Unapologetic Reviews

I started reading World After right after finishing Angelfall . The pacing of this book is different from the first one. In a way, it reminds me of Lord of the Rings. There the first book was mostly about the journey and finding out about the world. In the second, you find out more, and the building blocks of defeating the foe emerges. So the third would be the big battles. We'll see. There isn't an easily progressing story in this one as in the previous book. It may be the reason that people feel the pacing is different, but now that I think about it, not so much. A lot of things do happen, but Penryn mostly just floats from happening to happening. It feels a bit forced, and too incidental. Of course, if I think about it, and take into account what Paige's goal was all along, things make more sense. The random events feel no longer so random, except for a few. The characters stay mostly the same. The whole thing is just about two or three days, so no wonder. There are som...

This is the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy. I went to see the movie with a higher level of excitement than I did the previous one, as can be seen from the tone of my review . Partly, it's due to the fact that I've read the books in the time between. I was bothered by the style of writing in the books, which I talked about in detail in the review of the first book . However, the story itself and Katniss' character captured my imagination, and I managed to get passed the style for the most part. The second book was my favourite. It had the most imaginative story line out of the three, and the greatest shocker at the end. Now onto the movie. My greatest problem with the previous movie was the shaky cam, and the weird close-ups. Luckily, we got a new director for this instalment, and he didn't suffer from this "artistic" compulsion. According to the credits of the next two (yes, Mockingjay looks to be a two-parter, yay) movies, he will sta...

Rating books is hard. Did this book excite me, make me want to seek out fanfiction, make me sad that I only have one more book to read? No. Not five stars then. Did it make me check the release date for the next installment? No. Not four stars either. What it did do was have me not notice the bath water turn cold, and reach for the next book. 3.5 stars. Now about the story. Without spoiling much, it's obviously about a girl and an angel. The majority of the angels showed up one day and started killing people. Why, I have no idea. We start the tale a bit in the middle, and learn of Penryn's story from flashbacks. I'm not sure if I like that. Do other people? I like to see at least one normal day before everything goes South. That could be just me though. The rest is spoilers. The two main characters are Raffe and Penryn. We see the world through Penryn's eyes in present tense, which I still don't like much. Sometimes I catch my brain converting the tense to past. Pen...

The story takes place before the Doctor took on any companions, and just had his granddaughter, Susan. It happens in Victorian London. The story itself is very brief. The only reason it took me so long to read it was that I had too many things going on to read for more than a few minutes at a time. It's okay. I like some of the concepts in it, like the pirates, and it would be cool to see them again somewhere, maybe in a longer novel or an episode. It wasn't bad as some of the other reviewers found it. I just felt that there should have been more to the whole thing. I do recommend the story for fans. Maybe as a bedtime story for themselves. View all my reviews

Aw, it ended. I feel sad now. Anyway, the last story wasn't like the previous ones in many respect. First of all, it didn't start in a school. Second, there wasn't a quest to travel around. This was war. I cried several times. It wasn't pretty, or fun. It was often gruesome, though the description was kept to a minimum. Still managed to sneak in a few jokes here and there though. It was a good conclusion. Percy. Now what can I say about him? I saw him become a man. He really recognised his position in this world in this story. He became a spectacular fighter, and a good leader. He also realised what was important in life for him. Annabeth. I always loved her character. She never gave up, she was brilliant. I can't even list the important characters in this book. It had a lot of action, a lot of things happening. Overall, great finish! It wrapped up the story nicely, while also leaving room for more. It of course has a continuation in a new series, which I don't ...

Things are getting serious in this instalment of the series. It kind of reminds me of the 5th or 6th Harry Potter book in that. Percy is growing up, his 16th birthday is getting nearer, and his quests and actions are becoming more and more dangerous. I found this book to be the most complex so far. A lot of things happened, and now my mind is just replaying event after event. Again, I had a difficult time putting it down, and if I hadn't had some actual social life to attend to, I may have read it in a day again. Though I think this one was longer than the previous books, but it's hard to determine on Kindle. An interesting thing to note is that this one started in a school as well. Poor Percy, trying to get into another one. But I stop right here, don't want to spoil it. Though we all know that Percy + school; not a good equation. Another part of the story that I have to mention is Pan. I felt that had a very strong message about the environment, and I hope that kids will ...

