Across the Universe book review

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming

I just have to say, I LOVE THIS COVER. It is just so pretty! Can't say i loved the book as much as i love the cover though. 

Across the universe is a great concept. It had so much potential and i really expected it to be awesome, but after finishing it i was pretty underwhelmed. 

I didn't like Amy and Elder. Amy was okay, she was  independent and all. But at the same time i was like, fight for something. She was just moping about, while there was a killer on the ship that tried to kill her. But that's no biggie. And Elder was just so annoying, oh my gosh. He is like "all bow down to Eldest cause he is almighty and powerful and knows everything and blah blah blah" And i was just like Dude, please open your eyes. I understand they are taught to believe that, but he would have his moments where he was like maybe this is wrong, and then would just kiss the floor he walked on again.  

What also frustrated me was there relationship. It seemed like they didn't really like each other. Elder only liked her cause she looked different and was attractive, and he immediately wanted her without knowing her. And he was just annoying and whiny in everything he did. And Amy showed hardly any affection and then BAM, she suddenly had this 'thing' for him and i was like where did that all come from? They had no chemistry. It was like they were just going through the steps laid out for them.

Also, did it not annoy anyone else that Amy called her father 'Daddy' all the time?

I found the writing style to be a little vague and dragged out. I could skip a countless number of pages, and still know what's going on. Thing's that weren't important were dragged out. And i knew who the villain was from the beginning. 

The way they talked was also frustrating. All the slang was doing my head in!

I did love Harley though. He was so cool! 

Revis had an awesome idea! And i applaud her for it. It is intricate and complicated and individual, i just don't think it was my cup of tea. There were a couple of things i liked about the book, but they were mainly over shadowed by the things i disliked. 

1.5 smileys

Casting news: CITY OF BONES

WE HAVE FOUND OUR ALEC LIGHTWOOD! 

After a suspensful wait, we have finally found out who will be playing Alec! It was released a few days ago that  Kevin Zegers is set to play Alec Lightwood, who is the gay brother of Isabelle (Jemima West). Alec is in love with Jace (Jamie Campbell-Bower) as is Clary (Lily Collins).

  So what does everybody think? I love him, i think he is perfect! I am so excited, its ridiculous!!

WE CAN'T FORGET SIMON! 

“Misfits” star Robert Sheehan has been chosen for the role of Simon Lewis. Cassandra Clare broke the news via her tumblr on Jully 11th.

LOVE HIM! He is cute and dorky which i like! I think he will do great!

 

MAGNUS!

Taiwanese model/actor Godfrey Gao (Gao Yi Xiang) has landed the role of 800-year-old warlock Magnus Bane.

ONE WORD: HOT! WHOOOO I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!

 

Lena Headey and Jared Harris have also joined the cast!

Headey is set to play Clary's (Lily Collins) mother Jocelyn Fray, while Harris will place Hodge Starkweather, the tutor to Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower).

Love them, they are both great!

Book review: Between the Lines

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t? 

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah. And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom. Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

  

I'm a big fan of Jodi Picoult and i love her writing, so i did have high expectations. It was a good book, but did have it's flaws.

  

I  thought Delilah was really believable, mainly to the fact that i am also in love with fictional boys and do wish that one day i will marry them. She was cool, although I knew she was focusing on Oliver a bit TOO much, and i suspected it would come back around and bite her. 

The plot was good. I liked that we got the actual fairy tale 'Between the lines'. And the two perspectives was done really well. It was interesting seeing it from Oliver's P.O.V. The whole concept that the characters were actors and out the voice in your head was really cool!

And i LOVED the illustrations throughout the book! They were so much fun!

The book was a little inconsistent. An example, when Oliver knew what a fire extinguisher and orthodontia was, but not a sandwich? Pretty sure they had sandwiches back in the Middle Ages, even if  they weren't called sandwiches. There were a few gaps and holes like this in the story, but they weren't important to the plot so you could let it slide. 

The plot was actually quite complex, not what i was expecting! I found that we were going back and forth for a little while, and not really getting anywhere. Or they almost get it, and fail. I did get a little confused as to whether it was all in Delilah's head or whether it was actually happening. Even at the end i was a bit puzzled, not knowing exactly what was going on which was a little frustrating.

I'm a sucker for happy endings and the whole prince coming to save the princess thing, so this book was a nice read for me. It's an awesome twist on a modern fairy tale with a great concept. It's really different, interesting and fun! Although it did have it's weak points, i still enjoyed it.

 3 smileys  :)

Stunning book review

The 11th book in the pretty little liars series by Sara Shepard. Warning, there will be some slight spoilers!

Synopsis:

In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four stunningly beautiful girls are haunted by a very ugly past. Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily want nothing more than to forget Alison DiLaurentis, their former best friend who tried to ruin their lives. But someone refuses to let her memory die. A is still out there, lurking in the shadows and digging up the pretty little liars' newest secrets.

Emily's reconnecting with an old flame, one baby step at a time. But is she headed toward true love or another bundle of heartache? Spencer's learning about the highs and lows of campus life on a trip to Princeton. Aria's seeing a whole new side to Noel's dad—and it could drive a wedge between her and Noel. And, for better or worse, Hanna's getting in touch with her inner A.

