Book to Movie Review: Insurgent

Insurgent
Book by Veronica Roth
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Dystopia

Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.

You can read my review of Divergent (movie) here.

Well. The trailers for this movie were pretty stupid in my opinion. I remember seeing lots of action and CGI, and overall being like whaaaaaat. 

And it turns out that feeling was pretty accurate regarding the entire film.

I did NOT come with expectations- one reason being the weird trailers, another being that I never was that invested in the trilogy originally, and lastly because I more or less forgot what happened in the books. 

All these would have served me well if the movie had been a bad adaptation, but enjoyable on its own. However, it was truly bizarre even just as a film. At any given moment something that did not make sense was happening. ENTIRE ILLOGICAL ELEMENTS WERE ADDED- just HOW exactly is a device supposed to say what faction you're in or how divergent you are?? WHY would Four wait until the factionless nearly killed them three times over to play his my-mommy-is-your-boss card? And there is NO WAY Four could have really made that jump in front of the train and survived. The plot stayed nonsensical all throughout. 

Cinematically, it was not a smooth watch. So many pieces were dream scenes or simulations that I was always second-guessing whether what I was watching actually happened. Also, I can't believe I'm saying this but... it was too dramatic. All the flying-burning-building shtick really took away from the characters and their stories- and they are not lacking. I think the movie would have been better had they given more time to Four's relationship with his parents, Caleb's betrayal, Christina forgiving Tris... I could go on. Potentially, Insurgent could have really tugged on the heartstrings. 

The good thing that I will say is that the actors shone more (than in the first). Miles Teller stole every bit he was in. Ansel Elgort was FUNNY (granted, that might be more due to bad acting than good... of maybe he will just always be Ansel in my mind) Shailene was amazing as usual. The biggest difference goes to Theo- I liked his character so much more in Insurgent. In Divergent, he was just a pretty face (and back). Now I felt and saw all his feelings more, and it was a real pleasure to watch him act and relate. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Love, 
Esty

Sneak Peek - Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally!

Jesse's Girl
Miranda Kenneally
Contemporary Romance

Practice makes perfect.

Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow the Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?

Guys! News!! 

You all know Miranda Kinneally, right? I have heard so much about her and have been dying to read one of her books for AGES. SO, above is the info of her new book- and below, surprises!

In celebration of Miranda’s new book, Sourcebooks Fire is offering some really cool stuff for readers, fans, etc. 

Everyone who emails teenfire@sourcebooks.com will automatically receive an email of the EXCLUSIVE Jesse’s Girl Playlist, and will be invited to attend a LIVE online author event on July 6, the day before Jesse’s Girl goes on-sale!

In addition, if you pre-order the book and send your proof of purchase (and mailing address) to teenfire@sourcebooks.com, you’ll not only get the exclusive playlist and event invite, but you’ll also receive a signed/personalized bookplate, a super-cute custom guitar pick, and entered to win a $300 gift card to TicketMaster so you can go to a concert or musical or some other fun event.  

And in case you weren't salivating yet....

EXCERPT FROM JESSE’S GIRL:

As much as I love music, I am generally not a fan of country. I don’t like banjos. I don’t like sappy lyrics about trucks and hauling hay. Dolly Parton is my mortal enemy—my mom plays “Jolene” over and over and over and over, and it makes me want to chop my ears off like van Gogh. Yeah, yeah, I’m from Tennessee, where it’s a crime if you don’t love country, but I like deep, rumbling beats and singing loud and fast and hard. I do not like closing my eyes and crooning to a cow in the pasture. Yet here I am at a Jesse Scott concert, getting ready to meet him and to see if he’ll let me shadow him next Friday.

My school requires every senior to “shadow” a professional for a day. It’s their way of helping us figure out what kind of career we want. Like, if you want to be president when you grow up, you might get to shadow the mayor. Want to be a chef? Have fun kneading dough at the Donut Palace. When I said “I want to be a musician,” I figured they’d send me to work in the electronics section at Walmart.

I certainly never expected to shadow the king of country music.

It turns out that Jesse Scott is my principal’s nephew. Jesse won TV’s Wannabe Rocker when he was ten and has gone on to become very successful. In sixth grade, every girl in class—myself included—took the Teen Beat quiz: “Would Jesse Scott Like Your Kissing Style?” (Obviously the answer was yes.) In middle school, I had a Jesse Scott poster on my ceiling. It’s hard to believe he’s only eighteen, because he’s already won three Grammys. When he was younger, his songs were about family, fishing, and playing baseball, but lately they’re about love and making love and all things sexy.

I wouldn’t say I’m a fan anymore, but I would never give up an opportunity to learn from a professional with such a gorgeous, pure voice. I want to learn what it’s like to perform day in and day out. Despite what everyone and their mom says—that I’ll struggle as a musician—all I want is to play guitar in front of a crowd and hear people cheer for me.