I couldn't put this down. Literally, almost. I read the whole book in a day. The adventure just swept me along. The story started in a school again. It's sort of a pattern, that the book always has to start with Percy in a school. Though this time, it's not a school he actually goes to. He was also not alone, but with his two friends. They were there on a mission. From then on, it was non-stop action. I think we meet the most amount of gods in this book, that we actually see Percy talking to on a personal level. It's also the most tragic book so far, and I did find myself crying a little at one point. Okay, maybe two. Percy is becoming a real teen boy now, and there are some mentions of love too. How he gradually changes in that respect is interesting to see. He doesn't just suddenly become interested in the opposite sex, as in some cases that I've seen. I feel I am really a witness to his maturing through the series. While the previous two books had mostly male...

I think I found this book more interesting than the previous one for some reason. Maybe because there were less explanations needed. I also watched the movie, the review for that I'll post on my general reviews page. I talked about the world in my review of the previous book. This time it gets a bit more expanded, but not a lot. The story is mostly a modern version of the Odyssey, with some modern twists and Percy's friends added in. I did love the modern changes this time as much as I did previously. The whole story seemed to pick up its stride. One thing I have to mention that I loved a lot was the Ironclad. It's a piece of history that I love, and even did a presentation on in high school. I was excited about mentally travelling on it. Percy was slowly coming to his own. He's only thirteen still, but feels more confident, and more of a leader. He had matured during his previous adventure. Annabeth was a more prominent character in this story. She was more in the bac...

The movie is an alternate version of the book. That is what I have to state first of all. I've read the book, and while the two do have similarities, there are major differences as well. As I've talked about it in a previous review , it's important for me that the movie can be watched by people who haven't read the book, more so, than how true they were to the original plot line. For anyone who had seen the first movie, which I hope they did, since without it this movie doesn't make a lot of sense, the obvious difference was that they were four years older. This of course gave the whole story a different dimension, since they were a lot more adult, and there was also some of the usual teen looks they were giving each other. I have to confess, I felt that this was a good change. The adventures were a bit too much for thirteen-year-olds. The story was very different as well. That was apparent from the first scene, though a movie is always pressed for time, and the...

More like 3.5 stars. I had a difficult time deciding between the two, but the story is more fun, and a bit too simple to deserve 4 stars. Of course, it's more for a younger demographic, still, it was a good light read. The story itself is clever, but not too inventive. It can be recommended to young people as an introduction to the Greek pantheon. In a way it's very educational, and having always been a fan of Greek mythology, I can appreciate that aspect. It also does a good job of making it interesting for contemporary people. However, since most of the mythology is not invented by the author, I deducted points for it. The story itself has a good pace. The language is easy to read, not overly descriptive, but still gives a good sense of the places and the people. It focuses on adventure, and since I'm not a fan of overly flowery language, I appreciated the simplicity. I gobbled up the whole thing in a few days. It's also educational in that it often stresses the visib...

I really don't have much to say about this book, as I only got to 11%. Let me try to gather my thoughts. This book is obviously a money-making attempt. The latest books of Lauren Weisberger probably didn't sell as well as The Devil Wears Prada . I wasn't that keen on that book either, but you can read my review of it as well. The point is, the movie was a lot better. The real reason why that book sold was not the main character, which I believe is Lauren herself. If that's how she really is, I'm sorry, I'd never like to be her friend. She's whiny and often hopeless. Now it has been a while since I read the previous book, and I don't intend to repeat the experience. I do remember that the job was tough. So are most first jobs. However, how awful it must have been to take part in a party at the Met, which I remember her hating. Overall, if you don't care for fashion, don't get a job at a fashion magazine. The only redeeming factor of that ...

