Sunday, 12 October 2014

Movie Review: Carrie 2013 Adaptation

 
Run Time:100 Minutes
Released: October 7, 2013

Review

I feel this 2013 adaptation of Carrie by Stephen King was good. It wasn't great but it was good and I really enjoyed it. I really like how the put a modern twist to it making it more watchable to our generation. The movie also got most of the bigger scenes pretty spot on with minor changed so I liked that. I also loved all of the direct quotes I spotted.





The changed a few minor detailed like scissors instead a butchers knife at Carrie's birth, Pink rather than red dress and 7 and 10:30 Pick up and curfew rather than 7:20 and 1. For some reason these things just bothered me a little. I also wish they hadn't off missed out a lot of the little things. I would have liked to see the scene when Carrie was three and Margret went nuts. I also would of liked to see cut ins of the bits of writing from Sue's book and news articles in the movie. As I said in my Carrie book review I feel these future writings gave a real sense of anticipation of what was to come and I didn't get that in the movie.

That sounds like a lot of complaints but overall I loved it. The book is definitely better and I feel to get the whole movie you need to have all the knowledge that the book gives you. But I would definitely recommend this film.

3.5 Out of 5

Saturday, 11 October 2014

Review: Carrie by Stephen King


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Carrie
Written by Stephen King
Published first in 1974
Pages:250
Format Read: Ebook

Synopsis

The story of misfit high-school girl, Carrie White, who gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. Repressed by a domineering, ultra-religious mother and tormented by her peers at school, her efforts to fit in lead to a dramatic confrontation during the senior prom.

Review

Okay so this was my first Stephen King book and I think I fell in love with his books with just this one. I really enjoyed Carrie it was a very interesting story about a bullied girl and how it all went wrong and got pushed too far. I feel like it would be a good book for high school bullies to read because it really shows reaction to continuous bullying, although a bit extreme. It made me think about all the crap things I had said and done to people and made me keep wanting to try change that. To me this is a good book when it makes me think about real life things rather than just the fictional worlds and story's I engross my self in. I also sympathized with the main character, Carrie because of the way she was bullied reminded me off a few years ago in my schooling  so I think this really helped me connect to her and feel what she was feeling. I loved the articles and books written after the events of the book that were slipped in right from start to finished, I felt this helped with the anticipation and foreshadowing of the end. You knew what was going ti happen. But how was it going to play out?

I noticed a couple of inconsistency's in the writing just two  but can only remember one. One one page it is a bag of screws and on the next it was a bag of nails. This bothered me just the tiniest of bits but was soon forgotten. I also found a bit around the middle a little hard to get though compared with the beginning and the end. Not sure why just wasn't quite as interesting.

Over all I really enjoyed this book. It made me think and cry and a whole bunch of other emotions so to me that is a good book. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in bullying, horror and telekinesis I cant wait to watch the two different film adaptations and to read more of Stephen Kings books in the future.


5 out of 5 Stars

Friday, 10 October 2014

Month of First's

So unconsciously I have made the month of October the month of first's. I am currently reading my first dragon book, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. After I have finished Seraphina I intend on reading my first proper horror, my first Stephen King and my first non middle grade Neil Gaiman. I have decided that dragon books are all they are hyped up to be and that I wish I hadn't of put off reading a dragon book for so long. I am very excited about my first horror and Stephen king, I constantly hear such great things about Stephen king so I look forward to being able to contribute my opinions as well. The book I am going to pick up is Carrie, I decided on Carrie because its shorter than alot of his other books and I loved the cover. As for the non middle grade Neil Gaiman I am going to pick up stardust and the ocean at the end of the lane, I am also really excited to pick these two up. So yea the month of first's! I am happy I have accidentally done this.

Thursday, 9 October 2014

Mini Reviews: Shatter Me + Unravel Me


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Shatter Me
Written by Tahereh Mafi
Pages: 340
Published by Harper Collins, October 2nd 2012
Formal read: Ebook

Unravel Me
Written by Tahereh Mafi
Pages: 416
Published by Harper Collins, February 5th 2013
Formal read: Ebook






Shatter Me

I really enjoyed this book, It is a fast easy read with a very interesting writing style. Tahereh Mafi has an interesting creative writing style that uses lots of metaphors, and I mean lots of them. The writing was my favorite part of this book. The book its self isn't anything great, the kinda magical powers concept is cool but the book focuses on romance more than the awesome dystopian world and the magic like "powers" some people have. Over all I was a little let down by this book but it was still a fun interesting read. So if your looking for some cute romance and a quick easy to read book I would recommend this.

 3.5 out of 5

Unravel Me

This book was enjoyable, I didn't love it but it was okay. I found it really hard to read and get into, I had to take a break and read another book about half way though because it was just such a task to read. The only thing that kept me reading was the need to know what happens. I'm glad I did finish it though because the second half was much easier to read than the first half. I think I might of not been in the right mood when I picked it up and the pause in the middle helped put me in the mood for it. Over all it diffidently wasn't as good as the first book in the series but it was readable and I enjoyed it. I will continue the series but its no longer a priority. I was really hoping to love this series like everybody else seems to but its only okay in my books. If you liked damaged female mains, romance. love triangles and dystopians I would recommend this series.

