Follow Friday!

Hi, blog hoppers, welcome to novapsych!  

Follow Friday Question: 

DO YOU JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER?

Absolutely.  To me the cover is one of the best parts of the book!

Nickel Plated Winner!

Congrats to Heather!

Hope you enjoy Nickel Plated as much as I did!

Review: Broken

This book counts towards the Debut Author challenge.




Broken was once a superhero.  But since she lost the ability to fly, she's been living on the streets, unable to die and unable to care as the world falls apart around her.

Ian is a baby, a baby who will either grow up to be the world's cruelest dictator or the savior of humanity.  His mother abandoned him to Michael's care before killing herself.

Michael can see the future, or at least millions of possible futures.  He knows that he needs to save the world, and he knows that he needs Broken and Ian to do it.  He just doesn't know whether they'll succeed, or die trying...

Entertainment: ★★★★

I like the idea of combining a superhero story with a dystopian story.  It ended up as a unique, interesting, and touching novel.

Plot: ★★★

The pro: it was amazingly emotional.  The con: it was a little predictable.

Characters: ★★★★

I loved Michael to death.  As a person, he was interesting and complex.  But his powers really made him - or more specifically, the way he dealt with all the awful side affects of having his powers.  Anyways, he was amazing.  Broken I was only so-so on, she didn't seem to have all that much personality.  Half the time she acted like a robot, just fighting and drinking and sleeping without real emotion or drive or ambition or anything else.  But I didn't care, I liked Michael enough to overlook her faults.

Writing: ★★★★

It was quite powerful, really, it deserved five stars.  I took a star off because there were a few fairly noticeable grammar errors that bothered me, but it was really very good overall.

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

Wishlist Wednesday

It was the cover that first got my attention - it's awesome!  Then I read the description:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her.


This dystopia sounds really interesting, and the story sounds exciting!  I can't wait until May!  What about you - will you be reading Divergent?

Review: The Otherland

Virtual Reality has become a reality.  Everybody is plugged in: Renie from South Africa and her Bushman student !Xabbu; the terminally sick Orlando; Paul Jonas, a soldier who may or may not be real and may or may not be from a completely different era; Renie’s little brother, Stephen, lying in a coma after a disastrous web trip; plus kids, adults, and hackers galore.  All of them view VR differently: with hope, with hate, with love, or as just another tool.  All of them, from different backgrounds and practically different worlds, will be thrown together in search of a massive conspiracy that may redefine the net as they know it.  They will have to fend off the mysterious Grail Brotherhood, with hidden motives and unimaginable power, who will do anything to protect the secret of the golden city and the Grail Project…

Entertainment: ★★★

First off, this book is 800 pages long.  Even for a dedicated reader, that’s a lot.  By the 600s, my interest was starting to flag.  Plus, this book just didn’t hold my attention.  I actually put it down halfway through and read another book, just for a quick break.  It wasn’t boring or anything, it just wasn’t gripping enough to be worth wading through 800 pages at once.

Plot: ★★★

This plot could get five stars just for being fascinating, if it would sit still long enough to make sense.  I was forced to track at least five different plot lines, most of which didn’t even intersect until quite late in the book, all occurring in different settings with different characters with different motivations.  Things happened very quickly and occasionally without a lot of explanation.  I was just confused at some parts.  Also, the ending just kind of stops.  Literally, I wondered for a moment if I was missing a chapter that explains what the heck actually happens.  So overall, it was a really cool plot, just really really complex.  Get ready to think.

Characters: ★★★★

I found the villains really, absolutely fascinating.  They seemed incredibly real, and I was really interested in their plans and plots.  That said, the protagonists were only so-so; they were well-written, but nothing really stands out about them.  Particularly, I had a hard time connecting with their grief.  Orlando is dying.  Renie’s brother’s in a coma.  !Xabbu’s whole culture has been wiped out.  Come on, that’s a great opportunity for some serious angst there!  But when the characters did deign to complain or feel emotion, it didn’t feel as real as it might have.

Well, they were fine characters besides their non-emotions.  I liked the diversity (Williams really covers the spectrum, with tons of races, ages, genders, opinions, everything.  Hello, Bushman?  When’s the last time you read a book involving Bushmen?) and I liked that each character seemed to narrate in a different voice, instead of slapping them all with the same generic style.

Writing: ★★

Sometimes the descriptions got really dense and detailed.  Also, while I got an overload of description on the VR environments and the Real World environments, I found the description of the technology a little lacking. Also, besides !Xabbu, most of the main characters never really got a description.  I’m still not sure what some of them look like.  I was a little annoyed by that; yes, I can picture them in my head, but I like a starting point.  So I was not overwhelmed by the writing.

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

Review: Academy 7

This book counts towards the What's in a Name challenge.




Dane is a child of privilege, rebellious son of one of the four rulers of the Alliance.  Aerin is an outcast, a runaway slave girl.  They are stubborn, lonely, and the most competitive students at the most competitive school in the universe, Academy 7.  Despite their intense competition and their intense fear of attachment, they find themselves slowly falling in love.  They seem perfect for each other.

But of course, the universe would never let it be that easy...

Entertainment: ★★★★

A quick, fun space romance that made for an enjoyable afternoon.

Plot: ★★★

I liked that the romance took its time and proceeded naturally, instead of simply flinging the two together and declaring them Soul Mates.  I also thought the romance itself was sweet and enjoyable.

Characters: ★★★★

Although the basic rebellious rich boy and rebellious ex-slave character type isn't anything new, Osterlund breathed new life into them with Dane and Aerin.  I liked them both.

Writing: ★★★

Although I wasn't awed by the description, I liked the dialogue very much and the intelligent debates kept the writing interesting.

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

Blog Hop/Follow Friday!

Hi, fellow blog hoppers, welcome to novapsych!  While you're here, check out my current contest!

Follow Friday Question: 

WHAT IS THE BOOK THAT YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT TO LOVING? 

I.... don't really have one.  If I love a book I love it, and as far as I'm concerned that's that.  If anybody else has a problem with what I read, well, that's their problem, right?

Blog Hop Question: 

Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?

Depends on what you mean by "best."  When I was little, I think seven, my dad told me my pet had died!  It was horrible - but it's certainly the one prank that left the biggest impression on me.  As far as the funniest prank, or something like that - probably the time I convinced my brother, five or six at the time, that a stuffed animal had come to life.  I hid a walkie-talkie inside and he was convinced that it was talking to him :)