The Fall of Five (Lorien Legacies #4) By: Pittacus Lore

I love this series, and the movie is pretty good to. I have been waiting for this book since the day I finished ‘The Rise of Nnie’ last year when it first came out. I was quite ecstatic when I spied on my Public Library’s book shelf in the YA section. Along with this book I picked up three other new books like ‘Icons’ by Margaret Stohl, ‘The Girl in the Steel Corset’ by Kady Cross, and Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan, which I can assure you will all be up here by the end of the week.

Now back to ‘The Fall of Five,’ the story jumps through different perspectives like it did in the last book, except instead of just John(4) and Seven talking Sam is also added into the mix. It was a bit confusing, they all talk pretty similarly and the only thing that was used to distinguish between these voices were the character fonts. I really wish the author had put their names up when it switched from each character, because John’s and Sam’s font styles were a lot alike.

Even though the it was hard to distinguish between voices I was really glad that Sam got one, instead of just being a background character he was thrown into the spotlight. It was a little depressing hearing about Sam’s torture even though from what was said about it, besides the burning goop it all seemed more psychological than physical and I wish that Sam had been portrayed more steelier, I guess, not just some alien space nerd who was only along for the ride because he met John. Even Sarah has a more hardcore character now, she’s no longer the prissy damsel in distress cheerleader that’s John’s Achilles heal, but instead a badass who’s adept with guns and can actually kill a mog. Sam is still just the wet blanket being carried around by the group and I just really wish had given some core strength. I am glad that Sam and Six seem to be gravitating towards each other though.

All the other characters were perfect, except for Five (obviously, because he’s insane). I love Ella and her crush on Nine, she is absolutely perfect and it honestly just gave me the complete creeps when John saw her as like the Queen or something in the vision.
Sarah and John make a cute couple, but I wish the time spent on them went elsewhere like Nine and Ella’s friendship, Marina and Eight’s relationship, maybe evolving Sam and his Dad’s bond, I mean they were both kidnapped and tortured, or perhaps letting Nine train Sam, so he’s no longer the gent in distress.
Eight and Marina were so cute together, *spoiler* when he died I got all misty eyed, Marina’s reaction is awesome, she fucking takes out Five’s eye and gains a new Legacy, practically freezing him to death.

The ending though had me flipping and screaming at the book, John lets the Mogs take Ella, sweet innocent little Ella, who’s now going to turn all evil and twisted under Setrakus Ra’s influence and torture, just to save Sam’s dad. Garrr! This pissed me off so much. I hope the next book is the finale, I don’t think I’ll be able to handle having to wait two years instead of one for a final conclusion. The title will definitely have to do something with Seven (Marina), The Wrath of Seven? or something with Ten (Ella)?
I rate the book 5/5 a definite good read despite the flaws.

The Almighty Johnsons 3×13 ‘The End of the World as we Know it’

I know that a lot of you guys who are following my blog will have no idea what The Almighty Johnsons is, but since the very last episode aired today, and it is a really great show, I felt like a mention of it should be put in.

The shows main premise is about four brothers and their grandfather who have all become the living incarnations of Norse gods. There’s Mike, the eldest brother, who’s Ullr, the god of games and the hunt, Anders, who’s the incarnation of Braggi, the god of poetry, Ty, the moody, serious brother, who’s Hoor, the god of all things dark and cold, and then there’s Axl who on his 21st birthday receives his godly powers, it turns out he’s suppose to be Odin and as Odin he’s suppose to find his beloved Frigg. There to help them for anything and give them in oracle advice is their grandfather Olaf, who’s actually Baldr.

A lot of things happen on the road to finding Frigg, sex, love, betrayal, Goddesses, God killers, more sex, lots of drugs and alcohol, Thor and his hammer, a magic stick that heals people and is used for pole dancing, sex changes, fucked up marriages, murders, heart break, mother’s who turn into trees, more sex, Maori gods, and a whole lot of other crazy shit.

This show is honestly one of the best I’ve ever watched, all the ups and downs that the boys went through had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, there wasn’t a single dull moment. When I realized that shot though didn’t mean putting a bullet through the brain I was quite ecstatic knowing that their father wasn’t dead, and when they find out that their mother was no longer a tree I was as stunned as the brothers (until it turned out their mother was a psychopath and was sentenced to be a tree again), I almost cried with Gaia when she admitted to Axl that she slept with his brother Anders. And I did cry when Dawn forgot all about her love for Ty after he had just died to be with her.
This show made me laugh, made me cry, made me never want to do drugs, and it will always hold a spot in my top favorite T.V. shows. If you haven’t seen or even heard of the show, just watch the Pilot and I can assure you that you will be hooked.
This is final farewell to The Almighty Johnsons, one of the best shows ever.

