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Book Review: The Princes In The Tower

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The Princes In The Tower CoverBook: The Princes In The Tower by Alison Weir

Published March 1997 by Pimlico|287 pages

Where I Got It: borrowed

Series: None

Genre: Adult Nonfiction/British History

You can find The Princes In The Tower on goodreads & Alison Weir on her website

Goodreads Summary: 

The story of the death, in sinister circumstances, of the boy-king Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, is one of the most fascinating murder mysteries in English history. It is a tale with profound moral and social consequences, rich in drama, intrigue, treason, scandal and violence. In this gripping book Alison Weir re-examines all the evidence – including that against the Princes’ uncle, Richard III. She brilliantly reconstructs the whole chain of events leading to their murder and reveals how, why and by whose order they died.

What I Thought:

I’ve been meaning to read The Princes Of The Tower for quite a while, so it’s about time I actually read it!  I liked it but not as much as I thought I would.

As much as I love Weir, it’s a book you need to go into with some knowledge of the time period and the people.  I’ve read several books about the Tudors, but I know very little of the events that led to the Tudors taking the throne, so for a few chapters, I felt really confused by all of the names and events.

It definitely felt like Weir set out to prove that Richard III was the one behind the mysterious murders of the two Princes, and it did feel like Weir didn’t go into this as objectively as one would think.  She does make some good points, and Richard III does seem like the likeliest suspect, but I don’t know that he’s as evil as Weir would make him out to be.

Still, it’s a really good overview of the time, and the events that led to the reign of Henry VII.  There is quite a bit of information, and I like that Weir mentions sources from that time period.  I did get the sense that there’s not a lot we know, and that some of the sources may be sketchy.  Still, with some of the things that have come out over the last few years, with the discovery of Richard III’s grave, I’d be curious to see a more updated book.

Let’s Rate It:

The Princes In The Tower was an interesting read, and it’s a good overview of the time.  It did seem slightly biased against Richard III and it’s not the best for people who aren’t super familiar with the time period.  It still has some interesting things to think about.  The Princes In The Tower get 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Queen Of Hearts, Volume Two: The Wonder

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Queen Of Hearts, Volume 2 CoverBook: Queen Of Hearts, Volume Two: The Wonder by Colleen Oakes

Expected Publication is September 23, 2014 by Sparkpress|Expected Number Of Pages: 238

Where I Got It: read on the kindle app, via netgalley.com.  This hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Queen Of Hearts Saga #2

Genre: YA Fantasy/Alice In Wonderland Re-telling

You can find Queen Of Hearts, Volume 2 on goodreads & Colleen Oakes on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

An Exiled Princess.
An Ancient Tribe.
A Dangerous Stranger with Unknown Loyalties. 

Dinah, the former Princess of Wonderland Palace, has been chased into the wilds of Wonderland after the brutal murder of her brother and the ruin of her impending crown. Now, as her half-sister Vittiore sits on the throne beside her Father, the brutal King of Hearts, Dinah finds herself alone in the forbidding Twisted Wood with only Morte, a homicidal beast, for company. 

Hunted by the King and his army of Cards, Dinah struggles to evade those who long for her head, including Cheshire, the King’s clever advisor, who is slowly tightening his grasp around her. Spurred on by her rising terror, the former Princess finds herself at the center of a web of conspiracy reaching far beyond the Palace and deep into the mysterious Yurkei mountain tribes.

Even with the balance of an entire Kingdom at stake, Dinah knows something that her allies and enemies do not: that the most dangerous conflict of all has already begun as she battles the enticing rage that beckons her ever closer as love slips further from her grasp.

The second book in the bestselling and award-winning Queen of Hearts Saga, The Wonder takes readers back to the most wondrous and curious places in Wonderland, and continues this darkly addictive tale featuring one of the most infamous villains of all time.

But be warned…not every fairy tale has a happy ending.

This is the story of a princess who became a villain.

What I Thought:

I am such a fan of this series!  I love seeing Dinah and her journey to becoming Queen Of Hearts.  This is such a dark book, but I loved seeing a different part of Wonderland in this book.  It really is a vivid, dark place than you’d ever think possible, and I like that we’re getting the story of a villain and their path to become the villain we all know from the book.

