Thursday 25 July 2013

The Midnight Heir by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brenan (Bane Chronicles #4)

 OMG So I have a ton of post drafts and such, but I just read this and I NEED TO REVIEW IT. I JUST HAVE TO.

Title: The Midnight Heir (Bane Chronicles #4)
Author: Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brenan
Genre: Fantasy, Edwardian Era, Romance
Publication Date: 16 July 2013
Warnings: NONE. THIS IS UTTERLY PERFECT. There's a bit of threatening and fighting but not much. Also if you're scared of ducks.




Friday 19 July 2013

Blog Tour stop for Creation by Kat Mellon: Book Excerpt

So it's my first ever blog tour guys!
So I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Mostly on advice from Emily. :D

The blurb:

Title: Creation
Author: Kat Mellon
Genre: Literary Fiction

Who owns what you create? Creation is a provocative exploration of what it means to be free. Set in a dystopian future where creativity is exclusively harnessed for the greater good, two artistically talented individuals remind us all never to take for granted the product of our own work and imagination.

Creation is inspired by Ayn Rand’s Anthem and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.








Book Excerpt (well Emily told me to just include any excerpt I liked):

The buzzer sounds. It is time to work. Everyone shuffles into their rooms. The door clicks shut and I know that I cannot leave. I quickly use the restroom, drink a glass of water, then sit down at my table to work.
My room, like all of our rooms, is bare. White. Dull. Vacant. I have a lamp, a desk, and a chair. Nothing else. Our clothing is all the same and is stored in the common changing room. Some of the other 
Creators have a work of some sort—a painting, a sculpture, a mural—in their rooms. They had HOF approval. I have never asked because I could never choose one single work. I often wonder how the HOF has time to make so many approvals anyway. I don’t want to bother him.
I open the Slab and begin to type.
Jim stepped into the front door of his five-story home. The fish in his wall-to-wall tank stared back at him blankly. He wasn’t expecting any sign of recognition from these creatures. He merely enjoyed looking at them after a long day at work
I stop writing. Wes’ words are finally getting to me. What if homes are real? Fish? The capacity to keep fish in a home? What if we truly Create these things? I close the Slab and sigh, and my hands slap the desk.No one will know. The ticket is still sitting at the corner of my desk. I have not filed it yet. I am nervous. I grab the ticket between my thumb and forefinger and pull it toward me. I look around even though I know no one is watching, and then I raise it to my face.


Review:

So this is the first blog tour stop I've ever hosted as I've frequently mentions and BOY AM I EXCITED.

This book, while really short, was amazing. I don't usually read like far-end dystopias such as this (very in line with The Giver and such) but this novella really took the reader into the story.

The first part is confusing, throwing the reader right into the middle of the story. I guess it's pretty common in books lately, especially books set in either fantasy lands or dytsopias. But once you get the gist of the background and the characters it becomes clearer and the story flows nicely.

The writing is smooth and mysterious, perfectly pitched. I've never realized how much I was craving good writing style until now. The world building within those few pages was incredible, as well as the idea in itself being wonderful. There were many references to modern-day technology, that grounded the book and really connected itself to reality, giving the ook a sort of immediacy.

What I didn't really like was that the book was so short, giving us much less time for character development and extended world building (meaning, outside of the immediate setting). I hope there will be another book. Really.

...And...that's it, I guess. I don't really have that much to say about a short story, especially one of such high quality.





Kat is a young author living in Fort Collins, CO. She graduated cum laude from the University of New Mexico with a BA in English at age nineteen and is a master of procrastination and pizza eating.  She will soon query agents with her biggest and baddest novel, Flowers When You’re Dead.


Links

Main Website: katmellon.com
Blog: blog.katmellon.com
YA Trilogy Website: ataviststrilogy.com
Flowers When You’re Dead: fwydbook.blogspot.com
Writing & Design Services: katmauvais.com
Facebook: facebook.com/katmellon
Twitter: @ataviststrilogy


Wednesday 17 July 2013

Movie Review: Despicable Me 2 (2013)

You know I would review Monsters University except I didn't watch it. I would have watched it but my sister already did so we ended up watching Despicable Me. Seriously these intros need to be more related to the thing I'm reviewing. But I guess I feel the need to give you a commentary so whatever.

Title: Despicable Me 2 (2013)
Directors: Pierre Coofin, Chris Renaud
Genre: Comedy, Cartoon, Just pure awesomeness ok
Release Date: 3 July 2013 (USA)
Warnings: This is a family movie so it's fine. If you're scared of overwhleming cliches, parody or not, and of watching animated characters get electrocuted, and of giant carnivorous purple fluffy minions, go ahead and censor.
Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russel Brand



Wednesday 10 July 2013

Book Review: Pivot Point by Kasie West (Pivot Point #1)

So I read this  while back and OH SHIT I THINK IT'S OVERDUE AT THE LIBRARY HOLD ON.
Okay.

Title: Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1)
Author: Kasie West
Genre: Fantasy (kinda...?), Paranormal, Romace (ooh yes a lot of romance indeed)
Publication Date: 12 February 2013
Warnings: Err... I guess it's a teen book so you know, making out and all that ladadada.




Sunday 7 July 2013

Freak out Fangirl Feature #3: Rip-offs

So I haven't done one of these in a while, but I've been noticing that most of my reviews are starting to take a pattern. While I'm not discussing rip-offs exactly, I'll touch on how it affects the way I read and view books.



(seriously I'm like a pround mama with these thingies)

Friday 5 July 2013

Feature and Follow Friday #7

Hey guys. I'm typing this half asleep, since it's about ten thirty (at night) in Singapore and I've had a pretty long day. But I promise that have this up since I forgot last week, which I just smashed my head over.

This week's featured blogger:



This week's question:

Today’s is the US’ Independence Day. Share your favorite book with a war in it, or an overthrow of the government.

I usually try not to give the same answer as Parajunkee, but I have to say Ender's Game. I've been rereading the series, which is why I haven't been posting as much lately. It's once of my favorite series of all time, and it's perfection. The movie is coming out this November, despite having been filmed in February last year. Yup. Frustrating. It had a star-studded cast, with Asa Butterfield as Ender, Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin, Hailee Steinfeld and Ben Kingsley. The trailer's out too. 

I love it because of the profound war strategies and the deep understanding of the human mind that is brought into question. And when I say Ender's Game, I don't just mean the first book, I mean the entire ridiculously long series. I've read most of them. 

Another series I have to say is Unwind, by Neal Shusterman. I've reviewed it before and it's again one of my favorite books. There isn't any war, but there is subtle rebelling against the government and I love it. It also touches on some very current issues while maintaining interest. I think a movie's in production too. So yeah.




Tuesday 2 July 2013

Movie Review: Man of Steel (2013)

Wow! So I realised I'm generally getting more pageviews and THAT MAKES ME INCREDIBLY HAPPY YOU KNOW. Also one of my friends Joan started a blog. She hasn't posted ANYTHING yet. But *ahem* she added me as admin at some point and I can see that she's working on a review for this movie too. So I'll keep you guys posted.

Edit: I'm procrastinating on this big time.

Title: Man of Steel (2013)
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Directed By: Zack Snyder
Genre: Superhero movies, Action (I guess), somewhat science fantasy
Release Date: 14 June 2013 (USA)
Warnings: Meh. If you're scared of too much CGI and weirdness yes. Also if you're scared of high heels. And someone died but meh.