Book Review: The Eye of the Crystal Ball by T.P. Boje

Summary: Three weeks after her birth, Sara's parents left her on the doorstep of nice young couple in the midst of WWII. 12 years later, Sara discovers that she has telekinesis and she doesn't belong with the other kids at school. Right after this discovery, Sara's parents come back and take Sara to live with them as Gypsies. According to her parents, Sara is destined to be a great sorceress and fulfill a great prophecy one day. Sara comes to love her birth family and embrace the life as a Gypsy or, as they prefer to be called, a Romani. When Sara's mother has a baby, their lives are better than ever. But the baby soon gets sick and Sara has to take drastic measures to save it. Sara takes off on a journey to find the eye of the crystal ball, which holds the cure for her brother's illness. Sara must battle all kinds of mythical creatures and travel through the harshest of conditions, but nothing can stop this sorceress from saving the only family she has ever loved. 


Review: Wow, this was not what I was excepting, but definitely in a good way! As I was reading The Eye of the Crystal Ball, I felt like I was reading a fairy tale with witches, creepy forest, and yes, even unicorns. The narration kind of reminded me of the beginning of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a voice telling you about the character's life and what they go through. This aspect made it quirky and reminded me of the fun, magical books that I would read when I was younger. With this being said though, I felt that at some points I was being told the story instead of getting lost in Sara's magical world. This point is the reason this book only got four stars instead of five. Other than that, I was really intrigued by the life of Gypsies with magic, spells, and potions. It was fun to see what would come next on Sara's adventure to save her baby brother. The whole part of the story where Sara was traveling to the witch's castle to receive the crystal ball reminded me of Alice in Wonderland and how once she left some sort of creature/obstacle behind, there was always something else even more strange ahead of them. I would definitely say that this book is geared towards the younger young adult audience, but it was still so refreshing to read a quirky, fantastical story.