Review of The Hunger Games

                So I’ve been wanting to review this series for a while now but was holding off waiting for my friend who was reading to finish.  But patience was never my strongest asset so here goes.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins get the highest ratings.  Way above 5 stars.  I was so enthralled in the whole series and literally counted down the days until the final book came out, which was 241 day after I finished the 2^nd book the day after Christmas.

               

                The Hunger Games, I had seen the book on display when I would walk by in Sam’s but never picked up.  Then one day a friend of mine told me how great it was.  We’d recommended books to one another before so I picked it up and read what it was about.  A world with 12 districts each getting worse off with District 12 being the lowest of the low, all centered around the Capitol.  Each year due to a previous uprising years and years ago each District must submit one male and one female tribute to the Hunger Games, a televised event where the tributes basically fight to survive and fight to the death in the arena where only one lives.  Dark.  Well the main character is Katniss Everdeen.  She is from District 12 and doesn’t want to be in the games but when he sister’s name is picked she volunteers.  Along with Katniss from District 12 you have Peeta, whom I completely adore.

                

                The first book is the run of the games.  From the moment they are selected through the training and the parading around that mirrors a bad reality TV for the Capitol, all the way through the games.  The books are violent, it is a fight to the death after all but there is so much more than that.  I was captivated, I couldn’t put the book down.  When I got the book the 2^nd book Catching Fire was already out so I got both, not wanting to have to wait when I finished one.  Well I started reading the first book Christmas Eve night and couldn’t put it down to sleep.  I eventually passed out on the book, having not slept for over 48 hours by then.  I was woke up bright and early…well dark and early since it was Christmas and my little brother had us up at 5am.  I made my sleepy way out to the couch with book in hand and continued to read through the opening of Christmas presents, when I wasn’t unwrapping I was reading.  After all was said and done I was still reading as my family cleaned up around me and prepared for my family to show up.  Me I was reading, I did manage to start to get ready for company but as they showed up I kid you not I heard my Aunt saying ‘Where’s Eve?’ I looked down and have 2 pages to go.  I finished them very quickly and then happily went to join everyone where I proceeded to talk about this book.

                If that isn’t enough high acclaim then let me tell you more about the story and not my obsession.  The world itself is creative and different but frighteningly real enough that you wonder could this really happen to us?  The characters all have their role to play and with the heroine Katniss you feel everything she is feeling all the pain, uncertainty, emotions, its amazing.  And Peeta, I already admit to adoring him but he is written in a way that made me fall in love with him.  He is kind and caring but also able to take care of some things.  There are other wonderful characters also such as Gale, Haymitch, Rue, and so many others with 24 tributes all with different traits and motives it gets pretty intense.

                At the end of Book 1 you want more.  I can’t really go into much about the other books because…well it would give them away and I’m anti-spoilers.  So let’s just say Catching Fire is just as good as Book 1.  Now if I am honest, Mockingjay (Book 3) was great and climatic but the end did feel a bit rushed.  I was perfectly okay with it but with how long it took to get certain things to that point…it all happened so fast but even though I wish it had been a bit longer and had a bit more in some parts it didn’t take away anything from the trilogy.  Overall, I highly recommend them to anyone and I hope they enjoy them as much as I have.  Also as a side note, they are making a movie on the series and The Hunger Games is set to open March 23, 2012.  I for one can’t wait and will be at the midnight showing for sure.  If you’re read them tell me what you thought in the comments please.

Double Standards

                Ever since I watched the movie What’s Your Number? I’ve been thinking about this topic but am just now putting thoughts to paper or really to screen.  Please let me start this post with this, these views are my personal opinion and I do not speak for anyone but myself and I do not mean to offend anyone with this.  Okay that said, the double standards between men and women.

                Does a number really matter?  I have met people who don’t care as well as those who think less of a person, in my experience always a woman, because she had a higher number than they thought was appropriate.  Let’s talk about that for a moment though shall we.  What is the appropriate number of lovers one should have by a certain age?  A very good guy friend of mine whom I discuss everything under the sun with gave me a pretty interesting  figure.  First let me say he doesn’t care about how many were before him as long as he isn’t compared to them, which I think is fair and I agree. 