There are quite a few things we learn in this book, and everything started making so much more sense- things definitely start falling into place, and this book is where Dinah goes from scared girl we see in the first book to the young women determined to take back the throne we see in this one.  She’s really changed, and her journey is far from over.

Some of my suspicions from The Crown were revealed in this one, and there’s so much more I want to know…like, I’m pretty sure that some of what we learn will have a huge impact on Dinah in the next book, but what we have yet to find out are the details.  I just don’t know how to talk about things while not giving anything away, so I’ll have to settle for being vague for the moment.

I really do feel for Dinah, and she’s such a sympathetic character.  And Morte!  He’s really taken me by surprise, and he’s a great character.  And the Yurkei and the Spades…there are so many characters I really feel for, and I don’t blame them for acting the way they do.  I’d feel the same way if I were them.  I really do feel like I understand the characters a lot better- even the ones I still don’t like!

I’m really excited for the next book, and I can’t for it to come out!

Let’s Rate It:

I really do like this series!  It’s such a different take on Alice In Wonderland, and Oakes does such a great job at making you root for some characters and hate other characters.  I love how dark it is and how you can see so easily how a character becomes a villain.  The Wonder gets 4 stars.

ARC Book Review: Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel And The Pulse Of History

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Mademoiselle CoverBook: Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel And The Pulse Of History by Rhonda Garelick

Expected Publication is September 30, 2014 by Random House|Expected Number Of Pages: 608

Where I Got It: from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: None

Genre: Adult Non-fiction/Biography/Fashion

You can find Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel And The Pulse Of History on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Certain lives are at once so exceptional, and yet so in step with their historical moments, that they illuminate cultural forces far beyond the scope of a single person. Such is the case with Coco Chanel, whose life offers one of the most fascinating tales of the twentieth century—throwing into dramatic relief an era of war, fashion, ardent nationalism, and earth-shaking change—here brilliantly treated, for the first time, with wide-ranging and incisive historical scrutiny.

Coco Chanel transformed forever the way women dressed. Her influence remains so pervasive that to this day we can see her afterimage a dozen times while just walking down a single street: in all the little black dresses, flat shoes, costume jewelry, cardigan sweaters, and tortoiseshell eyeglasses on women of every age and background. A bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume is sold every three seconds. Arguably, no other individual has had a deeper impact on the visual aesthetic of the world. But how did a poor orphan become a global icon of both luxury and everyday style? How did she develop such vast, undying influence? And what does our ongoing love of all things Chanel tell us about ourselves? These are the mysteries that Rhonda K. Garelick unravels in Mademoiselle.

Raised in rural poverty and orphaned early, the young Chanel supported herself as best she could. Then, as an uneducated nineteen-year-old café singer, she attracted the attention of a wealthy and powerful admirer and parlayed his support into her own hat design business. For the rest of Chanel’s life, the professional, personal, and political were interwoven; her lovers included diplomat Boy Capel; composer Igor Stravinsky; Romanov heir Grand Duke Dmitri; Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster; poet Pierre Reverdy; a Nazi officer; and several women as well. For all that, she was profoundly alone, her romantic life relentlessly plagued by abandonment and tragedy.

Chanel’s ambitions and accomplishments were unparalleled. Her hat shop evolved into a clothing empire. She became a noted theatrical and film costume designer, collaborating with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, and Luchino Visconti. The genius of Coco Chanel, Garelick shows, lay in the way she absorbed the zeitgeist, reflecting it back to the world in her designs and in what Garelick calls “wearable personality”—the irresistible and contagious style infused with both world history and Chanel’s nearly unbelievable life saga. By age forty, Chanel had become a multimillionaire and a household name, and her Chanel Corporation is still the highest-earning privately owned luxury goods manufacturer in the world.

In Mademoiselle, Garelick delivers the most probing, well-researched, and insightful biography to date on this seemingly familiar but endlessly surprising figure—a work that is truly both a heady intellectual study and a literary page-turner.

