Bout of Books TBR

Hello everyone!
So as I said in my last post, I will be participating in Bout of Books 12. I am aiming to read three books, I am very excited to read all of these books and I hope I enjoy them all.

Crown of Midnight

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie...and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Vicious

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end? 

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn’t automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.'

Steelheart

 Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge. 

Bout of Books 12

Hello!
So it is time again for the Bout of Books readathon! This is the twelfth But of Books Readathon and I have done two in the past, I am very excited to participate and read as much as I can!

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, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I will upload my TBR very shortly!

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1: Movie Review

Beware: Spoilers for the First two movies, NONE for Mockingjay Part 1.


Hello blogosphere!
It has been a long time since I have posted something! Today I want to talk about 'The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 1' which is the third film in the hugely successful 'The Hunger Games' franchise. I am a massive fan of The Hunger Games, I read the books in late 2011, a couple of months before the first movie came out. This film is based on the third book 'Mockingjay', however, just like many other popular movie franchises, the last book has been split into two parts. Mockingjay Part 1 is obviously the first part, and unlike the predecessors, this film is more slower paced but that doesn't mean it is any less interesting.

In this sequel, the movie starts just after what happened in the previous film (which finished with a cliffhanger). The film follows the main character Katniss Everdeen (portrayed by Oscar Winning actress Jennifer Lawrence) as she and the rest of the rebellion start to fight and rebel against the Capitol, controlled by President Snow (Donald Sutherland). 

Pros:

1. The Acting- There was not a single bad actor/actress in this film, Jennifer Lawrence as always, stands out as her performance of Katniss is so raw and believable. However I thought that Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta Mellark was outstanding in this movie, in the previous movies he was good, but not great, However in 'Mockingjay Part 1', he pulls all the emotions out of the audience. Also, out of all the performances, I think that Effie Trinket, played by the talented Elizabeth Banks, is most true to her role and has the biggest  character development out of everyone.
2. The Cinematography- The movie was shot absolutely fantastically, every shot was groundbreaking and was placed perfectly. The shot of the remains of District 12 was breath-taking and I can definitely see how the budget cost $250 million.
3. The details-Now this is a thing that most book-to-movie adaptations don't include, Throughout 'The Hunger Games' books, we are in Katniss' Point of view and we don't see every small details about the other characters, in the film's we see so many little intricate details that make the book lovers notice things that they wouldn't before. For example, in this film, President Snow announces on live television, that any traces and signs of the Mockingjay symbol is banned, as he says this, Snow's grand-daughter slowly unties her 'Katniss' braid' in fear of her Grand-father. 
4. The Soundtrack- Now before I even saw this movie, I knew that Lorde (one of my favourite singers) would do the main song for this movie (Yellow Flicker Beat) and ever since the song has been released (late September) I loved it but wasn't sure how it would fit into 'Mockingjay', however it fit perfectly and the lyrics make much more sense now. Also Jennifer Lawrence sings 'The Hanging Tree', a song that Katniss heard when she was a child; Jennifer has such an amazing voice and it was breathtaking how they included it and it made me shed a tear or two. 

Cons:

In my opinion, I don't think that there were any flaws in this movie, I think that the director Francis Lawrence did a terrific job at making this movie and even though I know some critics have complained at it's much slower pace, I think that it was a good idea slowing it down because the next movie is going to blow everything out of the park. 'Mockingjay Part 2' will be a certain tear-jerker and boy, am I scared.

Grade: 5/5 stars 

Book Review: Gone Girl

Title: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Genre: Suspense, thriller, mystery
Publication date: May 24th 2012
Format: Paperback
Pages: 422
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
    
    

Synopsis:

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?



My thoughts:

 Being on the top of the New York Times bestseller list and at the top of the Amazon book chart, this book had a lot to deliver. This book not only has been turned into a major film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, but has gotten the the whole world discussing about the themes and the plot of this book. I was intrigued by this book not only because of word of mouth, but because it sounded very interesting. I would truly say that this book deserves all the hype, not only is it deliciously dark and filled with rich and entertaining twists and turns, but the prose is very neat and calming which is the complete opposite of this book. Whenever you have one theory or you think you might be 'that person'  who knows what is going to happen next, Flynn completely throws your theory in the window leaving you to think of another one. I am going to keep this review short because I do not want to spoil this book, but this book surprised me a lot, even with the hype surrounding it. Also what I really enjoyed about 'Gone Girl' was how 'Gillian Flynn' incorporated themes such as 'The media' and 'marriage' into a thriller, and this is why it has gotten so much praise. I definitely urge anyone who hasn't read this book to do so now, and please don't spoil it for yourself because I think it will have the same effect  if you know what happens. 

