tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64149766529689719172024-03-19T04:27:07.245+01:00Unapologetic ReviewsMy reviews, My views, No apologiesIsabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-28218320425760148072024-01-25T16:16:00.002+01:002024-01-25T16:16:24.192+01:00Newcomer by Keigo Higashino * * * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33602102-newcomer" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="Newcomer (Detective Kaga, #2)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530346547l/33602102._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">In "Newcomer" by Keigo Higashino, I found myself immersed in a captivating blend of mystery and family dynamics. This isn't your typical detective story—it's a masterfully crafted collection of interconnected tales intricately woven into a larger narrative. The brilliance lies in how Higashino seamlessly integrates small mysteries within the broader context, creating a rich tapestry of characters and relationships.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What sets "Newcomer" apart is the emphasis on family. The characters grapple with familial complexities, and Detective Kaga's keen observations shed light on the profound search for family connections. There are no great scandals in this story, just very real relationships between people and family members. The novel is not just a whodunit but a reflective exploration of human bonds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The main mystery gradually unfolds and gains focus in the narrative, with the final solution slowly coming into focus. The last chapter gives a satisfying conclusion to not just the main story but also wraps up some of the minor tales. However, that is not what remains in the reader's mind. "Newcomer" leaves you not just satisfied with solving a mystery but contemplating the intricate dance of family relationships.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In conclusion, "Newcomer" is a must-read for those who appreciate detective stories with a touch of the unconventional. The small interconnected stories within the larger plot make for a rich and fulfilling reading experience, leaving you eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the Kaga detective series.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-76163762645952815442024-01-13T15:31:00.000+01:002024-01-25T16:17:33.386+01:00Malice by Keigo Higashino * * * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20613611-malice" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="Malice (Detective Kaga, #1)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1497270264l/20613611._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">"Malice" by Keigo Higashino takes readers on a captivating journey through the intricate web of a murder mystery, offering a fresh perspective for those diving into Japanese mysteries for the first time. The author's simplistic writing style, devoid of unnecessary embellishments, becomes a strength, catering to readers with a preference for concise narratives, making it an ideal fit for my ADHD mind.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The brisk pace of the narrative ensures that there is never a dull moment. From the outset, we are introduced to the mind of Nonoguchi, skillfully setting the stage for the unfolding drama. Detective Kaga's perspective adds to Nonoguchi's account and provides a different perspective on events. Eventually, Kaga's narrative dominates the story, however, to expand on that would contain spoilers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What sets "Malice" apart is its ability to defy expectations. Approximately a quarter into the story, I encountered a twist that blindsided me. As someone who typically predicts plot developments, this unexpected turn added an exhilarating element to the reading experience. The novel delves into the psychology of murder, challenging the conventional focus on 'whodunnit.' For readers seeking a departure from the routine detective stories, "Malice" offers a refreshing alternative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Keigo Higashino's skilful storytelling and narrative twists make this a standout read. "Malice" is not just a mystery; it's a psychological exploration that leaves a lasting impression. As the layers of the story unfold, revealing the real motive behind the heinous act, you find yourself truly understanding the title of the book. That is when you grasp the profound depth of this compelling narrative.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-88952727058190300682023-04-21T15:33:00.003+02:002024-01-25T15:37:07.448+01:00A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen * * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61273146-a-door-in-the-dark" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="A Door in the Dark (Waxways, #1)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677786727l/61273146._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I finally enjoyed a book! I've been in quite the slump lately, DNFing books, dragging my heels reading a book. This one I started reading on the bus. Not a lot of time to read when you have a newborn and an online university. This book dragged me in and wouldn't let go. I stole a minute here, an hour there. I read while feeding my son, preparing formula...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what got me so hooked? This story isn't too complex. It's about a girl who's attending an elite university on a scholarship. Yes, there's magic, but you won't see spells flying around on campus, nor a Potions class. Magic here costs and the funds are limited. That's something I found unique about the magic system. Every spell costs a kind of money and how much you have a month depends on your worth. A division between rich and poor even in that. That's one of the themes of the story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ren, our heroine, can be a bit of a cliché. She's poor, dead father; because we can't have a protagonist without a dead parent, depressed mother. She's also top of her class, okay, 5th, and a know-it-all. However, she doesn't just know things, she can build on them with a mind of a chess player. Magic here isn't just waving a wand, it's complex, layered; takes a real effort. And she's very good at it. Or does she just think she is?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story itself is simple. You can read it in the synopsis. 6 young people get lost in the woods and need to make it home. However, the journey was full of twists and turns that kept me turning the page.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I liked the prose. I liked that it was simple, to the point and without too many frills. I like it that way. I can see the scene, know what everyone is doing, and not get lost in mildew glistening off a blade of grass. It was fast-paced, a fast read.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I recommend it to people who want to have fun while they read and not overcomplicate things.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-56337592221998077482022-10-19T20:21:00.007+02:002022-10-19T20:22:18.200+02:00Forbidden Healing by Rachael Watson * * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59648984-forbidden-healing" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="Forbidden Healing (Chronicles of the God-Sage Book 1)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1637241433l/59648984._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I debated if I should give it 5 stars, but in the end it was more like a 4. I did really enjoy the book, it just wasn't perfect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The world itself is interesting. You get the sense right from the beginning that all is not right with the picture portrayed by the dominant people, and that only becomes more obvious as things progress. What I found really interesting about the world was the description of fanatism and religious brainwashing, which are in interest of mine. The world itself is pretty small. We learn about two cities and the path between them, and not really a lot about anything else. It does keep thing streamlined and leave space for further exploration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are two POV characters, Kyla and Marlowe. They're very different people, and not just because one is a guy and the other one is a woman. Their narrative voice is different too, so that was well done. I found Kyla's story a bit more interesting in this book, but things were just amping up for Marlowe at the end, so this will probably be a bit different. I think we do get more chapters with Kyla, so that was actually a good thing, since not a lot happened to Marlowe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now let's talk about the story. The story itself is rather simple. There is a hint of something more complex going on in the background, but this isn't a very long book. So this portion of the story is mostly straight-forward. There is a lot of foreshadowing for future books. I don't want to spoil anything, but it is farely obvious that by the end of the book the two main characters meet. As for predictability, I did guess a lot, though nothing totally specific. So it was still enjoyable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, a grea start, but it definitely feels like a start. I'm so glad all three books are out now, because I'm going to gobble these up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-45905047282096158442022-02-08T20:23:00.005+01:002022-10-19T20:36:00.580+02:00The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso * * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34219880-the-tethered-mage" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="The Tethered Mage (Swords and Fire, #1)" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489641818l/34219880._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">This is the first book I managed to get to the end of in a while. I’ve been in quite the funk. This novel is not perfect, but it kept me reading, so that’s a gold star.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This book is about two young women caught up in the intrigues and mysteries of a fantasy version of 16th century Italy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The magic I really liked. Basically, there are people who as kids have these “mage marks” in their eyes, which is like central heterochromia. That is when around the pupil you have a ring of different colour. I actually have this. Why I hate surveys with eye colour. So I guess I’d be a mage in this world. Mages can have active powers like being able to command elements, or make plants grow, and then there are kind of scientists that can mix magic with machines, and people who make potions. So according to the author the basis of the story is this magic system, since obviously these powers manifest in little kids, and what do you do with them? Raverra – Venice – decided to bind their magic and make them live on an island with people they’re bound to. Their families can come too. Of course this situation may be good for some people, maybe not. If you’re a poor washerwoman and your kid is a mage, jackpot! You move into the fortress and you’ll never have money problems, your kid will have a job. For other people this may not be such a good thing. Especially because Raverra is in control of a whole Empire and everyone in the Empire has to take their kids to this one island in a foreign city. Yeah, major conflict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So that’s pretty much the set-up. Now for the characters. They’re all pretty good and distinguishable. No one annoyed me too much. I DNF-ed a lot of books recently, because the lead just made me want to do stuff to her… and none of them good.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story itself had a mystery, politics and romance. I really enjoyed the mystery, even though I figured it out before the reveal, and the politics was smartly written. The problem I had was with the romance. I know that’s kind of mandatory in most books, but I could have done without. Partly I wasn’t that well-written, the weakest part of the story, and it was kind of insta-love. Luckily it’s not that dominant in the story. In a way that part felt to me like the writer had as much enthusiasm for it as I do. Like someone said “you have to have a romance”. The writing itself is pretty good, though sometimes a bit lacking in details. I don’t mind much, because my ADHD brain can’t do long dress descriptions, but I felt like I was doing a lot of filling in. I felt it got better towards the end, so perhaps that evolved as the story went along.