The Three Musketeers

I’ve wanted to see "The Three Musketeers" for so long and now that I’ve seen it I can say that it was a hell of a lot fun. Yeah, it’s adjusted to our generation and to the 21st century, but it still has some sort of a timeless edge to it and it was, honestly, a lot of fun to watch. It wasn't original or anything like the books, but I guess the thing is that there're different elements to each era and this is the era of action-packed and witty-dialogued movies. At times it felt like I've seen this thing a thousand times already, but it was still enjoyable.

I’m pretty sure I liked all the portrayings of the main characters. I liked Athos, Porthos and Aramis. I thought that Logan Lerman did a wonderful job as a young D’Artagnan (you could see that he's still green compared to the other, more experienced actors, but he tried his best and did a good job) and he had some of the most hilarious dialogues in this movie. I’ve never thought much of Milla Jovovich, mostly because of this “Resident Evil“ thing (I’ve never enjoyed this kind of movies, to be honest), but I really liked her as Milady de Winter. Also, I thought Freddie Fox as King Louis XIII was freaking hilarious.

Furthermore, Orlando Bloom as a villain? Even in my wildest dreams I did not expect him to pull trought. Yeah, he wasn’t perfect and it was pretty awkward at times, but it was still something new and interesting from him. Liked his accent as always, although, it was a little different in this movie. However, Cristoph Waltz as a villain was more believable and I liked him better as a one.

Since I didn’t see it at a movie theatre, I cannot say anything about the 3D effects, but I bet they were pretty pointless. Well, they usually are.

Anyway, I thought the story was great, most of the action scenes were enjoyable and the dialogue was pretty funny. It wasn’t anything spectacular or original, but it was still very enjoyable and fun. I really liked this movie and I’d gladly watch it again sometime.

Sweet Evil

Originaalpealkiri: Sweet Evil 

Autor: Wendy Higgins 
Ilmumise kuupäev: May 1st 2012
Kirjastaja: HarperTeen
Lisa endale: Goodreads
Osta: Amazon | Book Depository

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

“Sweet Evil“ on Wendy Higginsi debüütromaan. Leidsin selle goodreadsi kaudu ning raamat köitis mu tähelepanu koheselt oma imeilusa kaane ja intrigeeriva tutvustusega. Hea meel on, et lugesin, sest see oli kiire, emotsionaalne, lõbus ja kohati ka üsna sünge lugemine.

Raamatus on üpriski lahedad ja huvitavad tegelased:

• Anna – deemoni ja ingli järeltulija – tore tüdruk, kuid pisut naiivne minu maitse jaoks.
• Kaidan (või Kai, kuidas iganes teile ka ei meeldiks) – ihadeemoni järeltulija – poiss, kelle isa on kohutavalt julm ja kes peab elus püsimise eesmärgil töötama põrgu heaks. Nimelt peab ta naisi võrgutama ja nendega intiimselt koos olema. Tal on usaldusprobleemid, samuti ei usu ta armastusse ega ka muudesse siiratesse ja headesse emotsioonidesse, tunnetesse. Ta on trummar – I have a soft spot for musicians.
• Kopano – vihadeemoni poeg – kuigi tema isa on samuti deemon, on tal isaga üsnagi vedanud. Kope on korralik ja heatahtlik noormees, sõbralik, aus ja toetav.
• Ginger ja Marna – abielurikkumise deemoni (??? minupoolsed vabandused, ma ei suuda tõlkida hetkel neid Duke of Hellide ameteid.. üldsegi oleks vist õige tõlkida kui põrgu hertsogid, kuid see kõlab nende tiitli täpsustusega kuidagi naljakalt) tütred – arvan, et kumbki neist polnud otseselt kuri ega ka õel, kuid selleks, et elada, peavad nad tegema nii, nagu neile öeldakse. Ginger oli veidi jõhker kui asi puudutas suhtlemist, kuid ta polnud ka kõige hullem. Ta on üsna palju läbi elanud, seega on tema käitumine mõistetav.
• Belial – mõnuainete deemon – ta on teistest põrgu hertsogitest erinev ja Anna on tema esimene järeltulija. Mulle väga meeldis see tegelane. Isegi, kui teda kirjeldati raamatus kiilakana, kujutan ma teda ikkagi ette habemega Joe Landona (John Blackwell “The Secret Circle’i“ sarjast) – arvan, et tema hääl, välimus, karisma ja olek töötaksid hästi selle karakteri kasuks.
• Patti – Anna kasuema, lihtsurelik – ta on pisut liiga emotsionaalne ja kohati väga kergesti emotsionaalselt purunev, kuid mõnel hetkel, täiesti ootamatult, tundub ta üsnagi otsusekindel ja tugev. On näha, et ta armastab Annat kui oma tütart. Toetav.
• Jay – Anna parim sõber, samuti lihtsurelik – ta on nii laheee!! Jay’l pole aimugi Anna päritolust, kuid tõelisele sõbrale kohaselt toetab ta Annat igal hetkel ja ka kõige karmimates olukordades. Kõigele lisaks on ta ka naljakas.
• Veronica – Anna sõbranna, lihtsurelik  - Veronica ja Anna saavad sõpradeks alles raamatu lõpupoolses osas. Ta on kohati nagu pahvak värsket õhku, kuid sellegipoolest polnud ma temast just väga vaimustuses.