If I Stay by Gayle Forman: Book Review

   In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. '



'If I stay' ,by Gayle Forman, is a contemporary novel  about a 17 year old girl named Mia. on a cold February morning, Mia and her family get in a horrific car accident. Whilst in a coma, Mia has an outer body experience where she can see everything that is happening to her and how the people she loves, act about the accident. This book alternates between present day and flashbacks. 

I really enjoyed this book, it was realistic and quite a quick read. the hype surrounding this book made me want to pick this up and I'm really glad I did. The book is really short so the accident happens really quickly in the story. Everyone kept saying this book was really upsetting and heartbreaking, whilst I thought it was quite emotional, I never actually cried or had to stop because it was too upsetting. I think the hype for the book led me wanting it to be a bit more upsetting, however I really loved how the story changed between present day and flashbacks. 


Characters:

+ I really liked how different Mia's personality is when she is in a flashback and in the present day, it was realistic and showed how a certain even can change someone's life. In the present day, it was like there was only a shell of Mia's personality.
+ I really liked Mia's parents, usually in YA, the parents are always there but never really shown, or the main character hates his'/her's parents. In 'If I Stay' the parents are very important characters and are really realistic.
-I think I would of really liked the characters more if the novel was longer, I think that's the real reason why I wasn't so upset, I didn't feel like I knew the characters enough.


Writing:

+ As I have already said, Gayle Forman writes the story very realistically and you can almost imagine the events happening in your life.
+ The writing was very simple but effective, it fit the mood of the story completely, also the writing progressed like a song, if that makes sense..(it probably doesn't).
- The main issue I had with this novel was the length, I really wanted it to be longer, I think Gayle Forman could of added maybe 30 more pages. 
- I know there is a sequel, but I still wanted the book to be longer!

Plot:

I am not going to write much for the plot since it is a very short book and I don't want to spoil it.

+ I loved the flashback scenes, they were done really well and were really interesting.
+ My favourite flashback was the labour day scene, it was very happy and such a wonderful memory.
+ Gramp's speech, enough said.
- I wasn't a fan of the end, I wanted it to resolve without it being ambiguous.


Overall I really liked this book and I really want to see the movie now! Even though I had a few problems I definitely recommend this book! I will give this book a four out of five stars, but if I am being more specific, I would say 85%.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: Book Review

After countless recommendations by some of my favourite authors and Goodreads, I finally gave in to read this book, it was really cheap on the kindle so I decided to read it. Initially, before reading it,this book never appealed to me and it looked quite boring, however I was gladly wrong. This book exceeded my expectations, it was a creepy, disturbing psychological thriller and it made me feel like I was going insane just like the main character. I had quite a few problems with this book, hence why I gave it four stars, but I will explain that later on. I really need the sequel now after that ending! I recommend this book if you like creepy thrillers or books with unreliable narrators, but do beware that the book does leave you confused for the majority of the time.

Characters:

+ I really enjoyed the whole Dyer family, they were a really close family and I liked how each person had a role in the book, I also liked how the author didn't ignore their indian ethics and incorporated quite a few indian things in the book.

+ I didn't really like Noah at the beginning but as things started to unfold you saw more of his character. By the end, his role in the book was vital <spoiler> and I am quite interested to see how he is going to use his 'powers' in the next book. </spoiler>

+ One of my favourite things about this book was the unreliable narration by Mara Dyer, you never knew what was true and what was fake, because of her PTSD, you never know what really is happening.

- One issue I had with this book was the forced romance, I thought that sometimes the romance was fine, but other times it just felt really forced and unrealistic, and I thought that it could of been much more better. But I have heard that this issue doesn't come up in the sequel as much.


Plot:

+ I really liked the start of the book, it was really creepy and had a choking atmosphere to it. I really liked the opening chapter with the ouija board, it was frightful and very confusing.

+ My favourite thing about this novel were the death scenes, I know it sounds morbid but they were very well written and really shocking, they left me asking so many questions. The whole Ms Morales section was beyond creepy.

- I wish we had a bit more answers, <spoiler> I wanted to know more about Mara's Death Powers and how they happen, and I wanted to see how her mind worked when she did those things accidently </spoiler>

- The middle section of the book dragged on a bit, and I thought there could of been a bit more paranormal elements there.

+ The ending was amazing, it ended a bit too quick though! I really need to read the second book now!


