Thursday, May 30, 2013

Book Review: Heist Society: Perfect Scoundrels

                                                    Perfect Scoundrels Review
In the third book of the Heist Society series after Hale's grandmother dies and he is named president of the company Kat is told that the original will might be a fake and as she goes to look into matters she starts to doubt her place in Hale's life. This book deals with Hale's family's company a lot with the bad guy of this book being Garrett the Hale family's lawyer who feels like he is owed something for all the work he has done for the family so he decided to steal and sell the company's newest prototype insuring that he'll get rich and that the company will fail. Kat and her crew of course do there best to find a way to stop Garrett from succeeding to save Hale's family's company but also and more importantly Hale himself.

The best part about this book to me was the conflicts in the relationship between Kat and Hale with how Kat worries that she won't always be apart of Hale's life because while he's definitely part of her world and everyone she knows about their relationship she's not really part of his world and no one from his world knows about them. I like that Kat worries that what Hale is doing with her is running away from his old life like she did when she went to boarding school and how for her the primary conflict in their relationship is that they are from two different worlds and maybe that's where they're suppose to end up the worlds they originally came from. For Hale the conflict of their relationship in the first part of the book was that Kat was looking into his family behind his back and she wasn't trusting him although this conflict is resolved fairly quickly because Hale could understand why Kat thought it was best not to tell him. I also like that in the later half of the book Hale worries that the only reason Kat keeps him around is because of his money and if he doesn't have that he worries that Kat wouldn't want him Kat assures him that's not true at all. I overall really loved seeing Kat and Hale in a relationship although at first I thought it was a little odd they had a relationship upgrade between books I think it worked really well in the book.

I overall loved this book I loved seeing the characters I've come to love so much all of them even the ones I didn't mention in my review. I really loved the plot because it was very different the first two but just as interesting also it gave quite a bit of insight into Hale's world which I thought was great. Please tell me your thoughts on this book or the series as a whole.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Manga Review: Magic Knight Rayearth II Vol. 1

                                         Magic Knight Rayearth II Vol. 1Review
The second half of the Magic Knight Rayearth series starts off with Hikaru, Umi and Fuu having a hard time dealing with what they had to at the end of the first series so the three girls meet up at Tokyo Tower and are brought back to Cefiro. Once the girls return to Cefiro they are told by Presea, Clef and Ferio(who the learn is a prince) that the world is falling apart without a pillar the girls feel that they are responsible since they were forced to kill Princess Emeraude even though no one blames them for doing what they had to do. The girls soon learn that people from other worlds are coming to Cefiro in order to become the new pillar and take over the Cefiro the girls decide that they want to fight to defend Cefiro.

The girls fight in their mashins against Eagle of Autozam in his FTO which is a giant mecha much like the girls mashins it seemed like the girls would loose the fight until a man named Lantis comes into the middle of the fight and puts a stop to it. After the fight the girls meet up with Caldina, Rafaga, and Ascot who have all seen the errors of their ways with the help of Hikaru, Umi and Fuu from the battles they had with them in the first half of the series and are now friends. Also Ascot has aged himself quite a few years because he has a crush on Umi but she's completely oblivious to this despite the fact that he's pretty obvious about it. After this the girls are told that Lantis is Zagato's brother and that he had been away in Autozam for quite sometime prior to Princess Emeraude's death.

That night when Umi can't sleep she goes and talks to Clef about how she's sorry that when she first arrived that all she cared about was getting back home and that she didn't really grasp how serious the situation was. Clef assures Umi that her reaction was normal and that there's nothing for her to be sorry about but he feels like he should apologize for keeping the truth from her and  not helping her but Umi assures him that he did help them with giving them Mokana for guidance. Also that night Fuu also can't sleep and ends up talking to Ferio she apologizes for not trusting him when they first met but he tells her it was fine since she was just trying to stay alive. Ferio then gives Fuu back the ring that he gave her in the first half of the series after Fuu mentioned that she looked for it when she got back to her world, she was very embarrassed when she said this and also very cute, Ferio mentions that he wants Fuu to have it since his sister told him to give it to someone special. Their interactions are very sweet and I love these two just as much as I did in the first half of the series. Hikaru also wakes up that night and she ends up apologizing to Lantis about the part she played in his brothers death and even offers to let him hit her if he wouldn't hurt Umi and Fuu. But Lantis doesn't feel any need to punish any of the girls and tells Hikaru he doesn't blame them but Cefiro.

People from the worlds of Fahren and Cizeta are also coming to Cefiro in hopes of becoming Cefiro's new pillar. By the end of the volume the girls learn that the way Cefiro chooses it's pillar is by that person being able to find a certain path that will lead to a test they must take. I overall loved this volume and I still love the beautiful art work as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Top 10 Moments in Books

