Broken Shell Island, The Witches of West Shore [Kindle Edition]

Dalya Moon (Author)

Book Description

Opal gets a dirty old suitcase for her birthday. She's not impressed. Her grandfather tells her she'll need it, because she's going to live with her great aunt on Broken Shell Island. Opal wonders if her grandfather hasn't gone senile, because Broken Shell Island is a made-up magical place that their family friend Flora Fritz writes picture books about.

 

Oh, but the island is real. And magic.

Opal encounters magical plants, animals, and danger, too. The evening she arrives, a body is discovered in the woods, not far from where she passed through. Worse, a terrifying creature has emerged from the ground, and it hungers for the innocent, whether the people of the island believe in it or not.

While young Opal is eager to fit into her new life, perhaps becoming a witch, she's mainly concerned about surviving her first week. Riding a unicorn is not quite the experience she expected, nor is her first encounter with hair-styling pixies.

Life is beautiful, magical, and perilous, on Broken Shell Island.

Ages: Family-friendly, no swearing or mature content beyond some adventure-type action and violence.
Length: 78,800 words / approx 240 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review

Broken Shell Island weaves a clever spell within its pages, mixing a dash of Harry Potter with a sprig of Douglas Adams, resulting in an entrancing and quirky tale infused with Dalya Moon's trademark humor and seemingly-effortless storytelling. 

 

I couldn't put it down, and I'm betting you won't be able to either. I just have one word of warning: watch out for the pixies!

 

Amber Sweetapple, author of The Houri Legends Series

About the Author

Dalya Moon loves to write!

Product Details

• File Size: 601 KB
• Print Length: 251 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008U5MZU0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,086 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for teenagers and adults alike August 13, 2012

By SR

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Opal Button is a newcomer on the Broken Shell Island and a suspect of a murder. With her determination and enthusiasm, she'll not only prove her innocence, but also make sure the Island, her new home, is safe from evil creatures. The author successfully keeps the mystery until the very end, dropping only a few red herrings here and there to keep you guessing.

I liked Opal's humor from the very beginning. She's a loving, open-minded girl who is fond of her cellphone, but manages to stay without it throughout the entire story. The other characters were fun to read, too. Particularly the Sheriff Max (of maximum pleasure) and Edwin Taxman.

To say this book is packed with creativity and imagination is an underestimation. You'll be surprised to find out pee can actually be good for your hair, well if it's pixie pee of course. Pancakes with bees, giant owls with a huge appetite for talking goats, and Hansel and Gretel as serial killers! But aside from these details, the story line is very engaging, and the dialogues are very entertaining. There were more than a few times I laughed out loud until my stomach hurt while reading it.

The author's narrative voice, writing style, and ability to perceive the world through the eyes of a fifteen-year-old girl was outstanding.

A well-earned five stars!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved IT definite one for the reading list August 27, 2012

By Katie Silver

Format:Kindle Edition

I absolutely loved this book, from chapter one, I was drawn into an alternative world where life could be perfect, needless to say even here life has its trials and tribulations. The main character Opal is an innocent 15 year old girl who was plucked out of her life with her grandfather and friends into a magical new existence. The author vividly spurs your imagination with amazing descriptions of the surroundings in this new world, without ever drawing from the mystical story. I particularly liked the witches with their devilish tricks and how Zara itched to reveal the secret of their magic.

There is so much to entertain you while reading this story; the characters are captivating each with their own story, intertwined with the mythical creatures such as trolls, pixies, demons etc. along with a fascinating historical tale of the Islands history.

This is a story that moves through all the emotions of life from adulation to envy and innocent beliefs to horror. It sucks you in and provides an unexpected twist, it's a book that fuels the imagination, and I would certainly read more if there was a series of novels about Broken Shell Island.

Although this book is aimed at teenagers and young adults, those of any age who love a well spun fantasy will love this book.

Razberryjuice

Our reviews are all independent and have no link to the authors

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Magical Island August 23, 2012

By R. Laney

Format:Kindle Edition

4 STARS

Broken Shell Island draws you right into the story and made me care about Opal right away. Some parts of the story I could see get a 5 stars and other part 3.
Opal is at a birthday party with her grandfather and his senior friends. She has been hopeful that she will get a bike. She even printed off a picture of the one she wants and a map to the store.
Instead she gets a box with a old suitcase in it. Her grandfather says she is going to Broken Shell Island that his friend wrote books about the place. Everyone is excited that she is going she does not want to leave her grandfather. Who has raised her.
He tells her that she needs to pack because she is going right away and she will be living with his sister. That he is dying. After fighting and arguing that she does not want to leave him. He drives her three hours away and puts her in a boat with a big stranger.
Opal is getting close the captain throws her suitcase in the ocean and then throws her in. He yells to her to old onto the suitcase and she will make it. Opal can not believe that she got thrown into the ocean. When she found the suitcase it was warm and moved her. She let go of it and she got cold and the suitcase stayed in place.
After Opal lands on a beach with broken shells and she is all alone. She tries to remember the stories she had read so long ago about a magical island.
Opal is a real likeable character and she does not give up easily. She cares about her new friends.
The plot has a lot of action that is happening on the island around Opal as she is thrown into different situations that are going on. The island does not have cell phones,internet,cars but does have different animals,weird plants , witches and magic.
Most of the plot makes sense some of it was pretty far out thier.
It kept my attention on what was happening and I wanted to know more about the island.
This is a stand alone book but he does plan on going back to the island in more stories. I would like to come back and read more about Broken Shell Island in the future.
This would be a good book for any age. No sex scenes or foul language. It does have witches, mini goats that might talk, trolls, Giant Owls, and lots of adventure as Opal learns about the island and find out who was murdered and why she is a suspect.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Librarything.
08/06/2012 PUB. 252 pages

More About the Author

Dalya Moon is a nerd. A geek. A girl who wears glasses and receives few passes.

Her two dream jobs are:
- Directing movies
- Writing stories

As she has no training at directing movies, plus she hears the movie business is HARD, with a lot of standing around in uncomfortable weather, she has stuck with story-writing, and most days she's very happy with that decision.

Come say hi on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dalyamoon
Official website: www.dalyamoon.com

P.S. Dalya also writes New Adult Contemporary Romance and *other stuff* under the name Mimi Strong.