Thursday, April 26, 2012
'The Evolution of Mara Dyer' Cover Revealed
A few days ago, Michelle Hodkin revealed the cover of the sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer. I'm finally able to post the cover today, and it's amazing, but totally expected. The cover features Mara and (presumably) Noah. If the man isn't Noah, I've got a feeling it's *SPOILER* Jude.
'Chamber of Secrets' on Pottermore May Be Released Soon
According to The Pottermore Insider, the Chamber of Secrets book on Pottermore is "looking great." Hypable also posted a news story about Pottermore's CEO discussing the upcoming release of the six other Potter books on Pottermore. The CEO says that the next books will be released in the upcoming weeks and months, which goes agaisnt popular beliefs that the books will be spread out over the span of a few years.The Hypable article.
The Pottermore article.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Review | 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer'
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Michelle Hodkin
452 pg., U.S. Hardcover
Simon & Schuster
4 stars | A-
From Goodreads:
Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.It can.She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.There is.She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.She's wrong.
I first started reading this novel (in depth) back in November, but put it down because I was reading so many other books, and this one didn't have precedence over those others. I picked this one up again on Monday, April 16, and then finished it on Saturday, April 21. The book is astoundingly well-written, I'll give Hodkin that. I really have not been able to sit down and enjoy a story from a female perspective in so long, so I really am grateful for this one being so dark and engaging. I do like the element of danger and suspense that is spread out over the course of the book, mixed in with a bit of romance and normal life. I'm glad the horror of the story wasn't rushed like so many other stories are, so I was very impressed in that regard.
My favorite character was, actually very surprisingly, Mara. I usually like minor characters and the easing roles they play, but I really loved Mara, and I appreciated the way she handled her "gift"--one that I thought was very original and cool. I thought the other characters were very well-developed too, but I felt like there wasn't any closure with the bullies, although I can see where things are going with them after finding out Mara's secret and such.
What I felt was missing from the book was the sense of more clarity about why these things were as terrible as they were. I mean, I understood that issue, but I feel like some readers wouldn't catch on, at least not until the very end.
Overall, I'm incredibly glad that I dove back into this book! It was tremendous, and I cannot wait for the sequel (Wow--that's the first time in a while that I've said that and actually meant it--the last time I remember is the sequel to Legend)
The sequel is called The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
Michelle Hodkin
452 pg., U.S. Hardcover
Simon & Schuster
4 stars | A-
From Goodreads:
Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.It can.She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.There is.She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.She's wrong.
I first started reading this novel (in depth) back in November, but put it down because I was reading so many other books, and this one didn't have precedence over those others. I picked this one up again on Monday, April 16, and then finished it on Saturday, April 21. The book is astoundingly well-written, I'll give Hodkin that. I really have not been able to sit down and enjoy a story from a female perspective in so long, so I really am grateful for this one being so dark and engaging. I do like the element of danger and suspense that is spread out over the course of the book, mixed in with a bit of romance and normal life. I'm glad the horror of the story wasn't rushed like so many other stories are, so I was very impressed in that regard.
My favorite character was, actually very surprisingly, Mara. I usually like minor characters and the easing roles they play, but I really loved Mara, and I appreciated the way she handled her "gift"--one that I thought was very original and cool. I thought the other characters were very well-developed too, but I felt like there wasn't any closure with the bullies, although I can see where things are going with them after finding out Mara's secret and such.
What I felt was missing from the book was the sense of more clarity about why these things were as terrible as they were. I mean, I understood that issue, but I feel like some readers wouldn't catch on, at least not until the very end.
Overall, I'm incredibly glad that I dove back into this book! It was tremendous, and I cannot wait for the sequel (Wow--that's the first time in a while that I've said that and actually meant it--the last time I remember is the sequel to Legend)
The sequel is called The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Film Review | 'The Iron Lady'
The Iron Lady
Directed by Pyllida Lloyd
Starring - Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach
UK Film Council
105 min.
4 stars | B
The Iron Lady is a film recapping the life of Britain's former, and one of its most famous, Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher (Streep), and her road to assuming the leader of her party from the beginning stages of running for a spot in Parliament, to resigning from her position as the British leader.