3 out of 5

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Mini Review: Gathering Blue


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Gathering Blue
Written by Lois Lowry
Pages: 240
Published by Ember, Januray 1th 2000
format read: Ebook

I loved Gathering Blue, even more the The Giver. I think it was the fact it was set in the past rather than the future and that the main was a female rather than a male. I am female therefore I find my self connecting to Female characters more than male. Don't get me wrong I still love a lot of books with male mains but I would rather read a book with a female main. I loved the arty side to Gathering blue it really appealed to my creative side. It was interesting reading how they made something like dye without the technology we have today. Over all I would                                                        highly recommend this book if you have read the giver,                                                        you are an enjoyed of "back in the day" books or                                                                  dystopians.
                                                                  
                                                   5 out of 5 stars

Wishlist Wednesday #2



        Hosted by - Pen to Paper

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For this wishlist Wednesday I am going to post about The murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings. I would love to have this gorgeous book on my shelves for both the contents of the book and also the cover. I loved the book it was a great dystopian that I would happily read again at some point, I also cant wait for the next books in the series. Not only to I love the book but I also love the cover and spine and I think it would just look scrumptious on my shelves. 

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

Ready Player One References

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In Ready Player One there are so many references to other books and movies, I wanted to share some of the authors, books and movies I want to read or watch or have read or watched because of this amazing book.



Authors
-Neil Gaiman
-Douglas Adams
-Kurt Vonnegut
-Stephen King
-Terry Pratchett
-J.R.R. Tolkien
-Terry Brooks

Books
-Ringworld by Larry Niven
-The Gunslinger by Stephen King
-The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
-Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
-Dune by Frank Herbert
-The Dragonriders Pern by Anne McCaffrey
-The Hitchhiker's Guild to the Galaxy

Movies
                                                                     -All of them
                                                                     Letterboxd link  Every Movie Referenced

Elantris


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Elantris
Written by Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 638
Published by Tor Fantasy, May 30th 2006
Format read: Ebook


Synopsis

Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.

Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping -- based on their correspondence -- to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god. 

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

Review

Elantris was a very interesting fantasy read. It made me think allot about religion and has inspired me to study more in to my own religion. Elantris was the second book I have read in Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere, the first being the Mistborn trilogy. Elantris wasn't Quite as good as Mistborn was but it was close. I didn't like the characters quite as much, although they were great. I love the magic system the Brandon created in Elantris, the way I picture it is kinda like drawing Japanese Kanji charaters. Something I really look forward to as I start reading more and more of Brandon's books is seeing all of his magic systems because people rave about them all the time.

I went into this book blind not knowing anything about it apart from it was written by Brandon Sanderson and it was the first book he wrote set in the Cosmere. I'm glad I did this because I would of hesitated to pick it up if I had of read that there is quite a bit of religious goings on in the book. But it was really interesting and made me think about my self and were in at in my life. So to anyone who is hum hahing because of the priests and what not in the synopsis, just pick it up i'm sure you won't regret it. I do have to say the end climax of the book was rather predictable but there were unpredictable aspects out into it which I was very happy with. So it did end up surprising me just a little bit which always earns extra points in my books. Apart from that I didn't really find any other major issues with the book personally.

Over all I really enjoyed Elantris and would recommend to any fan of adult fantasy. I love Brandon Sanderson's books and this did't change that opinion. I hope he hurry's the hell up and writes the next book that's in the series because I need it now.


4.5 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Self Inflicted Reading Pressures

Lately I have felt my self pressuring my self to read I feel like I am just trying to read as much as I possibly can at the moment and i'm not sure I like that. I mean I love reading tonnes of different books but I start to put my self down when i'm taking to long and I feel like I don't fully enjoy the book that i'm reading when i'm like this. I have also gotten my self in to a bit of a series hole, I am currently reading a total of 23 and that's not including the comics i'm reading. I find this really stressful because although I want to read and finish all those series I just look at my list and see a very scary objective. There is something like 75 books that need to be read in order to finish all of those series. I feel as though I cant start anything else with out getting though a few of those series. I know the sooner I finish some series the better I will feel but at the moment I really feel like reading some more of Brandon Sanderson's spectacular works which makes me feel guilty because of my huge series TBR already. There are also some series in there that I only kinda wanna continue with. like I really want to know what happens but I don't want to read the books. I just can't get my self to DNF these series. I just wish I hadn't started so many series with out finishing others I would be mush more inclined to read than what I am at the moment.

I'm just unsure weather to force my self to pick up books from my series TBR and most likely enjoy them, or pick up books I really feel like reading and know I will enjoy. I need to find away to stop pressuring my self about my reading so much because I know it will make me happier when I don't feel so pressured.

*Rant over*


September Wrap Up

During the month of September I read a total of 29 books.


01 - Legend by Marie Lu01/01(4*)  02 - Wonder by R.J. Palacio01/02(4*)  03 - Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld02/04(3*)
04 - The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke04/05(4*)  05 - Avalon by Mindee Arnett05/07(4*)   06 - The Giver by Lois Lowry07/07(5*)
07 - Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi08/09(4*)  08 - Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins07/08(4*)  09 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky09/10(4*)
10 - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas10/13(4*)  11 - Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout13/15(4*)  12 - Cinder by Marissa Meyer15/16(4*)
13 - The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings16/17(4*)  14 - Scarlet by Marissa Meyer17/21(4*)  15 - Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi21/23(5*)
16 - Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione23/25(4*)  17 - Tokyo Ghoul, Volume 1 by Sui Ishida24/25(4*)  18 - 東京喰種 2 by Sui Ishida25/26(4*)
19 - Fluffy by Simone Lia26/26(3*) 20 - 東京喰種 3 by Sui Ishida26/28(4*)  21 - 東京喰種 4 by Sui Ishida28/28(5*)
22 - Dark Companion by Marta Acosta26/29(4*) 23 - Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi23/29(3*)  24 - 東京喰種 5 by Sui Ishida29/30(3*)
25 - Mitosis by Brandon Sanderson30/30(3*) 26 - Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry29/30(5*)