What I Thought:

When I saw this biography on netgalley, I was intrigued because I know the name, but not the person behind the name. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Mademoiselle as much as I thought.

It was very interesting to how she got into fashion, and what her early life was like.  It did get very repetitive at times- it was tiring to read that Chanel wanted to re-write her own life over and over and over.  Mademoiselle was very detailed and had a lot of information- too much information for me.  There were times when I skimmed the book (mostly at the end of the book), just because I couldn’t take in any more details.  For me, there was so much detail that nothing really stood out to me. Sometimes it felt like names and events were thrown at me.  And it felt much more like we got all of the different people and events that had an influence on Chanel personally and professionally, and not a lot about Chanel.  I know that they all had a big impact on her life, but I wish I walked away with a better sense of Chanel.

I did like that there were photos and quotes from Chanel herself scattered throughout the book.  It made Chanel much more real to see her own words throughout the book.  It also seemed like a very objective look at Chanel’s life, but as a result, it seemed a little dry, and I would have liked the little something extra that seemed missing.  I do think anyone who’s curious about Chanel and anyone who’s into fashion will like this book.

Let’s Rate It:

Mademoiselle got a little too detailed and was a little too repetitive at times, which made it okay for me.  It’s still an interesting look at the person who started this huge and iconic company.  Mademoiselle gets 2 stars.

Gilmore Girls 3×19: Keg! Max!

Posted in Season Three, The Gilmore Girls Project by

Keg! Max! originally aired April 29, 2003.  This episode was written by Daniel Palladino and was directed by Chris Long.

Gilmore Girls Season 3 Graphic

This episode opens with Rory and Lorelei not knowing what to do on a Friday night now that they’re not going to Friday night dinner.  They’re having trouble remembering what they did on Friday nights, because they’ve gone to Richard and Emily’s for so long.

Lorelei gets a letter from Chilton, saying that Rory’s time there is coming to an end, and so is Lorelei’s.  Lorelei decides to help out the Booster Club one more time.  Jess agrees to go to the Stars Hollow High Prom with Rory, and Lane and her band are practicing for a gig at a party.  Lorelei has to keep laying people off at the inn, until it’s all repaired, and Lorelei offers to have Nicole stay in one of the few open rooms since he can’t meet them for breakfast over the weekend.

The booster club organized grad night on a yacht, and Lorelei was voted in as treasurer.  Max comes in as the faculty advisor for that meeting, and acts like everything is fine between him and Lorelei.  In a conversation with Sookie, Lorelei says that he treated her like the other parents, and even though she’s still seeing Alex, she’s not sure where Max stands, which seems to imply that she might want to get together with Max.

Jess tries to get prom tickets, but finds out he can’t, since he’s missed so much school he’s not able to graduate- meaning Jess will have to repeat his senior year.

At the party, we find out Young-Chu is still pretending to be Lane’s boyfriend, and that he’s at the party because he has nowhere else to go.  Dave wants to know when Lane is going to end things with Young-Chu, and isn’t happy that Young-Chu has feelings for Lane.  She’ll make prom happen for them somehow.  Jess wants to leave after the band plays a set, but Rory wants to stay, and ends up promising that they’ll go after the band is done playing for the night.

Jess and Rory run into Dean and Lindsay, and Lindsay recognizes him as the kid who used to go to their school.  Lane sees that Young-Chu is still at the party, and starts drinking some beer that someone’s cousin brought over.

Rory looks for Jess at the party, and finds him in one of the bedrooms upstairs.  They start making out, and Jess wants to go further but Rory doesn’t, and he ends up getting mad because he didn’t invite her up there.  Rory leaves the room upset and crying, not sure of what she did wrong, but Jess seems to realize that he did something wrong and goes after.  Rory goes by Dean, who notices that she’s upset, and Jess notices Dean asking Rory if she’s okay.  Dean and Jess (not surprisingly) end up getting into a fight.

Meanwhile, Lane calls her mom (drunk) and starts telling her mom that she likes Dave and wants to go to prom with him, amongst other things.  Dave overhears part of Lane’s call and hangs up the phone for her.

