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The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1)
The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1)
L.J. Smith | 1991 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
10
6.3 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
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#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2998210568">The Awakening</a> - ★★★★★
#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2998210684">The Struggle</a> - ★★★★★

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<b><i>I had The Awakening and the Struggle (the first and second books from the Vampire Diaries series) on my shelf for years.</i></b>

When I say years, I mean it. It all started when I was in high-school, around 6 years ago, and I was in love with the Vampire Diaries TV Show. When I found out there are books as well, I begged my mum to buy them for me. And once I had them, I never got to read them, because teenage logic...

I recently noticed the Vampire Diaries books sitting on my shelf, forgotten, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to read it in October, because of the whole spooky vibe. So there it is now - even thought the wheel didn't choose it, I did, because it deserved the attention!

Elena Gilbert is a popular girl in high-school and she always gets what she wants. Boys want to be with her, girls hate her, or want to be her best friends. And when this new boy Stefan comes into town, all mysterious, Elena wants him. But Stefan is hiding a deadly secret that Elena might now be ready for just yet. And her life, as well as the life of everyone living in Fell's Church is in grave danger... Elena finds herself between two brothers - one who came for a new life, and the other, who came for revenge...

Reading this book, while already knowing what the plot it, I thought I found find it boring. But no. I still enjoyed every single page of it, and I still devoured this book in one day.

From the first chapter, this book is intense and captures your attention. It is written in third person, but it also contains diary entries that belong to Elena and capture her deepest thoughts that she doesn't dare share with anyone else.

<b><i>I loved Elena!</i></b>

Her character is exactly what I was expected and what I have known to love - brave and fierce, and also willing to sacrifice her own happiness and safety for the people she loves the most. 

Elena's friends, Meredith and Bonnie are the friends every girl needs. Funny and caring. A few pages in, and you will get to love them too.

Stefan - the mysterious new guy in school. The guy that tries to stay away from the girl he really wants because he's a danger to her. A little bit of Twilight vibes, but we can get past that. Because there is one thing that Twilight didn't have, that you can find reading The Vampire Diaries...

<b><i>DAMON</i></b>

Even though we only get a glimpse of him in this book, we can feel his presence throughout the whole book. We can feel his connection with Elena, as weird and spooky as it may be. All that danger that he carries with him, we all want to see whether there's anything good in him at all. His story is the most intriguing one, I think. His hunger for revenge makes you really understand both sides of the story and choose a side for yourself.

<b><i>So, are you team Stefan, or team Damon?</i></b>

I loved reading this - it was an amazing experience and it reminded me of my high-school days, of those innocent happy memories. My teenage life didn't include vampires, but hey - it was still awesome!

Pick the Vampire Diaries up if you love Young Adult spooky books, if you loved Twilight and if you love vampire, love and mystery stories in general.

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<b><i>The Struggle is the continuation of the Vampire Diaries Series by L.J. Smith. The second book that features the life of popular girl Elena Gilbert and her endeavors with the mysterious vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore.</i></b>

The Struggle continues where The Awakening ends; Elena is looking to talk to Damon, knowing that he has something to do with Stefan's disappearance.

I felt like there was more action in this book, compared to the first one. It made me more engrossed with the story and I was very excited for all the twists.

Elena was obviously the main character in this book, alongside Stefan and Damon. I am not sure how I felt about Elena in this book. She seemed to ignore everyone for a while and just be her selfish self - which resulted in getting people in trouble.

On the other hand, I really loved the history of Stefan and Damon. The memories from hundreds of years ago. The author manager to portray the time very well, and I was easily transported into another world, another time... I think these scenes were definitely the favourite part of this book.

I wish we saw more chapters with Bonnie and Meredith. Even though best friends, it didn't feel like they were too involved in the story. We didn't get to know them properly and it has already been two books. I really hope book three will let us meet these two characters better.

I am happy with the book in general.

The scenes, the plot, the twists - they were all very carefully put together. Elena's love choices are opening up, letting us wonder which brother she might choose. Making us choose sides (team Damon here!). This battle between the love and hate of the two brothers definitely seems interesting.

<b>The ending was everything I was hoping for and now I can't wait for the next book. The Awakening and The Struggle were only an introduction and the real adventures are yet to begin!</b>

I recommend it to all of you that love young-adult, teen romance and vampire stories. It will keep you on your toes for sure!

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Midge (525 KP) rated Shallow Water in Books

Jan 23, 2019 (Updated Jan 23, 2019)  
Shallow Water
Shallow Water
Amanda J. Clay | 2018 | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Lots of suspense (1 more)
Great lead characters
Nail-biting Thriller!
"Shallow Water" is a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat story that has a bit of everything. From tension, fear, and panic to drama, romance and conflict, and joy and sorrow, there really is something for everyone. It is a suspenseful, psychological thriller fiction novel set in wonderfully scenic Pt. Redwood on California’s rural Mendocino coast.

