I've been away every Saturday/early Sunday and I haven't been able to write this post. Which is a shame, since it's probably one of my favourite features because I get to ramble on about books & everything that interests me. Anyway, let's get to the book talk.
Books Read
It wasn't the best week book-wise. I never managed to finish Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel. Of the books I finished, one gets one star, one gets 2 stars, and the other gets 5 stars.Which book is rated what? Stay tuned for reviews! (or check out my Goodreads or Twitter).
Currently Reading
I very recently started it and it has promise. I'm hoping the characters develop and the story starts to feel more real because at this point it seems a little predictable. The premise of five kids being kidnapped by The Vindico (an evil league of villains) in the hopes of being made into evil villains is awesome.
The Week That Was: Movies
I went to the movies twice last week, which is a big deal for me because this means I've gone to the movies more this summer (3x) than I've gone the entire year. I'm not a movie person. So, I ended up watching The Sea of Monsters and The City of Bones.
The Sea of Monsters movie didn't start out bad; I just felt like it was missing a lot. I read the books years ago and I couldn't remember the differences. So, after the movie, I totally went out and ordered the box set which I received three days later. Now I'm reading a chapter of Percy Jackson every day to my little sister. She's seven and unable to read the books on her own, so every half page or so I have to ask her questions and recap to make sure she understands. It's extremely frustrating, but I'm also noticing so many little details that I otherwise would have skipped over. I also think that this will help her as a reader, so by the end of the book she'll be able to understand larger sections on her own.
The City of Bones has been getting a lot of attention, both negative and positive, and I thought it was fine. I liked Clary and Simon was adorable, which is weird since I didn't like him in the books. My only issue was Jace. The actor playing him wasn't my image of Jace and I kind of wasn't into him as a love interest. It was a decent movie overall.
TSC Recap
This week wasn't the best week for me, content wise. You won't notice it now because it takes roughly two weeks for a post to be published after it's been written, but Mari did a lot of the work. I'm trying to get my creative juices flowing again. That being said, it wasn't a bad blogging week.
It started off with two reviews by me. One for Seizure, which I liked, and Boy Nobody, which I really liked.
There was also a new Cover Wars battle, this time featuring Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times (which is really fun to type) and These Broken Stars. It's a pretty cool battle because depending on the day of the week, a different cover has been leading. Flights and Chimes seems to be leading now, but by the time Tuesday rolls around a lot could have changed.
Mari chose Champion by Marie Lu as her Waiting on Wednesday pick. I totally approve because I love that series and Prodigy has a killer ending.
Next, there's The Cost of Awesomeness, which is probably one of the posts I've worked on the hardest to write.
The week is wrapped up with Mari posting a trailer to Vicious as well as the weekly Best of Saturday post, featuring the best of what's out there in the YA blogosphere.
Music
There are two songs that are pretty popular but new to me that I adore.
This first song has been playing in my head all week. I've listened to it countless times, and I love it so much. I love the vocals, I love the mood, I love the harmony. It's the best song for the end of summer, and this upbeat remix is amazing. Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey remix by Cedric Gervais.
The second song is one that has a lower, base type melody at some point that is absolutely perfect. Also, the vocals are super catchy. Starlight (Could You Be Mine) by Don Diablo & Matt Nash.
Both songs are a little bit odd, and I adore them. I'd love to hear of what you think too!
Totally agree with your view of Dearly Beloved-though I liked Dearly Departed, its sequel just completely let me down.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little annoyed because it seems like a lot of people felt that way, and I didn't read a review earlier on to prepare myself. I hate it, but it happens.
Delete-P.E.
My sentiments exactly on Jace! The movie was decent but Jace did not play, or even look, the part at all. Also, the first half, in my opinion, was much better than the last. It was enjoyable to watch though! And I love Summertime Sadness :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I can't wait for your review of Steelheart... I am so excited for that book! Thanks Mari for this post. I really liked it!
I agree with you 100%. The first half was much more coherent. I don't think they had time to fit everything in so they tried to fit as much as they could.
DeleteAnd woohoo! I adore that song so much.
I hope you like my review. In essence, it will be "READ THIS BOOK." Lol. It won't disappoint.
And I (P.E.) actually wrote this post, but I can understand how you got confused. :p
-P.E.
Sorry P.E.! I meant to type your name instead of Mari's, I feel incredibly daft and inconsiderate now! I really should look over/edit my comments before posting them!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am definitely excited for your review of Steelheart. Will it be up this week? Is it already up? I'll be on the lookout :D And now I am dying to get my hands on it. Amazon is a click away... pre-order time. lol
Thanks P.E.! For the really cool post and the reply :)
It's totally fine :)
DeleteAnd my review will probably take a while to be posted. Mari and I have an insane blog schedule that's already booked to the third week of September. I'll point you towards April from Good Books and Good Wine's review until then.
-P.E.