how I see it - reviews

Review: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:19:00 +0000

Cloud Atlas // David Mitchell
2004 // Hodder
Paperback
5/5 stars!

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation—the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

In English Class, we got the assingment to read a book. You were allowed to choose what book you wanted to read yourself, as long as it was literature.
It was a difficult choice for me, because there are so many books I want to read, but in the end I chose Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, because I knew deep inside that I'd not simply pick it up. You all should know that this is a very thick book, with 529 pages.
The thing that attracted me most about Cloud Atlas was that there were 6 stories, and all of them were intertwined and told in the book. First time you meet them, and the second time, further in the book, you are reunited with the stories, that were simply ended earlier, sometimes mid-sentence.
Also, I heard that it was made into a movie. The movie trailer looked amazing, and I always want to read the book prior to watching the movie, so that's exactly what I did. And I loved it!
In the beginning, I was scared by it, to be honest. The first part was written 1850s style, and to me that was incredibly hard. I am not a native, and English is not my mother tongue, so I have some minor problems with some parts of the English language, one of them being that it takes me long to understand some terms that I am not familiar with.
So the first thirty-something pages scared me off, yet I kept on reading, fascinating by the story. Then quickly I was thrown into the next part, letters this time, and 100 years later, so much easier for me to understand. and it just went on and on and I fell in love with the novel more and more!
Historic, Contemporary and Futuristic stories, all included in one thick and magnificently written novel. All genres mixed and matched. Never thought I'd like a mystery novel, combined with political drama, as much as I did. David Mitchell; you are one of the finest writers around!

A half-read book is a half-finished love affair

Lots of books,
Mar

Movie: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Dear friends,

So today the Perks of Being a Wallflower finally premiered in the Netherlands, and of course I went to see in in the cinema. And oh my gosh, my feels! Seriously, if you were sitting next to me and didn't know me (and even if you did know me, but not that well) You would be looking at me like I was completely retarded or something. My emotions took me over! I was laughing, crying, feeling sad, feeling great, feeling all possible feelings, laughing some more, bawling, trying to keep my tears inside, singing along to the PERFECT movie music, and all of that at the same time. It felt INFINITE.
There are a couple of things that were extraordinarily good and made the movie this special to me:

Emma Watson as Sam

The screenplay was written by the author of the book (ow yeah) and the movie was directed by him as well, and that was perfectly visible throughout the movie, in a positive way.
The casting was done so well. Emma Watson did a splendid job playing Sam, because Same was just so much like I expect Emma Watson to be like in real life. Also, Logan Lerman was the perfect Charlie. Before seeing the movie I wasn't convinced of that, but the movie showed me that he was the best Charlie possible. He was just so much like Charlie, with the whole appearance, voice, way the acted and all of it. He made me like Charlie even more. And then there was Ezra Miller as Patrick. And oh my god, I would watch this movie only to see him play Patrick, because he is is freakin' hilarious! Seriously, every time I saw his face it put a smile upon my face. And he's smokin' as well! Simply a-ma-zing cast!
The music. All of the songs I heard I liked a lot. They were all from the correct time, and all sounded so perfect and fit the movie very precise. Some of the songs were even my personal favorites, like "Asleep" by the Smiths and "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. I just couldn't stop myself and had to murmur along xD Luckily the cinema was almost empty, and the only person sitting nearby was a friend who liked the movie as much as I did.

Ezra Miller As Patrick

The Screenplay left out exactely the pieces of the book I didn't like. There were some things in the book that I believe would have been better if they were left out, and they were left out in the screenplay. These few tiny things didn't change the plot at all, luckily, as that would have been an enormous disaster.

So yeah, those were the 4 things that made me feel infinite while watching.

Love Always,
Mar

Tomorrow: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Hey guys!

After the endlessly seeming waiting, gif-searching, fangirling, reading and fangirling some more it's finally happening! Tomorrow the Perks of Being a Wallflower finally releases in the Netherlands. *thank Rowling*

Seriously, I feel like everyone has seen it already, and everyone's tumbling about it, and all those wonderful pictures and just ... ... all of it. I want to see it so badly it hurts! Even thinking about it makes me insta-happy because I know I will see it tomorrow :)

So what started off my crazy obsession with this movie? I only need two words to explain it. Emma Watson. I love that girl! She is so beautiful and an extraordinary actress. I just wanted to see more and more of her. While I was reading the book I imagined her playing Sam and the role is perfect for her! The second thing that lured me in was the book. I read it in one sitting, and it was just so cute and relateable for me. Sometimes, I feel just like Charlie, only the less innocent version. Thank you tumblr :P Okay, thirdly, the other people casted also made me so happy. Ezra Miller will be the best and hottest Patrick, and Logan Lerman will also do a great job playing Charlie, I believe.

.~~..asdfghjkl...~~ I am just so exited! Seriously, I am so happy that I'm going with a friend of mine who is as exited for the movie as I am, otherwise she would just awkwardly look at me all the time during the movie, when I make these crazy fangirl sounds like 'awwh' and comment on all the things they say.
I can't wait to feel infinite!

have you seen the Perks of Being a Wallflower? What did you think about it?

Love,
Mar

Tour stop: You can't Shatter Me by Thalia Newland - Review

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Today I bring you the wonderful novel by Thalia Newland; You can't Shatter Me! Make sure to hang on.

title: You can't Shatter Me

written by: Thalia Newland

genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

page count: 160

publication date: June 22nd, 2012

publisher: Catapult Press

Sixteen year old Carly wants to write her own life and cast herself as a superhero, but the story gets out of control when she stands up to a bully and he turns on her. His increasing harassment forces her to battle flying hooks, giant thistles, doubt dragons and a suffocating closet. Dylan, a karate-trained nerd who supports her stand, turns out to be a secret admirer, and while he struggles to control his inner caveman, Carly searches for her own way to stop the bully. An old hippie shows her an inner magic that’s supposed to make her invincible, but will Carly learn to use it before her knight in shining armour risks all in a battle with a fire-breathing dragon?

You can't shatter me was a truly revolutionary book for me, because it was all so true. I recognised myself in Carly. I could easily imagine myself in this story, or her being my twin sister. The book was not like any other book I have ever read. Yes, it was about bullying, but not about how miserable it made people feel, but about how to stop the bullies, and how to understand them. And that's the best thing about the book.

Carly is just a plain normal girl, until she starts to date Dylan, the cute nerdy boy, and gets bullied by Justin. Justin is the stereotype bully, only worse than most. Carly tries to stop the bully, not with hate, but with love and compassion. Because hate can't be cured with hate, only with love.

