The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Clarke

                Another book from NetGalley.com and the publishers at Angry Robot.  I had read a review for this book from a friend and fellow blogger right before I started it and I have to say my expectations were high.

                The story is set in a world of magic and pirates ARGHH!  *Okay I couldn't resist.  We follow Ananna of Tanarau, as her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan.  This already makes you feel for our main character in my opinion.  I've always hated the idea of arranged marriage.  I could write a whole post on that barbaric practice, so I won't get started.  Back to the book, Ananna doesn't want to marry this guy and sail on his ship under his command.  She has higher aspirations in life.  So she does the only thing she can, she runs.

                Running from an arranged marriage seems pretty easy right.  Not when the clan you spurned sends an assassin after you.  Something happens when Naji, the assassin, comes after her and she somehow activates a curse which changes everything.  Now they are forced to work together, learn to trust one another enough to try and find a way to break this curse while fighting for their lives from enemies on both sides of their duo, which between a runaway pirate bride and an assassin there are many.

                First I have to talk about the characters.  Ananna is a strong female who doesn't need or want to be taken care of instead handing herself.  She is quick on her feet and can think on the fly, her life teaching her how to swindle and stay one step ahead.  Now she does have her own set of morals and beliefs and does need help.  She's not that good at being open or trusting without reason but I think what I love most about her is that she is, for the most part, rational.  She has her moments of letting emotions rule her but for the most part she is able to think things through and have some ration reasoning behind her actions. 

                Now we have Naji, our dark and brooding assassin who is even more closed off because of his scars.  He is a worker of blood magic but is completely out of his depth when hindered by this curse.  At first he is just a demanding and mysterious oaf.  Then you slowly start to learn more about him and he grows on you.  I liked getting to know him as Ananna does, we see how she half wants him to leave her alone and half wants him to stay with her.  Naji has his own demons to contend with and you see the vulnerability in him which is highly unlikely given his profession. 

                Onto the flaws, yes there are almost always flaws, and sadly this one has a tiny bit more than my impatience for the next one.  That is seriously #1 though, this whole waiting for the next book is very inconvenient haha.  Some of the things did seem a bit rushed, which helped keep the story moving for sure but I would have liked a little more in some areas especially along the trip getting from the boat to the island and all with the colorful characters they we surrounded by.  This is nothing to hinder my enjoyment by any means I just felt there was so much more that could have been explored with the same vibrancy and breathtaking detail as the rest.  Though to be honest part of me is hoping that some was cut short to leave more for the 2nd book so I find it hard to be against that.

                I for one can not wait until the next book to see how these two move forward in their journey.  The story is compelling and so much fun.  They are both great characters and that alone makes me want to keep reading to learn more.  I root for the underdogs and lets face it a pirate girl who ran from an arranged marriage and an assassin who is cursed are pretty big underdogs. 

This book came out on October 2nd and I think everyone should check it out.  I'm going to give it 5 daggers because I couldn’t put it down and it let me get lost in a different world for hours at a time.  Have you read it already?  Tell me what you think.  

Taken 2 & Pitch Perfect

                Wow so this last weekend I had the joy of seeing some amazing movies.  So here are my thoughts on those but first I have to say that I was surprisingly shocked watching trailers.  Most movies I know within a few seconds having already seen the trailers online and eagerly anticipating them.  Well before Pitch Perfect I saw a trailer that as soon as it started I was thinking how it reminded me of a book series I really enjoy and then I hear the name, Lena Duchannes, and knew it was what I thought.  I may have loudly proclaimed my discovery, that this was the trailer for Beautiful Creatures,  but no one seemed to care, clearly they didn't read the books and knew the excitement.  The trailer posted below is amazing and I can't wait to see it.

                Now that I've gabbed on about the trailer before the movie let me jump right into the reviews of the actual movies.  We'll go in order as usual which means we start with Taken 2.  Squeal.  Yes, that is a very girly squeal because I have been super excited about this movie.  Now this movie follows up on the events of the original Taken, clearly, which was awesome.  If you have lived under a rock and haven't seen it yet, then I don't know what to do with you.  However, if that is the case you really should see it before the sequel.

                Taken 2 takes place shortly after the first one.  It also has, gasp, the same people.  Yep shocking with so many films recasting and then butchering a great movie.  Not this one.  This one has the main characters the same with all the greatness of the original and more.

                Now recap of the first, daughter is taken, but not before calling her father, who has a special set of skills, who goes on a mission to find her.  He finds the people who took her and works his way through them to find his daughter.  Yep he kills and tortures and everything necessary to do that.  Basically he kicks butt and takes names. 

