was excited every time he appeared on the page.  

The world Murray creates is amazing, different and immersive, with beautiful descriptions of submerged cities and dangerous gods. Manuel Samberac's illustrations are a brilliant addition and I can't wait to see them properly in the printed version. Vocabulary stretches but is always well explained, introducing complicated terms like parasites in a way that is clear to understand. 

I adored this story and can't wait to see what Murray writes next. Thank you Puffin for providing me with a review copy via Netgalley.