Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins I Review

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall
Genre: fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb:
When sixteen-year-old Sophie Mercer discovers she's a witch, the imagines life will be full of magic, fun an...well...broomsticks! But her first attempt at a love spell goes disastrously wrong and, as punishment, Sophie is shipped off to Hecate "Hex" Hall, a reform school for witches, shapeshifter and fairies.
By the end of her first day among her fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite the score card: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tag-along ghost, a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person on campus and the only vampire.
Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students and her only friend is the number one suspect.

The world building was good, we had some traditional mythology in there with of course the authors new spin on it thrown in, as well as some original baddies. The characters in this book were great, Sophie wasn't as funny as I'd been led to believe but she still got the odd laugh out of me. I loved the love interest: he was nice, but not annoyingly nice, he insulted people, but never anything more than banter.

This book was always interesting because the main character was so different from myself and I'd always think what I'd do in the situations she was put in but she always did something completely different, which meant it was fun and unpredictable. Speaking of unpredictable, THAT PLOT TWIST (which I won't spoil) was amazing. As I have said on multiple occasions I love a good plot twist and this one is defiantly going on my list (my metaphorical list) when it happened I had to read the sentence again to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.

I will most definitely be reading the sequel, Demonglass, and I very much look forward to it.
Love Always,
Freya

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe I Review

Title: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia
Genre: childrens, fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

Blurb: 
When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy took their first steps into the world behind the magic wardrobe, little do they realise what adventures are about to unfold. And as the story of Narnia begins to unfold, so to does a classic tale that has enchanted readers of all ages for over half a century.

I've had this book for years and I've read it's prequel "The Magician's Nephew" about three times but for some bizzare reason never continued onto the next book. The story was lovely, but simple which in a way I suppose is good, you don't want to add unessesary details, it will only make the book slow and confusing.

The  writing style was odd but I don't like to critise it because it would most definately appeal to children (the target audience). The narration was friendly and it felt like you were being told a story, but one from memory, not one being read strait from a book.

I wasn't a huge fan of the ending (which I won't spoil) as it seemed like the ending of the last book in a series, or a standalone but certainly not the first one. Besides that it was a lovely book and next time I go to a fancy dress party I'll go as the White Queen or Aslan...I haven't quite decided yet.

Love Always,
Freya 

The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black I Review

Title: The Iron Trial
Series: Magisterium
Authors: Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Genre: Children's, Fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆


Blurb: Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

When reading this book I hate to admit it but the similarites to Harry Potter were hard not to pick up on, there were even entire scenes where all I could think about was JK Rowling wrote this part better. Cassandra Clare is obviously a big fan of popular fiction in the genre she writes in, which was a problem because I think at points, the parts she stole from other books weren't even intentional.
I decided not to include these points when deciding my star rating because I wanted to look at it as a book on its own and not compare it to other books of an unrealistic standard.

I didn't have any attatchment to any of the characters but I quite liked Aaron and I suppose Call was tolerable. I gave the book its four stars for the story line. To start off with it was more of a three star and I wasn't to interested in the story but soon enough I found it got much more exiting. I was expecting the ending to be predicatable but it wasn't quite what I expected, which is always nice. 

There was a bit of "convienient information dropping" which could have been done much more subtly. The pacing was good and I was glad the story only took up 295 pages as often fanstasys like this one are much longer and I would have hated to see unnecesary filler scenes in a book like this one. 

It must have been well edited because there was no distinct difference between the two authors voices as I know can be a common problem in dual writer projects. 

Love Always,
Freya

The Awakening by L.J. Smith I Review

Title: The Awakening
Author: L.J. Smith
Series: The Vampire Diaries
Genre: Vampires, Romance
My Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blurb: 

A deadly love triangle Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any guy she wants. Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good. Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . . who will she choose?

As a big fan of the TV show I didn't know what to expect from this book, the show made A LOT of changes from the book, but it was nice to notice where Julie Plec got all her ideas for character names and such like. One detail which I really did appreciate was that in both the book and the TV show Elena had a seat on her window sill. It was an odd experience because I'd seen the show first for me what the show said was canon so I felt myself getting annoyed with things that were different from the show then having to remind myself L.J Smith wrote this first.

This book had a horrible case of insta-love, literally. She kissed him once and was talking about how much she loved him and how she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. The plot twist at the end was pretty preditable, weather that was because there had been a similar story line in the show I'm not sure. 

Even though when I am reviewing the book all I can come up with is critisisms I still gave the book three stars because despite all the flaws it was quite enjoyable and I've found myself reading the sequel.

Love Always,
Freya

Tinker Bell and The Legend of The Neverbeast I Film Review

Title: Tinker Bell and The Legend of the Neverbeast
Genre: Children's, Fantasy
Director: Steve Loter
My Star Rating: ★★★★★

Although they are aimed at people much younger than myself I go to see the Tinker Bell films every time a new one comes out, as I have a personal attachment to them that began when I was younger. This time the film's protagonist was not the normal Tink but a much loved member of her entourage, Fawn!