                Jump to this one and well the families of those men he took care of are none too pleased and want revenge.  They don't seem to grasp that they were bad men and he was protecting his family.  Yep, so they happen to catch him in Istanbul post security job when his daughter and ex surprise him for a mini vacation.  It doesn't turn out to be the vacation they were expecting.

                Sounds cool right?  Well if you answered yes then you would be most assuredly right.  There are great chases, fights, and a great overall story.  Also I must say I was super pleased with the daughter.  She has been through so much and she is scared and emotional but she is also determined like her father and doesn't want to be a victim and is ready to act.  She has grown as you would expect but not too out there she isn't suddenly some covert killer like her daddy.  Now, Neeson…what can you say about him?  He was wonderful.  He has this calm and calculating way about him while everything is happening knowing he will find a weak point in the face of danger but it's the normal things that mess with him.  He is super cool and you should know not to mess with him, he's angry.  Also I have to mention that I love how he yells without raising his voice, it's this deep force that is just ubber cool in my book.

                So enough about that basically I'm giving this movie 5 grenades.  If you like action, Neeson, or Taken then you will love this so check it out. 

Rating:  5 Grenades

                Now we move on to the next movie in my marathon, Pitch Perfect.  Warning!  Total girl movie ahead.  Yes my movies are like my mix CDs and the order never makes any sense to anyone by me.  Still the movie was super cute.

                The movie is about singing yes but more than it sounds.  The description I read for it once did nothing for me and I had no intention of seeing it and then I saw the trailer for the first time and couldn’t believe they were the same.  Either way I knew I had to see it.  The music and story are fun and a great pick me up.  Yes it's predictable and crazy but it is cure in the best possible way.  I just looked it up and the songs/remix's are on the soundtrack with is pretty good.  I was tapping my foot along to the whole movie.

                Acting wise I liked the chemistry and humor of the cast.  It wasn't a deep movie but they were all different and had their own little character traits.  If you want a good time, some tunes, and a laugh, check it out.

Rating:  5 Stars

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

                This book is curtsey of NetGalley.com and Random House Children's Books.  I was lucky enough to receive this book a little while ago, and I have to say as soon as I started it I couldn’t put it down.  I'm slowly but surely putting a dent in my reading list, I'm the little reader that can.

                Now Shadowfell summary curtsey of goodreads.com:

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strength captured and brought before him.  Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk-- Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she received aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential.  She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear.  Neryn struggles to trust her only allies.  They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule.

Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

                Sounds pretty amazing right?  Well yes it's a completely different world of Alban which is magical and dangerous.  People are not allowed to trust or even really enjoy any moment knowing that anything they do could be seen as unusual and in turn be sent to the evil King.  It's a horribly dark tale and I enjoyed every minute of it.

                Now don't worry it's not a dark depressing tale by any means.  It is dark but the point of the story is that there is hope.  Out main character Neryn, whom I adore as a strong heroine, has been through so much in her short life, things that would knock down stronger people but still she keeps moving forward.  She keeps hope that she will find that peace she was once told about. That to me is a much more vivid representation of what most of us go through every day when we have things to make it through, be it a long shift at work or just some dreadful task before you, always look to the end and the peace to be found.  I know I kept thinking pretty profound thoughts as I read this book.  If Neryn can keep going through all of this, I can make it through 8 hours of annoying people at work, okay so maybe not that profound.

                Marillier creates a vivid world for sure, but that world would be empty without equally detailed characters to fill it.  Now we have our main character Neryn who is on this journey.  She is young but she has not grown up in a happy place, all she has known was the horrible place of Alban which over the years has gotten darker and darker, still she holds on to hope.  She is scared for herself and those around her.  She is a wonderful character full of flaws and even when she was being stubborn and I wanted to strangle her for doing something I clearly knew was a bad idea (being a reader and not in the situation of course why don't characters know what we know), she was real. She has to figure things out each and every day, try to learn to trust these new allies of hers when she's been on her own for so long. 

                Now onto these allies for which I spoke.  There are a bunch of 'Good Folk' like Sage, Red Cap, Silver, and countless others for whom I am not going to even try to remember or spell.  They are all described so beautifully its amazing.  They each have different personalities which was fun to read.  Then more importantly, to me anyways, is Flint.  The mysterious man who saves her life but his motives seem unclear.  Even after he explains what little he can to her she is suspicious.  Can you really trust someone who you really know nothing about?  And what happens when you find out what/who they are?  He was beautifully written.  Strong, silent, mysterious, and haunted he is a man who invades your every thought trying to unravel. 

                Neryn has a special gift that is rare.  One that could be a great power to the war on either side.  Her ability to communicate and see the Good Folk even when they are hiding is strange enough to her but when she learns the deeper meaning of her gift she figures out just how perilous it really is.  Can she learn to use her gift and fight the good fight or will she be used as a weapon to squash out what little hope there is in Alban?