The film wasn't really how I expected it, nor do I have violent feelings for it. I was excited to see the film, but the ending was not nearly as tastefully finished as I thought it would be. The beginning of the film shows Thatcher out to buy some milk, but learning that the price has been raised. She returns home to complain to her husband (who, at that point, is a figment of her imagination--he is long dead, and she has dementia--played by Jim Broadbent) and begins to reflect on her life after watching videos of her previous endeavors in her sitting room. The viewer sees the life of young Margaret Thatcher (Roach), all the way through the war, and ending with her resignation.
For me, I am aware that Meryl Streep's performance was grand and all that, and that it was "deserving" of the Academy Award (although I think it should have gone to Michelle Williams), but I really loved Roach's performance the most. Her assumption of Thatcher was really what set the tone for not only the film, but the character. She warns her future-husband that she'll never be an ordinary housewife, and that just says so much about Margaret Thatcher, and I think that Roach did that wonderfully. I also really enjoyed Jim Broadbent's performance, although I admittedly did grow tired of his character's presence, just as Maggie did--but I suppose that's how the viewer ought to feel. I was pleased by Meryl Streep's performance, but it was just very strange to watch her in this role, because it was just so...un-Meryl Streep that it bugged me. I mean, throughout the film, I didn't remember that I was watching Streep, which is always great, but it was just very close to being overdone in my opinion. I understand Margareth Thatcher's personality and who she is, and I respect that, but Meryl Streep's portrayal of that essence was almost unsettling.
I really loved the cinematography and direction for this film, as well as the makeup. I thought they were phenomenal and they made it hard to look away from the screen, working intimately with the actors; boosting them when they were weak.
Overall, the film as a film was wonderful, but the acting was just very foreign for me--except for the performances of Broadbent and Roach. An artistic film, though, which I appreciated.
Directed by Pyllida Lloyd
Starring - Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach
UK Film Council
105 min.
4 stars | B
The Iron Lady is a film recapping the life of Britain's former, and one of its most famous, Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher (Streep), and her road to assuming the leader of her party from the beginning stages of running for a spot in Parliament, to resigning from her position as the British leader.
The film wasn't really how I expected it, nor do I have violent feelings for it. I was excited to see the film, but the ending was not nearly as tastefully finished as I thought it would be. The beginning of the film shows Thatcher out to buy some milk, but learning that the price has been raised. She returns home to complain to her husband (who, at that point, is a figment of her imagination--he is long dead, and she has dementia--played by Jim Broadbent) and begins to reflect on her life after watching videos of her previous endeavors in her sitting room. The viewer sees the life of young Margaret Thatcher (Roach), all the way through the war, and ending with her resignation.
For me, I am aware that Meryl Streep's performance was grand and all that, and that it was "deserving" of the Academy Award (although I think it should have gone to Michelle Williams), but I really loved Roach's performance the most. Her assumption of Thatcher was really what set the tone for not only the film, but the character. She warns her future-husband that she'll never be an ordinary housewife, and that just says so much about Margaret Thatcher, and I think that Roach did that wonderfully. I also really enjoyed Jim Broadbent's performance, although I admittedly did grow tired of his character's presence, just as Maggie did--but I suppose that's how the viewer ought to feel. I was pleased by Meryl Streep's performance, but it was just very strange to watch her in this role, because it was just so...un-Meryl Streep that it bugged me. I mean, throughout the film, I didn't remember that I was watching Streep, which is always great, but it was just very close to being overdone in my opinion. I understand Margareth Thatcher's personality and who she is, and I respect that, but Meryl Streep's portrayal of that essence was almost unsettling.
I really loved the cinematography and direction for this film, as well as the makeup. I thought they were phenomenal and they made it hard to look away from the screen, working intimately with the actors; boosting them when they were weak.
Overall, the film as a film was wonderful, but the acting was just very foreign for me--except for the performances of Broadbent and Roach. An artistic film, though, which I appreciated.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Film Review | 'Like Crazy'
Like Crazy
Directed by Drake Doremus
Starring -- Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Alex Kingston
Paramount
Five stars | A+
Like Crazy is the story of Jacob (Anton Yelchin), an American boy in love with the art of creation, and Anna (Felicity Jones), an English girl studying in the States, who falls in love with the art of love; the single art that Anna knows she does not understand fully, but only the "smudge" of it.
