A discussion between Mari and P.E..

If I Stay is a favourite contemporary for many people. It's heart-wrenchingly beautiful, poetic and realistic. It's something that can happen to anyone of us at any given moment and that is frightening. I had no idea that the movie was in the works and I was pleasantly surprised to see a trailer that matched the book. How do you feel? What was your initial reaction?

Before I saw the trailer, I wasn't looking forward to it. I feel like a lot of power in stories like If I Stay come from the words and I'm not sure how well that will translate on screen. However, I liked the trailer. I still don't know if it will be a good movie, but I never watch contemporary movies so I don't know. However, I LOVE the song choice. Say Something is like the perfect song for the trailer, so if they got that right, I think I will give the film a chance. Expectations aren't too high though.

I agree. What do you think about the casting? Personally I feel like they fit into my image of them. I read the book a while ago and so I had forgotten that Mia parents used to be in a band and hang out with groupies etc.

Mia is a little more cute than I think I expected her to be, and Adam is a little less of a total rock star. Beyond that, I think they're fine. I'm not a really big visual reader so in general, I'm not going to imagine what anybody looks like.

To me Adam looked like a rock star, the long hair and all also it looks like the actor knows how to use the guitar. On the other hand I liked to see that Adam looks young, he is still in high school at this point and boys in high school still have their baby fat.

From what I can see from the trailer, it seems like there is some great camera work and cinematography going into this one so I'm excited. Do you have any last words/feelings?

I'm curious to see how this one does. I wonder if it will be playing at our local theatres, and if it makes any money. I guess as a future business student, I'm always interested in the money behind ideas, and this is something I'll keep an eye on.

For your viewing pleasure, the trailer!

What do you think?

The Weekly Progress is a type of wrap-up post started by P.E which is meant to be written every Sunday to look back on the week that was.

Currently Reading

So we're going to skip right over the fact that I failed to finish a book this week, despite it being my week off from work. Instead we're going to move on to happier subjects, like what I'm currently reading.

I'm currently trying to read Cinder by Marissa Meyer. It's my second time trying to get through this one but it's just not working out. I'm not going to give up though. I will finish it but I'm putting it aside for now.

In its place I'm reading The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa and I've been enjoying it so far. Love the idea, the action and the fast pacing is just what I need.

I'm also planning on continuing with my manga reread. I've been slowly working my way through and savouring the Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara. I'm on volume 4 and the story is becoming more and more intricate and heart wrenching from volume to volume as the conflict builds.

 On the Blog

We started off the week with my (Mari's) post, Standalones Reading List, which is exactly what the title suggests; a list of standalones I recommend and some I plan to read.

On Tuesday we had a new Cover Wars, this time pitching Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times against another beautiful cover, The Winner's Curse. If you haven't already, head on over and vote for your favourite!

Next we have my review of This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith. Sadly, I didn't find it as enjoyable as I would've liked.

P.E. then did a very popular and rather hilarious post (IMO) called, Zombies: Not My Thing. What do you think about a zombie boyfriend? Sexy/icky?

Lastly, we have P.E.'s review of The Color's of Rain, an interesting new sci-fi/thriller about prostitutes in space.

What's Up?

Book/Movie:

Hands down the most addicting/exciting thing about this week was the amazing Divergent trailer.

*Fan girl squeal!!*

I really liked it. It looks like they have decided to stick to the book and focus on bringing it to life which is what I look for in a movie adaptation. My favourite scene was a show stopper by none other than, Four!!

A part of me died and went to heaven right around here.

I was unsure about how Theo James would do as Four due to the age different etc. With this trailer he has put all those contradictions to the side.  Now that he is all dressed up and in character, I can see it and I'm really happy.

Here's some more awesomeness! You could say I'm a tiny bit overly excited (^_^)

Blog:

Now for some more blog related news, we finally opened our own Facebook page. This decision has been in the making for a while but me being lazy and Facebook not being either of our favourite social networking sites meant it kept being postponed.

The page is dedicated to this blog and I will be running it with occasional interjection by P.E. There will be links to blog posts, interesting tidbits, random videos and fun stuff posted there so we hope you join us there as well!