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I also have to make a note on the corset thing. Again, we have another story where whenever the heroine puts on a corset, she’s gasping and can’t breathe or eat. Please watch videos on YouTube from experts on this. This is totally a modern idea of corsets facilitated by several people in history. People who are experts on corsets, who made corsets and worn them can testify that the myth is untrue. Modern spandex is worse. Not that I ever wear them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, I’m going to go on with the series. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to people who like a fantasy story with strong female characters that are actually powerful.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-36449563320284225972019-05-23T20:28:00.001+02:002022-10-19T20:36:09.756+02:00 In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant * * *<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1824441.In_the_Company_of_the_Courtesan" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px; text-align: justify;"><img alt="In the Company of the Courtesan" border="0" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1188855109l/1824441._SX98_.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">This book was a disappointment. It started out great. Exciting. However, I was eventually let down. It was like sex without orgasm, which for a book about a courtesan is ironic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The story isn't really about the courtesan. I think that's where I was first disappointed. I was promised a courtesan. I expected sex. A story of a woman selling her body but making it look like art. It was written by a woman! Instead, I got the narrative of a cynical imp. It wasn't so bad. He was funny at times, and saw the world around him for what it was. But it wasn't what I was promised! Funny thing, the Hungarian title is much better. It's "The Courtesan and the Dwarf”. Much more fitting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The narration was mostly good. The author presented me with a lot of historical details. The streets and settings came alive. However, it did sometimes ramble on, freezing the story too long for thoughts and descriptions. If I wasn't listening to an audiobook, I would have skipped a lot. The reason why these weren't edited out was probably that the book would have been too short.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Which brings me to the main problem of this book, and which upon completion annoyed me the most. The story was too simple. I write spoiler free reviews, but if I were to write down the story, it wouldn't be more than 5 sentences. Everything is resolved far too quickly and easily. There are bits of excitement, but blink, and you'll miss them. The author is far too preoccupied with the setting, the philosophy, and the men in the book, to really give us a story. In fact, if you think by the title that the main focus of the story was going to be women, you will be sorely disappointed. The main focus is actually men. I've probably never heard the word "cock" so much in my life listening to the audiobook.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The greatest disappointment to me about this book was that I wanted to like it. I actually did like most of it, but I would have liked it more, had it delivered on the premise. While the history was great, the story itself didn't draw me in. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. Even the revelation at the end didn't make me gasp in surprise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, I feel sad about this book. It had such potential to be great. The story just wasn't there. I do recommend it to people who want to learn more about Venice in the Renessaince period. The depiction of streets and customs was meticulous. However, you can't be bothered by a shallow story and the words “cock” and “fuck”, because they appear frequently.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3849547-zelda-of-unapologetic-reviews">View all my reviews</a></div>Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-67014339140062136042018-02-25T20:15:00.000+01:002018-02-25T20:20:57.012+01:00Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me by Ron Miscavige * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZi9rCtlquHQnhJVP6fMdYwS58K2GXJ05g37Vest626RPKu9_BR2dTSjAbrL9_p2vV_rlZRPCsVcLmTLmdVgP7FNUqP28038GDdpu0_ueyTBGtAnJ8VZTghOXsJFMO4zGD7xORMw1uCmqA/s1600/ruthless.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="713" data-original-width="470" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZi9rCtlquHQnhJVP6fMdYwS58K2GXJ05g37Vest626RPKu9_BR2dTSjAbrL9_p2vV_rlZRPCsVcLmTLmdVgP7FNUqP28038GDdpu0_ueyTBGtAnJ8VZTghOXsJFMO4zGD7xORMw1uCmqA/s400/ruthless.png" width="262" /></a></div>
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Ruthless is about Dave Miscavige, as seen through the eyes of his dad. In some ways it’s an interesting book. It’s not solely about Dave, as Ron calls him. It’s actually about a couple of things.</div>
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First of all, it’s about Ron himself. You do have to understand where he comes from, to understand his parenting, and his marriage. His first marriage was a tumultuous one. They fought a lot, and sometimes it turned violent. From his description it was the fault of both of them, but he does point out that maybe he saw it wrong. His wife, Loretta, died some years ago. I do applaud that he says that, because it could be easy to blame it on her, maybe her Italian temper, or that she wanted a kind of a man that he just wasn’t. However, he came from a place and an era when people often didn’t have the tools to resolve their marital problems. It’s partly in an effort to find a better way to communicate with his wife that he got into Scientology.</div>
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Another aspect of this story is what Scientology used to be like. It doesn’t sound all that bad. LRH, while in many ways a conman, seemed to be actually building something that may not have been completely what he said it was, did have positive aspects. Strangely, in all the talk about Scientology, there is no mention of Xenu, thetans, or anything like that. Ron seems to be more interested in the communication and self-help aspect of Scientology. He does admit that most of it was really pencilled together from earlier sources and sold as LRH’s own ideas. I do see the draw though. He also writes about how Scientology changed after LRH died and Dave took over. Dave only seems to treat the whole organisation as something to serve him in the moment. His own little kingdom to rule, with no regard to the future.</div>
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The third subject is Dave. What he was like as a kid, and that he’s really a sociopath. Which is not that much of a surprise. As a kid he had much of the classical signs. A bully, but also charming, and demanding attention. He did leave home right after his 16th birthday to join the Sea Org. While this could be a sign that he just wanted to get away from his parents fighting, the fights didn’t make him what he is. On the one hand, Ron swears that the violence was only between the adults. Also, the positive aspects of Scientology should have taught him better techniques to communicate with people. The real reason that Dave is so violent and awful, is because that’s just the way he is. From every description, it’s apparent that he completely lacks empathy. He can mimic normal people, pretend to be nice and sweet, but that’s exactly what sociopaths are like. Once you get near them, once they have power over you, they can stop pretending.</div>
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While I wish there had been more details in the book, I did enjoy it. Ron’s writing is easy, quite enjoyable. He paints colourful pictures of places and people, while being down-to-earth and no frills.</div>
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Overall, it’s a good little book. While it does feel a bit less about Dave, and more about Ron, the person who just wants to know more about Scientology will be satisfied. Is it a complete study of Dave? No. Ron seems like the old-fashioned father, who was mostly focused on bringing home the bacon, teaching his kids to ride a bike, than the day-to-day of parenting. He never seemed to have too deep a connection with his son, which is normal for his generation. However, while this book may not be exactly as promised, it’s worth reading. I did it in a day.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-14130436840142551042018-02-25T19:07:00.001+01:002018-02-25T20:21:11.826+01:00The Kingdom of Gods (Inheritance Trilogy #3) by N.K. Jemisin * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBee1Y9UONwWocLjrvubjn2_431vJs6vQ1OTB2YxK15SgXSquh_i9wHsl3e54ySbE7QLGe1RSsgh0u3dlGbG3KxqvhLYWSMrzoeDdpyQQZ5ye2_N-l06NrGlk_sPIglrTJm-aAQxVVxTTR/s1600/KINGDOM-OF-GODS-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBee1Y9UONwWocLjrvubjn2_431vJs6vQ1OTB2YxK15SgXSquh_i9wHsl3e54ySbE7QLGe1RSsgh0u3dlGbG3KxqvhLYWSMrzoeDdpyQQZ5ye2_N-l06NrGlk_sPIglrTJm-aAQxVVxTTR/s400/KINGDOM-OF-GODS-final.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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I really wanted to like this book, but it was a major disappointment. Let me tell you why.</div>
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The setting is the same as the previous books, mostly taking place in the capital city. The difference is that in this case the main character isn’t a mortal, but actually one of the godlings, Sieh. He is the oldest and the first. I was actually excited to read from his point of view, because I liked him a lot in the first book.</div>
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It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling the major plot point, but I’ll try. He meets two children by chance, a brother and sister, both Arameri. He meets them several times, at a few points in their lives, until an incident happens that changes his life forever. Now, you may think this is a start of a great adventure of self-discovery. Herein lies my problem with the story.</div>
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Things do happen. Here and there. In between those sporadic events though are lots and lots and lots and … did I mention … a lot of thinking. And talking. Then more thinking and talking. Then an event, and then some more thinking and talking. It’s mostly philosophical contemplation on gods, eternity, and probably a whole lot of things I don’t remember, because I was so bored I couldn’t pay attention to it. I’m not a big fan of philosophy, frankly. I took two classes at university, and I almost failed both of them because I completely misunderstood most of the material.</div>
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The first book had a good amount of action, and some thinking. The next book had more thinking, less action, and while I found it hard to get through sometimes, I managed. This, I couldn’t. I was at 60%, and I just couldn’t go on. I turned to the ending, read it, and I’m finally done with it. They did mention some interesting events that I didn’t read about, but frankly, I don’t feel like digging through all that thinking just to get to the more interesting bits.</div>
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There lies the problem, well, at least, for people like me. The world is interesting, but it feels like the author fell in love with it too much. They contemplated all these things while writing the book, and just had to put all of their thoughts on it into it. Some of the ideas are interesting, sort of, to a point. However, often the same subject is mulled over ad nauseam. I didn’t set out to read a philosophy book, and frankly, I felt cheated. What I wanted to read was an exciting adventure with colourful characters that were modern and with a wide range of personalities, sexualities and backgrounds. Also, some contemplation. Similar to the previous books. That’s not what this is. Seriously, if 1/3 of the book was taken out, it would be much easier to read.</div>