I feel like I should mention that most of the moments on this list comes from Linger, I guess that book just really touched me.
1. "I was nobody when Beck brought me back, Cole.  I was so damaged, I couldn't function. I barely ate and I used to scream when I heard running water. I don't remember that at all. I have giant holes in my memory. I'm still damaged, but not as bad as I was." (Linger)
I really love this moment because it's one were Sam tells someone how messed up he actually is and because the person he tells it to isn't someone he knows very well or even really likes all that much which makes the moment more powerful to me. I really love this moment because for the most part Sam tries to keep everything to do with him being damaged in the past but in this moment he admits that he's still damaged but in a way that makes me think he's also saying he's trying to move pasted all the bad things in his life while knowing he'll always will be at least a little bit damaged.
2. Sansa's last POV chapter in Game of Thrones
This chapter is one that completely broke my heart and I sobbed while I read it which is one of the many reasons it's my favorite chapter in the whole book. This is the chapter in which Sansa realizes pretty much every belief she ever had is wrong in one of the cruelest ways possible starting with her fathers death which she was told by her betrothed was mercy which bad her see that Joffrey is complete monster; there's this moment were she looks at Joffrey and she's so repulsed by him she can't understand how she could ever have been attracted to him in the first place. This is also the chapter in which Sansa learns that she is basically the Lannister's prisoner as well as the chapter were Joffrey starts having her beaten by his knights. This chapter sticks out to me so strongly because this is the chapter were Sansa realises what kind of world she lives in and it's utterly devastating to me to see her have all of her ideals so cruelly ripped away from her. One of the most powerful moments of the chapter is the one in which Sansa is watching the courtly meeting seeing how the man that helped killed her father was rewarded and how she comes to the conclusions that heroes don't exist and in life the monsters win.
The other reason I love this chapter is because this is really the chapter were Sansa really starts to learn how she is going to survive now in King's Landing with doing what Joffrey wants her to do but she is also learning that there are things that he can't really make her do. Such as when Joffrey makes her look at the head on the pikes but she thinks he can make me look but he can't make me see, also after awhile Sansa starts to think about how the heads don't even look real, in this moment Sansa is able to do exactly what Joffrey asks but at the same time disobeying him because he can't control her thoughts and  Joffrey is unable to punish her because she didn't do anything wrong. Also throughout this part of the chapter Sansa refuses to react to seeing the heads by crying or screaming in horror which takes away from Joffrey's fun which takes some of the power away from him. There's also the moment at the end of the chapter were Sansa thinks she could push Joffrey to his death and if she fell with him it wouldn't matter at all, this is such a powerful moment to me because it shows just how deeply depressed she is at this moment with no giving a second thought to her own life.
3. Chapter 26 of Linger
One of my favorite things about Linger was the relationship between Sam and Cole because they are very different types of people and have very different outlooks on life so they don't really get along particularly well but they are still somewhat forced to interact with each other which I find really interesting, this chapter is one in which the two of them interact the most. I really love the exchange between Sam and Cole of "I'm just not really crazy about you being drunk." "I'm not really crazy about being sober." I just really love this quote and it kind of sums up quite a bit of their interactions with Sam trying to be somewhat polite still and Cole just being well Cole.I really love how their exchange starts off about how Cole wants to be a wolf and how Sam just can't seem to understand why anyone would want that. I really like that as the conversation goes on Cole eventually calls Sam out on being just as messed up as he is which is something I really love about this conversation with how Cole doesn't even seem bother to hide how messed up he is and how he actually brings up that Sam is messed up too, I really like this because I don't feel like any of the other characters really ever confront Sam with this which is another thing that makes this relationship interesting. I find it quite interesting that Cole did really seem to think that showing Sam a bathtub would help him although another big reason he did it was because he was just plain curious about how Sam would react.
The moment when Sam sees the tub he starts thinking back to the time in which his parents tried to kill him and while we heard about this part of his past before these new details made it even more sad and scary that little Sam was put in that situation. The saddest part for me to read was when Sam remembered how for a brief moment he thought that maybe it was part of a game which is such an innocent and trusting thought which just brings out how young he was at the time that this horrific even happened. I also really just love how after seeing how traumatized by the experience Sam is Cole is kind of anger at Sam for making him out to be a bad guy and I like to think that at least some of Cole's anger comes from the way Cole sees himself as a person who destroys people so he's mad at Sam for bringing up those feelings again when all Cole did was show him a bathtub. I overall loved this entire chapter and I there's quite a few quotes I love in this chapter as well.
4.  "I'm sorry. It's just, I've been so sad." "Yeah, Mom.Me, too."(Tilt)
I just really love this moment between Shane and his mother because through pretty much the whole book I felt like that these two characters really needed to lean on each other but they both just kept suffering on their own especially Shane who part of him didn't even want his mom to worry about him but at the same time he felt like he really needed her. So I love this moment because it's the one where they finally realised that they should be working together to get past Shebly's death and finally really talk to each other which I thought was a pretty perfect ending to Shane's story.
5. "He looked young and uncertain and endearing, and I felt betrayed that he was somehow getting himself together when I couldn't."(Linger)
I really loved the relationship between Isabel and Cole in Linger because it is somewhat at least on Isabel's side a relationship that is found on them both being damaged and also Isabel mentions earlier in the book she saw Cole as a way for her to self destruct and how she is kind of drawn to that at the moment. I really love this moment because it kind of points about why their relationship is messed up with Isabel is actually mad that Cole is somewhat pulling himself together because she is still can't make herself do that so she doesn't want him to get better until she can too. I also really love how she goes on to think about how she doesn't want to open up yet because she sees that it hurts to be that honest with yourself and she's not ready to hurt yet.
6. "I fold the Letter"(Impulse)
This is really the moment in which Connor really decides that he isn't going to go back home ever and I really like how his reasons behind this decision is pretty clear with the letter his parents sent him basically telling him that once he gets back home things will be exactly as they were with the unrealistically high expectations and no real affection which were a major factor in why he tried to kill himself in the first place. Connor was having doubts about going home through out the trip but this moment really made him feel that there wasn't really a reason why he would want to return to that life. I really loved the symbol of the perfect paper airplane and how he throws it off the side of the cliff and how the poem ends with the words " let it fly straight to hell." I think this section is beautifully written and great foreshadowing.
7. Chapter 17 of Linger
I really loved this chapter because it's pretty much the first time in which we get to see Sam and Cole interact and I really like seeing that. I liked that Cole can tell that Sam doesn't particularly likes him but he's still being polite and this actually kind of annoys Cole. What I loved the most about this chapter though was the phone call between Cole and Isabel which had a fair amount of banter and flirting which I always enjoy but the part that makes me love this chapter so much is how they opened up a bit to each other and that the reason behind why they were talking to each other was at least a bit because they didn't really care about the other at least not yet.
8. " I wanted her to fill the empty spaces left by a father who never once praised me, 'friends' who used me, an ice princess mom who raised me with glass kisses."(Impulse)
I really love this moment because it's one of the first real insights into what Connor's home life is like and is just a quote that I really love and stuck with me through out the book. This is also a part that looking back at it after finishing the book I think helps me to understand Connor's choice more.
9. " My parents had always been so careful with me, until the day they decided I needed to die."(Linger)
I really loved this part of the novel because it showed how complicated Sam's feelings are regarding his parents while he is of course deeply traumatized by them trying to kill him he also can still remember a time where they did love him and did their best to take care of them. I really liked that this was part of the book because it was interesting and sad to read that there is still a part of Sam that misses his mother even after what she tried to do to him and how Sam can't really talk to anyone about it because to everyone else Sam's parents are horrible people that Sam shouldn't miss but while they are the people that tried to kill him for Sam they are also his parents so his feelings about them aren't so clear cut their complicated and messy.
10. Faye's introduction(Secret Circle: The Initiation)
One of the most memorable book moments for me is when Faye read her sensual poem about fire in front of the class and then lit it on fire once she finished her reading. In this moment I decided that Faye was my favorite character and I didn't come to regret that decision, I also just think this is a great way to introduce a character.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Thoughts on Game of Thrones: 3.05-3.07

