Russie Reviews: A Thousand Pieces of You [Claudia Grey]

Marguerite Caine's mission is simple. 

Join Theo Beck. Use her mother's invention, the Firebird, to jump into another dimension. Hunt down Paul Markov and kill him for killing her father. Return to her family and grieve. 

But it isn't that easy. Not at all. 

Throughout jumping into different dimensions and meeting different versions of Paul, Marguerite finds herself doubting whether he had really killed her father in the first place, as well as questioning her own feelings for him.

Good evening, Darlings! Tonight, I'll be reviewing Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You (ATPOY). Feel free to continue reading if you're interested! However, if you haven't read the book yet, be wary of potential spoilers. As always, however, I shall try to lessen them as much as I can.

Enjoy!

Russie Reviews: A Little Something Different [Sandy Hall]

'Everyone wants them to get together.

Lea and Gabe attend the same creative writing class. From the moment Gabe catches on to Lea's Buffy reference, people start to believe that these two seem to be made for each other. 

However, Gabe is shy and Lea can be aloof. Initially, it seems like things are never going to work out for them. But the Starbucks baristas, the delivery guy, the teacher, and even a squirrel and a park bench find themselves invested in their 'love story' and believe that somehow, these two might realize that they're made for each other.'

Good afternoon, Darlings! Today, I'll be reviewing Sandy Hall's A Little Something Different. I've been wanting to read this for a long time and am excited to share with you my thoughts on this novel. :)

As usual, the Read More link is right there for you to click if you wish to continue! Be wary of potential spoilers that may come your way.

Russie Reviews: Where She Went [Gayle Forman]

"Three years have passed since the accident which took Mia’s family away. Now a known cellist hailing from Juillard, Mia attempts to pick up her life once more and start anew; a life where she can actively pursue her passions without the ghosts of her past looking over her shouler.

Since the split, Adam has grown successful. Shooting Star dominates the charts and embarks on a world tour in a number of days. However, Adam’s problems run deep; he is isolated from his band, reporters and interviewers drive him up the wall, and his girlfriend doesn’t seem to trust him as much as she used to.

One fateful night brings them together after three years of separation - and that night might be the one they have secretly been longing for."

Good evening, Darlings! I'll be reviewing Gayle Forman's Where She Went. As usual, the Read More link is just down there. Be wary of spoilers, as I may be discussing potential spoilers and all those. ^_^

Russie Reviews: Be More Chill

Jeremy Heere is an an ordinary teenage male.

He is what he is: a dork aspiring to be cool with a crush on a beautiful, popular girl. He's used to recording his day-by-day embarrassments on his Humiliation Sheets and staring wistfully after Christine during classes. 

One day, he receives word of a Squip - the answer to his prayers. Consume the Squip and you would revert from a socially dead dork to one of the coolest people on campus. Jeremy consumes said Squip, and his life changes almost instantly. 

However, trading one's freedom in exchange for greatness isn't as great as it seems to be...

Good evening, Darlings! Tonight I'll be reviewing the late Ned Vizzini's 'Be More Chill' which was written way back in the year 2004. 

As usual, I'll try to avoid spoilers. The Read More link is just down there if you wish to go on!

Russie Reviews: Battle Royale

Forty-two Junior High students wake up inside a random classroom with weird collars around their necks. As part of a merciless authoritarian program, these students are given the following: a survival pack and a random weapon of choice which could either be totally useful or completely useless.

Sent out into a 'deserted' island where parts could trigger the collar's explosion any moment, the task given to these students was simple. 

Kill or be killed. 

Be the last student standing. 

Good evening, Darlings! Yes - it's finally time for another review. And tonight, I'm going to review a novel which sparked a manga, two live action moves and (perhaps) controversy all over the globe...Battle Royale. As usual, I'll be avoiding spoilers but do take care once you click the 'read more' button down below! 

Ari Reviews: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Good evening, darlings!

As planned, tonight, I’ll be reviewing Rainbow Rowell’s book entitled Attachments. It’s the third book by her which I’ve read. Having been used to her write characters of my age (aka teenagers and eventual young adults); it’ll be interesting to see how she now tackles actual adults with stable jobs, new families and the like.

As usual, I may discuss certain plot points that may bring about spoilers. I’ll be doing my best to not let any slip, but if you haven’t read the book, do take caution as well.

Summary: Lincoln O’Neill reads other peoples’ email. But what can he say – it’s part of the job description. As the new office’s “internet security officer”, Lincoln monitors the email of others even if it goes against his own personal code. However, when he finds himself reading through pages and pages of email between Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder, he can’t seem to draw back…

When he finds himself falling for Beth, it’s too late to do anything else.

Ari Rants/Reviews: Divergent (2014)

Good evening, dear readers!

I just got home from hanging out with a friend and watching Divergent – but this post isn’t going to be about that. I’ll share next time. However, this is going to be a babble/rant/review on Divergent. I’m not exactly sure where this fits in, but most likely it’s going to be some kind of rant + review thing, you know?

What frustrated me about Divergent, however, was the incredibly fast pace. In all seriousness, I like it when movies are fast. They give details and move on without lingering on other senseless plotlines. As for the film, however, it seemed to fast for me. They gave the details and did move on – exactly how I like it. Sadly, we weren’t really given the time to understand and accept what had just gone on.

Example being the death of Tris’ dad. He goes, shoots, dies. We, the audience, are given minimal time to grieve. Granted that all-out battle and whatnot is going on and that the story requires Tris to move quickly to stop the bad from happening, the fact that he’s merely ‘forgotten’ at the end of it makes me frown. I remember mentioning to my friend, “Oh hey so they defeat the baddies and then Tris seems to forget that outside the room, her dead dad’s lying there. Okay.”