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I usually tell you about the characters in my review. In the 60% I read it was mostly about Sieh. While he was colourful and interesting before, in this book he was mostly annoying. Moaning about his lot in life, things he couldn't do, ... Not his usually bright self.</div>
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Overall, if you are the kind of person who reads non-fiction books mostly on philosophy, you’ll like the book. If you’re not, then you’ll probably have a hard time getting through this one, and frankly, the ending wasn’t that cathartic. It was an okay ending, but didn’t give me a thrill. It’s sad, because I really enjoyed the first book, and I wanted it to be one of the best trilogies ever. It just made me feel disappointed.</div>
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I also know that this review is not up to my usual standard, but I don't have much to say about the actual content of this book. I could never remember much of things that didn't interest me, and most of this book falls under that category.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-5086485749873157092018-01-07T23:25:00.000+01:002018-01-07T23:25:35.137+01:00The Broken Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #2) by N.K. Jemisin * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi826TzEimAFLwQs8ohOp2hfzQbhyphenhyphenkBAkCixKwT843b6rGmQLhPM_Bm_m2ZwUwvWxdGHcgdkPAA07qDuluuburwsIVZS1V-suwsZhmMZIQPASZiGrvpNAi84brGSrS-D7iflarBoBTJ8YCu/s1600/broken+kingdoms.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi826TzEimAFLwQs8ohOp2hfzQbhyphenhyphenkBAkCixKwT843b6rGmQLhPM_Bm_m2ZwUwvWxdGHcgdkPAA07qDuluuburwsIVZS1V-suwsZhmMZIQPASZiGrvpNAi84brGSrS-D7iflarBoBTJ8YCu/s400/broken+kingdoms.webp" width="263" /></a></div>
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First of all, having read the book, I still don’t really get the title. I mean, if the title has the word “kingdoms” in it, you expect intrigue, politics, conflict, that sort of thing. I’m trying to decipher a hidden meaning, and at the edge of my thoughts there is something that I cannot grasp, but it eludes me. No wonder I had a hard time even remembering the title.</div>
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This, however, didn’t mean that the book was bad, it just means that I think the title was a poor choice. I actually enjoyed this book, though perhaps not as much as the first one. The reason for it was the ending. It almost seemed like it had this steady pacing up until a point, when the author realised she was coming up on her word limit, and suddenly tied everything up into this neat little bow. It felt off, but you’ll have to read it to understand it. It was an okay ending, but it was still weird.</div>
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Now onto the story itself. This is a sequel of a kind. You still get some of the original characters, but they are mostly on the sidelines, except for one surprising figure. First of all, it’s set 10 years from the events of the last book. This is the story of a young woman, Oree. I’m not giving away too much in that she’s blind. She moves to Sky, which is now called Shadow, where a lot has changed. As she tries to live an unremarkable life, she gets swept up in events that are far beyond her. In fact, for the most part, she is completely overwhelmed by them.</div>
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This story was interesting in a couple of ways. One, I’ve never read a book where the main character was blind. Normally I stay away from books set in real life that have disabled people in them. This is due to a family history that I don’t want to go into, but there are painful memories. In this story, as it was set in a fictional universe, the issue of being blind was quite different from the usual, and therefore I could gain enough distance for it to not bother me. I also thought it was handled well, with the disability giving her limitations, but not completely crippling her.</div>
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I also found that the story had enough twists that it could surprise me. While it had a similar mystery element like the first one, that was quickly solved and became part of a more overarching problem. This problem tied neatly into an aspect of the universe that was revealed in the previous book.</div>
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The main character, through whose “eyes” we see the story was okay. I didn’t really find myself connecting to her as much as I did the previous woman’s. Oree didn’t feel as complex to me as Yeine did, nor as interesting. I still wanted to know what would happen to her, but I did manage to put this book down for several days, while the previous one I ate up like a hungry wolf. She didn’t feel as strong, nor as clever as Yeine. She was a lot simpler, and a lot more content to just stay alive.</div>
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Overall, it was a good book, and a good second part. It’s clearly meant to tie into the more overarching story of the Three, and I’m sure the character introduced at the end will have a role in the next book. Still, it lacked a certain feeling that the first book had. It didn’t give you that sense of urgency, of grandness. That, perhaps is why most of all the word “kingdom” bothers me in the title.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-9666384596670807152017-12-27T02:27:00.001+01:002017-12-27T02:27:57.314+01:00The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #1) by N.K. Jemisin * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTBsAJAbSKouVANYXIDGBT3yePmSJqmCaDVLTGeTAdjymlMHrXMIREsoWlojhro0RdTY-_SGHKe_0chJBUmXAfDOH-ptdu6cbYvsrlqEmjVi69zzH-6XSR2gQaxkgj0seAdccMQBYGrCA/s1600/100000-Kingdoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1040" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVTBsAJAbSKouVANYXIDGBT3yePmSJqmCaDVLTGeTAdjymlMHrXMIREsoWlojhro0RdTY-_SGHKe_0chJBUmXAfDOH-ptdu6cbYvsrlqEmjVi69zzH-6XSR2gQaxkgj0seAdccMQBYGrCA/s400/100000-Kingdoms.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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I’ve been in a reading slump these past weeks. I’ve started books, but I didn’t feel that I wanted to immerse myself in them. However, yesterday I wanted to read a bit in the bath, so I took out my wishlist on Goodreads, and had a look at what I had put on there. That’s when I decided to go for this book. Yes, you read it right, this was yesterday.</div>
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I couldn’t stop reading. At first, the story was a bit confusing. Of course, nowadays fantasy books don’t start out the way my LotR copy does, with 20 pages of explaining the world. You have to gradually learn what’s going on. This gives the reader the sense of discovery, of exploration, which can be a good thing. However, if not done well, it only gets very confusing for the first couple of chapters, and sometimes so much, it can get frustrating. This wasn’t the case here, though I was a bit confused in some places at first. The world itself in a way is kind of simple, but smart in that way. Some people build very complex worlds, but if you think about it, too many layers of government, or complex magic systems can be annoying and hard to read. Especially because the government really was a side story.</div>
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The real story runs on two lines, and this even gets the main character, Yeine confused sometimes. Though not the reader, but she is quite overwhelmed. The story takes place in the span of two weeks. It’s written as a sort of memoir, Yeine tells her own story. This does bring her closer to the reader, and also gives the author a good tool to inject the background into the story, as Yeine assumes we’re outsiders to her world. Both stories are interesting, even though one mystery comes to an abrupt conclusion, almost an afterthought. I kind of wished that was flashed out more, but then the time limit of two weeks wouldn’t have been enough.</div>
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Yeine, as I have mentioned is the main character. Of course, anyone who has read a short bio of the author knows she’s a feminist. She brings that into Yeine’s background in an interesting way. She’s been brought up in a matriarchal society, while the majority of the world seems more patriarchal. However, no one bats an eye at the thought of the head of the family being a woman, so in that way society is overall more forward thinking than the general mediaeval-like worlds in fantasy. I do wish though that she would have had more opportunities to take action, because I did like the things she tried to do. However, in the end, she is really just swept up in the story, flailing around in the current, trying to hold onto a log. I’m not saying I didn’t like her. She was a nice young woman, and she did try her best. I just wish she had more opportunities for action.</div>
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There are many characters in this story, but I think this isn’t more about the characters, but rather the ideas of love, jealousy, strife and balance. It takes the reader on a journey to explore these themes in a modern way. It actually reminds me of a jdrama I have recently watched, where each character was trying to find one kind of happiness, but ended up re-evaluating what happiness actually was. One of the main characters, I don’t want to spoil it too much, but you’ll probably know whom I mean once you’ve read it, really should take a deeper look into all four. It is very hard to give a good, thorough review of this book, because I felt that this book isn’t just understood on an intellectual level, but a deeper, emotional level. That is the realm of the individual, and therefore everyone will probably take something different out of it.</div>
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As a side note, there is a small love story in the book. It’s not too central to bother me, but there enough for my enjoyment. It feels a bit insta-love, but not really. So if you think it is, then please, re-examine your position.</div>
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Overall, very good book. The world is complex enough to be intriguing, but not so much to be confusing. The characters are likeable, though I could have hated some of the evil ones more. It really doesn’t feel like most fantasy that I’ve read, but not so far out there to not be enjoyable. I really felt like the heroine, being swept along, and almost surprised myself when the ending was suddenly there. I highly recommend it. Not just for women.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-88490535425314864222017-12-11T23:58:00.000+01:002018-01-04T00:04:59.806+01:00Tokyo Tarareba Musume (JDrama) * * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpO-RKbdl89T97zhXSdbPJl4gNjmgX9qN5vuGwJH2_1_g587P2lnXDassL3zT3iG4bPciubi8kggJQgE4fVnVBU-1RqXfidBUnIjTcoN1Kvhx10IAbYxxEYVLoOWvRv4Zu54J6jRJzUSvd/s1600/tokyo_musume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="704" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpO-RKbdl89T97zhXSdbPJl4gNjmgX9qN5vuGwJH2_1_g587P2lnXDassL3zT3iG4bPciubi8kggJQgE4fVnVBU-1RqXfidBUnIjTcoN1Kvhx10IAbYxxEYVLoOWvRv4Zu54J6jRJzUSvd/s400/tokyo_musume.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Tokyo Tarareba Musume (Tokyo "What if" Woman)</i> is about happiness. “Let’s get a woman’s
happiness!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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30 is a huge turning point in a woman’s life. This story
stars three women, former classmates who live in Tokyo. They gather at a small
restaurant run by one’s father and chat about their lives. They often start
their sentences with “What if…”, wondering about things they should have done
differently. They all turn 30, and realise that they don’t have the husband and
children they imagined they would by now. They decide to not mess around
anymore, and take that goal seriously, because that is a woman’s happiness.