Kissed by Fire(3.05)
In this episode I quite enjoyed Arya's storyline with the Brotherhood Without Banners with how when the Hound wins his battle against Lord Beric and it's decided that he is allowed to live that Arya keeps scream for his death, I find Arya's lust for vengeance to be both very interesting and disturbing part of her character. I was also interested in how the brotherhood Without Banners were able to use the lord of light's powers such as Lord Beric lighting up his sword and one of Lord Beric's men saying a pray that brought him back to life. I found the storyline with Rob punishing his men for betraying him by death to be interesting because I could understand why he found the need to punish the men but at the same time it was obvious that he should have listen to everyone else's council and  left the one lord alive because it would allow him to keep the lord's men, with all the poor choices that Robb has been making it's easy to see why things won't work out for him in the future. I really enjoyed hearing Jamie tell Brienne about the mad kings final days and why he felt that he need to kill him as well as why he never bothered to explain himself to Ned Stark. I really enjoyed seeing Shireen Stannis's daughter for the first time on the show, I really like her because she's such a sweet little girl and I love her friendship with Davos with how she doesn't care if he's a traitor and how she wants to teach him how to read. I enjoyed how Daenerys is being shown as trying to find a way to adjust her new army into free people and how her ideas of what that means kind of come in conflict with what her army views as freedom such as with Grey Worm feeling that his name is lucky because it's the name that he had when Daenerys set him free unlike his birth name which is the name he had when he became enslaved. I really loved seeing Sansa be happy and hopeful about the future in her scene with Margery and I liked the way she played Littlefinger in her scene with him but sadly Littlefinger already knew the real reason she didn't want to leave King's landing. The last scene were Tywin tells Tryion that he is to marry Sansa and Cersei that she is to marry Loras, is one of my favorite of the episode even though it upset me that some of my favorite characters were put in the position. It broke my heart for Sansa that she'll have to marry Tryion and I'm glad that Tryion pointed out that it's flat out cruel to force Sansa to marry a Lannister after all Joffery as put her through. I also felt bad for Cersei having to be forced into another marriage because it's obvious that she hated her first one and hated to be used in such a way which was why earlier in the scene she seemed to be delighted that Tryion was forced into a similar position that she had been in the past but with news of another marriage all of her previous joy had vanished.

The Climb(3.06)
I really loved seeing Bran again since I'm really enjoying his storyline this season even though he hasn't been given all that much screen time so I'm happy anytime his storyline gets screen time. I liked how Bran was able to get Osha and Meera to stop fighting and I also kind of like that Osha and Meera were fighting about hunting and skinning rabbits. I enjoyed seeing how having a vision effected Jojen and I liked that his vision relate to Jon's storyline because it helps his storyline feel connected to the rest of the show. I enjoyed seeing Theon get tortured far more than I probably should but that was mostly because the guy torturing him so clearly enjoys inflicting pain on people and always seem to love characters who are unapologetic about being evil. I actually really enjoy the relationship that is developing between Jon and Ygritte because I like the way she teases him and I like the whole they look out for each other because their just soldiers to everyone else type of thing they have going on. I loved the scene between Olenna and Tywin I loved that Olenna simple refused to bow to Tywin's threats and I also loved that Tywin just assumed she would bow to his demands since everyone else does. I enjoyed the scene between Tyrion and Cersei about who gets the worse end of the deal as well as who sent someone to kill Tryion during the battle of black water, I just really enjoy seeing these two interact. I really enjoyed the sweet awkward scene between Sansa and Loras were they talked about their upcoming wedding and I loved the scene were Sansa talks excitedly to Shae about how much better life in Highgarden while be. The scenes of Sansa being happy makes it all the more sad when Sansa is left crying at the end of the episode after she finds out that she is to marry Tryion, it just breaks my heart to see her cry and to have her  hopes crushed once again.