Carly was a very strong kick-butt character, very likeable and full of love for every single soul. I could easily relate to her, because I was bullied, too. It was a long time ago, but reading this book reminded me a lot of that time. I wasn't bullied very much, but it really had an enormous impact on my life. I was not as strong as Carly was, and started to hide the real me. Only just a year ago I started to take off those covers, and show the world the real me. I really admire Carly for feeling compassion for the bully, because I still am not capable of feeling that way,and it was years ago. I really feel like this book has helped me take a step to really put it behind me.

The plot of this book was interesting, and full of knowledge that will be useful for the rest of my life. The romance was very cute and so realistic. Most contemporary books have this 'normal girl starts dating school hottie' scenario, which really is not so interesting after reading a gazillion books with exactely the same pattern of events. I love to see something new, and this book definitely was new and unique. The writing style was easy to read, I just was floating through the book.

I feel like this book could really help people with their lives, and that they won't even percieve that they're actually learning something because of the cute story that covers it up. I think it would solve a lot of problems on high- and middleschools if everyone read this. A book definitely worth 5 stars!

Hugs,

Mar

purchase links

Review: Need by Carrie Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:06:00 +0000

title: Need

written by: Carrie Jones

series: Need #1

genres: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

page count: 306

publication date: December 23rd, 2008

publisher: Bloomsbury

Pain shoots through my head. Fireworks. Explosions. All inside my brain. The white world goes dark and I know what's about to happen.

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

This book had me at its first page. No, with its first word, even! Zara's obsession with phobias was genius and I loved it! However, somehow I lost my interest in reading it halfway. It all started off so amazing, but the whole idea just got boring after 200 pages or so.

Zara White has just lost her stepfather, and the author really focused on that. I have never lost a (step)parent so I can't imagine how it would feel like. I just thing it would be so empty, like a place that can't be filled. And that's how the author described it. Zara is not dealing with her emotional pain, and that's why her mother sent her to the mother of her late stepfather. Did this help her? Not really. Did it change her life? Hell yeah!

The mysterious stalker wasn't that mysterious. it was pretty obvious who and what he was. But that might just be me. I ususally don't have a hard time figuring out a books' plot. It made the book less interesting to me, and that was my main issue with this book. But I understand that as an author it's nearly impossible to find the balance between predictable and random. Too random will make everyone go 'Dafuq just happened' but predictable is equal to boring.

The characters weren't very kick-butt, but they weren't bad either. Zara White did impress me with her knowledge of phobias. Really, there are some crazy phobias out there, and Zara knows them all! The chapter names really made me enjoy the book more. They gave away a little bit about what was going to happen, but not to much. I love books with chapter names, it's so mucht better than just 'chapter 1'!

I would recommend this book to teenage girls who are looking for a quick and fun read. I give it 2.5 stars, but I might check out the next book in the series, I will give it a shot, because the story still has a lot of potential, as it was quite original and funny at multiple points.

Happy reading!

Mar

Review: Feed by Mira Grant

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:20:00 +0000

title: Feed

written by: Mira Grant

series: Newsflesh #1

genres: Young Adult, post-apocalypse

page count: 571

publication date: May 1st, 2010

publisher: Orbit Books

rating: 5+ stars!

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

Combining 2 of my favorite things in life, Blogging and Zombies, Grant did an amazing job at writing this masterpiece. Feed was so much more than just an ordinairy zombie book, it was full of things that made me think really hard, and dealt with the ethical dilemma 'How far goes the freedom of Press?'

After the infection spread, and zombies became reality instead of legend, fear took over humanity. Soon people found out that they should trust blogs rather than the Government's news, which was censored and tried to comfort the people. People wanted the hard truth, not a mild version of it. And so, on the same day legend turned reality, bloggers took over the world. How awesome is that? And it is so true that bloggers usually are more honest than the 'official' news.

Georgia and Shaun Mason are both important bloggers, Georgia is a Newsie, someone who reports the news facts only, whilst Shaun is always provoking the zombies, and toying with his own life. They are chosen to follow the presidential campaign of senator Ryman. But when people start dying and strange accidents occur the mystery sets in. And I devoured every single page of it in one breath.

While some of the descriptions were long and could be considered boring by some, I actually really liked them. They added much to the story, and gave you enough time to think about what was happening AND what was going to happen. The plot had so many twists and turns it kept on surprising me, whilst I usually don't have a hard time figuring out a book. And that's one of the things that I liked most about this book.

Another thing that I absolutely liked were the characters. Grand did a great job creating and describing every character of hers, and making them look so realistic. She made me feel like her characters were my friends. All of them, even the ones that were very insignificant, made me feel that way.

One thing I'm not happy about is the ending. If you knew me better, you would know that the way Grant ended Feed is the way I would end it. And that is not entirely positive, neither is it negative. It just broke my heart in a million pieces. So many that I just was bawling and my eyes turned red and all of it. That a book can do that to me... wow!

I would reccommend this book to readers older than me, 17+, and I would not call this Young Adult. I say this not because it was so scary, or it was extreme horror (because it wasn't!) but because I think older readers will understand it better. I will read this book again in a couple of years when I understand the world better and see if I'm right about it myself :)

Feed it an amazing zombie novel that deals with some ethical issues as well as emotions. It made me think, laugh,and cry (A lot!). You don't need a lot of imagination to see this novel become reality, and that is what made it all so horribly true. 5 Stars and Favorite for this post-apocalyptic book with an unique view on the future.

Love,

Mar

Tour stop: Mad World: Epidemic by Samaire Provost (INT giveaway!)

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Hey guys :) Today I'm hosting the Mad World: Epidemic tour. There is a review, character profile and an International Giveaway, so make sure to hang on!

Let's start it all of with an introduction to the actual book. And what's a better way to do that than by reviewing it?

Mad World: Epidemic by Samaire Provost

July 28th, 2012

Self-pub, 160 pages

Young Adult, Horror, Apocalyptic

Kindle - Paperback

The Black Plague is ancient history. It killed 100 million people nearly seven centuries ago, halfway around the world from the technologically advanced research center at Stanford University. Scientists there have recently begun examining samples of bone marrow from plague-infected corpses unearthed in Europe. All the necessary safeguards are in place. What could go wrong?
Alyssa and Jake are away with their class on a highly anticipated year-end trip to Broadway with their senior acting class when all hell breaks loose at home. Traveling back, and trying to find their families, they encounter deadly results. Riots are breaking out. People are being evacuated. And they have no idea what's happening to their families.
Horrific ordeals, heart-pounding tragedy, and chance encounters harden them for what lies ahead. Faced with tormenting decisions, they're forced to follow their instinct for survival at any cost - even when the cost is a heart-wrenching decision of life or death.
A harrowing adventure of frightening discoveries, horrifying confrontations and narrow escapes in Epidemic, the first installment of the Mad World series.
Find out what's got everyone so terrified.

