Book review: Daughter of smoke and bone by Laini Taylor.(Few spoilers)

Hello blog people,

I have been incredibly lazy over this summer holiday. I am quite ashamed to say I haven't done one blog post, but, the spark of motivation has exploded inside me in the form of a book review. A book review of a fantastic book. Called Daughter of smoke and bone. Here's my review:

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstorus creature who is the closet thing she has to family...Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.

Every writter has a unique writting style. Laini Taylor's writting style is breathetaking; that's the first thing that struck me when reading the book. It's snappy, humours and pretty beautiful. I'm a big fan of one liners that make you want to keep reading.  There are so many of those! Just things like, "She really should have asked." leave so many questions that it's impossible to put down, and lines that make you pause with the brilliance of it and make you think and wish you'd thought of it. Like: "Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?"

Also, I love the odd sentance summaries in the book e.g "Once upon a time, a little girl was raised by monsters. But angels burned the doorways to their world, and she was all alone."- How heart stopping is that line? It's just like a little short story, stuff of fairytales. I was in constant awe of little things like this in the book. Things that made me stop and think "Wow. I wish I had written this."

Now, the protagonist heroine is freaking badass! and so refreashing from the usual YA heroines;With her blue hair that grows naturally, artistic talent and the fact that she was raised by monsters. She's funny and intelligent and actually stands her ground. She's kooky, unsual and fiercly independant. Which is nice. She can fight for herself, she can fight well, and dosen't depend on anyone. That gives a lot of comfort and reassurance for the reader. Believe me, you don't have to worry about Karou as much as you do with other female protagonists. There's no cursing their stupidity and recklessness at innocent books or e readers.

She. Can. Handle. Herself.

And all the other characters are fresh and entertaining. Karou's monster family were intruiging, mainly because they were monsters. But, their personalities are human. And they're elusive and secretive and all you want is to know more about them. And when we finally do find out, it's pretty explosive.

The story is so unique. Ok, it has angels in it. Most YA novels have angels in them now, but seriously do not let that put you off! The monsters known as chimera play a much bigger part then the angels do. And there aren't many monster/fantasy creature type novels in the mainstream of YA at the moment. This book is a breath of fresh air. Following a girl who goes on errands to procure teeth for a monster that she sees as family, paid in wishes. No idea of her true origin. When the doors to the only place that she really sees as home start closing she's left all alone. Then an angel tries to kill her. But there's something about him...(*LOVE INTEREST*)
Karou starts to wonder; What is she?
The ending and the parts leading up to the ending were exciting and page turning. The rewind in time where we find out what type of puzzle the jumled pieces we've been given through out the book make up was awesome! and VERY ORIGINAL.

I love that it was set in Prauge aswell. There aren't many book set in Prauge; which is a shame because it's a really beautiful city.

I loved the book, I can't wait for the sequel!

Now, I leave you with this quote."Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well."

-Rhiannon x

Hello blog people,

I realize I'n not a very consistent blogger; I haven't done a blog post since the 9th of June. (Which was my Twilight saga review.)
So, as I'm in a blogging/writting mood now I'm going to do an apology  post.
I have no clear idea as to what this post is going to be about but I forsee a lot of links to other blogs, apologies, promises (I'll try to keep), and boring rambiling you can feel free to ignore.

Let's get started,

My life is quite busy at the moment. I'm revising for my welsh speaking GCSE and a maths GCSE test. (Does the emphasis on the GCSE show my fear of them? I hope so. I'm terrified.) So, I can say that there probably won't be another post for a couple of weeks at least.

Of course I've also been reading . (From now on always assume that I spend my life reading). I'm slowly working my way down my list of books to read. (I should be done in 2025) and I continue to impatiently await new book releases.

Oh, which reminds me. I found Veronica Roth's blog/tumblr. Veronica Roth being the author of Divergent and Insurgent. I've read Divergent which is SO AWESOME and I am trying to get Insurgent, however, my local WH smiths are being very uncooperative and seem to be forgetting to put it out on the shelves. (I will get it!) Anyway her blog, like herself, and her books is awesome. Here's the link if you want to check it out. (You should): http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ (You'll see that she also has great music taste).

And while I'm on the blogs subject; one of my best friends now has a blog. Here it is: http://sjv-hi.blogspot.co.uk/ . I am a supportive friend. Check it out!

I've also been busy writing a short story for the Spark writing compettion. If you would like to read it, here is the link:  http://thesparkwriters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/literal.html . It's the one called "Alls fair in love and war".