Fawn is the animal fairy in Tinkerbell's varied friendship ground is known for her love of animals (no matter how dangerous they may seem) and for getting her friends into trouble because of it. It was nice to get a closer insight on one of the secondary characters as they all have different and interesting personalities.

The animation was simply gorgeous and there were points where I wanted them to pause the film so I could take a screen cap. All the little details of Pixie Hollow and of course the fairies themselves looked lovely. 

As always it was absolutely hilarious (even to the slightly older audience) and I caught myself laughing rather hard at Rosetta's outcry of "I was mid-exfoliation! Mid exfoliation!" and of course the rather dim but well meaning Silvermist brought on a few chuckles. I love the expansion of the world they bring as each new film is released and this time it was a fairy organisation called "the scouts", a group of determined fairies with minds set on keeping Pixie Hollow and some great character development for their leader, Nyx. 

Love Always,
Freya

Mockingjay Part 1 I Film Review

Name: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Apadapted From: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopia
Director: Francis Lawrence
My Star Rating: ★★★★★

I went to see this film on November the 21st for my friend's birthday. I do apologise for the length of this review as it was a while ago now and I remember only some of the details if you would like to see a (spoilery) review of the film on my YouTube channel click here.

I did not like the Mockingjay book so I went into the cinema expecting the worst but I was pleasantly surprised. First of all hats off to the set designers as district 13 looked perfect, exactly as I had imagined it. Secondly, when me and my friends came out of the cinema the first thing we all commented on was Coin's hair. Somehow, we'd all imagined it looking exactly the same and we imagined it looking exactly as it did in the film. Some of the shots were amazing my personal favourite being a zooming, bird's eye view of a huge crowd of people running down a staircase.

In terms of acting there was an all round great performance, Natalie Dormer was brilliant as Cressida and of course Woody Harrelson never fails to do Haymich justice. I did get a feel right throughout that they were doing a "Oh this guy hasn't had much screen time for a while let's have him give Katniss a spontaneous pep talk".

There was a scene in which Katniss sung the -now famous- hanging tree song (which my friends were bothering me with for days, at one point they sang it as a round). In scenes such as this they normally have a professional singer pre-recording the song and the actress mouthing it. However in this film it was undoubtably Jennifer Lawrence singing and I'm not sure why that please me so much but it did.

Love Always,
Freya

October Wrap-Up

This is a Teen Wolf story set around series one time. It is an additional story that is not in the TV show. I read this as a "there's a few day until Blood Of Olympus and I need something to read" kind of book. I only gave it two stars as it wasn't great but frankly I was expecting it to be terrible so I wasn't disappointed. One thing I did like is that we got information about the characters that you might miss whilst watching the show which was pretty cool.

I read this book because I knew the film was coming out soon and I had found tickets to an advanced screening. You can read my review of the film here. Sadly I made the mistake of not reaching the end of the book before I saw the film which meant I never actually finished it, this was because I had no desire to find out what happened next, as I already knew. My friend also told me how my favourite character dies in the next book and now I just don't see the point.

This was the fifth and final book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series. My only complaint was the lack of Percy but besides that I think it was a great conclusion to the series and I am very happy with it. Rick Riordan has written such great characters who are funny and have really distinct personalties and because of this I got so attached to the series and finishing this book was very sad.

Pride and Joy was the first graphic novel I've ever read, i had been a bit unsure about them in the past as I thought with the way they were written it would be difficult to read but it's not! Reading a graphic novel feels like you're watching a TV show. The story was great and I really want to find out what happens next. I gave it four stars.

Love Always,
Freya

Runaways Volume 1 | Review

Title: Pride and Joy
Series: Runaway
Genre: Graphic Novel, Superheroes
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆
Blurb:

All young people believe their parents are evil ... but what if they really are? Meet Alex, Karolina, Gert, Chase, Molly and Nico - whose lives are about to take an unexpected turn. When these six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains, the shocked teens find strength in one another. Together, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives - vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy.

This was the first graphic novel/comic book I'd ever read and I'm pleasantly surprised.  A few months ago my dad bought me a small selection of marvel comic books as I'm a big fan of marvel films and he thought I might enjoy what they were based on. I did, however avoid them for a while as I wasn't quite sure how to approach it, yes I could read books but would I understand it fully? I didn't like the idea of there being no description. As it turns out you don't need description, that's what the pictures are for (seems kind of obvious now I think about it). It felt like I was watching TV.

The storyline was great, a group of children who only know each other as family friends discover their parents are super villans, they then go on to discover secrets their parents had kept from them and realise power they never new they had.

The illustrations were nothing special but at each chapter mark there were great pictures of the characters, drawn in a different style.