Between Shades of Gray by: Ruta Sepetys

I had to read this book for my school book club. I guess it should be said right off the bat that I don’t like realistic fiction, I’m all about fantasy and sic-fi.

The reason why there hasn’t been a book review up here recently is because before I read this book I’ve been trying to read Lord of the Rings and I failed so so miserably, I’m about hundred pages in and I’ve officially called quits on it, I’m returning it back to my library. The book is okay, it’s just so slow I just can’t finish it.

Anyway back to Between Shades of Gray, this book is about the russian holocaust. Put into the view of 16/17 year old Lithuanian girl named Lina, we see through her eyes her journey from her home in Lithuania all the way to Siberia and learn about her survival in the Arctic Circle.
I got a bit misty eyed at a few pieces, but in comparison to the time I cried three times while watching Wreck-it Ralph that’s nothing, this book really isn’t about the sadness and horror of the work camps, but about the strength it takes to survive.

The writing of this book is beautiful, plot aside, I was quite drawn into everything and could picture clearly everything that was happening to Lina and her fellow prisoners.

One thing, though, is that I feel like the author should have put Lina’s drawings into the story as well. Lina vividly describes each picture she drew and I think it would have been a nice touch, to actually see her pain, sorrow, and anger along with her words would have made this book all the more memorable.My biggest problem with this book, and it really does bug me, is the ending. In the author’s note it does mention that real holocaust survivors put their writings and drawings into time capsules of sorts for people to find later when it was safe for them to be shared to the world, but the whole thing just didn’t work for me. Lina’s letter does make a sort of conclusion, but there is one big gaping whole in her words, the letter doesn’t mention whether or not her father is alive or dead. I guess it’s safe to assume the latter, but clarification would have been nice. One of the biggest conflicts that Lina goes through is the uncertainty of her father’s fate, but then in the very ending it’s not mentioned at all. RAWR, about to go into monster attack mode, it kills me that much. Unless I missed something this book failed epically.
I rate it at 3/5

2 Episode Reviews

Sleepy Hollow 1×02 ‘Blood Moon’ & The Blacklist 1×01 ‘Pilot’

I liked the newest episode of Sleepy Hollow, ever since Supernatural season 8 ended I’ve been looking for a good paranormal filler and I have found just that with this show. There is plenty of action and suspense scenes, I like the special effects, and the plots hold my interest.
This episode was all about witches, Ichabod gets another warning from Katrina. My sister predicts that Katrina will actually be evil, but I do not agree. I found the beginning a bit funny, Ichabod learning how to work electrical and modern inventions, but I feel like some one really needs to get him a history book so he can catch up on the last 250 years, because a lot has happened since George Washington was a general.
Though the story played out okay, a few things did irk me a bit. One was the officer, Andy Brooks? I think his name was, and him coming back to life, don’t get me wrong his resurrection was pretty decent, but the more air time he seemed to get the creepier he got, all the way up to the point where he was following Abbie in the tunnels, but when she turned around no one was there ehhh, just creepy. The other thing was that from the promo last week I was assuming more from Abbie’s sister, more air time, better introduction, and just more, not the last two minutes, and then just cut.
Anyway the rest of the show was great, I liked the evil witch, her resurrection was cool (I did mention that I liked the special effects), her whole fiery thing going on and stealing peoples ashes, was awesome looking. I found her death to be pretty ironic, death by fire and then death by fire again. I wonder why it’s not mentioned that witches were also drowned in running water, that way their spirits would be trapped (sometimes that’s where their ashes were thrown too for that same purpose).
I find it humorous that Lieutenant Abigail had a boyfriend, there was definitely a cat fight about to go down between him and Ichabod.
Fun episode, loved the suspense, can’t wait for next week.

———————————————————————————

This show was also pretty good, lots of drama. I’m almost 100% positive that Reddington is Lizzie’s father. Their either just making it obvious to try throw you off or their doing it like that just so they can whammy you with it as something else later that’ll be a complete shock.
I liked the premise, Red seems to be an obnoxious dick that I found completely hilarious, he’s like the coyote trickster. I liked how nice Lizzie was to the little girl, she has a nice strength about her, but I don’t like where the story is leading to with her husband.
A good thriller, I’ll definitely be tuning in next week for the second episode.