What’s really likeable about it straight-away are the opening chapters that draw you into the main character, Clara Kendrick. She is a strong, feisty, sexy, confident, badass, journalist, but is living her life under the shadow of the past. She partially blames herself for the terrible unsolved murder of her best friend Ruthi eight years ago, memories of which continue to haunt her.

Clara receives a telephone call from a relative begging her to go and visit her sick mother who she hasn't seen since she fled from her home town all those years ago. She can't bear the thought of seeing her first-love and old flame Sean again. Relationships are put to the test when she does return and past issues are brought to the fore.

But not long into her return to Pt. Redwood, another teenage girl is found on the beach in similar circumstances to Ruthi. Clara and Sean find themselves at the centre of the investigation. Is there a serial killer at large, or is the second murder a coincidence?

I felt instantly on her side of the emotional and impulsive Clara, particularly in her initial dealings with Sean, her handsome, bad-boy first-love. You can immediately sense there is something still going on, and one of the highlights of the book is following how they deal with their emotional baggage. Sean is, at first, hard to work out but you gradually get to know him as the story unfolds and see that he has many surprising qualities. Both the plot and the character development are excellent, and the story-line is very believable. The story is both captivating and engaging. It held my interest from start to finish, and I found myself rooting for both Sean and Clara as they tried to deal with all of the accusations being made against them and the courage they showed in confronting their challenges.

"Shallow Water" was an interesting novel particularly for the interplay of the different characters - a distant and indifferent mother, a group of exceptionally bitchy grown-up teenagers and a judgemental, close-knit community. Plenty of twists and turns ups and downs along the way and plenty of surprises. I loved the authors writing style which I found very easy to read and the suspense at times had me scared and almost afraid to read on. I loved it!

I did figure out who was behind the murders but not until very near the climax of the book and I was very satisfied with the ending. I have been inspired to read more from Amanda J. Clay and I highly recommend this book. I suggest wholeheartedly that you add it to your reading list.

Thank you to LibraryThing and the author, Amanda J. Clay for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
  
Wandering in Wonderland (Book #1)
Wandering in Wonderland (Book #1)
Aislinn Honeycutt | 2019 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Lewis Carroll didn’t get it right?
A GIANT thank you and gratitude to The Parliament House publishing and the author for giving me this opportunity to read this book. I did a cover reveal and I knew right off the bat that I was going to love this book. I was right.

We follow Jessica whom eats a bit of cookie and winds up forgetting her past life. Once she is told that she has died and is now in Wonderland, Jessica struggles with the acclimation of this unique land that is only read in a book. She’s escorted by a White Rabbit named Horace (Not a genuine rabbit, but in this story, White Rabbits is Wonderland’s term for queen’s guards). She comes across Rion, the Caterpillar (but disguised as a man at the time) and he gives her a journal that belonged to a Hatter named Rorie (quite a few R names here.)

Anyway, she is taken to the Queen of Hearts, whom happens to be Alice. As a new comer to Wonderland, the new comers are to look through the Looking Glass to show where they are meant to be in Wonderland. You could be a Crafter or a part of the court, the Looking Glass shows you who you are. When Jessica looks through the glass, she is struck as are the other members of the palace that she is shown to be a Spade.

Spades declared ware on the palace before Alice took the throne. Wonderland is a magical place, but it can choose who it likes and doesn’t like, and who gets to leave and stay.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll stop there for time being.

I’m going to be the first to say that Alice in Wonderland is not my favorite story. I don’t like the Disney cartoon (though I did as a child, what was I thinking?) I do love Tim Burton’s spin on it (IT’S NOT A REMAKE!) but the original story I just couldn’t get into it. The summary and the excerpt to this story was just too good to pass up. I had a feeling I would enjoy the story, I just didn’t realize how much I would.

I read this in days (would have been less if I didn’t have a full time job). It’s a unique spin on the story. This isn’t so much as a retelling as it is a what if or an addition to it if Alice became the queen of hearts. So don’t go into this story and think it’s a retelling, because it is not.

I adored the characters including Alice and Jessica. There are some dark moments, but me being a highly sensitive person, it wasn’t as triggering, but I will say there are some there. I loved the twists in the story and how Jessica really does come to terms with her new found role in Wonderland.

This is a first in a series. That’s my only complaint! Why must have the (im)patience for the next book and the wonder (lol) as to what is going to happen with Jessica? Can’t tell you the ending, Wonderland wants you to know it from beginning to end.
  