Each character had clear and individual personalities, my favourite character was probably Nico, a goth girl that wasn't stereotypically moody and I also like Karolina as I feel she had a lot of morals and the most realistic reaction to their situation as well as some great character development.

I am about to order volume two and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Love Always,
Freya

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin | Review

Title: A Game Of Thrones
Series: A Song Of Ice and Fire
Genre: Epic Fantasy
My Star Rating:★★★★★
Blurb:

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun. As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand his honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must ... and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty. The old gods have no power in the south, Stark's family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

A Game Of Thrones is a big book. Big books ,to many, are daunting. People think these books will be dificult to read with big words and long chapters. A Game Of Thrones isn't. I agree that the writing style would be a bit much for a small child but then again a small child shouldn't be reading this book at all. The chapters are of a good size and in order to get through this book you just need to dedicate some time to it and take it a chapter at a time. You'd be suprised at how fast you can read it.

It is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. Every so often I would stop reading and take a moment to appriciate the sentence I had just read. However one of my pet peeves with this book was that half the chapters began with "(insert character name) was breaking his/her fast when...". 

There are eight different character perspectives. First is Ned Stark: he is the Lord of Winterfell, an honourable man and close friends with King Robert Baratheon. Next is Ned's wife, Catelyn Stark. Then there children Arya, Sansa and Bran aswell as Ned's bastard son, Jon Snow. From King's Landing we have Tyrion Lannister: a dwarf, the son of one of the most powerful men in Westeros. Then finally Daenerys Targrayen, a thirteen year old girl who wants to go home, accompanied by a brother who wants the iron throne.

The plot of this book is very clever. It's almost like several seperate stories but they all intertwine in such interesting ways.

The first time I tried to read this book I found it very difficult to picture what was going on. It was like I was reading the words but they weren't registering with me at all. It had been recommend that I watch the HBO TV show before reading the book and I did. After watching the show, the book made perfect sense to me. There was, however, a downfall to this. Because I had watched the show and new exactly what was going to happen this book took me a long time to read. I didn't have any interest in finding out what happened next because I already new.

Overall this was a great book and is becoming one of my favourites so I hope you like it too.
Love Always,
Freya

The Maze Runner | Film Review

Title: The Maze Runner
Adapted From: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopia
Director: Wes Ball
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

On Friday night I went to an advanced screening of The Maze Runner. The general UK release is not until the 10th of September. 
As a film by its self it would have been amazing, compared to the book however, it could have been better. Lots of things happened in a different order, details about the world were changed and characters died in the wrong way. 
Let's talk about casting choices first. I loved Dylan O'Brien as Thomas, but then again I love Dylan O'Brien in general. From his time playing Stiles he has evidently perfected the "panicked" look. My favourite actor in this film was Thomas Sangster as Newt (otherwise known as fit guy from Game of Thrones). I loved that Newt kept his British accent as fake American ones are unbearable *cough* Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower *cough*. He was funny and even when crying he was inhumanly good looking.
I liked the film's pacing, sometimes when a story is condensed into a short amount of time it can seem rushed and in some ways an insult to the book when so much is left out or glossed over as if it is unimportant. I didn't feel like The Maze Runner had this problem.
I good test to see if a film is any good is "did I cry when someone died?" and I did. The key to an effective death scene is not the death its self but another characters reaction or way of dealing with that death and they did this perfectly. 
I loved the set, it was a lot prettier than I imagined. The fields, the gardens and the shelters they slept in all looked great and nothing looked out of place. You could believe that these people had built this for themselves in the time they had been here. I did have one problem with the maze, a lot of the time the walls weren't very high and it didn't seem like much of a maze.
I didn't like the grievers, they were supposed to be giants slugs with spikes but instead they were mechanical spiders with what (at first glance) looked like a human head.
Although most of my friends were disappointed with this film I thought it was really good. Maybe this is because analysing book to film adaptations is a hobby of mine and I realise why this changes have to be made during the adaptation process. I hope it did well in box office and that they make the sequel and if they do I can't wait to see more of this world on the big screen.
Love Always,
Freya

Nominated For Liebster Award!

I was nominated by the lovely Chloe from Epitome of Words for a Liebster Award! It was a lovely surprise to be nominated so thank you so much Chloe!

Now I can nominate another eleven blogs that I enjoy reading. I can also ask those eleven bloggers eleven questions of my choosing.

Here are the rules:

• You must answer all questions that are given to you
• Must link back to the person that nominated you
• Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers
• Provide nominees with 11 questions of your choice
• Cannot nominate the person who nominated you
• Must inform nominees of your nomination
• Provide nominees with a link to your post for more info
  Here are my answers to Chloe's questions:
  
  

  1. Do you like to write, and if so, would you ever consider writing a novel?

  I love writing! Experiencing an author's world is amazing but creating and experiencing your own is even better. I have written plenty of short stories and fan fiction and I'm currently planning my first novel. Although publishing a novel is the dream I'm also seriously considering getting into the film industry and maybe writing a screen play.

