The Hunger Games

To read in English, click on 'Read more'

Käisin eile kinos „Näljemänge“ vaatamas. Olen nii-nii kaua oodanud seda filmi. Juba poolteist aastat. Raamatu kõik osad olid superhead (hästi, viimane võib-olla veidi vähem) ning ma tõesti ei jõua filmi järge ära oodata. Teiste mängude areen on huvitavam ja lahedam – juba sellepärast, kuid ka seepärast, et järjes tutuvtakse uute tegelastega nagu Finnick, Annie ja teised ning nendest oli lausa lust lugeda.

THG („The Hunger Games“) põhineb Suzanne Collinsi samanimelisel triloogial, mille tegevus toimub tulevikus ja loo peategelaseks on Katniss Everdeen (see nimi on üks lahedamaid peakangelanna nimesid, ei ole tavaline ja jääb hästi meelde ning kõlab ka ilusasti), kes elab Panemi 12. ringkonnas. Panem on riik, kus valitsevaks korraks on diktatuur ning Panemis oli kunagi 13. ingkonda. Nüüdseks on alles jäänud 12, sest ringkonnad tõstsid Kapitooliumi (ehk siis pealinn ja valitsus) vastu mässu ning 13. ringkond tehti mässu mahasurumise käigus maatasa. Sellest ajast peale on korraldatud iga-aastaseid näljamänge, mille osalejateks on igast ringkonnast kaks inimest: üks poiss ja üks tüdruk. Noored viiakse Kapitooliumisse, kus neil avaneb võimalus end mõned päevad treenida, neid tehakse ilusaks, nad jagavad intervjuusid, söövad maitsvaid sööke, magavad ja elavad luksuslikes elamutes. Aga.. Kui see nädalakene (tegelikult ma ei mäleta, kui pikka aega nad raamatus Kapitooliumis veetsid, aga vist oli kuskil nädalapikkune aeg) läbi saab ja oma võimeid on demonstreeritud ning toetajaid, sponsoreid kogutud, minnakse areenile. Seal algab sõda laste vahel, kes võitlevad surmani. Mängu mõjutavad mängumeistrid, keda kontrollib Kapitoolium. Mänge kantakse üle igas ringkonnas ja Kapitoolium mõtleb neist kui pidustustest. Areenilt väljub ainult üks – võitja, kes saab au, kuulsuse ja rikkuse osaliseks.

Film oli üsna tõetruu, kõik  tähtsamad stseenid olid linateosesse kaasatud. Ma üritan väga, et mitte spoilereid anda, sest olen lugenud raamatut ja näinud filmi ning raske on end tagasi hoida, sest see lugu hõlmab endas nii palju. Enne raamatute lugemist olin hästi skeptiline, aga võin käsi südamel väita, et ma pole peale „Tappa laulurästast“ ja mõne teose/sarja veel nii head raamatusarja lugenud. See mängib nii inimühiskonna pahedele, plussidele, inimese tunnetele kui ka seiklustele. Isegi neile, kes ei suuda armukolmnurgata raamatut lugeda, on nendegi jaoks tagaplaanil midagi. Suzanne Collins on suutnud jutustada lugu inimkonna julmusest, rääkides seda läbi traagika ja kurbuse, huumori ja sarkasmi. Kui oled raamatuid lugenud, siis olen üpriski kindel, et filmis pettuda ei tule, kuigi tundus, et kohati kiirustati stseenist stseeni, et intensiivne raamatumaterjal tervenist ära katta. Minu puhul on hea ka see, et olen raamatud juba kaua aega tagasi läbi lugenud ning kindlasti, kui oleksin hiljuti uuesti luegnud, oleksin ka veidi rahulolematu, kuid kõiki pisidetaile ei saagi 400leheküljelisest raamatust pooleteisetunnisesse filmi kokku pressida, sest filmi käsikiri on ju tegelikult imepisikene, seega võiks veidi mõistvam olla.