Nii, tegelastega oleme ühel pool. Mulle meeldis väga ka süžeeliin. Anna näeb aurasid, mis peegeldavad inimeste emotsioone. Kui ta saab 16. aastaseks, näeb ta ka nende kaitseingleid. Anna ei tea oma päritolu kohta kuni 16. sünnipäevani midagi – siis räägib Patti talle nii palju, kui ta teab, kuid ta ei saa kogu tõde. Anna tutvub Kaidaniga ning Kai pakub välja võimaluse, et nad võivad koos L.A.’sse minna, et siis Anna isa vanglas külastada ja kohtuda ka õe Ruthiga – tuleb välja, et ka temal on loos oma panus.

Kaidani ja Anna roadtrip on ohtlik ja vastused, mille nad saavad, on hirmuäratavamad kui nad ettegi kujutasid. Annal tuleb võtta sisse koht esireas põrgu ja taeva vahelises võitluses ning raske on vastu panna kiusatustele, kui sa oled mõnuainete hertsogi järeltulija, ning oled armunud ihadeemoni poega, kes käitub sinuga nii tuliselt kui ka külmalt. Anna ei tea, keda usaldada. Tal on puhas süda, kuid ta peab siiski ka põrgu heaks töötama, et ellu jääda. Kogu see sasipundar on ohtlik ja tundub, et võitjaid selles mängus ei ole.

Mind häiris Anna pidev nutmine, lõpuks väsitas see väga ära, kuid katsun aru saada. Ta kasvas üles keskkonnas, kus miski polnud jääv ja kindel, tal on küll tore ja armastav kasuema (kes on samuti väga emotsionaalne), kuid sellega tema perekond piirdubki. Ka tema isa on üsna õrnahingeline (vanglastseen Beliali ja Anna vahel). Lisaks leidsin, et oli üpriski naljakas, kui kiiresti Patti Annale Kaidaniga reisimiseks loa andis. Patti oli Kaidanit tundnud palju? 20 minutit? Heh, ükskõik, ju siis oli see loo arenguks vajalik ning roadtrip oli iseenesest ju päris vahva.

Mulle meeldis idee põrgu hertsogitest ja nende järeltulijatest. Hertsogid olid huvipakkuvad, sest nad arvasid tõsimeeli, et nad on paremad kui head jõud ning nad ei peatu ka millegi ees, et saavutada oma eesmärke. Mulle meeldisid tegelased, sisuliinid; meeldis ka, et tegevus võttis aega. Viimasel ajal loen raamatuid, kus kõik juhtub max 3 kuu jooksul, siin, kuigi kirjeldusi selle kohta väga polnud, võtsid asjad aega – loo areng, kui ma õigesti mäletan, toimub 8 kuu jooksul.

Armukolmnurk: arvan, et Kaideni ja Anna vahel on väga palju keemiat, kuid Kopano on Anna jaoks justkui varuväljapääs juhuks, kui tal seda kasutada tuleb.  Nendevahelist keemiat ei tundnud ma üldse ning inu arvates moodustavad nad sõpradena parema kooslus kui paarina.

Olin lõpu pärast konkreetselt masenduses ja tahaksin nii väga järge lugeda. Selle kohta kusjuures pole palju informatsiooni: Higgins kirjutas oma blogis, et ta outline’ib juba kolmandat raamatut ning tema meelest on tegemist triloogiaga ja kirjastusega käivad alles läbirääkimised teise raamatu ilmumise kohta, ent 1. juuli paiku peaks uut infot olema. Igal juhul oli see raamat väga põnev, lahedate tegelaste ja mõnusa kirjutamisstiiliga. Mulle meeldis.

Hinne: 5/5.