Jacob and Anna meet in class, and Anna pursues the relationship first. The two date for a year, and the film perfectly portrays the freshness and the life in their first year together; their walks on the beach, their strolls down the street, but this is all a result of Anna's choice to violate her Visa and stay a summer with Jacob. After returning to her home country, Anna is sent back to the UK by the TSA as a result of the aforementioned issue, and she and Jacob enter a phase of "starting and stopping," something Anna says that they can't do, but it turns out...that's all they really do. In the meanwhile, Jacob dates a woman named Sam (Jennifer Lawrence), who, at first, remains blissfully oblivious to the lingering sense of desperation that Jacob has regarding his feelings for both Sam and Anna, who is back in London. Sam's character narrowly beats Anna's as the most heart-wrenching of all; you know, just by the sense of Lawrence's expressions, that she deeply loves Jacob, and you also know that he can't seem to ever let go of Anna's ghostly presence in his life. She acknowledges this fact, especially one night when Anna calls to deliver Jacob the news that they should marry. Jacob obliges, and he treks to the UK to wed Anna. But something stands in the way of a full registration of the couple's marriage license; Anna's violation of her Visa. The two of them separate once more, and Jacob returns to Sam, whilst Anna dates a friend called Simon (Charlie Bewley). In an attempt to take their relationship farther, Simon proposes to Anna one night at dinner with her parents (wonderfully portrayed by the ever-amazing Alex Kingston and Oliver Muerhead), but Anna declines and the relationship fails, as does Jacob's and Sam's, which ends with a shot of Sam packing her things and leaving Jacob's home, a look of pain on her face, one not unlike the tear-inducing scene earlier wherein she cries into Jacob's shoulder. Anna and Jacob move back in together, and the awkwardness lingers for a while, ending the film with the two in the shower--shots of their memories bringing the motion picture to a close.
I cannot place my emotions for this film into a completely coherent sentence--at least, I don't think I can. Immediately during my viewing of this film, I knew it would reserve a spot in my heart. At the beginning of the film, I thought, "God, I want that relationship," but by the end of the film, I thought, "Man, I do NOT want that relationship." The tragic realism of these characters and their situation is striking to the heart, and I just hate that I love how horrible I feel for them; the fact that they can't get over each other and that they result to leaving one another and then coming back. It truly is awful.
The acting in this film, though, is three levels above splendidly superb. It's no surprise that my three favorite performances were by the three main females, now is it? Alex Kingston, Jennifer Lawrence, and Felicity Jones play three totally different characters, but they all really fuse into emotionally dense characters whose lives are really flipped upside-down. I've already mentioned Lawrence's character, but it truly is beautiful the way Jennifer Lawrence can portray a character. I mean she's got Katniss--the brave heroine, Elissa in House at the End of the Street--the horrified victim, Mystique--the sexy Switzerland, Ree--the pursuant daughter, and now Sam--the heartbroken woman. Something always seems to be unique about each one of her characters, but this one was just a raw human being, which I adored. I commend Jennifer Lawrence for that. Alex Kingston was the character that the story would have crumbled without--at least, in my opinion. She was the supportive, hilarious, and cautious woman who Alex Kingston really was tremendous as. As for Felicity Jones, there isn't much to say. Her character, and her performance, speaks for herself. The rest of the cast--Yelchin, Muerhead, and Bewley--were all wondrous in their own respects.
Everything else was just the icing on the cake--the subtly brilliant cinematography, the score, the soundtrack, and the usage of sets and locations as their own characters. London was truly the center of emotional disaster, and Los Angeles was its rebuild.
This film should go down in history as one of the most tragically beautiful romances in film's existence. Truly lovely.
Directed by Drake Doremus
Starring -- Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Alex Kingston
Paramount
Five stars | A+
Like Crazy is the story of Jacob (Anton Yelchin), an American boy in love with the art of creation, and Anna (Felicity Jones), an English girl studying in the States, who falls in love with the art of love; the single art that Anna knows she does not understand fully, but only the "smudge" of it.