  
  

  2. Who is your favourite author and why?

  I always would say it was JK Rowling but besides Harry Potter I haven't actually read any of her other books (I had a go at The Casual Vacancy but it wasn't my sort of book) so recently I've been reconsidering. Although I have only read the one book, so far, I think it could be George RR Martin. Mr Martin's writing is amazing and every so often I just stop and think about how beautiful the words I just read were. His complex world is amazing and it's easy to forget that just one man and his pet turtles invited this incredible world.

  
  

  3. Any weird reading habits?

  I like to have my feet covered whilst I read, even if it's a really hot day I'll put a pillow or a cat over my feet (although the cat usually sits there voluntarily). I can't really explain why.

  
  

  4. Why did you start your blog? What inspired you?

  I actually had a blog before this one, it was originally supposed to be a beauty blog but I didn't wear make-up so it didn't work out to well. In the end it mostly consisted of school trips and days out I'd been on recently which got pretty boring after a while. I then discovered that book review blogs existed and that was probably more my forte.

  
  

  5. What can you be found doing on days when you just hang around the house?

  This is most days. I am a big TV binge watcher so I'll usually be watching an entire series of Teen Wolf, Merlin or Game of Thrones (Doctor Who is a night time show). If I'm in a really good mood I might do some fandom crafts (currently working on a Percy Jackson clay bead necklace) and in the evening I sometimes find my self in a baking mood.

  
  

  6. Who is your inspiration, or someone you look up to?

  Since I was little I have always admired my older brother and when I was very young I'd try speak and act the way he did. I wouldn't say me and him were that close but we never argue like most brothers and sisters, probably because of the three year age gap.

  
  

  7. What are some things you hate? Why?

  Porridge! I'm almost sick at the slightest smell of porridge. I also hate romance books, I like action books with romance in it but I just don't enjoy a book purley focused on what is usually a very predictable relationship. If you like romance I won't give you hate from it. I just love that people read so it's pretty unimportant to me what you read.

  
  

  8. What are some personality traits of yours that you like? Why?

  To be honest I'm mostly very cynical and pretty sarcastic. I do, however, consider myself to be quite loyal. Not just with friends but I'd hate to go to a different Chinese take-away on a Friday. The people there know me, they're very nice because of it and they're daughter waves at me when I see her in Morrison’s.

  
  

  9. If you had one superpower what would it be and why?

  Copy and paste power! I should clarify the copy and paste power doesn't only work with text and pictures, for example I'm at a friends house and I think the design of her kitchen looks nice all I have to do is activate my copy and paste power and I could have the very same kitchen at home.

  
  

  10. What would you do with a million dollars?

  Firstly I'd convert it into pounds so I could spend it in this country. I think I'd start a business or maybe put it towards making my own TV show.

  
  

  11. If your life was a reality show, what would it be about?

  The internet life. It would be all about blogging, being a YouTuber and the “dark side” of tumblr where hipster posts are very much frowned upon.
  I nomiate:
  1. Shannon Adventures Of A Teenage Bookworm
  2. Ayla and Juliet Living In Our Own Story 
  3. Books Ahoy
  4. Danielle Consuming Worlds
  5. Bitsy Bling Books
  6. Vanya YA Story Teller
  7. Cathy The Crazy Bookworm
  8. Faye The Social Potato
  9. Traci The Reading Geek
  10. Endlessly Bookish
  11. Lea YA Book Queen
  
  So sorry if I got any names wrong!
  
  My Eleven Questions:
  1. In Harry Potter books by JK Rowling in order to cast a patronus charm you have to think of a happy memory. What is the happiest memory you can think of?
  2. What would be your weapon of choice?
  3. Going back to Harry Potter their is a magical creature called a boggart. When you see the boggart it takes the form of the thing you fear the most. What would the boggart look like to you? why?
  4. Are there any genres of book that you usually stray away from? what are they?
  5. If your favourite book could be adapted into anything (film, graphic novel, TV show, musical etc.) what would it be and why?
  6. Dream cast for a book you love?
  7. Are there certain places you like to read?
  8. What are your main hobbies?
  9. Hobbies you don't have but are dying to try?
  10. Which magical creature would you want as a pet? Why?
  11. Would you rather travel in space or in time?

Percy Jackson and The Lighting Theif | Review

Title: The Lighting Thief
Series: Percy Jackson and The Olympians
Genre: Fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★★

Blurb:
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves

I have been meaning to give this book a go for three years now and last week I finally got around to it. A lot of people are put off by the thought of a story being narrated by a twelve year old boy, but I having had my experience with a fair share of children's books and being only a year older than Percy myself didn't let myself be put off by it.
Although this book is aimed at children and it narrated by a child it still is enjoyable for all age groups, much like the beloved Harry Potter books. Percy is witty and charming, he's a lovely well meaning boy and a joy to read about.