I went to this movie after reading mixed reviews about it. Though there were mixed reviews about the books as well, and those I liked. Okay, the first three. I haven't read on, as I felt it should have ended there. Moving on... When I watch a movie that is based on a book, I don't try to compare it to the book too much. They are two different mediums, and something that may work in a book, doesn't work in a movie. What is important is for the movie to give back the main story line of the book, the feel of the book, and to stand on its own, so that people who don't read the books understand it as well. The story line I had a problem with. Partly, because I read the book over a year ago, and I don't remember much of it. I'm pretty sure the end was different, but that I understand because of the time. They did commit a major sin though. They revealed a very important plot point, in fact, I think more than one, that doesn't get revealed until the next book...

I wanted to watch a cute, funny and romantic drama, and that is just what I got. I do remember watching the previous version of Itazura na Kiss , but I don't remember much of it. It didn't seem to have much of an impact, and that version was only 9 episodes, while this one is 16. The story is a love triangle, sort of. From the start we know that Kotoko is in love with Irie-kun. It's also not hard to deduct that Kin-chan is in love with Kotoko. Irie-kun doesn't even seem to know that Kotoko exists, until she presents him with a love letter that of course, no surprise, he turns down. What happens after that is years and years of Kotoko being hopelessly devoted. Yes, this drama takes place over 3-4 years. Kotoko is in class F at the beginning, and Irie is in A. Fs, people who are perhaps not that book smart, and As, who are seem to be a world apart. Can two people so different find each other? Can it work? At one point Irie confesses that he had no troubles until ...

I liked this book better than the previous one. The supporting cast was more present and interesting. In this story Vicki finds herself heading out from Toronto to rural Canada. Henry is asked to help in uncovering who killed a few of his old friends from a family he has been in contact with since WWII, and he asks Vicki to go with him. Mike gets into the mix too about half-way through, and messes things up a bit. A fun thing about the story was that it takes place in the high heat of the summer, August. I read it in August, beginning it just as I was waiting for the bus, trying not to faint from the heat. The detective story was interesting, and the ending reminded me a bit of the kind of stories I saw in Japanese detective dramas. It was slightly bittersweet. Again, about half-way through, we were told who the killer was, and got to see it a bit from their perspective. I'd really prefer it if Tanya Huff hadn't done that, but maybe it was a thing in the 90s. I mostly read his...

Darkfever is a novel that is in the very popular supernatural YA category. Mercifully, this first installment of the series skips the trope of the girl falling madly in love at first sight with a mysterious man, though there are signs that it's in her future. Still, not just yet. I rated it just 2 stars, because it was just okay. I can't say it was terrible, like New Moon , which was 1 star, but I also can't say that I liked it. It was just okay. The reason for it is not in the story itself, or the writing. The story was fine. It kind of blew some of the plot on the first page. The story is told from the perspective of a future Mac, the main character, who doesn't just tell the story, but also comments on it, almost like she has an agenda, like self-reflection. Therefore, foreshadowing is a big thing in the narration. It's also not very fast-paced, because it does stop often to make room for what we could call "fillers". One kind of filler that drove ...

I'm really mad at this movie. Mad with disappointment. After watching the trailer  some time ago, I was excited to see this. Now, I just want to kill the people who couldn't translate the awesomeness in the trailer to the movie. Let's start with the story. It starts out good. Post-apocalyptic world, good. Characters having tension, there. Love angle, present. See? Lots of potential. When they decide to go to the other colony, you get excited. They even learn something very important there, that you think is going to be the endgame of the movie. Instead, when it does end, you have a WTF moment. I usually don't use such things in my reviews, but seriously, that's the only way it could be described. Like halfway through the budget ended, and they decided to leave it at that. Or it was the first episode in a TV series. Yeah, I could actually see this continued in a TV series. The acting couldn't have been much of a challenge. You have Laurence Fishburn ...