While the party is going on, Lorelei is at another Booster club meeting, where Max is not there as the faculty advisor.  She ends up finding him in his classroom, and he doesn’t want to see Lorelei again, because he can’t trust himself around her. And if he weren’t back at Chilton, he’d be seeing someone he met in California, so things are officially, officially over between them.

The episode ends with the cops showing up at the party, and Jess leaving.

What I Thought:

Honestly?  This is one of the episodes where I don’t understand why people love Jess and Rory together so much.  I know that Jess is a smart guy who’s into music and reading the way Rory is into music and reading, but Jess can be such an ass sometimes.

I know that we know he’s acting like a complete jerk because he can’t get prom tickets because he ditched so much school, and that Rory doesn’t know that Jess couldn’t get prom tickets, but still, I was really angry with Jess!  It’s totally not fair that he took it out on Rory.  At least he seemed to realize that he did something wrong…until he saw Dean trying to figure out what was going on with an upset Rory, and got into a fight with Dean about it.

I get why Rory wants to go to the Stars Hollow High prom, but it still seems a little weird to me.  Maybe because I was not the least bit interested in going to my own prom.

As for Lorelei and Max, it seemed like Lorelei was maybe interested in getting back together with Max. Maybe she wasn’t ready to get married before, but I honestly don’t get this story line at all, because her interest in him seems a little too random.  And I completely forgot about Alex- he was never mentioned after whatever episode he was last in, so it was quite the surprise that Lorelei was still kind of seeing him.  Maybe I assumed they broke up, because Lorelei doesn’t have the best of luck with guys.

Favorite Line:

 Nothing for this episode

Pop Culture:

Prince, Milli Vanilli, Lord Of The Rings

Let’s Rate It:

I thought this episode was okay- it does set up a couple things that will happen in the next few episodes, but overall, not a memorable episode.  Keg! Max! gets 2 mugs of coffee.

Book Review: Some Boys

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Some Boys CoverBook: Some Boys by Patty Blount

Published August 2014 by Sourcebooks|250 pages

Where I Got It: I own the e-book, courtesy of the Nook store

Series: None

Genre: YA Contemporary

You can find Some Boys on goodreads & Patty Blount on Twitter and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Some girls say no. Some boys don’t listen.

When Grace meets Ian, she’s afraid. Afraid he’ll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn’t be the first to call her a slut and a liar.

Except Ian doesn’t reject her. He’s the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He’s the one who gives her the courage to fight back.

He’s also Zac’s best friend.

“A bold and necessary look at an important, and very real, topic. Everyone should read this book.” – Jennifer Brown, author of Thousand Words and Hate List

A gut-wrenching, powerful love story told from alternating points of view by the acclaimed author of Send.

What I Thought:

I really liked Some Boys, and it’s the first book in a while that I’ve been excited about reviewing!

Some Boys made me sad and angry…sometimes at the same time.  I HATED how everyone treated Grace after her rape, and how everyone thought it was her fault, and that she deserved it, because she was drunk and because of how she dresses.  I hated how everyone turned against her because no one wanted to believe that the town golden boy was capable of rape.

It really made me so sad for Grace, who had no one on her side- except for her mom.  She really seemed like a good kid, and she really doesn’t deserve anything that happened to her.  It just made no sense to me that no one believed her or was willing to stand up for her.  I liked that she didn’t leave school and study abroad and I liked that she stayed strong, and didn’t give up hope that things would get better.

I thought Some Boys really highlighted rape culture, and how we still see women as deserving it and how people believe someone like Zac isn’t capable of it.  It’s nothing new, but I liked that you felt for Grace, and it really came through that she went through something horrible.

I also loved that part of the book was narrated by Ian, who is Zac’s best friend.  There were times when I hated Ian, because he just stood by and let people say horrible things about Grace, even though he was the only person talking to her willingly.  He really struggled with doing the right thing, but in the end, he did the right thing.  There were hints at a potential romance between Grace and Ian, and I’m sure some people will dislike the fact that he’s why everyone eventually believed Grace’s story. I wasn’t bothered by it because he was Zac’s best friend, and because I feel like he really did change, and that he wanted to change.