- That's the blog links out of the way.

Now, I know in my post before last I promised lots of book reviews. Well, I've done one. Which is pretty shameful I know. I will be doing more. I don't know which books I'll be doing reviews on though, I'll probably just do the ones I feel like doing at the time.

I should do more rants and debates on worldwide issues too, and share my love for poetry and music...
I probably should. We'll see how it goes.

 Well, untill my next apology for not doing enough posts.

- Rhiannon X

Twilight. (spoilers)

Hello blog people,

I'm going to delve straight into my overdue Twilight series review.

Twilight. What's the first thing that comes to your mind?

Ugh! Oh, my god Twilight is so stupid! I hate Twilight! Oh my gosh Twilight is a stupid story that doesn't teach you anything but how important it is too have a vampire boyfriend!

Or maybe, you're a Twilight fan and have nothing but good thoughts for the series. Good for you.

I'm going to admit that before I read the series I was one of those people who wrongly bashed Twilight. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge the books on what people had told me, or what I'd seen on the internet.
I decided to read the books somewhat reluctantly at first, (A suprise christmas present from my mother) but as time wore on, my interest in Stephenie meyer's world began to grow and I became excited to read them.

Here is what I thought:
The first thing that hit me was Stephenie meyer's writting style. I know she's been criticized for it, and some people have even said she isn't a good writter at all. Which I don't understand! I love the way she writes! She writes so maturely. I felt so honoured to read the books. I loved her use of language, the words she used. They rolled around in my head and painted the perfect picture. She describes things in a real visual way which I love! while at the same time still describing things so beautifully.
Her characters seem so real, and gosh! her characters are great!
Say what you like about Bella Swan; Say she's stupid and to dependant on her boyfriend. (neither statements are true) but she is a great charcter.
Does she make bad descisions? Yes. (Let's be honest, who didn't read New moon with a burning frustration and indignation)
Should she prehaps not, of helped repair motorcycles, drive them around, and cliff dive just to here the love of her lifes vocie? I think that would have saved a lot of heartache.
Was she still incredibly smart, brave, strong willed, and caring? Yes.
She isn't weak. She isn't stupid. She does what she wants, what's wrong with that? Thats a really good quality to have!
So yeah, I loved all the characters. I loved the cullens! Their personalities are so interesting! Each one is so different with such a unique back story and yet they all work so well as a family, and they have such a great bond. I love Edward.( I'm team Edward) I love his traditional ways, and his love for Bella is so deep and beautiful!
People need to get over the fact, that vampires sparkle. Deal with it. What's so funny about it?

The plot had me gripped. Although, I did get a bit bored during New Moon. For me, that book was kind of more "Waiting for the Cullens to come back". It was still great but lacked excitement and action.
The first book was sweet but at the same time dark.
 Eclipse was I think my favourite, once again written so well, an exciting battle between the Cullens and the new born army created by Riley and Victoria. The face off between Victoria,  Edward and Bella was what I'd been waiting for in New Moon, and it was so good! So juicy! I also loved that we heard more of the other Cullens stories; like Rosalie's and ecspecially Jasper. I think Jasper is my favourite character. I love Jasper and Alice! I want to read their love story! The whole Edward, Bella and Jacob love triangle thing was actually ok. I am someone who HATES love triangles ! I really despise them. They can ruin a story for me, their unnecessary. But in Twilight, it didn't feel unnecessary. I actually enjoyed the tension it caused. It's also one of the two love triangle that hasn't made me want to punch the book, fictional characters involved, and the author. (this says alot, I;ve read a lot of books, and ALOT of the books I've read have had love triangles in them).
Anyway, Breaking dawn's plot gave us the two events I'd been waiting for since the first book. The wedding, and Bella's transformation into a vampire. I loved the wedding! I thought it was wonderful and I found Bella's nerves really charming. The honeymoon was written well, and it was...fitting. The intimacy between Bella and Edward wasn't described in great detail, which is a smart move in young adult fiction. It was tastefully suggested, and slipped in.
The whole pregnancy thing, is where I have a few issues.
Number 1- How the heck? I didn't thing Edward could make a baby? Technically, isn't he dead? Too some degree?
Number 2- I found it an unnecessary for there to be a baby. I found it just screwing everything up and complicating things. At first that is. After later reflection, I see that it's actually nice that they got to have a child, and Renesmee grew on me.
It's also nice that Jacob found a content happiness by imprinting on Renesmee. I liked all the secondary characters who helped witness for the Cullens against the Volturi. I like the Denalli's (We finally got to meet them!)

