Star Trek Update (4)

I just started season two and I like the opening credits much better now.  They're cleaned up and they finally give DeForest Kelley (Bones) the credit he deserves.

201 "Amok Time"
Definitely ***** (5 Stars) for it's ending alone.  I was giggling and shrieking like a little girl.  Also, this episode actually brings us to Spock's homeland.

202 "Who Mourns for Adonais?"
Interesting episode.  I liked the Greek mythology (something I study independently).  I'll give it ****.

203 "The Changeling"
This was a kind of cutesy episode but I loved Kirk during it.  "It thinks I'm it's mother," (Shatner).  I laughed so hard at the ending.  *****

204 "Mirror, Mirror"
One of my favorite episodes.  Ever.  I love this sort of parallel universe thing (time travel is just as great).  ***** without a doubt.

Book Review: Taken

Taken is about Gray Weathersby, a 17-year old boy who lives in the town of Claysoot.  In this town when boys turn 18 they are Heisted.  This means they disappear forever and no one knows where they go.  The town is surrounded by a wall and any time someone climbs over their charred bodies end up back in town, so people are too afraid to explore.  When Gray's older brother, Blaine, is Heisted he starts revealing secrets and unraveling everything he's ever known with the help of Emma, and later Bree (setting up a love triangle).  Eventually Gray climbs the wall, and that's when his life is changed forever.                                            

 

 

 

This was a pretty good book.  It's no favorite by far, but I must say, it kept me interested.  In the beginning the pacing is a bit to fast and the book's timeline seems a little unrealistic.  After Gray climbs the wall it calms down a bit, which is nice. 

 

The world is unique (it's a dystopian) but there are some things that don't make sense and some complexities that need to be explained better.  This may come in the next book, so I'm not too worried.

 

Now... Gray.  He really made the book for me.  I love him (book crush!!!).  And his brother Blaine... well, if you read the book you'll see.  They look really similar, almost like twins, except for their eye color.  Basically, they're both equally hot.  Did that not just convince you to pick up this book?

 

This is one of those books where after a certain point everything is a spoiler and  I would hate to take that from you as a reader.  Had I known exactly what was going to happen it really wouldn't have been a great read.  This book needs the small surprises it offers up because, while it's worth the read, the writing isn't the greatest and the story seems to need the extra help.

 

The secondary characters were all strong and I wish I could talk about my favorite here.  Unfortunately, he's a bit of a spoiler.

 

The ending is OK.  It certainly sets you up for a sequel while wrapping up most of what happened in this one.  No cliffhangers, which is a nice relief.

 

I did get really into this book.  At one point I started thinking about what I really wanted to happen and doing a little fanfic.  That's only good things guys!  I recommend this one, and the author, Erin Bowman is so nice in real life (yes I got to meet her and she signed my book!).  Definitely a must read for this year.

 

 

Music: Maroon 5

Movie Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I haven't read the book, and after seeing the movie I don't plan on it because this movie got the point and story across very well.  Very few things can bring me to tears, and this was one of the select few to have me putting on the water works.

Is it terrible that the whole time I was just waiting for something even more terrible to happen to poor Charlie?  I just knew it got worse, much more worse, before it would get better, and I wanted it to get better.

This is a fantastic film, one that everyone, of any age (OK, any age past, like, 13/14) should experience.  It deals with everything in a very realistic, and mature, manner, and stays completely truthful to how high school can be like.  A warning, though: this movie is a journey, a possibly exhausting, certainly heart-string pulling, one that should not be taken alone.  It will go deep into you and pull out your humanity.

Past the story, these actors were AMAZING.  I must say, Ezra Miller (Patrick) was by far the best.  He outshone everyone in all his scenes.  Logan Lerman and Emma Watson were also completely fantastic, and Paul Rudd just got a new fan.  Beyond the head-liners, all of the supporting cast was perfect.

Someday this will be an American classic, like Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller, and someday I'll be proud to share this with my own children.

Star Trek Update (3)

So I've finished season one.  Yay!  I really, really enjoyed it.  So far, I must say, my favorite character is Jim, of course.  I'll just touch on my favorites since the last time I posted an update.