Lets start with characters. First there is our main protagonist Percy who I have already described. Next is Annabeth- daughter of Athena. It was great to have the book's smart girl being blond. I also loved that Annabeth didn't let her dyslexia stop her from being so intelligent. Up next Percy's best friend, Grover who (don't get me wrong) was lovely but frankly rather pathetic. This did however, give an excuse for some great character development.  

I loved that Riordan took the very traditional idea of Gods and very much modernized it. I loved that instead of sitting on thrones made of awesome in robes and crowns he made them...normal. Even the mighty Zeus wore a pinstriped suit.  I also loved the idea of Olympus being on an undiscovered floor of the Empire State building.

I can't say whether the plot was predictable because I had already seen the film (which is awful in comparison) but it was very exiting and usually even in the best of books I like to put it down every so often, but with this I didn't. 

I have been continuing on with this series and so far I have loved it, the books get even funnier as they go along and the reasons to ship Percabeth multiply.

Love Always,
Freya

The Fault In Our Stars|Film Review

Title: The Fault In Our Stars
Based On: The Fault In Our Stars
Genre: Romance
My Star Rating: ★★★★★

Review: 
I was lucky enough to go to an advanced fan screening on the 12th of June, the film properly comes out on the 19th (UK). 
For any die hard fans of the book who where skeptical about the film and the changes that could have been made, I would just like to reassure them that the film stays very close to the book!
It started off with the same line, there where so many quotes and even little insignificant moments from the book that they included and it was truly wonderful. Both Shailene and Ansel (especially as it was Ansel's first lead role) did an amazing job of portraying their character. Gus was goofy and charming and Hazel timid and a bit cynical. Of course my favourite portrayal would have to be Nat Wolff as Isaac. He had all the funny jokes and quirks, and his blindness was very convincing. 

I loved the way the showed the text messages between the two of them, they were written on the screen in little quirky speech

bubbles. The film makers also really showed how important these phone conversations where to the two of them.
Hazel's voice narration was lovely as you got a nice idea of how she felt about Gus and everything that was happening to her. It was also a great excuse to use some direct lines from the book. 
I cried at so many moments during the film and because I was at a fan screening the atmosphere was gorgeous. Everyone would gasp at the exiting moments, laugh at the funny ones and cry at the sad ones. You could even sense the sudden rush of excitement when the "please turn off your phones" message appeared on the screen and you knew the film was about to start.
My favourite scenes were: The night of breaking trophies, the aeroplane to Amsterdam, the egging of Monica's car and of course the pre-funeral.
The scenes I wish were included: Hazel visiting Isaac in the hospital, Hazel and Isaac playing blind person video games and the swing set was included in the film but we didn't see them making the "Lonely, vaguely paedophilic swing set" advertising.
All in all The Fault in Our Stars was an absolutely beautiful and very faithful adaptation that I am so happy with!
Love Always,
Freya

The 100 by Kass Morgan|Review

Title: The 100
Genre: Science Fiction and Post Apocalyptic
Series: The Hundred
My Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blurb:
In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.

Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.

Wow that was a long blurb for such a short book. So I found out about a CW show called The 100 when I was scrolling through my tumblr, I looked it up and the premise sounded amazing. I later found out that it was a book and I was originally going to read it first but then found I was pretty skint so I waited a little while. A few days later and I was completely hooked on the TV show.  Once I had finsihed City of Heavenly Fire and I was waiting for the next episode of the show I decided to pick up the book and frankly, I was dissapointed.

I felt there wasn't enough description, it was all a bit rushed, too much focus on the romance and rather a lot of insta-love. The TV show had none of these issues. 
I did like the four perspectives there was Clarke, Bellamy, Wells and Glass. I feel that in a lot of books you can start to dislike the protagonist (for example Tris from Divergent) because you spend so much time with them but because there were four different perspectives it was always new and not boring.

There were a lot of flashbacks in this book which a lot of people had a problem with but I quite liked them as they really helped explain the situation and why the charecters acted around one another etc. It also gave us some insight into the world and it's society, the society's laws and traditions. 

The ending was a nice cliffhanger but because I already have an explanation of that from the TV show I wasn't too frustrated by it.

Love Always,
Freya 

Bout of Books 10.0

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Top Actor/Actress Portrayals of Characters|Top 5 Wednesday

This weeks Top Five Wednesday topic is our favourite portrayals of characters in book to film adaptations. I thought this was a wonderful idea because I am I big fan of book to film adaptations and I would really love to share who I thought did an amazing job bringing to life the characters I love.

It was ever so difficult not to just choose five actors from the Harry Potter franchise as there are so many actors who captured their character perfectely (Maggie Smith, Rupert Grint and so many more spring to mind) but because a list of Harry Potter actors might get a little bit repetative I limited myself to one! Hope you enjoy this week's Top Five Wednesday.

5. Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace Wayland/Morgernstern/Heronadale/Lightwood. (TMI)
I felt Jamie really managed to capture Jace's sarcastic humour and his obliviousness to anything but weapons and fighting, and also his love for Clary. That and like Jace he is a very good looking feller.
4. Shailene Woodley as Hazel Grace Lancaster (TFIOS)
Before I'd even seen Shai act and my friend showed me a picture my instant reaction was "oh my god, she's perfect" In the trailers she just seems so Hazel!
3. Logan Lerman as Charlie (The Perks)
Logan Lerman played him so well and really captured his awkwardness and how adorable Charlie was, but at the same time how hard his life was and all his mental health struggles.
2. Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent (The Hitchhiker's Guide)
There was a stubbornness about Arthur which he played really well and he was just so Arthur, I can't explain it.
1. Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) 
One thing I love about Evanna was that she was actually a massive fan of the books before she played Luna, but she didn't just play Luna. She was Luna. Luna's dreamy, I don't care what anyone thinks of me attitude was really evident through out Evanna's portrayal and she just brought Luna's quirky and kind personality to life.

Love Always,
Freya

P.S. here is the complete list of Wedensdayers

lainey's channel (gingerreadslainey): https://www.youtube.com/user/gingerre...
mindy's channel (mindy reads): http://www.youtube.com/user/mindyreads
jenn's channel (jenn christensen): http://www.youtube.com/user/bookaholi...
jillian's channel (bookishandnerdy): http://www.youtube.com/user/openasthesky
suna's channel (kiwilover25): https://www.youtube.com/user/kiwilover25
bekki's channel (myownbooks): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCttw...
shannon's channel (cozyteareads): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChrv...
danne's channel (danne cole): http://www.youtube.com/user/dannecole
kayla's channel (bookadooodles): http://www.youtube.com/user/BOOKadooo...
eileen's channel (eileen reads): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCExd...
kieran's channel (kieran reads): http://www.youtube.com/user/crumpeter...
aliaa's channel (aliaa el-nashar): http://www.youtube.com/user/aliendoodles
jacqueline's channel (jbooklover13): http://www.youtube.com/user/Jbooklover13
sara's channel (books&junk): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEsE...
michiko's channel (blueberriesonmuffins): http://www.youtube.com/user/blueberri...
andrea's channel (nerddreams): http://www.youtube.com/user/nerddreams
catherine's channel (catraquelbooks): http://www.youtube.com/user/CatRaquel...
amber's channel (nerdybooklover): https://www.youtube.com/user/Nerdyboo...
ilse's channel (thebookatlas): http://www.youtube.com/user/thebookatlas
chloe's channel (thebooklover): http://www.youtube.com/user/Just4Teen...
molly's channel (stacks of books): https://www.youtube.com/user/TheIrisM...
katie's channel (kitkatscanread): http://www.youtube.com/user/Kitkatsca...
krystyna's channel (bookowl90): http://www.youtube.com/user/bookowl90
riley's channel (rileymarie1196): https://www.youtube.com/user/rilaaaay1
hannah's channel (booksnerd): http://www.youtube.com/user/RobotinSoul
megan's channel (whatisabibliophile): http://www.youtube.com/user/whatisabi...
eimear's channel (booksbitsnbobs): http://www.youtube.com/user/BooksBits...
dani's channel (performingbookfelf): http://www.youtube.com/user/Performin...
tina's channel (regular reads): http://www.youtube.com/user/girlthatl...
stephanie's channel (at-at walk3r): http://www.youtube.com/user/atatwalk3r
jess' channel (booklovingjess): http://www.youtube.com/user/booklovin...
amanda's channel (mysecretbookclub): http://youtube.com/user/mysecretbookclub
monica's channel (shemightbemonica): http://www.youtube.com/user/shemightb...
ashley's channel (thebookfanatics): http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBookFa...
rachel's channel (books undone):https://www.youtube.com/user/TheBooks...
lucia's channel (damelibros): http://www.youtube.com/user/DameLibros
bridget's channel (bribookreviews): http://www.youtube.com/BriBookReviews
becky's channel (booksandpain): http://www.youtube.com/user/booksandpain
krysten's channel (krystentaylor): http://www.youtube.com/krysteninwonde...
helene's channel (helenejeppesen): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClyl...
tracey's channel (printedwords): http://www.youtube.com/user/printedwo...
franzi's channel (bookparty!): http://www.youtube.com/user/abookparty
noel's channel (bluefoxfables): https://www.youtube.com/user/bluefoxf...
zach's channel (zachsyareviews): http://www.youtube.com/user/ZachsYARe...
anabel's channel (inthebookcorner): http://www.youtube.com/user/Inthebook...
muni's channel (muenisbookworlds): http://www.youtube.com/user/MBmusicfun
ashley's channel (certoreadss): http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFZdb...
maria's channel (bookloverwriter13): http://www.youtube.com/bookloverwriter13
cambria's channel (cool beans books): https://www.youtube.com/user/CoolBean...
beth's channel (bethjune327): http://www.youtube.com/bethjune327
heather's channel (ecelcticbooks): http://www.youtube.com/eclecticBOOKS
angelica's channel (angelicam2009): http://www.youtube.com/user/AngelicaM...
katie's channel (jkvlogs813): http://www.youtube.com/user/jkvlogs813
carol's channel (thereadingwallflower): http://www.youtube.com/user/thereadin...
brittany's blog: http://thisisthestoryofmyreadinglife....
val's channel (ofbooksandgirl): http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQT7o...
ali's channel (alireadsbooks): https://www.youtube.com/alireadsbooks
michelle's channel (cloveryness): http://www.youtube.com/cloveryness
rachel's channel (thelittlereadinglamb): http://www.youtube.com/thelittlereadi...
marisa's blog: http://marsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
sandra's channel (sandrareads): http://www.youtube.com/user/sandraareads
marie-claire's channel (bookswithclaire): http://www.youtube.com/user/bookswith...
lizzie's channel (lizzie barrett): http://www.youtube.com/user/lizziebar...
laura's channel (smallgoodleaf): http://www.youtube.com/user/smallgood...
theresa's channel (ivymuse): http://www.youtube.com/user/ivymuse
jessie's blog: http://jessiereadseverything.blogspot... 