The Bear and the Maiden Fair(3.07)
I love how Daenerys feels the need to try to free as many slaves as she can and that she's willing to slaughter people to achieve her goals but I'm worried that her ambitions may get her into trouble later on in the series. I really love the scene where Daenerys meets with one of the leaders of Yunkai where she decides to keep their gives of gold even after she refuses the deal that was given to her and she offers the leaders of Yunkia the gift of their lives if they free all their slaves. I just really love of confidant and ruthless Daenerys is with dealing with people she sees as her enemies and I love that she refuses to compromise to achieve her goal and she's willing to kill anyone who apposes her. I really hated seeing Sansa crying and calling herself stupid because she thought that she would have a fairly happy life because I hate seeing Sansa in pain because she doesn't deserve it and I don't think it's stupid at all to hope for your life to be not awful. I'm glad that Margery was there to tell Sansa that she hoped to see Sansa happy and to make the best out of her situation because that is often what ladies of their status of to do in life and to basically try to look on the bright side of her situation. I really enjoyed seeing how much the relationship between Jamie and Brienne has developed over the season such as Jamie feeling like he owed a debt to Brienne and Brienne telling Jamie that to repay the debt he only has to return the Stark girls to their family which is something she wouldn't have trusted him to do a few episodes ago. I also love that Jamie came back for Brienne in the end and demand that she comes with him or else they'd have to kill him.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Top 10 Covers of Books I've Read

1. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 15: I really love this cover because it looks really pretty which I expect from Clamp and because it looks like everything is happy on the cover which I think is really nice considering that this volume is the first one set in Acid Tokyo which is when the series starts to get both a lot darker and a lot sadder.
2. Magic Knight Rayearth II Omnibus edition: I love this cover because one I just really love Clamp's artwork in general and two it's just one of their prettiest covers in my opinion.
3. Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura: I love this cover because I find the artwork to be beautiful and I think it suits the story.
4. The Summoning: I just really love the cover it looks mysterious and lovely, it's actually what got me to read the book.
5. International Gallagher Girls covers: I just really love this covers because of the girls in school girl uniforms looking potentially dangerous which fits the series well.
6. Heist Society: I think the cover is really pretty and fits the story of the book.
7. Hex Hall: I just really love this cover because of the two pictures of the girl and I don't know I just really like the cover and I really like the book as well.
8. Perfect: I just really love all the colors that were used and I like the font that the title was in as well, basically I just thought the cover was pretty and since I love this book so much it's one of the first that came to mind.
9. Shiver: This cover is very simple but it's still great to look at and after looking at it for awhile I saw that the designs were of the woods which ties in nicely with the novel.
10. Anna and the French Kiss: Unlike almost everyone else I love the cover of Anna and the French Kiss because it looks really cute in my opinion which I think suits the book because isn't Anna and the French Kiss suppose to be a cute fluffy romance novel because if it isn't than that would explain everyone's hate for this cover and possibly why everyone else thinks this is one the best books of all time.

Monday, May 20, 2013

TV Review: Hannibal: Coquilles(1.04)

                                                 Hannibal: Coquilles(1.04)Review
  • I liked how this episode dealt a bit with how Graham is dealing with how working in the field in effecting his state of mind with how he has started sleep walking and how he is feeling a loose of control in his life when it comes to his way of thinking which causes him to no longer feel safe. I liked that this episode dealt with Graham feeling like working in the field may not be the best thing for him to do.
  • I find it interesting that Lecter seemed to try to drive a bit of a wedge between Graham and Jack which makes me wonder if Lecter was telling Graham these things because he truly believed them or because he wants Graham to be alienated from everyone other than himself.
  • I found the killer with a brain tumor who kills his victims because he feels they need to become angels and pray over him at night to be both interesting and disturbing.
  • I found the storyline with Jack's wife being unable to tell him that she has cancer to be pretty sad because there's no chance that the cancer will ever go away and because they both still love each other but their relationship seems to be taking a turn for the worse anyways.
  • I like that Graham confronted Jack about how he feels that Jack isn't doing anything to protect his already fragile state of mind and I like that Graham told him that he isn't sure that he can keep working in the field because he feels like he's loosing his mind and that even though he knows he will feel guilty if he quits because he could be saving lives he still feels like he needs to quit.

TV Review: The Bates Motel: The Man in Number 9(1.07)

                               The Bates Motel: The Man in Number 9(1.07) Review
  • I'm glad that Sheriff Romero decided to cover things up in a way that would keep the Bates family safe and not having to worry about any other police investigations.
  • I can understand both why Norma's upset that Dylan isn't going to stay to help her with Norman and why Dylan doesn't think that him staying there would do Norman any good and he still has a lot of the same reasons to leave.
  • I liked that Dylan is really suspicious of the man in room number 9 because that guy is really quite creepy and his behavior has been pretty odd but at the same time I can understand why Norma wants to ignore all the obvious signs of that guy being dangerous because she really needs to have some good business.
  • I like that Norma seems to like the idea of Norman and Emma getting together and just generally likes Emma because I too think Emma's a great girl and I like that Norma doesn't disprove of anyone seeing her son just certain people.
  • I feel bad for Emma because she so clearly likes Norman but Norman is too busy convincing himself that he's in a relationship with Bradley to even notice her.
  • I kind of really like the relationship that Norma and Emma seem to have where Emma confides in Norma while she tries to both reassure Emma and get information from her about Bradley.
  • I feel bad for Norman with how he's the only one that can't  see that Bradley isn't interested in him in the way he's interested in her and I felt really bad for him in the scene where she tells him that their night together didn't really mean anything to her.
  • I liked that Bradley did feel bad about hurting Norman's feelings and regret that she had a one night stand with him because she should have known that he would get too emotional invested in their one night.
  • I really enjoyed Norman's relationship with the dog and how he just wanted to take care of it and how he thought that them having a dog would make them normal and I was really sad when the dog died at the end of the episode.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

Friday, May 17, 2013

TV Review: Vampire Diaries: She's Come Undone(4.21)