                This is only the first book in a series, of course if I'm reading it then it should be known the chances of it being a single book are 1 in a 100, so we have to wait for more.  Can Neryn learn to use her gift to help turn the tides in the war and bring the much awaited peace to Alban?  We shall have to find out.  This book came out September 11th.  If you're ready to be swept away into another world check it out.

5 Stars

The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer

                This is one of my ARC’s from NetGalley and Egmont USA, which I am way behind on.  I finished this book pretty quickly though and have to share my thoughts.  This book is the first in a series with a new take on demons.

                You have guess I’m sure that the series is about Demons.  You would be partially right.  See the book centers around Mia, a young girl who learns the hard way about her family history.  Being possessed by an angry and powerful demon, she survives but to stay safe she must travel to Milan and stay with her family she has never known.  Thrust into a new country she must learn about the history of the city, the language and just what it is the family does.

                You would think being taken to Milan would be a dream come true, a vacation.  Nope.  Between the studying and helping around the house, and the inability to leave the house without a pack of family to keep the demon way, well lets just say that puts a real damper on the whole vacation aspect. 

                This demon is the big bad, he has a past with Mia’s family and now with her.  is she strong enough to stand up and fight?  Can she learn her family’s craft?  The past?

                I really enjoyed the book I liked the family, the bizarre closeness even when personalities are polar opposites.  I admit I have an urge now to work on my cooking skills, have a glass of wine and learn Italian.  Speaking of the book is in English, thankfully for me, but its also in Italian if that makes sense.  Everything doesn’t just start speaking English, it’s more like subtitles but without reading every line of conversation twice, though every once and a while for common words you learn what they mean which I really enjoyed. 

                I liked Mia and I was rooting for her to find out more.  I wanted her to learn more so I could learn more about what the family does.  I can’t wait for the next book to come out so I can learn more.  There were parts that confused me, sometimes it was crazy hard to keep all of her Italian family straight but it was still fun.  I found that if I just kept reading and it came out easier than trying to make sure each name was well remembered. 

                The scenery and background of the setting was well written.  I’ve always wanted to learn more about different places but have just always been too lazy.  She takes everything in stride but is completely human and has her moments of frustration.  No it wasn’t action packed like one might expect but it had a different kind of creepy and haunting kind of action, the action of the mind.  Fighting is more than physical, it’s mental as well. 

                As for things I didn’t care for.  Well Mia does mention how hot her cousin is on more than a few occasions and well I may just be overly sensitive but that was kinda gorse to me.  Yeah nothing happens and I can admire that someone I’m related to has some handsome features but I never fell all fluttery about it.  Yep that’s pretty much my biggest issue with this book and it wasn’t a huge thing just something that struck me as well…odd.   

                I enjoyed this book and give it 4 solid stars.  It’s not for everyone that’s for sure but I hope you will give it a chance it is really clever and unique.  Haunting and creepy in a new way.

The Expendables 2 & The Bourne Legacy

                So I was wondering why no one had said anything about my last double feature and then realized that I never got to post it.  It’s been sitting here for a few weeks, had some internet issues and sigh I’m saddened to admit it but when it finally came up I forgot to post it.  So a little late but better than never, right?

                I finally did get to do my movie double feature.  I saw The Expendables 2 and The Bourne Legacy, the two biggest movies out at the moment (obviously a clear indicator I am behind in posting).  They are both sequels that seems to be a theme of mine and action flicks.

                First lets dive off into The Expendables 2 which features…well let’s face it pretty much all the major action stars of the past.  This movie is bloody and violent to the extreme for sure but in the best possible way.  If you don’t’ want that then I don’t see why you considered this one in the first place, perhaps you were lured in by one of the many big star actors.  Either way be warned.  This is a guys movie so to speak.  I admit the only females in the theatre came in with guys and didn’t look nearly as excited as their other half.  One man in a pack even declared there were no single women seeing this, to which I had to advise him of his mistake.  All good fun I know I have a different taste than most females, like ‘a girl’.

                That being said I liked this movie more than the original.  There were so many inside jokes about the different action stars pasts it was great.  I had flashback moments to so many and giggled like a girl.  They even joked about the obvious things which made the movie for me.  They action was great and plentiful for sure.  There were guns, chases, explosions, and plenty of hand to hand al put together into one great action movie.

                More than anything the plot of this one was simpler.  I felt more invested in the outcome.  Honestly, I like personal stories more than the overall do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing.  It gives the action a more powerful meaning.  Don’t get me wrong I can totally enjoy random action for the sake of action but if story is set up to make you care, then I want to really care, I’m silly that way.

