Trip to the Movies: Breaking Dawn Part 1

I was a preteen when the Twilight books were published--yes, I will admit that I followed the craze just like every other little rabid fangirl. But I grew out of it. Thank God. I think I started to realize what a fool I was when I reread The Hunger Games and Graceling. Undeniably, the female protagonists Katniss and Katsa (LOL, yes eerily similar there...coincidence?) are two of the baddest badasses in literature from the last few years. Comparing them with Bella is almost like comparing the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang with napping kindergarteners. Seriously.

Anyway, I went to go see Breaking Dawn yesterday with some of my friends. We decided to go on Friday because it gave sufficient time for the Twihards to see Breaking Dawn three times and be satisfied, leaving the theater for the quieter folk.

Except, we weren't quiet. The entire movie, my friends and I had this running commentary. For example:

"Bella and Charlie could crack a smile. It's a wedding, not a death sentence."
"How does Edward...you know...do the deed? He doesn't have blood circulation"
"He twitched. Did you see that? Did you see? SEE! HAHAHAHA!"
"Jacob, I LOVE YOU!"
"EDWARD, I LOVVVEE YOU!"
"Oh God, please let there be creative license! DO NOT TURN JACOB INTO A PEDODOG!"
"The wolves are all so fluffy. *makes squishy noises under breath*"
"Ew. The baby's ugly. Isn't she supposed to be the prettiest baby on the planet?"
"When you were born, you were that bloody too."
"NOOOO!" 

It was pretty funny, especially since we probably ruined the movie for the people sitting in front of us. Oh well. In my personal opinion, the movie was much better with our commentary. I kid you not, during the scene where the housekeepers come to the Cullen's private island to clean up and they see the trashed bedroom, all four of us burst out laughing, and the other audience members gave us death glares.

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! I am completely stuffed of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing (hehehe...yum.), and all the other Thanksgiving staple foods. Ugh, I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow when it all solidifies in my bowels.

Anyway, that's gross imagery. And I've decided not to post a Terrible Thursday book today because what kind of holiday would this be if I decided to celebrate it with a crappy book?

But I do have a note about the book The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I had previously posted that I was reading the newly pubbed book, and I had in fact checked it out from the library. I got about 50 pages in before the boredom kicked in. And when it kicked, it hit hard. The Night Circus will please many of you. It's a wonderfully written book. The prose will amaze you. The mystery and 3rd person formality will tantalize you. But the plot will bore you to tears. I got about to 100 pages before giving up. Sorry, but it just wasn't the kind of book I typically enjoy. I prefer plot to description. Preferably, the best books will have an even measure of both; however, if I was to choose one over the other, I would pick plot.

Review: A Need So Beautiful

Title: A Need So Beautiful

Author: Suzanne Young

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Part of a Series?: First in series

Goodreads Summary:

 We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten... 

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger. 

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely. 

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.

Review:
Frankly, this book was pretty boring. It didn't do anything unpredictable, so each plot "twist" made me think, Great...sooo...when's dinner? The only thing that really kept me reading was the question of if Charlotte would give into being a Forgotten or end up living immortally on Earth like Onika (Okina? How's it spelled? I'm too lazy to look it up). 

The book is well-written, and I think the problem is that the writing was wasted on a pretty standard plot line. I can tell Young really put some thought into her concepts about the Forgotten and the Seers and the Shadows, but the story line was very disjointed. We have the Sarah-and-her-daddy-issues plot, the Harlin-the-boyfriend plot, the Charlotte's-glowing-skin plot, and finally the Monroe-Onika-Seer-Charlotte plot. There are a lot of components to A Need So Beautiful, but I don't think Young was able to fluidly interconnect the pieces. Also, she just left us hanging on the most important bits. The evil Shadows that Monroe keeps mentioning--they don't play any part in the plot other than acting as the figurative scapegoats for Charlotte's problems. 

Furthermore, everything was just...so black and white. Charlotte and co. don't carry the necessary depth to pull off a story that is measured on how connected the readers get with the characters. This book is essentially posing the question, "If you were destined to be forgotten by your loved ones, what would you do?" And when Charlotte has to come to terms with her Forgotten status, it's pretty important that we feel the torment and indecision alongside her. But I didn't really feel like Young managed to pull off the poignancy very well. It would've helped if the characters were fleshed out more. Charlotte whined the entire book (We get it. You don't want to be a Forgotten. Now, try to stop crying, for the love of God), so we didn't get to see her express much range of emotion. This problem was further worsened by the secondary characters, Sarah and Harlin. Sarah fell right into the snobby, rich girl stereotype, and Harlin did little to express any emotion that contradicted his sensitive, tormented persona. 

