Title: Mimus

Author: Lilli Thal (translated by John Brownjohn)

Genre: Fantasy, medieval history

Rating: A

Blurb: Who is the fool and who is the fooled?

Prince Florin and his father, King Philip, attend a banquet in the court of their former enemy, expecting peace at last for their war-torn kingdom. What greets them is a devastating betrayal. The king is humiliated and imprisoned, but Florin's fate is far stranger.

Forced to live in a stable, at the mercy of Mimus, the wily court jester, Florin is close to despair...until he uncovers clues to a secret plot. There may be hope, but can he entrust his life to the whim of a manipulative fool?

An intense medieval adventure story, highly acclaimed for its almost unbearable suspense.

Opinion: If I'm reading fantasy, I'm the one that goes more for dragons and magic and swashbuckling adventures. I have little to no interest in books labeled 'fantasy' but having not a hint of magic in them. That was what I'd thought when I randomly plucked this book off the shelf.

Having nothing else to read, I settled down to try this novel.

It's only when I really start to get into the novel then I realize that I really am enjoying it, magic or not. The characters started to become more and more alive - I felt as if I was there with Prince Florin himself, sharing his shame and his humiliation and his despair at his seemingly hopeless predicament. I winced when he was forced to perform jester tricks (he was, after all, apprenticed against his will to Mimus, the court jester, and was given the pet name of Little Mimus) in front of the people who betrayed his kingdom. I read about how he was forced to conform to his new role, unwilling as he was, and the way his quick, sharp mind sought for ways of escape. I read about how he thought his end was inevitable - until he found a shred of hope.

Prince Florin - or little Mimus, during his time as a jester apprentice - is a very lively character indeed. I was enthralled by him even before the book was finished. I hate the thought of confinement and the stifling of freedom, which was why I sympathized with Florin throughout his captivity. I cheered for him when the rescue mission went off smoothly and he was able to go home.

I was particularly intrigued with his relationship with Mimus, the court jester. At first read, I disliked the jester - he spoke of flippant things in a quick, loose tongue, and was highly irritating and annoying. As the novel progresses, however, I saw little sides to him that seemed to flash past - the way he was comforting Florin when the boy was having a particularly bad nightmare (making up an excuse for it afterwards, of course, complaining that the boy was being too noisy during the nightmare and that was the only reason why Mimus was stroking his brow anyway), his quickness to speak up to aid Florin when the boy bumbled in his act before the king, the way he helped Florin save his father...

By the end of the novel, I couldn't help but like Mimus as much as I did Florin. I found the old fool affectionate when he chose to be, and he did, after all, take care of Florin. The character interaction in the novel is excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. :) I even found myself rereading it!

Count to Ten

Title: Count to Ten

Author: Karen Rose

Genre: Crime, thriller, mystery

Rating: A

Blurb: Abandoned to the foster-care system, two young brothers end up in an unimaginable hell. When one dies, the other vows revenge on those responsible.

A fire investigator

Chicago Fire Department veteran Reed Solliday is sickened. An autopsy has revealed that a young girl found in the wreckage of an explosion was raped and murdered before fire ripped through the house. Solliday must now join forces with the police if they are to find the killer...

A detective

Determined to bury herself in work after her partner is shot, Mia Mitchell is immediately confronted by her most challenging case - an arsonist who has escalated from fire to rape and murder.

What will happen when their lives collide?

Count to ten and watch their worlds explode.

Opinion: A really excellent read, and only the tiniest bit hampered by the predictable romance line of the novel (the two characters always get together in the end *sigh*). Still, the thrill bit was every bit as absorbing and I was up late into the night trying) and failing - through no fault of the novel) to finish the book. The morning after, I grabbed the book as soon as humanely possible, continued reading, and was spooked for the rest of the day, having been heightened to a new feeling of paranoia. ;)

Character development was OK in the novel - I liked the way they interacted although really, don't you think the tough-female-cop-with-a-bad-past has been overused? Still, I'm the typical gal who enjoys such stories. D:

The murderer/arsonist cuts a swath of dead bodies through the novel, and sometimes you can't help but go, "No, don't kill him/her!" but the wish never comes true. Well, almost never. You can't help but feel sorry for the people he kills because for me, death is a very personal issue (although I have no problem writing the deaths of my own characters D:). Karen Rose is my new author addiction and I highly recommend that you hunt down this book and have a read.

~rage-chan

A Note of Madness

Title: A note of madness

Author: Tabitha Suzuma

Genre: Psychology, slice-of-life

Rating: A

Summary: Life as a student is good for Flynn. As one of the top pianists at the Royal College of Music, he is put forward for a big concert, the opportunity of a lifetime. But beneath the surface, things are changing. On a good day he feels full of energy and life, but on a bad day being alive is worse than being dead. Sometimes he wants to compose and practise all night, at other times he can't even get out of bed. His flatmate Harry tries to understand but is increasingly confused by Flynn's erratic mood swings. His friend Jennah tries to help, but Flynn finds it difficult to be around her - she evokes in him feelings that he can't accept. With the pressure of the forthcoming concert and the growing concern of his family and friends, emotions come to a head. Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. - Tabitha Suzuma's website

Opinion: Excellent. Something you -have- to read in one sitting, because it's that captivating. Flynn - the protagonist - is a very real person, and will turn out to be someone you will want to hug and cheer him up. You see, Flynn has bipolar disease - one minute, he's high and full of energy, and another, he's down in the slumps and thinks that life isn't worth living. The emotional edge to this novel is simply sizzling, and you'll be drawn into Flynn's up-and-down world in no time.

Even though I usually focus on novels with magical/fantasy themes, something drew me to this novel, and I now confess that it was the fact about him being a pianist. XD Not an entirely good reason for picking up a book, but I haven't regretted it in the least.

One drawback for me is that the novel is, in my opinion, too short. -.-' Still, that's not exactly a bad thing because some authors, if they draw out the plot too long, turns an excellent idea into something terrible.

Please read this. I'm begging you. *A* I simply loved it. You should at least give this a try.