Movie Review #1: Alice through the Looking Glass

Finally, I am getting a movie review up. I am such a bad person in terms of promising reviews and then never giving them. Yesterday, I went to see the sequel to Alice in Wonderland which was Alice through the Looking Glass.  Apparently, this movie hasn't been getting good reviews which made absolutely no sense to me as I really enjoyed it and it was one of my most anticipated movies for this year.

Title: Alice Through the Looking Glass
Director: James Bobin
Rating: PG
My Rating: 5 Crowns
Release Date: May 27, 2016

The first movie came out a few years ago and in case you have somehow never seen it or forgot about it, I shall post a small summary for you. 

Alice Kingsleigh was a young girl when she first visited the magical Underland and is now a teenager who has no memory of the place. Her life takes an unexpected turn when at a garden party, she spots a curious white rabbit and chases him down a hole. She's reunited with her friends the Mad Hatter, played by Johnny Depp, the Cheshire Cat and many others. Alice learns that she has a destiny to end the Red Queen's (Helena Bonham Carter) reign of terror over Underland. 

I think the fact that some people don't like it is because they don't follow the book, scene for scene. I personally did not mind because I feel like it is one of those stories that the screenwriters can do whatever they want with it. 

I really enjoyed this movie. Not as much as the first one but almost as much.  I loved seeing the beloved characters again and being able to see what had happened to the characters in the time that we had been gone.

PLOT

I really enjoyed the plot. We started off with Alice's normal life. She is now the Captain of her father's ship. She is basically in the Straits of Melacca getting chased by pirates. I love how it started off right in the action to start it off with a bang. I also really liked how she got to Underland and seeing Alice's whole normal life intertwined with her going to Underland

I feel like the movie followed a good plot structure with rising action and a large climax before having falling action.

CHARACTERS

Alice is as usual my favorite character. She is strong willed and strong minded. She is also very courageous, often jumping headfirst into danger.  Alice shows these characteristics continuously during the movie when she is trying to find the Hatter's family and fix him.

The Mad Hatter is another one of my favorite characters. He is just so funny. We didn't know much about him until this movie when we get a backstory about his family and his life when he was younger which I really liked.

We got some backstory on the White Queen and the Red Queen's lives and how the Red Queen ended up how she is. It was a lot of her sister's fault.

We also got a new character: Time. He was so freaking hilarious and sometimes was just really stupid but it's a movie filled with craziness so he fit right in.

WORLD

We got to see a lot more of Underland in this film. We got to see the Hatter's house and not just him having tea all day.  We also got to go back and time and see our beloved characters at different points in their lives. This movie was much less dark and dismal which greatly impressed me.

CONTENT FOR OLDER VIEWERS ONLY?

The PG rating was perfect for this movie. The violence is kept to a minimum and there is no drug, alcohol or sexual content. I feel like this movie is wonderful for kids and also has a good message. I encourage all of you to see it and if you have siblings, cousins, etc.

I highly recommend this movie because it is fun and is a good get away.

Music Monday #15

I got this idea from the blog Trust in the Words. 

Just Like Fire  by P!nk

This song was written for the movie Alice through the Looking Glass and I just saw the movie (keep your eyes peeled for the movie review). I feel like this song works really well with the movie and the whole theme of Alice. I actually really like this song. It's really catchy and the music video is really entertaining. I recommend a listen. 

What's in your headphones?

Happy reading everybody! <3

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout [Lux #1]

This is a spoiler free review!

Obsidian

Written by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Date: May 8, 2012

Pages: 335

Source: Library

Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository

Recommended Age: 12 and up!

Summary:

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring… until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something… unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Review:

I went into this book not knowing much but what bloggers, and youtubers had said about it. Then, when I read the back and discovered that the male in this book was actually an alien and not a vampire or a werewolf, I was immediately down to read it. Most books with aliens have them destroying things or wanting to kill humans but this book was different.  

