Immortal City by Scott Speer

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest Angel in a city obsessed with Immortals. Everyone loves him. Everyone except Maddy Montgomery, that is. She's not interested in shallow celebrities... Until Jackson takes refuge in the diner where Maddy works and an irresistible connection pulls them together. But as Maddy is drawn into Jackson's glamorous world, shes exposed to more than the paparazzi. A serial killer is murdering Angels. Maddy and Jackson could lose each other forever.

Immortal City is the first in a new YA series, they're written by Scott Speer who is both a film director and a music video director. The synopsis of this book makes the book sound quite generic and through the use of the adjective 'hottest' does little to give it a unique selling point. Yet, it still draws you in. Perhaps this has something to with the cover, sometimes it can be quite difficult to resist an tanned, brooding, muscular male and I know it certainly helped me want to buy it.

The plot of this book is everything you'd expect it to be from the synopsis, although that's not a necessarily a bad thing. The plot follows Jacks, the most loved angel in the City of Angels, and Maddy, an ordinary human who seems to be the only person immune to the charm of the Angels. It switches between their point of views so the readers get aspects from both of their lives which helps us connect more with the characters. I'm not going to lie, it is pretty predictable what is going to happen throughout the narrative which makes it a little difficult to be gripped in the claws of the plot. The action scenes in the book were well written, especially the end fight scene which had me shouting angry remarks at one point.

Jacks and Maddy's dynamic was interesting. I really did like the way that Maddy stayed true to herself and didn't immediately fall for Jacks charm from the very beginning and the way Speer gradually built up their relationship. It was hard to not fall for Jacks, even though he has a very stereotypical teenage view on life; I'm misunderstood, nobody understands me. You get the picture. Jackson Godspeed is the most famous Angel and to be fair to him, a lot is demanded of him and he is also having to protect himself from an Angel serial killer so of course he is going to be feeling misunderstood. But don't get me wrong, he does have some redeeming qualities, he is handsome, interesting, charming and has a lot of heart.

The one thing that stood out the most about Immortal City was the social comment. Ignoring the romance and murder, if you were to change the names of the Angels to celebrities in our society then there would be little difference in the way the public in the book acts. Speer delivers a comment that forces us to think about how ignorant and ridiculous it is to act this way to a group of elite strangers, and really it's quite interesting. I have no idea whether he intended for the book to come across in this light, but I congratulate you sir because it was brilliant.

Overall, I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. It's a fun, easy read, at times it'll make you laugh and you'll be charmed by Jacks. I'm not sure whether I will read the sequel; Natural Born Angel but this book is worth a read if you have the chance.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

Taken from Google images

When Mara Dyer wakes up in hospital with no memory of how she got there, or any explanation as to why the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her boyfriend and two best friends left her mysteriously unharmed, her doctors suggest she start over in a new city, at a new school, and just hope her memories gradually come back.

First things first; whatever you expect of this book, I can guarantee you wont expect this. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer will draw you in, make you fall in love with Mara and then blow your mind. Sure, on some level it is a stereotypical YA novel; romance, angst and some mysterious occurrences. Yet, the relationship is not the main focus of the novel, it's more a sub plot that helps shape Mara's reality and actually moves the main plot move forward. The main plot is filled with twists and turns, and the switches between past and present help understand Mara on a more personal level.

Mara Dyer is beautiful and most definitely not as broken as she thinks, she has been through a traumatic event and due to this is dealing with the terrifying repercussions. She handles these repercussions quite well, and the way Michelle Hodkin has shaped her as a character forces the reader to be part of the journey she goes through. Mara is intelligent, witty and can stand her ground which makes her such a wonderful and heartbreaking character to follow.

I mean sure, she spends some of her time commenting on Noah Shaw's character and beauty, but who wouldn't? He is not the first fictional character that I have fallen in love with because of his cockiness, and he will not be the last but for reasons that I cannot express he is different. Some reviews have likened Noah to Edward Cullen in such a manner that they say they're one and the same. However, this is wrong, he combines traits from various fictional characters; Edward Cullen's mystery, Jace Lightwood's arrogance and Dean Winchesters' protective nature, but is still an original character that has his own issues and his own burdens to bear.

Although, there is no beating around the bush here, there are some issues with this book but they're nothing to do with the plot, more to do with the writing and even then I am just ardently searching for issues. There are a few spelling mistakes dotted here and there, some punctuation errors and once or twice the paragraphing seems to be wrong but this is nothing that couldn't be easily sorted out. There are no plot holes, or at least no major plot holes and Michelle Hodkin left this book open for a sequel through such a jaw dropping ending.

Additionally, the sub characters were not as well developed as Noah or Mara but they were well on their way to becoming more realistic than fictional, they don't brush aside Mara's issues as easily as they could have done and there is diversity in character profiles. As I said, they could have been refined more but I'm sure Michelle will further these characters in the sequel, and will no doubt throw in a few plot twists.

If you want to be kept guessing for the entirety of a novel then this is certainly the book for you.  I cannot stress enough how brilliant this book is, although I began reading with a lot of doubts in my mind these were soon erased. This book deserves a lot of praise, a lot more than the reviews I have seen give it, so please go and read this book as it will draw you into it's clutches and you'll never want it to let you go.

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.