Jacob and Anna meet in class, and Anna pursues the relationship first. The two date for a year, and the film perfectly portrays the freshness and the life in their first year together; their walks on the beach, their strolls down the street, but this is all a result of Anna's choice to violate her Visa and stay a summer with Jacob. After returning to her home country, Anna is sent back to the UK by the TSA as a result of the aforementioned issue, and she and Jacob enter a phase of "starting and stopping," something Anna says that they can't do, but it turns out...that's all they really do. In the meanwhile, Jacob dates a woman named Sam (Jennifer Lawrence), who, at first, remains blissfully oblivious to the lingering sense of desperation that Jacob has regarding his feelings for both Sam and Anna, who is back in London. Sam's character narrowly beats Anna's as the most heart-wrenching of all; you know, just by the sense of Lawrence's expressions, that she deeply loves Jacob, and you also know that he can't seem to ever let go of Anna's ghostly presence in his life. She acknowledges this fact, especially one night when Anna calls to deliver Jacob the news that they should marry. Jacob obliges, and he treks to the UK to wed Anna. But something stands in the way of a full registration of the couple's marriage license; Anna's violation of her Visa. The two of them separate once more, and Jacob returns to Sam, whilst Anna dates a friend called Simon (Charlie Bewley). In an attempt to take their relationship farther, Simon proposes to Anna one night at dinner with her parents (wonderfully portrayed by the ever-amazing Alex Kingston and Oliver Muerhead), but Anna declines and the relationship fails, as does Jacob's and Sam's, which ends with a shot of Sam packing her things and leaving Jacob's home, a look of pain on her face, one not unlike the tear-inducing scene earlier wherein she cries into Jacob's shoulder. Anna and Jacob move back in together, and the awkwardness lingers for a while, ending the film with the two in the shower--shots of their memories bringing the motion picture to a close.
I cannot place my emotions for this film into a completely coherent sentence--at least, I don't think I can. Immediately during my viewing of this film, I knew it would reserve a spot in my heart. At the beginning of the film, I thought, "God, I want that relationship," but by the end of the film, I thought, "Man, I do NOT want that relationship." The tragic realism of these characters and their situation is striking to the heart, and I just hate that I love how horrible I feel for them; the fact that they can't get over each other and that they result to leaving one another and then coming back. It truly is awful.
The acting in this film, though, is three levels above splendidly superb. It's no surprise that my three favorite performances were by the three main females, now is it? Alex Kingston, Jennifer Lawrence, and Felicity Jones play three totally different characters, but they all really fuse into emotionally dense characters whose lives are really flipped upside-down. I've already mentioned Lawrence's character, but it truly is beautiful the way Jennifer Lawrence can portray a character. I mean she's got Katniss--the brave heroine, Elissa in House at the End of the Street--the horrified victim, Mystique--the sexy Switzerland, Ree--the pursuant daughter, and now Sam--the heartbroken woman. Something always seems to be unique about each one of her characters, but this one was just a raw human being, which I adored. I commend Jennifer Lawrence for that. Alex Kingston was the character that the story would have crumbled without--at least, in my opinion. She was the supportive, hilarious, and cautious woman who Alex Kingston really was tremendous as. As for Felicity Jones, there isn't much to say. Her character, and her performance, speaks for herself. The rest of the cast--Yelchin, Muerhead, and Bewley--were all wondrous in their own respects.
Everything else was just the icing on the cake--the subtly brilliant cinematography, the score, the soundtrack, and the usage of sets and locations as their own characters. London was truly the center of emotional disaster, and Los Angeles was its rebuild.
This film should go down in history as one of the most tragically beautiful romances in film's existence. Truly lovely.
Pottermore is now Open
Nearly a year after its first announcement, Pottermore has now exited its beta period and entered the realm of public opening! Pottermore is now open to sign up for welcome e-mails! You won't be able to have immediate access to the site, just like we beta-testers didn't, but you should be able to get in rather quickly!
The public opening means that we'll be able to discuss Pottermore's content on the podcast!
The public opening means that we'll be able to discuss Pottermore's content on the podcast!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Book Review | 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
376 pg., U.S. Paperback
HarperCollins
4 stars | A-
From Goodreads:
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
For fourteen years, I had avoided the literary presence of Harper Lee's literary masterpiece, often seeing it at relatives' homes or in the words spoken by authors regarding their inspiration, but I never really understood the cultural impact that the story had. Upon picking the novel up in March as a required reading for class, I fell in love with the story--a copy of which had been sitting on my book shelf for nearly year at that point.