Only 160 pages, but the story told in it seemed so much more! Mad World: Epidemic is an extremely fast-paced story about a zombie outbreak. The virus is released by some sceintists who were recreating the Black Plague virus. The story follows Alyssa and a few of her friends. They are looking for their families, which were lost somewhtime during the madness of the evacuation.

Aside from a few things that really annoyed me about this novel, I really liked it. Mad World: Epidemic takes a very original take on the beginning of the zombie outbreak; the outbreak has its roots in the Black Plague, history's most feared disease. I really like what the author did there!

Then there were the tiny thingies that made the novel less entertaining to me; that it was so short is one of them. I really feel like I would have liked this story better if it was longer. Furthermore, I think that if the author took a little more pages to describe everything it would have improved the quality of this novel. It was so fast-paced at some points that I had to read entire passages multiple times just to get the information through. Of course, there were also things I loved about this book. One of them were the characters. I fell in love with each and every one of them, but most of all with Risa. And that's why I'm super exited to tell you that I can share a character profile of Risa later on. YAY :)

I rate this book 3.5 stars. A novel for everyone that likes brain-eating beings. I would not recommend it to the weak-hearted people, as the story is pretty cruel at some parts. A great YA zombie novel with an unique view on the apocalypse THAT WILL BE HAPPENING AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE!

Now more fun stuff - Character profile time!

Risa – pronounced with a long “i” and a hard “s” to rhyme with “Liza”

Risa is a seven year old precocious neighbor of DeAndre’s. Her mother works on the weekends so DeAndre’s mother watches Risa every Saturday. DeAndre’s mother and Risa’s mother are best friends. Risa has a very sunny outlook on life, and she bounces back from adversity very quickly. This came in very handy with the California emergency.

She prefers to play more with cars and slingshots, and climb trees, than waste her time on Barbies and dress up. She’s definitely a tomboy. Risa is Jewish, but last winter she begged her mother for a Christmas tree. After begging, pleading, cajoling, and debating, her mother finally relented. Theirs was the only house in the neighborhood to sport a blue Menorah in the window with a brightly lit Christmas tree behind it. Risa has brown hair and green eyes and she is like a little whirlwind!

And the Amazing giveaway :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Samaire Provost lives in California with her husband and son.

Her love of paranormal stories, odd plots, and unique tales as well as the works of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, Madeleine L'Engle and Stephen King has deeply influenced her writing.

Mad World : EPIDEMIC her first novel. The second in the series is entitled "Mad World: SANCTUARY"

www.twitter.com/samairep

www.facebook.com/samairep

www.samaireprovost.tumblr.com/

www.amazon.com/Samaire-Provost/e/B008PVTXMW/

Love and Literature,

Mar

FOLLOW THE TOUR VIA [THIS] LINK

Review: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:00:00 +0000

title: The Ask and the Answer

written by: Patrick Ness

series: Chaos Walking #2

genres: Young Adult, Dystopian

page count: 519

publication date: May 4th, 2009

rating: 5/5 stars

We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

I already reviewed part 1 of Chaos Walking last year. A link to the review [HERE]. Don't read this review if you haven't read the first book in the series, or it will all be spoiled!

The Ask and the Answer was in one word: SURPRISE! Seriously, so many plot turns in one novel is epic! (Although it also was quite confusing at some points...) The story continues with Todd and Viola, seperated, in New Prentisstown. It is like hell there, or at least it is like that for Todd, who is locked up inside a church tower. He has got to work together with his biggest enemy and has to let the 'spackle' do horrible things. Numb by his inside emotional pain he abides.

First of all I must say I really missed Manchee. I really came to love that dog, and when he died in part one my heart was broken! The other characters changed so much between book 1 and 2 I was unable to believe it at the first. Viola has become all Katniss-like kick-ass, while Todd has become an emotional wreck, numb from the inside. Some parts from Todd's point of View literally broke my heart, just because they were so depressing. Paper towels are needed while reading this! Also, Davy really impressed me while reading this book. I was really confused when I was halfway through the book. I had come to like him, even though he was kind of evil... Why do I always like the evil guys?!

The plot of this novel was full of suspense. I can describe it as The Hunger Games' Mockingjay from both Katniss' and Peeta's point of view. It pretty much describes the first part. Only I liked this book better than Mockingjay! Some parts of it just blew my mind, and I had to read them multiple times just to believe them.

I adore the way Ness describes everything that happens around his characters, I am in love with the way the parts from Todd's Point of View are written, with grammar errors that were meant to be there (infection-infectshun etc.), and I really like it how of the 519 pages of this novel 0 bored me!

An amazing sequel full of suspense for anyone who likes dystopia and doesn't mind a big book, whatever age or gender you are! Please keep in mind that there are extremely touching moments, paper towels needed!

Love and books,

Mar

Review: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 20:15:00 +0000

title: The Alchemyst

written by: Michael Scott

series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1

genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

page count: 375

publication date: May 20th, 2007

publisher: Delacorte Press

rating: 4/5

He holds the secret that can end the world.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty.
The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.
Sometimes legends are true.
And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

The Alchemyst was a book I was really looking forward to. I had heard amazing things about it from lots of friends, so I was sure I'd love it before I even started reading. And as always, high expectations only lead to enormous disappointment. I was expecting this would be one of my favorite books of all-time. But it surely wasn't...! I still liked it, it just didn't have that 'wow' effect on me.

The story begins with a short introduction to the normal life of Sophie and Josh Newman, just 2 ordinary twins living a normal life. But of course, as always when books start like that, there are some major changes about to take place. They find out who the owner of the book shop (Josh's boss) really is, and they discover both of them are special. They have pure aura's, one gold, the other silver. They set out on an epic adventure.

Scott's writing style was very pleasant to read. I can't really comment on the choice of vocab and all of that because I read the entire novel in Dutch. However, all events described in this book took place in only 2 days, which seems kind of incredible to me. Still, the novel was very fast-paced!

The plot of this novel was not as interesting as I expected it to be. Ever since I read the first Harry Potter novel, Nicholas Flamel has beenone of the most interesting people in history to me, so I was hoping for a lot of Nicholas Flamel. I didn't get it, and to me that was the biggest disappointment of this entire novel. Too much of the twins. I have not many problems with the twins, I just prefer Nicholas Flamel... Still, the plot was really interesting, and this novel was a page-turner. I really liked it and think people slightly younger than I am will enjoy this one thoroughly!

I rate this book 4 stars and will recommend it to everyone who is looking for something like Harry Potter, 'cause I really feel like those two are very much alike. This novel was full of suspense and magic, two amazing things.