                                  Vampire Diaries: She's Come Undone(4.21)Review
  • I liked that Damon wasn't able to get to Elena with sentimental emotions when he was in her head because well Damon really doesn't know Elena well enough to know how to manipulate her in that way.
  • I like that Caroline is against the whole torture  Elena's humanity back thing because it fits with Caroline's character who doesn't like to see her friends suffer not to mention Caroline has been tortured many times so she knows how awful it is.
  • I do kind of like that Stefan refers to the torture as an intervention because that's pretty much what Lexi did to Stefan when he was the ripper before she died so it makes sense for Stefan to think of it that way.
  • I hated that Elena kept telling Caroline that she was pathetic and that no one really wanted her around when Caroline was the only one that was being nice to Elena and wanted to help her in a non painful way. I also hate this because Elena must know that Caroline has always felt insecure in comparison to Elena so Elena saying these things must hurt more than it would if someone else said them.
  • I think it's really weird that Elena claimed that she dumped Stefan because she didn't he broke up with her the day before the Miss Mystic Falls pageant because he didn't want to be with Elena if she was having dirty thoughts about his brother, so it seems odd that Elena didn't just say she broke his heart or something because it would have got the point across without her having to lie.
  • I find it interesting that Damon is the one who was doing practically all the talking during the sunlight torture part of the episode because it's pretty clear that nothing he was saying was getting through to Elena because he is just plain horrible at understanding her. Also I think that Stefan's approach of barely saying a word and not having much of a reaction to Elena was working a hell of a lot better than anything Damon was doing because you could actual buy that Stefan wasn't all that affected by it unlike Damon and the whole point of this was to convince Elena is that they are willing to hurt her so.
  • I loved that Elena told Damon flat out that she didn't love him and that she hated being sired to him because I have always suspected this was true but I'm glad that it was confirmed and also being sired sounds beyond horrible.
  • I like that Elena pointed out that Stefan and Damon torturing her isn't going to work because they love her too much to let anything truly bad happen to her.
  • I enjoy that Bonnie is working behind Silas back and that Silas can't get into her head anymore. I also like that Bonnie and Katherine are working together.
  • I really loved Rebekah coming over to help Mat study after she found out that he's failing most of his classes because it shows that she cares for him and that she wants to do something for him so that he'll like her too, I just love that while Rebekah has the power to compel Matt she never would.
  • I also love that after Caroline finds out Matt is failing his classes she rushes out to go get her note cards and all kinds of other things to help him study. I just love whenever we see hints of her perfectionist attitude.
  • I found the whole Silas getting into Caroline's head repeatedly in order to get her to find out where Bonnie was  to be very frightening and it once again makes me like Silas as a villain because of the whole he can literally be anyone and how he makes you doubt what your seeing and what is and isn't real and I think this episode did a great job of portraying that with Caroline.
  • I like that the reason that Stefan thought Katherine would be willing to help with Elena is because he knows that Katherine hates Elena and would have fun torturing her.
  • I love the scene were Katherine tortured Elena because unlike everyone else Elena wasn't able to hurt Katherine with her psychoanalysis of their actions because Katherine knows who she is and she knows that who she is isn't the most likable person but she owns who she is.
  • I especially love the part were Katherine tells Elena that she has done awful things in order to survive but she doesn't turn it off she deals with it. I just love this line because it just shows how strong Katherine is emotionally and I love that after this Katherine says she doesn't think that Elena could last a week as a vampire without everyone fawning over her which I think could be true considering how much help she has gotten since long before she was a vampire.
  • I really loved the scene between Katherine and Damon were they were both mean to each other about their love lives or rather the lack there of at the moments because they had very good chemistry in the scene and it reminded me of some of their scenes in late season 2 and early season 3 which made me happy and also them being mean made me believe that they still care about each other. Also I love that Katherine put her hand on the back of his in a gentle almost mockingly loving way and he seemed to enjoy that quite a bit and they shared an intense a eye gaze for a moment.
  • I was pretty surprised that Elena didn't believe that Damon would kill Matt because Damon was more than willing to kill Matt plenty of other times for whole lot less of a purpose so it seemed really weird to me that Elena thought Damon gave enough of a shit about Matt's life or her emotional well being in the future to not kill him.
  • I'm glad that Elena turned her humanity back on but I think it's weird that Damon gave her a speech about the meaning of humanity since he's the one who forced her to turn it off in the first place.
  • I liked that Stefan was one that was able to calm Elena down once she had her humanity on because he's the one that actually understands who Elena is. I also like that Elena said she wasn't okay because I can't understand how someone in her position could be okay.
  • I found the scenes were Caroline tried to wake her mom up and had to inject her blood into her heart to be extremely sad.
  • I really love that Katherine is only willing to work with Bonnie if there is something in it for her because that works so perfectly with her character. I also love that Bonnie seems to have a plan screw Silas over in some way.
  • I really hope Elena's plan to kill Katherine fails because I love Katherine as a character and it would be really bad writing considering that Katherine is much stronger and smarter than Elena and Elena seems to be only working to kill her not mention the almost the whole cast teamed up to kill Katherine in season 2 and they failed.
  • I loved that Damon looked really upset when Elena said that she was going to kill Katherine and that he was the first t speak out against the idea.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Book Review: Tilt

                                                              Tilt Review
Tilt is a book by Ellen Hopkins which follows the lives of three teens Mikayla, Shane and Harley whose families are entwined with each other. The three main characters all are very different and have different problems such as Mikayla being a party girl who gets pregnant, Shane is a gay teen who later in the novel as to deal with the lose of his little sister and Harley at thirteen is a few years younger than the other two main characters but far to eager to do adult things to please her boyfriend.

Mikayla starts off the novel with her only really concern being how she going to sneak out to go the next party with her boyfriend Dylan and how much she loves Dylan and thinks that they are going to be together forever. At the beginning it was kind of hard for me to like Mikayla since she pretty much kept complaining about being grounded even though she kept doing things to get grounded she was confused that she ended up grounded so bit hard for me to care about a character that does something wrong and than is both confused by the punishment and also complains about it. Once Mikayla discovers she's pregnant she has to make a tough decision and in the end Mikayla decides she wants to keep her baby but this is the decision that upsets everyone else around her. Her boyfriend Dylan dumps her and her parents aren't supportive of her decision either so by the end Mikayla is considering giving the baby up for adoption.