The tale's characters (my favorites being Atticus Finch, Maudie Atkinson, and Boo Radley) were what truly won me over in the end. I fell in love with their presence, and how feasible they were. I felt like I really knew them all, which is all I really want in literature.
Harper Lee is actually my distant, distant cousin on account of the fact that she is a descendant of Robert E. Lee, whom I am descended from, as well. Upon finding this news, I sort of felt obligated to love her writing, but that obligation very much dissipated as I was absorbed into Lee's authenticity of life in the Depression.
The novel really is a work of art, and should be acknowledge by every single reader who ever lived.
Harper Lee
376 pg., U.S. Paperback
HarperCollins
4 stars | A-
From Goodreads:
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
For fourteen years, I had avoided the literary presence of Harper Lee's literary masterpiece, often seeing it at relatives' homes or in the words spoken by authors regarding their inspiration, but I never really understood the cultural impact that the story had. Upon picking the novel up in March as a required reading for class, I fell in love with the story--a copy of which had been sitting on my book shelf for nearly year at that point.
The tale's characters (my favorites being Atticus Finch, Maudie Atkinson, and Boo Radley) were what truly won me over in the end. I fell in love with their presence, and how feasible they were. I felt like I really knew them all, which is all I really want in literature.
Harper Lee is actually my distant, distant cousin on account of the fact that she is a descendant of Robert E. Lee, whom I am descended from, as well. Upon finding this news, I sort of felt obligated to love her writing, but that obligation very much dissipated as I was absorbed into Lee's authenticity of life in the Depression.
The novel really is a work of art, and should be acknowledge by every single reader who ever lived.
J.K. Rowling confirms that she's writing the Harry Potter Encyclopedia
Affectionately titled The Scottish Book (a joke from The Leaky Cauldron's PotterCast), J.K. Rowling has officially announced via her website's FAQ that she is, in fact, writing the Harry Potter encyclopedia. Jo writes that she had been promising it for years, but that she finally started work on the encyclopedia, and that all royalties will be donated to charity.
Nice going, Jo! We knew she'd donate it to charity, not that that's a bad thing!
Thoughts?
Nice going, Jo! We knew she'd donate it to charity, not that that's a bad thing!
Thoughts?
Book Review | 'If I Stay'
If I Stay
Gayle Forman
Dutton Books
199 pg., U.S. Hardcover
Four stars | B
From Goodreads:
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...
A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make -and the ultimate choice Mia commands.
If I Stay was a book that was just kind of "meh" to me. I thought of it sort of as an extension of My Sister's Keeper, in the sense that *spoiler alert* at the end of Keeper, the story's protagonist is kept on life machines and must be unplugged, the same situation that this story's main character is under. The plot wasn't entirely riveting to me, nor was the writing, but I did like the realism and diversity of characters, which many people know is what I really go for. I feel like if the characters were weak, I would have abandoned this book like I did the first time that I read it.
I don't really have a lot to say about this book, hence the short length, other than the fact that it was just average. If you're going into this book, don't expect anything special.
If I Stay is the first in a series. Where She Went is out now.
Gayle Forman
Dutton Books
199 pg., U.S. Hardcover
Four stars | B
From Goodreads:
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...
A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make -and the ultimate choice Mia commands.
If I Stay was a book that was just kind of "meh" to me. I thought of it sort of as an extension of My Sister's Keeper, in the sense that *spoiler alert* at the end of Keeper, the story's protagonist is kept on life machines and must be unplugged, the same situation that this story's main character is under. The plot wasn't entirely riveting to me, nor was the writing, but I did like the realism and diversity of characters, which many people know is what I really go for. I feel like if the characters were weak, I would have abandoned this book like I did the first time that I read it.
I don't really have a lot to say about this book, hence the short length, other than the fact that it was just average. If you're going into this book, don't expect anything special.
If I Stay is the first in a series. Where She Went is out now.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Beautiful Creatures Casting Change; Ethan Wate now to be protrayed by Alden Ehrenreich
Yesterday, the Caster fandom was shaken and stirred when Kami Garcia sent out a bunch of tweets--retweeted or not--regarding the fact that Jack O'Connell would no longer be portraying the story's protagonist, Ethan Wate, in the film adaptation of Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
Filming is still expected to begin April 16.