Haven 4×02 ‘Survivors’

I found that this episode was a little bit better then the season premiere. I like Jennifer, but she seems just a bit to trusting. And I’m almost positive that the guy helping Audrey/Lexi is actually Arlo, she had to have gone somewhere and helping Audrey remember herself so she can end the troubles would be very beneficial to her.
Jordan really just needs to get over herself, I honestly wouldn’t have minded if she had died in the season 3 finale.
Duke is awesome as always, I can’t wait for to start using his powers again, I wonder how Jennifer would react to that and his brother. Speaking of, I don’t like Duke’s brother, he’s to perfect and woe is me type. It would be super awkward if Duke’s brothers trouble got activated, I hope he leaves in the next episode or at the latest the one after that.
Audrey/Lexi is not the same and it pisses me off, even as Sarah Audrey had an independent, fiery attitude that’s just missing in Lexi. She’s not taking control of the situation like any of her past incarnations would have.
Nathan looks like a lost puppy. I don’t know if it’s the hair, but there is seriously something lacking in his character. He has the whole depressed, I don’t give a damn look about him. Maybe that’s just the way he’s suppose to be acting, but… I miss the old Nathan.
BTW I’m shipping Duke and Audrey, maybe after she kills Nathan they can live happily ever after.

Sleepy Hollow 1×01 Pilot

This was awesome, I loved the mystery and intrigue. Ichabod Crane is a complete dick I love him, he threw his sass right at the Lieutenant, Abbie. From the very start I was completely drawn in. Every scene had my on the edge of my seat, or rather bean bag chair (if that’s possible). I liked that Abbie wasn’t just a no nonsense nonbeliever, she just didn’t trust herself enough to believe the truth. I liked how Ichabod had no doubts about anything, and even though I’m no historian I think they got all the [true] history facts correct, Ichabod was just Ahhh. perfect his character is awesome. I wish Katrina could have gotten some more air time and more information about the witches would have been nice. I was really hoping that while Katrina and Ichabod were talking they would have managed to get one kiss before Ichabod had to wake up, I’m already shipping them.

My sister’s theory is that the Irving guy will be a bad guy, but I’m thinking not. First of all his name is Irving and second, even though he wouldn’t let Abbie interrogate Ichabod he let her be the one to drive Ichabod to the Asylum so she could ask him questions on the way, an act of kindness can go a long way. Speaking of bad guys that evil cop dude, totally almost got his finger bit off. I called him being the baddie, he was just giving off bad vibes, I’m really great at figuring out who’s the good guys and who’s the bad guys. I will ruin a movie for everyone by saying who’s going to be killed and who’s evil with-in the first twenty minutes.

Anyway, back on track, great episode. An explosive start to the beginning of the series, but one question remains can they top it for next week?

I’m feeling like Shit.

So from my title you can probably guess what this post is going to be about, I’m sick. Not actually sick, no, because I live in Oklahoma where it’s always windy and blowing around ragweed, pollen, and a bunch of other stuff that makes a person’s allergies go haywire.
On Friday I had a sore throat, runny nose, and just felt like bleh, and on top of all that my school keeps the A.C. at 70F so I was also freezing. Despite all the allergy meds I took I woke up five-six times throughout the night. On Saturday, no joke I slept for like twenty hours, and I would have written an episode review because Friday was the season 4 premiere of Haven, I didn’t find it all that great, but I was to busy sleeping and blowing my nose for the whole day. Today I woke up at 4 in the morning despite all the meds I took again, and I got a nose bleed. So all day today I’ve just had nosebleeds (right now I’ve had around 5) and I’ve been hacking up mucus from my throat. I tried to suck on a Halls, but it was super nasty, the flavor was honey-lemon, and it was just terrible, I had to spit it out. But I love my mom so much, she bought me some hot chocolate last night and it had rainbow marshmallows, so I had a cup of that this morning after my shower.
I hope by tomorrow I’ll be feeling better because along with the season finale of Under the Dome on Monday the pilot for Sleepy Hollow on Fox is going to be airing as well and I want to write a review for both of them.

Shout to all the people in Oklahoma with serious allergy issues this season 😉
The wind is our enemy.

Pompeii by: Bastille

So Tuesday morning I heard this song playing on the radio, on the same day I downloaded the song onto my ITunes, yesterday I was sharing it among my friends and they all agreed that it was a good song. Today I’m sharing it with you. The video’s a little weird, but the song is still pretty cool with an awesome beat.

I guess they’re all possessed by demons, Supernatural style. Still a good song, I love singing to it while I’m in the shower.