Cassandra Clare | City of Heavenly Fire | Countdown Widget

Cassandra Clare | City of Heavenly Fire | Countdown Widget

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs|Book Review

 Title: Forgive My Fins
Series: Fins
Genre: Fantasy
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆
Blurb:  
Seventeen-year-old Lily, half-mermaid and half-human, has been living on land and attending high school, where she develops a crush on a boy but is afraid to tell him of her true destiny as the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Thalassinia.

I had been tempted to buy this book, literally for years a) because of the pretty cover and b) because the idea of mermaids has always interested me but I've never really given my self the opportunity to explore the genre.
When I finally decided to buy it I did have this nagging fear that I would be disappointed after all this time, thus ending the fantasy. I did however have reason to believe that I might not like it. From what I had heard the book was a mermaid romance and after watching the occasional mermaid film (okay I've seen aquamarine like five times!) I gathered that mermaids were pretty serious when it came to love, the problem being that I'm not big on romance.
It was more than just a romance though, Forgive My Fins was a lovely story about a young girl dealing with all sorts of problems and having to make some difficult decisions and on top of that she has royal mermaidley duties to fulfil. 
It's the kind of book I read for fun rather than a really intense read that I fangirl over. There where lots of really likeable characters that we got to know quite well and that really developed through out the story.
The world was really interesting and well thought out and I would love to go into it even deeper in the next two books. One thing I did think was a bit odd was that the mermaids in this book practically ate nothing but fish. A mermaid eating fish is like a centaur eating a horse. Also the reactions people offered when Lily told them she was a mermaid weren't entirely believable as they kind of just shrugged and were like "seems legit". I would recommend this to those who like a nice romance or who are particularly interested in mermaids. 
Love Always,
Freya

Goose by Dawn O'Porter|Review

Title: Goose
Series: Paper Aeroplanes
Genre: Contemporary 
My Star Rating: ★★★☆☆

Blurb: Renee and Flo are eighteen and on the brink of their adult lives. But while Flo is determined to get into Uni and take Renee with her, Renee can feel her sense of independence soar.
As Flo turns to the church for support, Renee embarks on a seductive and perilous relationship with an older man...
In there final year before leaving their home on Guernsey, will Renee and Flo still be each other's soul mates, or is this the end of their friendship?

Goose is a sequel to Paper Aeroplanes, you can see my review of that book here. I actually managed to get my copy of the book two days early as I went to a signing. Meeting Dawn was lovely, she was so nice and funny. The picture next to this writing shows me and my friends meeting her.
I would have given Goose three and a half stars but I don't have an emoticon for that unfortunately. It wasn't quite as good as Paper Aeroplanes, Goose didn't give me the urge to go out with my friends and live my life but it was still enjoyable.
One thing I really like about Dawn O'Porter's work is how truthful and real it all is and I find this tends to be the case in British YA. In American YA it tends to skip the bits about periods and sex and family issues. This book would definitely appeal to older women as it would help remind them of their experiences from that age. Dawn's writing is the kind of writing you can't stop thinking about for a few hours and is quite a big impact.
Because this is a sequel it is really hard to talk you through the plot without ruining things so I'm going to leave it here.
Love Always,
Freya

Divergent|Film Review

Title: Divergent
Genre: Dystopia
My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