Teaser Tuesday

This is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To participate you:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
• (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) * Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 My teasers:

I stretched out my arm, trying to catch her. I reached out, but all I caught was air.

~ p.11. "Beautiful Creatures" by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl.

Eden

Original Title: Eden (Providence #3) 

Author: Jamie McGuire
Release Date: April 3rd 2012
Publisher: CreateSpace
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Bookdepository

She had seen the unspeakable.
She would learn the unknowable.
Now, she would fight the invincible.
In the third and final installment of the Providence series, Nina Grey will marry the wrong man, carry the child that was never supposed to be born, and fight a war she can't win.
Faced with the impossible task of protecting his new wife and unborn child against the throes of Hell, Jared Ryel is allowed no mistakes. Pressured to return the Naissance de Demoniac to Jerusalem, he revisits St. Ann's to learn the answers were in front of him all along.

Together, they must survive long enough to let their child save them - and the world.

As far as I’m concerned, this was the best out of all three books from this series. Yeah, it wasn’t original, wasn’t the best piece of work I’ve read, but it was definitely better than the two previous ones. It was a really quick read and it felt like the pages were flying while I was reading. The plot was pretty great, too.

Nina’s pregnant and Hell’s trying to do everything in it’s power to stop her from having this baby. Nina’s and Jared’s child is supposedly one of a kind – a child who’s birth has been predicted in a prophecy in the books of Hell and Heaven. It’s supposed to have tremendous power and it’s a force to be recognised to everyone. No one knows how it’ll affect the balance between Hell and Heaven. It’s frightening to everyone, especially to Jared and Nina who are trying to come out of this alive and they’re trying to keep everyone they care about alive, too. That’s a pretty hard task. There are some major events in this book: the wedding, the birth, a few battles – it all comes down to whether or not Heaven’s about to intervene or not, because Hell’s literally about to break loose and it ain’t pretty.

It all kicks off very beautifully – it’s Nina’s and Jared’s wedding day. Everyone seems to enjoy themselves, there’s a very relaxed atmosphere and I started to wonder what’s about to happen? Or more importantly – when? It didn’t take long for me to find out.

This whole journey was emotional for Nina and Jared. One thing that suprised me was that Cynthia, Nina’s mother, turned out to be a really sweet woman, a very organised and strict, but still, very sweet. I used to thought she was a robot and didn’t want to show her feelings (well, I still think she doesn’t know how to express her feelings), but while Nina was expecting her firstborn, Cynthia brought some real emotion to the table and she seemed more human all of a sudden. I really liked that.

I also liked that McGuire suprised the readers with some unexpected things. In “Requiem“ we discovered a few facts about Kim and we learn some interesting things about someone else in this one, too. I did not expect that at all. It wasn’t that important in the scheme of things, but it was still unexpected. We get to see Ryan trying to pursue Claire (which was the best part of the book, if you ask me, because knowing Claire, she will not admit to being in love or interested in someone and she’ll do everything in her power to keep Ryan at arm's lenght, plus their bantering is hilarious to read about) and we get some glimpses of Nina’s training with the Ryel family.

I thought it was a decent piece of work and I’m happy that I did not give up on this series. What a great way to end Nina’s and Jared’s story.

Excerpts:

Ryan held out his hands. "What the hell is this? Beat The Shit Out Of Ryan Week?" 
"I didn't think you'd mind, since you're always insisting upon getting yourself hospitalized,"Claire said.
Ryan's face screwed into disgust. "That was uncalled for."
"The truth hurts, baby."
He smiled. "If you're going to talk to me like that, you can insult me all day long."
Claire pulled her car keys from her pocket, and then pulled on Ryan's hand. "I meant that you're a baby. It wasn't a term of endearment."
"Yeah, right.”

“I felt like Winnie the Pooh trying to squeeze into the honey tree.”

“What can I say to you that I haven't already said? What can I give you that I haven't already given? Is there anything of me that isn't yours already? My body, my mind, my heart, even my soul. Everything that is me belonged to you long before this, and it shall be yours long after this. I will follow you anywhere and everywhere you lead. I will keep you and anyone created with our love safe from all harm. From this day on, I choose you, my beloved, to be my wife.“

Rating: 3,5/5.