The only thing that I didn’t like about the book was the ending.  I just didn’t like that Grace was so forgiving of everyone else, and that it was as though the last few weeks didn’t happen.  It was just too nice and neat, and I felt like Grace was way too forgiving of a town that put her through hell.  Maybe she wanted things to go back to normal, and maybe people were on her side, but were too scared to speak up, but I felt like it didn’t fit with the rest of the book.  I’m glad everyone finally believed her but I wish she didn’t forgive so easily.

Let’s Rate It:

Overall, I really liked Some Boys, and how it highlights how ridiculous and horrible people can be when it comes to rape. I didn’t care for the ending, and unfortunately, I thought the book was great up until that point.  I still highly recommend this book! Some Boys gets 4 stars.

Audio Book Review: Roanoke Vanishing

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Roanoke Vanishing CoverBook: Roanoke Vanishing by Auburn Seal, Narrated by Caprisha Page

Self-Published by Auburn Seal in January 2014|Run Time: 9 hours, 19 minutes

Where I Got It: audible.com

Series: The Vanishing Series #1

Genre: New Adult Mystery/Historical Fiction/Dual Timeline with hints of the paranormal

You can find Roanoke Vanishing on goodreads & Auburn Seal on Twitter, Facebook, & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

When The Lost Colony of Roanoke vanished mysteriously in the late sixteenth century, Elinor Dare’s fate–and that of her family–was lost to the world. Now it’s 2013 and Avery Lane, an over-zealous master’s student, is determined to find out what happened to those who disappeared from England’s first colony.

The Descendants have discovered her interest and will stop at nothing to ensure the secret remains buried. Elinor, her spirit having lingered for more than four hundred years, is Avery’s only chance to evade the Descendants and solve one of America’s most intriguing mysteries.

What I Thought:

I liked Roanoke Vanishing!  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but the more I listened to it, the more I liked it!

I liked that the book focused on the lost colony of Roanoke, and all I knew about them was that they mysteriously vanished.  So it was fun to hear one take on what happened them.  And I was intrigued enough to want to learn more about them and the different theories about what happened to them.  I’m not sure what theories are out there, and how many of them made their way in the book, but I feel like the different theories on what happened them that are mentioned in the book are really what’s out there.

Stories that have a dual timeline (where part of the book is in the present and part of the book takes place in the past) are hit-and-miss, but I loved that this book had both past and present in it!  I liked that as Avery was going further into the history of Roanoke, we had the story of the colony of Roanoke woven in.

I really liked both stories and how they were connected and how they came together in the end.  I also thoughts the hints of something paranormal were interesting.  I mean, you do see a couple of ghosts, but with two groups mentioned- the Descendants and the Guardians- you know something paranormal is going to unfold in this series.  Nothing overtly paranormal happens, but I’ve definitely read enough of the paranormal to know when it’s going to pop up.  And I certainly can’t wait to see this prophecy and how everything is going to play out.  Between the inhabitants of Roanoke in this book, and the Mayans that we’re going to see in the next book…what other lost civilizations are we going to see, and why is their story so important?

It’s not bad, mind you, and it’s actually interesting that Seal went with the mystery of lost colony.  I definitely feel like there’s something connecting all of them, and that there’s something big that’s been a long time coming.  I’m looking forward to reading the next book to see where things are headed.

I liked Caprisha Page as the narrator, and she did great as both Elinor and Avery.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked Roanoke Vanishing and I’m looking forward to the next book!  I didn’t fall in love with it, and I have no idea why because on paper, it so many things I like in a book, but it was still an enjoyable listen.  Roanoke Vanishing gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Trial By Fire

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Trial By Fire CoverBook: Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

Expected Publication is September 2, 2014 by Feiwel & Friends|Expected Number Of Pages: 270

Where I Got It: I got e-ARC from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: The Worldwalker Trilogy #1

Genre: YA Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Alternate Universe

You can find Trial By Fire on goodreads & Josephine Angelini on Twitter, Facebook, & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian…Lily’s other self in this alternate universe.