                However, he also had a mathematical system for an estimate.  He said he assumes that you have 2 lovers a year since your 17^th birthday.  I’m 23 so he would assume I’d had approximately 12 lovers thus far.  No that is not my number by a long shot mine is substantially lower but I liked the math.  He also explained that for the general man, women might assume they are the same only maybe to be safe make it 3 a year.  He doesn't mean to say that there are two lovers in every year. He explains that looking at the whole picture, both the long and short relationships balance the numbers. I found this intriguing.

                This is probably a touchy subject for most people especially as I live in the south and am non-religious but why does it matter?  No I’m not condoning the ways of many of the people I went to high school with who came to class on Monday talking about how drunk they’d gotten and hooked up with.  It was always a different guy every time I heard them.  I think that may have been a bit young to start that way of life but I do not judge.  The issue I took with those girls (come on everyone had those girls at their school) was they would do all of that then put down others for something so minor in retrospect.  Anyways I myself don’t care what a person’s number is or have any expectations of their number because frankly it’s no one’s business as long as they were safe. 

                Aside from if you care or don’t care about a person’s number let’s face it social media has portrayed it in a way that makes it so much more acceptable for a man than a woman.  I know there are plenty of examples on both sides but even in those the woman is 9 out of 10 times judged more harshly than the man.  Why is this?  Men are almost expected to be ‘horn dogs’, to borrow a phrase from my mother.  Something scientific we’ve all heard or read at one point that men think about sex ‘x’ amount of times a…minute, hours, day.  Okay that may be true but there are also studies that show women can be just as sexually driven.  Those women who have many different lovers are by many considered promiscuous or slutty and I’ve heard men say they would surely sleep with a woman like that but never be in a relationship. 

               

                What’s my point?  Everyone has their opinions and I’m not trying to change any one’s minds.  I just honestly want to know why the double standard?  I would love to hear the thoughts of anyone who reads this and is willing to share.  Why do men both in real life and social media (books, TV/movies) get away without harsh judgments’ where women don’t?

Review of The Maze Runner Trilogy

Review of The Maze Runner Trilogy

                Another book trilogy to review; I just finished the last book in the set today.  The books are The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner (http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/mazerunner/index.php & http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/).  I loved these books they are different than anything else I have read lately.  The story is about a unknown world in which you show up in a elevator shaft and have no memories accept your name. 

               

                Dashner created a whole new world with it’s own vocabulary/language which I found amusing and creative.  I even confess to using a few of the words now and again in real life conversations.  I usually get strange looks when I do so before I tell those shanks about this trilogy and that they have to read it.  The world of the Maze is all The Gladers know and they are bound to survive and figure out its mysteries.  There is danger of course.  If you don’t make it back inside the walls before the gates close you’re left outside the walls in the maze with the horrible creatures called Grievers. 

                So I can’t give too much away but The Maze Runner is the first book in a set of three that work to tell a very interesting tale.  Throughout all books you have this wonderfully written world that is horrifying but yet still the characters can bring laughter to the reader in moments of levity.  The confusion the characters, who might I add have some very memorable names, feel throughout the series is great.  There is always something happening and starting in Book 2 The Scorch Trials, and through the final book  The Death Cure there is a constant battle between right/wrong, madness/sanity, friends/enemies and who falls into which category.

                Through the books Thomas, our main character is made to face some pretty serious things and I frankly had a hard time putting my book down and an even harder time waiting between books.  I think anyone who likes intrigue, adventure, action stories will love this series.  I give it 5 stars.

Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy Review

                Okay ladies and gents today’s blog post will be a review of an entire trilogy.  The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater (her page http://maggiestiefvater.com/  and the direct link for the trilogy http://maggiestiefvater.com/shiver/ ).  Don’t worry as per usual I will try my best to not give away anything that will spoil them as I am against spoilers.  I am not one to read the end of a book before I read it through, I don’t know how those people manage.  I can’t even conceive of reading books out of order, the idea is bonkers to me.