               

                Any who I really liked the movie and totally recommend it to any action fans.  I give it 5 Skulls.

Rating:  5 Skulls

                Now for Bourne, Jason Bourne…not really.  The Bourne Legacy follows Jason in a way but we learn Tredstone was just the tip of the iceberg.  This story centers around Aaron Cross, played by the beautiful Jeremy Renner.  First off I must admit, he is so pleasant to gaze upon (click here to read a vivid description from ‘a girl’).  Now he is different than Jason, he has his memories; he is just realizing how things work.  Also you see how they are as good as they are, genetic re-energizing of the cells.  Yep pills that enhance the body and brain.  Just saying I wouldn’t mind that.

                I can’t really talk too much about it because it’s a movie following a complex plot and to give the wrong information away would be to give away a spoiler and you all know how apposed I am to that.  So I’ll just stick with saying if you liked the other 3 Bourne films you should totally check this one out.  Lots of intrigue and fast paced action, so would want these people on my side is all I’m saying.  It was just what I thought it’d be and wanted.

Rating:  5 Blue & Green Pills

                So there you have it a bit late and I do apologize for that but sigh I can’t help my internet.  I’m working on it but I’ll spare you my entire tirade about this company and my thoughts about them for the time being.  In the mean time I am reading and working on my review for the recently released and finished book.  Hope to post by weeks end.  As always questions, comments, rants, raves, please leave them below.

Rape Girl by Alina Klein

                So I sped through this ARC book from NetGalley.com by Alina Klein entitled, Rape Girl.  Now this book does center around the incident so those who prefer happier topics need not continue, and in my opinion miss out.  This book isn’t very long, but felt way shorter as I flew through it so quickly.

                The story is centered around Valerie and her rape.  Now, I couldn’t put this book down.  I was captivated by it, she grabbed hold of me and I was invested in her.  She was read, troubled, insecure, broken and flawed.  Her thoughts on things in general reminded me of high school.  She told the truth yet, she’s treated like the attacker. 

                There was no dragging spots, nope, from page one you dive in and keep moving forward.  I don’t know how to adequately describe this book.  Valerie is a very relatable character and the rest of the cast I imagined in my mind watching each one play their role perfectly.  This book deals with what it’s like after the fact, when dealing with the act itself isn’t as bad as dealing with telling the truth. 

                This book brought about a bunch of great questions I’ve always asked myself.  Why?  Why is it that in a rape case the victim has to prove not only the guilt of the other party but their own innocence?  Something to think about for sure.  Join Valerie in her journey and please share your thoughts on this one.  Even if you haven’t read the book I’d love to hear your thoughts on things.

Total Recall & Step Up Revolution

                I’m way behind in my movie watching and reviewing like everything else.  Now, I have two remakes of sorts to discuss.  Total Recall was a movie back in the day with Arnold, I remember seeing it but I admit it was years ago and my memory of it is fuzzy so I won’t be comparing the new one to the old one.  As for Step Up Revolution, it is a sequel of sots to the other Step Up films with their own spin on things.

                Let’s start out with some action.  Total Recall had plenty of that.  Collin Farrel kicks some serious ass, and gets his butt kicked too.  Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel hold their own as well being strong female characters good and bad.  There are car chases, well future cars anyways, explosions, fights, gun fire and has pretty much all the requirements for an action flick.

                Now the story was pretty cool, a bit predictable but still enjoyable.  I liked the character revelations, finding out who you really are both literally, when you’re life was erased and implanted, and also who they are as an individual, inside.

               

                The overall effect of the movie I give it 5 stars.  Good action movie that entertained me.  The visuals were great and I have to say I so want one of those floaty cars, very feauturistic but not so much that it was completely out of the realm of possibility.  I recommend this movie to both sci-fi and action fans alike.

Rating: 5 Stars

                Switching gears we move to a movie about dancing, Step Up Revolution.  This is the 4^th Step Up movie, but you don’t have to see the others to enjoy this one.  There isn’t much to talk about with this one.

                The plot is that following the others a boy and girl from different backgrounds and classes have a love for dance and something to prove.  The story follows a dance mob trying to be seen and win a contest.  Then as their homes and jobs are put on the line due to a new development project their performance art turns protest art.

                Good story, I liked the angle of it all.  The dance scenes were amazing and as I have no balance or rhythm it made me want to try and dance (not like that obviously as that would not be pretty).  So if you want a feel good movie to just enjoy and not make you think too hard or you liked the previous movies, check it out.   I give it 4 Stars.

Rating:  4 Stars

                So I’m on a roll now, I have another book I just finished reading and working on putting my thoughts to paper for it.  As always comments or questions I’d love to read them.  Share below.