In Josephine Angelini’s Trial by Fire, what makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can’t hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

What I Thought:

I have so many thoughts about Trial On Fire!  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it’s definitely interesting!

I wasn’t sure what to think at first, with Lily and all of her allergies I wasn’t sure where it was going, and when she went to alternate Salem, I really wasn’t sure what to expect!  It was hard to get into, because you’re thrown into a different Salem where science is outlawed, and magic rules.  For some reason, I wasn’t expecting it to go where it did.

Still, I liked the idea of alternate worlds and how what you do in one can have consequences for the other worlds.  I liked seeing Lily learn magic and trying to figure out this different Salem she found herself in.

For me, there was something really weird about this world- people seem scared of Lilian, and I really wish we got more of her, as she’s a big part of why Lily ended up in alternate Salem, and why people don’t seem to trust Lily.  There’s just so much going on that nothing really gets explored really well, and this alternate world didn’t seem as vivid as it could have because of that.  And yet, because of everything going on, I could tell that there was so much more to this world.  And it makes me wish we got so much more of Lilian, who was pretty non-existent for someone who’s the villain- and also the villain who brought Lily into this world.

I will say the ending was a bit abrupt- and also a cliffhanger!  I actually don’t mind the cliffhanger, but for those who aren’t fans of cliffhangers, keep that in mind when reading Trial by Fire.  I just wish it didn’t end so abruptly!  Because when I got to the end, I wanted a little more, because I felt like it ended on too much of a random note.

Let’s Rate It:

I couldn’t completely get into Trial By Fire  because I felt a little overwhelmed by everything going on.  Still, I liked the different elements, because there is something very vivid and different about this world.  I do like it enough to read the 2nd book, though.  Trial By Fire gets 3 stars.

ARC Book Review: Mary: The Summoning

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Mary The Summoning CoverBook: Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan

Expected Publication is September 2, 2014 by Disney-Hyperion|Expected Number Of Pages: 256

Where I Got It: I received the e-book review copy from netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Jess Tennant #1

Genre: YA Horror/Paranormal Ghost Story

You can find The Summoning on goodreads & Hillary Monahan on Twitter, Facebook and her website

Goodreads Summary: 

There is a right way and a wrong way to summon her. 

Jess had done the research. Success requires precision: a dark room, a mirror, a candle, salt, and four teenage girls. Each of them–Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna–must link hands, follow the rules . . . and never let go. 

A thrilling fear spins around the room the first time Jess calls her name: “Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. BLOODY MARY.” A ripple of terror follows when a shadowy silhouette emerges through the fog, a specter trapped behind the mirror. 

Once is not enough, though–at least not for Jess. Mary is called again. And again. But when their summoning circle is broken, Bloody Mary slips through the glass with a taste for revenge on her lips. As the girls struggle to escape Mary’s wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships are torn apart, and lives are forever altered.

A haunting trail of clues leads Shauna on a desperate search to uncover the legacy of Mary Worth. What she finds will change everything, but will it be enough to stop Mary–and Jess–before it’s too late?

What I Thought:

I haven’t been super-impressed with the few paranormal books dealing with ghosts out there, but I did like Mary: The Summoning!

I actually love that it’s based on summoning Bloody Mary Worth (not to be confused with Queen Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII) and I am curious about Bloody Mary as inspiration for the book.

There are definitely some creepy moments throughout the book, and I really liked what actually summoning Mary meant for anyone who did manage to “successfully” summon her.  It was definitely different.  What was also interesting was the interest Jess had in summoning Mary, especially when you learn more about Mary.  However, the random tidbits Jess dropped throughout the book did get annoying and frustrating, because she definitely knew more than she was letting on, and it was very much like she didn’t want anyone to know her real interest in Mary.  And it also very much felt like they were going to know what she wanted them to know.

I did like the relationship between the girls, which is what is standing out as far as the characters go.  I did feel like they didn’t particularly stand out as individual people. and I found like it was a little bit hard to care about them.  I did find that I found some of the things that Jess did to be completely horrible, and she seemed like a horrible friend- to the point where I was wondering why the girls were friends with her in the first place.