Nii, filmist endast siis natuke. Mind häiris vist kõige rohkem see, et osa oli tehtud nö käsikaamera variandis, kus pilt kõikus ja värises. Võib-olla tundub see tegijatele realistlikum ja tõetruum, aga vaatajal on ebamugav, kui ta ei suuda fokuseerida toimuvat ja pilt käib lihtsalt üles-alla, üles-alla. Pole eriti tore. Üldiselt, nagu juba varem ütlesin, olid kõik tähtsamad momendid vähemal-suuremal määral sees ja mul ei tekkinud kordagi hetke, kus oleks igav olnud. Kui tavavaatajale, kes pole sarja lugenud (kusjuures ma lugesin, et THG eelmüügipileteid on üle maailma müüdud rohkem kui ühelegi teisele filmile, k.a. „Videviku“ filmidele, mis on ju maailmas hoolimata nende üle tehtavast naljast siiski väga populaarsed), oli lõpp arusaamatu ja jäi nagu lahenduseta, siis mulle meeldis see väga. Raamatus me president Snow viimaseid momente pärast võitja koju jõudmist ei näinud, kuid nüüd oli selge, et midagi peab selle võitja suhtes tegema ja Snow ilme näitas seda suurepäraselt. Keegi ei astu Kapitooliumi vastu ja ükski taoline tegu ei jää karistamata..

I like this picture. It describes Katniss as she is,
every adjective, sentence here is about her. She's one
of the best heroines of all times. She's fantastic!

Jennifer Lawrence oli pff.. Mul polegi sõnu. Imeline. Suurepärane. Usutav. Kaunis. Tugev. Raamatus kujutasin Peetat pikemana ette, seepärast on koomiline vaadata, et Josh Hutcherson on Lawrence’iga samapikkune ja kui tüdruk kontsad alla paneb, siis lühemgi. Iseloomult on Josh siiski sajaprotsendiliselt Peeta ja polekski saanud kedagi paremat Peeta Mellarki karakterit kehastama palgata. Liam Hemsworth tuli Gale Hawthorne’i rolliga kenasti toime, sest Gale’ist me esimese raamatu jooksul palju ei kuule, seetõttu kõik stseenid, kus Gale’i nägime, olid hästi välja mängitud. Effie Trinketi, Haymitch, Cinna,  Caesar Flickermani, Seneca Crane, Primrose Everdeen, Snow, Cato ja Rue olid samuti hästi castitud ja kõik olid usutavad ning raamatule truud karakterid.

Ma ei suuda tegelikult midagi öelda enam nii, et ma mingeid tähtsamaid momente ära ei rikukus, seega ma ütlen vaid, et mulle väga meeldis ja isegi, kui te pole raamatuid lugenud, siis soovitan vaatama minna. Film ei kajasta mitte ainult mänge või seda, kui vaene Katnissi ringkond on ja kui rikas ja naeruväärne on Kapitoolium, vaid filmil (ja ka raamatutel) on palju sügavam mõte, mille igaüks peaks iseenda jaoks üles otsima. Tõesti, hea film oli ja ootan huviga, mida põnevat ja uuenduslikku on järgmises filmis. Ja veelkord, Jennifer Lawrence on suurepärane ning juba ainuüksi tema pärast võiks seda filmi vaadata.

Ok, enne, kui lõpetan, pean veel mainima, et Lenni Kravitz ja Cinna? I had my doubts, aga see mees tegi vähese ekraanil oldud aja jooksul imelist tööd ja Cinnat (kui mu lemmik tegelast) oli suurepäraselt kujutatud ning mul ei jäänud suhu nö halba maiku, et just tema Cinnat kehastama valiti. Oleksin tahtnud, et Haymitch oleks rohkem ekraaniaega saanud, kuid stseenid, milles ta osales, olid kõik head.

Hi, cupcakes! So I've a lot on my plate at the moment: an exam on Friday and different important tests troughout the next few weeks. I basically don't even have time to read.. So.. That's why I won't be posting for a while (I may, but not likely). Sorry for that in advance, I guess.

xx

Half-Blood

Lahe kaanekujundus

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi – pure-bloods – have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals – well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden.