Reading order:

1. “Providence“
2. “Requiem“
3. “Eden“

Iron Queen

Original Title: The Iron Queen (Iron Fey, #3) 
Author: Julie Kagawa
Release Date: January 25th 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

My name is Meghan Chase.I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.This time, there will be no turning back.
A war between the faeries is about to go down. Meghan has to find a way for her friends and other faeries to stay alive and she’s taking on another adventure with her previous companions – Ash, Puck and Grimalkin. They have little time left as the Iron realm is slowly taking over the land of faeries and everyone they’ve known are about to die in poisoning caused by the Iron kingdom ruled by the False King Ferrum.

This installment, in my opinion, was the best of the series and I wished it would have lasted even longer. It was such an emotional rollercoaster: laughter alternated with melanholy , then came laughter again, then melanholy etc. It was an enjoyable read and I thought that Meghan’s growth from a confused child to a young, mature and a stong woman was tremendous and admirable.

As always, I loved Ash’s protectivness, Puck’s up-beat personality and sarcastic jokes, Grimalkin’s wisdom and mysterious behavior. It was a well written piece of work and the characters were at their highest peaks when it comes to growth, jokes, action etc. They were great! The story was awesome and I absolutely loved it. I didn’t thought I’d like a book from this series as much as i liked this one, I really didn’t. It was very unexpected and also a pleasant suprise.

I thought the battle was well-described and action-packed. I loved the ending and I loved that Kagawa had the courage to do such a thing. It was beautiful and unexpected. Moreover, it was extremely sad. Until the last few paragraphs, that was. Loved the very last line, by the way! And what I also liked was the bromance between Puck and Ash – even though they do not admit to being friends, it’s easy to see that neither of them wants to hurt one another, despite stating otherwise, and they’d do anything to protect Meghan and keep her safe.

Yep, this was by far the best book of this series. And again, I just have to mention that I’m in love with the coverart – it’s absolutely beautiful.

Excerpts:

“You mortals do not know what you have until it is gone.“

“Hey, princess“

“Hey,“ I wispered, as he slipped his arms around my waist from behind, drawing me close.

I knew better. Fairy godmother’s didn’t exist, and even if they did, they wouldn’t wave a magic wand and make everything better. Besides, I had something better than a fairy godmother; I had my faery knight, my faery trickster, and my faery cat, and that was enough.

“Be quiet, Goodfellow,“ Ash growled, peering into the shadows with narrowed eyes. „“We’re not alone.“

“Yeah? How do you figure that, prince? I don’t see anyone.“

“The cait sith has disappeared.“

“...crap.“

Rating: 5/5.

Reading order:

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

Requiem

Original Title: Requiem (Providence #2) 
Author: Jamie McGuire

Release Date: June 11th 2011
Publisher: Jamie McGuire LLC
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon

In the old world shadows of Providence, Rhode Island, Nina Grey finds herself the center of a war between Hell and Earth.
Struggling with her father’s recent death, Nina meets Jared Ryel by chance…or so she believes. Although his stunning good looks and mysterious talents are a welcome distraction, it soon becomes clear that Jared knows more about Nina than even her friends at Brown University. When questions outnumber answers, Jared risks everything to keep the woman he was born to save—by sharing the secret he was sworn to protect.
When her father’s former associates begin following her in the dark, Nina learns that her father is not the man she thought he was, but a thief who stole from demons. Searching for the truth behind her father’s death, Nina stumbles upon something she never expected—something Hell wants—and only she holds the key.

Even though I stated in my “Providence“ review that the series wasn’t that great – it was quite mediocre – the second installment was far better. It was action-packed, mysterious, funny and sweet. It had it’s ups and downs, but mostly I enjoyed this book and thought it was a pretty good read.

Jared is really a knight on a white horse: he’s sweet, charming, protective, funny and quite honestly a badass when it comes to fighting. Nina’s far more reasonable in this book and it’s pleasant to see her mature by the very second. Claire and Bex are both awesome. Claire is this kick-ass powerful little doll and Bex is a hilarious breath of youthful fresh air. Ryan’s more tolerable, too, I even liked him in this one.

Nina’s having strange dreams in the sewuel and her life is even more in danger than in “Providence“. No one seems to have a clue what’s causing these dreams and what to do next. We get to see things heat up and get dangerous for everyone. Also, we learn more about the characters, their destinies, about the whole prophecy and we get a chance to learn that there’s more to some characters than we’ve thought so far.

Overall, it was a pleasant read and I definitely liked it better than the first one. 

Excerpts:

I peeled my eyes open to see him standing at the end of the bed. “Just so you know, that’s creepy,“ I said, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Not as scary as your hair,“ he frowned.

Rating: 3/5.