Love,

Mar

Review: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 12:27:00 +0000

title: Scott Pilgrim's Precious little Life

written by: Bryan Lee O'Malley

series: Scott Pilgrim #1

genre: Graphic Novel, Humor

page count: 192

publication date: August 8th, 2012

publisher: Oni Press

Scott Pilgrim's life is totally sweet. He's 23 years old, he's in a rockband, he's ""between jobs,"" and he's dating a cute high school girl. Nothingcould possibly go wrong, unless a seriously mind-blowing, dangerouslyfashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruisingthrough his dreams and sailing by him at parties. Will Scott's awesome life getturned upside-down? Will he have to face Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends inbattle? The short answer is yes. The long answer is Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

**Thanks to Oni Press for sending me a galley of this novel. This is a review of the colored edition. I recieved no rewards for reviewing this, and the review was written by myself and no-one else.**

When I saw this title on Netgalley I started fangirling already. Scott Pilgrim, my one and only comic crush, in color! This is seriously awesome! This graphic novel is about the first evil ex, the dude he has to fight in order to be with Ramona Flowers, the totally hot and funny girl Scott loves. The movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, is one of the best movies ever made, in my opinion. i have watched it 5 times now, and it still doesn't bore me at all. With Scott played by one of the cutest actors, Michael Cera ^^

Scott Pilgrim's Precious little Life is filled with humor. On every page there was something that made me laugh out loud. Just like the movie. It is just filled with so many dumb things, and is so random and geeky, I fell in love with Scott Pilgrim. With references to games - Scott goes to the toilet -> Pee Bar goes from full to empty - and the evil ex battle, comic style, it was just one of the most humorous books I have ever read.

That the graphic novel is colored made the whole novel even more entertaining. When I finished reading this graphic novel I watched the movie again, with the novel next to it, and the colors resembled! I was flabbergasted, how on earth is it possible to colorfill an entire novel :O And I fell in love with the entire novel even more.

The characters are extremely cute, the plot is random yet funny and interesting, the drawing style is beautiful, what more does a great graphic novel need? 5 stars and favorite go to Scott Pilgrim's precious Little Life. Everyone will love this!

Love,

Mar

Review: A Stiff Kiss by Avery Olive

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:40:00 +0000

title: A Stiff Kiss

written by: Avery Olive

genres: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

page count: 247

publication date: February 12th, 2012

publisher: Crescent Moon Press

Who knew kissing a corpse would change everything?
Death always hits Xylia Morana too close to home, but she likes it that way. She hangs out with the terminally ill, attends random funerals, and every so often, when the weather is right, she sleeps in open graves.
But after Landon Phoenix, the high school hottie, dies in Xylia's arms, she sneaks into the morgue to say goodbye. How could she know stealing a kiss from his corpse would wake him up?
With Landon returned to the living and suddenly interested in Xylia, life has new meaning. But what Xylia doesn't realize is that by kissing Landon back to life, she's thrown Life and Death off balance. The underworld demands a body, and it might just have to be Xylia's this time.

**The author provided me with an ecopy of A Stiff Kiss. I was not rewarded for this review with many or any other means of value.**

A Stiff Kiss was so much better than I expected it to be! The book looked not extremely interesting to me at first, but once I opened it and started reading I just fell in love with the whole concept, the characters and the oh-so-addictive story.

Xylia is a goth girl, always dressed in black. She loves to hang out on graveyards, is always close to death. But she also has her girly side. She is in love with Landon, the most popular boy in school. Whe he dies while playing a soccer game, she kind of loses it. As close as she always is to the dead, she is to his dead body. She goes to the morgue and kisses Landon's dead body on the lips. And that's when the ultimate drama sets in. Landon wakes up from death, and the balance between Life and Death is messed up.

It might sound like a cliché that Xylia -the outcast- is in love with Landon -the hottest guy in her school- but their story is anything but cliché. Landon does partly remember what happened, and he knows that he owes his 'second life' to Xylia, but doesn't understand it, neither does anyone. It is a whole mystery; how is it possible to wake up from death.

As the story develops, my emotions took over. It was just so cute and cruel at the same time. Just as Landon and Xylia started to really get to know each other, they found out one of them was going to be taken by the Underworld, that demanded a body to maintain the balance between Life and Death. The story was so bittersweet it made me cry at multiple points, and that is quite unique, as I usually don't cry a lot while reading.

This book's writing style fitted the story perfectly. It is so much better to read romantic parts from 2 points of view, it gives you way moer insight into everything, and makes you feel as is you are standing right there in the middle of the story, next to Landon and Xylia.

Concluding, A Stiff Kiss is a YA novel that should get way more attention, as I believe every lover of PNR will love this novel. The characters were amazing, the story was super interesting and my emotions took over multiple times while reading. I give this novel 4.5 stars!

Love,

Mar

Other reviews of 'A stiff Kiss'

Book Whales

Tink's Place

Procerpine Craving Books

Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:18:00 +0000

title: Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy
written by: Ally Carter
series: Gallagher girls #2
genres: Young Adult, contemporary fiction
page count: 236
publication date: October 2nd, 2007
publisher: Hyperion
rating: 3/5

Cammie Morgan is back, and it's clear that her life hasn't calmed down since the events of I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You. At first, giddy anticipation is in the air. Gallagher Academy, Cammie's elite spy school, is hosting a visit from a covert training center for boys. Soon after the boys' arrival, though, everything goes dangerously awry when a series of security breaches are discovered at the academy. Worse yet, teenage agent-in-training Cammie is being blamed for the penetration. With the school's top-secret status at risk, the Gallagher Girls have to work quickly to save their beloved school.

I have no idea why I keep on reading this series. I guess it's just something that really makes me like the whole concept of a spy school and everything. Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy again has a very long title, just like 'I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you'. I really like the long titles, after seeing all those one-word titles, but perhaps they are just too long, because it is just a mouthful of words to say.

Gallagher academy opens its doors again as this novel starts. Cammie has grown to a kind of celebrity at her own school, because of her boyfriend drama over the last year. And there is something happening on her school. Because of her curiosity Cammie finds out what's happening - Gallagher Academy is hosting a visit from a school like Gallagher Academy, only for boys! And the boy drama continues.

Cammie has changed a little bit over the course of the second book in the series, but she is still the same ignorant - yet kick butt - girl as she was in the first book. So no enormous character changes. I -obviously - love character changes, and I would have loved to have some more character changes in this novel. Still, Cammie is a great and very strong character I really love to read about, as are her 3 friends Macey, Liz and Bex.

The plot of this book was pretty interesting, but not one of the things I will remember forever. It just didn't have the 'wow' factor for me. And that is not very bad, because there are very few books that have that 'wow' factor. I just would have liked the plot to be a little more fast-paced and a little less filler chapters, if you know what I mean.