First of all, I have a confession to make. I watched this movie because I just love Amanda Seyfried. She's beautiful and very talented. It was strange to see her as a brunette, but she looked good with that too. Now, on to the movie review. The story itself is about Linda Lovelace, one of the best-known porn actresses in the 70s. Frankly, having grown up in Europe and been born in the 80s, I never heard of her. I did read up afterwards though. From what I could gather, the events in the movie are taken from her autobiography, Ordeal . It is controversial in a way, and some sources have contradicted several statements in it, like just how much porn she participated in, or how willingly. It also leaves out the reported drug and alcohol abuse she was doing at the time. However, as a woman of today, these things didn't matter to me. What spoke to me was the way she grew up, and the way people dealt with the domestic abuse that was going on at the time. In a way it was shockin...

This is the second addition to the series, disregarding the little side stories. When I started reading I was worried that we wouldn't see anything of Cinder, but my fears were quickly silenced. While the majority of the story does focus on Scarlet, Cinder is still a part of it. This story is different from Cinder . The previous book was a lot slower, and focused on the plague. It also had a lot more of Kai. While the Emperor is still occasionally there, his part is minuscule. However, it's still good. The story focuses on Scarlet, and just like her original version, Little Red Riding Hood, she's searching for her grandmother. While the wolf is originally the symbol for a sexual predator, Wolf is more of an actual wolf, but sexual attraction still plays a part. The story is very fast-paced. It sweeps you along, making you keep reading. Thinking back, the whole thing takes place in about three days. Cinder is also looking for the grandmother, but she is no longer alone. She ...

Papa Wa Idol or Papadoru is a funny family drama. It's about an idol, Nishikido Ryo, a member of Kanjani8, who falls in love with a woman, and marries her. Now, as a European person, this whole idol thing is a bit strange for me. I understand that people think these guys shouldn't get married, because that destroys the illusion of their availability, but in reality, they really aren't available for the average Jane. In fact, ironically, this could be about the realisation of a fan. After all, all fans dream of marrying their idol. If we go by this drama, marrying an idol is the easy part. The life after is the hard part. The story doesn't show much of the romance, it focuses on the start of the marriage itself. Haruka, the new wife, already has three children from her previous marriage. The drama mainly centers around Nishikido being an idol, and how he tries to become a husband and a father while hiding the whole thing from the public. This provides lots of oc...

I've wanted to read the books ever since I saw the TV show. It was a really good series, and I was sad that it got cancelled so prematurely. I'm a huge fan of everything vampire, well, except for Twilight , but I don't really regard that as all that vampish. However, the vampire here is really great, even though he's the good guy. The key is that he's good because he used to be a good person growing up. The story itself is a supernatural crime mystery. We have the main character, Vicky Nelson, an ex-cop, who is tasked with finding a serial killer. She suspects supernatural origins from the start, and is quickly confirmed. The action is fast-paced. We meet our vampire quite early, and Vicky and him share the perspective of the story by skipping from one person to the other. This is not third person limited, which I felt did take away from the mystery aspect a bit, since we knew who the killer was from almost the start. The suspense is whether he succeeds in his endea...

I picked up Death Cloud not being sure if I'd like it. I'm a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, always have been. The recent modern interpretations I also love, especially BBC's Sherlock. Benedict Cumberbatch is just brilliant in it. Brain is definitely the new sexy. However, I also like quality, so I just wasn't sure if I'd like a new book, one that was about a young teen Sherlock. Would it be true to the time, since it's set in Victorian times? I have seen things set in that era that were more steampunk than period. Not that there is anything wrong with steampunk, but it would feel odd. I was also concerned about Sherlock being a young teen. It's been some time since I was a teen myself, if ever, and even then I was the geeky, not-into-teen-lit type. I couldn't work my way through The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , and that sort of books, I just couldn't interest myself in those sort of things. However, I was curious, and in need of a mystery, so I started t...

Cinder is a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella. Sort of. What always bothered me about Cinderella's story, and also apparently many of the people who created their own versions of it; was that she doesn't meet him until the ball, doesn't even talk two sentences with him during it, and marries a complete stranger in the end because he's the handsome prince. So this version does correct that as well. It still has the wicked stepmother, and sister. It's also not unheard of that the younger sister is nice to Cinderella. The author also kept some of the elements of the story, like the chores, the sleeping where she works, the leaving of the shoe on the steps. However, this Cinderella doesn't just take it all and hope that her kindness will free her from her sad life. In fact, she doesn't expect it to. She knows that only she can save herself, and she's no pushover. She is her own fairy godmother. Of course, she still falls in love with the Prince. However,...

