Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Okay, so I know it was released quite a while ago but I thought in dedication to my love of Cassandra Clare's writing I would review the final book from one of my favourite series. On the 19th March, the world was graced with the long awaited conclusion of the series The Infernal Devices; Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. To say the hype for this book was high would be an understatement, it was through the roof and nobody could wait to get their hands on a copy. This will not be completely spoiler free, but it is expected that you will have read Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince. If you have read neither of those books then STOP HERE.

Taken from Goodreads.com

Clockwork Princess picks up soon after Clockwork Prince finished. Tessa is engaged to Jem, Will is dealing with his sister now attempting to follow in her brothers footsteps, Gideon Lightwood is living in the Institute and Charlotte is expecting her first child. With Mortmain still operative, albeit less prominently, Tessa has to figure out how to bring an end to his reign of terror whilst attempting to discover her true origins, all the while dealing with her heart, metaphorically, being split in two by her love for two equally wonderful men.

From being told that historical fantasy fiction would never work, and that the fans of Cassie's other series The Mortal Instruments would never cross over, she has certainly proved everybody wrong. This series has captured the hearts of thousands, and it's all down to Cassie's stunning writing style. She has the ability to get the reader so emotionally invested in her characters and their back story that it is way too difficult to simply remove yourself from the universe in which these stories occur. With Clockwork Princess this has only gotten more intense. You will find yourself crying with joy and sadness over the trials these superbly moulded characters have to go through, you will find yourself laughing at the little remarks the characters make (Specifically Will, this boy has the ability to make me cry laughing and then cry at his pain within seconds) and you will find yourself wishing the series will never end.

Endings are hard, even more so I imagine in a best selling series where you've got to attempt to keep all of your readers happy. But you know what? Cassie does this. She caters to the feelings of every reader that has become attached to the series, especially the fans that are stuck deciding whether they are Team Will or Team Jem. Every single character is given the ending they deserve and none of the characters final scenes are graceless or unbecoming, they honestly reflect the personalities of each one. I say congratulations Cassandra Clare, you managed to conclude a series that could have gone so very wrong if some people weren't happy but I don't think anybody was left unsatisfied with what happened.

If you've gotten this far and did not heed my earlier warnings of not reading this if you haven't read the first two, then I suggest you go and read them. If you have not read Cassandra Clare's other series The Mortal Instruments, then I suggest you go and read them. You can find Cassandra Clare here; http://www.cassandraclare.com/

Tom Hiddleston and his work with UNICEF

If you've ever doubted how extraordinarily kind hearted Tom Hiddleston is, then hopefully this article will change your mind.

If you don’t know who Tom Hiddleston is, then I expect you spent 2011 and 2012 locked away but I will tell you anyway. Tom Hiddleston is a British actor known best for his role as Loki in Marvel’s ‘Thor’ and ‘Avengers Assemble’ but was also in the BBC adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Hollow Crown’ and ‘War Horse’.

Recently this wonderful man flew out to Guinea, West Africa on behalf of the charity UNICEF to find out more about their work with children, education and sanitation. UNICEF works with families, communities and governments to protect the rights of all children.

Taken from UNICEF

Taken from UNICEF

On his UNICEF blog he talks of his experiences over in Guinea in great detail. He travelled from Heathrow to Nouakchott, Mauritania and finally descended into Conakry, Guinea where he was greeted by UNICEF team members and was taught about the way the country works. At the end of his first blog he writes; “It's become immediately clear that the problems in a developing country such as Guinea are enormous, but they can be simply defined as water, nutrition, sanitation, vaccination and education.”

Tom visited the National Institute of Child Health and Nutrition where he was rendered speechless by the environment he found himself in. He discovered chronic malnutrition amongst the children, many of which were disease riddled. But it wasn't all doom and gloom as he visited another of the projects; Tinafan which is a project designed to develop the social/economic inclusion of children who may have dropped out of school, and depend on their livelihood on tiny income from labour. Tom described how the children were all smiles and full of happiness.

Over the course of his trip he visited Focus Groups for women where they discussed vaccination, washing and breastfeeding and was the guest speaker on a French speaking Guinean radio show. He learnt about a project set to help children recruited into the army reintegrate into the community, rather than turning to crime. These people are taught practical skills such as; masonry, welding and plumbing. Not long after this, he visited a town that is deprived of the very basic human needs like water due to the country’s military that control the nearest well.

Soon it was Tom’s final day in Guinea, which he spent visiting a monument dedicated to the reduction of Female Genital Mutilation. He visited a school with 130 children and the children he met were so attentive and excited to learn - not only did they care about their education, they enjoyed playing a sport that Tom described to be frantic, breathless, playful and so much fun: football.

You can read all of Tom's blogs here; http://www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/Our-supporters/Celebrities/Tom-Hiddleston/  I will end with Mr Hiddleston’s final words on the trip; “All I can do now is help make people aware of what is happening, of what they are doing. That is all that I can do. For now.”