Altogether I liked this novel, and I will give the next installment in this series a shot (I already did, actually...). Gallagher Academy is an interesting school, although I prefer Hogwarts. I just keep on comparing those schools for no apparant reason. I give this book 3 stars!

other novels in this series I have reviewed:

I'd tell you I love you but then I'd have to kill you

Love and ice cream,

Mar

(it's so hot in the Netherlands right now, so the ice cream was very appropiate)

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 20:51:00 +0000

title: Masque of the Red Death
written by: Bethany Griffin
genre: Young Adult, Apocalyptic Fiction
page count: 319
publication date: April 24th, 2012
publisher: Greenwillow books
rating: 4.5/5

Everything is in ruins.
A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.
So what does Araby Worth have to live for?
Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.
But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.
And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

Masque of the Red Death is one of my books that is out of 'my comfort zone', as far as I have a zone like that. It was horror-like, and I usually don't read horror. Not that I don't like it, because I really do, but just because there are other genres that appeal to me more than YA horror. Griffin made me question myself, should I read more YA horror? Because I simply loved this book! It was not really horror-y, and had just the right amout of everything a good book needs. I will definitely read future books by her, and I will also try the Edgar Allen Poe story this book was based on.

Araby, a girl who lives in a world of terror, disease and death, is the daughter of the inventor that invented the masque that prevents you from contagion of the all-destroying plague. This makes her one of the most important girls in town, and protects her from the plague. All the time she is looking for oblivion. She doesn't want to remember her brother, doesn't want to feel responsible for his death. Her raw emotions make her a very unique character. Then she meets Will, the beautiful boy working at the club. Once she starts to really get to know him, she wants to help him, although this seems impossible.

The plot twisted in every way possible, it was madness! And I mean that in a positive way :) I don't believe I have read many other YA books as suspenseful as this one. And the romance was just perfect. Will is one of those cute but broken boys you just want to give hugs, while Elliot is his exact opposite. So yes, love triangle. I know the idea sounds retarted and simply stupid, but this one was just so perfect! I mean, love triangles usually are one of the most annoying phenomena in YA lit, but it improved this novel.

The writing style of Griffin is not really special, but easy to read. The dialogue was great, the characters had 'depth' and the entire story was told at a high pace to keep it all interesting.

Griffin portrayed a horrible scenario that appears quite realistic. I absolutely loved everything about 'Masque of the Red Death' and I give this book 4.5 stars. My favorite YA horror novel!

Love,

Mar

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:41:00 +0000

title: Solace of the Road
written by: Siobhan Dowd
genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
pages: 272
publication date: October 13th, 2009
publisher: David Fickling Books

Holly’s story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.

Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident—the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head-on.

So begins a bittersweet and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self and unlocking the secrets of her past.

Sometimes, as a reader, I just randomly pick up a book by an author I have never heard about before, and it is so good that the experience of reading it is life-changing. Solace of the Road was one of those books, and I am incredibly saddened by the fact that Siobhan Dowd will never write a single word again, no more masterpieces written by her I will be able to look forward to in the future.

Holly Hogan is forced to go into foster care by the government. She just wants to live with her mom in Ireland. She doesn't want other parents, doesn't want to live in England, doesn't like life, and wants to just be happy again. And a wig gives her the oppotunity to be someone else. Someone fashionable, the girl she always wanted to be. She calls her new self Solace, after a jumping horse she and her mother always bet on back when they lived together. Then Holly decides she wants to go back to her own family. She takes her wig and stuff, and starts her journey to the wonderful green fields of Ireland.

I really liked Holly. She wants to be someone else, just like about every teenager, and does that by wearing a wig, behaving like someone else and being who she wants to be. She is a great actress, and she plays her part perfectly. The book starts of with Holly on a pont to Ireland, trapped in someone else's car, so you already know that somehow she's going to be able to go all the way to Ireland. But how is she going to do that. What is going to happen to her? Who is she going to meet? And most important of them all, how will she be influenced by her journey?

The plot has many twists that were sometimes very unexpected, which I really liked. Some new characters that were introduced really fascinated me. Then there was the psychological aspect of this book. Holly had her anger issues. She had to control them. Also, she had normal teenager issues. She was looking for her real self, and for the place where she belonged. The author did a great job describing Holly's journey to her happiness, and I think that is what I liked best about this book.

This is not a paranormal romance book, neither is it urban fantasy, or any other genre that I most often read. But still, this book belongs to my all-time favorites. I will read all Siobhan Dowd's other books she has published. I am also really looking forward to Patrick Ness's 'A monster calls', which was based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd.

Solace of the Road is a book written for all audiences. It is a book I'd recommend to everyone my age and older, to my friends, my mom, and everyone who just loves books. I give this book 5 stars and if it were possible I'd give it many more.

Love,
Mar

In memory of Siobhan Dowd In September 2004, Dowd was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. In spite of this, she continued to write prolifically. Siobhan died in August 2007, aged 47. In the very last days before she died, Siobhan set up the Siobhan Dowd Trust. It was the final act of someone who had spent so much of her life working on behalf of others.

The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane by Jocelyn Nora Moore

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 22:08:00 +0000

title: The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane
written by: Jocelyn Nora Moore
genres: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
page count: 173 (ebook)
publisher: Self-Pub
publication date: March 18th, 2012

Everyone knows that fourteen-year-old Eri Lane is different. She is too intense, always tells the truth, and she somehow knows things she shouldn’t. Her confused teachers know she’s different. The means kids know. Her hardworking single mother knows. The cute, nerdy senior that she loves knows. There is just something about Eri Lane. But none of them know just how different, because absolutely none of them know that there are actually two worlds, the world of Dream and the world of Wake. Only Eri Lane and her best friend Malcolm Harris know that.

Eri and Malcolm never sleep, since they were twelve they have been among the special guardians of the boundary between the two worlds, known among themselves as the Awake. Now it’s November of their sophomore year, and Eri has been having a hard enough time trying to repair psychic leaks all night, and then navigate the ups and downs of being the black sheep of Marchland High School for the Gifted every day, (not to mention protecting Malcolm, who is openly gay, and their other best friend Ashley, who is too nice, from bullies), when a strange new creature shows up in the world of Dream, wreaking havoc and possibly even attempting to tear open the barrier between the two worlds. Now, Eri has to figure out how to stop it/him, how to save the world, and most importantly, whether or not the world is worth saving.

The wonderful author of this novel, Jocelyn Nora Moore, provided me with a ecopy of her book in exchange for a honest review.

The Metaphysical life of Eri Lane was a very unique book. I had quite a hard time getting into it and understanding it, but when I did it was awesome!

