Mystic City, Twice Star-Crossed

Mystic City, written by Theo Lawrence, is just the type of story written for the spirit of Valentines Day! The novel involves a  world that has been affected by global warming. Manhattan is now split between the skyscrapers of the Aeries and the semi-flooded Depths. People who live in the Aeries are rich and powerful. While those who live in the Depths are poor, and forced to live with magic wielding mystics.
Aria Rose, the main character, wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. She has overdosed on Stic (a mystical energy), that results in the near loss of her life, and parts of her memory. She is bewildered, and confused, and unsure what is real and what is not. She can remember her life, and her family, but not everything. Her family tells her that she had a forbidden romance with their rival’s son Thomas Foster. However, the family realizes their mistake, and decided to let them marry, despite their rebellious actions. Now she’s getting married to Thomas, to reunite the family’s rivals. The problem is, she doesn’t remember her true love. During her engagement party, she meets a strange boy and later finds out that his name is Hunter, a rebel mystic, who holds some dangerous secrets of his own.
The novel suggests what Romeo and Juliet’s life would have been, if they had lived. Theo Lawrence does a good job managing the plot in the story. However, I had a hard time trying to figure out how magic came to be in a world that is technology advanced. The squalor, luxuries, and the advanced mechanisms of the Aeries, does not fit in with people infused with magical qualities. Theo Lawrence does not fully explain how magic enters a futuristic world like ours. Despite that, he introduces something new and fresh, and perfect for romantically inclined readers!
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Ali’s Pretty Little Lies

Ali’s Pretty Little Lies is another book in a long line of Pretty Little Liars novels written by Sara Shepard. So far, this marks the 14th book in the whole series, whoo! The whole sequel begins with five girls coming together for a sleepover. Ali, Spencer, Hannah, Emily, and Aria are celebrating the beginning of summer break with a girl’s night out. Ali is the queen bee of the group, and dictates most of the festivities. The girls share secrets and play games, eventually they fall asleep. The next morning Alison is gone, and that is the last the four friends see or hear of her. Until four years later, they start getting harassing messages from somebody named A. Their secrets start to expose themselves, and their dead friend’s body is found.

What makes this different from the other books in the series, is that it is written from Ali’s perspective. As you read the book, you can understand why Alison acts the way she does up until her murder. You start to find out more and more clues until the the end of the book comes with a cliffhanger. To tell you the truth, I am not a big fan of the book series, I feel like the same plot, from the first book, keeps getting repeated in the rest of the series. There are so many false clues, and dead ends, that when I found out who A actually was, I didn’t take it seriously. I literally brushed it off, and thought that the character reveal was going nowhere. Despite that, Sara Shepard does a good job of holding the audience’s attention, and weaving a good mystery plot (Even though it tends to turn into a soap opera). If you are looking for a book filled with secrets, shocking truths, and suspicious people, the series and this book is a good match for you.

“If you’re going to be two-faced, at least make one of them pretty”

-Marilyn Monroe

 

If you enjoyed this post or this book, feel free to comment or ask questions!

 

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Guest Post: BabyMouse!

I’m doing things a little differently today. My brother Ezra, has a book that he wants to share with all of you. I’m letting him take over, and share his thoughts and opinions about BabyMouse, written by Jennifer and Matthew Holmes. Enjoy!
Hello! my name is Ezra Rhodes and I am introducing you to BABYMOUSE! Babymouse is a little mouse with bad whiskers, and has a sassy, yet curious personality. There are many books in the whole series. The one I am reading is the 15th one, A Merry Babymouse Christmas.This time she is after a wiz bang (its like a cellphone) !!!!!!! To get to it she has to go through Felicia Furrypaws (hated rival), troublesome gnomes who like to say “we’re no trouble at all” invading aliens, and a ………..SQUID FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will  Babymouse get her hands on the totally awesome wiz bang !!!!!!!! Or will it be a be a bust!!!??? Find out in the book!

http://www.pixiepalace.com/2007/03/21/imaginary-exploration-in-babymouse/

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Books Based on Movies

This is more or less a continuation of my previous post Snow White and the Huntsman. I wanted to further elaborate my thoughts on books based on movies. The whole purpose of movies is to watch and visualize something with our eyes, and not just in our heads. Movies are entertaining, and they provide us the ability to see something we've never seen before. Books do the same thing, the difference is we need to provide our own imagery, and we have to ask ourselves the questions about what happens in the plot, rather than just watching it onscreen.
Watching a movie, then reading a book defeats the whole purpose. Why do so many people say I'll just watch the movie? If we have already seen the movie, then decide to read the book, all the scenes from the movie is playing in our head while we read the book. We don't use the imagination that might have been there if we had read. We read books and imagine the scenes that are happening. If a movie pushes out a book based on it, basically it's taking our imagination away from it.
I'm not saying it's bad to read books after you've seen the movie, but that it's pointless for movies to make books based on them. Or if they want to do it, at least write the book with detail, use the movie as a timeline, but add in something different that wasn't in the movie before.
The makers of Hunger Games had to cut some stuff from the movie, so did Harry Potter, and Twilight, and every movie that has ever been based on a book. If a book is being based on a movie, it should be better than the movie, otherwise there is no point in reading it.

 
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Snow White and the Huntsman…

When I saw this movie, I thought it was pretty good. I didn’t think the plot was awesome, but it was entertaining. The imagery was beautiful, especially with the scene where Snow White is blessed by the Forest Spirit. In the movie, you could really get a sense of the underlying themes and the colors that went along with each frame of the movie. A couple of months later, I heard there was a book. I thought Cool! I was expecting the book to be a further extension of the movie. I couldn’t wait to read it. I was ready to learn about the details and unexpected plot twists that they might have cut from the book to make room for the movie. I checked out the book, read the front and back cover, then I looked at the title page. Right below it, it said Based on the Movie…. What! That phrase was a big no no for me. However, I decided to read it anyway, hoping that the book would prove itself to be better than the movie. After I read the book, I was extremely disappointed. The book followed the exact same scenes as the movie. There were few, if any, extra details included in the book. This is one of the rare occasions where the movie is better than the book.

Textbook Troubles (Part 2)

Today, winter break is officially over, and school has begun. I feel myself getting back into the swing of things. Went to my classes, dropped some books off at the library. I still love my English teacher, and my Science teacher is funny, but one thing remains the same…getting my textbooks. Good grief! I have already made four trips in and out of the bookstore. I’m not going to be able to pick them up until tomorrow! I should be happy about the fact that they were not as much trouble as they were last time, it’s not that much of a fuss. Oh well, I guess I will have next semester to achieve my previous goals
For background information, visit my post Textbook Troubles http://rhebbelperiodicals.blogspot.com/2013/01/textbook-troubles.html
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Victoria Rebels

Victoria Rebels is a historical fiction novel written by Carolyn Meyer. This book takes us through Queen Victoria’s (1819-1901) life in England.The book describes to us, in depth, her childhood years, and how she came to be the queen. Although, the book is a well written novel, the style of writing is intended for younger readers. It doesn't have the level of sophistication required to attract an older audience. Aside from that, the information and tidbits about the  about the life of Queen Victoria was very fascinating, and keeps readers reading to the end.


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