4/15/14: Veronica Mars and The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Veronica Mars and The Thousand Dollar Tan Line

Cover: Simple, but attention catching, and it fits perfectly. 

Author: Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Genre: Mystery, Detective

Goodreads Blurb: From Rob Thomas, the creator of the television series and movie phenomenon Veronica Mars, comes the first book in a thrilling mystery series that picks up where the feature film left off. 

Ten years after graduating from high school in Neptune, California, Veronica Mars is back in the land of sun, sand, crime, and corruption. She’s traded in her law degree for her old private investigating license, struggling to keep Mars Investigations afloat on the scant cash earned by catching cheating spouses until she can score her first big case.

Now it’s spring break, and college students descend on Neptune, transforming the beaches and boardwalks into a frenzied, week-long rave. When a girl disappears from a party, Veronica is called in to investigate. But this is no simple missing person’s case; the house the girl vanished from belongs to a man with serious criminal ties, and soon Veronica is plunged into a dangerous underworld of drugs and organized crime. And when a major break in the investigation has a shocking connection to Veronica’s past, the case hits closer to home than she ever imagined.

In Veronica Mars, Rob Thomas has created a groundbreaking female detective who’s part Phillip Marlowe, part Nancy Drew, and all snark. With its sharp plot and clever twists, The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Published/ing: March 25th, 2014 Vintage

Rating: 5/5

Review:

I really, REALLY enjoyed this book.

So I started the Veronica Mars television series about two months ago and am currently in the beginning of season three. I also watched the movie. I got hooked on this fandom because of my dad's ultimate obsession (he won't tell me, but I'm pretty sure he donated like $200 something dollars to that Kickstarter program). I am a huge fan of Nancy Drew and other female lead detective series, so getting into this was easy. Kristen Bell is also an exceptional actress.

I have to tell you know that IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE TV SERIES OR MOVIE YOU WILL BE SPOILER AND CONFUSED.

Thank you.

Alright. So Rob Thomas, the creator of Veronica Mars, wrote this book with the help of Jennifer Graham. Being written partially be the creator himself, I had high expectations, and those expectations were reached. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was wrong with the characters or the development or anything. All details were on point.

I also had a great time with the setting, because I knew where it all was. I didn't need a map, because all the authors had to do was mention the Camelot or the Mars Investigation and I knew exactly where Veronica was and what situation she was in.

The plot was also a high point of the story, because it was different. It built itself off the idea that spring breaks in Neptune, California are absolutely insane, and that is completely believable due to the crime, drug, and utter drunkenness in Neptune. Not to mention rich boys and stupid law force.

I liked that throughout the book, you were kept in suspense. Something was going to happen, you didn't know where a character was, someone was about to be killed. It is exactly like the show in the fact that you had your suspects, but you didn't get the real answer till the end, and it was quite the plot twist.

Another warning: If you have not seen the TV series or watched the movie, it will not make sense. You should go watch the tv series because it is worth your time.

Future News:
The next book in the series is scheduled for November of this year. 

4/13/14: Fallen Quadriligy by Lauren Kate

     There are no words for how unbelievably happy I am that I finished this series. 

Let's start from the beginning. It was a bitter fall Thursday when I came across Fallen for $4.99 at Barnes and Nobles. With $150 of birthday giftcards and a warm Earl Grey tea in hand, I thought 'Hey, this is a bargain I shouldn't pass up,' so I bought it. 

Oh how naive I was.

I didn't read the book itself until a while after I bought it due to the five other books I had bought along with it, but when I finally did read it, I regretted it. 

The book was horrible and not worth my five dollars. Although the writing was extremely poetic and beautiful, the plot was stupid. The accuracy was also off. 

Luce and Daniel's relationship was completely cheesy and unresolved. I also was completely confused at was going on. To read more about what I thought of that first book all those months ago, click here. 

Torment was the exact same way for me; boring and useless. At least I figured out what Daniel and Cam were. The plot thickened with stupidity and was going absolutely no where. I didn't like Luce's character or her choice in relationship. 

Passion was so SO much better. I adored the fact that finally (FINALLY) Luce wanted to figure all this shit out. Why did she really even like Daniel in the first place? What were all her past lives about?

The historical fiction aspect, combined with time travel and fantasy caught my attention and I ate that book up (not literally of course). You can read my full review of that here. 

So I put off reading the last book. I knew it wasn't going to be good and I just didn't want a read a book I knew wasn't going to be good. 

But there was a gap on my bookshelf where my copy of Rapture had to fall to complete the set and I was determined to fill that ugly hole (as readers I am sure you all know that feeling). So I conquered it. 

It wasn't good. But it wasn't as bad as the first two. For the first part I wasn't to intrigued, and the whole apocalypse thing was a bit unnecessary. Then when Lucifer turned out to be Luce's ex, I was laughing out loud. This whole book was just a very cheesy and 'I'm trying to be a grand ending' kind of book. It actually reminded me of Mockingjay in a way.  

Either way, I am glad I finished the series. I am currently reading the novella Fallen in Love that goes with and am completely overjoyed to be reading about somebody else's relationship besides Luce and Daniel's. 

My overall rating for this series was probably 2.5. I hope Lauren Kate writes something good after this. I think she could go into to poetry, because I loved the writing. 

Other Notes

For completing this series I earned 17 points in the 2014 Prequel & Sequel Challenge. To see more about this challenge, look to my 2014 Challenges tab. 

4/13/14: Divergent Movie Review

Divergent

Trailer: My only problem with the trailer was the fact that it made it seem like this movie was going to be extremely sexual and that they were going to over sexualize Tris as a character. 