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Emeli Sande recommended track Take the Box by Amy Winehouse in Frank by Amy Winehouse in Music (curated)

 
Frank by Amy Winehouse
Frank by Amy Winehouse
2003 | Rhythm And Blues
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Take the Box by Amy Winehouse

(0 Ratings)

Track

"Amy Winehouse – her music’s amazing, and she was amazing. Such a great loss to the British music industry, and to the world, really. She’s so missed ­– what a gift her music was to us. Often I’ll listen to music ‘cause musically it’s something I love, but although she ticks every box for me, I just loved what Amy was saying lyrically and how she found such a free way to be herself through music. She really took that spirit of jazz and brought it forward to now. I love Back To Black, that was a phenomenal album, but her first album, Frank, had such an edge to it, and such a rawness, that I just fell in love with it. ""I remember when I was first coming to London to do showcases – I was about 16 – the people that managed me at that point were like, ‘you need to hear this girl! She’s signed to Polydor, she’s amazing, she sits and plays guitar and she’s got these really cool songs!’ They were just raving about this girl called Amy. It was so cool that we were in this similar world. ""I remember when I went to Polydor to see if they wanted to sign me, they gave me a couple of her CDs for free. I was so excited to be in London in the first place, and then to be at a record label, then to get a free CD! I was completely gassed, and the fact it was Amy Winehouse was so cool. ""Frank is such a beautiful album and it reminds me of that time. It reminds me of a real freedom, and of feeling so inspired by what she was saying and how she was saying. There seemed to be no rules – every track was a different genre. The one thing sustaining it – the backbone of the whole album – was her and her voice and her lyrical style. That, to me, is the definition of a true artist. No matter what you put out, your style and artistry belongs to you and you’re the one that carries it through. ""With this song, 'Take The Box', it’s so visual. I don’t even think there was a video for the song, but I feel like I’ve seen it! I feel I can see the whole scenario playing: breaking up with someone, and speaking about relationships in such an open, honest way. I think that’s so important for women. You want to sugar-coat things, you want a perfect reality, and sometimes that stops people telling the truth and getting out of relationships they shouldn’t be in. Amy always gave this very frank account of what it was. ""I loved the melody and the topline of this song. I’ve really been trying to take a step back and look at the process of songwriting instead of just delving straight into it. When you get that perfect trilogy of the topline melody, the chords your using, and the lyric making sense at the same time… she did that perfectly with this song: “Your neighbours were screaming / I don't have a key for downstairs”. It’s such a memorable melody, I think that’s the first thing that pulled me in."

Source
  
Since You&#039;ve Been Gone
Since You've Been Gone
Morgan Matson | 2014 | Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.4 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have heard so many people recommend Morgan Matson, supposedly it doesn't matter which book you choose of hers they are all good supposedly, she is one of those authors that you must read. This is my first book by this author and I wasn't disappointed. When books are hyped up and everyone and their mother are raving about the book, I am always ready to try and find something that I don't like about the book.

Emily wakes up one morning to find her best friend Sloane gone! There was no previous conversation of Sloane going on holiday at all but when Emily tries to contact her it just goes to voicemail. The only thing that Emily does have is a list.... a list of things to complete.... such as go skinny dipping, kiss a stranger, hug a Jamie etc etc. Emily starts to think that if she completes all of these things on her to do list her friend will return and life can resume as it was. The problem is Emily doesn't know where to start and because her and Sloane have been joined at the hip for the past 2 years she has no other friends, confidence issues and extremely shy. The race is on to complete the list and get her friend back for good.

This is one of those books that gives you all the feels, during the course of this book I got angry, I laughed and also swooned. There are so many great things about this book that I just don't know where to begin, there are so many different elements involved. The book is told from Emily's POV all the way through but skips back and forth to the past and the present which gives you more of an understanding of the girls friendship and also keeps you hooked. I really enjoyed the fact that Matson included the playlists that were used when Emily and Frank were running together, it was good to see that there was modern and older music that they bonded over.

The relationship between Emily and Frank was really well executed. There was no insta-love here - it was a gradual process of becoming friends to more, I liked the fact that the relationship didn't take over the list and her finding Sloane. The Characters were really well developed, I mean all of them were equally fleshed out and you see so much growth in Emily over the course of the book that it's literally heart warming. At first I found her shyness and lack of confidence annoying. I loved Collin's - he just made me laugh all the time, Frank Porter was a sweet character all the way throughout really caring - sometime he felt a bit stalkerish as he was always around or just turned up exactly where Emily was, but he also had his own problems too. Morgan Matson's writing is so fun and easy to read - you just eat it right up.

