Unapologetic Reviews

I really loved The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan . Though at first I was a bit confused as to when it's actually happening, because there was no note on it. It happens in the Black Magician universe , and it's about the time before the founding of the Magicians' Guild , not long after they were freed from Sachakan rule . It gives an interesting insight into those times, and it also reveals what Sachaka was before a lot of it turned to a wasteland. It has a war in it, battles, issues of sexuality and a bit of romance. I won't go into any more details, but it's a definite page-turner. It broadens the whole universe just before reading the next series in it. I hope we will see a lot more of this world and perhaps in future novels visit some other countries as well. The possibilities are endless, and I believe we can be witnesses to the creation of a new fantasy universe which will be among those most beloved by the fans of the genre.

Meitantei no Okite is one drama that doesn't take itself seriously. Well, except for the last about five minutes. The initial concept is that it takes the clichés you can find in classical detective stories and ridicules them in a style not unlike the "Horror Movie", "Date Movie", etc. method. Except for the little fact that the three main characters actually know that they are in a drama with that goal, but this only increases the hilarity of the situations. The whole thing is actually funny and the episodes provide good entertainment. For non-Japanese viewers I do have to note that the detective story concepts seem strange to us sometimes. This is because it's based on more Japanese detective stories than Western ones. The series I can find the most connection with is actually the anime "Detective Conan". Therefore I do advise watching a few episodes of that before watching this drama in order to understand some of the references. Each ...

The frame of Love Shuffle is that eight people, four women and four men, date each other for a week to find out what they want out of their love lives. As is usual for a Japanese drama ; it ends up being about more than just love. It discusses our motivations to live and love , what we really look for in a relationship. Sometimes you just need to give people a chance, and find out who they really are. In the beginning you may think you have it all figured out, but the ending will surprise you. Half the fun is trying to predict who will be with whom. This is also a drama about finding friends, and then letting them help in the course of their lives. No one is left untouched by the shuffle. Tanihara Shosuke plays the psychologist Kikuta Masato . He is in a way the main character and motivator in the shuffle. As the oldest member of the team he pulls the strings, and helps the others deal with the hurdles in their lives. I do have to note that Daigo , the singer of BREAKERZ ...

At first glance Hanayome to Papa may seem like a love drama, but it is not. I did root for the other guy, but there really never was a chance of the main character ending up with anyone else. What the story is actually about is the relationship of a man and his daughter and how they deal with her becoming a woman. It is often hard for a single father to let go, but we do see a lot of growth in him. Another aspect of the drama is the difficulties of growing up and separating from the parents from the girl's point of view. The first job and the first love are hard enough to deal with, but she also has an overbearing father on her hands. At times the story is funny in an embarrassing way, but also very heart-warming. The running musical theme of the drama is sung by the father and is titled "Kimi no kaeru basho". It's a lovely song full of the same warmth as the story itself.

Sapuri mostly takes place at an advertising agency . While part of it is about the actual work, you also get insight into some of its workers' lives. The main character, Fuji-san (Ito Misaki) is a woman of 28. It's a difficult time for women and a lot of the drama centers around that fact. She is faced with the decision of what is more important in life; work or romance. Being unmarried and recently single, she puts all her effort into work. She lives alone, and mostly works alone, at her own pace. That is convenient as she doesn't have to deal with others, but also lonely. Yu-kun is the other main character, who is played by KAT-TUN member Kazuya Kamenashi . He is young and inexperienced, drifting from one job to the other, not really knowing what he wants to do. To him, a beautiful day is wasted in the office. He still has to take the part-time job at Fuji-san's firm and slowly, guided by Fuji-san he realises that advertising is actually something that inte...

Leap Year is a rather good romantic comedy, for one of its overly cliched genre. It does follow the classic script: the characters not liking each other at first, but having to cope for some reason. Then as they get to know one another, they gradually fall in love. No  surprises  there.  Why I would recommend this movie though is partly because Amy Adams just does a great job again. Her  classically  beautiful face looks something that is straight out of the 50s. She makes the snotty character of Anna look believable and as a woman you have to give her extra points for running around in those really high heels.  The leading man ( Matthew Goode ) is nice looking, pulls off the scruffy Irish lad really well.  The comedy situations are  genuinely  funny and you are amused by them, even though you can see some of them coming. The romance is a bit in the background next to the comedy and the journey that they take together and you...

I started to watch Star No Koi as my latest Japanese drama because it introduced the story as the Japanese take on Notting Hill . I remembered liking that movie, and I wanted to watch something romantic, so I started it. It may resemble the American movie, but it's just so much more. Why do you fall in love with a story? There are some love stories, that you like, or find interesting. Some are cute. But there are still others, that just manage to touch something inside you that others may not. To each its own and no two people are affacted in the same way by a story. This one did manage to touch something inside me. I could never explain why, but I'm glad it did, because it will be a drama I will always cherish. Anyone who knows me may find that strange, as I'm not a romantic type, and generally detest love stories. There was, however, something so pure in this story, that it even broke through my barriers. A strange thing is that what I will always remember the m...