Life: 

Relaxation has been the main goal for this week. I finally finished my summer job which left me the last week of August and also the last week of summer to enjoy. I didn't do much to enjoy but I think I did a lot of relaxing. Sleep late, have brunch everyday, blog, YouTube = fulfilling week. Sadly, next week is school so I've been spending a lot of time mourning the end of the summer.

How was your week?

-MARI

This is a pretty exciting time for all us Vampire Academy fans as the release date of the movie gets closer and all the fun things like trailers are being released. Today is one of those days (Wednesday), in which the very first VA: Blood Sisters trailer has been released. Therefore, it is the perfect time to talk about VA and why it's awesome. If you haven't read this series then this post is directed at you, READ IT! If you have read the series then let's talk about what we love most about this series and its epicness. It's an all around VA love-fest, join in!

4 Reasons Why VA is the BEST!

1. Rose Hathaway is the most tenacious, kick ass, hilarious and exciting female character I've ever read. She is wild and free; there is no time to waste when around Rose.
2. Dimitri Belikov!!! *Faint-swoon* He is dashing, chivalrous, and troubled .What more can we ask for? But seriously, Dimitri was one of my first book crushes. Both my parents are teachers so I grew up thinking that all teachers should be treated as your parents (with respect). As you can probably see, it takes a lot to make me accept a student-teacher relationship but I didn't even notice the dilemma. Surly, a sign of Mead's awesome writing and Dimitri's godliness!
3. Strigoi-Moroi-Guardian situation. I love that she strayed from the traditional "evil vampires" or the twilight "sparkly vampires" and made something more understandable. Loved the idea of guardians protecting vampires and a Moroi court. Very interesting and understandable. If there were a superhuman race like vampires, then why would they be living in the dark hunting for their next meal when they can be benefiting from all the opportunities presented by the humans.
4. Guardians! At one point in all of our lives, we have probably thought about being one of those cool action heroes that help people. I know I have. In another life I would love to be a police officer or security personnel or even better FBI Profiler (yes, Criminal Minds). In all those fantasies we think of strong, thick-skinned people who are not afraid to put their lives at risk for the sake of others. Here, we see that they are normal people with opinions and beliefs that we can understand and no they aren't vampires!

 Cast Analysis

Dimitri Belikov - Danila Kozlovsky
I think he is perfect! I remember when the rights for the movie were first bought and it seemed like everyone in the world wanted Ben Barnes to be Dimitri. I'm sorry for those who were disappointed but I'm really glad they went with Danila. He is Russian, well built, the perfect age and it seems that he has great chemistry with Zoey! Also chocolate brown eyes :)

Rating: 10

Rose Hathaway - Zoey Deutch
I wasn't so sure about her as she looked really skinny and dainty in the Beautiful Creatures movie, quite the opposite of how I imagined Rose. Still, her facial features are very Rose-like with the "desert princess" idea.

Rating: 8

Lissa Dragomir - Lucy Fry
I am not a Lissa fan. I don't like the girl but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate her. Lucy is definitely, blond, beautiful with a model-like body. I don't have much to complain about except for her eye colour. The Dragomir green was mentioned a lot just like Harry Potter's green eyes. I'm hoping there will be contacts but you never know.

Rating: 8 

Conclusion: 26/30

Just from their looks and the little that I've heard about them they are a hit! I'm very happy with the actors looks but the acting will be their defining moment.

Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters Trailer

Thoughts:

Action-packed. It looks like they went with the Gossip Girl style, high school for vampires. It kind of reminds me of True Blood, with all the angst and bloodsucking, but I haven't seen a lot of that show so I can't really relate them well. I love the little flashes showing Dimitri and Rose's training. The training scenes were my favourite while reading the books and that's what I'll be looking forward to in the movie. All in all, I think Daniel Waters knows what he is doing and I'm not going to go ahead and form a complete opinion on the movie until after I see more of it. For now, I'm going to stick with "It's going to be a fun watch" and I don't think I'm bringing my brother to the movies with me (Rose and Dimitri bedroom scene looks quite intense!)

What Do You Think? Like/ Dislike?

-MARI