Fast Book Reviews: Divergent

Welcome people, I'm here with another fast book review for you, Christmas edition! Well not really, but it is a book I read on Christmas day so it counts haha! This time I'll be reviewing Divergent by Veronica Roth. I've had this book on my shelf for quite some time, but I had to study so I couldn't read it, but now I'm free for the holidays and I'm all back on it. Thanks for reading!

In Divergent we are presented with a post-apocalyptic world that has been splitted into 5 factions that represents different core values. Those that believed the world failed because of selfishness formed Abnegation. Those that believed it was due to ignorance formed Erudite, always seeking for knowledge. Those who felt that lies were the cause of the problems formed Candor, pledging to always speak the truth. Those who felt aggression and power-hunger were the cause became Amity. And finally, those who felt that cowardice was the root of the problems formed Dauntless, the faction of the courageous and strong.

Every year, every 16-year-old has to choose to what faction they're gonna belong for the rest of their lives, and this could mean having to leave your family behind. So we meet Beatrice, a girl from Abnegation and learn a little bit about how life in her faction goes by. But during her preliminary test to see what faction is recommended to her, something goes wrong.

We are then taken into her journey through the initiation process in one of the factions and met Four, a handsome, really mean and a bit scary instructor. But nothing is what it seems and the book is full of twist and turns, it doesn't have a dull moment. Some of the "plot twists" are a bit obvious and that is one of the things I have to criticize, but it's one of the few.

The book is really fast paced, you can't put it down, and you never get bored of a chapter or a situation and that is an extremely good thing. The characters are really well developed, specially the main ones, and most of them have surprises that you found out as the book progresses.

Beatrice "Tris", the protagonist, is amazing. I really like her independence, her will to do whatever she needs to do, and that she accepts the reality that is thrown upon her and acts according to it, she doesn't even think about giving up, it's not an option. She represents the values that the faction where she was born inculcated in her, but she adapts to new rules or at least try.

The love story in this book is amazing. Is not that kind of sickish love that makes you want to throw up. It's cute, and funny, and extremely hot. Let me just say, Tris is a lucky girl ;) IT makes you want more, NEED MORE, and ugh OTP right here.

The last thing I wanna say, and it's something that made me really love this book, is one of the differences between it and a lot of other dystopian novels. It has to do with the fact that the government doesn't force the citizens to do something, the can choose by themselves what they want to live by, they chose to live like this, and this makes you realize that there isn't a need for a dictatorship government for problems to arise. And the fact that I believe all of this problems didn’t' came after a war necessarily, they came to be after the constant seek for peace, I believe they got too carried away looking for ways to make peace that they cross a line and  then it was impossible for them to return.

Overall it's a really well paced and written book, that I would recommend to everyone who likes dystopian themed novels and action books with a bit of love. Oh and YAY for the female heroin!

Favorite book quote: “We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” ― Veronica Roth, Divergent

Bits of inspiration

Do you know that feeling when you find a song that you totally relate to and makes you feel all warm inside? That song that it's like listening to your strugles, your story? That song that teaches you something, that makes you realize what path you should follow? That feeling is one of the best feelings ever!

It happened to me recently. It doesn't matter what type of music you are into, the lyrics are what matter, and the way you relate to them. So today I just wanted to share with you the last song that made me feel like that. 

I don't know if everyone is familiar with The X Factor, and the artists that come out of it. I know the whole prejudice that people have with them, and a lot of opinions against but I want all of you that are reading this to take a minute and listen to this song, and read the lyrics because I can understand if you don't like the sound or the type of music, but the lyrics and their voices are freaking amazing, so yeah... 

I'm talking about the winners of the 2011 UK X Factor, Little Mix. Their second album came out last month in the UK and on youtube (?) and their sound is much more mature and fresh and their harmonies and the fact that they write their own songs is admirable. But I want to focus on one of the songs, which is actually their second single, called Little Me.



