Part Viking, part Eskimo, Neiva Ellis knew her family’s ancestral home, the island of Spirit, Alaska, held a secret. A mystery so sensitive everyone, including her beloved grandmother, was keeping it from her.

When Neiva is sent to stay on the island while her parents tour Europe she sets out on a mission to uncover the truth, but she was not prepared for what laid ahead.

On the night of her seventeenth birthday, the Eskimo rite of passage, Neiva is mysteriously catapulted into another world full of mystical creatures, ancient traditions, and a masked stranger who awakens feelings deep within her heart. Along with her best friends Nate, Viv and Breezy, she uncovers the truth behind the town of Spirit and about her own heritage.

When an evil force threatens those closest to her, Neiva will stop at nothing to defend her family and friends. Eskimo traditions and legends become real as two worlds merge together to fight a force so ancient and evil it could destroy not only Spirit but the rest of humanity.

Whilst her parents are travelling to Europe, Neiva Ellis is having to stay with her Grandmother, who lives on a small island off the coast of Alaska, called Spirit.

The island isn’t one that you would find on any map though, as ‘Spirit’ is protected from the world and hidden away – unbeknown to Neiva when she first arrives.

It is a mystical place shrouded in secrecy and watched over by guardians. On her seventeenth birthday, Neiva starts to realise that something is different about the place, and the people when she begins to see through the glamour that has been protecting the residents, and hiding their true identities from the public.

When her friends start to come through to her in their true form (animals), Neiva is initially perplexed and unsure what to do. She is understandably scared. Once they managed to calm her down, and explain about the secrecy of the island, Neiva starts to settle in to the Spirit way of life.

It is not only the island’s secret identity she has to deal with, as Neiva begins to have very realistic dreams about a masked man, Darius. She feels that she has a strong connection to him, and quickly starts to fall in love.

When an evil entity threatens her family and the residents of Spirit, let alone the rest of the world, Neiva will stop at nothing to save them.

Firstly I have to say that I think the cover is beautiful, this partly persuaded me in choosing this book – I know, naughty! That and the fact that I like books on mystical heritage.

Blonde Eskimo started strongly and had me hooked straight away, including wanting to know why a big black bird kept attacking Neiva and wouldn’t let her document her stay on the island.

However, once Neiva had turned seventeen and the glamour had started to fade, I soon became disinterested, and it took me a long time to finish the book. There was no real mystery any more to keep me hooked. I ended up reading a chapter, and then putting the book down for a while and then reading another chapter, and putting it down again. I did this until I had finished it.

The characters at the start had me rooting for them, especially Darius and Neiva, who seemed like a couple destined to be together from the off. This however was short-lived once my interest dwindled. I also found that I didn’t really care much for the secondary characters in the book.

I feel that someone a lot younger than me may love this book (14/15 year olds), but for me, the story was just too far-fetched and not to my taste.

Kristen Hunt is an artist and writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is an avid fan of movies, graphic novels and Young Adult literature. Anything evolving fantasy and supernatural experiences captures her interests.

As a young child Kristen visited her family in Nome, Alaska and learned of her Eskimo heritage. Her Grandmother, known as the blonde Eskimo because of her golden hair and blue eyes, told Kristen the many legends found throughout Alaska, such as the Ishegocks, totems, and much more. It was these stories that inspired Kristen to write her current novel.

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