I really liked Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind . Maybe it wasn't the best book I've ever read and some parts of it were rather gruesome, but I did enjoy it. It is a very classical fantasy , but I like those. The characters were interesting and the world that was built up was very diverse. I liked that it could get you to like a negative character. I also liked that it was in a way very adult. Things came together at the end and then you could see each of the trials that Richard went through have meaning. In the end he managed to grow a lot and you can see the potential in him. I'm definitelly continuing the series. UPDATE: I never did.

I finished The Chosen One by Sam Bourne in a week. It was rather engaging and interesting. Mind you, not the best book I've ever read, but it was entertaining. The character had some development and it was fast-paced . I also liked the ending. So if you are looking for an interesting story and are not terribly squeamish , this is a good book. Even if it wasn't that special for me.

I actually loved The Wicker Man: A Novel by Robin Hardy , Anthony Shaffer . I read it while on a vacation in a few days. I loved the movie when I saw it a while back, but this book adds to it. The most interesting part is the different aspects of the religion on the isle . Written down, you get more details of it. All in all, I could hardly put it down and wished there was more. I wish they would write a sequal as I keep wondering. What happened next?

Flash Forward by Robert J. Sawyer is very unlike the TV series. I enjoyed the series, and I did like the book. However, other than the initial idea, they have nothing in common. Oh, and some names are the same, but the people behind them are totally different. So I don't want to write spoilers, it should be enough that the book explores the idea of a Flash Forward without the over-dramatization of the series. It's rather clean and simple. There is a lot of science in it and that can get frustrating. I skipped most of it as I was trying really hard not to fail Physics in high school. So basically I have no clue about partical physics . Once you put it down, it does give you a sense of satisfaction, unlike the last episode of the series, which was just frustrating.

I picked up Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella for three reasons: 1. I wanted to read a light chick-lit . 2. I wanted to find out what shopaholics are like, since I can't relate. 3. Advertisements all around. I shouldn't have. I was sort of hoping that she would be cured, and learn to live a sensible lifestyle halfway through, but no. I never knew a person like her, and discovered I don't want to. Like I said, I'm not a shopaholic myself, but I like to investigate people who are not like me. The main character drove me crazy! I'm a total scrooge myself and the type who will put at least 10% of her paycheck into savings every month. So it was so frustrating for me to see someone be so nonchalant about money. I was hoping that maybe I could just laugh at her, but I can't. If you're anything like me, stay away from this book.

The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan is one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. I feel that it's a crime that not more people are reading her books. It should also be translated into my native language, so that I could have other read it as well. This story is not your avarage fantasy. There is no quest to undertake, no clear lines of who is bad and who is good. You may think that one character is the greatest enemy, only to find out that the person is a friend. There are mysteries to figure out. The main character grows a lot from a little girl to a woman. So in a way it's a coming of age story. It's fast paced and interesting and I can promise everyone, you start reading and don't stop until your eyes are tearing up and you're yawning so big that you could swallow the book. I've hear it compared to Harry Potter because it also takes place in a magical school. However, this school is not Hogwarts . These kids aren't just learning spells, t...

I love vampires. I watch everything that has vampires in it and read a lot of vampire fiction. But this is about vampires? Really? New Moon by Stephenie Meyer  has nothing of what makes vampires interesting. In fact, it has nothing interesting at all. I read the first book and it was okay. Then I get to this one and have to read through pages and pages of whining, teenage angst over a guy she barely knows. I wanted to strangle the little b... Thank the gods I was never a teenager, because if that's what it's like, then I didn't miss a thing. Then she takes forever to realise that Jacob is a werewolf . Who didn't know by the end of the book? The saddest thing is that this horrible little girl has the same name as I do. I didn't read the whole thing, I gave up after page 200. I'm selling the book, because I never ever want to pick it up again. Just seeing it in the shops makes me cringe. Seriously, how can people be so in love with this series? Don't they ...

When I went to see the movie, I had no idea what it was about other than vampires. I have always been a fan of vampire movies and stories. The sexuality, the suspense, the blood, it all fascinated me. I once wrote a little piece on vampires, the history of the figure, and that sort of things. A vampire always expressed hidden desires, mostly sexual ones. After I came out of the theatre, the only thing running through my head was; "What in the world was that?" Let's start with a story. I'm not going to spoil the thing to anyone, by saying that it's about a girl, who moves in with her dead to the middle of nowhere - Washington state. She meet an old friend, a Native American named Jacob . He has the hots for her. Then she goes to school, and every boy, including the mysterious Edward Cullen has the hots for her. Kind of cliche. Okay, very cliche. It's so obvious he's a vampire, even without the trailer I would have figured it out. The big scene is...

I always read the bios of an author before reading anything from them. This makes me aware of where the author is coming from. I noticed that she graduated from Brigham Young University . Having studied Mormonism at the University, and read bios of ex-Mormons , so I know that it's a good device of indoctrination for them. So I'm thinking she's probably a Mormon , though it was never confirmed, just an assumption. For a majority of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer nothing happens. Painful descriptions of I have no idea what, because I only remember important things and I remember so little of this book. I may have been half asleep during it. The characters are shallow and show no development, the story boring and unoriginal, Meyer often uses words in bad context. The least of which is that the vampires are just lame. It picks up with the other vampires getting into town and you're hoping something is going to happen. Then it ends quite abruptly and you hope that Edward t...