Review - Upside-Down Magic

Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins

4 out of 5 gnomes

This is one of those books that I actually found myself wanting to read because of the cover. I work at a library and when I saw this on the holdshelf I knew I had to read it too.

This book is pretty darn adorable and has a heck of an interesting way of looking at magic. In this world it’s common but only certain kinds of magic are accepted. There are Flares, Fuzzies, Flickers, Flyers, and Fluxers. All these magics would be pretty cool on their own but then the whole Upside-Down magic gets thrown in.

These kids with messed up magic are really looked down upon. They are all put into a special classroom to try to understand their brand of magic. All the normal kids don’t exactly look kindly on them though or give them a lot of slack.

Nory is a Fluxer who can change into animals but not quite like she’s supposed to. It’s pretty funny picturing what she turns into. Her family is more than a little dysfunctional too. I don’t like her father at all and her siblings aren’t exactly understanding.

All the characters you meet are fun and have some really interesting magic. It was great in the end how they were all able to work together. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

THE ARCHIVED - How To Make a Keeper Key

Me and Tiny Reverse Vampire collaborated and came up with the idea to make a key that resembled the one on the cover of The Archived.  Hopefully these pictures can help all the aspiring Keepers out there make their own keys.

Now here's our key making tutorial:

What you'll need =

The Archived so you can base the key you're making off of the one on the cover.

Tools for shaping the key = clay (ours was bought at Target), a knife, toothpick, q-tips, a roller, and some water (which makes working with the clay easier.)

Start to shape the key.

More shaping and comparing to the picture.

A final comparison and smoothing out of some of the rough parts.

Painted the key with watercolors (you can also use just about any other kind of paint too.) 

The finished key and my copy of The Archived. 

Marvelous, Mysterious, Man of Mystery - Mr Blank

Mr Blank by Justin Robinson

* Received ARC from the publisher for review
* Book will be released October 23, 2012

 5 out of 5 gnomes

I adore this book.  I had no idea that I would enjoy this book so much, you never do learn the narrator’s real name but that’s what makes it so interesting.  This is one of those stories that just draws you in and will have you racing towards the last page all while actually laughing out loud a lot.  

The narrator or the story is one of those guys that blends into the background.  He’s blending in on purpose though because that’s what keeps him alive.  As the first line of the book states: “EVERY CONSPIRACY NEEDS A GUY LIKE ME.”  He does the grunt work for a myriad of organizations/secret societies.  The fun part is that the reader gets to see everything through his eyes and the structures and people that you meet in the various organizations are really funny.  

He’s making a pretty good living with these random jobs until one job leads to him almost being killed.  Things just snowball from there into some truly crazy situations.  These crazy situations are where the book gets truly intriguing because the narrator has to figure out what the heck is going on oh and how to stay alive.

The noir-like vibe and humor is what really cements everything together. The characters and situations are extremely well written, you can just easily visualize exactly what’s going on while reading.  I think this world would make for a tremendous tv show or movie.  

Being a tale full of noir it’s inevitable that the narrator would run into one heck of a dame. Mina is not your typical damsel in distress.  She’s a plus-size model with a lot of attitude who also kicks some serious butt. Her reactions to the crazy situation she finds herself in are very believable and most times she was the one that found the best solution to problems. They have almost a buddy cop like dynamic that’s hilarious to read.

Overall this book is a fast and funny read.  I recommend it highly especially if you love a good mystery and a book that’s full of funny.  I know I’m looking forward to seeing what the author chooses to write next.  Make sure to give Mr Blank a chance and check out this book when it’s released on October 23.