Book Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Rated 4.5 stars out of 5

Overview: Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison—even though she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive if she does—in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

 

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana.

An NPR Best Book of 2013

Review: Just like I finished Cinder in two days, Scarlet was no exception! Meyer brought everything back beautifully. Though I down rated it .5 due to the fact that I'm not too much of a fan of Scarlet and Wolf, these two new characters were interesting of course, but they were nothing compared to Thorne and Cinder. I liked watching Cinder and Throne's friendship grow more than Scarlet and Wolf's. Nonetheless, it was still a great story and it was thrilling to read how Meyer wove the Little Red Riding Hood tale into the plot line. The Lunar Chronicles has been such an entertaining read for me. It's been such a while since I've read such an awesome series!

Book Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer

Rated 5 stars out of 5

Overview: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review: A retelling with a neat twist, you won't be able to put this book down! I mean, a cyborg Cinderella? Yet Meyer does it well with such engrossing writing. Though you already know the fairytale of it, you will still be surprised with all of the worldbuilding and enthralled with the characters. I read this in two days! As I write this review, I'm already starting book #3 in the chronicles. I'm that hooked. So why five stars? Well for one, the writing was great. Very fluid and clear in its details which is a must since this is set in New Beijing in the future. Second, though it's a classic fairytale, Meyer brings novelty in to it with cyborgs, an evil Lunar Queen, and Kai a new emperor (move over Prince Charming!). Third, I thought the pacing was very well done keeping the tension close enough to keep you reading.

If you pick this book up, you will not regret it.

So, it's been a week...

Since I've read or worked on my M2. It kind of feels... weird. I was thinking about it this morning and was suddenly overwhelmed. I lost a week of writing time! I could have been farther along if I had just kept writing. These were my thoughts as I stood in line this morning at Starbuck's waiting for my coffee. It took me a half a minute later to realize that my thoughts were nonsense. There was a reason I was putting distance between my story and I.

I needed to see it with fresh eyes.

Palm Desert

This past weekend I got to relax in the sun! It was amazing and I already miss it! Michael and I visited his parents there and enjoyed our time immensely! Next year, we will definitely have to do longer than four days. I won't go into too much detail in this post, rather I'll just post photos below! It was a good time of relaxing, eating, reading, spending time with the Armfield's, and a nice break from my manuscript!

Our first time on a plane together :)

Flying close to Mount Rainier

California! Such a change from Washington

Palm Desert!

Backyard view where we stayed .

Panoramic

Michael's parents took us out to La Spiga where we enjoyed this dessert! YUM.

Getting ready to watch the sunset! Photo Cred: Denise

Michael enjoying beers.



Being goofy at Arnold Palmers



I just get too darn excited when it comes to desserts!

Many thanks to Michael's parents for making this trip happen and Michael for taking me with him :)

Hoping you all had an awesome weekend. More book reviews to come!

Divergent Movie Review - Divergent Movie Tour (Seattle)

So I know I said I would post this yesterday, but I was traveling to Palm Dessert and got swept away by the beautiful sunshine!

Alright, so here it goes. I was lucky enough the get an event pass to the advanced screening of DIVERGENT! So they gave me this:

 A wristband! Michael and I arrived three hours prior, because I wasn't sure we had to wait in line for seats, but luckily we didn't. So we went to an italian cafe for a bit to wait for the movie.

When we came back there was a large group of people waiting for the red carpet to begin. I'm so sad I didn't get much photos, but it was just too darn hectic and what I really wanted to see was the movie. Though I'm sure I missed out since Jai Courtney and Miles Teller were there. The staff there was also handing out tons of swag too! I got a pin:

Once we went to get out seats however, we had to check in our phones and what not. When it was finally time for the movie, Miles Teller and Jai Courtney did a short intro and yay, finally! The wait was not in vain.

Alright, so movie review:

I really really really loved it. I mean, you know it's great if the author, Roth, likes it. But being a fan and falling in love with the book and seeing it replicated true to the story was beautiful. I think it was the best adaption of a YA novel to screen, so far.

The cast was exceptional. The casting was perfect, it was just like how I imagined it in my head. The visuals were great and the adapted screenplay really nailed it. If you're a fan of the book, you will not be disappointed. Already I want to watch it again.

An aside, but still relevant:

It's funny that even at twenty-two I can still get swept in fandom. As I sat in the theater watching these tweens and teenagers, mixed with their parents and some adults all having a blast even though we were all spending essentially almost half a day to see a two-hour movie, the energy was without fail, electric!

So what is it that turns books into fandoms into movies?

Well this is where Summit Entertainment, excels. It's a beautiful formula really. They take a book with a fan base already, then they make the movie that creates another type of experience for the reader (they allow the reader to fall in love with the book once again, but in a different medium). Summit did this with Twilight, Hunger Games, and now Divergent. They key to the success, however, is to keep true to the book. The fan base is already loyal to the book, try to do something creative and go off the mark, you'll be face with an angry mob. Instead, make the fans happy by giving them the story and bring that to life, because that's what they're looking for. A lot of us our visual, so when we finally get to see what we imagined in our minds, it's a great movie experience.

Also, a kick-ass soundtrack doesn't hurt either.

Draft Two of M2, and the start of my mini vacay!

So this happened.

Please excuse my tired looking self, but today during my lunch break I went and printed this baby out! Second draft of my Manuscript #2!!! Though it's craptacular and needs tons of extra work, can I just say how accomplished I feel right now? I'm one draft closer to being done!

 That's my current word count. My 158 page manuscript equals approximately a 356 page book. And guess what! I'm going on a mini vacay to Palm Dessert for a four day weekend to visit Michael's parents tomorrow! I can't wait to do revision notes while soaking up the sun! And of course, for more additional reading material I got this today to get pumped up to query this summer!

 Also, this is tonight! Hopefully I can get into the advanced screening and right a review for you guys tomorrow.

 So excited for this weekend to start after such an exhausting work week!

Book Review: Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Rated 3.5 out of 5.

Meet Frenchie Garcia, a character who loves Emily Dickinson, spends her time in a cemetary, and who's secretly dealing with grief after Andy Cooper, a boy she's been in love with for four years, commits suicide.

The story takes place the summer after her senior year of high school a few months after the suicide. Life is bleak for Frenchie. She doesn't get accepted to the art school in Chicago that she's applied to, her best friend is focused on his girlfriend, and her other friend is convinced that all she needs is a boy to take her mind off things.

But Frenchie could care less, consumed with her fixation of death. But there's also something that Frenchie is unable to reconcile with: the last night of Andy Cooper's death. The night that she and Andy had a night of adventure that no one knows about. Thus, Frenchie attempts to relive the night in hopes of making sense of it.

This book was a quick read and enjoyable. I found Frenchie to be a great character and I like how Sanchez portrays Frenchie's grief without making it to overwhelming. It was just a nice touch. I found this book similiar to Paper Towns by John Green. However, I think the difference between the two are the little insights that Green subtly brushes into the story. Sanchez attempts this with a few Emily Dickinson poems. Green's device adds depth, whereas it's easy to glance over the Dickinson poems, making Sanchez's story more on the surface. By glance over, I mean that Dickinson's poems are amazing stand alone poems that it's too easy to keep the story and poems separate. Or at least I do anyway.

That's not to say that this book isn't amazing in itself. The writing was great, the story line interesting, but I wanted more depth in the story and the other characters, which is why I rate it a 3.5 out of 5.