Shane's story starts off with him meeting a boy he had been talking to online for a few months named Alex, when I started off the novel I was a bit worried that Alex would be a creeper or something because Shane met him online I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Alex was a very sweet boyfriend to Shane but very sad to learn that Alex was HIV positive. The relationship between Shane and Alex was original suppose to just be a causal summer fling type thing but in the end they both end up falling in love with each other. While Shane's love life turned out pretty good the same can't be said for his home life with his terminally ill since birth sister Shelby who is mom has been focusing all her energy on trying to increase Shelby's life and a dad that is almost never home and when he is he's usually been drinking not to mention he won't accept that Shane's gay. When Shelby dies it hits Shane a lot worse than he thought it would and he begins to doubt his faith(which was pretty important to him) and just generally becoming depressed and thinking about death quite often and wondering if there's any point to life at all. Shane spends the later half of the novel not handling Shelby's death well at all and both hoping his parents will notice that he's not okay at all but at the same time he doesn't want to give his mom something else to worry about.

Harley is a thirteen year old girl who wants to be more grown up than she actually she is so she started by trying to attract the attention of older boys by loosing weight and wearing more reveling clothes. Harley is able to attract the attention of an older boy named Lucas who is total scumbag but Harley can't seem to say no to him even though she doesn't even like him all that much she's still willing to do a bunch of sexual acts for him. I felt really bad for Harley and I was frustrated by her making so many awful decisions when it came to Lucas, Harley kind of reminded me of Whitney from Tricks who also made me worry about her like crazy do to frequently making awful life choices. By the end of the novel I'm glad to say that Harley is considering that she doesn't want to be all grown up and realizing she put herself in a dangerous position during her relationship with Lucas.

I overall I really loved Title and I thought that the book was beautiful written but I tend to expect that with Ellen Hopkins books. My favorite character in the book was Shane because I just loved everything about his storyline overall and I felt his storyline was a lot different from Mikayla's and Harley's. I really enjoyed the point of view poems of different minor characters through out the novel between each of the main characters point of view shift. Please tell me your thoughts on this book.

Top 10 Books that deal with tough stuff

1. Impulse: This book is one of my favorites of all time and is by Ellen Hopkins, it deals with three who have tried to kill themselves and it focuses on the reasons that they attempted suicide and their recover process. I really loved this book because of how different and interesting the characters are and I loved reading all of their stories.
2. Perfect: This is another book by Ellen Hopkins but this one deals with what it means to be perfect and what a person is willing to do in order to achieve perfection. The book deals with eating disorders, sexuality and steroid use as well. I really loved this book because of the beautiful writing and it had many interesting characters.
3. Tricks: This is yet another Ellen Hopkins book this one deals with teens selling themselves in order to get buy. This is a book that has pretty dark themes and I really love reading about how all these different people wound up having to do the same thing in order to survive. I loved this book as well.
3. Thirteen Reasons Why: This book deals with suicide both with why someone may decide to commit suicide and how the people left behind have to cope with the death and wonder if they could have done anything to save the person. This is a great book that made me really emotional.
4. The Fault in Our Stars: This is a book that deals with cancer and grieving, it's surprisingly a book that is super enjoyable to read it has a great sense of humor and an extremely cute relationship between Hazel and Augustus. I loved this book and it made me weep.
5. Identical: This an Ellen Hopkins book that deals with a very screwed up family and the way that it effects the daughter and she ends up coping with things in very messed up ways, I sadly can't say much about this book without spoiling it. I really loved this book but disturbed me quite often as well.
7. Tilt: This is the last Ellen Hopkins book on my list and it deals with quite a few issues such as grieving, pregnancy and how far someone is willing to go to please their partner. I'm currently reading this book and so far I'm really enjoying it but Shane is my favorite character by so far it's not even funny.
8. Fruits Basket: This is a series that most people assume is light and fluffy and while it certainly does have it's fair share of those moments there's also quite a bit of dark moments that usually have to do with parental abuse or neglect. For the most part the abuse is emotional and psychological but that doesn't mean that it damages the characters any less and there's also abuse that comes from other sources mostly Akito. Overall I love Fruits Basket completely and I just wanted to point out that series is a bit darker than people think it is.
9. Reading in the Dark: This is a book that deals with family secrets and how keeping these secrets and knowing these secrets can destroy your relationship with your family. This is a book I love and felt like it dealt with some tough issues although I'm not sure I explained them properly.
10. White Oleander: This book deals with the foster care system and all the different homes someone can find themselves in when in that system as well as dealing with a complicated mother-daughter relationship. I read this book years ago and I remember loving it but it's been so long since I read it I'm having a bit of a hard time remembering everything that happened in it.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

TV Review: Grimm: Endangered(2.19)

                                              Grimm: Endangered(2.19)Review
  •  I liked how the Wesson like alien is an endangered species and that they were generally good people but have been put in a position were they have to kill cattle there fore they are drawing attention to themselves.
  • I liked how this episode once again brought up how Nick doesn't really trust Renard but he knows that Renard has access to lot more information than he does and therefore they have to work with each other.
  • I really like that Juliette is remembering her and Nick's relationship and her feelings for him. I also like that she's nervous to talk to Nick after everything that happened and that she had Monroe vaguely tell her what a Grimm is.
  • I found the Wesson who hunts other wessons for their skin to be a really creepy thing and I'm glad that he was dead by the end of the episode.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

TV Review: Hannibal: Potage(1.03)