                I absolutely adore these books.  I give them 5 stars easy.  I will admit that many times I find books because well I’m a cover whore.  If I see a cover that catches my eye and I think is interesting I’ll read the description and this caught my eye.  White with a silvery blue design of branches, leaves, and a wolf with a blood spot as the dot over the i was well for lack of a better term, pretty.  Then reading the inside I was intrigued and bought it. 

                I was hooked I read through it in under a day.  I couldn’t put it down.  Sam & Grace were so well developed and so well written that I couldn’t help but fall in love with them.  The different mythology of werewolves in this trilogy versus any other I’ve seen was very compelling.  Aside from Sam and Grace you have many more characters throughout the trilogy, the story focuses on Sam and Grace but does a wonderful job of flushing out many other story lines for other supporting characters, Beck, Isabel, and Cole to name a few.

                The stories in all three are very well thought out and written in a way that almost sings.  It was only after reading Shiver that I found out the author also works with music.  Also as a side note, she has posted a list of songs that helped inspire certain scenes, I highly recommend listening after you read.  All three books work towards basically the same goal but each book has their own leg in the race to get to the finish that is Forever. 

                I have recommend these books since I first read Shiver and will continue to do so as I still re-read them over and over again.  The best part for any of you wanting to read them, they are all out.  Me, read the first one and was so happy then found there was a sequel coming, in a year of course.  I waited then got it and read it the day it came out and sigh yet again had literally an entire year to wait before the final book came out but it was well worth the wait.

                So now I leave you with the words in the cover that made me buy this book and hope this will encourage you to read them as well.

the cold.

                Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house.  One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back.  He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn’t know why.

the heat.

                Sam has lived two lives.  As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves.  And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace…until now.

the shiver.

                For Grace and Same , love has always been kept at a distance.  But once it’s spoken, it cannot be denied.  Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Ten Random Facts

Ten Random Facts

Thank you to Laurie Dennison for tagging me in this.  Here are the ten random facts about me…

1. I make amazing cookies…a friend recently said they are addictive and should have a warning label hehe.

2. I can’t stand double standards.  No one really likes them but they get under my skin so badly I get a bit nuts about it.  I mean…why?

3. I once clothes-lined myself in the kitchen with a broom.  Yes…I did it believe me even I’m astounded I managed that.

4. I have an issue with toes/feet.  I’m so anti people messing with or touching feet, especially my feet.  My parents new dog liked to lick toes…I flipped out at first but seem to have broken him of the habit.

5. I am deathly afraid of chickens.  Yes I freak out when I see chickens roaming around freely.  Weird and my ration part of my brain tells me they are stupid chickens but I that doesn’t matter. 

6. I resent the fact that whenever I go to the doctor in my small town I am asked 3-5 times if I’m sure I’m not pregnant or doing drugs.  I’m sorry I’m a 23 year old who’s never done drugs (aside from caffeine and sugar) and haven’t had at least 1 kid.

7. I’m an optimist who expects the worst.  A contradiction I know.  What I mean is that I’m a realist and I try to keep my expectations very low, so as to not get hurt.  Still when it comes to something even if I’ve had the same result many times I’m still disappointed I didn’t get a different response even when I didn’t expect one to begin with. 

8. I never learned to braid my hair.  Strange I know most females are taught early on but it was never a skill I was taught, never thought anything about it until I wanted my hair braided and everyone was astounded that I didn’t know how.

9. My favorite movie is still Beauty & the Beast (Disney of course).  I love those old Disney movies and can still sing along to them.

10. I’m pretty sure my cat, Keira, is either crazy smart or completely insane.  Maybe that’s why she’s mine.

Well hope you’ve enjoyed these random facts.  Well off to bed now!