Jess is a big reason why I didn’t love Mary, and as someone who just knows that saying Bloody Mary 3 times in front of a mirror is supposed to summon her…I liked what Monahan did with the story, and how it connected with the present, and even the letters that we have from Mary, but part of me wishes Monahan had gone more into Mary’s story.  But this is also the first book in the series, so it would make sense that we don’t get the whole story just yet.

Let’s Rate It:

I liked Mary: The Summoning, but I found that my feelings toward Jess resulted in me not liking the book as much as I would have liked.  Mary: The Summoning gets 3 stars.

Book Talk: If I Stay, The Movie

Posted in Book Talk, Movies, Music by

Book Talk

Book Talk is a new feature where I talk about book-ish things that aren’t book reviews!

Today’s discussion is about If I Stay, which I saw yesterday in theaters yesterday.

Here’s the non-spoilery part of my review: I think fans of the book will like If I Stay.  For those who haven’t read If I Stay- you will like this movie if you like books/movies  that deal with similar topics…but if that’s not your thing, you may or may not like this movie, so maybe read some reviews of the movie before making up your mind.

Now, onto the part where I spoil the movie- so if you don’t want movie spoilers, stop here! (Or skip down to where I talk about the soundtrack- there’s a note there saying that spoilers are done).

So, I liked If I Stay a lot!  It’s weird, because I thought it was a great adaptation, but as a movie…not so much.  I mean, I still liked it, but it’s one of those books that seems hard to translate to the big screen.  With all of the flashbacks, and the amount of time you spend in Mia’s head…I wasn’t sure how well it would work in a movie, which is so very visual.

There was a lot of voice-over narration by Mia, which wasn’t annoying.  At least to me, but other people may be annoyed with it. And, as you’d expect, there are changes made to the movie.  Like, the name of Adam’s band is Willamette Stone, and not Shooting Star, like it is in the book.  And the distraction used to get Adam into the ICU is different- those are the only two major changes, but there are a few minor ones throughout the movie.  And of course, not all of Mia’s flashbacks made it into the movie.  Which I didn’t mind, because that would be a lot of flashbacks.  And I get why quite a few of them are so focused on Adam and her relationship with them, but I do wish that some of the flashbacks were more focused on her family.

Still, I get the idea of focusing on why she should stay, even when she has so many reasons to go.  And the flashbacks really stood out, because you really do see how much her life is going to change if she stays, and what she’s no longer going to have if she stays.

And the music!  The music was awesome, and I loved that we got to see Willamette Stone play!  And I loved that we saw Mia play the cello- which actually makes me curious those scenes.  Like, did they get shots of Chloe Grace Moretz holding the cello, and then have someone actually play the cello, and then do whatever it is they needed to do to make it look like Moretz was playing the cello?  Because I kind of feel like that’s what was done…although, if she really could play the cello like that, I’d be really impressed (but I also think we would have heard about that).  Still, whoever is playing the cello did a great job.

Overall, I felt like the movie stayed pretty true to the heart of the book, and one thing that really surprised me was the ending of the movie.  So, the movie ends with Mia waking up, and choosing to stay- just like it happened in the book.  I really was expecting there to be another scene after that, but I was also glad that the movie ended the way it did in the book, because anything else would have felt so inauthentic.

I will say that lead to one of my favorite moments, because the screen goes white as she’s deciding, and everyone was waiting to see what would happen, and then she woke up, and then the screen went to black, and everyone was just kind of sitting there…and when the credits started rolling, you could hear someone say “No!”  And then we all laughed…and the mood definitely shifted after that, because you could hear all kinds of sniffling going on in the movie, so it was good to have that moment.  Which isn’t all the surprising, really.  Oh! There were quite a few funny moments throughout the movie, which was actually really nice, because it balanced the overall seriousness really well.

Now that I’m done talking about the movie…I thought I’d talk about the soundtrack to the movie, because with a movie-centric movie, I can’t leave it out!  