But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem – staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

„Half-Blood“ on peadpööritavalt mõnus ja üldsegi mitte igav lugemine, aga.. Jah, seal on üks suur aga. Olen kõik „Vampiiride akadeemia“ kuus raamatut läbi lugenud (ja seda mitmeid kordi) ning olen detailideni tuttav kogu selle sarjaga, seetõttu oli väga, väga häiriv, kui palju sarnasusi leidus Jennifer L. Armentrouti noortesarja esimesel osal Richelle Meadi romaanidega.

First off, Aiden meenutab mulle Dimitrit ja Seth on justkui Adrian v.a. liigse joomise ja tervendamisvõimeta. Aiden treenib Alexit samamoodi nagu Dimitri treenis Rose’i ning mõlemad mehed aitavad endast veidi nooremat tütarlast, et nende potentsiaali realiseerida, kusjuures mõlemad neist on põhjuseks, miks tüdrukuid koolist/kogukonnast välja ei heidetud. Mõlema treeningupaari vahel tärkavad tunded ja üllatus-üllatus, mõlemad suhted on keelatud. Dimitri ja Rose’i vahel oli takistuseks suur vanusevahe ja ühiskonna pahameel, kuigi suhe polnud otseselt keelatud, ei saanud nad koos olla, sest pidid kaitsma viimast Dragomiri ja Rose’i parimat sõbrannat, printsess Lissat. Adiden on aga puhast verd, Alex segavereline ning nende suhe on keelatud seadusega. Samuti nagu Rose ei tundnud Adriani vastu algul midagi, ei tunne ka Alexandria Sethi vastu midagi, ent mul on kahtlane tunne, et see ei jää nii.

Siis on veel asjaolu, et puhtaverelised on justkui moroid VA’st, kes asuvad ühiskonna pjedestaali kõrgemal astmel ja omavad võimu teatud elementide üle. Segaverelised on treenitud kaitsjad ja daimonite tapjad , kas see ei kõla mitte kahtlaselt saraselt dampiiride tähtsusega vampiiride ühiskonnas, kus viimased pidid moroisid kaitsma ja strigoisid tapma? Lisaks saab puhtaverelisi daimoniteks muuta ja daimonid elavad nendest nö joomise nimel, sest nad ei saa muud moodi elada (kuigi nad võivad ka nt segaverelistest toituda, siis ei paku see sama rahulolu kui puhtaverelistest toitumine). Sarnane lugu oli ka strigoidega.

Olgu nii, nagu on, lugu iseenesest on huvitav ja suhteliselt algusest peale paeluv, aga kui olete Richelle Meadi sarja lugenud, siis on raske paralleelidest mööda vaadata. Alexi elu muutub iga hetkega aina suuremaks piinaks ja mulle meeldis, et ta oli üks tugevamaid karaktereid, kellest lugenud olen. Alexandria on noor, aga imekspandavalt tugev. Tüdrukul on südikust ja selgroogu rohkem kui elukogenud täiskasvanul. Veel meeldis mulle, kui hea sõber Caleb oli ja kuidas ta Alexit igas olukorras toetas. Alex väärib nii head sõpra nagu tema.

Aprillis ilmub järg „Pure“ ja ootan juba selle sisu avastamist. Teaserid, mille Armentrout oma kodulehele on postitanud, tekitavad sõrmeotstesse sügeluse ja panevad südame kiiremini põksuma, sest need on nii huvitavad ja mõnusad. Armstrouti stiil on kerge ja lennukas, kuid mulle meeldis tema käekiri „Obsidianis“ veidike rohkem.

Igal juhul oli see mõnus lugemine ja kui olete lugenud Richelle Meadi vampiiride maailmast, siis tõenäoliselt naudite ka seda.

Armentrout postitab palju ka oma blogisse ning on seal avaldanud ka Aideni vaatenurgast esimese ja pool teisest peatükkist ning kuueteistkümnenda peatüki. (Soovitan viimat enne kogu teose läbimist mitte lugeda, liiga spoily).

Väjavõtteid:

“So? What are you going to do about it? Throw your mashed potatoes at me? I'm consumed by terror.”

“I was gonna be super pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this crap hole.”

“Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts. Cool things.”
“Did you just quote Harry Potter?”