                                                        Hannibal: Potage(1.03)Review
  • I really liked how this episode dealt with Abigail Hobbs waking up and whether or not she was helping her dad kill his victims. I like that the show gave us reason to believe that she might have been her dad's helper such as how she was very practical about dealing with her parents death and emotionally distant and there was of course the close relationship she had with her father. But I liked that in the end it was proven that she didn't help her father kill anyone and that she horrified to discover that pieces of the girls were put in her meals and made into pillows in her home.
  • I liked how Freddy Lyons the tabloid reporter was still involved in the show and was still causing problems by inserting herself into the investigation. I also find it interesting that she and Lector seem to be working together in some way.
  • I liked how in this episode it showed a bit more of Dr.Bloom and how she relates to her patients and how she thinks about them. I liked how she uses kindness to get Abigail to open up and even when things seem suspicious she refuses to believe the worse when there are other things that it could mean. I also enjoyed seeing a bit more Bloom and Graham's relationship.
  • I liked how in this episode when Graham was giving a lecture on the copy cat of Hobbs and how he explained that the person who called the house to warn Hobbs was the person who was the copy cat killer that Lector smirked in a way that made it look like he was glad that Graham figured this out if he doesn't know that it was him.
  • I liked how this episode dealt with Abigail returning home with how the garage had the word cannibals written on it and how Abigail noted all the differences to the house. I also liked how her friend noted that her mom doesn't want her be around her because of what her father did and how that one guy believes that she helped her dad kill the girls. I just thought the show did a really good job of dealing with the aftermath of that situation.
  • I liked how after Abigail killed a guy that attack her in self defense that Lector convinced her that they needed to cover up the body because people would assume she was like her dad if she told the truth. I liked that after this Abigail gets Lector to confirm that he was the man on the phone but because of the man she killed she has to keep his secret like he is keeping hers.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

TV Review: The Bates Motel: The Truth(1.06)

                                         The Bates Motel: The Truth(1.06)Review
  • I enjoyed seeing Norma freak out about the revelation that Officer Shelby is part of an Asian sex ring and I liked how Norman was able to convince her after a time to not confront Officer Shelby right away. I also liked how Emma saw all this and sort of realized how messed Norma is.
  • I enjoyed that Emma wanted to so badly go to the police with the Asian girl and to get her justice but I'm not surprised at all that Norma said that they couldn't go to the police until after they got the belt from Shelby.
  • I liked how in this episode Norman once again asked his mother if there was anything wrong with him and although she denies it to him by the end of the episode she does acknowledge that she knows that there might be some thing wrong with him.
  • I liked how Dylan actual helped out with Norma and Norman's problems in this episode when he and Norman found the belt on Keith Summers boat. I also like that he brought up how he was suspicious about Norma being involved in Norman's father's death to Norman.
  • I was very frightened by Shelby when he was trying to kill everyone in the Bates home and I'm glad that Dylan was able to kill him in the end even though both him and Norman were injured. I also liked that Norma actually called the cops so that Shelby's death won't probably lead to as big of a murder investigation as Keith Summer's death.
  • I liked that after Dylan dealt with Shelby that Norma hugged him because this is one of the only moments when the two of them has shown that they do care for each other despite their troubled relationship.
  • I was a bit surprised to find out that Norman killed his father but was in a trance but I had my suspicions since the beginning about the father's death. I also like that Norma told Dylan that he can either help her with Norman or get out of the way.
Please tell me your thoughts about this episode.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

TV Review: Vampire Diaries: The Originals(4.20)

                                     Vampire Diaries: The Originals(4.20)Review
  • I enjoy that this show will be focusing a bit more about what the witches are doing and although I hate that Marcel took away the witch's right to practice magic.
  • I really love how Rebekah would love to see Klaus rot because after all the horrible things that he has done to her over the years I can understand why she has given up on him and well Klaus most definitely deserves it. I also enjoyed that Elijah was uncertain about whether he'd stop or help the people trying to kill Klaus.
  • I find the relationship between Klaus and Marcel pretty interesting with how Klaus made Marcel the man he is today with how he's brutal and unforgiving just like Klaus taught him to be but Klaus seems to dislike that Marcel has taken over his town because Klaus hates when people takes things he thinks are his and he doesn't like anyone having more power then him.
  • I really loved the scene where Sophie first meets Elijah because I just love to see how easily and classily that Elijah can kill people.
  • I don't really like the whole Hayley being pregnant with Klaus's child plot but I guess this explains why she's going to be a main character on the spin off but I do like Hayley as a character though.
  • I can understand why Elijah still wants to have Klaus redeem himself but I have to agree with Rebekah that it's better just give up on Klaus and continue living their lives so that Klaus can't end up disappointing them.
  • I liked that Klaus only seems to be interested in his child because he needs an heir if he's going to make himself the self appointed king of New Orleans.
  • I find it interesting that New Orleans is one of the only place the original family were happy and I would love to see flashbacks of that.
  • I like that Klaus is going to be working with witches and I hope that witches are actually able to get their freedom to practice magic out of this deal.
  • I like that it seems like the Katherine and Elijah relationship has come to an end because I really don't think their relationship made any sense with the way it has been written on the show and also Katherine has seemed a bit out of character in her scenes with or about Elijah this season.
  • I really liked how Elena stated at the end of the episode that they're going to see who will break first and I kind of hope it isn't her.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

TV Review: Grimm: Volcanalis(2.18)

                                                    Grimm: Volcanalis(2.18)Review
  • I really liked the scene at the beginning of the episode where the whole police department sent Hank off on vacation since he hadn't had a vacation for four years. I just really enjoyed how lighthearted that scene was.
  • I felt bad for Juliette at the beginning of this episode because of how overwhelmed she was by the memories of Nick and I can totally understand why she was afraid to face them. I also felt bad for Nick in the hospital scene because Juliette pretty much told him she didn't want to see him anymore.
  • I thought that Volcanalis the fire creature that kills anyone that takes rocks from his mountain was extremely frightening and I liked that he was more like a god than a regular Wesson.
  • I liked the Wesson Marcus who was trying to keep people from taking the rocks from the mountain in order to keep them safe from Volcanalis and I was glad that in the end he was able to avenge his wife's death.
  • I really liked how Juliette was able to reconnect with her memories of Nick and how she was able to feel close to him again because of that. I also just really have missed sweet scenes between those two this season.
  • I liked how Nick had to work with Renard this episode but it was obvious that he didn't feel like he could trust Renard completely.
  • I find it interesting that with Adelind's storyline that we are learning more about the royal side of the Wesson community and how that works. I also found it interesting that Adelind's goal with her child is to trade it for a way to get her powers back.
  • I really liked how Nick, Renard, Monroe and Markus all teamed up to defeat Volcanalis in the end and were able to succeed in their goal which is a great thing since Volcanalis is apparently responsible for Pompeii.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Top 10 Books I Read When I need something light and fun