I can’t believe I’m backstage at the Grand Ole Opry! I bounce on my toes. Jesus, is that an archtop Super 4, the model Elvis played? I’ve never seen one in real life. It probably cost more than my house. I’m ogling the guitar when Jesse Scott comes out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He pads across the room to the couch, wearing nothing but a pair of rugged jeans with more holes than Swiss cheese. The lighting is dim, and he doesn’t seem to notice I’m here, which is good, because I’ve moved from ogling the guitar to ogling him.

Who wouldn’t? He was one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People,” and it is a truth universally acknowledged that you should stare at people who’ve made that list. The guy’s gorgeous. Like in the boy-next-door way. His wet, wavy, brown hair curls around his ears and nearly hits his shoulders, and while he doesn’t have a six-pack or anything, his body is fit. I wish he’d look my way so I can see his famous brown eyes. They always remind me of those caramel chews Poppy gives me when I visit. Jesse has some sort of Gaelic symbol tattooed on his left shoulder blade. I want to reach out and trace the design.

God, get ahold of yourself, Maya. Don’t be a horndog. Besides, he’s so not my type. I don’t do pretty boys.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy weekend!

Love,

Esty

Review: A Study in Scarlet + The Sign of Four

The Sherlock Holmes Novels
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
Classics

Apparently, these stories are so famous they were denied a blurb from Goodreads(;

So last summer I fell totally, absolutely, and irrevocably in love with BBC's Sherlock (and um, Benedict Cumberbatch), to the point where I now know all 9 episodes by heart. Various members of my family, after being horrified that a huge reader like me has fallen in love with a tv show having never read the iconic stories, started buying me copies. 

I now have 3 collections, one of them full (all 54 on kindle!).

I came at A Study in Scarlet with minimal expectations. I was right to do so. 

As a reader, I'm more a people person than a plot person (hence, why I love Cassie Clare's Shadowhunter books. No one could possibly attribute literary genius to them but BEST. CHARACTERS. EVER). Anyway, as opposed to the tv show that explores Sherlock's character development and his relationship with the rest of the crew, the original stories are truly all about the mystery. My favorite bits are when Watson marvels at Holmes, but those are few and far between.

Another thing that was difficult for me to get into were the background chapters towards the end of each novella. In both A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, there are a good few chapters devoted to the murderer's history with the murderee. This SOUNDS fascinating but in both cases was slow, long-winded, and most annoyingly, NOT ABOUT WATSON AND HOLMES. 

Also, these stories were written over 120 years ago. THEY ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND. A lot of times after the big reveal my response was like, 'WHAT are you talking about??'

YET SOMEHOW, I really enjoyed them! And I never really like short stories! It's truly bizarre. There is something intriguing about them - maybe because each story is new, so you never know what to expect. That is almost a guaranteed way of making me read all of them. 

Rating: 

Book to Movie Review: If I Stay

If I Stay
Book by Gayle Forman
Director: R.J. Cutler
Screenplay: Shauna Cross

Life changes in an instant for young Mia Hall after a car accident puts her in a coma. During an out-of-body experience, she must decide whether to wake up and live a life far different than she had imagined. The choice is hers if she can go on.

You can read my review of If I Stay (the book) here.  You can read my review of Where She Went here. 

Finally got around to watching this. I was soooo excited- I loved the book with all my heart, and the movie got a lot of pre-release hype. Ugh, the fatal mistake. NEVER go to a book-to-movie adaptation with expectations.

The first half was SO CHEESY. I was miming vomit the whole time. Those first conversations between Mia and Adam were so stupid and cringe-worthy. There was insta-love and insta-kissing and all in all a huge cliche. The only redeeming factor of the beginning of the film were the scenes with her parents- they are by far the best characters and actors in If I Stay the movie.

Speaking of actors, I was not impressed with Chloe or with Jamie (the leads). My first impression of them was that they didn't look the part, but then, that was my first impression of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Therefore, I expected them to surprise me for the better. They did not. I kept seeing them as actors reciting lines and going through motions - I was not feeling the characters at all. In the book I love them as a couple, here I failed to see why they like each other. Likewise regarding Liana Liberato, the actress who played Kim.

The whole film was oddly colorless. True, the story takes place in a hospital, but much of it is flashbacks of her life and even those were nothing special.

Everything started to pick up in the second half. It's hard to put my finger on what exactly made it better - I think I just started to get into it more, because none of the above flaws were rectified as far as I remember. It may also have been the music though.

The music - unquestionably the movie's strong point. As soon as I finished watching I started to download the soundtrack. The lyrics, the melodies, the playing,  the singing. I'm not much of a music critic, but I will say the songs were beautiful.