A book about 2 worlds always interests me, no matter if it's something like Narnia, or something like Wake and Dream. And I have no idea why, but the more fantastic world always interests me more. So that's why I prefered Dream over Wake. Wake was just so full of crazy things and still seemed real. I could easily believe that a world like Dream actually exsists.

The main characters of this book, Eri and Malcolm, both were very fun characters. They were very likeable, and they weren't boring to read about at all. However, I couldn't fully connect myself to either of them, which I really would have loved to be able to.

The plot of the novel was interesting, full of mystery and random things, but there were also some serious things discussed, although that wasn't very obvious. I really like it when a book is discussing more than you realise most of the times. Just like I love to get to know some random things when I'm not in school :)

Moore's writing style is pleasant, but not very special. There was one particular thing about it that fascinated me; there were no chapters. It was just wake-dream-wake-dream-... And I thing that was a good thing, bacause it kept it all very clear and made it easier to understand it. There weren't a lot of difficult words used, and the dialogue was kind of childish talk, which sometimes annoyed me.

Altogether I give this book 3 stars for being an extremely unique and awesome book. I didn't have high expectations of it, so when I liked it I was positively surprised :) And you should read it, too. You can read it for free @ goodreads. Check it out!

Love,
Mar

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:13:00 +0000

Hey y'all :)

I just wanted to let you know that I'm back @ home
My holiday was EPIC, France is just so beautiful and the weather was so good. I could swim everyday, and read on beaches :) I made some new friends (yay, me making friends is fun) and bought clothes, and a French book, which I'm currently trying to read, but french is freakin' difficult u.u
I read so many amazing books I can't wait to share my opinion about (I'm 15 reviews behind :o)
I really missed my blog and realised exactely how important it is to me, so that's a great thing, right?
So now I'm going to catch up on all the news I missed in the past 3 weeks and I will perhaps do a review marathon for myself xD

I have a lot of reviews coming up for you!

Hugs,
Mar

(lol sorry for the short pointless blog post but I can't think of something better at the moment, as I'm still freakin' tired from the 14-hour-drive back home)

I need a vacation!

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Hi there everyone.

Since it's summer time, and I have my summer holiday, I'm going on vacation. I will be gone for about 3 weeks... Kinda long, I know right?

I don't have any posts schedualed. I tried to schedual some, but with my lack of planning skills it was very hard to do so, so I just gave up.

I'm sure I'll read tons of books, so there'll be lots of reviews when I return :D

Here is the vacation song :) (Shane Dawson Rocks!)

I will really miss all of you and your awesomeness :c

Hugs & Kisses
Mar

Book Trailer - The Forsaken

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Hey :)

I really wanted to share this awesome new release with you. It's YA dystopia (I am a sucker for dystopia) and was published by Simon & Schuster.

Here's the trailer. Watch and enjoy ^.^

Love,
Mar

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:26:00 +0000

title: Liesl & Po
written by: Lauren Oliver
genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
page count: 307
publication date: October 4th, 2011
rating: 5/5 stars!

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice,until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

Liesl & Po is one of the cutest books I have read in a while! Lauren Oliver is one of my favorite authors, and I absolutely love all of her books. Delirium is great, Before I fall is one of my favorites of all time, and Liesl & Po can be added to that list of all-time favorites.

The story starts when Liesl meets Po, a ghost that just appears in her 'bedroom' together with its cat/dog. Po has forgotten about his/her former life. Even if it was a boy or girl! Po's stuck between life and death, unable to move on. Then we get to know about Liesl's life. She lives alone in a tower, imprisoned by her stephmother (this reminded me of 'the cupboard under the stairs') and is never allowed to go outside. Her father died and Liesl wasn't even allowed to see him when he was dying. After meeting the 2 title characters you meet Will, the alchemist's apprentice. He is a cute, brave boy who is always looking at the mysterious girl in the tower.

When the story really started I found myself mesmerized by it. It was so cute, all characters were extremely funny and very likeable, and the writing style was amazing. As the reader you already knew what happened before the characters found out. It was kind of special, as usually you find out what happens when the character finds out what's happening.

As the story proceeded I started to like it even more. I could really relate to Liesl, and Po was such a cute ghost. It contained lots of things my inner younger me thoroughly enjoyed. It felt like the first time I was reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone!

Altogether I would recommend this book to everyone! This book fits every age group! The story is uncomplicated, hilarious and touching. The characters are all relateable and cute and all of it was amazing. I give this book 5 stars and I added it to my list of all-time favorites!

Love,
Mar

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:17:00 +0000

title: Forgotten
written by: Cat Patrick
genre: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
page count: 304
publication date: June 1st, 2011
rating: 5/5

Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come.

When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting—before it destroys her future.

Forgotten starts with London Lane, just a normal girl. Well, only from the outside. She can remember the future, but she has forgotten about the past. The only way she 'remembers' what has happened to her is by reading her notes. She can forget whatever she wants, but she can also see danger coming. Is this a good thing, or a burden?

London is a very relateable character. She is just a normal teenage school girl. She does normal things, has normal friends and has only one thing that makes her differ from other people. But she lives her normal life, just like any other. She lives as she wants. And that's what I like about her. Then she meets Luke, a very cute boy who appears to like her, too. In the beginning she forces herself to forget about him, because she can't remember him from the future. But she starts seeing the importance of that. If he isn't anywhere in her future, is her memory playing tricks on her? Then there is the returning memory of a funeral. There are lots of people she doesn't recognise. She is there too. But who is the one that is buried? She needs to know. This memory is destroying her from the insides.

The plot really got me thinking, and it tricked me more than once into thinking the wrong thing. I love it when a novel is unpredictable, it keeps the whole thing interesting and enjoyable to read. I had never read a novel quite like this one. The story was unique. Forget the past but remember the future. Amazing! Also the romance was great. I swear, if I were standing next to the couple I would be able to see sparks fly!

I can't really comment on Patrick's writing style, since I read this book in Dutch. However, in Dutch it was not very special, but really nice to read. It might have been translated a little bit different, but it must be kind of the same, right?

Forgotten is a book I will never forget. The whole concept was amazing. The characters were very well developed and the whole story made sense. I could relate to all characters and it was easy to read. I was astonished by the fact that this was a debut. Cat Patrick really wrote a very promising first novel and I am already looking forward to reading more of her works. I give this book 5 stars!

Love,

Mar

Charade by Cambria Hebert

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 22:05:00 +0000

title: Charade
written by: Cambria Hebert
series: Heven and Hell #2
genre: young adult, paranormal romance
page count: 331
publication date: May 18th, 2012
my rating: 5/5 Stars!