I'm just asking for 5 minutes of your time to watch the video, and listen to the lyrics. This song has so much meaning to me, and as the girls said themselves, it's about what you would want to tell your younger self about how to face the world, and the problems we all encounter. I hope you feel as touched as I felt because it's an incredible feeling :) 

"I’d tell her to speak up, tell her to shout out, talk a bit louder, be a bit prouder. Tell her she’s beautiful, wonderful, everything she doesn’t see"

Age crisis - Part 2.

So in case you were wondering I'm having another age crisis. Or the same age crisis. At this point I don't even know.

I started working at a bank, the most important in my country, and everyone tells you that it's a job for life, that I'm going to be really happy there and my life would basically consist of it BUT I'm not sure I want that. Sure I was the one that applied for the job, and it's an amazing job, don't get me wrong. Everyone is so nice and I'm learning a lot, and saving money for the trips I wanna make, but I know for a fact I'm not made for it.

I want to be an actress ok? It's so hard to say it. I don't know if it's because of the way people look at you when you tell them, or because I know it's most likely not going to happen. Ever. But I can't help to dream about it, and it's killing me. In my country you can't live only working as an actor, because the market is not big enough and it's really difficult to be taken seriously. So basically my dream consist on going to the States or London and study acting, but for that I need a support, a job, a career and I'm not sure about any of that.

What I don't want is to wake up one day and realise I'm 40 and I'm still in my country, still working at the bank, and really unhappy. I know, I'm only 20, but this is the age to give acting a go, not 30, not 40. 20's are the best age for that and there is where the key of my crisis is, the feeling that I'm never going to be able to accomplish my dreams. I don't believe in giving up, but sometimes it's so difficult...

GOD I HATE BEING AN ADULT.

Age crisis, life decisions and Jonas Brothers

This is going to be a rant full of crying and feelings because I'm emotionally unstable right now. 

So I'm a huge Jonas fan. I've been there since 2007, support them through everything, fighting for them to come to my country, being in the management of the fans club, etc, etc. I literary grew up with them, and I'm going to be forever grateful for everything they help me through, even though they probably don't have idea. They came to my country this year, 2013, the same year in which they announced their break up. I'm not going to say I was surprised because I could kinda feel we were going there, but I expected it to be after the new CD, the one that fans have been waiting for freaking 4 years.

Don't get me wrong, I love them, I always will, but I don't agree with the way they managed things. What I mean is that the least they could do was releasing the album, at least on iTunes, so the fans could buy it and appreciate it. Maybe do a goodbye concert somewhere meaningful, I don't know, all I know is that this wasn't the correct way.

Why am I writing this now? Well today they released the album called LiVe for the Team Jonas members, which I am, and I downloaded it. It includes 10 live songs, and 5 studio version of new songs that would have been on their V album, and you know what? THE SONGS ARE FUCKING AMAZING. I swear I can't believe they didn't promote this, GOD it's so freaking good, I want to punch them right in the face and make them release the whole album. I don't understand, I guess it was timing, but I can't believe they did this, at this particular time. There is no need to say that I was like really upset about the whole break up and it made me think about a lot of things and ask myself a lot of questions about my life.

For example I realize I am 20 years old. I don't know where my teen years went, they passed by so quickly and I am now trying to act like this adult but on the inside I still think and feel like a 16-year-old and I'm trapped there, between I-don't-know-what-the-fuck-to-do-with-my-life and I-only-want-to-be-on-the-internet-all-day-long and now I've got this new job, a very important one may I add, and I'm freaking scared, UGH AND I'M THINKING ALL OF THIS BECAUSE THE JONAS BROTHERS FUCKING BROKE UP.

Anyway, in case you didn't notice, I'm in like this age crisis, and yeah. Hope I'm not the only one, and if you are going through the same, talk to me pleaseeeeeeee, I need someone who understand me

Movie review: Catching Fire

OH MY GOD. I guess those are the words that sum up the movie for me.

I've been meaning to type this review for a couple of days now but it took me seeing the movie twice and thinking about it for two more days to finally get to it. I still can't put my thoughts in order so the review is probably gonna be all over the place, sorry about that.