A word of advice: when I label episode numbers the first set of numbers is always the season and the second set of numbers is the episode.  For example, Episode #115 is not one-hundred-fifteen but season one episode fifteen.

116 The Galileo Seven
This one had my nerves on end and I was terrified for the characters the whole time.  I almost didn't think they'd make it out.

119 Tomorrow is Yesterday
Undoubtedly, this is my one of my favorite episodes.  I love time travel, it's amazing, and seeing characters so out of their elements is always fun.

120 Court Martial
This one had an air of mystery to it which I appreciated.  It kept me guessing and I was very worried.

122 Space Speed
Who would I be if I didn't mention this episode?  The notorious Khan is introduced here and is one of my favorite villains.

128 The City on the Edge of Forever
My favorite episode of the season.  It was heartbreaking and tragic.  Also, it's about time travel (did I mention I loved that?).  Certainly one I would watch again and again.

129 Operation-- Annihilate!
Creepy and icky little monsters!  Rather sad at some parts but also exciting.  Certainly a good season ender.  However, I always prefer cliff-hangers (how terrible am I?).

Book Review: The Selection

Oh!  This book....

J'aime Maxon.

Anyways, this is a pretty good book.  For the first 10 chapters (about 100 pages) I couldn't really get into it.  It was slow and the weird dystopian/fantasy setting was throwing me off.  I hated Aspen and America's relationship.  I thought it was built on little more then passion and I didn't get the feeling that he actually really cared about her.  (SPOILER ALERT) Later when she sees him again I felt like the only reason she wanted to be with him was because he was her first love and also because of the "fire" between them. (END SPOILER)

Intro Maxon:

He brightened the book up right away.  And I saw him fall in love with America.  And I saw America fall in love with him.  It was so sweet and I'm totally rooting for his team.  Even though he was "dating" several other girls it didn't really feel that way.  I got the sense that he really only had eyes for America.

Besides the boys, however, there were plenty of girls to take up space in this book.

Each girl had a slightly different personality, which was nice, but we also weren't overwhelmed with extremely different people.  There were 36 girls, which could get to be a busy book.  We knew only what we needed to know about each character.  It was also easy to tell exactly where America stood.  It felt real.  I don't watch the Bachelor, personally, but from reading this book and knowing what I know about the show, I would say they're pretty close, feelings-wise.

I wouldn't go so far to say this was a favorite of mine, but it was a nice read.  In fact, once I got past all the rough patches, I couldn't put the book down.  Even for Star Trek.  So, hopefully, I'll be getting the Elite soon and won't have to wait in agony.

Also, did I mention the cover?

Sooooooo pretty.  Favorite cover of the year, I think.  I've just about fallen in love with the cover.

Book Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

The first book was impossible to talk about because you didn't want to give anything away.  The second book is even harder.

There were more questions then there were answers, however, those questions were so intriguing, so unusual, and so good that you aren't really sure you want answers.  You know answers will come with a price- the end of the series.  The characters are so real you can reach out and touch them, the problems so well depicted that your heart hurts to read about them.  There is nothing else like this book out there for you to read.

Nothing is as it seems in these books and that's what makes them such a delectable read.

I really can't say anything!  Take this as a good sign.  All I can say is that if you can handle a touch of horror (or maybe it's classified as dark fantasy?) and killer cliff-hangers, then you NEED to read these books if you haven't already.

 

What I'll Be Watching Next Year

I watch a lot of TV.

What, you hadn’t gathered that already?

I also watch a lot of Netflix.

So I thought I’d compile a list of all the shows I’ll be watching from here until the end of their respective seasons.  I’ve also included new shows for the next season run.

And if you didn’t realize it by now, I watch too much TV.