“Are you lost? This isn't where they're handing out the free pregnancy tests.”

“It was just a hug, but gods, it meant so much. It meant everything.”

Hinne: 3/5.

Oleksin 4 pannud, aga oli liiga sarnane „Vampiiride akadeemiaga“ ja see ei tundunud lihtsalt aus. Aga olen üpriski kindel, et järg saab palju kõrgema hinde :)

Lugemisjärjekord:

1. “Half-Blood“
2. "Pure"
3. “Deity“ (6. november)
4. “Apollyon“ (kevad 2013)
5. “Sentinel“ (sügis 2013)

“Daimon“ (eelraamat)
 “Elixir“ (Aideni POV, november 2012)

Half-Blood

Cool coverart (in my opinion)

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi – pure-bloods – have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals – well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden.

But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem – staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

“Half-Blood“ was headspinningly awesome and not boring at all, but umm.. Yeah, there’s a big fat BUT. I’ve read all the books from Richelle Mead’s “Vampire Academy“ series (and many times for that matter) and I’m familiar with every single detail from this series, therefore, it was disturbing at times to find so many similarities between Jennifer L. Armentrout’s first book in the Covenant series and Richelle Mead’s novels.

To begin with, Aiden reminds me of Dimitri and Seth’s just like Adrian (when one doesn’t consider too much drinking and healing powers). Aiden trains Alex just as Dimitri trained Rose and both of these man are helping a younger girl out in order for them to achieve their potential and, by the way, both of these guys are the reason why these girls weren’t expelled from their schools. Feelings start to grow between both of these training couples and suprise, suprise – both of these relationships are forbidden. Very well, Dimitri’s and Rose’s obstacle is their big age difference and that the society frowns upon their relationship, because while it’s not actually forbidden by the law, both of them have to protect the last Dragomimr, Rose’s best friend, princess Lissa, and they do not want to jeopardize her life. In "Half-Blood", Aiden is a pureblood while Alex is a half-blood. Their relationship is forbidden by the law. At the beginning Rose didn’t feel anything for Adrian and Alexandria doesn’t feel anything but dislike for Seth, however, I have an itchy feeling that it won’t stay that way for long.

Then there’s the thing that purebloods are like morois from VA and they stand higher in the eyes of the society than half-bloods (and dampirs) and each of them have power over certain elements. Half-bloods are trained protectors and killers of daimons, doesn’t it sound familiar to the importance of dampirs who in the society of vampires protect morois and kill strigois? Furthermore, purebloods can be turned to daimons and daimons live to kill them, because they cannot survive without the aither that’s inside purebloods (although, they can feed on half-bloods, but it’s not that sattisfying and doesn’t give that much energy). It’s the same thing with strigois.

Okay, it is what it is, but the story itself is quite interesting and consuming from the very beginning. If you’ve read Mead’s series than it’s quite hard not to find parallels, but don't let that disturb you. Alex’s life is literally an affliction and I liked that she’s one of the strongest female characters I’ve read about for a very long time. Alexandria’s young, but remarkably strong. She's like Rose 2.0 and although no one can beat Ms. Hathaway in hew awesomeness, Alex would give her one hell of a fight on a battlefield and I honestly don't know who'd win this match. The girl’s got heart, spunk and spine more than an experienced adult has. Also, I liked how great of a friend Caleb was and how he supported Alex in every situation. She deserves a friend like him and he was definitely one of my favorite characters!

“Pure“, the sequel, is published in April and I’m looking forward to it already. Teasers, which Armentrout has published on her wepage, make my fingers long for the book and make my heart go faster, because they’re so interesting and awesome. Armentrout’s easy writing style is great to read, but I liked her style in “Obsidian“ a little better.

Anyway, it was a great read and if you’ve read about Richelle Mead’s vampire world, you’ll probably enjoy this one, too.

Armentrout posts a lot on her blog and she’s published the first and the second chapter from Aiden’s POV, also, the 16th chapter from his point of view. (I recommend you to read the book first, because these POVs might be too spoilery).

Excerpts:

“So? What are you going to do about it? Throw your mashed potatoes at me? I'm consumed by terror.”