I should probably tell you first that I have read all three Hunger Games books a couple of years ago and of course I love them (how could you not?) so my expectations for this movie were pretty high and I'm pleased to say that it is totally better than I expected. Oh and there’s going to be a picture at the end of the review from a scene in the movie. If you haven’t watched the movie yet and don’t want spoilers don’t scroll pass the SPOILER ALERT message.

As a fan of books, I'm not so critical when it comes to movie adaptations because I understand that it is not easy to create something that pleases if not every, the majority of the book fans, simply because directors and screenwriters are not in our heads. I also believe that a big part of the adaptation has to do with how much of the world was described on the actual book and how much was open to imagination. But this movie OH MY GOD.

I have to start with Jennifer Lawrence's performance because it was just pure gold. She's an amazing actress and anyone that tells me that she's overrated I don't know what the heck you are watching. She's sincere, fresh, she is Katniss. I just can't imagine anyone else playing Katniss the way she does. She made me cry and laugh and her expressions made the whole movie x100 times better. And the last 10 seconds of the movie, watching her face go from pain and desperation to the I'm-going-to-fucking-kill-everyone face deserves a freaking Oscar I swear. The other performances were amazing too, everyone was really believable and on point with their characters. The stand outs in my opinion, besides Jennifer, are Elizabeth Banks and Jenna Malone. Jenna is an AMAZING Johanna, I was happily surprised by her.

The movie as such is awesome. The scenarios, Hawaii, the arena was just like I've pictured it in my mind, the way it tells the story of the rebellion, the districts, the capitol, the woods, every single thing. The message of the book, something that could have easily been lost in the movie, shines throughout it and watching that was awesome. 

I love how they fixed a lot of the things people did wrong in the first movie. For example, as a result of not having Madge (in my opinion the biggest fault of the first movie) Katniss had to see the streaming of the rebellion in the districts somewhere, and they came up with the train idea which I think was really clever. The only thing that I really missed in the movie was Haymitch’s story because it is, after all, what gives Katniss the idea of how to end with the arena but I guess they couldn't put everything there. 

The quotes from the book, OMG so many. I love them, I love when that happens. And all the little things, the pearl, the 'favorite color' conversation,  so similar to the book. A real gift for the book fans.

Oh I almost forgot, Liam, Josh and Sam are freaking hot!

I really don't know what else to say besides how grateful I am to Francis Lawrence and the people who wrote the script, to the actors and to Suzanne Collins. Also thank you to Lionsgate for giving the movie more budget so it could be THIS cool.

I would recommend this movie to everyone, I think that the message behind it is so important and the fact that a heroine like Katniss is a role model for young girls shows you that not everything is lost. I really think you should watch this movie if you haven't yet, like really. 

Best scene: Hands down the elevator scene. Jennifer’s face is just priceless.

SPOILER ALERT: 

God I love her!

Fast Book Reviews: Billy and Me

Hello world! Second fast review of the blog and I'm really excited about this one! First of all sorry about my lack of updates, I've been studying a lot for university (I'm studying translation) and I've also been reading quite a lot. I first heard about this book in one of Carrie Fletcher's videos on YouTube but when it appeared on my GoodReads recommendation list I knew I had to read it. I started it the day after finishing a trilogy and the least thing I wanted to do was read about other characters BUT it caught me immediately. So without further ado here is my fast book review for Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher:

At the beginning of the book we met Sophie and the first thing I noticed about her is that she's so easy to like that it's impossible to not feel for her. As she tells her story in a very endearing way, the feelings only grow fonder and although there are some times you want to scream at her, mostly you agree with her.

Giovanna Fletcher presented us with a really cute easy-to-read story about every girl's dream basically. A girl who, without knowing, falls in love with a movie star who's filming a book adaptation in her small town. What makes this book so much better, and set it apart from the other current romantic novels is the darkness that it has. Sophie has a secret, something that affected her life so much that shaped her into who she is. I felt really connected with Sophie, and I don't know if it was because I have a similar life story (not the part about the handsome boyfriend anyway) or because of the way Giovanna wrote her, either way it was just really sentimental to read. 