Sorry for the late news post!
Filming is still expected to begin April 16.
Sorry for the late news post!
J.K. Rowling announces the title and release date for her next book!
Big news that will no doubt go in history; Joanne Kathleen Rowling has announced that the title of her adult novel will be...
The Casual Vacancy
!!!
Little, Brown provides a summary, as well:
When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
The Casual Vacancy will be released September 27, 2012 in bookstores!
Jo has also updated her official website to include an interesting timeline of news over the past few years, including Pottermore and The Casual Vacancy.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WE ARE FREAKING OUT!
The Casual Vacancy
!!!
Little, Brown provides a summary, as well:
When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
The Casual Vacancy will be released September 27, 2012 in bookstores!
Jo has also updated her official website to include an interesting timeline of news over the past few years, including Pottermore and The Casual Vacancy.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WE ARE FREAKING OUT!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Leven Rambin Cast as Clarisse in 'Sea of Monsters'
Leven Rambin, Glimmer in The Hunger Games, has been cast as Ares's daughter, Clarisse LaRue, in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters.
Thanks to Variety.
Thanks to Variety.
Book Review | 'Carrier of the Mark'
Carrier of the Mark
Leigh Fallon
346 pg., U.S. Paperback
HarperTeen
3 stars | C
From Goodreads:
Their love was meant to be.
When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs.
But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.
Leigh Fallon
346 pg., U.S. Paperback
HarperTeen
3 stars | C
From Goodreads:
Their love was meant to be.
When Megan Rosenberg moves to Ireland, everything in her life seems to fall into place. After growing up in America, she's surprised to find herself feeling at home in her new school. She connects with a group of friends, and she is instantly drawn to darkly handsome Adam DeRÍs.
But Megan is about to discover that her feelings for Adam are tied to a fate that was sealed long ago—and that the passion and power that brought them together could be their ultimate destruction.
Carrier of the Mark is a book that I've been wanting to read since August of last year, when I first heard of Leigh Fallon's debut novel. I was undoubtedly sucked in the gloriously, darkly charming cover, which symbolizes so much from the book, which I love--the symbolism, not the book. I was ultimately disappointed by the book, especially it's final 200 pages.
For the first 150 pages or so, I was very off-and-on with my emotions towards this story. The first three chapters I was like, "Hey, this book is really good! I'm impressed!"
And then I realized I was re-reading Twilight. The biggest thing that turned me off from this book was a scene in which the protagonist, Megan, is being chased by drunk frat boys and is finally saved by the mysterious supernatural love interest. Remind you of anything? There's also a scene where Megan is sitting with her new-best-friend, Caitlin, discussing the socially secluded SUPERNATURAL family. Hm, where have I seen that before? And the main guy's sister, Aine, is very bubbly and sweet (Alice), and his brother is buff, but dark and brooding (a combination of Emmett and Jasper). Oh yeah and his Dad's Carlisle.
For the longest time, I was worried that my hopes of Irish mythology being in this book would be crushed, but about 130 pages in, I was reprieved! I loved the history of the Carriers of the Mark, and was incredibly pleased with their similarities to Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I was in no way angered with. But I felt like the world-building could have used some more depth, and that a lot of things were rushed and expected to be digested in the first introduction of some idea. In the first few chapters, I felt like a lot was rushed, to the point that there was insanely awkward dialogue that was there just to establish some plot points. It was ridiculous.
Overall, the book wasn't bad. Fallon's writing is fresh and nice, but the plot just dragged throughout the whole book, and was hardly original, which lost me there--and the fact that the characters weren't individuals; they were just mimics of Bella Swan (although Megan was a bit stronger), Edward Cullen, and the whole Twilight bunch, which was not fresh and nice.
Carrier of the Mark is the first in a series.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Book Review | 'Fear'
Fear
Michael Grant
eBook/ARC
Katherine Tegen Books
Five stars | A+
I think that an explanation is due as to how I received an ARC of this book.