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Unless you've been hidden from the internet for a while, you should hopefully be aware of the phenomenon that is set to hit cinemas in August. The movie adaptation of the first book in Cassandra Clare's highly acclaimed series; The Mortal Instruments.

The story revolves around Clary Fray (Lily Collins) who has to join up with a group of strangers that call themselves 'Shadowhunters' when her mother is kidnapped from their home. She soon learns that not only has her mother been keeping some pretty big secrets from her, she is not at all who she thought she was. Some may say it is a Twilight rip off or just another YA romance novel. Those people are so incredibly wrong.

As with any book to movie adaptation there are people who have issues with the casting, although with CoB this is only a small percentage of the fandom that still remain unhappy. They were unhappy with the casting of Jamie Campbell Bower as the wonderful Jace Wayland, with claims he wasn't who they wanted and he just wouldn't be able to achieve the Jace look and attitude. However, after the release of the first trailer most of those doubts were erased, it's safe to say that JCB is better than anyone could have imagined, not only does he appreciate the character to his full extent he also portrays him in such a monumental way. And though only a handful of stills and 3 trailers have been released to the public, the amount of support and appreciation towards the cast and crew is absolutely remarkable.

This wasn't so much a review, so much as a comment on how this is a film you should definitely be looking out for. It's released in USA on August 23rd 2013. Check out the book series if you haven't already read them, I suggest you go ahead and read them now. If you haven't already seen the trailer, here it is below.

All credit goes to movieclipsTRAILERS for uploading this and Sony for producing it.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

This book is everything the reviews on the inside cover say it is. That is absolutely terrifying. The story follows Theseus Cassio Lowood, a ghost hunter, whom after having lost his father to the profession decides to pursue the lifestyle himself in hopes of vengeance for his father. Armed with a knife passed down the generations of his family, his Wiccan mother and her angry cat, he travels the country and occasionally the world, hunting down and ending the terror filled afterlives of vengeful ghosts. Cas (As he is known by his family and peers) sets off on the trail of a legend known as ‘Anna Dressed in Blood’.

Source: www.kendareblake.com

For quite a while it seems as if this book will merely be a one off, but halfway-3/4 of the way through something in the plot changes making it impossible to simply end without fully resolving all the issues, and even the reader doesn’t want it to end in hopes of reconciliation in a sequel. The book is immensely better than it may initially seem, as a couple of the characters who aren’t the protagonist, particularly Anna, Carmel and Michael, are more than you’d ever expect them to be and you slowly feel yourself growing attached to the characters.

Kendare Blake uses imagery to her advantage to strike fear into the minds of the reader when describing Anna and both her inner torment and the torment she causes those who dare enter her house.  Not only does she terrify the reader, she also draws them in with the curiosity to discover the heart wrenching back story behind Anna’s death and the overall plot of the novel. With her tremendous skill for capturing the reader’s hearts, she also manages to have us appreciating the cat on a whole new level.

When reading this book I found myself mentally cheering every time there was a success on behalf of Cas and his friends, and getting ready to grab my pitchfork to start an angry mob when something went wrong. I also can’t leave this review without commenting on how beautiful the cover of the book is, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I thoroughly recommend this book to readers who are particularly interested in YA or even the horror genre because it is a fantastic read and I cannot wait for the release of the sequel.  5/5 stars for this novel for fantastic character arcs, brilliant story telling and a Kendare's wonderful literary talent. 

You can check out Kendare Blake's website here: http://kendareblake.com/

I'm going on an adventure!

I was quite apprehensive about whether or not I was going to enjoy Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ due to overwhelming concerns regarding the way it was filmed, after the trailer alone received bad reviews at the San Diego Comic-Con for being shot in a relatively new way it made the movie look too much like a movie set and less like Middle Earth. On top of that I also bought tickets to the 3D showing (An accident) which made me even more wary of what I was walking into. However I was very pleasantly surprised.

Source: MovieStore/ Rex Features

Martin Freeman (Sherlock, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) compellingly plays Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who enjoys a quiet lifestyle like the majority of Hobbits. Whilst much of his own generally awkward personality reflects onto his portrayal of Bilbo, it doesn’t put the viewer off, nor does it ruin the feel of the film. On one quiet day, Bilbo gets a visit from Gandalf the Grey, who is played by the wonderful Ian Mckellen (X-men, The Da vinci Code) the aftermath that follows this is 13 Dwarves turning up in Bilbo’s Hobbit hole demanding food and hospitality.

There is one main scene that really captured my attention and will stick in my mind for a long time, and this is not a spoiler for the film because it gives none of the plot away. The scene is in Bilbo’s home, all of the dwarves have quietened down, they are gathered around the fire and the entire group starts singing such a melancholic song. The atmosphere felt in the film is passed onto the audience, so much so the viewer gets caught up in the emotions that are occurring on the screen.

