Book Review: Ballad

Ballad is the second book in a trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater.  It is yet to be finished, but she's at work on Requiem.  The first book, Lament, was good, but not her best work.  Ballad is better, but I feel like by having a different character narrate, we lost a lot of the action and got out of touch with Dee, who I would say is the main character.

Ballad takes place a couple months after Lament.  James and Dee have decided to attend Thornking-Ash, a school for the musically gifted.  James went to follow Dee, who he loves even though she doesn't love him back.  Dee is the cloverhand, which means she attracts fairies and is pretty much disliked by most of Them.  James is psychic, and also a fantastic piper, which draws Nuala (pronounced Noola), a Leanan Sidhe (pronounced Len-an-shee) to himself.  Nuala is there to make a deal with him- give him amazing music and take years off his life.

Over all it's a standard book, there's romance, action, and music (Maggie Stiefvater style, of course).  It took a while for me to get into it, but that happened with Lament, too, so it may just be I need to warm up to these stories.  Once I was in the thick of it I didn't want to put it down.  I even found myself losing track of time as I read it.  It was really great to be immersed in the story.

Now I've read every single Maggie Stiefvater book and am quite proud of the fact.  I don't own them all (my next goal, of course), but having read them is great.  I wouldn't really recommend this series unless you're a fan of Stiefvater or of Fairies, because in the end, there isn't some special draw.

Book Review: Paranormalcy

So I've been gone for two months.  Really, I'm sorry.  Computer problems have kept me away, but Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.

that shouldn't be a problem much longer.  Anyway, I thought I'd kick off my return with the review of the book I just finished,

This is the first in a trilogy and centers on Evie, the only person who can see past the glamours Paranormals put up to hide from the normal world.  She works for IPCA, a international containment agency for Paranormals.  Evie's always wanted a normal life, but has always been deprived it.  She's also been deprived a lot of knowledge of the IPCA, even as she works there.  Then one day Lend, a mysterious new paranormal, shows up.  He can shape shift into anyone and his kind has never been seen before.  Evie spends time with Lend, falling in love with him, and then something starts killing Paranormals.  This something, or someone, is intrinsically linked to Evie, and she'd like to know how.

Basically, this is one of those books that incorporates a bajillion types of mythical stuff into it.  There are no real "rules" for specific type of creature.  Sometimes this works well, sometimes not so much.  This book is one of those that works out well.  I was unhappy that there was a lot of focus on fairies, though, because I really wanted to explore IPCA and the types of Paranormals that roamed the world.  Neither of those things happened, and I think that crippled the story.

Also, the pacing had a few problems nearing the end of the book, and Lend's character kind of fell apart.  He was all set up to be this deep, mysterious guy, but then it turns out he really is just a two dimensional character.  Maybe I just feel this way because it was a lighter book, in need of lighter characters, but I was a little disappointed.

If White was trying to set up a love triangle between Reth, Evie, and Lend, she failed.  Reth was a jerk, I mean I really, really hated him, so it really wasn't a love triangle.  I would, however, like to get to know his character a bit more, and then maybe I could like him.

Evie herself was fun.  Her obsession with the color pink got on my nerves, but really it was fine.  The way she acted about her favorite TV show, though, that's exactly how I act about my shows.  It was really funny to see it play out on the page like that, but I loved it.  That kind of personal connection is rare, so I'm glad I found it.

Well, I've got the next two books on my shelf and ready to read, so we'll see how they go.  Till next time, Just keep reading one page at a time.

Two New Addictions: Moonlight and Smallville

I love this show so much!  I'm four episodes in and thouroughly invested!  Unfortunately Netflix doesn't have it streaming instantly so I have to order a disk at a time and it's killing me!  It's fresh and fun and, well, let's just say I might have a little crush on Superman now.

This little gem of a show is really fantastic and it's such a shame that it was cancelled after one season.  It followes Mick St. John a vampire who is also a P.I. and Beth Turner a reporter who befriends him.  This show has my eyes glued to the screen whenever I watch.  And I watch on YouTube.  Really a great show, and fans of anything like Supernatural or Grimm would really like this one.



