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Showing posts with label vampires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vampires. Show all posts

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Book Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (30 Books 2 Movie Challenge)



To start off this new year I forced myself to attend to the task of starting the twilight reading session. Now my original Twilight series to put into my 30 books to movies challenge was New Moon but i had honestly thought I was going to get through Twilight faster than what I did so it took me back a lil when I didn't finish as fast as I thought. When I found myself in mixed company with my girlfriends there wasn't anything bad they could say about the Twilight series and although I have only started book 1, I will continue the rest of the series not only for closure but also cause they are fast reads.

As far as the book goes: I enjoyed it more than the movie in parts! I like the references and lil sarcastic remarks that are kind of cute in the book. I definitely liked the sequence of the book ALOT better than the movie which made the story a lil more believable.

for instance in the Twilight Movie: girl meets boy automatically has a connection and goes through unraveling the truth. Book: although the insist appeal is made it's not like it's love at first sight which i can relate better to personally.

Bookwise: I like that Jacob Black is a fresh new character to Bella and not the close family friend that Bella should remember and feel obligated to, as in the movie Jacob Black comes to tell Bella that they use to make mud pies. With the books reference it makes it clearer why Bella would feel closer to Edward then Jacob because Jacob is a new aqquaintance. I would have loved to go more into the history of finding out more though of other characters. To me the book focused on Edward and Bella and maybe that was suppose to be the purpose but I would have loved more background on the Cullens. They tended to touch somewhat on Charisle and Alice (who is my personal favorite character) but I still felt something missing.

I had read some mixed reviews on Twilight before reading it on good reads.. and it takes me back to one review that stood out in my mind regarding Bella. The person who made the review tended to write about Bella being a disappointing character in the way that she seems like a 35 year old in a 17 year olds body and how they can't understand a character like that or see how someone can be like that. Now I have said it before when I was that age I never felt that age, maybe it was because I was raised independently but I have always felt older than my age mentally. So i can relate with that characteristic, although Bella to me in the book was a lil too over the top at times, she was willing to do anything for Edward but when it would come down to things she was always being stubborn, pessimistic and seemed like she never wanted to do anything fun. Although Edward with his brooding fashion and internally tormented nature, always doubting himself, blaming himself for Bellas attraction etc gets to be a lil too much as well at times in the book. As well as the glittering in the sun effect, I think I like to keep the old fashion ideas to how the sun effects vampires rather then the glittering effect. The glittering effect seems to be written only to appeal to the positive nature of a person rather then the more believable nature that vampires are have been known to be damned and forced into the darkness why wouldn't there be more negative aspects to coming out into the sun?

Overall if you asked me I would have given the book between 3-1/2 to 4 stars cause it was easy to read, it was interesting enough, just the hype that i was looking forward to was kinda missing, maybe cause I was listening to my girlfriends tell me how quickly I would be addicted to this book, and fast the series goes. Although if you had to ask me what team I would be on I would tell you Edward in a heartbeat! Even with his brooding, tormented lover, ways he is sarcastically dry humored, he is mysterious, old fashion, fiercely loyal, possessive where it counts, and absolutely gorgeous and I think the movie did good casting when they picked Rob Pattinson to play Edward with that charming crooked smile he has.



A lil on the movie: I think they did fairly good on the casting for the movie, I love the location of the shooting and the feel to the woods etc. The soundtrack is amazing to me! Again I didn't care for the sequence of events happening as quickly in the movie rather than like they do in the book but I can understand why they did it this way for the movie to appeal to audiences better, and keep the romantic at heart girls believing that love at first sight can happen. Which brings me to the reasoning of them making this book to a movie, the story is just appealing especially to a world or i should say a teenage realm and for those hopeless paranormal romantics out there who "LOVE" watching and reading about romantic vampires.

In closing I liked the book better than the movie in parts but both the movie and book are equally appealing in many ways! Although I am curious too as to the fact that if Stephenie Meyer would have stuck to the idea of her "original" dream, in which she says originated/fueled the idea of Twilight what kinda story that would have been. Don't get me wrong i "LOVE" reading about vampires always have even before it became the "craze" but take the vampires in Twilight and replace them with angels it kinda leaves me with the thought of where would that story have taken us?

Until my next review ...Happy Reading All!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Book Review: Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith


Are you predator or prey?

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Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses -- or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Whose playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything? TANTALIZE marks Cynthia Leitich Smiths delicious debut as a preeminent author of dark fantasy.

My Views: When at the bookstore I had picked up this book cause the cover intrigued me I read the back and wanted to get it but had my hands full of purchases of books I had already had on my TBR list. Little did I expect that a week later my mom and I would make a trip to that bookstore and out of no where she picks it up and says "I am gonna get this book for you!" Yeah my mom and I have that kind of connection! Scarey eh?

Need less to say it reminded me a little bit of Twilight (well the movie/storyline as this week I am starting the Twilight book series I have had for about 2 months now waiting for me)
Although what I thoroughly enjoyed about this book was all the references to other novels/movies the author made! Right down to the main characters name being Qunicie P. Morris same name of the Texan in Stokers Dracula, to references of Mitchells Gone with the Wind and the Musical My Fair Lady to even references of early Ovid works. It was a fast easy to read book at 310 pages with a cliffhanging ending that kinda still has me wondering. I gave this book 4/5 Stars. It is definitely something to read if you want a fast easy entertaining read! Truly lovely this read was, and I look forward to possibly reading it again within later future (possibly).

Until my next review! Happy Reading All!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

3 4 5 Challenge


So I signed up for a new challenge that was indeed to good to pass up I seen it on Mindful Musings Blog and had to check it out, and viola I signed up you should too!!

Here's how it works.

1.It will run from August 1, 2009 to August 1, 2010

2.You may sign up at any point in this time period

3.To complete the challenge, you must read THREE books from one series, FOUR books from another series, and FIVE books from another series

4.You do not have to choose your books ahead of time (but are more than welcome to)

5.You do not have to 'complete' a series (i.e. you don't have to read a trilogy for your three book requirement - just 3 books from the same series)

6.Only books that you read between August 1, 2009 and August 1, 2010 count

7.The books you read may count for other challenges

To join in the challenge with me visit Chic Loves Lit.

I will be making updates to this post as I complete the challenge. Below are the books that I plan to read for the challenge. Books with links (to reviews) are the ones I've completed!

5 Books From A Series (Anita Blake Vampire Series:Laurell K. Hamilton)
1. Guilty Pleasures
2. The Laughing Corpse
3. The Circus of the Damned
4. The Lunatic Cafe
5. Bloody Bones

4 Books From a Series (Twilight Series: Stephenie Meyer)
1. Twilight
2. New Moon
3. Eclipse
4. Breaking Dawn

3 Books From a Series (Sleeping Beauty Triology: A.N. Roquelaure)
1. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
2. Beauty's Punishment
3. Beauty's Release