COVER

I must admit, the guy on the cover kind of freaks me out. His eyes actually scare me. I also don’t think the cover really represents the story. Katy isn’t hanging onto Daemon for support the whole time. She has her own mind and can decide what she wants for herself.

WORLD-BUILDING

Since there isn’t a new fantasy world it is hard to describe actual world-building. But the way the author explains Daemon’s backstory and his planet and everything is rather unique. I really enjoyed learning about their backstory and how they weren’t just normal aliens.

Then there are the characters.

KATY

We first meet Katy when she has just moved to West Virginia and is writing on her blog or about to. I adore Katy. She sort of reminds me of me or Elena from The Vampire Diaries (granted I’ve only watched about two episodes so I don’t really know). She is a normal girl who’s life changes when her dad dies and has to move to a little town in the middle of nowhere. She is also a book blogger and fangirls over getting new books which is totally me. I loved everything about her.

She was also quite the heroine. I half expected her to be a whimpy teenage girl who needed someone (Daemon) to save her all the time but she managed to hold her own and did some crazy things to save those whom she cared about.

DAEMON

Daemon….Where do I begin? Daemon was hot, infuriating, swoony and arrogant. He was also an overprotective brother, always protecting Dee from everything even things she so obviously didn’t need to be protected from. Daemon did not like Katy at first and went out of his way to be rude. But when he revealed himself to be an alien, he had no choice but to spend time with her.

Let me admit something, I hated Daemon at first. I thought he was rude and arrogant and didn’t know why anyone liked him. But he sort of grows on you and I did like him by the last half of the book.

DEE

From the first page when we met her, I adored her. She was that bubbly best friend and she was the greatest friend to Katy. She had a lot of strength and stuck by her friend.

ROMANCE

The romance was by no means insta love. They hated each other. Daemon infuriated Katy to no end and Daemon did not get along with Katy. But after a while there was a lot of flirting and I could tell that they would either get together by the end or almost get together. By the way, it is practically impossible to hear anything romantic come out of Daemon’s mouth. I can not wait to see how their relationship progresses

WRITING

I really enjoyed the writing. It was easy to understand and I really flew through this book.

Final Thoughts:

I highly recommend this book, especially if you like contemporaries and anything sci-fi. I really enjoyed this book because of the characters and plot.

Quotes from the Book:

“Will you show me what you really look like? You don't sparkle, do you?”

“Beautiful face. Beautiful body. Horrible attitude. It was the holy trinity of hot boys.”

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Crowns

Weekly Update: 5/22-5/29

I have decided to start doing a weekly post called weekly recap where I update you on my life, reading and watching. Plus any posts I have done or will do. 

New Books

Purchased:

Library:

In Case You Missed It

Monday: Music Monday
Top 5 Wednesday: Characters I Defend

This Week I Read

  

Next Week I'm Reading

Upcoming Reviews

Weekly Posts Announcement!

Hello all. This is going to be a short post and I have a very important announcement that I had to get out right now.  I have decided to do a new feature on my blog called Weekly Posts. This is going to be a weekly post that will either have to do with recommendations, lifestyle or favorites of mine. I am so excited to be sharing this with all of you as I love posting on here. I am often really busy with school and now I have a reason to share things I know or bookish things I like with all of you.

I will try and tell you what I will post at the beginning of the week but sometimes I won't.

Here are the next few posts I will do:

May 29-Dystopian Recommendations

June 5-Top Ten OTPs

Top 5 Wednesday| Characters I Consistently Defend

  TOP FIVE WEDNESDAY

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam. You basically get a new topic every Wednesday, and you list your Top 5 books related to that topic. Head over to the Goodreads group, and add your name to the list of Wednesday-ers if you’re interested in participating!

Today’s topic is “Characters I Will Defend,” and I adore this topic because I have so many characters that I love and others hate and I have to protect them from this cruel world. These are also in no particular order. 

