Wishlist Wednesday

Everywhere Silla Kennicott turns, she sees blood. She can't stop thinking about her parents' alleged murder-suicide. She is consumed by a book filled with spells that arrives mysteriously in the mail. The spells share one common ingredient: blood, and Silla is more than willing to cast a few. What's a little spilled blood if she can uncover the truth? And then there's Nick—the new guy at school who makes her pulse race. He has a few secrets of his own and is all too familiar with the lure of blood magic. Drawn together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick must find out who else in their small Missouri town knows their secret and will do anything to take the book and magic from Silla.


Blood Magic sounds intriguingly dark.  A little creepy.  Quite original.  I want to read it.  Soon.  What do you think - will you be reading Blood Magic when it comes out in May?

Review: How to Ditch Your Fairy

In New Avalon, almost everybody has their own fairy.  Rochelle has a clothes-shopping fairy; Steffi has a never-getting-in-trouble fairy; Fiorenze has an all-the-boys-will-like-you fairy.

Charlie has a parking fairy.  Besides being lame, it means she's carted around by the school bully as his own personal parking pass.  She's tried walking everywhere to get rid of it, but that just gets her demerits.  And when her crush, Steffi, falls for Fiorenze and her fairy, Charlie has to take drastic action.

Entertainment: ★★★★★

This book is so cute.  Seriously, I think I smiled the whole time I read it.  First, the fairies is such a funny/awesome idea!  Second, I am a major sucker for cool slang, and this book has got some doos (aka amazing) slang!

Plot: ★★★★

It's so random, so funny, so cute.  I can only describe it as "fluffy."

Characters: ★★

Charlie isn't that unique, and her crush seemed obnoxious.  Plus, Fiorenze is just annoying.  This is where the book loses a lot of points.

Writing: ★★★★★

Let me repeat: funny, random, cute, amazing, doos.

End Result: four stars.  A good book, definitely worth your time.

Blog Hop/Follow Friday!

Hi, fellow blog hoppers, welcome to novapsych!

Follow Friday Question: 

How did you come up with your blog name?

I really wish I had a dramatic story to tell here... but it was basically random.  I just liked the way no-va-psych sounded.

Blog Hop Question: 

Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?

It varies.  I usually have about two in progress at any given time.

Review: Flipped

When Bryce moved into Juli's neighborhood in the second grade, it was love at first sight... or was it?  Bryce immediately can't stand her; she's freaky, she's dirty, she raises chickens, and she sits in trees for fun.  But love is a funny thing, and in eighth grade their feelings begin to change.  Bryce begins to see how Juli's smarts, odd hobbies, and passions might actually be cool.  And Juli begins to look behind Bryce's adorable blue eyes, and realize just how shallow and empty he can be.

Entertainment: ★★★★

So here's the thing: I loved the first half of this book, seriously.  It was just so adorable.  The second half kind of went downhill a little, though, and it ended on an only-average note.  But overall, it was a cute, fun little read.

And oh, isn't that cover just the wackiest, cutest thing ever?

Plot: ★★

I wasn't in love with the plot, which seemed pretty overly-simplistic.  And a lot of the coincidences were just a little too convenient.  And, well, it just came off as predictable.

Characters: ★★★★

Bryce himself is severly lacking; the only characterization he ever gets, it felt like, was the constant gushing over his eyes and handsome face.  Juli makes up for him, though; she's dynamic, unique, and just interesting.  Also, I really liked most of the side characters.  While Juli and Bryce's school friends seemed a little flat, their family members were really interesting and well-written.

Writing: ★★★

Sometimes, there was a flash of description or narration that had a lot of potential.  But at other times, the writing was average at best.  It was really simplistic, and I got the sense that it was written for a much younger audience.  There just wasn't anything different or unique about the writing style at all to really hold my attention.

End Result: three stars.  A decent book, but not amazingly excellent.

Wishlist Wednesday

Description, a la Goodreads: Lexi is cursed with a dark secret. The water calls to her, draws her in, forces her to sing her deadly song to unsuspecting victims. If she succumbs, she kills. If she doesn’t, the pain is unbearable. To keep herself and those she cares about safe, she shuts herself off, refusing to make friends or fall in love—again. Because the last time she fell in love with a boy, he ended up dead. 

Then Lexi meets Cole. Against her better judgment, she finds herself opening up again, falling in love when she knows she shouldn’t. But when she’s offered the chance to finally live a normal life, she learns that the price she must pay to be free of her curse is giving him up. 


So, a few things I'm already loving about this book: the protagonist's powers aren't sparkles and rainbows, they're dangerous.  The protagonist is a siren (or something like it), a species sadly neglected in modern fiction.  The cover is intriguing - not just pretty, but interesting too.  And the title is amazing, I'm seriously loving it.


Anyways, Ripple will be out in July - and I already can't wait!  What do you think - will you be reading Ripple?

Review: The Book Thief

It's a small story, Death admits, a simple story.  It's the story of a girl who stole books.  Some were deliberate, others accidents, others crimes of opportunity.  But there's no denying that the girl was a book thief.

During World War II, Liesel is sent to live in the German countryside with a foster family, the Hubermanns.  They live on Himmel Street, a slum named after Heaven.  And slowly Himmel Street becomes Liesel's heaven as she makes friends with Rudy, a boy with lemon-colored hair, Max, a Jewish fist-fighter taking shelter in the Hubermanns' basement, the mayor's frail, reclusive, book-loving wife, and most of all her new parents.

Entertainment: ★★★★★

It's weird, I'll tell you that right now.  I mean, it's narrated by Death.  But it's weird in this surreal way that comes across, in the end, as just brilliant.  I read the entire book in one day, although devoured might be a more appropriate verb.

Plot: ★★★

There's not a lot of surprises.  Death basically spoils the ending in the first few pages.  But what plot there is the reader can't help but be emotionally invested in.  And if you're anything like me, you will end up crying before Death is through.

Characters: ★★★★★

I was more emotionally invested in some of these characters than I've been in any characters for months.  I felt like I knew these people.

Writing: ★★★★★

I think the most appropriate word would be surreal.  The story is told with a child's innocence and Death's cynicism, which sometimes blend into the same thing.  The description is unique, even bizarre, but in a weirdly beautiful way.

End Result: five stars.  A really excellent book.  Read it.

Music Monday

Ballad of Mona Lisa - Panic! at the Disco

A little haunting, a little fun, a lot beautiful, definitely unique, and absolutely memorable.  The music video is interesting, too, although honestly I'm not all that sure what to make of it...