Real Steel, What's Your Number, & Killer Elite

Okay so I spent yesterday at the movies.  You will learn I do movie days and see more than one movie in a time but to be fair the closest theatre is 35 miles away so I’m being green/economical about gas and time.  Yesterday I, along with my younger brother, saw Real Steel, What’s Your Number, and Killer Elite.  I will try and give a simple review of the movies and do my best to not give away any spoilers.

Real Steel

I give the movie 5 stars in my book.  No it won’t win any Emmys but I enjoyed it immensely.  I was excited by the trailer and not let down at all.  Do you know what is going to happen?  Is it semi predictable to anyone who has half a brain?  Yes but it was still a great watch.  The action between the bots was pretty cool and realistic, I’m comparing it to what I’ve seen of real boxing mind you, and even the way it was portrayed so you find a human connection with a robot, Atom.  Then there is the character of Charlie (Hugh Jackman) who develops as does in connection his relationships with other characters in the story good and bad.  The boy Max (Dakota Goyo) held his own and he could make you laugh or tug at the heart strings.  Overall the story was uplifting, easy to follow and enjoyable.  I was engaged throughout.

Overall I went in expecting a descent movie with some action and some eyes candy (let’s face it Hugh is a hottie) and came out more impressed than I thought.  I highly recommend this to anyone.  Oh and yes for any parents the parents and such…there is some language and I bet you never would have guessed violence.  Wasn’t anything horrible, the actor who plays Max is 12 so I’d let kids that age and up see it.

Rating: 5 Stars

What’s Your Number?

I give it 4.5 stars.  It was hilarious, predictable but still surprising.  Let me explain, the basic concept of the movie is this girl Ally (Anna Faris) reads an article that says most women only have 10 lovers in their life, she’s had more than that and is worried.  She learns she has slept with more than her friends and is worried that if she gets too many more she’ll be alone forever.  She then decides to track down her ex’s thinking that maybe they got better with time (after a run in with one of them by accident).  For this she needs the help of her apartment neighbor Colin (Chris Evans) who is good at digging up dirt on people and is in need of assistance himself, he’s well…a man whore.  He likes one nights stands but he doesn’t like the awkward lies of “I’ll call you” so they help one another out.  This is predictable Rom-Com but Anna Faris and Chris Evans are hilarious and play off each other well.  Also the flash backs to the past relationships are beyond funny and make you wonder how many people this really happened to. 

So I can’t say much more without spoilers but yes overall I loved it.  It was a good laugh and I look forward to it being on DVD and adding it to my collection so I can watch it anytime I need a laugh.  Now as for rating…it’s rated R for a reason.  It’s very adult with language, sexual situations (go figure), and so on but it is funny.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Killer Elite

I give this one 2 stars.  Yes this is hard for me to do.  I was excited to see this movie, I love me some Robert De Niro and Jason Statham.  First De Niro is just too cool for school and Statham is a pretty piece but he does some good action.  I also like some Clive Owen movies (some good some not so he’s not a deciding factor for me).  But I figured an action movie with all three would be golden.  I was mistaken.  De Niro was good for the parts he was in but they were limited and the action scenes were the redeeming quality about the film.  The story line was a bit vague, it got fuzzy on some parts and you’re not sure what’s going on all the time.  Also not going to lie Dominic Purcell is in it as well and had this horrible mustache that made me giggle every time I saw him with it (this was probably just me but it didn’t help me take this movie seriously).

I don’t have too much to say other than it was okay.  I wouldn’t recommend you pay full price to see it, maybe wait for it to come out on TV and watch or the dollar theatre (if your area has one).  It was too long and parts dragged out with unclear motives or character development.  The fight scenes were nifity as was De Niro but not enough in my opinion to save the film.  Now rating wise it’s rated R for violence, language and sex/nudity, they’re trained assassins so visit accordingly. 

Rating: 2 Stars

Okays so this is my first movie reviews on here and I hope you all enjoyed.  Again I tried very hard to give my opinion on the movies without giving too much away.   Please enjoy and comment so I know what you like/dislike. 