Music: The Band Perry

Movie Review: Oz The Great and the Powerful

Oz was a playah!  Really, he was.  Past that, though, this movie is really directed at little kiddies but can be fun for someone older to watch if they don't judge it through a harsh lense.  Of course there is no way it could live up to the original Wizard of Oz but it's pretty decent.

Besides Oz (James Franco), who I was completely sold on, by the way, the characters don't have much in the way of story arcs.  Sure, Theodora (Mila Kunis) does have one as the movie starts getting moving, but it's fast and if you don't look closely, it seems very shallow.  Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams) had a backstory that was tied together but rather undetailed and bland.  However, seeing as there were so many characters it is completely understandable.

The witches were great in their roles, and Franco was the perfect choice for Oz.  The two other major characters- Finley (Zach Braff) the flying monkey, the China Girl (Joey King) were also nice additions.

The movie ended well, and I really enjoyed how they wrapped it all together.  In the end I give it 3-stars.  It has inspired me to read the books by L. Frank Baum, something I'll probably do over the summer.

Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

The previews make this seem like a childish flick where all the "those are the good jokes" are given away in the commercials and no one in their right minds should see it because, OK, it looks like crap.  That was my first reaction.

And then reviews started piling in.  People were actually really enjoying it.  So I decided, why not?  The whole world can't be wrong.

And they weren't.  Jack was pleasantly surprising.  The acting was actually very good, even the giants came across as having certain feelings towards one thing or another, and the story was fully fleshed out and enjoyable.  There was a point where I was so attached to the character's I was like, If So and So dies I will Die!  I am happy to report that so and so did not die :) but giving who it is away would be a big spoiler.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was how much darker it was then the previews made it seem.  They never explicitly show any gore, but they show everything up to that point.  One of the characters is eaten and you see the giant about to close his mouth around the upper torsoe and they pan away.  A minute or so later they pan back, and that giant is definitly munching on something.  Scenes like that are scattered about, so the movie does have mature overtones.

In the end, I give the move four out of five stars, and definitly two thumbs up.  The way the film ends is very cute, as well, and really makes you smile.

So, if you're like me and thought it looked ridiculous, you're wrong.  It was a really nice treat.

Book Review: Beautiful Chaos

This is the third book in the Castor Chronicles written by Kami Garcia and Maragert Stohl.  I' m going to try my best not to give anything away, but you may want to shield your eyes anyway, if you haven't read it yet. 

It was a very satisfying read, though not as good as Creatures or Darkness.  Chaos focused mostly on Ethan and I felt all the other characters kind of took on less important roles.  Keeping with the recipe of the books, the flashbacks showed us Sarafine's early days with Lena, which were really good.  I feel like there could be a whole book about Sarafine after reading the flashbacks.

 

Character wise we got to learn more about John and I thouroughly enjoyed it.  He was really cool and like the turn his story is taking.  Liv seemed to take a step backwards and two steps forward, which I found frustrating, but am in the end, happy with.  We still don't see much of Ethan's dad, but you'll be surprised with how Mrs. English plays into everything.

 

The ending was anti-climatic, but still breath-taking and I picked up book four right away.

 

In the end, I give it five stars.

March TBR

So, last month I failed to read all the books I planned on because I was busy reading a book for school that has taken up all my attention.  It's a very good book, and I'll probably make a mention of it on the blog at some point because it's breaking my heart a little bit.

Anyway, this month I hope to read five books.

First I'm going to finish up Beautiful Chaos, then take a break from the Castor Chronicles and read Across the Universe by Beth Revis.  I'm really excited to read Across the Universe since I've heard so many good things.  Then I'll finish up Castor Chronicles with Beautiful Redemption and then Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, which is the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which I read in January.  Then  I'll finish the month off with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, a book I'm dying to read.

So, hopefully the publishing schedule will look something like this:
7th-9th Review of Beautiful Chaos
13th-15th Review of Across the Universe
20th-22nd Review of Beautiful Redemption
25thish Review of Days of Blood and Starlight
31stish Review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Comment and tell me what you guys plan on reading and what you think I should read for next month!

Music: Bombshell (Smash Music)