It has so much character development that it's insane, but in a really good way. The relationships between the characters change by the minute, they grow or deteriorate, but the change is there. It's not a plain story, it's really full of twists and turns that you don't expect.

Finally, another thing that I really enjoyed was the truth on everything. How people behave around her when she became the movie star's girlfriend, and how that behavior changed from when she was just Sophie, although she never really changed, not in that way at least. How there are mean people, and maybe people around them don't realize they are mean or don't want to see it. How someone deals with different life changing situations, a lot of them, in a really short period of time. It was all really well described and the message powerfully transmitted.

So, I would recommend this book to anyone who fancy a good love story, or just like to read about people and relationships and about a girl's life being turned upside down in one single action. This book is beautiful and deserves all the support in the world.

Favorite book quote: “Love makes life worth living, not money” ― Giovanna Fletcher, Billy and Me

Fast Book Reviews: Delirium

So this is a new section called Fast Book Reviews, where I'm going to write really small reviews for some of the books I read and if you like we can discuss some things about them. So yeah, here is my reaview for Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I've just finished Pandemonium (the second book of the trilogy) yesterday but I want to start with Delirium, so without further ado, here is my small review for Delirium:

In Delirium, Lauren Oliver introduce us to this world in where love is a disease and every bit of humans lives is controlled by the government and it just feels so real that it scares you.

The writing style is really good and easy to follow, though I have to say that the book is a bit heavy towards the middle, it pick up a lot in the last 80-100 pages and it just blows your mind.

What I like the most about it is that it leaves you thinking. Thinking about love, and about how it affects everything in the world, human relationships, books, movies, the nature, everything. Thinking about how governments could be in the future, and a little bit about how they are now, because the lies, hiding the reality and the loss of freedom is something that's happening in our world, today.

I really like the characters in general. I had some problems with some of them at the beginning but as the story goes on you start appreciating them (don't wanna say "love", they'll think I'm infected).

The ending is something else. All I'm going to say is, feel happy that you are going to read this book when the next book in the trilogy is already out, because having to wait for the second one, must have been insane. 

Overall Delirium is a really good book, it leaves you think about all the messages that it has and wanting for more, and it only can get better on the next one... 

Favorite book quote: “Love: a single word, a wispy thing, a word no bigger or longer than an edge. That's what it is: an edge; a razor. It draws up through the center of your life, cutting everything in two. Before and after. The rest of the world falls away on either side.” ― Lauren Oliver, Delirium

Movie review: City of Bones

Yesterday I went with a couple of friends to the movies to watch The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. This is my review of the movie, I'm writing it mostly because I feel the need to rant so there's gonna be SPOILERS, if you didn't watch don't read...

First of all, I've read the books (1 to 3) and I love them so I had my expectations regarding this, but I was realistic because movie adaptations of books are not always good, so I was mentally prepared in case something went wrong. So here are my thought and feelings about this movie:

The movie starts with New York City and we arrive at Clary's house, nicely done, not exactly what I imagine but I supposed nobody is inside my head so I don't really care. The first problem that I have here, what is it with all the runes that Clary's drawing? It's just me or this is not in the books? I get that they had to later give the idea that Clary was remembering what she was not supposed to but that scene in the room with all the drawings was just out of place idk. I really enjoy the interaction between Clary and Simon, I think that their relationship was reproduced nicely (contrary to Clary and Jace’s) and all the scenes at the bar and at Pademonium were nice. Pandemonium, ok so the way they get to the place "for the first time" was just no, and I get that they had to make that scene shorter because it is an long enough movie but at least go to the other room to kill the demon, like please.