Another thing I really didn’t like was the seemingly lack of connection between actor and character, specifically Four and Tris. Before anything, let me just say that Shailene Woodley’s actually a great actress, and that I bet Theo James is just as great. But…I just didn’t feel it, man. Between Four and Tris, Four seemed to be the stiffer of the two. (Did anyone laugh…no…just me? Okay.)

The romance seemed incredibly rushed, building up too fast, while in the book, you could practically feel the tension running through your veins. One of the finer scenes was the knife-throwing one where Four wounded the bit of Tris’ ear, but aside from that…it didn’t seem much. Even the tattoo-sharing scene was lesser than I expected.

Four’s portrayal was mildly disappointing; it was like he was a blank and cold stone with great tattoos, snark and a hidden personality that would have been great. Granted, the script could have played a role in this and Theo must have done his best to live up to it. Tris, on the other hand, I have less problems with. Shailene did a better job in my opinion, and at least I was able to feel her much more than I felt Four. That, and: damn, girl. I want your hair.

Another thing I feel is that the rules of the Divergent-verse weren't as well-defined and explained. I explained after to my mom that if she watched the film without knowledge of the book, she'd be pretty confused. Well. There was a girl behind me who was explaining a lot to her friend...whether it was plain curiosity or confusion, I wouldn't really know. 

Things I Would Have Appreciated:

·        More emphasis on the Will-Christina relationship

·        More emphasis on the Christina-Tris friendship

·         Edward getting his eye taken out by Peter
·         The other parts of Tris’ aptitude test
·         The Dauntless initiates who actually die on the first train ride
·         Uriah.

Things That Make Up For It:

·         Four’s fear landscape
·         Tris’ fear landscape (especially the water scene!)
·         Tris standing up to Erik
·         Occasional feels during Tris and Four’s scenes
·         The beauty of the tattoos showcased
·         The soundtrack, which is pretty damn amazing.

Overall verdict: As great as the action and romance gets, it doesn’t quite make up for the lack of emotional connection with the characters. However, this is the first out of three, and it can’t always be perfect. I hope that Insurgent will be nicely done (and keep up on the great soundtrack)! Here’s to next year’s Insurgent, and I hope that it’s going to be better. 

Ari Reviews: Anna and the French Kiss

Anna is forced to pack up and leave her home, her friends and her cute co-worker Toph - all for a year's stay in the School for America in Paris (or, SOAP). It's Paris - the city of love, bread and art. Who would say no to this opportunity? Sadly, for Anna, it wasn't quite what she wanted. 

But when the smiley-and-apparently-English Etienne St. Clair appears, Anna starts to think otherwise. With nine months in Paris and Etienne driving her nuts (read: he's got a freaking girlfriend!), will Anna get what's right for her?

Hello and good evening, dear readers! Tonight, I'm going to review Stephanie Perkins' book entitled 'Anna and the French Kiss'. I bought it recently along with Trese (which is equally as great!) and was able to read it all in one day. The read more button is there if you'd like to dwell on my review even more!

Small spoilers lie ahead. Please read with caution!

Ari Reviews: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath isn't having a swell time at college. Her twin sister Wren doesn't want to be roommates (this is her twin. Her best friend.), her writing professor believes that fanfiction is the end to everything literature, she's stuck with a roommate who might just hate her, this handsome boy in class is filled to the brim with writing, and to make it worse, her roommate's boyfriend is just around the corner. 

She's a Simon Snow fan at heart. So is her twin. But the thing is, Wren has grown up from Simon Snow. Cath, on the other hand, refuses to.

When the time comes, though, can she leave the imaginative world and face the real one?

Hello and good afternoon, dear readers! (I seriously have to come up with a nickname for you guys. I have no idea why.) Christmas break has just started for me, and for today, I'm going to review the book Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

Okay, first impressions first. 

So the craze lately at my school (or within my group of friends) are those books that were originally Wattpad stories. To tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of them. They're the ones with the manga-like covers, and when read, have crazy Taglish (Tagalog + English) that would overwhelm a Filipino reader. More often than not, they revolve around some crazy, sometimes cliched love story that would make me bang my head on the wall and scream to the high heavens in anguish.

I first thought that Fangirl was one of those books. 

But upon cracking open my own personal copy and taking a peek, I decided, nope. This isn't one of those.

Was I relieved? Yes.

The read more is right there if you want to go on! Spoilers may be in there, so take caution. 

Ari Reviews: Extremely Loud and Extremely Close

A review - how long has it been, really?

 

Okay, it's been some time since I've done a review for a movie, book - anything, actually. Tonight, though, is a night for posting (catching up, basically) and let's start it off with a review, shall we?

 

Extremely Loud and Extremely Close was a movie my family and I watched a few weeks back during the week-long school suspension due to the really harsh rains that we experienced. My dad apparently stumbled upon this while searching for meanwhile movies to watch, not wanting my brother and I to pretty much laze around all day.

 

So ladies and gents, get your popcorn and lean back wherever you're leaning! The 'read more' is there for you to click on.

 

(spoilers may lie ahead!)

Ari Reviews: Les Miserables

             

 Hello, and good evening! A few nights ago, I recall watching Les Miserables for the very first time. Not the Broadway or such version, but the film one that was recently released. Now, I had some pretty good expectations for this movie. My friends had been raving about it online and offline, and after finally getting a copy of the film from my friend, I sat on the bed, turned on the laptop, and finally watched the movie everyone's been talking about.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, here is my review on Les Miserables. It's my first time to do such a thing, so please bear with me. Now, onto the review!

Note: There WILL be spoilers. Don't read if you would not like to be spoiled.
Also, historical inaccuracies can be told through the comments section.