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My Fair Godmother
/ heard it was great
/ heard it was great
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And the Emmy Goes To...
6 hours ago
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Damaged
Source: Media Muscle
Grade: 3 stars out of 5
Kate Lange is hired by a law firm and handed a custody case when it’s discovered that the young girl is dead. Now Kate is out to solve this crime that may lead her to more than just the killer.Pamela Callow’s debut novel is a memorizing, suspenseful novel of crime, mystery, and thrills. For fans who want just a sprinkle of romance, not too much now, and mostly focused on the plot this is a novel for you. Callow does wonders with her characters, embracing their different traits and personalities without having them all become one giant blob. The novel, itself, is an eye opener in terms of medicine and science that gives a definite depth to the novel.
I felt that the main character, Kate, had a strong purpose and had layers of emotional baggage that made Damaged even more interesting. But there were times when I just wanted to scream at her. Then there were times when I thought some parts were too melodramatic and done before.
All in all Damaged is a good debut novel with the sequel, Indefensible
, potentially on my to-read list.Cover C+
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Linger
Source: ARC from Scholastic
Grade: 3 stars out of 5
"In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.A part of me LOVES this book only because the end was like ZOMG!, but another part of me, a larger part for sure, is frustrated by this book. I am frustrated because Linger took a hell of a long time to reach any sort of tension and meaning behind these novels. So Linger is told through a new perspective, Cole I believe, who was turned because he wanted to and his best friend, who didn’t know. Linger was pretty much about Cole and Isabelle and if you ever want to read about a bad boy, Cole is your man. (He is also a rock-star so there’s a double good isn’t it?)
At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love - the light and the dark, the warm and the cold - in a way you will never forget." (from B&N)
Then there was the build-up and the build-up and more building and finally, you guessed it, more build-up. It got to the point where I was clawing my face and complaining to my brother at how pissed I was at the point. By page 300 or somewhere around there I leaped up from my bed and screamed FINALLY! It was getting juicy and good and tension filled and emotional and wreaking havoc on my feelings and then it ended. Then I got pissed again because the ending was like super huge cliffhanger.
Cover A+
Linger is out now: Amazon
/ Indie Bound / Book Depository
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Body at the Tower
Source: ARC from Carol
Grade: 3.7 stars out of 5
Mary has a new mission: she must solve the mystery behind the suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower. Her disguise: a young boy of age 13 working at the construction site. But this character that Mary will play will hit home hard for before Mary joined Academy for Girls—a school to train private eyes—she was forced to live on the streets and pretending to be a young boy than a girl just betters her chances of not getting rape. There is no time to relax for Mary must keep her guard up amongst all these men as well as rooming with one. But James is back from India and there to push her buttons.If you really liked the first installment to this series you will love this sequel. The Body at the Tower is well paced with enough scheming characters that it’s hard to pin-point the exact culprit. There is also more Mary and James love! (Fun, fun read.) Y.S. Lee writes like a true mystery writer with details that cover all 5 senses and descriptive words that the reader is right there where the action is.
The Body at the Tower delivered as an emotional read as well as we learn more about Mary. From childhood struggles to an ethnicity that she is forced to hide, Lee writes a stunning novel. Yet I will say this again and again, my reading taste differs from others so while I thought The Body at the Tower was good, it was not superb. I lack that connection that other readers managed to find and frankly I think it’s all me and not the novel’s fault.