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5. Prince Kai FROM THE LUNAR CHRONICLES 

I do not understand why people don't like him. People keep saying that Cinder shouldn't have ended up with him because they thought he was unloyal or blah blah blah.  I honestly love him so much. He's gone through a ton of stuff that is very hard hitting on him and he pulls through the best he can. Sure, he shuns Cinder a little at times but come on, they are OTP! 

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 4. Regina Mills and Peter Pan from Once Upon a Time (TV)

Apparently people don't like Regina. (Moment of silence) 

I love her so so much. Regina went through a lot having Cora as her mother. I mean, she just wanted Regina to be Queen and didn't care at all about her childhood. Regina is such a strong character who doesn't break down no matter what happens to her. And let me tell you, this season has been hard on her.  

Now, Peter Pan, I can tell. He is ruthless and a total villain. But I love him to death. And yes it is partly because he is attractive but he is so ambitious and knows what he wants and I admire that. 

3. Cleo from Falling Kingdoms by Morgan rhodes

Why exactly does Cleo get hate? Cleo is such a cinnamon roll. I would protect her from the haters. *wraps my arms around her* She is loyal, kind and smart. She always helps others no matter what they look like or what class they are part of. She doesn't want to be involved in a war. She just wants to live her life. Granted, I have only read the first book but she is such a precious character and I really like her. 

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2. DRACO MALFOY FROM THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

Draco Malfoy is my favorite character in the Harry Potter series, after Hermione Granger. He is such a complex character who grew up in a home that had very prejudiced views. He knew he was taught to kill or die himself and yet on many an occasion he has lowered his wand. I believe he is a bully and a brat because of who his family is and not because of his own views. He is not an evil person, he just follows the examples of the adults in his family. He is a confused sixteen year old, who had a horrible, impossible task thrust upon him and he didn't know what to do. He knew it was wrong and yet he didn't want to die for not following the rules. In the last book, he saved the life of his arch-enemy in a war that was taking the life of both friend and foe. He didn't have anything to gain at all by doing this. He shows that he can defy his family and be his own person. And I love him so so much! I could write a five paragraph essay but I won't bore you. 

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1. Maven from Red queen by victoria aveyard

Yes, he's a villain. I get it. 

I love him though. He's another complex character who isn't quite sure what to do. With his father, ignoring him half the time and always being in his brother's shadow, he has reasons behind what he does. He doesn't want Mare to fall for Cal whom she will probably end up with because that's what always happens.  I love Maven and will protect him from this evil world. 

0. America singer from the selection series

Where do I begin? Ah yes, I did cheat but America is a precious character who is one of my all time favorites and I don't understand the hate geared towards her. People say that she is whiny and weak and she isn't. She shows her strength more than once. Sure, not with samurai swords but she's smart and knows exactly what to do. She doesn't give in to others who try to push her around like the King. She doesn't want to share Maxon with anyone else which is logical. No one wants the person they like or love to be fooling around with other woman. America Singer comes from a poor family and she is determined to make her family proud. She didn't even want to be part of the Selection but she ended up in it so she knew she had to help her family. She is smart and beautiful and I love her and I will not tolerate all this hate towards her. 

Music Monday #14

I got this idea from the blog Trust in the Words. 

Team  by Iggy Azalea

Iggy Azalea came out with a brilliant song. I love this song a lot. It is very catchy and I really like how she sings in this one. I highly recommend giving it a listen. 

Crave by Tove Lo

I saw this in a video featuring Theo and Malia. Don't ask how I got there but I did and now I adore this song. The chorus is stuck in my head all the time now. Please listen to it and see for yourself. 

Blood Like Gasoline by Against the Current

OMG! This song is my jam!  I love their new album. All the songs on it are brilliant and I am seriously thinking of giving this album a buy. This song has such a good beat and is very catchy. 

What's in your headphones?

Happy reading everybody! <3