I have a big problem with the cast, and I know everyone was angry about Jamie and blah blah blah, but it's more than just Jamie. Alec. He seems to be like 30 years old, he doesn't look fucking 18 and don't you dare to tell me that he does, because it's not true. Valentine, I really just, where is the polished man with the good manners and the proper vocabulary? Because all I saw was a fucking destroyed 30-some-year-old with a really bad attitude who is incapable to do everything Valentine does on the books. Jamie, my problem with him wasn't even that I don't like him, which I don't but that's not the point, it was that is he's not muscular or cute. Instead he is creepy, anorexic and just not Jace. And I know Cassandra says that she had Jamie in mind when he thought about Jace but DON'T FUCKING LIE, BECAUSE HE'S NOT DESCRIBED LIKE THAT ON YOUR BOOKS. Looking it at the bright side, I really loved Isabelle OMG she was amazing. Clary and Jocelyn were just like I pictured them and they even looked alike which was a great plus. And Magnus was GREAT. I didn't mind Simon or Luke, not like I picture them but it didn't bother me either.

The whole destroying Clary's house was amazing and I gotta say that the monsters were pretty good and I really liked the overall. But when Jace comes to rescue her is so different from the book, man I really like that chapter on the book and it was just not the same. Then the Institute and I imagine it a little different but the architecture is impressive.

Other things that I really didn't like: Why in hell is the portal in the Institute and why all the fucking weird things around it. Like when Jace grabs a piece of it and like touches Clary, THAT was creepy. Or how about when it breaks and instead of mirror-like glass like it was supposed to be (remember Jace keeps a piece) it's fucking SNOW? What the hell? I don't understand why they did all of that in the Institute and not in the old hospital or whatever the big old building in the books was. Another thing was Jace and Clary's relationship was like really rushed and it didn't developed properly which made it seem forced instead of loving and caring. One minute they didn't know each other, the next they were kissing (favorite scene have to say) and the next they were siblings, just like that, REALLY? -.-

What else? The Vampire Hotel thing, first Vampires didn't care about the fucking cup, second they took Simon as a rat, a freaking rat, I never saw a rat on the movie, and then when they find Simon like hanging in the middle of this thing with all the chains, like WHAT? Oh and the music during the epic fight with the vampires was extremely annoying, it wasn't a fucking disco, they were fighting to their death and you put that electronic shit, I just can't. Valentine hitting Clary and making her drink his blood out of the cup, WHAT? the cup wasn't even for that, jeez, and that fight between Jace and Valentine I think it ruin their whole relationship. It wasn't like that at all, Valentine love Jace in his own twisted sick way and Jace thought about following him because he's his father, so please tell me how they are going to fix this problem if they do a second movie because I don't know and it is kinda relevant. Hodge's story wasn't even explained in the movie. Luke's house I pictured it in like a valley with a lot of grass and far away from the city and it was like in the center of the city -.- Oh and Clary's ability to invent new runes wasn't supposed to be explored until the next book so why is it in this movie? WHY?

There were some more things that I didn't like but they were small and I really don't care about them. Now some of the things I did like. The green house scene was beautiful and Demi Lovato on the background was just perfect. I was highly impressed with some of the lines that they kept from the book, really sassy and fun lines, mostly Jace's but some from others too. I also like the movie as a whole, I did enjoy it and the most important thing: IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE.

Having said all of this, if I had to rate the film as a film, I would give it 3 out of 5, as a book adaptation maybe a little less. Good, fun but nothing memorable. I do hope though, they film the second and third movies, and maybe finish the series there? idk just a thought.

Thanks for reading and if you have something to say, please leave a comment!

Books

So today I went with a friend to the city center to hang out a bit and talk because we haven't seen each other in forever (relax, she isn't Sam). And we were really near my favorite bookshop so I asked her to come in with me. First of all, I gotta tell you that I have a big obsession with books, like big big, like I-wish-I-had-more-money-to-buy-books big. I read whatever I come across and I like almost everything. Well my friend really likes to read too (thankfully) so she came with me.

This bookshop is HUGE, at least for my country's standards and it's amazing. It has all kind of books, new ones, old ones, used ones, it's just heaven. What I love most about it it's this little place away from the noise where you can order a coffee and just sit and enjoy a good book. I know that maybe in the US or other countries it's really common but here it isn't. I just really really enjoy it.