Thanks,

Eve

Book Review: Enlightened

So the first book I’m going to review is one I read a few months ago.  I’m currently in the process of reading the 2^nd or 3^rd book in some series and I’d rather not give spoilers so figured this was a good starting point.

The book is Enlightened by Allyson Richards.  Here are her links http://allysonrichards.com/ and http://www.allysonrichards.blogspot.com/

Here goes my first official review for my blog.  I got this book from the author herself at the writers conference in Jacksonville in August. She was very pleasant and the way she talked about the story made me want to read. I bought the book there and she was so sweet to sign it for me. I was getting ready to go on a 16 hr car ride with my mother to a family reunion and this book helped me keep my sanity. It gave me hours of entertainment. It captivated my imagination and kept me wondering what would happen next. This was brilliant because it captured the basic human emotions of being a teen in high school but also taking it a step further. As if high school for a teen girl isn't hard enough add some crazy curse that makes it impossible for you to have any semblance of normalcy and you have tons of things to entertain the reader. Overall I very much enjoyed this book, I came to love the characters especially Alexis and feel for them with each turn of the page. I can't wait to see what happens next for the characters and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good YA book with some supernatural elements.

First Blog Entry

The title says it all.  I’ve read blogs for years and always thought about making my own but for one reason or another I never did.  So today I decided I would actually do it and here goes.

A bit about me…

My name is Eve, also a nickname and screen name on many sites is Evilous, and I live in a very small town in North Florida.  Not much excitement around here my town doesn’t even have a movie theatre.  So for all my movie, shopping, entertainment needs I must go out of town, closest is approximately 35 minutes.  For a little over two years I worked as a 911 dispatcher for this same small town and boy did I get a lot of interesting stories and craziness.  This proved helpful for my writing.

Yes I am a writer.  I loved to write in elementary school but somehow that passion fell to the side.  It wasn’t until a TV show in 2007 that reignited that passion.  This sounds strange I know but I’d never heard of let alone read a ‘fan-fiction’ but found some by accident on that special show ‘Moonlight’.  I started reading and fell in love.  Some of the authors of the stories I was reading chatted with me and I mentioned having my own ideas, and plenty of time as I had a very boring Humanities Art class that was difficult to stay awake for.  They encouraged me to write what I had in my head and I did.  Yes what started as just fun to keep me awake turned into a very long and rewarding story.  I’m still to this day writing my saga, getting ready to end the 9^th story and start number 10.  It was a short lived show but I will never forget it for it gave me my passion of reading and writing back.

Along with my fan-fiction I’m also writing a book.  Now it’s in the very first stages so won’t be going to press anytime soon but it’s a project I am happy to work on and one day see finished. 

So we have established that I love to write.  I also love to read.  I was a bit mixed up according to the guidelines of books one should read.  In middle school I was reading John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell.  Then in High School it was all about what I was required to read, no real fun reading for me.  Then after the above mentioned Moonlight and fan-fiction I was recommended the Twilight Saga to read.  Yes I am a Twi-hard as some call it and I am okay with that.  They aren’t perfect by any means but nothing is but most important to me I found a connection with the characters.  Through those I found I loved to read again and couldn’t wait to get another book.  Funny thing now that I’m an adult I mostly read Young Adult (YA) books.  I was told in a work shop once that children read YA in middle school and part of high school but then generally move to more adult books, apparently I regressed.  I still do enjoy a good adult book but I love YA, which is helpful given I hope to write YA.

So we have reading, and writing what else is there.  Oh yes, I love movies.  I go to the movies as often as possible.  I’m one of those people who has no problem spending the entire day at the movies.  I’m also the person who spends the day outside waiting for the midnight showing.  Call it what you will, I call it a good time.

Those are my main passions that I love to talk about and share with others.  So that is what my blog will mostly be about.  Book and movie reviews, and my random thoughts on things that catch my attention and feel compelled to write about.  Oh and baking, I love to bake and I can make a chocolate chip cookie that’d make a nun sin hehe.  I warn you up front my mind works in mysterious ways even I don’t understand all the time.  I hope everyone will stick with me on my blogging journey.

Eve