Genre: Dystopian, Action, Romance

Based Off: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Director: Neil Burger

Noted Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Egort, Kate Winslet

Rating: 8/10

Review: 

I went into this movie extremely skeptical. The trailer made the relationship between Tris and Tobias seem overly romantic and sexual. But as clips began being released, and those clips contained passages from the book, I grew more excited.

I actually think this was a great adaptation. Over course not everything was exactly to my ideas of the book, but everyone reads the book differently.

Shailene as Tris was not bad, but seemed a bit... lacking. I kind of wish she hadn't been cast as both Tris and Hazel Grace, from John Green's bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars, because I won't completely separate the two. Especially Caleb, who is played by Ansel Egort, who will also play Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars.

Can I get a Woot Woot for incest?

Moving on to the other characters, Ansel as Caleb was amazing. Just spectacular. That is exactly how I pictured Caleb and the acting was spot on. I cannot wait to see him as Augustus.

Theo James as Tobias was also not bad, but not perfect either. He is naturally British, and at some points in the film I think you could here the accent a bit. He was quite the looker though, and had pretty good acting skills for the character.

I am a bit disappointed that they left out important scenes like Peter's stabbing of Edward and Tobias' flirtatious drunkenness, but I understand it is hard to fit a 400 page book into a two hour movie.

But as the movie continued on, a lot of my favorite witty lines had been left out and that made me a bit sad.

Otherwise the visual expedience and the CGI was very pleasing. I especially liked the zip line scene, because I felt like I was flying through the air as well.

I hope that the next three movies are good, and that they don't go off the book. *sends a prayer to every higher power there might be*

Future News: 

Insurgent and Allegiant (a two part movie) are confirmed for 2015, 2016, and 2017. 

4/13/14: Fandom Update: Hello Black Widow, Goodbye Harry Potter

I am extremely sorry about the lack of posts. It has been very busy and stressful for me lately and has set aback my reading and writing time. Hopefully summer will come quick. 

What Happened This Week?

Captain America Spreads Patriotism through Theaters Everywhere

      Cap received $96M for his stunning step across the silver screen, which pretty much guarantees a sequel to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and any other future movies Marvel decides to make. I would like to write a larger article for this, but I have yet to see the movie due to my vacationing in the great city of Washington D.C. After the success of the latest Captain America movie, Scarlett Johansson talks to The News Journal about the serious possibility of a Black Widow movie. Nothing it is known about this movie except that it is in the making and will be directed by David Hayter and written by Stan Lee. I am extremely excited to see where this goes and will be ecstatic when we start to get more information on it. 

Source

Source

Daniel Radcliffe to say Goodbye
     In a recent article by the Daily News and The Huffington Post, Daniel Radcliffe stated that he will most likely not be starring in anymore Harry Potter related films. He is quoted saying, "I am getting to old to wear a schoolboy's outfit." He does not say that he is fully against being in the upcoming Harry Potter spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but he says he probably will not be participating. For now he enjoys acting in plays like his upcoming one, The Cripple Inishmaan. To watch the interview Daniel had with CBS news, look below. 
Source

Look Forward to this Week

Monday:

Tuesday:

• Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
• New Episode of Supernatural: Meta Fiction @ 8pm CNT

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

• New Episode of Hannibal: Su-zakana @ 9pm CNT 

Saturday:

Sunday:

4/1/14: There Will Come a Time by Carrie Arcos

*This book was provided by Edelwiess in exchange for an honest review

There Will Come A Time

Cover: Such a beautiful design! And it goes a long with the book perfectly. 

Author: Carrie Arcos

Genre: Contemporary, Music, Grief, Death

Goodreads Blurb: Mark knows grief. Ever since the accident that killed his twin sister, Grace, the only time he feels at peace is when he visits the bridge on which she died. Comfort is fleeting, but it’s almost within reach when he’s standing on the wrong side of the suicide bars. Almost.

Grace’s best friend, Hanna, says she understands what he’s going through. But she doesn’t. She can’t. It’s not just the enormity of his loss. As her twin, Mark should have known Grace as well as he knows himself. Yet when he reads her journal, it’s as if he didn’t know her at all.

As a way to remember Grace, Hanna convinces Mark to complete Grace’s bucket list from her journal. Mark’s sadness, anger, and his growing feelings for Hannah threaten to overwhelm him. But Mark can’t back out. He made a promise to honor Grace—and it’s his one chance to set things right.

Published/ing: April 15th, 2014 Simon Pulse

Rating: 4/5

Review:

I really enjoyed this book for a book that I totally judged by its cover.

Not even kidding. I took one look at the cover and said "I must read that."

And it turned out that you can judge a book by its cover.

I loved the settings of the book and how they were described. I loved the ocean and the mountain and even Hanna's backyard. The author really took time in describing every aspect of the story and tying it into the main character's emotions.

Speaking of characters, I loved the different personalities. Although we have our main character, Mark, who is well rounded and is fully affected by grief of his sister, we also have quirky, side characters that help him through it each step of the way, and I believe that's what helped the conflict become more believable and realistic; the fact that people are always there to help you along the way.

I must mention the fact that Pete was my favorite character. He did not even care what Mark was going through, he was just like "You agreed to my show and you are going to fulfill that promise" and I think that that really helped Mark at times. Pete, along with his other friends, helped him stay awake and not fall further into his grief.

The emotions in the story were also accurate. The jealousy, grief, and confusion were so well described at points, that I felt as if I could feel them myself.

The ending was also exceptional. I knew that was how it would end, but I think it was great that it had a sort of happily ever after. Mark deserved to have some of the guilt and grief lifted at the end. I would've loved an epilogue.

Overall, this story was amazing and I think everyone should read it when it comes out. I loved it to quite an extent. 

Future News:
There is no news regarding this book or the author.

~Monty