Dying at the hands of a psycho was a shock. Having my life returned to me by an angel was incredible. Being named a Supernatural Treasure and being given Sam as my guard was pretty darn awesome. Acquiring a debt for it all - well, I should have seen it coming. Now here we are, fighting demons from hell, caring for a boy that I just don't trust and traveling to faraway places to return a treasure to its rightful place. Nothing is as it seems. Everyone wears a mask, everyone puts on a charade. It's up to us to separate the truth from the lies and reality from fiction. A hard task when my new reality involves fallen angels, witches and dragons...and did I mention hell? Anchoring me down through it all is Sam. Sam who must face tragedies of his own and is put to the test again and again. If we fail in our task, life as we know it - life as you know it - will end. Forever.

This review includes spoilers for Masquerade, the first part of this series. For my spoiler-free review of Masquerade, please click THIS LINK.

"Knowing that there is a charade somehow going on around us - I just haven't been able to see post it."

Pretty cover alert!! I saw that Charade was published, and only then I looked at the cover of it. And I was like; OMG it's Sam. He's pretty! I need this book now! (and more fangirling stuff). So I read it and I loved it even more than I loved Masquerade. And that is one of my favorite books of the first half of 2012! If you haven't read it you should totally check it out, it really deserves more readers and fans!

As soon as you start to read Charade, you are thrown into the story. No long introduction, but just BAM! book 2 starts. And that's amazing. Long introductions are easy for people that haven't read the first book(s) or people who have forgotten about it. I don't belong to either group for this book, so luckily there was no long introduction. Heven and Sam are still in love, and their romance is so cute! But there is the task Sam and Heven have to fulfill that makes it all so difficult. They have a scroll that has to be returned. That doesn't sound as a very hard task, but most definitely is. The whole world is depending on it. If the scroll falls into the wrong hands, life as we know it will end! Demons are haunting Heven and everyone she and Sam like. Life has never been more difficult.

This book kept on surprising me. The plot had some major unexpected twists and turns, and my interest was at its highest level throughout the whole book. All the time I was predicting what would happen, and all the time I was wrong. It might all sound cliché. In the first book they meet, in the second book their love is threathened by an impossible task, but this novel surely is not as cliché as it sounds. Not at all!

Heven is a kick ass heroine! I mean, Katniss like kick ass! She doesn't fight a lot, but at least she wants to, which really impresses me. Most of today's female YA characters are just good girlfriends, always listening to their boyfriends, but Heven is different. She really likes Sam, but also chooses what she wants to do for herself, not only what he wants her to do. And that's what I love about her, that she is so strong.

I give this book 5 stars because it's super original, highly entertaining and full of romance and suspense. Is there anything else a good book needs? Make sure to check it out some time soon!

Love,
Mar

Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:31:00 +0000

title: Birth of a Killer

written by: Darren Shan

series: The saga of Larten Crepsley #1

genre: young adult, historical, fantasy
page count: 261

publication date: October 5th, 2010

my rating: 3/5 stars

Before Cirque Du Freak...
Before the war with the vampaneze...
Before he was a vampire.
Larten Crepsley was a boy.
As a child laborer many centuries ago, Larten Crepsley did his job well and without complaint, until the day the foreman killed his brother as an example to the other children.
In that moment, young Larten flies into a rage that the foreman wouldn't survive. Forced on the run, he sleeps in crypts and eats cobwebs to get by. And when a vampire named Seba offers him protection and training as a vampire's assistant, Larten takes it.
This is his story.

Before reading this book, I read the entire 'saga of Darren Shan'. This series is a prequel to that series. I liked the saga of Darren Shan, but it wasn't one of my favorite series of all time. Still, I read all 12 (!) books, and I enjoyed them. Then I found out about this prequel series, that spotlighted Larten Crepsley, a character that has always fascinated me, and I just had to read it. So I did. And I liked it :)

As the story begins, Larten is just a normal poor factory worker in the 18th century (not sure about the exact time). He doesn't know anything about vampires, or his own future, while I, as a reader, did. That's what I enjoy most about prequel series, I sort of know what's going to happen. I like to 'predict the future' in books.

What I also liked about this series was that I already knew a lot about the main character before I opened the book. This way it was easier for me to 'jump into' the story, as I did not have to get to know all new characters. I also really liked to see back some of the characters that always fascinated me in the saga of Darran Shan. Some background information is always welcome :)

The plot of this book wasn't very surprising. My brains weren't overprocessing information, neither were they doing nothing. It was historical fiction, which I usually enjoy, although I tend to prefer contemporary fiction or dystopia. As the story proceeded, it was easy to predict exactely what was going to happen, which of course also was because the book was a prequel. Altogether this book wasn't the best of Darren Shan's works, but it definitely wasn't the best of them!

Shan's writing style is very easy and uncomplicated. I can read it 100 pages/hour in English, which is very quick for me. And since I read this book in Dutch, I finished it in under 2 hours. (Dutch is easier to read for me). But I am not sure if I like books to be such quick reads. Fat books sometimes scare me, so I tend to read thinner books, but not this thin... Anyways, this is a novel that hovers in between middle grade and young adult, in my opinion. Just like the first 3 Harry Potter books. It didn't bother me though.

I would recommend this books to people who have already read the saga of Darren Shan, or to anyone who is doubting whether or not to start reading it. Also, I would recommend this book to children aged 8-12 who are looking for a quick read full of action. I give this book 3 stars!

Love,

Mar

Manga Tuesday; Gokinjo Monogatari

noreply@blogger.com (Lua) — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Manga: Gokinjo Monogatari

Written by: Yazawa Ai

Genres: Drama, Romance, School life, Comedy, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Volumes: 7

Anime: Yes, and for some reason it reminds me a bit of Doraemon

own/ library/ borrowed/ read online

read online via the sites: www.manga.animea.net and www.mangareader.com

completed/ ongoing

publisher: Shueisha

Summary:[From ShoujoMagic]: Ever since he was small, all the girls in the neighborhood have fawned over Tsutomu Yamaguchi, whose name came from a song and whose adorable face closely resembles the monkey character Monchichi's. Even back then, it was enough to make his friend and neighbor Mikako sick. Now that he's a little more grown, Tsutomu looks like the lead vocalist of Manbou, Ken Nakagawa (Midori friend/boyfriend from Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai; we meet main characters from Tenshi on market/fest), and that makes him even more popular with the ladies. But Mikako--now a trendy teen with modern sensibilities--couldn't care less. Or could she...? Gokinjo Monogatari is a sharp-witted and stylish slice-of-life story!

Review:

This is Paradise Kiss

I really love this story. It's really funny and sweet and girly and there is lots of arty stuff and fashion and guess what? Those are all things I absolutely love! And even though it's old, you don't actually notice it, like you normally do with mangas, really, I only know it's old because the change in drawing through the years of Ai Yazawa's work and because I saw it on wikipedia. The clothes are stylish, even now, the art is original and cartoon-like and apart from technology, it could have been written today.

