(Review)The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball

TITLE: The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball
AUTHOR: Risa Green
PUB DATE: August 2010
PAGES: 315
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire

SOURCE: I received this from the publisher.

Description (from publishers site)

In a world where nothing is certain, a little magic couldn’t hurt…right?

When Erin Channing’s favorite aunt dies, Erin is bequeathed a pink crystal ball and a set of weird instructions. Granted, Aunt Kiki (aka Aunt Kooky) always lived “outside the box.” But now Erin and her two best friends are convinced that the pink crystal ball holds the key to their future—or at least the key to getting dates…

Consider Your Fate to Be Sealed . . .

Absolute knowledge is not unlimited; let the planets be your guide to the number.
There are sixteen ways to die, but four of them you will never see.
The future belongs to you alone. Other voices will be disappointed.
One rotation is as far as you can see. Only uncertainty lies beyond.

MY THOUGHTS:
This is Risa Green’s debut YA novel. She has also written two adult novels called: Tales from the Crib and Notes from the Underbelly. This is my first time reading Risa Green. Although I have had Notes from the Underbelly on my wishlist for awhile now I have never picked it up but that might be changing now since reading The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball.

The Secret of the Pink Crystal Ball has been on my radar since BEA. I have to thank my amazing contact for sending me this to read. This was one of the first books I read over the Christmas holiday and I enjoyed it.

I am thinking from the ending that there could possible be another book to go with this but I can’t find anything online. Does anyone know if there will be a book two?

I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading this and I had to finish it in one sitting because I was curious what would happen next. I even had some moments in the book where I was laughing out loud and almost cringing because you and I both know things happen for a reason and that honestly I think things are all planned out for us and messing with the universe is not good.

Erin is your typical teenager in high school living a normal life although to her its boring and does nothing exciting. She has two best friends, Lindsay and Samantha.

When Erin finds out her estranged aunt Kiki dies (strike by lightening) she is upset because for the past year she hasn’t heard from her. Her dad thinks she is crazy. Which she probably would be to some people but I didn’t think she was and perhaps that is because I had an aunt like here.

When they attend the memorial service, one of Kiki’s friends gives Erin a box. The catch is Erin must open it when she is alone. Hmm what could it be?

Several days later Erin remembers the box so when she is alone she opens it to discover inside the box is a pink crystal ball with a enveloped taped to the bottom with a rolled up scroll. Inside the scroll is a bunch of names and Kiki’s name. Next
she opens the envelope thinking its a letter explaining what has happened this past year but its not its only this:

*Absolute knowledge is not unlimited; let your planets be the guide to the number.
*There are sixteen ways to die, but four of them you will never see.
*The future belongs to you alone. Other voices will be disappointed.
*One rotation is as far as you can see. Only uncertainty lies beyond.

When Erin puts the pieces of the puzzle together she realizes that the Pink Crystal Ball can actually make her wishes come true. In order to that Erin realizes that she must think logically to solve the clues. When Samantha asks for help Erin realizes afterwards that for her friends things end badly.

I had fun trying to figure out the clues and I think that’s what made the book so enjoyable and it was nice when I realized I didn’t know the answers that Erin figured it out and I would say “Oh yea, that makes sense now.”

This was a super fun read and I am sure alot of teenage girls would enjoy this.