So yesterday I went to see Divergent in the cinema. After the traumatic experience with City of Bones I was expecting the worst. I was however, pleasantly surprised. The pacing was great, they included a lot of important information and scenes. The only things that did disappoint me where the missing scenes that I had more of an emotional connection with, for example the muffin scene and the lack of Uriah also upset me very much. 
I don't know if it was because I'd seen the Divergent trailer before reading the book, but I thought Shailene was the perfect Tris and Theo was amazing as Four. I thought it was very unnecessary for them to change the faction colours. Why where the dauntless wearing red? The amity where wearing blue and green as well as red and yellow! I did get over this fairly quickly though as it is only really a minor detail.
So many of the characters were so different to how I imagined them yet somehow they were utterly perfect, especially Peter and Will. I liked that they added a few of the funny lines from the books but it was a shame that they didn't include Tris saying "Did I shoot him in the leg? No. He'll walk" which was the best line in the whole book although she did say something else nearly as funny in this scene. 
The soundtrack was beautiful, it fit perfectly with all the scenes, often a soundtrack will be kind of forced on a film but with Divergent it worked so well. The whole time I wasn't quite processing that I was watching one of my favourite books come to life in such and amazing way and I was totally overwhelmed by how well it was made. I loved all the little details they added like Tris's hair falling to the floor etc. I wouldn't know because I already knew the world but I felt like an outsider would be able to understand the world as at the start they explained the factions to us and gave us a look inside their compounds. It is so difficult to write a proper review when all you can do is ramble about how good it was so I'll leave it here. I really liked Divergent and I can't wait to see what they do with Insurgent!
Love Always,
Freya

March Wrap-Up!

The second book in the Divergent trilogy was almost as good as the first! There wasn't quite as much action, but it fit well with the tone of the book. There was a lot of character development and I felt we really got to know Tris. I gave it five out of five stars and very much enjoyed it. I really want to know if Veronica Roth is planning any more books beside the Divergent short story collection. I realised in Insurgent that my favourite character was Uriah, he was just so fun and attractive! I LOVE URIAH. Can't get over him not being in the film.

 

Compared to the other two book I was a bit disappointed with Allegiant, I felt there wasn't enough action, it was a bit confusing and some parts didn't seem to have much of a point. I did like it though and I did cry a tiny bit but not at the part you'd expect me to, I cried at the part most people had come to terms with already. I found myself really shipping Caleb and Peter, Christina and Uriah as well as Christina and Tobias. That's really strange for me because I almost never ship non canon!              

I was expecting this to be quite slow and boring but it wasn't! I was hooked the entire time and read it in about two days. It was a facinating world with some amazing, real, relatble characters. My personal favourite was Chritian. Oh my god I love Christian! I didn't see the huge fuss about Dimitri though, which was sad. I gave it four stars and if it's true what they say and that the series gets better than bloody hell I can't wait.

  Panic was the first of Lauren Oliver's books I ever read and I read it for the #DONTPANIC read-a-long it was so good and you can  find a proper review on the "book reviews" section of this blog!

I read Paper Aeroplanes for the second time this month and enjoyed it nearly as much. I liked how truthful it was as I find British YA often is. I'm going to a signing tomorrow night and I can't wait to meet Dawn O'Porter. She has the sequel to Paper Aeroplanes "Goose" coming out in a few days which is very exciting.

Panic by Lauren Oliver|Review

Title: Panic
Genre: Contemporary

My Star Rating: ★★★★☆

Blurb:

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of twelve thousand people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She'd never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game; he's sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he's not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

 

Panic is the first of Lauren Oliver's books that I have ever read. It was BOOKSPLOSION's book of the month and on twitter we have been using the hash tag #DONTPANIC it is killing us grammar Nazis that twitter doesn't allow apostrophes in hash tags. Click here to go to the BOOKSPLOSION twitter page. 

Panic is told from two points of view: Heather and Dodge. It was very interesting to have two completely different characters with completely different motives share there views on the same thing as well as share their views on each other.  

Heather was a really great character you can tell she's not very happy at the minute, she's just been through a break-up and her family life isn't going so well. So when she jumps off the cliff to enter panic it's kind of an impulse thing. She realises that she needs the money to get out of Carp, leave the place she hates so much and just start again. 

Most people preferred Dodge as there was a bit more too him and his motives were very interesting and throughout Panic you always felt like there was more to find out about him and more him to find out about himself, however he was a bit frustrating at points and sometimes I even found myself scared by his thirst for revenge.

A lot of people say they didn't like Nat because she was very shallow but I felt there was more to her than just a pretty, popular girl. I could tell that like the rest of the characters she was having a hard time and was very unsure about herself.

I found it really strange yet intriguing how in this town panic is everything, everyone one knows panic. They take it so seriously and there are all the unspoken rules and mysterious judges that can never be revealed. 

I thought the air of mystery and suspense was brilliant and it was the intensity of the book which kept me gripped the whole time.

There is little I can say about this book without giving you spoilers so in conclusion Panic is an intense and gripping novel which you should definitely pick up.

Love Always,

Freya