Under the Dome 1×12 Exigent Circumstances

For the first time on this blog I’m going to write an episode review. This review is going to contain spoilers so beware.

As you might know last night I was baking cinnamon rolls, I had everything timed perfectly so that they would be in the oven by nine o’clock and I could watch Under the Dome on my t.v. when usually I just watch it on my laptop. Last Night, though, the most awful horrific thing happened, at 9 P.M. when I turned on the t.v. I saw not Under the Dome, but Big Bang Theory. Now I’m pretty sure that everyone who was just tuning into CBS at that time was flipping out as much as me because last episode was genuinely awesome and left off at such a cliffhanger I was super excited for this episode.
Quick back track, in the last episode Julia got shot and it was the most adorable thing just watching Barbie saving her life while Joe was there to help. After making sure Julia was okay Barbie went off to see Big Jim so they could get Maxine and turn her in, but instead Big Jim kills her and her henchmen and then frames the murders on Barbie. Barbie is then forced on the run with Julia stuck in the hospital. While all of that is going on the four kids, Joe, Norrie, Angie, and Jr., go to a certain spot at the dome and receive a vision of them killing Big Jim.

Now after reading that you can imagine my anguish over the cliffhanger and how ecstatic I was for it to be Monday. Eventually Under the Dome started, but it wasn’t until halfway through the episode at ten that an announcement scrolled at the bottom of the screen saying that the news would be starting thirty minutes late because of a tennis game that lasted to long. I sais “Wow, that would have been nice to know before Under the Dome started so I wouldn’t have been having a meltdown about it starting late.

Anyway, the episode was completely awesome, Barbie risked his neck to save Julia, who was in a coma, from Big Jim, and he kissed her and said that he loved her and Clara, my sister, who hasn’t even seen all the episode agreed that they were completely perfect. Barbie then let himself be caught so that Angie (who was helping with the rescue) could drive the get away ambulance. I am completely shipping them.
The mini dome, meanwhile, is glowing red and making a screeching noises, probably because Barbie got caught and Big Jim plans on killing him.
At the end of the episode I was screaming at television set “Say it! Say it! Say it! Not Guilty! Say it!” and then Barbie says “Not Guilty.” All suave in front of his lynch mob and I’m just like *TEEHEEHEEHEE*
Least to say I hope the finale next week doesn’t end in one humongous cliffhanger that leaves me sobbing on the floor *Cough* Doctor Who, Sherlock, Da Vinci’s Demons, Arrow, Haven *Cough* *Cough*

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls, the best unhealthy thing you can eat for breakfast, full of butter, sugar, and most of all cinnamon and then smothered in icing there’s no way you can wrong… Unless of course you’re making them from scratch then there’s lots of things that can go wrong.
(http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/old-fashioned-cinnamon-rolls/988d41dd-c0f6-4fe4-a012-b42c770f95f7)
The last time I made cinnamon rolls I used the Paula Dean recipe, and it turned out perfect, except my mom said they were lacking something, and all she wanted were cinnamon rolls like her mom used to make. All bruised ego aside the rolls were great and tasted delicious, but on that day I swore that the next time I made cinnamon rolls I would use a different recipe to see if I could please fabulous madre. So Low and Behold here I am attempting the Betty Crocker version of the recipe (I would try the pioneer woman, but her recipe makes way to many). Right now I have my dough rising for the hour and a half, so far the whole thing has been a complete pain, I most definitely do not remember the dough being that sticky, be warned if you want to do this recipe oil and flour your hands before you knead the dough, other than the stickiness I’d say that the recipe is so far so good.

The filling is added and my dough is now set to rise for thirty more minutes. One thing I do have to say about the Paula Dean recipe is that you melt the butter before spreading on the cinnamon sugar, and if I’ve learned anything here it’s that that’s a pretty good idea. As I was rolling it up the cinnamon sugar kept wanting to spill out, this also happened while I was cutting the roll into 1 inch pieces. I added some melted butter on top (mainly at my mom’s insistence to make it more buttery) to help with the sugar cinnamon leakage. I added some raisons to the end too, enough for two cinnamon rolls, I don’t like raisons but there are a few people in my house that do.

I just pulled my cinnamon rolls out of the oven with five minutes to spare, they look good. I’m going to make the glaze now and smother them all over. I baked them in a cake pan just so I could add as much icing as I want and not worry about it spilling all over the place.
After I glaze them I’m going right off to bed, where I’m at it’s 9:30 p.m. I bake at the most strangest hours of the night 🙂