I loved Charlie too, I feel like Charlie needs some love!
I love the atmosphere of the Twilight books aswell, the dark, earthy, romantic feel. It was such a privelege to read them.
The conclusion to the saga was perfect and well deserved. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful series.
The books are brilliant. Stephenie Meyer is brilliant. Vampires are awesome. (Well, the good ones and by that, I mean vegetarians)
I really enjoyed the books and would recommend them. I don't think they're that mushy either. And as far as the message they send out to people goes: It's not "how important it is to have a boyfriend" Only an idiot would think that. One who couldn't of really read and understood the books. I think personally it's about how powerful love can be, even under complicated circumstances, you would give up or change or do whatever the person you love wants. Unconditional irrevocable love.
Oh, and for the love of god! Stop comparing the Twilight series to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. They. Are. In. No. Way. The. Same.
They are different generes.
Harry Potter =  Fantasy
The Hunger Games = Dystopia
Twilight = Romance
So sure, if you take away the romance from The Hunger Games you get a girl fighting for her life because of the sacrifice she made for her sister, and if you take away the romance from Twilight you get a pretty crap story; but Twilight is a ROMANCE novel! what do you expect?
Stop comparing them to other well loved popular book series's and degrading them. They are all brilliant! and such a great reading experience, one I will never forget.

- Rhiannon x

Books. Books. And...more books.

Hello,

It's been quite a while since I've posted but my life has been extremely busy lately. When I mean busy I mean,I have had  no time to write, read, listen to music, watch old episodes of Would I Lie To You or do literally anything that I've wanted to do but revise for my exams. Those exams have now passed (and have drained me of all the energy in my body) and now my life shall return to it's blissful normality. Reading, writting, listening to music and watching old episodes of Would I Lie To You on repeat.

As I posted previosly in the year I had a big list of books to read this year. Just as an update on that... 
I finished reading the Harry Potter series for a third time, I read the Twilight series (I will probably do a review on those...), I read the Shiver series ( I really should do a review on those. I loved them), I read Out Of Sight Out Of Time by Ally Carter. (That book was beautifully amazing and so is the series. I really need to dedicate a post to that series), I'm still waiting for Rapture by Lauren Kate to be released. (I cannot wait!), I'm still waiting for Underworld by Meg Cabot to be released, and I have read many other books that weren't on the list. Because my resistence in a book shop is very very low.
I mean many books. My life has basically (of reccent months) consisted of me reading about, thinking about, and dreaming about fictional characters. I am aware of how incredibly sad that sounds.

I finished Angel's Fury by Bryony Pearce yesterday, and have started Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler today. I think, I have mentioned my love of angel stories (On that subject, I reviewed Mel Taylor's books Above The Clouds and Under The Stars. Here's the link: http://www.meltaylorauthor.com/mtablog/?p=471)

So, yeah. That's a little insight to why I have had no time to write a blog post. Also a little insight into how far from reality I actually am.
Hopefully this is a little heads up for you. Expect a lot of book reviews. (If I can drag myself away from the actual books for so long).

And...It's my birthday next week. Thursday. 17th of May. Roughly around 11'o' clock is the pinical point of my ageing.

That is all.

Rhiannon x

All said and done.

This is a poem that I wrote last year that got published in the natinol poetry anthology 2011 " Taking Flight" . I hope you like it . I may post more poetry of mine on here ...I'm not sure or general stories of mine . Anyway enjoy this , It's not exacly joyful I know , but I like it.

All said and done

There will come a time
When not even the moon will shine
And the stars will have all burnt out
The sun will blow, blinding the eye
And it will burn through to the soul
The tears shed, the money spent
Will have all gone to waste
The flowers and the plants themselves will wither in their haste
No materials left to build a home
No resources left at hand
Only the knowledge left in your mind
No more space left to expand
Minutes left to remember the times
When things were fresh and new
Only horror erupts in your mind
When you think of the times ahead that are due
Memories flash before you
There's nowhere left to run
Facing up to the facts
Is the only thing left that can be done
Senses run riot, sanity has gone
Full of helplessness and sorrow
Life as you know it, is all said and done

- Rhiannon Morris
x

The Hunger Games : Movie Review .

