Trailer Tuesday (26)

Wow.  I saw this trailer without any idea of what the book was about, and I was hooked.  The unique animation style, the scary sound effects, the creepy chalk writing - it's just an awesome trailer, period.  And then I read the description on Amazon... and now I serious can not wait to get my hands on this book!  What do you think of this video (and Inside Out itself)?

Author Interview: Karyn Henley, This or That

Today I'm thrilled to welcome Karyn Henley, author of Breath of Angel, to novapsych for a This-or-That interview!

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Outside or inside?

Inside with big windows so I can look out.

Summer or winter?

Summer. (although my favorites are spring and fall)

White chocolate or dark chocolate?

Definitely dark chocolate. About 72% cocoa.

Sweet or sour?

Salty. (sweet-salty or sour-salty would work)

TV shows or movies?

Movies. I love the music that underscores movies as well as the longer stories that movies can tell.

Dictionary or thesaurus?

Oooh. That’s a hard one. I use the thesaurus more, though.

Pen or pencil?

Pen. Especially when writing, a pen prevents me from erasing what I may decide later I should have kept. So I just draw a line or an X through something I want to delete in case I want to undelete it later.

Cats or dogs?

Cats. I love dogs, too, but cats are less dependent and not usually as needy as dogs.

M&Ms or Skittles?

M&M’s. It’s the chocolate! 

Gold or silver?

Silver. My wedding ring is white gold, which looks like silver.

Poetry or prose?

Again, a hard, hard choice. I love both. But I think I’m more picky about poetry. I think it’s harder to write than prose, though both need rhythm and flow. I read more prose. So I’ll go with prose.

Truth or dare?

Truth. Integrity is a pretty big deal for me.

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Thanks for stopping by, Karyn!  Great answers!

Review: The Eyes of a King

When Leo finds a mysterious book that seems to write itself, he is fascinated by its story.  It's an escape from the dreary world of his pious Grandmother, saintly brother, and harsh military academy.  In its tale of adventure and intrigue, Leo loses himself - until he begins to wonder about the disturbing parallels between his world and and the world of the story.  Is the book just fiction, or is it telling a truth that the tyrannical government will do anything to suppress?

Entertainment: ★★★

Frankly it was confusing.  Interesting, touching, even tragic at times... but confusing.

Plot: ★★

There were more or less three semi-overlapping storylines: Leo, looking back on his life from an indefinite time in the future; Leo, in the present, reading the book; and the book's story.  In addition there were quite a few characters to keep track of and in general the whole thing was just overly complicated.  I spent the first half of the book mostly lost, and I'm still wondering about a few things.

That said, I liked the interesting intersection of England and Malonia, Leo's world, and the plot line was somewhat interesting.  So it redeemed itself a little, after I started to get my bearings.

Characters: ★★★★★

The characters were excellent, with the minor exception of the prince who I found to be a complete wimp.  They were plausible, three-dimensional, flawed, and yet appealing.  When one character died, I actually teared up, I was so upset.

Writing: ★★★

Decent.  Could have been better, but also could've been worse.  It was a little (rather a lot) detail-heavy and slow, but also at times touching and sweet.

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

Review: The False Princess

This book counts towards the Debut challenge.




Nalia is the princess - or at least she thought she was.  But upon turning sixteen, she discovers that she is in fact just a common girl, raised in the real princess's stead to keep her safe.  Turned out with a handful of coins and a new name, Sinda, she has to make her way in the real world now.

But the real world is a cruel place - more cruel than Sinda ever realized.  With the help of her budding magic powers, she discovers a sixteen-year-old conspiracy to steal the throne.  It's up to her to stop it... but what can one false princess do?

Entertainment: ★★★

Although I wasn't a huge fan of the plot, it was an interesting premise, with fairly well-written characters and a nice writing style.  I ended up liking The False Princess, although I wasn't in love with it.

Plot: ★★

The plot was underwhelming - it started off quite interesting, but quickly became pedantic and predictable.