Adaptation- what WERE they thinking? I see no reason not to call the band Shooting Star like in the book (though I understand that Williamette Stone is the real name of the real band). Also, what was the whole making-Adam-prematurely-tortured for? In the movie one of his parents walked out on him or something like that and therefore he overreacts about Mia considering Julliard. It just made him more pitiful than he needed to be and nothing like the strong character in the book. (By that I mean he has reason enough to be upset and there was no need for this added detail)

And they pulled out the whole part where Adam brings a famous singer to cause a diversion so he can get in! That was the best part of the book!!

And the ending? COME ON. Clearly, someone failed to understand the point of the story. Adam giving up his career to follow Mia to NY takes away the thorn of the book's tearjerker ending and won't satisfy people who parted with loved ones for college. It avoided an important conflict of their story.

(It also basically cancelled out Where She Went which of course enraged me because I love the companion more)

Altogether? I actually managed to enjoy myself watching it, but don't go expecting a good adaptation or the next TFiOs. Rating:

Review: Ruin and Rising

Ruin and Rising (Grisha #3)
Leigh Bardugo
UNIQUENESS (but ya it's fantasy)

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

You can read my reviews of Seige and Storm and Shadow and Bone here.

As you can see, I regard this series as the most unique out there in fantasy today. I will also remark that the only reason this review is even coherent is because I had an entire week to collect myself. 

OH MY GOD. I JUST

Ok, Leigh Bardugo you have guts and heart and I SALUTE YOU. Alina was SO KICK BUTT in this book that I practically wept with pride. And the best part? So many authors try to market their heroine as strong and badass that everytime she does something halfway decent all the other characters are like 'wow omg you're so amazing' and the reader is just like, huh? 

WELL ALINA ACTUALLY IS. And there's no need to make a remark about it every five minutes. It is perfectly accepted and obvious to all involved. I LOVE HER.

I found the whole Darkling-Mal-Nikolai conundrum absolutely THRILLING. I couldn't decide who I loved more and I didn't have to. There was no wounded Jacob to attend to- yeah, Nikolai wanted to marry her, but he wasn't infatuated. And besides that I am still bursting from satisfaction that Alina liked Mal BEFORE Mal realized he liked Alina. HOORAY FOR SENSE AND REFRESHABILITY!!

On that note, WE GET THE DARKLINGS NAME!! *does victory dance whilst melting*

I would also like to note that I have Bronchitis and read this while sick in bed. Picture this: 

Nikolai/Mal/Alina/Pretty Much Everybody: *makes a crack*
Me: *busts up laughing*
Me: *coughs up lung*

Rinse and repeat.

The beginning was a little slow, but it picked up fairly quickly. The end broke me in that it was happily ever after but not quite- just the way I HATE like it. 

What more can I say? It was emotional. I cried for the characters, and for myself because the end of the best series ever was in sight. 


All that's left is to cry that it's over. 



Love,
Esty

Review: The Chosen

The Chosen
Chaim Potok
Historical fiction? Hardly.  I'll go with 'Hard to Classify'

"Anyone who finds it is finding a jewel. Its themes are profound and universal."
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again....

I'm a little bit speechless, to say the least.

This book was thrust in my hands A MILLION TIMES by one of my best friends and I kept saying I'd get to I'd get to it. We sell hundreds of copies of it at the bookstore I work at because everyone studies it in school. I myself almost studied it last year but it was changed last minute to A Separate Peace. My grandparents are friendly with the author.

And yet, my friend's copy sat on my bookshelf for about a year now. 

When someone says, 'it's a book about friendship between a Hasidic boy and a Modern Orthodox one' you're like, Oh, that's nice. I didn't imagine for a second that it would move me the way it did. 

The Chosen was written with EXPERT skill. Whole periods of time were described in two sentences and yet you FEEL the time passing. All the stress and worry that any of the characters go through comes straight to me as if it was I who was living it. 

And the build up. Dear Lord. All throughout the novel, you can FEEL the climax coming. I had no idea what it would be- the conflicts are subtle and at times aren't noticed. The tension grows and grows until you're ten pages away from the end and you know SOMETHING is going to happen but you don't know what or how and then it's upon you and you're shocked and you cry and OH MY GOD. 

I'll tell you right now- there's no dramatic secret or plot twist. But it was the most AMAZING climax I've ever read. 

And the friendship. All I wanted was MORE. Truly one of the most beautiful relationships ever written. Can I get a sequel?? Pretty please?? 

There were so many crazy and genius themes and ideas that I almost wished I HAD learned it in class. The backdrop of the Holocaust made the story even more real to me, watching how the different groups dealt with the trauma of 6 million of their people dead while you were oblivious and the world was silent.

Need I say more? Do yourself and the world a favor and savor this story.