Secret by secret, lie by lie, the girls get tangled in A's dangerous web. A knows about everything, from their tiniest transgressions to the awful incident in Jamaica. Soon A will have enough ammunition to pull the trigger and end the pretty little liars, once and for all. . . 

This series seriously never gets old. When i found out that Sara Shepard was continuing on after book 8 i told myself i wouldn't continue reading, but i just couldn't help myself! They are just too amazing!

Sara Shepard does the quad-narrating thingo so good! You would think you would get confused as to who was narrating, but that never happens. I always know which girls' POV we are in and she really pulls it off. Even though the struggles the girls face are pretty unrealistic, Shepard still makes it believable and makes you think it could really happen. I  love how throughout the series the characters have really grown and developed.

I was totally rooting for Noel and Aria! Have been since forever. It was killing me how Aria wouldn't tell him about what she saw, in my head i was screaming just tell him!! I just couldn't see them break-up again! I loved that Hannah and Kate are finally starting to develop a relationship, it's about time! But i thought Hannah got pretty petty in this book. She rejected Mike and then went for him after he got a girlfriend? Don't get me wrong, i want them together but Hannah has more class than that. Spencer was... interesting in this book. I like Spencer, but I'm so over with her always wanting to be on top and have the best of everything. She goes to the extremities to be with the best, i think she needs to take a chill pill. And Emily. Wow. I did not expect that from Emily. But i really felt for her. I never liked Emily, but she's starting to grow on me. And I'm totally rooting for her and Isaac! 

Overall, it was a great book. Lived up to all expectations. I'm still puzzled as to who A could be, although i do have my theories. Cannot wait for Burned, it needs to come out now!!

4 smileys!

                                                

Cover reveal: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

OH MY GOSHHHH! This is so exciting! The cover has been revealed for the third and final installment in the bestselling Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. CLOCKWORK PRINCESS

Ahh i love this cover so much! It is just as amazing as its other books, Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince, and the three books will look AMAZING together! That is definitley how i pictured Tessa as well! SO AMAZING!

I cannot wait for this book! The way Clockwork Prince ended was BRUTAL and i just want to know what happens! Are you Team Will or Jem? *cough* Will *cough * Leave your thoughts on the cover and what you think will happen in the final book!

Cover reveal: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Sorry, I know it's late! But here is the newly released cover of Requiem, the third and last installment in the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver.

So what does everybody think? I like it, but don't love it. I wish that they had of done a more contrasting color to Pandemonium which also has warm colors, just to give the series a more diverse look all together. But otherwise its pretty. I'm excited for this book, but only because i love Alex so much. Loved Delirium, but wasn't that much of a fan of Pandemonium. Leave your thoughts of the Delirium series and the new cover for requiem! (:

Fever book review

The second book in the chemical garden trilogy. Don't read if you don't want spoilers (:

Synopsis: Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

I read the first book to this series, Wither, and really liked it! So i had high expectations for this book and was really excited assuming it was going to be another great story. Unfortunately is was an underwhelming and disappointing sequel, and had a terrible case of the second book syndrome!

Fever picks up straight where Wither finishes. Rhine and Gabriel have just escaped the mansion and are finding that life on the run isn't easy. They find themselves in a prostitution camp where they are a two person cabaret act to entertain the wealthy men. The camp has its glitz and glammer but they aren't fooled and know that their chances of escaping are slim. But yet they manage to escape and just as Vaughn arrives. 

After that, is when the book got disappointing and fell apart. 

In the first book, the plot was the main thing that kept you wanting more. There were secrets and surprises. But now that everything is out, there's nothing. There were no knew twists or turns added, nothing to keep you interested or to hold onto. In the first book, i LOVED the way Lauren Destefano wrote the book and her style. But in this book, it was pretty weak. It didn't have that BAM impact that Wither did, which was one of the main reasons why I loved Wither so much. Rhine and Gabriel argued and snapped at each other constantly, and Rhine was always thinking about Linden! I was like come on, you chose Gabriel! And there really wasn't a choice anyway, because she never really wanted Linden. Wasn't this book about how she ran away from him because she hated her life as his wife? Why did it seem like this was a love triangle, when it was never one to begin with? 

After they escape the came, the make a journey back to Rhine's home. They run into some trouble here and there, but nothing important ever happened. They find the her home is abandoned and that there is pretty much nothing left indicating that Rowan has left. All this stuff happens in between that really did not interest me and all of a sudden Rhine is back at the mansion having tests done on her by Vaughn. There was no fight, no struggle to stop from going back there. She just went, like come on! She had gone through that whole journey to escape and she thought oh I'm going to die may as well go back. 

Overall, i found Fever a major let down and it was lacking in all the aspects i loved about Wither. It had no real emotion or relationships. New characters? I can hardly remember their names. Everything that was apart of Wither became irrelevant and practically disappeared. None of my questions were answered and nothing happened. We found out nothing new and i felt like the whole book was just a waste. They escape, get caught again, then escape, then get caught... i think you get the pattern. I felt as though this book could have been something so much more, everything that happened between the end of wither and the end of Fever was really nothing and could have been cut... and the story would still pretty much be the same with a few exceptions.

I love Lauren Destefano and she is awesome, but this was a disappointing read. I'm not really excited about the next book, but I'll probably read it because I'm a bit OCD about reading a whole series.

2.5 smileys