Characters: ★★★★

I liked some of the characters a lot; Kieran was cute & the villain was decently written.  I never really got a fix on Sinda, and I'm still not quite decided whether I liked her or not.  But the other characters were, overall, well-done.

Writing: ★★★★

The writing was tasteful, well-paced, interesting, and detailed without being slow or boring.  I liked it quite a lot.

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

Review: Cursebusters!

Reeno has pink hair and tattoos of snakes twisting around her arms.  Reeno has the odd ability to see colors around people - their auras.  Reeno is an accomplished burglar and rebellious teenager extraordinaire.  Reeno is being sent to reform school.

But the school isn't all that it seems.  Reeno's not the only budding psychic in the school.  And she may be in over her head when she's befriended - well, recruited - by the A.B., the Alpha Beast, a sinister and rather rude cat.  The A.B. wants Reeno for a very specific purpose...

Entertainment: ★★★★

It was fun, unique, exciting - very enjoyable to read.

Plot: ★★★★

The Mayan mythology mixed with the psychic powers was an interesting twist.  The idea of A.B. and the other Planet Guardians was really cool.  And Reeno's attempts to thwart an ancient curse were exciting and fun.  Overall, I liked the plot very much.

Characters: ★★★★

Reeno herself was pretty cool - I loved her pink hair and tattoos, I loved her snarky personality, I just loved her.  I thought it was a little cheesy that everybody referred to her as a master thief, given that she honestly didn't seem all that talented in the field of thievery.  But overall, she was awesome.  The side characters were so-so, none of the human characters were really memorable.  But the A.B. was awesome - and really funny.

Writing: ★★★

It was pretty well written.  I usually like a more formal style - less "Omigods!" - but given Reeno's character type I thought the causal style worked fine.

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

Review: Changeless

This book counts towards the Shifter challenge.


Alexia's new husband, a Scottish werewolf, vanishes one afternoon.  Alexia is left with an army of werewolves camped on her front lawn, a shocking French milliner with quite a few secrets, and a mysterious bout of normality striking all the supernaturals in London.  So with her trusty parasol in hand, Alexia is off to Scotland to solve mysteries and find her husband.

Entertainment: ★★

I was very disappointed, after enjoying the first book in the series so much.  This installment didn't hold my interest, moved far too slowly, and just wasn't all that exciting.  It was, frankly, a letdown.  I ended up taking a very long time to finish Changeless, because I kept putting it down to read other books.

Plot: ★★★

The plot started somewhere around the 250th page.  The previous 2/3 of the book was devoted to scene-setting, inane dialogue, and nothing much happening.  It was kind of boring, actually.  Then, when the plot finally started, it was decent but nothing too thrilling.  Not really worth the 250 page wait.

Characters: ★★

The characters from the first book didn't seem to grow or change, at all.  And the new characters - most of them at least - were just plain boring.  Some were lesbians, which was bizarre, seemed out of contest, and served only to make things awkward.  I didn't manage to empathize with any of them.

Writing: ★★

The unique voice I remember from the first book just wasn't there this time.  It was slow, even cumbersome, and not clever or fun at all.

End Result: two stars.  I was not impressed.

Wishlist Wednesday

Book description (Amazon): Claire is struggling to overcome the murder of her childhood friend and secret crush, Daniel. Everyone else seems to be moving on with their lives, but she's still trying to cope. The fact that she finds herself alone and drowning on her 16th birthday isn't helping. 
Neither is thinking she sees Daniel's face in murky water as she mysteriously resurfaces. But something happened during those four and a half minutes that will make her realize it was not just her imagination.

As Claire and Daniel try to grasp a possible reconnection, other grudge-holding beings have plans of their own. Now, the two of them have to decide if their fleeting relationship is worth the possibility of Claire being trapped on the fringe forever.

This sounds like a unique story, a lovely romance, and a really enjoyable book; plus, I am in love with that cover.  I want to read On the Fringe as soon as it comes out!  What do you think - will you be reading On the Fringe?