Live

Arrow (CW)

Beauty and the Beast (CW)

Elementary (CBS)

Graceland (USA; This is actually a summer show that premiers June 6^th)

Grimm (NBC)

Haven (SCY-FY)

The 100 (CW)

Intelligence (CBS)

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (ABC)

Once Upon A Time (ABC)

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland (ABC)

Perception (TNT; Another summer show whose second season begins June 25^th)

Person of Interest (CBS)

Psych (USA; will be returning for it’s possible final season next summer)

Reign (CW)

Resurrection

Revolution (NBC; I may not actually finish the first season, so we’ll see if I watch season 2)

Sherlock (BBC; When it comes back…)

Sleepy Hollow (FOX)

 

Supernatural (CW)

Suits (USA; my favorite procedural (can I call it that) besides Sherlock comes back this summer!)

The Tomorrow People (CW)

White Collar (USA; I still need to catch up)

Netflix

Smallville (I’m just finishing up season one.  I’ll post a review later.)

Star Trek (right now I’m working on TOS and I keep regular updates on my progress)

Warehouse 13 (when I get bored)

X-Files (every once in a while, when I find time between everything else)

YouTube

Moonlight

(8) TV Preview: Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

Doesn’t this just send shivers down your back?  It looks much darker than Once does, and it also looks-- dare I say it?-- better.  Alice looks so BA and the love story (I smell love triangle!) looks adorable.  Like most things by Kitsis and Horowitz (they worked on Lost) it is sure to be much more then it seems, so I’m not even going to venture to guess.

This will be airing mid-season on Thursdays, filling the gap when Once leaves off in order to keep from showing re-runs and keeping fans entertained. 

I wasn’t too excited for this one beside the fact that it’s a spinoff of Once until I saw the trailer.  It totally looks like it could carry its own weight.  I’m sure I won’t be disappointed because, come on, it looks too good to be bad.

Long live the great and terrible minds that run television.

Writer's Block: Are Aliens the New Vampires?

Obsidian, Star Trek, Icons, The 5^th Wave, The Host, etc.  Aliens are popping up everywhere and people are loving them.  They’re the new play thing for those in the entertainment business.  Why?  Because they’re versatile.  They can be sexy (see Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, or the I Am Number Four series by Pittacus Lore) or they can be scary (The 5^th Wave, etc.).  Basically, there are no rules to aliens because there can be more than one kind and the speculation is endless.  Helpful and friendly, or take-over-the-world.  Heck, half of the superhero’s on the big screen are aliens (Thor, Superman). 

It seems they’re replacing vampires, who could be equally cool or creepy.  Vampires, as many variations as there are, do have some setbacks that link them together: drinking blood and some sort of weakness to sunlight.  Pretty much the drinking blood part.  Which is cool, for the first fifty times you see it.  After that you’re like.  Great.  Vampires.  Drinking blood.  Bo-ring.  The fad has worn off.

 

Next, Angels were growing in popularity.  But, again, there are setbacks.  They have wings (which is expensive on television) and they really don’t tend to be bad.  That’s demons.  Plus, there is always that small amount of religious context that goes along with them which is something a lot of people try to stay away from.  So, angels aren’t the next thing like most people were expecting.

Aliens kind of took us by surprise and I think they’re really just a branch of the really popular fad right now: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic.  Everyone wants to tell Sci-Fi.  It’s exciting and it’s grimy.  It can parallel real problems and have some deeper meaning, or it can be fun.  Aliens are the perfect villain in post-apocalyptic stories because they are so other.

Anyways, I think Aliens are the next thing.  Slowly but steadily they’re becoming the go-to in books, TV, and movies.  What do you think?  Are they the next fad?  What is?

Star Trek Update (2)

I’m about halfway through season one of TOS and it has me utterly captivated.  There are some parts that really make you shake your head and go really? but at this point I’m so invested I find that I can’t go very long without an episode.  Can anyone else say obsession?  Instead of giving you a run-through of every single episode, here’s a highlight of my favorite:

Where No Man Has Ever Gone Before
Episode #103*
It really gives you a good idea of who Kirk is and is the episode that actually made me care.

The Naked Time
Episode #104
Sulu running around without a shirt and trying to stab people.  Hilarious.

Dagger of the Mind
Episode #109
My favorite episode so far.