For those who are familiar with this blog, you would know that I received an ARC of Plague back in March of last year and posted an in-depth, spoiler-filled review of the novel, seeing as nobody had read the novel at the time of my finishing the book. Isaac also received an ARC of this novel, but he has yet to read it, even though the pair of us got them in December. I read mine in one sitting, thank you very much. The actual details of receiving our ARCs are top secret, though.
NOTE: The first half of this review lacks spoilers. I will break the page when the spoilers begin in the second half.
The undoubtedly most brilliant novel I have read in a while, Fear provides the shuddering eeriness that Michael Grant has made himself notable for in the years that his Gone series has been on shelves. This book provides perhaps the most realistic look at the situation his characters are in, trumping over its predecessors by a landslide. I will admit, though, that immediately after finishing Fear I was so stunned by the book's innards that I couldn't tell if it was my favorite or not. I needed time to digest the complex plot that is the penultimate Gone novel, and I predict that readers will need that extra time, as well. As always, multiple conflicts are presented in this novel (both internal and external) and--what I love about these novels is that--it is up to the readers to decipher whether or not they are ultimately resolved in the end.
The story revolves primarily around Diana Ladris, something that made me extremely happy, but something that could have been foreseen from the ending of the previous novel. Diana is featured on the cover of this installment, as well as the second (Hunger) and the sixth and final (Light). Ladris's character plays an incredibly significant role in the central plot, as do characters that have played a back seat role recently in the series.
The biggest praise I have for Grant for this novel is his ability to maintain the adoration of his faithful readers through all the horrific, morbid plots that occur. How does Grant do this, though? He deems himself a flawless writer by stringing together complex characters with their intricate plots and creating a Gaiaphage-like story that is so real it's scary. I truly love these books, and they deserve a spot as my favorite series of all time...behind Harry Potter, of course.
The following section of this review contains spoilers pertaining to Fear.
Michael Grant
eBook/ARC
Katherine Tegen Books
Five stars | A+
I think that an explanation is due as to how I received an ARC of this book.
For those who are familiar with this blog, you would know that I received an ARC of Plague back in March of last year and posted an in-depth, spoiler-filled review of the novel, seeing as nobody had read the novel at the time of my finishing the book. Isaac also received an ARC of this novel, but he has yet to read it, even though the pair of us got them in December. I read mine in one sitting, thank you very much. The actual details of receiving our ARCs are top secret, though.
NOTE: The first half of this review lacks spoilers. I will break the page when the spoilers begin in the second half.
The undoubtedly most brilliant novel I have read in a while, Fear provides the shuddering eeriness that Michael Grant has made himself notable for in the years that his Gone series has been on shelves. This book provides perhaps the most realistic look at the situation his characters are in, trumping over its predecessors by a landslide. I will admit, though, that immediately after finishing Fear I was so stunned by the book's innards that I couldn't tell if it was my favorite or not. I needed time to digest the complex plot that is the penultimate Gone novel, and I predict that readers will need that extra time, as well. As always, multiple conflicts are presented in this novel (both internal and external) and--what I love about these novels is that--it is up to the readers to decipher whether or not they are ultimately resolved in the end.
The story revolves primarily around Diana Ladris, something that made me extremely happy, but something that could have been foreseen from the ending of the previous novel. Diana is featured on the cover of this installment, as well as the second (Hunger) and the sixth and final (Light). Ladris's character plays an incredibly significant role in the central plot, as do characters that have played a back seat role recently in the series.
The biggest praise I have for Grant for this novel is his ability to maintain the adoration of his faithful readers through all the horrific, morbid plots that occur. How does Grant do this, though? He deems himself a flawless writer by stringing together complex characters with their intricate plots and creating a Gaiaphage-like story that is so real it's scary. I truly love these books, and they deserve a spot as my favorite series of all time...behind Harry Potter, of course.
The following section of this review contains spoilers pertaining to Fear.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Kansas City Star Provides Insight on the draw to 'Games'
The Kansas City Star, our hometown newspaper, has provided a rather interesting look at the reason that people, especially adults, are drawn to the concept of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games.
Check out the full Star article to learn more about the allure of Panem.
"I start to question my own excitement about this movie. Why do I want to watch this? Why is it so seductive to see children in peril? The author is critiquing violence, but she's reminding us that we are implicated. It's within us."
Check out the full Star article to learn more about the allure of Panem.
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