“I was gonna be super pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this crap hole.”

“Okay. I’m ready to move onto something else, like practicing with knives or defense against the dark arts. Cool things.”
“Did you just quote Harry Potter?”

“Are you lost? This isn't where they're handing out the free pregnancy tests.”

“It was just a hug, but gods, it meant so much. It meant everything.”

Rating: 3.5/5.

I really wanted to give it a 4, but it was too similar to “Vampire Academy“ so it just didn’t seem fair. I bet the sequel will get a higher score :)

Reading order:

1. “Half-Blood“
2. "Pure"
3. “Deity“ (November, 6)
4. “Apollyon“ (spring, 2013)
5. “Sentinel“ (fall, 2013)

“Daimon“ (prequel)
 “Elixir“ (Aiden's POV, November, 2012)

This Means War

To read in English, click on 'Read more'

Üldjuhul lähen kinno etteplaneeritult, teades juba varem, et tahan seda filmi näha. Ühel esmaspäevaõhtul helistasid sõbrad ja kutsusid kinno filmi "This Means War" vaatama ning olin õnneks treilerit näinud ja tundus üpriski lahe, kuigi kartsin, et kõik lahedad kohad on treileris ära näidatud.

Mida ma filmist arvasin? Hollywoodilik. Jah, hollywoodilik ja tüüpiline märulikomöödia, aga naerda sai kõvasti. Praktselt terve saal naeris iga viie minuti tagant ja olin rõõmus, et kõik paremad stseenid ei esinenudki treileris, vaid oli põhjust ka üllatuda.

Film pakkus nii meelelahutust kui ka silmailu, sest Reese Witherspoon on kindlasti kena väljanägemisega, Tom Hary’st ja Chris Pine’ist pole mõtet rääkidagi. Ainuüksi Tom Hardy aktsent annab filmile boonuspunkte.

Sisu filmil oli, aga samas ei olnud ka. Nagu ütlesin, oli see tüüpiline märulikomöödia ja erilist filosoofiat või elutarkust filmist otsida ei tasu. Lõpp oli minu jaoks ootamatu. Lugesin, et linateose lõpp filmiti kolmes variandis: Witherspooni karakter lahkus emma-kumma mehega ja kolmas variant hõlmas endas sõprade leppimist ja naise üksinda jätmist. Mina (ja ka mu kaaslased) ei arvanud, et film nii lõppeb ja mingil määral olin pettunud, aga samas oli see mõnus vaheldus, sest Hollywoodist väljutatud projektid on üldjuhul väga etteaimatavad.

Jällegi mõnus film sõpradega õhtul vaatamiseks: nalja sai, actionit oli ja peaosades mängivad ilusad inimesed. Muideks, Chelsea Lately’t oli toredas mõttes imelik (kui see üldse võimalik on) suurel ekraanil vaadata, tema loomulik sarm ja karisma paistsid välja.

The Iron Daughter

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Meghani lugu pole veel kaugeltki läbi ja seiklused nii Ashi kui ka Puckiga ootavad ees. Mulle meeldis teise osa algus, kuna ma ei teadnud Winter Courtist eriti midagi, esimeses osas tutvustati peamiselt ju Summer Courti ja selle elanikke, seega oli see mõnus vaheldus. Nagu arvata on, siis Summer Courti haldjad on lõbusad, mängulised, rõõmsad, kiirgavat soojusest. Winter Courtis resideeruvad haldjad on aga nende täielikuks vastandiks: külmus, kalkus, üksteise ületrumpamine ja reetmine on neid iseloomustavateks märksõnadeks.

Kui Meghani võtab iga sekundiga üha rohkem uusi ja peadpööritavaid samme haldjate päästmiseks ning tüdruku elu ja probleeme ei saa võrrelda tavalise keskkoolitüdruku omaga, on hea teada, et vahelduseks saab Meghan ka normaalse teismelise elu nautida ja hetkekski unustada oma teekonna tähtsuse. Ballistseen oli lahe.