With this in mind, they take risks, and from their previous stale lives try to
build something more. This, however, leads to realisations and experiences that
they would not have imagined.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rinko (Yoshitaka Yuriko) can be called the ringleader of the
girls. She is also the “author” of the story. She narrates it, and in the drama
there is an indication that it’s her biography. She’s writing a drama for TV.
She’s looking for the right man, but she’s not putting much of an effort into
it. Oh, and I have to comment on her clothes. Really? REALLY?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kaori (Eikura Nana) is a sweetheart. She’s the most
feminine. She makes nails, and has her own shop. Her love life has been none
existent, but all changes at a faithful meeting. She embarks on a path that she
later realises wasn’t a good one, but grows stronger because of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yuko (Oshima Yuko) is a chef. She cooks at her father’s
restaurant and is too busy for love. However, she has a somewhat fairy-tale
idea of the perfect man, whom she sees, and they live happily ever after. I don’t
want to spoil it, but anyone can guess that this is not a good idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Through their trials, these women learn a valuable lesson about
love, life and happiness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I really liked this drama, as I’m in a similar phase of life
myself, though slightly older. It’s hard going on Facebook and seeing all the
engagements, weddings, baby pictures. You look at your permanent single status
and feel like just giving up on everything. However, are those really what
happiness is? Watch this drama, and ask yourself that.</div>
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Oh, and just because you're going to be obsessed with this song, I'll put it here.</div>
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<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vxl4gsvgEQY" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-22986643617791866322017-12-06T20:05:00.000+01:002018-01-03T20:06:36.380+01:00Dear Sister (JDrama) * * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gnxZWNeRCR_7YvVAcEOftCmNSYypNQpozJ4WqAO5D11s47LyKwIOkRrsUUVE8v-lZgInyOsls_eedCfkRJOYodsd3hK-ja0mGvjcT4wuedpndx_AkkfIWneuVfnV0BRR3YEMRNqkeL1R/s1600/dear_sister.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1044" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gnxZWNeRCR_7YvVAcEOftCmNSYypNQpozJ4WqAO5D11s47LyKwIOkRrsUUVE8v-lZgInyOsls_eedCfkRJOYodsd3hK-ja0mGvjcT4wuedpndx_AkkfIWneuVfnV0BRR3YEMRNqkeL1R/s400/dear_sister.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Dear Sister</i> is an interesting drama. It’s mainly about the
importance of family, especially siblings. Being an only child myself, I could
just look on, and remember when as a little girl I so wanted a sibling.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the title suggests, the two main characters are sisters.
Though I do have to note here that they are not the only siblings in the story.
There are also two brothers and a brother with a sister, so you get all
combinations. Let’s focus on the main storyline. The two sisters seem very
different. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hazuki (Matsushita Nao) is the responsible one. Seemingly.
She has a government job, a boyfriend, lives alone, looks after her mother. She
wears shirts and pencil skirts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Misaki (Ishihara Satomi) is the younger, irresponsible
sister. She left home at an early age, never got an education, works in shady
places, has men issues. Because of these Hazuki sees her as the lucky child,
the one who could always do what she wanted. However, she could be wrong.
Assuming that Misaki is selfish, Hazuki always sees everything through those
glasses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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However, all may not be as it seems. Misaki returns home to
turn everything upside down. Or is it the right side up? <o:p></o:p></div>
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This drama encourages people to be brave. Not settle being
content, but to actively seek out our happiness. There could be pitfalls, but
with the help of friends and family, you can get there. It also wants you to be
brave through life’s hardships. At last, it wants you to not make assumptions
about people. Talk to them instead. They may surprise you, and what you thought
as evil, may turn out to be good, and good things evil.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I highly recommend this drama. It not only has a charming
family story, but also has a mystery element that will keep you wondering.<o:p></o:p></div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-86598504597484791502017-11-11T22:48:00.000+01:002017-12-30T22:49:15.773+01:00 Please Love the Useless Me (JDrama) * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmEhM65U9-zRjvi5n2Cn_kPtd0vPxNPAt9uEehGJyaKlSo2vMXCc9ObwhaZhSpWqdSxwuple9lD8knUM4M8dNgcx1Tuglcul4v4tdi808T_5iQw6W3DuKzK0RUcf0x5uCS3OOA5gVKsfG/s1600/dame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1137" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmEhM65U9-zRjvi5n2Cn_kPtd0vPxNPAt9uEehGJyaKlSo2vMXCc9ObwhaZhSpWqdSxwuple9lD8knUM4M8dNgcx1Tuglcul4v4tdi808T_5iQw6W3DuKzK0RUcf0x5uCS3OOA5gVKsfG/s400/dame.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
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<i>Please Love the Useless Me</i> (<i>Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai</i>) isn’t one of my favourites. It was very sweet and
cute, but the main character can be annoying. Okay, she’s also very sweet, and
when she clutched her meat pillow, I was reminded of her cat. This is obviously
not a serious drama. It’s sometimes funny, but sometimes ridiculous.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This drama is about growing up. Although the main character
never seems to, she’s not alone. I’m well over 30, and sometimes I feel like an
impostor as well, just playing being an adult. Being an adult is hard. There
are jobs to find, relationships, people out for our money, etc. We have all
probably felt that we are way in over our heads. Michiko, the main character
knows she is. She’s unemployed, and hopelessly ensnared by her younger
boyfriend. She needs help, and her old boss, Ayumu decides to help. Though
actually, he could use some help himself. His restaurant is just starting up,
and I think having a waitress as cute as her around for room and board is not a
bad deal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Relationships are important in this drama. Most people feel
that they are not fully adults until they have settled down and got married.
Therefore, many people in the story are actively seeking this. However, telling
you if they succeed would mean spoilers. It’s also about friendships, as they
often help each other out. Family is a part of it too. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jobs are also a theme. Ayumu left a job that was well-paid
and respected to pursue his dream of being a chef. While this is a gamble, he
walks forward relentlessly. Michiko also doesn’t have a job, but after the
suggestion of finding something she actually likes, she manages to land a
position that can take her far. I actually found this idea in the drama useful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Michiko (Fukada Kyoko) is not a smart woman. She’s too kind
and trusting, the realities of life not seemed to have jaded her yet. However,
she does grow a lot in the drama, and I was quite impressed by it. Even though
she says at the end that she’s useless, I feel that it’s because she says that
she is not. In fact, she becomes quite capable. Oh, and she constantly eats
meat. She makes me want to eat a juicy steak.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ayumu (Fujioka Dean) is a stoic man. He shows his feelings
through his cooking. He’s also dependable and capable. The kind of person you
wish you had in your life, because you know you can always count on him. He’s
also a man of few words. Fujioka Dean is of course good at these characters,
and his presence is always felt.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When discussing this drama one more thing I need to mention.
Omelette rice. You will be looking up the recipe if you don’t know it yet. I
haven’t tried it yet, but I will gather my courage and go for it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4byqNB0W_OzWrAIkWrwXqAwDIROSxdvV4KSdwdag728eEw0OkNY_XFhhhqYQR_nUy7JMU3RqZbD1cX_re89dUY52W__aMFeQKkn3-5Rv-hzbOoVVP8MlGT8We6pFmbn-sUjJM5MqA5cN/s1600/screen-error113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="757" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4byqNB0W_OzWrAIkWrwXqAwDIROSxdvV4KSdwdag728eEw0OkNY_XFhhhqYQR_nUy7JMU3RqZbD1cX_re89dUY52W__aMFeQKkn3-5Rv-hzbOoVVP8MlGT8We6pFmbn-sUjJM5MqA5cN/s320/screen-error113.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Overall, this is a cute drama, and will make you think about
your own growing-up process. I know that Michiko will be kind of annoying in
her naiveté, but her character does have a point, I promise. Happy omelette
rice cooking!</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-68078683421044614262017-11-09T20:02:00.000+01:002017-12-30T20:02:58.101+01:00 Hapimari: Happy Marriage!? (JDrama) * * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBB98HaAzMqC7R5X6GC0xcRHwP41EyutgpDaldMhEkUxwwHHhw9DVHdZaUaq5qshEJ4SjEI4UD2ob7sMh0kX7Grw-7QlydWwOz9QNthmuchyWs4U3D5cmkTsxEsHQSEM0b0Tp_o62vnnnC/s1600/hapimari.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="817" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBB98HaAzMqC7R5X6GC0xcRHwP41EyutgpDaldMhEkUxwwHHhw9DVHdZaUaq5qshEJ4SjEI4UD2ob7sMh0kX7Grw-7QlydWwOz9QNthmuchyWs4U3D5cmkTsxEsHQSEM0b0Tp_o62vnnnC/s400/hapimari.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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After I saw this series, I started to read the manga,
because I fell in love with the characters so much, I wasn’t ready to let them
go. Therefore, I will make some references to the manga as well, though I haven’t
read it all yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hapimari is about a lot of things. Fathers, marriage, love,
happiness. It starts out with a strange event. A man proposes marriage to a
woman he doesn’t even know. Interestingly, in the manga he’s actually her boss,
which complicates things further. However, in the drama he’s not. I think they
took that part out as it was a bit disturbing, almost bordering on a kind of
harassment. It was also a conflict not closely related to the main story, which
in the manga takes places over several more years than in the drama.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So getting back to the story, a woman accepting a proposal
by a strange, but wealthy man seems equally improbable. However, just as the
man has a good reason for the propositions, so does the woman for accepting it.
