The Eye of the Crystal Ball
T.P. Boje
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Synopsis:
When Sara was a newborn her parents left her at the doorstep at Mr. and Mrs. Schneider’s house.
When Sara was ten she discovered she was telekinetic. She began to move stuff around when she got angry just by her will alone.
When Sara was twelve her real parents came for her and took her with them to live like the Gypsy that she was – or Romani as they like to call themselves. They told her she was going to fulfill a prophecy. That it was once said that out of the Romani people the greatest sorceress who had ever lived would be born.
When Sara was thirteen she had a baby brother and when she was fourteen he got very sick with a strange illness.
To save her baby-brother Sara sets off on a quest to find his cure – well knowing that it will cost her dearly.
Soon Sara finds herself going through the Singing Cave, crossing Wild Witches Valley, talking to a ten foot giant snail, rescuing the Beads of Souls from the Hell-hounds, escaping a spell in Vamila, the Forest of Vanity, visiting the king at the City of Lights before she finally reaches the Black Castle where she is told the Eye of the Crystal Ball can tell her how to cure her brother’s strange illness.
But nothing is free in this world – and as Sara soon will know – everything has a price.
Review:
As a big fan of the Young Adult genre and all things magically related, I was looking forward to reading author T. P. Boje’s novel, The Eye of the Crystal Ball. Thankfully, I had been aware the novel was suited more for the age of pre-teen and younger so I was not put off by the simplicity in the author’s writing style. It’s very child like in many ways and in that respect, endearing.
I enjoyed certain aspects contained within the plot of the novel like the fantasy creatures such the gypsies, dragons, elves, witches, fortune tellers, unicorns, werewolves, and goblins. I also liked the fact that Sara was such a strong female lead and could relate to her stubbornness. I loved the history of the gypsies and the way their lifestyle was presented throughout the book.
The book, though, did falter in many other regards such as characterization, cohesiveness, structure, and plot. The book starts off interestingly enough with intrigue since Sara is left on the doorstep of complete strangers and has elements of various good attempts at creating suspense, such as the scene where Sara’s real parents return. But the dialogue was very bland as were the characters. There was no one character I could really connect to because they were not fleshed out well enough. The biggest problem behind the book is that most of the story is TOLD to the reader rather than SHOWN. I got bored with constantly having the author tell me what was going to happen next instead of finding my imagination connecting with Sara’s story.
Underneath the underdeveloped story is potential. Perhaps through a good edit and growth in author T.P. Boje’s writing style, The Eye of the Crystal will be able to find a more enthusiastic fanbase. I do wish the author much success in the future and hope to read more of her work since I always look forward to seeing how much authors grow as writers.