Reading order:

1. “Providence“
2. “Requiem“
3. “Eden“

Torment

Original Title: Torment

Author: Lauren Kate
Release Date: September 28th 2010
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Hell on earth.
That’s what it’s like for Luce to be apart from her fallen angel boyfriend, Daniel.
It took them an eternity to find one another, but now he has told her he must go away. Just long enough to hunt down the Outcasts—immortals who want to kill Luce. Daniel hides Luce at Shoreline, a school on the rocky California coast with unusually gifted students: Nephilim, the offspring of fallen angels and humans.
At Shoreline, Luce learns what the Shadows are, and how she can use them as windows to her previous lives. Yet the more Luce learns, the more she suspects that Daniel hasn’t told her everything. He’s hiding something—something dangerous.
What if Daniel’s version of the past isn’t actually true? What if Luce is really meant to be with someone else?

Okay, here’s a good reason why I should write my reviews as soon as possible: I don’t remember much about the book afterwards. Hell, I know I wasn’t that impressed with this book and it lacked a bit of everything for me: the romance wasn’t quite there; there was a stupid love triangle (which in my opinion was just hilarious); the protagonist was a whiny little thing with her head in the clouds and she did not think clearly about anything; the action, mystery, build-up – everything was lacking. But it wasn’t a complete disaster, was it?

I like Daniel, I like Cam and I like Arriane. I even like Luce. Well, sometimes. In this book (and for god’s sake, in the third one) she became extremely annoying – everything Daniel was trying to protect her from, everything he asked her to do in order for her to be safe – she threw everything out of the window and acted like a child. She wants to be included in the decision making process, but she cannot make any good decisions on her own. She want’s to be treated like an adult while she’s clearly not. She’s all over the place.

In this book, Luce was forced to go and take up classes in another school while Daniel was out in the world trying to protect her and find out a way to save everyone. She was really upset about that. What was good about this whole situation was that there were other Nephilim and angels with her so she didn’t have to be alone. What’s more, she got the chance to study things she actually needs in order to stay alive in this whole mess. Luce discovered the Announcers and, therefore, did some research on her own by which she was just digging her own grave, if you ask me.

Daniel was forced to team up with Cam and he was forced to stay out of Luce’s way. He couldn’t resist sneaking in to the school territory to see and speak to her, but mostly he stayed away. That left the door open for another guy – Miles – who was starting to have feelings for Luce. During this whole mess, Luce found herself having doubts about her relationship with Daniel and their destiny to be together. It felt like everything was about to come crashing down.

It wasn’t the worst book in this series, but it wasn’t that great compared to the first one, mainly because of Luce and her irrational behavior. There were some one-liners that cracked me up and it wasn’t that boring, I guess it was just a bit too childish for my taste.

Excerpts:

“People like me. I’m a Nephilim. N-E-P-H-I-L-I-M. That means anything with angel in its DNA. Mortals, immortals, transeternals. We try not to discriminate.“

“Shouldn’t the singular be, you know, nephil, like cherub from cherubium and seraph from seraphim?“

“Seriously? Would you want to be called a nephil?“

“I don’t want you to be anyone other than who you are.“

“Make those Announcers your bitches. You know you want to.“

“Save it. You can put it on the fist sandwich I’m about to serve you.“

He had failed her. He had failed.

Rating: 2/5.

Reading order:

1. “Fallen“
2. “Torment“
3. “Passion“
4. “Rapture“

Book trailer.

Pure

Originaal pealkiri: Pure (Covenant #3)
Autor: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Ilmumise kuupäev: 03.04.2012
Kirjastus: Spencer Hill Press
Lisa endale: Goodreads
Osta: Amazon | Book Depository

There is need. And then there is Fate...
Being destined to become some kind of supernatural electrical outlet isn't exactly awesome – especially when Alexandria's "other half" is everywhere she goes. Seth's in her training room, outside her classes, and keeps showing up in her bedroom – so not cool. Their connection does have some benefits, like staving off her nightmares of the tragic showdown with her mother, but it has no effect on what Alex feels for the forbidden, pure-blooded Aiden. Or what he will do – and sacrifice – for her.
When daimons infiltrate the Covenants and attack students, the gods send furies – lesser gods determined to eradicate any threat to the Covenants and to the gods, and that includes the Apollyon... and Alex. And if that and hordes of aether-sucking monsters didn't blow bad enough, a mysterious threat seems willing to do anything to neutralize Seth, even if that means forcing Alex into servitude... or killing her.
When the gods are involved, some decisions can never, ever be undone.