If anything saved this book, it was the ending. The last scene was rather tough to get through, primarily because I knew the story was coming to an end. The last chapter was the climactic "choose good or evil" scene for Charlotte, and this is where Young's writing really shone for me. Also, the end was a semi-cliffhanger, that posed some interesting questions which, if they'd been asked and answered in the actual body of the book, could've provided some more drama and excitement to the plot...SPOILER!!!!!(e.g. Harlin's a Seer? Monroe knew this? What's with the "After" section?).

Overall, the book was kind of boring. But I'm going to read the sequel because the last chapter hinted at an intricate story only skimmed upon in this book.

Fan Trailer Tuesday: Divergent

The trailer for this week is a fanmade trailer for Divergent by Veronica Roth. I personally really enjoyed the book. It wasn't the most unique dystopia I've read, but it was one of the most fun.


Anyway, here is the trailer:

The good things about this trailer: the scene clips. I can literally pick any part to this trailer, and identify the scene with a part from the book. Also, the music just made the trailer. It provided an eerie suspense and tension to the clips, which might've seen bare without the right track selection. However, I would've preferred if there was a little more about the other factions. One of the great things about Divergent is the incorporation of the faction system. I really wanted to see more of the Abnegation and Erudite.

Review: White Cat

Title: White Cat

Author: Holly Black

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Part of a Series?: First in series

Goodreads Summary:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail—he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
            
Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts to crumble when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.

Review:

This book made my head hurt in the best way possible. It's a con within a con (con-ception...errr...yeah...awk)! And is it possible that I could allude to Oceans Eleven twice in one week? White Cat really captures the mystery, intrigue, and last minute reveals that makes a great mystery book great. 

First of all, I really like it when authors present the fantasy/paranormal elements as realities rather than something mythological and made up. However, I feel like Black probably could've found a more unique way to world build the concept of curse working. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of curses. But I've read a fair share of AU-esque urban fantasy that utilizes mafia elements. IMO, the crime family foundation feels like a crutch that gives an unnecessary feeling of cliché to the whole book. But I do like the world building in general. Interestingly, good-hearted people can curse people; it's not just the bad guys who curse you with death.

The best part about this book are the characters. Cassel is a refreshing narrator. He's so thankfully flawed and ungirly. Most guy protagonists I've read don't seem like any guy I've ever seen; in other words, they usually have an obsession with confessing their deepest darkest emotions and secrets. That wouldn't work with Cassel. He's a rather deep character; he's internally troubled yet confident in his own non-worker con man abilities. Also, I rather enjoyed Lila's character, for the amount of time we got to see her in the story. She defied my expectations from the moment we first see her in a flashback; she is capable and independent--hell, it doesn't even look like she likes Cassel the way she likes him. And the fact that she isn't the narrator, ironically, makes her even more relatable to me. I think this is the trend for the general cast of White Cat. They don't fit one mold. Overall, Cassel's family members are coldhearted, ruthless crime ring thugs, but they look out for each other in was that only true family could. With regards to the side characters, I have to agree with Cassel when he says something like how he's thankful that Sam and Daneca still are his friends even though he uses them for his own purposes. I felt like Sam and Daneca were really shoved aside when it came to the real story, instead of being incorporated into Cassel's plans. 

Overall, it had its flaws, but this was a great book. Totally reading the sequel.  


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Sad Book Sundays (Monday): Feed

Okay, here is my excuse for missing yesterday's Sad Book Sunday: It was my birthday. Hahah, and I spent it at my best friend's house hosting a Vampire Diaries marathon and fooling around with my brand new iPhone 4s. Now, as much as I love posting on this blog of mine, I love my friends more.

So this mini review is a little late, but it's here nonetheless. For any of you that haven't read Feed by Mira Grant, it is a must-read. It's a full-immersion zombie book (and series) that takes you on a rollercoaster ride that will frustrate you, excite you, and, most of all, sadden you all in 500 pages. Here is my review.


The sad parts to this story are sudden and unexpected. But when they arrive, you get the full force of the poignancy. Initially, Grant blinds you into thinking this is just another zombie story. But as you get more involved with the characters, the blind side is revealed to be a cover for the saddest, most realistic zombie stories I've ever read.


I can't actually get into saying what the sad parts are in this story, but please read this book! If you get through the entirety (and I know, it is a little too long), you won't be disappointed. The end is a cliffhanger-esque tragedy all on its own.

Review: The Faerie Ring

Title: The Faerie Ring

Author: Kiki Hamilton

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5 

Part of a Series?: First in series

Goodreads Summary:

Debut novelist Kiki Hamilton takes readers from the gritty slums and glittering ballrooms of Victorian London to the beguiling but menacing Otherworld of the Fey in this spellbinding tale of romance, suspense, and danger. 


The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring, and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and it binds the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic and blood—Tiki’s blood.