That doesn’t mean they both don’t have their doubts, but once they start
playing with open cards, all falls into place. In a way, such a marriage is
even cleaner than the usual ones. There is no promise of eternal love, though
there is one of fidelity. They both step into it with open eyes and clear
intentions. In a way, this drama would be dull, if not for the chemistry
between them, and also the sexual appeal that I felt coming from Hokuto.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Hokuto (Dean Fujioka) is the wealthy man. He is not an
ordinary guy. He’s very intelligent, though a bit cold, but that actually makes
him kind of sexy. He’s very driven, but also lonely. His childhood was plagued
by tragedy, and he grew up in a household where he didn’t trust anyone. The
reason for this is the murder mystery that is also a plot line in the drama.
However, Chiwa, his new wife relieves his loneliness like no one else before
her. Probably the main reason is that he feels he can trust her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chiwa (Seino Nana) is also an interesting character. She’s
the caretaker type of person. She even looks after her dad, whom I would have
left to his own devices long ago. She is also very smart, though she hasn’t had
many opportunities in life. Choosing to marry a stranger is not easy for her,
but she wants to do her best in everything. I’m actually of a similar philosophy,
as I think that if you do something, you should give it your all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This drama is a lovely journey into love and trust. I
recommend it a lot. The manga is good as well, though that is actually rather
adult, while the drama is toned down for TV. However, why you really need to
watch this is at the beginning of episode 9. It wasn’t explosive, nor
passionate, but makes every woman clutch a pillow in a hug.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-43459103223329815722017-11-07T17:20:00.000+01:002017-12-30T17:32:43.679+01:00From Five To Nine (JDrama) * * * *<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1y2A_oM1G3yqim5777faBQVxe56T0CdkgWzz3BCeKJWfT8rwFUXazLgTL7tDYlRLtT7C98crx7d9PIBgDrJfkaAkNpKrL7aUrqnL6ObioQr1-KEQv-oUe2LowC5S88J86RSvNOgDmgbA-/s1600/fromninetofive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="529" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1y2A_oM1G3yqim5777faBQVxe56T0CdkgWzz3BCeKJWfT8rwFUXazLgTL7tDYlRLtT7C98crx7d9PIBgDrJfkaAkNpKrL7aUrqnL6ObioQr1-KEQv-oUe2LowC5S88J86RSvNOgDmgbA-/s400/fromninetofive.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
First of all, I have to say that I mainly started to watch <i>From Five to Nine</i> for Ishihara Satomi,
whom I just adore! She’s not only incredibly beautiful, and I sometimes find
myself staring at, but she also brings such warmth to all her performances. I
also started to watch it as I’ve worked as an English teacher myself. I tried
once to get a job in Japan, but apparently it’s impossible if you didn’t grow
up in an English speaking country.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This drama starts out a bit strangely, and frankly,
throughout the story it was hard to understand Takane’s attraction to her.
Sure, Junko is a lovely, vivacious, beautiful woman. Like I said, it’s very
hard to not stare at Satomi sometimes, she’s that gorgeous, but one would think
a monk would go deeper than that. Also, frankly, Takane’s very annoying, and I
would probably have been more drastic in my refusal of him.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So this drama is about a monk falling in love with an
English teacher inexplicably fast and deep. He relentlessly pursues her.
However, her dream is to go and live in New York. Complications include
families, other men, a surprise man – and that was a surprise, though I did
have my suspicions -, among other things. The biggest complication though is
that Junko is not at all interested in marriage, especially not to a monk.</div>
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One surprising aspect of this story was a monk getting
married. I did do a bit of research on Japanese monks, and found <a href="http://thatssozen.blogspot.hu/2015/01/being-japanese-monk.html" target="_blank">a very interestingblog</a> that is well worth reading. So the only really off thing about the
story was Takane having his hair, but I guess Yamashita Tomohisa didn’t want to
have his head shaved.</div>
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I also have to comment on the English. Junko’s is okay,
though she has a very strong accent. Takane, on the other hand, has such a
strong accent, it was often difficult to understand, and sometimes I couldn’t
even tell that he was speaking in English. Actually, some of the supporting
cast had a lot better pronunciation, than the two main characters.</div>
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The really interesting thing about this story is why I kept
watching it. I didn’t like the start of it much, nor the insta-love, but it was
very funny, and after a while the romance kind of grew on me. So I really
recommend this, as by the end it’s a very warm, loving story. Also, you’ll
really want to eat crabs.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-62657059960103544882017-10-18T13:23:00.000+02:002017-12-28T13:23:52.652+01:00Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse #3) by James S.A. Corey * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkN2IrjFBSoXScwNiJJXSMQAs_xvLm9vt2jykvPOwZdDAhsXtAkkcLpd7818lOK2J4MJDOn92CHXAzq_GnsYBM4fZgb2OD6VcKDHitSffLzsmXCm2UMNJsYb4sFXPFb34xgeOWu3HU3fWN/s1600/Corey_AbaddonsGate_TP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1031" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkN2IrjFBSoXScwNiJJXSMQAs_xvLm9vt2jykvPOwZdDAhsXtAkkcLpd7818lOK2J4MJDOn92CHXAzq_GnsYBM4fZgb2OD6VcKDHitSffLzsmXCm2UMNJsYb4sFXPFb34xgeOWu3HU3fWN/s400/Corey_AbaddonsGate_TP.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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In the beginning I struggled with this one. It was slow to start, and some of the new characters I really didn’t like. Especially one of the villains. Those were hard to read. However, towards the end it really picked up, and I started to like it a lot.</div>
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It’s very hard to write a review with no spoilers of the series. It’s the third book, so everything in the story is very connected to the events of the previous books. So regarding the story, humanity still faces a crisis, and the different groups in the solar system still can’t get along. There are those who try, but there are also those who are resistant. This is pretty much the same in all the books. Reading it can be very annoying, because you find yourself screaming at the book to just get along already. The good thing about that though is that it can be applied to real life. There is an increasing crisis right here, on Earth as well. If only everyone could just set aside their differences and work together, we could deal with the problems. If not, then using the book as a metaphor, similar events can take place right here. That is something that I like about sci-fi. It is set in the future, but it also shows us something about our present.</div>
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Now let’s move onto the characters. Our favourite Holden is still in this, so you can relax. He’s still likeable, still trying to do his best, and sometimes failing, sometimes winning. Without spoiling much, I was really afraid for him in this one.</div>
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There are a couple of new characters in the book. Anna is an interesting one. She’s a lesbian priest. Sometimes she’s frustrating, and feels like the authors just put her in to pander to the religious readers of the story. She often wonders about god in the world she’s in. As an atheist, I resolve this simply, as there is no god, so it’s not a question. However, later on she also becomes the voice of morals, and also takes action herself. That’s when I actually started to like her. She’s the person who isn’t jaded by life, while all the characters seem to be. She even brings up one of my favourite ideas in the book. Why can’t we work together without going through all the screaming and dying first?</div>
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Overall, the start of the book was a real struggle. However, after a while I found it hard to put down, and quickly read the last third. The real question at the end is, to quote Buffy, <a href="https://youtu.be/7XdAQpq_1Xw" target="_blank">“Where do we go from here?”</a></div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-46615396891254869732017-10-16T01:19:00.001+02:002017-10-16T01:19:46.791+02:00A Life by Guy de Maupassant * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajXe9hxFj00M3gOtD0x9Kc0agSm-c7WkILj7XZ8yKkEWXGKKTxK-p9dLcSOrIRuerXzv0b8Tx_dZNGD64ayrnrst0UZe9aLxO0NT4ZxfHsuZbsNB0u4TBghOIZMhfSmbH8joNkKkmgr4j/s1600/A+Life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajXe9hxFj00M3gOtD0x9Kc0agSm-c7WkILj7XZ8yKkEWXGKKTxK-p9dLcSOrIRuerXzv0b8Tx_dZNGD64ayrnrst0UZe9aLxO0NT4ZxfHsuZbsNB0u4TBghOIZMhfSmbH8joNkKkmgr4j/s400/A+Life.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>
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It’s been awhile since I’ve read anything not written in this century, or the end of the last one. Growing up, I was quite taken with historical fiction, mainly Dumas. However, since then I’ve mostly focused on the problems of the modern man. I’ve decided to venture into the world of the classics to see if I’ve left them hastily, and realised I haven’t. While Maupassant’s short novel was okay, I didn’t find it engaging for the present time.</div>
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I purposefully didn’t read any analysis of this novel, because I wanted to draw my own conclusions. I did read the writer’s life though. Now, for all I know, I could be completely misunderstanding the text. However, a text always means what it means to you. No one can be in another real person’s head, just in that of their characters’.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The story itself is quite simple. You can see what’s going to happen a mile away. It’s mostly about the life of a moderately wealthy French lower aristocrat woman. It starts the day her adult life begins, and concludes at a point where it changes drastically once more.</div>