Cover B+
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Shadow Hills
Source: ARC from Egmont
Grade: 2.8 stars out of 5
Phe is having dreams, dreams exactly like the ones her sister once had. I say once because she died. And now Phe is armed with her sister’s diary to uncover the meaning of these dreams that led her to Shadow Hills. This is a town where there are more than just witches with truths that will shock you—literally.The beginning of Shadow Hills is like Beautiful Creatures
with a reoccurring dream and a hot guy when whamoo! same hot guy at 12 o’clock! But that’s mainly it for similarities except for family members that don’t see eye-to-eye. Anyway here’s the scope: I found Shadow Hills hard to read, cliché, and was left with an ending that had me rolling my eyes. (Yeah, I said it.) Collectively the novel did nothing for me. Separated I felt it could have gone somewhere.The relationship with Zach (aka hot guy) and Phe started out too fast and too strong for me. It was instant love-connection that didn’t develop much over the passages. What you see is what you get. There are swoon-worthy passages, but it wasn’t deserved because there was no hill to climb, no obstacle to overcome, no honest-to-goodness deep emotional talking. It’s like watching a couple with their PDA instead of knowing the true story.
I appreciated the scientific explanation of the townies’ “powers” instead of going the fantasy route. I really appreciated the work, the research, and the unique approach. Did I fully comprehend the information? Not really. Did it all go through one ear and out the other? Yup. Part of me wants to clap and applaud while the other part wants to zzzzzzz.
I also failed to see the point of Phe’s heritage/family tree. Throughout the novel Phe was just a normal teenage girl with a weird mark on her hip that knows ancient chants from deep within her. Her family line did not play a role large enough in my opinion; and if it did, it was subtle enough that I did not notice.
If Shadow Hills were the perfect camera shot you would have gotten two interesting characters with unique backgrounds in a relationship that was sweet and caring and *happy sigh*. If you were to have the entire film you would notice the receptiveness, the lack of development in the novel, and a burnt end as the novel was cut short. (I still have plenty of questions left other.)
Cover D
I don’t get it. Is there a symbolism to the cover that just flew over my head?
Shadow Hills is out in bookstores: Amazon
/ IndieBound / Book Depository
Monday, August 9, 2010
Manga Monday: Eureka Seven
Other Titles: Eureka seveN / Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven / Kōkyōshihen Eureka Sebun
Genre: Mecha (giant robots), Shounen, Fantasy, Action, Romance
Art: 5 (the picture on the side does it no justice)
Plot: 4
Characters: 3.8
Serizalied: Bandai Entertainment
Other: Manga, Novel, Games
Renton Thurston's a young 14-year-old who is tired of his monotonous life. The only thing that makes him happy is when he "lifts,"* an extreme form of aerial hoverboarding. His feelings of frustration come from his life of toil in his Grandfather's garage and being the son of an enigmatic yet legendary "hero." One day, a large LFO (Light Finding Operation) craft called Nirvash falls from the sky and a beautiful young girl named Eureka emerges and asks for repairs. When a smitten Renton literally falls over himself to help her, the two begin a journey that will change both of their destinies!--from AmazonEureka Seven was first released as an anime then later transcribed into a game, novels, and finally a manga series (written and illustrated by Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou). The manga is 6 volumes long compared to the 50 episode anime series; that is a huge difference because in typical fashion one chapter is equivalent to an episode and chapters can range from 4 to 6 per volume. That means that a lot of character development is hacked off and the manga has its own alternative ending compared to the anime.
*the anime calls it "reff"
In this case of Eureka Seven I would recommend watching the anime than reading the manga. But if you are curious about the manga it is released by Bandai Entertainment with the gorgeous art found in the anime still intact. The novels and game adaption I am not sure on because I personally have not read nor played them.
Despite being pretty much age appropriate for all (nowadays though back in the days some scenes are scandalous) Eureka Seven has a hidden depth with a philosophical flare. It sometimes get a bit too cheesy and cliche with more than one embarrassing moments. The creators of Eureka Seven like techno and brightly colored things (like rainbows!!) just to warn you. In all if you're looking for something explosive and lots of giant robot fighting look no further! And if not Eureka Seven might surprise you.
DVDs: Collection Volume 1
/ Collection Volume 2
Manga: Collection 1
(volumes 1-3) / 
Collection 2 (volumes 4-6)Novels: Volume 1 / Volume 2 / Volume 3
/ Volume 4
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