Well thing is my shopaholic instinct kicked in and I HAD TO buy some book because I was dying. I didn't have money so I used my emergency credit card that my grandma gave me, which is obviously for emergencies. The thing is my grandma didn't consider it an emergency but whatever haha. I bought two Rick Riordan books because I'm kinda obsessed with his writing at the moment, “The mark of Athena” and “The red pyramid”. I have already read Mark of Athena on my iPod but I had to buy it for my bookshelf, it's such a good book.

On a side note, if you haven't, please go and read Rick Riordan stuff. First the five Percy Jackson's books and then Heroes of the Olympus and The Kane Chronicles, you are not going to regret it.

All of this was to tell you why I love books so much. People always ask me why I prefer to read fantasy, dystopian or alternate reality books and the reason is really simple. I just believe in books as a way to escape reality and I just don’t need to read about things that happen in my life because I already have my life and I just want to forget about it for a bit. So I read about vampires, or demigods, or magicians or the future, really anything that don’t reassemble my life.

On another note, take a piece of advice: find a book that really fits you. I believe everyone in this earth has the taste for reading; they just don’t spend enough time searching for the perfect book. Explore literature, try new things, even other languages or things that you don’t think are going to like, it’s just a matter of finding the right book for you. When I was little, my mom read a lot and she always used to take me with my father to the bookstore and let me choose whatever book I wanted. I try a lot of different things until I found what I like. Give it a try; it’s really worth it in the end.

Well that’s all for today, if you want you can comment your favorite books and we can discuss literature, I LOVE talking about books haha!

Oh and btw I forgot to mention that I only told my grandma I bought one book, opss ie (?)

Let's talk...

Today I wanted to talk about people. Well maybe not all people, but some people. Particularly a kind of people that really annoys me. Where to begin? There is no easier way to explain this than with an example so that's what I'm going to do.

Ok, say that you have this friend, let's call her Sam. Imagine you and Sam were pretty close at one point but for different life circumstances you are not anymore, but you still love her as a friend, and you want to be in touch with her. So you call her regularly, chat with her through facebook or skype or whatever other technological mean of communication. But turns out that one day you have to do college homework, and the next day you have to study for your midterm, or write an essay for English class and you can't call her. A week later you realize you really miss Sam so you text her, and she doesn't answer or she answers with a really cold and short sentence. I HATE when people do this.

First of all EVERYONE on this earth have lives, so we have homework, jobs, responsibilities, other friends, hobbies, things that take up part of our time and it's totally ok because it's just life. I just can't stand Sam (and yes, this is basically based on a friend of mine) being all mad and bitchie because I didn't text her for a week, BECAUSE I ALSO HAVE A FUCKING LIFE YOU KNOW? I have problems of my own, I have things to do, I have family stuff to take care of, and as much as I love you Sam, my world doesn't revolve around our friendship, I'm sorry but it doesn't. And yours shouldn't either.

Secondly just because I didn't call you doesn't mean I forgot about you, or that I love you less, or that I don't want you to be my friend anymore, I was just busy. I'm not going to get mad if you don't call me for a few days, OH WAIT, you NEVER call me, I'm always the one that have to call. And this is the thing that really pisses me off. People don't realize that the phone works two ways, that facebook and twitter doesn't charge you if you send a message, that YOU SAM could also have called me on that week that we didn't talk, but you didn't, so why on earth are so freaking pissed at me? I just don't get it.

Finally I would like to say that this happens to me with a lot of people but I have one particular Sam that gets mad like once a month at least. When I confronted her, in several occasions, she told me that it was because her life wasn't so busy so she didn't understand. And one time she needed me for something but I was rehearsing for this lead role in a play so I was off for like 3 weeks and I she blamed me for it told me that I wasn't there for her, but that just proves my point, THE PHONE WORKS TWO WAYS, you could have called me and asked for help, I'm sorry that I wasn't there, I really am, but I'm just human, there's only so much crap I can take.

So if you are like Sam, please stop. Because we don't do it to be mean or insensitive, we just have other things to do, and always remember: you can also contact us, it doesn't always have to be this way around.