Oh.My.God.
I know many words , but none have enough amount of awesomeness in them to describe The Hunger Games movie .
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH !! It was just brilliant . Completely beautiful .
There were so many things I loved about it .

Whenever you adapt a book to a film there is always the question of : Will that scene be in the film ? Will they cut out that ? I hope they put that in ....
The fact is you cannot put everything in a book into a film . It's Impossible ..well,unless you want a very long film .
So inevitably things are going to be cut out . All you can wish for is that they do not leave to much out or change to many things .
The Hunger Games included pretty much everything !!!! Obviously there were things they cut out or cut down but to be honest all the important things were included . Which is just amazing .
The whole tone and atmosphere of the film was incredible . I was literally screaming ( on the inside ) and shaking , and jumping out of my seat to get closer to the screen . I'll admit . I had tears in my eyes from pretty much the get go . Why ? because of the pure brilliance of the film . ( I salute you Gary Ross )
The fact that the books are written in first person means that we don't read about the reaction of the districts . Or the Capitol when the games were being aired. We don't see Seneca Crane and the game keepers creating what we know as the 74th Hunger Games ! We don't see President Snow's manipulation of the games , his fear of the rebellion . We saw all this in the film !! and I loved it ! Seneca Crane's execution . Death by berries . Ceaser Flickerman and Claudius Templesmiths comentary .  Every extra detail was simply mind blowingly awesome .
The interviews were just wounderful . Ceaser Flickerman was a personal highlight . It was as if it was real and a genuine tv show . It was like I was in the film . Sitting in the audience .
I also loved the fact they explained the more detailed complicated things for the people who haven't read the books . It was cleverly done .

The acting . Oh ! the beautiful , tear jerking , smile creating acting . Josh Hutcherson was the perfect Peeta . So true to the character it was as if he had stepped out of the book . Jennifer Lawrence was just brilliant . There could not be a better Katniss .
Elizabeth Banks was ther perfect Effie . I loved her . " Thats Mahogony! " (one of my favourite quotes from the film )
Woody Harrelson played Haymitch well ( my favourite character ) however ( and this is one of my very few criticisms ) in the books Haymitch is a very cold , sarcastic , harsh person . Someone who has given up . His realationship with Katniss is strained , sharp , patronizing . Yes , I think he does care and love her but he does not show it and he is very critical and harsh towards her . They chose too show his softer side in the film which although I loved that side to Haymitch and his realationship with Katniss . I don't think its entirely true to the first book . ( but I still loved the potrayal )

The careers were flipping amazing ! Cato , Clove , Glimmer , Marvel . They were incredible and quite worringly made me smile a lot with how much the actors inhabited the characters and the way they were so brutal and bloodthirsty in the games . Which of course is their defining traits in the book . Honestly I mean , they were seriously one of my favourite things about the whole film .
Cato's neck snapping skills . That moment was just like " Oooooh " . Brutal .

All the deaths . The deaths were actually I think some of the best parts . The first scene at the cornucopia had me glued to my seat with my mouth wide open . The music ! Oh the brilliant soundtrack ! went so perfect with the pace and tone of the film . When at the cornucopia and we just saw fast shots of the brutal murders . The music was just right . It wasn't over done . It wasn't too gory . It was tasteful enough to represent the loss of young lives in a cruel unfair senario . It was screaming " This is wrong " . 
Which leads on to Catching fire .

Peeta and Katniss ! The boy with the bread and the girl on fire . The hand holding . The cave scenes .The kiss . The braid touching . The smilling . All too much ! Gale's jelousy ! They put on some seriously beautiful performances . Again Josh Hutcherson . Brilliant , brilliant potrayl of Peeta .

The fear . Turmoil . Sorrow . Bravery . In justice . Disgust . All of these emotions were sewn in to create a captivating beautiful film . Which does the book huge amounts of justice .

I'm still screaming in the inside of how perfect the film was . If there was one word I would use to describe the film it would be perfect . Everything . EVERYTHING . Was perfect . The cast and crew did an amazing job . They have done the book , characters , author and fans proud !!

I'm seeing it again .
I'm counting down to Catching Fire's release .
I'm still screaming .

Go and watch the film even if you haven't read the books . You.Will.Love.It..... Then go and read the books .

May the odds be ever in your favour .

Rhiannon x

Hunger Games .......................

SO ,
The time has arrived ! Tomorrow . TOMORROW . I will be going to watch The Hunger Games movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To flipping morrow !

Expect a review !

Too excited .xxx