Review 286. Maria Snyder – Fire study.

Title: Fire Study.
Author: Maria V. Snyder.
Pages: 441.
Published: January 16th 2009 by MIRA Books.
Sort: Study #3.
Part 1. Poison study.
Part 2. Magic study.

Warning: spoilers in the blurb if you haven't read the other books.

The apprenticeship is over
Now the real test has begun
When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder — able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before. Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the land she holds dear.

Rating:

I’m glad that this book returned to the old charm from Poison Study. I was a bit underwhelmed by Magic study, but in the end, I found this one so much more enjoyable. There is more Valek time, Yelena has settled down and I liked the tension of the rise against Ixia.

Top 10 Tuesday 37. Underrated books.

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Top Ten Underrated Authors or Books in X genre.

I don’t think it will surprise you that the genre I picked is ‘Fairytales and Fantasy.’ There are definitely a lot of YA books popular in this genre, like Throne of glass & Shadow and bone, but I also have a feeling some other gems are overlooked. So today I want to spotlight 5 fairytales and 5 fantasy books I feel are underrated.

Mel in Movieland: introduction.

I talked about this in my discussion post ‘Other content’ and I took the decision to go for it. It was very important to me to find a way to combine movies with books. I’ve been trying to work this out and here is a little sneak peek for some posts: Disney project –> Snow White in combination with book retellings and other movies, Into the storm (movie) with disaster books and I have several ideas that include animation movies like my favorite movies with non-Disney princesses.

I thought it might be fun to show you the rating scale I will be using. They are not spectacular, but I’m satisfied with the result. The ‘exit’ button is for the movies with a 1 out of 5 rating or even a ‘DNF’ because yes, that happens. The ‘movie premier’ button is for the special movies; my favorites. The ones I want to re-watch right away.


(illustrations are free vectors I found on Google)

I have never written a movie review before, but I’m trying to think of an easy way and I've come up with these aspects: casting, music, special effects, story and ending. It’s definitely a completely different approach then writing a book review. It’s fun, but it will takes some time before I’ve found a way that works for me. I hope you will keep this in mind!

For now I’ve planned to do one/two Mel in Movieland posts every month. It takes more time to write these posts and I don’t want to overwhelm my blog with other content. We will see if this new feature is a success or a failure, but I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with post ideas so far.

Fun fact: I'm going to shorten the name in the title into 'MIM' which is also a Disney character you might know from The sword in the stone.

Do you have any suggestions or things you would like to see?

Review 285. Amy Zhang – Falling into place.

Title: Falling into place.
Author: Amy Zhang.
Pages: 304.
Published: September 9th 2014 by Greenwillow books.
Sort: Stand-alone, contemporary.

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect?

Rating:

I’m still a little confused by this book. The writing-style was good, but I disliked the main character Liz. She attempts to kill herself and she is close to dying, but the medics manage to keep her alive. The only thing that will bring her back is her own spirit; her own will to survive. It’s the question if Liz is strong enough to come back.

Slowly we unravel Liz story and why she decided to take such a big decision. Her mother is always on the road for her job, her father passed away  and Liz is very unhappy with herself. Addicted to booze, she likes to go from party to party in the hope to forget everything around her. She is popular because of her snarky comments, her harsh behavior and overall meanness to others; Liz is a bully, but she regrets it. She is stuck in her role and that is when her plan begins to shape.

Thirteen days of Ash & Fire blog tour.

Hello! Welcome at my tour stop for ‘Thirteen days of Ash & Fire.' I hope you are all having fun with the tour so far! Today is my time to fangirl over this amazing series and first I want to thank the hosts. Give them a little applause. Also, don't forget to follow these hash tags on Twitter:  #HOF13Tour and #MaasThirteen.

Schedule:

August 25 – Jaz @ Fiction In Fiction In Fiction

August 26 – Magan @ Rather Be Reading

August 27 – Kelly @ Belle of the Literati

August 28 – Elena @ Novel Sounds

August 29 – Nicole @ The Quiet Concert

September 1 – Gillian @ Writer of Wrongs

September 2 – Judith @ Paperiot

September 3 – Melanie @ The Daily Prophecy

September 4 – Katie @ Polished Page-Turners

September 5 – Andi @ Andi’s ABCs

September 8 – Gina @ Behind the Pages

September 9 – Rachel @ Hello Chelly

September 10 – Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books

Review 284. Kiersten White – Illusions of fate.

Title: Illusions of fate.
Author: Kiersten White.
Pages: 288.
Published: September 9th 2014 by HarperTeen.
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Edelweiss & Publisher.

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Rating:

“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

This was exactly the kind of book I expected from Kiersten. It’s funny and quick, but I was a bit let down by the fact that it’s not a memorable story. This is not the type of book I would reread and I wish it had been more than only entertaining.