Unbeknownst to Tiki, she is being watched—and protected—by Rieker, a fellow thief who suspects she is involved in the disappearance of the ring. Rieker has secrets of his own, and Tiki is not all that she appears to be. Her very existence haunts Prince Leopold, the Queen’s son, who is driven to know more about the mysterious mark that encircles her wrist.
Prince, pauper, and thief—all must work together to secure the treaty

 

Review: 

2.5 stars

I feel like I might be a just a little harsh in reviewing this book. But when a book like The Faerie Ring takes itself as seriously as it does, I like it when my historical fiction actually feels like historical fiction. I admit that the description of London in this book is fairly impressive, but the way the characters speak, think, act, etc., you wouldn't know they live in Victorian England. Everything remotely interesting about that period in time has been watered down by the author to satiate the blind tastes of the masses. As a history buff, I was incredibly disappointed. 

First of all, I really, really don't like Kiki. I didn't like her from page one when I realized the author was self projecting herself into Kiki's character. When authors do that (e.g. Stephanie Meyer), the characters end up a mess--in other words, they end up trying to hard to be likeable. Take Kiki--I MEAN Tiki's character. Tiki is the maternal figure to her family of street urchins in Victorian London. She has this darn tragic past, and now she struggles to make a living because she has to sacrifice her day's pickings to get money for Clara. She's actually beautiful and intelligent despite her situation, and she's loyal to the bone. Gosh, she's just so perfect. She's a model citizen. And I want to facepalm. It's just this lack of any personality flaws that makes a nerve pop in my forehead. And yet, despite being so intelligent, Tiki is just so stupid sometimes. She doesn't believe Rieker could actually be helpful. It takes her more than half the book to even believe that he's not trying to scam her, let alone allow him to help her. Even when Rieker protects her TWICE from vicious faeries, Tiki doesn't even thank him. So let me revise my previous statement. Tiki is so perfect except for the fact that her judgment is crap. 

My second main disappointment with this book is the mixture of supernatural aspects into the story line. Actually, I wish that The Faerie Ring was just The Ring. For the first time ever, I wish that this was just a historical fiction story...not a historical fantasy. The concept of the faerie truce was cheap and weakly written. We mostly learn from it via Rieker's info dumps and a few scenes in the later half of the story. The faeries are not a major or necessary part to the story. I have this fantasy about what the book could have been if it was just a crime-heist-mixed-with-Victorian-England--think 19th century Oceans Eleven. But alas, Hamilton has failed my expectations. 

This could've been a great book. Maybe if Hamilton hadn't tried so hard...oh well.

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Terrible Thursdays: Wither

What a shame...so pretty

Wither by Lauren DeStefano is a prime example of the most gorgeous cover in the world paired with the most ridiculously heinous example of dystopian literature I've read in a long time.

I want to start off with my little mini rant by saying this book is eerily (and possibly not coincidentally) similar to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. In Wither, the genetically enhanced generations of the future can only live up to about your mid twenties. Comparatively, in The Handmaid's Tale, it is insinuated that nuclear war (which also apparently happens in DeStefano's book) has made almost the entire population of women infertile.

Both books have polygamy. But Atwood is a supremely divine storyteller, while DeStefano is the inferior Luigi to big brother Mario...I am a gaming nerd, in case you didn't notice.

Furthermore, I just don't like how the world is set up. There are many discrepancies that I don't believe could happen, even if for some reason, there was a disease that suddenly off-ed people's bodies at a specific age. Do you know any disease that kills you within months of your twentieth birthday?

I rant a lot more in my full review, so Click Here for a longer, more rantish review.

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The Hunger Games trailer

And speaking of trailers, have you seen The Hunger Games trailer that was released yesterday! Can you say wow?

This is amazing. I am a huge fan of The Hunger Games. In a day and age where YA fiction is geared towards the Twihards, Suzanne Collins dared to write something that wasn't focused around a damsel in supernatural distress. Regardless of what you have to say about the book series, I think it's pretty obvious that this movie will be great--or at least, I hope it will be. I can only pray that The Hunger Games movies turns out to be the next Harry Potter rather than the next Eragon or Inkheart.

Fan Trailer Tuesday: Fever Series

If you've read my reviews for the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, you know that I have a love hate relationship with the books. They drive me insane, and half the time, I feel like a sadistic creep for enjoying it. Mac is so infuriatingly stupid, but she grows in strength and knowledge throughout the 5 books. And Barrons is just so damn sexy, but his misogyny makes me barf, hands down.


But regardless, I found a really good trailer for the series in general. Compared to The Iron King trailer or the Ender's Game trailer from the last few weeks, this isn't as good. But this trailer has some great sweeping action shots that remind me of the book. Also, I just like the feeling of the trailer. It has this constant moodiness to it that matches the series 100%. My qualms are the song and the actors. The song is annoying. 'Nuff said there. And while I like Kristen Bell as Mac (she has that pretty, edgy look that works), I don't think the choice for V'lane was well done. There was another trailer I was looking at to feature that portrayed V'lane as the fairy prince from Hellboy II. That fit better, in my personal opinion.


But here is the trailer to see for yourself. Enjoy and comment!