I started the series unsure of whether I want to read it or not. I love sci-fi, and I'm working on my own story, so I like to read something that can give me inspiration. I turned to this short story hoping to get a taste for the book to follow. It did give me that. I found the characters interesting even in this piece. They were living in a world that is like and unlike our own. I find it important in a story set in the future to have people still be people. Sometimes in worlds like Star Trek, they seem superhuman. The family in this story was real, with all the hang-ups of real people. I found Cinder interesting, though a bit out of her element, but that is understandable. She didn't really have a personality at this point, but that can be because of the amnesia. The twist at the end was good, and made me more interested in this world. I'm sure it'll come up later in the story and it makes me curious as to what will happen. Overall, as a short story it was interesting...

This is a crime novel. It has aspects of romance, but not very pronounced. There is a mystery behind the novel, which is the identity of the original author. While reading it, I noticed that whoever wrote it, has a good knowledge of close combat, less of guns. Is probably male. He's not very good at writing romance though. That was one problem I found with the novel. The romance is very forced. In the TV series, the romance comes about slowly, and seems like a natural progression of their relationship. Here it seems sudden, and almost like it's not a part of the whole narrative. The famed sex scene was okay, though I'm not a good measure of its quality nowadays. The crime part was pretty good. A bit slow going at times, but the mystery was interesting, and while you don't realise the solution on the fifth page, it is solvable. The number of deaths is not ridiculously high as in the case with some crime stories. The depiction of the action is good, and understandable for...

This Doctor Who book was not so original in its storyline, but it gets brownie points for still making it exciting. Seriously, I should some day count how many stories have alien possession in them. However, in this case while it was a major part of the story, it wasn't the only thing going on. The appearance of the Sontarans was a surprise, since I didn't read the synopsis. It added an interesting twist to the story. Some central characters were Sontarans, and they weren't portrayed in a completely negative light, which was nice. The author captured the species well, though the resolution to the conflict between the leader and his subordinate felt odd and a bit out of place. I suppose the author wanted to add something of Sontaran culture into the whole thing. Our main positive characters were humans again. The family running the local hotel were well-rounded, not one-dimensional. What I did find strange was the computer thing with Vienna. It just didn't seem like some...

In some ways this is a typical Dan Brown book, and a typical Robert Langdon, but it's also a bit different. It was typical in that the pace is fast and there is an awful lot of running. The whole thing happens in about 24-30 hours. Robert is again running with a woman around Italy, while being helped along by symbols and the occasional helper. People aren't all that they seem, which is usual as well, but they all seem to be really smart. It seems like Robert can't get your average Jane to tag along, who wouldn't know a thing about anything beyond the latest fashion in shoes. Maybe next time Dan Brown should have someone like that along for the ride, just to keep things interesting. What is also typical about the book is all the detailed descriptions. They are really nice and it's interesting to get to know the history of the places they are running through, however, there is a point where it gets to much. Almost at the end there's a chase, and there's a bit ...

Konkatsu!  (Marriage Hunt!) is a romantic drama with some comedy. It's about a Amamiya Kuniyuki finding a government job after many years of being unemployed, but lying about wanting to get married to his long-time girlfriend, since he doesn't even have a girlfriend. He gets hired specifically because the district president wants to promote marriage, and help the declining birthrates in her district. Therefore, Kuni goes on a marriage hunt along with some friends and co-workers to keep his job. The drama isn't just about a marriage hunt, but also Kuni's district, which is becoming abandoned. He doesn't want to leave, so he has to find ways to save it. The characters were generally likeable, and well acted, believable. I especially liked Ueto Aya's performance. I have seen her in some other dramas and she always feels fresh, and sweet. Her character, Tobita Haruno, is a shining sun in the otherwise dreary sets of the declining district. She plays one of ...