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There were many themes in the novel, in spite of it being quite short. Morality, religion, child rearing, classes were all touched upon. While it talks about a lot of things, it concludes nothing really. It’s a description of things as they are, and therein lies my problem with it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Morality in the story is not at a high point. Basically, everyone cheats on everyone, and everyone is sleeping with everyone. Except for the heroine, but she’s different. I’ll talk about her later. Apart from sexual morality, the only other morality it concerns itself with is that of the morals concerning the responsibilities of a child towards their parents. In that regard we see two opposite examples. However, it is left to the reader to draw conclusions from the examples. One is clearly positive, the other negative, but the reader could excuse the actions of the negative example with bad child rearing.</div>
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Religion is also a theme. For the story, the role of the local priest is more that of a settler of people’s affairs, than anything really religious. There are two examples of priests as well. From the story, I’m inclined to say that the writer favoured a naturalist deism, than organised religion. However, I did find the part of the boy’s catechism interesting, because it seemed to suggest that everything that happened after missing that was because of the lack of religion in the child’s upbringing.</div>
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This leads me to the child rearing aspect of the story. Maupassant himself was brought up in the country, and then sent to school, which he hated. We see three examples of bringing up children in the story, though one we don’t completely see. Both the aristocratic children, the main protagonist herself was brought up with ideas of natural romanticism, where everything feels like a romance novel. The boy is brought up similarly. Both have the problem of not being able to exist in the real world, outside of their own little niché. Makes me wonder if Maupassant felt like a fish out of water as well. The third child’s, the peasant boy’s upbringing was probably different, and more work oriented. He turned out much different. This part also makes the point of the value of hard work, and that with that people can accomplish a lot.</div>
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This difference is child rearing also points towards the heavy classism in the novel. The peasants are praised for their hard work, but also not thought of as much. Their morals are loose. One priest says one of his main jobs is that when he sees a peasant girl getting bigger, to find the boy who did it and get them married. It even often mentions that peasant girls almost always get married pregnant. “Jeanne did not belong to the race of peasants who are dominated by their lower instincts.” Their thoughts are materialistic and simple. Rosalie’s future husband’s thought is only towards money, not his future wife. The aristocrats are idle, and mostly don’t do much. While their morals are also described as loose, somehow that feels to be forgivable, and not derogatory. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I also want to talk about the characters a bit. Jeanne is the main character, it’s basically her life that it talks about. However, the focus does feel to be mainly on the different women in the story. The life of the aristocratic women is idle. They wander around all the time, not doing much of anything. Jeanne did have ideas of maybe travelling, but other than her honeymoon, she never actually left her home. At first she was bothered by this, but as her life found the focus of her son, she lost all interest in anything else. This is what makes the story very boring for me. She just lets things happen to her, but is never an active agent in anything. Not even her own marriage. I know probably a lot of women felt like this in her time, but we know plenty of examples of women who found ways to revolt. In fact, since Maupassant’s mother got a divorce, she seemed to be one of them.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
And we reached my real reason why I didn’t like this novel. The whole thing is a description. It’s slow. It’s made up of pictures, but you never actually feel the characters. You know that even in film there are moments when you see someone, they don’t speak, but you can feel what they are feeling. Here you never really get that sense. You are closed off from Jeanne. She’s like a doll. Pretty, blank, glass eyes staring out of an empty head. In fact, most characters just don’t feel real in this story. They are examples. Dolls. Not real personalities, never developing, evolving, changing. Stagnant. I’m not sure if that is on purpose, but it makes me angry. It makes me think that if Maupassant saw people this way, then he never really saw anyone with all their complexities, motivations, histories, struggles and achievements. There is no empathy.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Upon starting this novel, I wondered if it could say something to me. It couldn’t. It gives a detached, simplistic view of the world. It shows things, but doesn’t say much. It never shows a resolution for the problems, or even an attempt to make the situation of the characters, or the world better. What I felt at the end was emptiness.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The 21st century human is not inspired by such stories. If we look at popular literature now, it’s full of people who struggle, fight to make the world a better place. That is what we need. Stories that inspire us to want to change. We can’t be idle. </div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-78284445533499245682017-08-05T01:47:00.000+02:002017-12-28T13:27:05.662+01:00Caliban's War (The Expanse, #2) by James S.A. Corey * * * * *<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqoSlHxG33YosrcnpeBmFiTw55P8nLiGPQ-S__jKmgDxvwv___d1vHhdZMNDlWM7Snxi7aCKPtepIjDbli9UcYSClZ4CVKDtuTo3HRdkH74hIvvQ-1mVng903bKD4gSEoNakVV0mZZt0F/s1600/Caliban%2527s_War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="973" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIqoSlHxG33YosrcnpeBmFiTw55P8nLiGPQ-S__jKmgDxvwv___d1vHhdZMNDlWM7Snxi7aCKPtepIjDbli9UcYSClZ4CVKDtuTo3HRdkH74hIvvQ-1mVng903bKD4gSEoNakVV0mZZt0F/s400/Caliban%2527s_War.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
After reading <i>Caliban’s War,</i> I realised what I missed from <i>Leviathan Wakes</i>. The excitement of not knowing what was going to be next! I’ve seen the TV show, so I knew what was going to happen. However, since the show stops at about half of the book, the rest was a mystery. I couldn’t put it down. Literally, I would walk home with my Kindle in my hand, and just letting my feet take me.</div>
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The story went more into politics with the few new characters.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
One was Avasarala. Pretty high up in the UN food-chain, those who watch the show know her already. She only gets introduced in the second book, though they wrote her some parts in the first season. I’m really happy they did that, because she’s a great character. I love that she’s like a posh Indian lady, who curses like a sailor. It’s also very interesting to see the point of view of someone who is so politically savvy. Avasarala for President! She’d hate me for that.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The other was Bobby. She’s a Martian, which can sound a bit funny, but she is from Mars. In her story there is a very interesting difference between the TV show and the book. In the TV show she makes a big deal of wanting to see the sea. Which does make sense, since coming from Mars, she had never seen such a thing. It also gives her an opportunity to get to know some of the differences between what she was taught about Earth, and what the actual facts are. In the book there is a similar scene. She doesn’t want to see the sea though, she just needs to go for a walk. She also meets some people, and realises that the people of Earth don’t have it as easy as she thought. The difference is, in the show, Earth is depicted as a much darker place. Yes, in the book they do mention that it’s not that easy to get into higher education, but it’s not as bad as the impression you get from the episode. </div>
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The third new voice is Prax. He’s a scientist, and that’s beneficial for the story line. He also moves everything forward, as his troubles are one of the main storyline. Without giving away too much, I liked how his emotional state was depicted. People who watch the show already know what happened to him, though some of the details are different in the book. I don’t think I’ll be spoiling much, if I say no spacing scene. I really didn’t miss that one. His story was one of the main reasons I actually started the book. </div>
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The politics side on the whole was complex. Negotiations and juggling of different interests, while trying to keep the greater good in sight is hard. The reason why I probably like such stories is because they are so complex and difficult to resolve. </div>
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Overall, great read. Exciting, full of twists and turns. Also clever with the science. I liked the characters, enjoyed reading from their different viewpoints. Okay, now, enough of reviewing, I have the next book to read. I finished this in three weeks, which is extra fast compared to my busy schedule. Though I did have a two-hour delayed plane, and a 3.5 hour plane ride to read a lot on.