Source: Newline Cinema

There are many cameos from characters in that we grew to love, or in some cases hate in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Elijah Wood returns as Frodo which was truly wonderful to witness again, and also Ian Holm returns to the franchise as the older version of Bilbo. Amongst the tremendous cameos are Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett who in the Lord of the Rings trilogy played the elves, Elrond and Galadriel. And of course how could one forget Andy Serkis and Christopher Lee who return as Gollum and Saruman (I may have become a little enraged when Saruman made his entrance)

There are a lot of things I could comment on that make this movie truly fantastic, but unfortunately I only have one page and I have to keep it short and spoiler free! Although occasionally you can feel your attention slipping from the film, it will almost immediately return to you. Even if you haven’t seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy this film is meant to be the prequel, so it’s still worth seeing it. Yet again the score is absolutely wonderful and contributes so much to the atmosphere felt in the film. Please go and see this film, or buy it on DVD when it is released because you will really not regret it. I give this 5 out of 5 stars because it is truly fantastic, and as one of the most anticipated movies of the year, Jackson certainly has not disappointed.

Elementary, my dear Watson

Like quite a few people, I was rather apprehensive to watchthe American adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Thereason? All the promotional posters and press releases made Elementary appearan awful lot like the BBC’s adaptation ‘Sherlock’.  To the people, like me, who put ‘Elementary’down before even watching it or even reading up about it, then that may be correct. But in actual fact theyboth have their differences and their similarities.

‘Elementary’ from American station CBS, features Jonny LeeMiller (Train spotting) as the infamous Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu (Kill Bill:Vol 1) as Dr Joan Watson. There was quite an uproar over the fact John Watson is now a woman, however many fans have been eager to see this happen on the offchance that the relationship between Watson and Holmes can be explored on a newlevel, that is made very obvious in some adaptations. The decision to change John into Joan, was defended by the writers as ".. Holmes struggles a bit with women... What could be more trying for Sherlock Holmes than working with Watson as a woman?" Whilst set in New YorkCity, Holmes remains very English, which is a factor that would be a shame tosee go. 

The one mistake you could make when comparing the two, is to say they are one and the same. Of course, both adaptations are set during the modern age so it is very easy to make assumptions. However, the thing that Elementary keeps in the spotlight that Sherlock does not is Holmes’ drug addiction. This is referenced once or twice in the BBC adaptation but Elementary delves more into it, with Watson being Holmes’ “Sober Companion”.

My one main issue with Elementary is that the Score soundsperhaps too similar to the Hans Zimmer score for the Guy Ritchie filmadaptation. Now, you could say I’ve been looking out too intently for faults inthe show. You’d be right, but this fault is very obvious. If you’re remotelyfamiliar with the Hollywood film, you should know that the score is what makesit even more fantastic. It would appear the creators of Elementary havecottoned onto this and have decided to throw in their marginally differentversion of the score. This makes it rather annoying if you’re watching thisshow as a fan of the Guy Ritchie adaptation.

Now, onto the actual review of Elementary rather than mydescription of what’s good and bad about this show. “Finally”, I imagine youare thinking!

For the pilot episode, it isn’t a complete disappointmenthowever there are certainly things they could improve on but it’s not as bad asyou may originally think. The choices for Holmes and Watson were at firstwarily approached, but they bring their own version of the characters to the field, and it works well. Liu's Watson doesn't take any trouble from Sherlock, if he is being disrespectful towards Joan then it is made certain that he is put in his place and knows he is in the wrong. Of course, I imagine the show will getbetter as time goes on. Not every TV show is a goldmine from the offset, but itcertainly has potential. I give Elementary 4 stars out of 5.

The Angels Take Manhattan Review

Property of BBC

Tonight (29/09/12) the mid season finale of Doctor Who aired in the UK. This episode was written by Steven Moffat, and due to his track record with episodes you just knew from the offset that it was going to be a tear jerker. The Angels Take Manhattan was one of the most beautifully written episodes of the new Doctor Who that I have ever seen. This summary will be relatively spoiler free, as not everybody has had the chance to watch the episode yet.

Property of BBC

As the final episode to feature Amelia Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) the Whovian fandom didn’t know what to expect with their exit. Whilst completely heartbreaking, there was no other way Amy and Rory could have left the show. Their exit was in no way clichéd, and it completely did their characters justice. Through out the episode, their love for each other was completely obvious that you couldn't help but be happy with the way things ended. This was the best performance Matt Smith has given as the Doctor, the emotion he put into his performance was completely heart wrenching. It was close to the performance David Tennant did in Doomsday. Of course though, how could I forget River Song (Alex Kingston). She was her usual fantastic self, if not better. 

The Weeping Angels were as terrifying as ever, so mentally prepare yourself for them. Also emotionally prepare yourself if you have not watched yet.

I cried my eyes out from 20 minutes in, and I am still occasionally tearing up, you have been warned at how heartbreaking it is.

Things needed to survive this episode:

• A cushion (To hide behind)
• A box of tissues (for when you start crying your eyes out)
• Ice Cream (for emotional support)