Jennifer L. Armentrouti Covenandi sarja teine raamat kannab pealkirja „Pure“ (e. k. puhas). „Half-Bloodi“ reviews väitsin, et sarja esimene osa oli kangesti Richelle Meadi „Vampiiride akadeemia“ sarnane. Teises osas olid mõningad elemendid samuti väga sarnased, kuid Armentrout hakkab sarja juba omanäolisemaks ja originaalsemaks muutma, mis on igati positiivne, sest igasugust copycati lugeda eriti nagu ei tahaks.

Selles osas keskendub autor rohkem ka puhaste positsioonile ühiskonnas ja nende tavadest, kalduvustest jms rääkimisele. Ideaalses ühiskonnas oleksid sega- ja puhtaverelised kui võrdsed, ent praeguses ühiskonnas see nii ei ole ja segaverelistele vaadatakse pigem ülevalt alla. Arvan, et raamatu pealkiri esindabki otseses tähenduses puhaste kohta ühiskonna pjedestaalil, kuid kaudses tähenduses ka puhast armastust ehk Aideni ohverdust Alexi jaoks.

Alexandria peab järjes kohanema oma uue saatusega, kuid see on raske, kui peaaegu kõik kaasõpilased sind halvasti kohtlevad ja arvavad, et sa oled daimonite tulihingeline pooldaja ning su ema korraldatud tapatalgud olid sul juba enne teada ja sa ei teinud midagi selle ärahoidmiseks. Alex näeb õudusunenägusid viimasest kokkupuutest ema ja tema jüngritega, lisaks sellele tuleb tüdrukul peale koolitundide, -treeningute ja Aideni treeningtundide veel ka Sethi käe all treenida. Ta on kurnatud nii vaimselt kui ka füüsiliselt. Pärast kolmandiku lugemist toimub midagi traagilist Alexi jaoks ja tunnistan ausalt, et minulgi ei jäänud emotsioonid ja pisarad vaka alla.

Lisaks emotsionaalsetele läbielamistele koolis, tuleb Alexil võtta ette reis Councili kohtumisele, kus puhtaverelised Councili liikmed küsivad Alexilt küsimusi selle kohta, mis juhtus Gatlinburgis, kuid mida tüdruk ei tea, on see, et küsimused pole ainult Gatlinburgi olukorra lahendamiseks ja analüüsimiseks, vaid ka selleks, et Alexit süüdlaseks ja kaasosaliseks tembeldada ning seeläbi Alex terveks eluks teenijaks määrata ning endale allutada, mistõttu noor näitsik tõenäoliselt oma uue saatusega silmitsi seista ei saaks.

Mind paneb imestama Alexi viha Luciani vastu, sest ta ei tundu nii libekeelne ja halb, kui Alexandria teda kujutab, kuid võib-olla ei suuda ma lihtsalt läbi roosade prillide kurjust ja õelust ära tunda või siis ei suuda Armentrout mind selles piisavalt hästi veenda.

Tekkimas on ka armukolmnurk: Alex-Aiden-Seth. Aiden tõrjub Alexit ja jätab ta kõige raskematel hetkedel üksi, see-eest on Alexil keegi, kes toetab teda igas olukorras ja aitab tal toime tulla kogu selle kaose keskel – Seth. Läbi nöökimiste ja tögamiste kasvab sõprus nende vahel silmmärgatavalt ning nendevahelist keemiat on kergem märgata kui Aideni ja Alexi vahel. Lugeja näeb, kuidas Seth tahtmatult Alexisse armub ning lõpuks on ta valmis Alexi kaitseks kõike tegema ja seda mitte ainult sellepärast, et Alex on tema „teine pool“. Ka Alex mõistab, et Seth pole nii karm ja egoistlik, kui välja paistab. Ainult üks mure: kuigi Aiden tõrjub Alexit, siis on ka momente, mil ta ei suuda eemale jääda ja ütleb tüdrukule sõnu, mida ta ei tohiks. Olin esimeses osas tulihingeline Aideni pooldaja, kuid pärast seda, kuidas ta (jah, küll mõlema tuleviku kaitseks) Alexiga käitus ning Seth Alexit igal sammul hoidis, toetas, olen kahevahel, võib-olla et isegi rohkem Sethi poolt. Aideni ohver raamatu lõpus on siiski imetlusväärne ja näitab, et ta tõesti armastab Alexit, kuigi ta ei tohiks. Olen kindel, et Alex, nagu Rose VA’st, lõpetab käsikäes oma tõelise armastatuga – selline noortekirjandus juba tahes-tahtmata on.