The soundtrack is great, I wholeheartedly recommend the soundtrack.  Movie soundtracks aren’t something I’m typically drawn to, but I knew I had to check out this soundtrack in particular, because I knew the songs would be awesome, and I’m glad I wasn’t wrong.  You can’t go wrong with any of them, and the ones by Willamette Stone (Adam’s band) are particularly great. But I thought I’d share a few of the songs that really stood out to me as great choices.

1- Promises by Ben Howard.  This song gets me so emotional every time I listen to it, and it’s such a good choice for the soundtrack.

2- Halo by Ane Brun and Linnea Olsson.  It’s a great cover of Halo- and at first, I didn’t even realize that it was Halo, but I couldn’t figure out why it seemed so familiar.  I also love that it’s accoustic, because it fits Mia and her cello so well.

3- Heal by Tom Odell.  It’s such a beautiful song, and it’s perfect for both book and movie.

Hope everyone has a happy week!

ARC Book Review: How To Fall

Posted in Books by

How To Fall CoverBook: How To Fall: A Novel by Jane Casey

Expected Publication is August 26, 2014 by St. Martin’s Press|Expected Number Of Pages: 225

Where I Got It: From netgalley.com, which hasn’t influenced my review in any way.  Promise!

Series: Jess Tennant #1

Genre: YA Mystery

You can find How To Fall on goodreads & Jane Casey on Twitter & her website

Goodreads Summary: 

Sixteen-year-old Jess Tennant has never met any of her relatives, until her mother suddenly takes her to spend the summer in the tiny English town where she grew up. Her mom’s decision is surprising, but even more surprising is the town’s reaction to Jess. Everywhere she goes, people look at her like they’ve seen a ghost. In a way, they have—she looks just like her cousin Freya, who died shortly before Jess came to town.

Jess immediately feels a strange connection to Freya, whom she never got to meet alive. But the more she learns about Freya’s life, the more suspicious the circumstances of her death start to look. One thing is for sure: this will be anything but the safe, boring summer in the country Jess was expecting.

Beloved author Jane Casey breaks new ground with How to Fall, a cleverly plotted and remarkably written young adult mystery.

What I Thought:

I liked How To Fall!  I wasn’t sure what to expect with How To Fall, but…I didn’t like it as much as I was hoping but I also liked it more than I was expecting.  I know that sounds weird, but it really describes how I feel about How To Fall.

How To Fall is definitely a mystery, as Jess tries to figure out what happened to her cousin Freya after Freya’s very mysterious death.  What really happened was not what I expected AT ALL, and given everyone has a different idea of what happened to Freya and what was going through her mind when she died and what could have resulted in her death.  It just goes to show that some people are just so terribly cruel, and I hate that people are like that.

I like that Jess and her mom go back to where her mom grew up, and that Jess gets to see that part of her mom’s life.  I know the story is more about Jess trying to figure out what happened to her cousin, but there’s still part of me that wishes we knew more about why her mom didn’t talk to anyone in her family until recently, and what got her mom to change her mind.  And part of me still feels like there’s more to the story.

Speaking of Jess and her mom…I felt like Dan, who her mom was interested in as a teenager and reconnects with was really odd, and for a while, I thought maybe he was the one behind Freya’s mysterious death.  I feel like he’s up to something and while I don’t know why I feel this way about him, I just get this vibe that Jess and her mom need to stay far, far away from him.

I don’t really have strong feelings about the characters either way, and I thought Jess’ fixation on Freya’s death to be a little weird, considering she didn’t know Freya at all.  I wish we got to know Freya a little bit better, but I also understand why we don’t.  We do learn a little bit about Freya throughout the book, but it was still hard for me to get into the mystery of her death…especially when we learn what really happened the night she died.

Still, I liked Jess, who’s pretty sarcastic.  I’m definitely interested in reading more of her story, and I’m glad there’s another book in this series, because her story is far from over.  I’m also really curious about what other mysteries she comes across and solves, because Port Sentinel seems like a place full of secrets!

Let’s Rate It:

I liked How To Fall, and while there are some things I’m curious about because they seem a little strange to me, I’m still interested enough to keep reading this series.  How To Fall gets 3 stars.