Falling into the Unknown

Good morning readers! Today I come to you with a new book titled Under Different Stars by Amy A. Bartol.  So far, my dear protagonist Kricket has fellen into the wrong hands from what I can tell- and they seem to be spouting nonsense to this orphan girl. The summary does make this encounter make more sense, but it surely is confusing for her. Grabbed at and tossed about until she escaped the system, Kricket has been running for a few years now. She only has to survive under the radar for a few more months to be free and a legal adult- but the arrival of people trying to get her to go somewhere that's apparently not in this world would mess with anyone. It's an incredibly action packed beginning, and you can immediately see just how street smart she is.

There are many ways the book could go from here- we're only in the beginning. Will Kricket escape the men? Probably. Will she get interested in this world and parents they speak of? Quite possibly, yes. Will there be lots of running? Absolutely. These and more are some of my predicitons and questions buzzing around my head. One of the many more important predicitons for me is the following: I do believe that Kricket will hurt someone she loves, and suffer greatly for it in the near future. Her nature is too unbalenced to not do so- and she's close to the edge with her fear as it is.

All in all, since I'm still in the very beginning  of the book, I can't really say what will happen next. There's not enough material for me to make many predictions but I cannot wait to get back to reading so I can! It is a truly exciting and gripping book. Are there any important predictions in books you've read, readers, that you made that have come true? I hope to hear about them soon, but for now I'm off to read! Happy reading!

Ps: Look at that beautiful cover! Doesn't it make you wanna read lots more?

A Useless Fear: My Opinions On The Near Witch's Theme

"Growing up in Near, I've heard a dozen stories about witches. My father hated those tales, told me they were made up by the Council to frighten people. 'Fear is a strange thing,' he used to say. 'It has the power to make people close their eyes, turn away. Nothing good grows out of fear.' "
 

Good morning readers!  Having finished my book recenly, I felt the need to touch on it's main theme- said quite well (in a way) in the quote above. The Near Witch  was a book that truly showed the detriments that come with fear and closed-mindedness. Several almost deaths, a misbegotten decision to kill, and a looming negative additude all were among the side effects of said fear. Eventually, once the fear was conquered, life became much better for everyone involved- but in the first place wouldn't it have been better if they had been able to face it faster?

Everyone experiences a fear of something- be it socializing, talking in front of others, spiders, or like myself, being yelled at. Even the few who claim to be 'fearless' are afraid of something, deep down inside. Many times, this fear only harms us in the long run. How many oppurtunities did you miss because of something you were scared of? How many what-if's have kept you awake and caused you extra anxiety when you honestly had enough to begin with? Everyone has something they have missed or been harmed by with a fear- and the book gives a good message in assisting people to know that we need to let go- "Nothing good grows out of fear. ".
I know that from now on, I am going to take this lesson and learn from it. I think honestly, all of my readers should. We need to defeat our fears- for they only will harm us in the end. We can only become better readers, as we learn from our books and read on! Have a good read!

Near: A Peaceful Community

Good morning readers! After finishing my previous book (Which happened to be fabulous, I might add- you can read about it here.) I have yet again embarked upon another adventure into a fictional world. Today I'll be talking about the setting and such of my relatively
 new book The Near Witch.

" 'Of every aspect of the moor, the earth and stone and rain and fire, the wind is the strongest one in Near. Here on the outskirts of the village, the wind is always pressing close, making windows groan. It whispers and it howls and it sings. It can bend it's voice and cast it into any shape, long and thin enough to slide beneath the door, stout enough to seem a thing of weight and breath and bone.
            'The wind was here when you were born, when I was born, when our house was built, when the council was formed, and even when the Near Witch lived,' "
 

Above is a quote from my book, talking about the strange environment in which the book is set. This book really does emphasize the wind, it seems to be an important part of the mysterious element and makes it all the more creepy to read alone in a darker place. (Trust me on this.)  This community is very small and enclosed- I was able to notice this immediately. Everyone knows everyone, and strangers? Well, they aren't really appreciated without reason. I know this town - the town of Near- is not quite like our normal village, probably because of the apparent lack of not only technology but allowance of change within. Even our man character, Lexi, who is more tomboyish and dislikes the many things that are put on this Daddy's girl to make her more feminine- is bent by the society just slightly, just enough to make it seem otherworldly. What kind of town receives no visitors?

The overall eerie feeling the setting gives off only sucks you into the book more, I have learned, already 39% through it myself. You want to know the mysteries the moor hides. You want to know if the magic is real. You want to know why everything is happening. It's perfect for me, and others who enjoy the slightly off magic feel- the feeling of something being not quite right. What kinds of settings do you prefer for your novels? While you can obviously read of mine here, I would love to hear about yours!

All in all, I cannot wait to finish this book- which I am off to continue now. A happy reading to all of you dear readers, and a good day as well!

Lhind the Magical Rock (Not really)

   Good evening readers! I apologize for the lack of posts recently, as break seemed to have taken hold, looked me in the eyes and said to me something along the lines of 'you will forget you had any responsibilities at all'. But here I stand, fighting once again and bringing you more posts to poke at, question, and hopefully read!

   I have once again started a book, this time titled Lhind the Thief (No google chrome, that is her name not a misspelled word.) I am about 50% through this book, and may I say so far it has been interesting! Magic, a completely different world, royal scandal, and a different race of creatures all make for a need to know more in my book. It almost makes you wanna place yourself inside and ask, what would I be like in this universe? How would I react to this situation, based off my social position? What other customs are there? Ah, the possibilities of different book universes make me wanna write my own!

   Back to the point of today's post, I want to give you all an idea of what our dear main character, Lhind, is like. If I had to assign her an item, among the many many items in the universe, it would probably be something along the lines of a rough opal.

   Lhind is, most simply put, different. With an outside crafted by the one and only her to assist in thieving, she looks and smells simply atrocious and quite ignorable in the grand scheme of things. This, for her position, is perfectly fine with her. The outward appearance is highly deceiving and allows her to sneakily do her job, as well as avoid being caught doing the one thing she wants as few a people to know as possible. Not only is our dear girl different (I cannot say any more than that for spoiler related reasons) but she can also do magic- which in some countries would get her killed faster than the blink of an eye. With her own memories locked about just what she is, who she is, and where she came from- this object may be more fitting for her than even I know- and in the end she might just become a finely polished rock too. We can only see!

   Overall, I cannot wait to see how Lhind's moral standings change, along with the possible re-gaining of her obviously locked memories go as I continue through my novel. Between this book, and daily life I can only hope that I'll talk to you again soon readers!