Uutest karakteritest meeldis mulle Laadan, kuid ma arvan, et mingi kala oli tema ja Rachelle’i vahel ning kahtlustan, et midagi kahtlast on ka selle teenri/orjaga, kelle silmad polnud klaasistunud ja kellega Alex vahel ka rääkida üritas. Kindlasti kohtame järgmises osas ka fuuriaid, kelle Alex peatas ning isiklikult ootan kohtumist mõne jumalaga, kes väidetavalt maapeal inimeste seas kõnnivad, ja tahaksin teada, mida neil Alexile öelda on. Meeldisid veel balli-, basseinistseen, uimastatud Alex, Seth, raamatu lõpp, Caleb, Alexi üllatus Aidenile ja vastupidi. Meeldis ka, et ühiskonnas on muutusehõngu tunda ja see annab rohkem ainest järgmisteks osadeks.

Minu raamatu lõpus oli „Deity“ (Covenant #3) 1. peatükk, e-raamatu lõpus on basseinistseen Sethi silmade läbi (seda saab lühendatud verisoonis lugeda siit), mis oli huvitav ja teistsugune. Kindlasti tahan lugeda kolmandat osa, mis ilmub sügisel ning loodan, et mida aeg edasi, seda originaalsemaks ning huvitavamaks muutub ka see sari. Muideks, Armentrout teatas hiljaaegu, et sari muutub siiski 5raamatuliseks, lisaks on sarjas ka prequel „Daimon“ ja Aideni silmade läbi kirjutatud lühem raamat „Elixir“, mille sisu pole veel teada, kuid mida, nagu "Daimonitki", saab 6. Novembrist Spencer Hillsi kodulehelt tasuta alla laadida.

Hinne: 4/5.

Katkendeid:

“Ever since I’ve met you, I’ve wanted to break every rule. You'll become the center of someone's world one day. And he'll be the luckiest son of a bitch on this earth.” 

“Aw, did you just fall?"
"No." I rolled onto my back, wincing. "I attacked the floor.”

“It’s not great. What kind of connection is this? A one-way hotline to Pervyville?” I took a step forward, on a roll now. 

“It’s disgusting. Freaky—stop laughing, Seth!” 

 

Lugemisjärjekord:

1. „Half-Blood“
2. „Pure“
3. „Deity“ (6. november 2012)
4. „Apollyon“ (kevad 2013)
5. „Sentinel“ (sügis 2013) 

„Daimon“ (eelraamat)

 „Elixir“ (Aideni POV, november 2012)

Hey! So I changed the layout of the blog a little bit, hope you like it :)

I haven't gotten the time to read a lot of books this month due to the exams at Uni, but I still try to read at least a few pages per day. Fortunately, I have only two exams left: English tomorrow and my last and final exam of this semester is on next Wendsday. After that I'll be able to read more when I'm at home and you'll get more reviews on books rather than the movies I've seen lately (although I'll probably post "The Three Musketeers" review soon; I watched it yesterday and I'd like to write my thoughts down as soon as possible, otherwise I might just forget them).

Also, I received three books via mail last week: re-released print copy of "Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the print copies of "Half Blood" by Jennifer L. Armentrout and "City of Lost Souls" by Cassandra Clare. Even though I'm officially reading "Eden" by Jamie McGuire at the moment, I've read a few pages of "City of Lost Souls", too, however, I don't want to read glimpses of it, I want to read it all, so I have to be patient, just admire the beautiful cover (holy hell, I thought it was beautiful when I saw it on Clare's tumblr when it was revealed, but it's even more beautiful than I though it was) and wish I could read it already. "The Golden Lily" by Richelle Mead should also be on its way soon (it's published on June 12th), so all's good.

I also thought that I might do some posts about covers, favorite book of the month etc. How does this sound? We'll see how it goes :)

All right, I have to go and read some texts about animal rights,  health and fitness, lifestyle choices, energy sources, cultural differences etc so I know what to talk about tomorrow when it's time for my 5 minute monologue after the writing part. I hope I choose a great topic, although, it's unlikely considering my luck at picking topics, lottery tickets 'n stuff.

xx

No Strings Attached (vs Friends With Benefits)

I’ve seen both – “No Strings Attached“ and “Friends With Benefits“ – now and my honest opinion is that FWB was way better than NSA. I’m not quite sure what was the main factor I decided this on, but I have a pretty good idea.