This is definitely a book for anyone who wants a book with friendships and Romance, also if you are a fan of Rainbow Rowell I would give this one a go. I will definitely be reading her other books which are second chance summer and Amy and Roger's epic detour.

I rated this 4.5 out 5 stars
  
The Aeronauts (2019)
The Aeronauts (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama
Stunning visuals (0 more)
Firstly I'd like to address the accuracy of this film. As soon as I got out of the screening I looked up the story and it took the shine off a little. James Glaisher was indeed involved in these experiments but his companion was Henry Coxwell and not the fictional Amelia Wren. Wren is at least based on female aeronauts of the time, Sophie Blanchard and Margaret Graham, which is a slight comfort. I can of course understand why they did it, the film has a definite air of romance about it and the inclusion of a larger than life character and her backstory does give the film a boost that it might not have had on the original story.

The second thing I would also like to mention is that you need to see this in IMAX, it's been filmed for it and though that's not how I saw it I know it will be amazing.

There's a lot in The Aeronauts that makes you stop and collect your thoughts. The experience of being in the balloon is captured perfectly through shots of the city below and the vast expanses of clouds and sky... the word wonderous is the only thing that seems fitting.

I like that the story doesn't dwell on filling in the audience on history before the main event. During their flight we jump back for relevant snippets as needed and it adds to the emotion of the scenes as we return to the context. It also helps to pad out the timeline in what is almost in real-time. The record breaking flight was roughly 2.5 hours, the film runs for 1 hour 40 minutes, having watched it I don't think I'd mind seeing a 2.5 hour version.

Eddie Redmayne is high on my "nope" list when it comes to movies, I can't watch Fantastic Beasts without getting annoyed and as such I haven't gone back to watch any of his other films. In The Aeronauts though I found him to be much less of a frustrating watch, some of the mannerisms are still there but I was definitely won over by his performance. (Please do recommend your favourite films from him in the comments.) He really managed to capture the obsession for knowledge in a very natural way and I found it very engaging.

Felicity Jones as out fictional Amelia Wren makes a great show of the theatrics and transition smoothly to the seriousness needed to convey their situation once they were in flight. I thought her role was incredibly well crafted and she made every moment up in that balloon very real for the audience.

The pair work amazingly together on screen and that's not really surprising seeing as they've worked together before on The Theory Of Everything. I would say that the chemistry they'd already developed helped to make that tiny basket really come to life for the viewer.

A special shout out to Bella who played Posey the dog, I have to assume that she didn't do her own stunts but regardless it was a great performance.

I was very pleased that they didn't feel the need to fill those beautiful silences. As they soared higher into the sky I'm sure they could have filled the gap with peaceful classical music and still been impressive but the visuals are so good that they really didn't need anything.

I don't want to touch much of the second half of the film because it really does need to be seen but it certainly doesn't disappoint. Everything escalates with the ascent and from camera work to effects it all comes together for a finale that has you glued to the screen.

As you can tell I really enjoyed The Aeronauts and I'm looking forward to an Unlimited Screening of it again soon. I have one tip for you, go in your summer clothes when you see it. No, I haven't gone mad(der), it's a great way to get a free 4DX experience by sitting near the air conditioning. You'll get colder and colder as the film progresses and you'll really feel like you're in the balloon with them.
Full review originally posted on: http://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-aeronauts-movie-review.html
  
    Spectacles

    Spectacles

    Sue Perkins

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    Spectacles is the hilarious, creative and incredibly moving memoir from much loved comedian, writer...

This book was given to me by a friend, a substitue teacher at the school I teach at. He is working on his teaching degree & came across this book in the course of his studies. He was so impressed with it that he purchased several copies & gave them to teachers at the school.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. It was easy to read for being a book on brain science. It was written in a very non-high brow way. The book explained the theory of brain plasticity & how the "changeability" of the brain impacts our lives. There were sections on relationships, addiction, learning, strokes, & the part I found the most interesting the development of the Fast ForWord program which we use at the school.
If you are curious about the brain & how it is able to change & heal or harm itself this is a must read!
  
Vivarium (2020)
Vivarium (2020)
2020 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
8
7.0 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I'm a sucker for Jesse Eisenberg. Something about his presence in a film draws me to it and probably allows me to enjoy it more than perhaps what the film itself deserves.

With that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie Vivarium. While primarily focused on two (perhaps two and a half, depending on perspective) the movie draws you in emotionally and doesn't let go until the bitter end.

While various interpretations are definitely possible, I saw it as a scathing review on the social levity that we place on tangible things and the role we allow them to play in our lives. While a bit alarming in pace at times retrospectively, I found the drive of the movie quite satisfying. From the love of a young couple starting their future together to the unenviable realization of what has become, this movie is a ride worth taking.