1. Heist Society: I love this series about a group of teenage con artist who are able to plan and put into actions a number of elaborate heists. I love the characters and their relationships and I also think the book has a nice sense of humor to at times as well.
2. Pants on Fire: This is a lovely book by Meg Cabot who I love her writing style and I think that her books have a great sense of humor. I also remember I loved the characters a lot as well.
3. Cardcaptor Sakura: This is a series I love because of how happy it can make me it's just so sweet and cute and I love everything about this series. I love the artwork, the characters, the relationships and the plot.
4. How to Be Popular: Another great Meg Cabot book that I loved that had a great sense of humor and good characters.
5. Beauty Pop: This may very well be the weirdest series I've ever read but I love the series since it made me laugh quite a bit. This series is about people who take hair styling extremely seriously and that is part of the reason I love it.
6. Hex Hall: I love this series because of the characters and plot, I especially love that magic is a big part of the plot and I love the friendship between Sophie and Jenna so much their parts together has made me laugh at times and warmed my heart at others. I do think there will be darker aspects as the series moves on so it's not an entirely light series by any means.
7. Gallagher Girls: I love this series about girls in spy school and I love that it has a sense of humor to it and that the girls have a strong friendship and are mix of their teenage selves as well as spies. The series gets darker as it moves on but that makes it better in my opinion.
8. Secret Circle: I love this series because it combines witches and teenage bitches which are weirdly two of my favorite things. The series plotline is actually quite dark the more I think about it but the reasons I love this series so much is due to witches, bitches and les yay tastic friendships.
9. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: This is my favorite book series I love it's great characters, relationships, plots, mythology and sense of humor. the series can be a bit dark at times with it having characters deaths and the threat of civilization falling.
10. Fruits Basket: This is my favorite series of all time it's perfect in my opinion and I love everything about it so reading it makes me super happy. The series can be pretty dark at times though.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

TV Review: Hannibal: Amuse-Bouche(1.02)

                                          Hannibal: Amuse-Bouche(1.02)Review
  • I really liked how in this episode it dealt with how Graham is being affected by killing Hobbs and how that is effected the work that he does. I liked how it showed that Graham is still seeing Hobbs in other places such as at a different crime scene and in his dream and like that reason he's seeing him is because Graham feels guilty about the fact that he felt good about killing him. I like that Graham is very conflicted about his feelings on the matter.
  • I enjoyed the therapy sessions between Graham and Lecter but I feel that it's probably not an arrangement that is best for Graham's mental health because Lecter seems just fine with covering up any sign of Graham being mentally unstable and there's also the vibe that Lecter may even be encouraging said behavior.
  • I found the case of the killer who buried his victims alive and used them as fertilizer for his mushroom garden in order to connect with people to be very disturbing and interesting way to kill.
  • I was interested in the tabloid reporter that ended up writing an article on Graham and I find it a bit interesting and cruel of her that she regularly seems to get cops fired and doesn't feel bad about that or going anywhere she shouldn't in order to get a story and I'm curious about whether or not we're going to see any more of her in future episodes.
  • I like that both Jack and Dr.Bloom are concerned about Graham's mental health but I really feel that putting Graham back out into the field is probably not the best idea. I also enjoyed learning that Jack believes that Graham doesn't like therapy because he knows exactly what's going on in his head but doesn't want anyone else to see what's in his head.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.

TV Review: The Bates Motel: Ocean View(1.05)

                                              The Bates Motel: Ocean View(1.05) Review

  • I think it's a bit odd that even after Norma is arrested and charged with murder that she is still in complete denial about the police having any evidence on her and I didn't like how she somehow thought that it was Norman's fault she was in this mess because he didn't do anything to put her in this position.
  • I really like how the relationship between Norman and Dylan is becoming closer and I love that Dylan wants to get Norman away from Norma in order to keep him safe from her negative influence.
  • I liked that Emma was in this episode and I like that the mystery of the Asian girl was expanded upon during this episode.
  • I feel really bad for Norman when he had to deal with Norma  accusing him of abandoning her(which he didn't do)even after he was able to get her the money to make bail and he found her lawyer. I also feel bad for Norman when he admits that Norma scares him which I can understand but sadly Norma can't and it only causes their relationship to become more strained.
  • I was very surprised by some guy coming up to the car of the guy that works with Dylan and shooting him in the neck and I was even more surprised that Dylan ran the shooter over later on in the episode.
  • I was slightly surprised to learn that it seems that Officer Shelby and Norma's feelings for each other are real and that Shelby is willing to destroy evidence for Norma.
  • I thought that the message that Norman left for Bradly was really sweet and quite a bit awkward that made it all the more sweet.
  • I'm glad that Norma was cleared of Keith Summers murder because that means that new plot lines can no develop in different ways.
  • I felt bad for both Norman and Emma in the scene where Emma tells Norman that what Norman did with Bradly was just hooking up not a start of a real relationship. I felt bad for Norman because he really likes Bradly and obviously thought what the two of them meant much more than it actually did for her and I feel bad for Emma because she clearly has a crush on Norman and had to hear about how he slept with another girl.
  • I was surprised and distributed to learn that Asian girl was in fact real and was being held captive by Officer Shelby for quite some time.
Please tell me your thoughts on this episode.