Firstly, I think Mila Kunis is way sexier than Natalie Portman who’s also beautiful, but just too sweet and innocent-looking. I also think that Kunis’ raspy voice is different and her kind of boyish and nerdy attitude give her plus points that I cannot possibly give to Portman. She’s talented and great, too, but she’s not Kunis. I guess my opinion isn’t that objective, because I used to watch “That 70’s Show“ and loved Jackie and Fez. Okay, whatever, let us continue talking about the movie.

Secondly, I thought this movie (NSA) wasn’t as funny and entertaining as FWB which made me laugh out loud a lot. I only laughed once during this one and I cannot even bring myself to remember what the occasion was. It was supposed to be no strings attached but Kutcher’s character was in love with her from the start. At least that what it seemed like. Yep, I liked FWB way more and I’d watch it again sometime, however, that’s not the case with this one.

Thirdly, this movie didn’t have that awesome character Woody Harrelson was playing. His character was funnier and more interesting than Portman’s gay roommate in NSA. Harrelson gets some extra bonuspoints in my eyes, too. That makes FWB the winner of this match between these very similar movies.

Shattered Souls

Love the cover though.

Original Title: Shattered Souls
Author: Mary Lindsey 
Release Date: December 8th 2011
Publisher: Philomel/Penguin
Add it: Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger
Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.
Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Man, this book had tons of potential! I really, really wanted to like this book. I did like it. I wanted to read it and waited unpatiently until the sun came down in order to pick it up again. It did have potential, but it just lacked something.

First of all, I thought the story was flowing, but the writing style did not flow at all. At times it felt like there were sentences missing or something. I'm one of those people who likes dialogs between people, communication 'n stuff, but it's funny when I feel like there're sentences missing. And these sentences are important because they let us know where the communication is taking place, how, what are the facial expressions etc. It felt all over the place, to be honest.

The story itself was beautiful, flowing and capturing. I didn't like all of the characters. I liked Alden. Didn't like Zak (didn't get him at all and thought he was weird, but I felt like he was made into this bad guy by force.. I don't know, maybe it's just me. And the ending of his storyline was really "what the heck just happened??"). Mixed feelings about Lenzi. She was new, had no memories of her past, had no clue what she was doing - all of that I can forgive, but I cannot forgive that she'd known Alden like two seconds and then ran back and forth between the two guys. What the hell? Yeah, yeah, they had this amazing connection - Alden and Lenzi - and I as a reader felt it too, but Lenzi did not remember him and I just found it hilarious that she didn't know what to do and pff.. Give me a break! She was a mess. A hot mess that is.

I don't know. Something was just off about this book. I really, really wanted to like it more than I did. I feel bad that I didn't like it as much as I wanted to.

I'm not going to say that I do not recommend this book, I thought it was fun and youthful and yeah.. It wasn't bad. Even though it wasn't a book for my taste, that doesn't mean you should not give this one a go. You could. I just didn't fancy this book that much, sorry.

Rating: 2/5.

Dark Shadows

The combination of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp is never predictable and always quirky and interesting. “Dark Shadows“ is no different. As “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barbed of Fleet Street“, “Edward Siccorhands“, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory“ etc – every single one of them is from out of this world and has a new and kind of peculiar angle on things. Plus it’s nice that Helena Bonham Carter (Burton’s wife) is usually co-starring Depp. She’s so freaking awesome and amazingly talented.

“Dark Shadows“ is a story about a landlord who thinks there’s a curse on his family (well, there is, actually) and after marrying the love of his life, a former lover Angelique sends his lovely wife to death. Turns out the former lover is a witch who curses Depp’s character to spend the eternity as a bloody vampire and gets him buried in a coffin for almost 200 years. By an accident he’s discovered by a bunch of humans and Barnabas returns to his home (a freaking castle). As it turns out, his descendants are living there, but unfortunately the family business started by Barnabas and his father two centuries ago is not doing so well now. Suprisingly, it’s Angelique’s fault. A war is about to go down between these to eternal creatures.

There are multiple layered characters and everyone of them has their own problems to deal with.  They're all broken on some level. The world Burton has created is absolutely wonderful, peculiar, interesting and at times, yes, scary. The actors are great. It isn’t an Oscar-worthy movie, nor are the performances, but it’s capturing and easy to follow.

What bothered me was that it didn’t have a culmination or anthing. I kept waiting for this big culmination but none of that ever came. Yeah, there was a battle between Angelique and Barnabas, but it wasn’t that big or badass. That was probably the only thing I didn’t like. It wasn’t the best work these two have done, but it was still good and different. There are too many films that are so similar to each other that it’s refreshing to see something new and interesting.