Overall:

I really enjoyed this book and it was much better than I expected, even though there was room for improvement, I definitely think this book is worth picking up if you like YA or thrillers. Also was it just me, or did anyone notice little Harry Potter references? I thought that was a nice touch! I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel. My final rating is 4 stars, but if you want a more accurate rating I would say 82%.      

Booktube-a-thon TBR!

Hello!
It is that time of the year again, where the booktube-a-thon happens! If you don't know what the booktube-a-thon is, it is a week long read-a-thon that is created and hosted by Book Vloggers on Youtube, mainly 'Ariel Bisset'. This is the second year that it is happening, and I hope it is just as fun as last year! There are 7 challenges this year, and I aiming to complete at least 4 of them, so without further ado, lets get started. The booktube-a-thon is taking place from midnight 14th of July until The end of 20th July. (A week long).

Click here for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JauBxxVGa24

The Challenges:

A book with pictures.
Start and finish a series.
A book with red on the cover.
A book someone else picks out for you.
A book from the genre you've read the least this year.
A book to movie adaptation
Read seven books.

A book with pictures: Hollow City

For this challenge, I am going to be reading Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, the sequel to 'Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children'. I read the first book back in May this year and absolutely fell in love with the world, it was fun, mysterious and very hauntingly magical. I am very excited to continue on with this series and hopefully 'Hollow City' is as good as the first one! 

 

Start and Finish a series: Throne of Glass Series

Throne of Glass is a YA fantasy series that is going to consist 

of 6 books, currently only two are out and the third one is coming out on the 11th of September 2014. I am technically cheating on this challenge since you are supposed to start and finish a complete series, but all the complete series on my shelves, I have either read the first book already or I only own some of the books. I am very eager to read this series since it sounds really awesome and I have heard that the main character is kick-ass.

A book with red on it: Crown of Midnight

I am also going to be doubling up the challenges, Crown of 

Midnight, the second book in the Throne of Glass series has a red on the cover and It is part of a series, So this is going to tick off two challenges.

A Book someone else picked out for you: Love letters to the dead

Love letters to the dead is the Ava Dellaira's debut novel that is written completely in letters, similarly in the style of 'The perks of being a wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky, which also happens to be my favourite novel of all time. Ever since I heard that Stephen Chbosky mentored the author of this book, I immediately went to the bookstore and picked this up. I have been waiting to read this so I could savour it! I gave my sister a pile of 5 books to choose from for this challenge, she chose this book since we both love 'Perks' and she wanted to see my opinion on it. Even though this book might make me cry a river, I am very excited to read this since I love books that are written in a different way, and I want to see why this is compared quite a lot to 'Perks'.

 

A book from the genre you have read the least this year: The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a hugely famous modern classic novel written by F. Scott. Fitzgerald. Widely known all around the world, this novel is described as 'a portrait of the jazz age'. Having not read any classics thus far this year, I am hoping that I can get through 'The Great Gatsby' during this read-a-thon. This novel is very short, coming in at 122 pages, so hopefully I can get through it at no time, I was contemplating either to read this, 'Animal farm', or 'Of mice and men', but this one sounded the most exciting. I have very high expectations since this is my sister's favourite book of all time, and we both have very similar tastes.  

A book to movie adaptation: The Great Gatsby

Yes I am also doubling two other challenges, The Great Gatsby has been turned into two theatrical movies, and I own both of them, so hopefully when I finish this novel, I can watch them both back to back!

Read 7 Books: Vicious 

So the last challenge is to read 7 books, and so far on my list I have five books, Hollow City, Love Letters to the Dead, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight and The Great Gatsby. I have to add two more books to complete this challenge. Most likely I won't 7 books, but I am going to try my best!

The First book I am going to be picking randomly is Vicious by V.E Schwab, also known as Victoria Schwab, this novel is describes as 'A cross between X-Men and The Count of Monte Cristo'. How can this book not seem exciting? This book has been receiving tremendous amount of hype so I am excited to dive right into it!  

Read 7 books: Never Fade

The last book I am hoping to read is 'Never Fade' by Alexandra Bracken, the sequel to 'The Darkest Minds'. I am currently reading 'The Darkest Minds' and am loving it, so I know as soon as I finish it, I will want to dive right into this book. This series has been getting a lot of hype around booktube and I can definitely see why, it is fast paced, action packed and the characters are amazing!  The last book in this trilogy is called 'In the Afterlight' and it is coming out on October 28th!

Fun Fact: All the three book titles combine make a sentence!

"The darkest minds never fade in the afterlight."

So that is my TBR for the 'Booktube-a-thon', I am very excited for this event and I am hoping to get as much reading done as possible. 

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/RainingKnight18 

Email Account: Communityfan18@Gmail.com

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