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Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-71421145274568161112017-07-15T16:26:00.000+02:002017-12-28T13:27:51.058+01:00The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1) by Rick Riordan * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJffA_-hVwTLZWkGPlO6cxFcl3d7UtgrmPLz68uheSrMn7FDtmLIvAgNOCsvLzDsB4jQpII8uDHCKxZJjDaSMP16YNXM5Z5JCsp6FARg0cS89YLF7JLDRri3NrsytxbNCbEZfeYwMJx9L/s1600/The_Red_Pyramid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1209" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJffA_-hVwTLZWkGPlO6cxFcl3d7UtgrmPLz68uheSrMn7FDtmLIvAgNOCsvLzDsB4jQpII8uDHCKxZJjDaSMP16YNXM5Z5JCsp6FARg0cS89YLF7JLDRri3NrsytxbNCbEZfeYwMJx9L/s400/The_Red_Pyramid.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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I listened to this story as an audiobook. The funny thing about that is that it's actually the best format for it. The story is actually set as a transcript of tapes that were dropped off for the writer. On the tape, two kids talk about their crazy-sounding adventures with Egyptian gods. So when you are actually listening to two kids talking about what happened, it comes across just the way it should.</div>
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The story itself is similar to other books by Riordan. Kids get into an adventure that involves stopping a god, and also travelling through the US. The difference is that on the one hand they are not demigods, and the mythology is Egyptian. Now I'm a great lower of Ancient Egypt, so this was a plus for me.</div>
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Overall, this is a great adventure, but I find that I wasn't taken by it as I was with the other books. The characters aren't that complex, and the focus seems to be more on the story and the mythology, than them. That is also why I didn't write about the kids in detail.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-28917122233261907182017-07-15T15:56:00.001+02:002017-12-28T13:26:51.463+01:00Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) by James S.A. Corey * * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_l9i0eBJWMmIzdqrPW7T29etfnNC29XM_kiHhmgPFiFkBnnEbhSnpVgLK84_kpswVFE7VKSebGuIEJ0PlDzSQZtthY8VdoJZLHv6BcjOowQwqYw0gk00nrMaZrz1h14XtYBLlAB5hWWZG/s1600/expanse01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="950" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_l9i0eBJWMmIzdqrPW7T29etfnNC29XM_kiHhmgPFiFkBnnEbhSnpVgLK84_kpswVFE7VKSebGuIEJ0PlDzSQZtthY8VdoJZLHv6BcjOowQwqYw0gk00nrMaZrz1h14XtYBLlAB5hWWZG/s400/expanse01.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">Any book about the future is always also about the present. This book isn't Star Trek. Humans are still petty, after their own interest. So while the setting is space, people act the same way they would on Earth. I guess the old saying of the more things change ... works. I had this thought, but so did the author, that no matter what, we are just primates swinging poo at each other, or poking things with sticks.</span><br />
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The story is about a period of humanity when we have left Earth, but took the problems with us, while staying in the Solar system. We have colonised Mars, some moons, even rocks in the asteroid belt. I loved how living, growing up in space had physically changed people. I also found the way they spoke interesting. A mixture of the different languages of the people who went there. However, the same way as when Europeans colonised the rest of the world, the colonies are treated just as badly. And they want to break away just as badly. Thrown into this tense environment is something unexpected. Without spoiling things for those who are not watching the show, it's big.</div>
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The story itself is told from the point of view of two men. One is Holden. He's a regular guy from Earth. Good childhood, nice parents, and that makes him an idealist. He feels naive sometimes, but he tries his best all the time. The conflict inside is that he expects better from people than they are, and then constantly gets disappointed. There is one point where he doesn't realise that words can be bigger weapons than guns. I'm not sure if he'll ever change. Maybe I don't want him to.</div>
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The other point of view is Miller. He's a belter. Grew up on a station built in a rock. He's also a cop. Kind of a sci-fi Dick Tracy. Even has the hat. He's much more a realist, and I found that I liked him more. He is jaded, and gritty, but he does what must be done. He also has a keen insight to things. They do clash with Holden. The funny thing is, I think Miller sometimes wishes he could see the world the way Holden does, but he's seen too much for that to be possible. </div>
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Compared to the TV show, this encompasses the first season and some of the second. The story is pretty much the same, with some minor changes here and there. </div>
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Overall, I enjoyed the story very much. It has personal stories as well as a grand scale of system wide events and politics. Now, let me finish this review, I have the next book to read.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-51365229795541295862016-11-24T11:27:00.005+01:002016-11-24T11:27:56.084+01:00The Black Prism (Lightbringer, #1) by Brent Weeks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I started reading <i>The Black Prism</i> because one of my English students recommended it to me. I’m a big fan of fantasy, and I had been in a book funk lately. Anything I tried, I just couldn’t get into. However, I started to read this book. I put it down, and kept thinking about it, and that was when I knew, I had a series to read. Finally!</div>
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The story itself in a way is standard fantasy. There are rich and poor people, a coming war, feuding, magic users vs non-magic users. What sets it apart partly is the magic system. It was very interesting, though at first a bit hard to comprehend. It’s common nowadays to not actually explain stuff, but just have the reader gradually find them out. It did make it hard to understand in the beginning. I often wish people would just have a foreword to explain these things. It makes it a bit hard to get into the story, because you spend your brainpower trying to work out a complicated fantasy magic system. Once I got it though, I do like how it works.</div>
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The main reason why I really got into the story was one of the main characters, Kip. An overweight, kind of a loser, barely teen boy with a mouth on him. Usually, the main characters are special. He is kind of special, but he’s also really terrible at most things. I’ve never been a teen boy, but I find it immensely funny how he keeps having inappropriate thoughts in the worst moments possible. I also love how he’s not skinny. Most of my life, I’ve been overweight. He is a lot like me in that he hates his fat, but it’s not really something he can help. So while Kip is special, like most main characters nowadays, he still has qualities that make him more relatable.</div>
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My other favourite character is Gavin. Now, my student looked at me kind of funny when I said this, so I may come to not like him so much in the future, but for now, I do. From the first moment, he is kind of a mystery. There are hints that some things are going on in the background that we don’t know about. There had been one big reveal in the book, and I really loved it, since I never saw it coming. However, there are still some unanswered questions. It keeps the reader really engaged, because you just want to find out the answers.</div>
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My one problem with the book was the battle scenes. Honestly, after a while, they were dragging on, and I was having a hard time following in my head. It could just be me, because I’ve had a similar problem with other writers. I’m just not a big fan of battles.</div>
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Overall, I really liked the book. I recommend it to fans of fantasies with good magic systems, or with big battles. I’m definitely reading on, and already snuck a peek at the next book, even though I should be doing other stuff. It’s on my Kindle now though, so I’m definitely reading more today. I only gave it 4 stars, because 5 stars go to books like <i>Harry Potter</i>. The kind where I never want to let go.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-34545126714028604492016-10-29T00:56:00.000+02:002016-10-29T00:56:06.713+02:00The Golden Compass (2007) * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v5Sr2WaPK7XkHUjnjhTqkS97sSi6-NNZ59_kHvQ5QeogN2I1O463utrDhuBrAV2j7-rg6itAmrYODK-xqJgr51tWjPyn5hh8XGHa5YPpBUFcvEtGkXHCH33JW011x0uTiQcKLic2ZEyq/s1600/2007-golden_compass-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v5Sr2WaPK7XkHUjnjhTqkS97sSi6-NNZ59_kHvQ5QeogN2I1O463utrDhuBrAV2j7-rg6itAmrYODK-xqJgr51tWjPyn5hh8XGHa5YPpBUFcvEtGkXHCH33JW011x0uTiQcKLic2ZEyq/s400/2007-golden_compass-2.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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I saw the movie several years ago on TV. I couldn't really remember it now, but I did like it, and have wanted to read the book several times ever since. I've been running about a lot nowadays, and I love listening to audiobooks. I have had the audiobooks for quite some time, and this was the perfect opportunity to listen to them, so I did. Once I was done with the first book, a rewatch of the movie was in order.</div>
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This movie didn't do well in the box office. Some blame it on the religious theme of the story, others on it not being a very good movie. I quite liked it, though now that I know what they worked from, I can see the problems. For a discussion on the story itself, please <a href="http://unapologetic-reviews.blogspot.hu/2016/10/the-golden-compass-his-dark-materials-1.html" target="_blank">read my book review</a>.</div>
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The story didn't change much. They did merge a few characters, as it sometimes happens. What was strange was the introduction of the councillors and the Magisterial Emissary. It is remarked in the books that the Magisterium dictates a lot of things, and is half supporting Mrs Coulter, but it is her eagerness for power, which drives the negative events, not the Magisterium, as it appears in the movie. Or so it was my understanding as I read the book. I did wonder why they made it out so, but I couldn't see any justification for it. Maybe more will be revealed int he following books.</div>
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Another change as opposed to the book was the revelation of Lyra's parents. In the book, Lyra learns about it under very different circumstances, and much sooner. I think they placed it so in the movie, because it had a bigger impact on Lyra that way, but it didn't seem to matter for the story all that much.</div>
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The third big change was the order of the last couple of events, and especially leaving out the last big event. Lyra coming across the children and the bears is the opposite in the book. The only reason I can see for the change is that in the movie the party at Mrs Coulter's house is left out. It is there that Lyra learns of Lord Asriel's imprisonment among the bears, and that's why after the children she goes there. While in the movie she knows nothing about that turn of events, so she would have no motivation to head that way, and therefore has to just happen on that storyline while heading to her original goal.</div>
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The fourth big change is that they left out death, that seems to be an important part of the story. From Lyra exploring the catacombs in the beginning, to the end, death is a part of the story. In the movie, it was taken out. Sure, characters die, but not children. We know from the books that the poor boy Lyra finds dies, and yes, I did shed a tear, but that's not clear in the movie. That particular horror is left out, making the tone milder. In a way, the children who die make what is really happening - without giving too much away -, all the worse. That people would do that without a thought, just to keep children from growing up to thinking freely.</div>