Grimalkin on mõnus kuju ja kuigi ta üritab näida ükskõiksena, on see vaid väline näitemäng, sest igaüks, kes seda sarja loeb, märkab, et Grim hoolib sellest, kuidas noore tütarlapse teekond lõppeb ja on nõus teda igati aitama. Tema ja Puck teevad raamatust väärt lugemise, sest nad ei ole kurjad, bad ass vennad, kes panevad tüdrukute südamed sulama, näidates välja enda südamlikumat ja helgemat poolt. Nad võitlevad „hea“ poole eest naljakas on lugeda, kuidas need kaks teesklevad, et nad vihkavad üksteist ja abistavad teineteist vaid olukorra sunnil, aga sisimas ei sooviks keegi nelikust (Meghan, Puck, Ash ja Grimalkin) kellegi teisega mööda seda teekonda sammuda.

Lanensidhe või mis iganes selle muusa nimi ka polnud, tüütas mind nii ära, et tahtsin raamatu lausa kinni lüüa. Yes, darling; of course, pet; bla bla bla.. Väsitav on lugeda kellestki, keda ma ei salliks silmaotsaski, sest ta on nii võlts ja enesekasu peal väljas, et lausa süda hakkab läikima. Vähemalt aitas ta Meghanit ja tüdruku sõpru.

Meeldis rohkem kui esimene osa, polnud nii palju uusi termineid ja kirjeldusi ning oli kergem ja tempokam lugemine.

Siin on üks trükist välja jäetud stseen.

Väljavõtted:

If this faery bitch wanted a fight, bring it on.

„Oh, look who’s talking. If you’re not an expert at screwing people over, I’ll eat my head“

...

This was as bad as refeering the frequent threat-fests between Puck and Ash. “Enough with the posturing and testosterone.“

...

“Hey, Rusty, why don’t you walk ahead of us, huh? I want your big ugly ass where I can see it.“

“How is Oberon these days? Still being henpecked by that basilisk of a wife?“

“Let’s get this party started.“

I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes, content to touch him, to listen to his heartbeat. He sighed and rested his chin atop my head, and for a moment, neither of us spoke; we just swayed to the music.

Hinne: 3/5.

Lugemisjärjekord:

1. “The Iron King“
2. “The Iron Daughter“
3. “The Iron Queen“
4. “The Iron Knight“

The Iron Daughter

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Meghan’s story is far from over and adventuers with Ash and Puck are waiting for her. I liked the beginning of the sequel, because I didn’t know anything about Winter Court, since only Summer Court and it’s faeries were introduced to readers, so it was a fun alternation. As you can guess, the faeries of the Summer Court are fun, playful, happy and beam with brightness and warmth. The faeries living in the Winter Court, on the other hand, are a total opposite of them: coldness, hardness, beating each other in everything, betrayal – these are the words to discribe them.

While Meghan’s life is turning from bad to worse with every second while trying to save the world of faeries and one cannot compare the life of this girl and her problems to an ordinary highschool girl, it’s good to know that as an alternative to this messed up situation Meghan can enjoy her life as a normal teenager. If only for a little while. The dance scene was pretty awesome.

Grimalkin is a funny little thing. As much as he tries to seem indifferent, it’s just a poker face he puts on, because anyone who’s read the series sees that Grim cares about this young heroine of ours and how her journey will end. He and Puck make this book worth reading for, because they’re not some kind of bad ass guys who make the hearts of the readers melt by showing humanity and their soft sides. They’re fighting on the good side and it’s funny to read how they’re trying to make it seem like they don’t stand each other’s company and are only helping each other due to this whole situation, but deep inside none of the four (Meghan, Puck, Ash and Grimalkin) would not like to walk down this road with someone else on their side.

Lanensidhe (or whatever the name of this muse was) bothered me so much I wanted to literally shut this book. „Yes darling; of course, pet; blah blah blah....“ It was getting tiresome to read about someone who I couldn’t stand at all if she was a real person, who’s so freaking fake and out for her own benefit only that it’s quite sickening to be honest. At least she helped Meghan and her friends a little bit.

I liked the sequel a lot more than the first book, because there weren’t so many new terms and descriptions so it was an easier and a lot faster read.

Here's a deleted scene from this book.