The Menagerie Part I & II
Episode #111 & 112
Having seen the pilot episode the majority of this episode does nothing for me, but the tension between Spock and Kirk had me going (I kid you not, I was saying this out loud a lot) What are you doing, Spock?

Balance of Terror
Episode #114
While Dagger of the Mind is my favorite, this one is a close second.  It kept me captivated and I couldn’t take my eyes off.  It’s also a bit heart-breaking and makes you think about the real world.

*For those of you who don’t know how I number episodes, the first number (in this case the 1) is the season, and the next two (03) is the number within the season

Music: Lifehouse

(7) TV Preview: Sleepy Hollow

There isn’t really much to go on with this show, which I’m guessing means it’s a mid-season show.  Anyways, all I can figure is that it’s a retelling of the classic story of Sleepy Hollow.  That’s it.  I kid you not.  I love that story, and only last year I was daydreaming of that exact thing (I actually wrote out the whole pilot episode of my imaginary show).  So… Yeah.  It better be good is all I’m saying.

Book Review: The 5th Wave

You've probably already heard about this one so I'm not going to bother telling you what it's about.

I do think it deserves all the hype it was getting, but I don't really think it's the "next hunger games" or anything.  It's a really good dystopian with aliens, but it's not really the best book I've ever read.  In fact, I think Rick Yancey's other series (of which I read the first book) The Monstrumologist is better.

It was a quick read, regardless of the fact that it's 450 pages long.  The words just flowed off the page and turning pages felt natural.  It was a very pleasant read, despite the fact that it has me convinced aliens are coming for us right now.

It follows the point of view of two characters: Cassie and Zombie (don't worry, no spoilers) and also has a couple inserts from other characters.  For a long while you're worried about how, and when, the stories will intersect, but they eventually do- and it's soooo good.   The ending is one non-stop thrill ride that will have you biting your nails.

Being a YA novel there is of course a romance and Evan Walker is the lucky guy.  Let me just say that I fell in love with Evan, too.  He's not the most romantic or anything, but he's... well, he makes you fall in love with him regardless.

Definitely this is a book to pick up since everyone is talking about it and you'll love it.

Rating: 4 Stars

Music: Train

(6) TV Preview: The Tomorrow People

Two words: Robbie Amell.  That’s right, Stephen Amell’s younger cousin.  And here’s a pic of him so you can soak in the new… um… talent coming to the CW Wednesday Nights after Arrow (I think I’m going to be calling Wednesday Amell night…).

 

Moving away from the best gene pool since the Hemsworth’s, here’s the description of the show taken from IMDB:

The story of several young people from around the world who represent the next stage in human evolution, possessing special powers, including the ability to teleport and communicate with each other telepathically. Together they work to defeat the forces of evil.

And here’s the trailer:

And a clip:



Excited yet?

And, my favorite character actor of all time, Mark Pellegrino, is in it!  (Bouncing up and down).  He’s actually the original reason I got interested in this show.

It looks awesome.  Who else is excited for Amell Night?

June TBR

I’ve got what I call a minimum TBR this month.  Since it is summer I have so much more time to do things, like read.  So my minimum TBR is what I’m pretty sure I’ll finish, and then I’ll have an expanded TBR for when I do finish.

First, I just finished read The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey, so there’ll be a review soon.

The rest:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer

The Selection

Wither

Wake

 

Expanded TBR:

Fallen Angel

The Gathering

I Am Number Four

And possibly, The Power of Six & The Rise of Nine

(5) TV Preview: Reign

Reign is another show coming to the CW this season.  It looks promising and very over-dramatized and very un-accurately historical—Just how I like it!  Here’s the summary taken from IMDB:

Chronicles the rise to power of Mary Queen of Scots (Kane) when she arrives in France as a 15-year-old, betrothed to Prince Francis, and with her three best friends as ladies-in-waiting. It details the secret history of survival at French Court amidst fierce foes, dark forces, and a world of sexual intrigue.

And here’s the trailer:

I don’t think I can say much more about this show, but it’s the first historical I’ve been interested in since the Hatfields & McCoys mini-series on history, so fingers crossed it’s as good as it sounds.