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The biggest change of all is the milder tone overall that the movie takes. Gone are the references to Christianity. The Magisterium is the big bad, the organisation, while in the book, it was the underlying doctrine, that is the actual problem. I can understand the reason for the change, even though I wasn't pleased by it. The milder tone was also achieved by the ending. Since in the book, Lyra does reach her final end-goal, and in the movie she doesn't. I can especially understand this change, since that still haunts me a bit, and I'm somewhat glad to not have seen it.</div>
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The best thing about the movie is really Nicole Kidman. She was picked and persuaded by Philip Pullman himself to play Mrs Coulter. Sure, her hair is blonde, but even the author admitted that he should have described his character as a blonde. Nicole Kidman is perfect for the role. Cold, ruthless, even when trying to care. I'm not a big fan of hers, I think in some things she was terrible. However, I will always see Mrs Coulter as she portrayed her.</div>
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The second books was never made into a movie. It can be the problems with the anti-religious tone, or the fact that a lot of people didn't like it. Truth be told, it did feel rushed. All the events were crammed into these 113 minutes, clearly not enough. However, back in 2007 TV shows still didn't have the budget they do now. 2008 did one good thing. TV became more important, as people cut back on going out. Shows became more popular, and therefore more money is poured into them now. This book would have clearly worked better as a TV show. That is what will hopefully happen, as BBC has promised to develop the trilogy as a TV show. I'm sure the books will the in good hands, as BBC adaptations are very high quality, especially in recent years.</div>
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Overall, watch this movie. It's pretty good on its own, and if you're unsure about reading the book, it will give you a general idea of it. The CGI is also terrific, and don't forget the real highlight of the movie, Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-12875825586931198922016-10-29T00:55:00.001+02:002016-10-29T00:56:46.190+02:00The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman * * * * *<div style="text-align: justify;">
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I listened to this book as an audiobook. I actually enjoyed it in this format very much. It was mainly read by the author, but it also had a full cast for the characters. Much better than when a male reader tries to imitate female voices. Though sometimes that can be very funny. It reminded me of the fairy tale cassettes I used to fall asleep to as a child.</div>
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The story itself is about a girl, Lyra. It's obvious from the first moment that she's one of those destined children so popular in fantasy fiction. She's also 11, which is a common age to start child characters off. Lyra is a smart and cunning child. One of those natural leaders that can be the next Martin Luther King Jr., or the next Stalin. Which one she will become depends entirely on her basic temperament and life experiences. She is also very adaptable, just like her daemon. Whatever environment she finds herself in, she becomes part of it. She does feel like a normal child though. Sometimes children in stories are like mini-adults, but she isn't. I do find it interesting that a man picks a little girl to write about, while a similar destined character, Harry Potter, was written by a woman.<br />
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Daemons are the very core of the story. At first, I didn't feel they were properly explained. I got that daemons were the souls of people, but how they could function only became clearer as the story progressed. Daemons were the true forms of souls. They revealed the hidden desires, personalities, thoughts of people. It would be nice to have a daemon in real life. According to a Buzzfeed test, mine would be a cat.<br />
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There are some other characters, that were very intriguing, and a joy to read about. My personal favourites were the witches. Interestingly enough, they're the non-Christian characters, though they also seem to have some sort of a religion. I loved how Serafina Pekkala talked about the life of witches, how their longevity was a blessing and a curse.<br />
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The armoured bears were also interesting. I was especially intrigued by Iofur Raknison. He is a bear, who wants to be a man to be baptised. In a way, he reminded me of many peoples that decided to convert to Christianity, shunning their own native cultures. It wasn't properly explained though, what his motivations were. Maybe a form of self-hate. Hating being a bear, because he thought being a man would be more. Or he wanted the absolution for the things that he had done that the Catholic Church offers to people. To be free of his sins. Of course, sins can only be forgiven by ourselves if we want to be free of them, and some sins are purely imaginary, like the whole Original Sin idea. Religion tells you, you are sick, and they have the cure. The only trouble is, most people aren't sick at all. If you do have true sins, like Iofur, the forgiveness of others has no real meaning. It can help people to find a way to forgive themselves, which is probably what Iofur is really seeking, but in the end, the matter has to be dealt with on the inside of every person.<br />
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The story is about the importance of self, of thinking, free will. The evil people in the story are basically all those religious organisations that try to tell people how and what to think. I'm not completely sure yet what dust is exactly, but I have a few theories. I'm sure the story will be more and more about religion, having listened to Philip Pullman in interviews, but I'm curious as to where he will take the story. I do have the whole series as audiobooks, and lots of time to listen to them as I come and go.<br />
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This book can be read two ways. As a child, seeing the adventure, the evil characters, and cheering Lyra on. Or as an adult, observing the underlying themes, thinking about how freethinking has been hampered, progress, imagination stiffened by religion. I know, probably lots of religious parents are scared to give the book to their children, because of the very thing that I've written. However, if their religion is true, should it not withstand the test of reading fiction?<br />
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I do recommend this book. It's great fun, though brace yourselves for the ending. In a way, on its own, it was a bit like <i>The Hunger Games</i>' brand of dystopia. Also makes you think. Who ever said that books that made you think about religion had to be boring?<br />
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Read <a href="http://unapologetic-reviews.blogspot.hu/2016/10/the-golden-compass-2007.html" target="_blank">my review of the movie</a> as well! I do compare it with the book.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-20407776344257297142016-01-13T21:41:00.001+01:002016-01-13T21:41:43.982+01:00The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been meaning to read this book for a while. I started to do the <a href="http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2016-39126431" target="_blank">Popsugar challenge</a>, and this fit in with the murder mystery novel. </div>
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The circumstances under which I started reading were a bit funny. I was on a train to London, heading from one Swan hotel to another. I happen to work in a Swan hotel. If you read the book, you get the hotel bit.</div>
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The story itself unfolds in the account of three women. While it jumps around a bit in time, it doesn't feel confusing. The killer isn't impossible to figure out, you get all the clues. I knew who it was around 60%. It's not so bad, I often know around 20%. </div>
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The main character is Rachel, who is a bit of a train wreck. Her life is at a standstill, and she's unable to move on. The funny thing is that getting mixed up in the whole mystery is not a bad thing, possibly one of the best things ever to happen to her. Though from where she is, the only way is up.</div>
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Megan is another character we follow. Her life isn't all that great either, though in part it seems like it's of her own making. We can excuse some of her behaviour by the things that happened to her, but a different person would have handled it differently. However, after the initial catalyst some of her actions feel unexplained, like something is still missing. Not vital to the story, but the character.</div>
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Anna is the third woman. She's different from the other two, and appears the happiest. However, one must remember that not all that glitters is gold.</div>
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Apart from the mystery, that is very much the theme of the book. You see people from the outside, and think their life is perfect, and they’re happy. Then you read their diary, and discover that isn’t even remotely so.</div>
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Overall, I enjoyed the book. It didn't have much actual action, but I was curious as to how it was going to play out. If you like action though, this isn’t really for you, since the story is actually a lot of walking around and talking to each other.</div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414976652968971917.post-61588651698491651142016-01-07T17:58:00.000+01:002016-01-07T17:58:41.406+01:00The Shannara Chronicles (2016) * * * * *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLbhhjBhmbbm5JND3YMiid_LYdSeSXDR2_ulVWlJNP48p6rVrziAPbuG0OgbReWFXwj-txqMp8qkSmSSj81MGkOrtsq4BesyxD2xmfmEXLmuige8WvssjpElHy9sGoEKvDbShfwJ7eocW/s1600/shannara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLbhhjBhmbbm5JND3YMiid_LYdSeSXDR2_ulVWlJNP48p6rVrziAPbuG0OgbReWFXwj-txqMp8qkSmSSj81MGkOrtsq4BesyxD2xmfmEXLmuige8WvssjpElHy9sGoEKvDbShfwJ7eocW/s400/shannara.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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Let me start out by saying that I haven't read the books. So if you're expecting some sort of comparison, not in this review. Though the books have been on my list for about a decade, maybe I'll finally read them.</div>
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MTV makes TV shows. It was odd at first, after all, first it was music, then reality shows, and now, TV shows. I was sceptical at first. That is, before I saw <i>Teen Wolf</i>. I kept hearing about it, so one day I decided to give the first season a shot. About 10 hours later, I couldn't stop watching it. Now with <i>The Shannara Chronicles</i> I was hoping for more of the same. Let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. When is the next episode again?</div>
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So I'm writing this 3 episodes into the series. Let's start with the visuals. Every good fantasy has to wow us with the visuals, that's sort of a given. It certainly does. One thing I didn't know about the world was that it's actually set on a future Earth. The pictures in the show never make us forget this. Sometimes boldly, like the remains of what I think is the radio astronomy observatory in New Mexico, to a toy in the bottom of a river. There is something poetic about these reminders of us. Then there are the new buildings. The elven palace is just as beautiful as it should be. They sure didn't spare any expense here.</div>
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The cast is a mix of relative newcomers and old dogs. While looking at the work of some of the main characters shows that they haven't done too much, they blend in well with the likes of John Rhys-Davies, who plays the king. There is definitely talent there.</div>
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The story itself is exciting. Straight from the beginning we are plunged into events that move the story along. No lengthy sitting around wondering about what's going on, but straight into action. I'm someone who likes that sort of thing, so it swept me along right from the first moment. When is the next episode again?</div>
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So if you love fantasy, action, magic, this is the show you want to watch. It's probably not going to be the one that tries to resolve the philosophical questions of our age, but who cares! Jump on the horse, and ride along with these characters, because it's shaping up to be one great adventure! Again, next episode MTV? </div>
Isabellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18374765705460506021noreply@blogger.com0