The story has a kind of a part two: Paradise Kiss (I will probably review this sometime as well). You can read both stories apart, but I would recommend reading Gokinjo Monogatari first, since some characters will be in Paradise Kiss as well, and it's nice to see what they turned out to be while you already know them. Furthermore Paradise Kiss is, I think, a very different story. It's a lot more serious and stuff. It's really a josei story, while this is really a shoujo.

Rating:

5/5

Some things about manga for non-manga readers :P :

Manga is a Japanese cartoon or comic. There are lots of them in all kind of different genres (really from porn to manga for little girls). Of most mangas there is a new chapter released every month, so that's why some are ongoing (it also can be that the translation group is a bit slow. DON'T EVER GET ANGRY BECAUSE OF THAT THOUGH! Manga's are translated by volunteers, and not very much people speak both English and Japanese well enough to translate them. If your bothered by it, join such a group! They are always looking for new members! Also editors and cleaners are needed!).

If you are too lazy to read, of most mangas there is an anime to watch ;)

If you consider reading manga pay attention! Manga is written from right to left!

some terms:

Shoujo= Manga for mostly teenage girls (it can be very childish, it can be really mature)

Shounen= Manga for mostly teenage boys (example: Naruto )

Josei= Manga for older women (the manga site says: late teenage and adult audiences, this is usually because the characters in the manga are not in high school anymore, this doesn't mean it's not fun to read if you are younger)

Seinen= Manga for older men (also for late teenage and adult audiences, also usually fun to read if you're younger)

School life= is sometimes quite interesting because the japanese school life seems very different than what I am used to

Shoujoai= girls love

Shounenai= boys love

Yuri = let's just say: the more advanced version of girls love

Yaoi= the more advanced version of boys love

One last note! I won't be here for the next three or for weeks since I will be in Portugal then! I will post again after those weeks! Laterzz

Rapture by Lauren Kate

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 22:06:00 +0000

title: Rapture
written by: Lauren Kate
series: Fallen #4
genres: young adult, paranormal romance
pagecount: 452
publication date: June 21st, 2012

The sky is dark with wings . . .
And time is running out for Luce and Daniel.
In order to stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the Fall began. Only Luce can break the curse, and it is her choice alone that will decide all of their fates.
But as Dark Forces gather, great sacrifices will have to be made in this final, epic struggle . . .
In the fight for Luce, and for Love, who will win?

"Tell them it's happening. That an endgame has been initiated"

First of all I want to say the most positive thing about this book. The Cover. I abso-freakin'-lutely love the covers of the fallen series' books! Their covers, together with the interesting plot of the first book, lured me into reading this series. And to be honest, I'm glad it's done...

Luce and Daniel's romance is weird, and I don't like it. It's so enormously cheesy! Daniel's love is 'everlasting' and Luce's love is destroying her. Literally! But their romance is the most important thing in the universe. The difference between good and bad. One tiny decision, and it could ruin everything.

There was some action in this book, which I kinda liked, but most of it ended with Luce and Daniel kissing because they didn't lose each other and whatever. But I guess some people like that stuff. Not me, I'm not that kind of girl...

The struggle between good and evil is a commonly written about subject. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. With the fallen series, I'm not sure whether I like it or not. I love the whole fallen angel thing, since they are such mysterious creatures, and their struggle between good and evil is fascinating, but still, that the entire series is centered around a tragic romance is not what I was looking for.

Since this was the conclusion to the Fallen series, I was expecting answers to all my questions. And I had a lot of them! Most of them were about Cam, Arianne and Roland, my 3 favorite characters from this series. But I didn't get my answers. And that's what dissatisfied me a lot about this book. I was expecting more.

Again, the cheesy romance was my main problem. Here's a short quote that states the whole problem:
"All he knew was that being seperated from Lucinda was not a punishment that he could endure. They had to be together."

Altogether I will give this book 2 stars. A book I would recommend only to the fallen fandom and other people who have read and liked the other installments in this series.

Love,
Mar

Legend by Marie Lu

noreply@blogger.com (Mar) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +0000

title: Legend
written by: Marie Lu
series: Legend #1
genres: Young Adult, dystopian
page count: 305
publication date: November 29th, 2011
published by: Putnam Juvenile

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

"I'd once been fascinated by his legend - all the stories I'd heard before I met him"

I am in love with this book! Seriously, why haven't I read it earlier. It's a perfect mixture of romance, suspense and mystery, set in the future. How can anyone not like that?! And isn't that cover gorgeous?

Set in the Republic, a dystiopian version of the western US, we meet June and Day. They were born in different families, and raised in different ways, as different as possible! June was the Republic's soldier, one of the smartest of them all. And Day was a rebel, always fighting for his families' lives and health. Day hides his true identity, and he has some good reasons for that. His own mother doesn't even know that he is alive. That's how the book starts: "My mother thinks I'm dead". This really sucked me into the story, and I couldn't put it down. I was even reading while having dinner. Isn't that crazy? (well, to me it isn't...)

The plot of this book was full of suspense, and interesting at all times. I wanted to know about Day and June, and what they had to do with each other. And I wanted to find out what really happened. The most interesting thing about this book was the Plague. Plagues always make me interested in books, and this plague was so horrible and terrifying I just wanted to read it more and more and more! Also, the book was dystopia, and I'm a total sucker for that genre. This book is actually worthy to be called dystopia. Some 'dystopian' books out there just aren't worth that title.

Day and June both were amazing characters. They were both extremely complicated, and their lives had been a mess. Then they meet, and BOOM! But they don't know who the other one is. Then June finds out that Day is the boy that killed her brother. The way Lu wrote that extremely emotional part is just amazing. It really made me think, how would I react if some guy I kind of liked supposedly killed my sister (since I don't have a brother).

This story is told in 2 POV's. June's and Day's. That definitely added something to the book. Following to characters that were so different, yet so alike. Their ways of reacting to things that happen to them are so alike, although their lives are so distinct. I honestly have no idea if I'd have liked this book if it was written from only 1 POV.

Just a quote I wanted to share with you guys. It really shows what I love about this book and the amazing way it's written:

"Each day means a new twenty four hours. Each day mmeans everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time."

Prodigy, the next installment in this series, definitely is worth the wait. I just want to know what happens to all characters, including Day, June, Kaede and Tess. I honestly have no idea if Prodigy can be as good as Legend, but I will pray for it to be just as awesome. All pray to the lord of awesomeness *bows*

my conclusion: 5/5 stars!
A book every sucker for YA dystopia will love, a must-read for 'the Hunger Games', 'Divergent' and 'Chaos Walking' fans that are looking for new books and above all a great novel all audiences will love.

Love,

Mar