Excerpts:

If this faery bitch wanted a fight, bring it on.

„Oh, look who’s talking. If you’re not an expert at screwing people over, I’ll eat my head“

...

This was as bad as refeering the frequent threat-fests between Puck and Ash. “Enough with the posturing and testosterone.“

...

“Hey, Rusty, why don’t you walk ahead of us, huh? I want your big ugly ass where I can see it.“

“How is Oberon these days? Still being henpecked by that basilisk of a wife?“

“Let’s get this party started.“

I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes, content to touch him, to listen to his heartbeat. He sighed and rested his chin atop my head, and for a moment, neither of us spoke; we just swayed to the music.

Rate: 3/5.

Reading order:

1. “The Iron King“
2. “The Iron Daughter“
3. “The Iron Queen“
4. “The Iron Knight“

Agnes Obel

So, I bet some of you already know about a wonderful and beautiful Danish singer (and songwriter) Agnes Obel. If you don't, I recommend (read: order) you to check out some of her songs. I found out about her after watching an episode of "Revenge" (an awesome show by the way, not a single episode has disappointed me so far) where her song "Riverside" was playing on the backround. Also, it was on the show "Ringer" which is a pretty awesome show, too. It's one of the most beautiful melodies I've heard recently, so calming and it just haunts me for days. Well, it did at least.

Oh, and I LOVE her accent.

So I know just two songs from her at the moment (aside from "Riverside" I've also listened to "Avenue"), but I will definitely listen to some of her other songs when I have time, and notice that I say when not if, because I do want to find out what other beautiful stuff this woman has in her repertory.

So, I promised some facts about the artists, right? I think I won't be consistant with these, because I really don't have time to check every artist's backrounds, but I checked out some things about this wonderful lady over here. Here we go:

• She's inspired by such classic French composers as Debussy and Ravel (by the way, I love Ravel's "Bolero", it's such a powerful piece of art) and enjoys the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and also loves some Hitchcock
• She has won several awards, one of them is European Border Breakers Award (in 2011) which is given to an artist who's been successful not only in one's country but also across the Europe
• She knows how to play the piano and she's also familiar with the bass guitar
• At the moment she lives in Berlin

Perfect Chemistry

I mean, look at the cover. It totally looks like a
soap opera, doesn't it? Well, honestly, it kind of
was.

A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect.

Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.

After reading “Beautiful Disaster“ I couldn’t get it out of my head and so I did some research in goodreads about similar books. There were loads of recommendations and I picked a few. At first I read the first book of Simone Elkeles’ trilogy about three brothers (each book concentrates on a different one) called “Perfect Chemimstry“.

Let’s put it this way. The story was similar, but I wasn’t sattisfied at all. It was just.. I don’t even have the words to describe it. Alex’s from Mexico or something and troughout the book he’s living with his mom and two younger brothers. In USA. He’s in somekind of a gang and if he wants to leave, he has to pay with his life. He’s poor. Brittany, on the other hand, is the best student of the class, beautiful and is dating the most popular guy in school. Moreover, she’s the cocaptain of the cheerleading squad. But.. Brittany’s life isn’t so glorious as it seems: her sister’s disabled, basically not able to speak and retarded; her mom’s got some kind of an anxiety disorder and her dad comes home just to sliip in his bed. Alex and Brittany are forced to work on a chemistry project and the boy makes a bet that he can get her physically and.. they fall in love. That’s basically it.

All those chickitas and other Spanish expressions made me feel like I was watching a version of “Bring It On“ starring Christina Milian or some kind of a Latin-American soap opera. Maybe it’s my European and north origin, but all of those expressions just sounded too cheesy and fake. I couldn’t even concentrate on the story, it bothered me that much. I would not recommend this book if you do not like soap operas and actually, it wouldn’t have bothered me that much if it would’ve been more educating on the cultural side, but it wasn’t, so, yeah. Didn’t like it.

I’m 99% sure I’ll not read neither of the following books, only when I’m bored to death (literally).

Rate: 1/5.

Reading order:

1. “Perfect Chemistry“
2. “Rules of Attraction“
3. “Chain Reaction“