Friday Night Date Night

Friday Night Date Night is a feature on my blog that showcases movie review (mostly movies that were adapted from books). Hopefully some of these reviews will help you decide what to watch on your date night or a night of relaxing at home.

 

The other day when I was at the library I was looking through the movies and found the movie The Other Woman.  I remember hearing it was based on the book Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman. 

From Goodreads

If you plan on watching this movie make sure to bring a box of tissue.  It is very emotional due to the fact that Emilia, played by Natalie Portman, had just lost a baby.  She is struggling to overcome her loss while also becoming a part of her new family with her husband and stepson, Will.  

from covershut.com

There were parts of this movie where Emilia was mean and cold-hearted.  I understand she was dealing with a tremendous loss, but she often took out her anger and frustration on the wrong people.  She seemed to drift further away from her family and friends as time went on instead of healing or leaning on them for support.  

 

I ended up really enjoying the movie despite my swollen and red eyes.  It brought forth a lot of emotions and Natalie Portman was stunning in this movie.  She was extremely believable and I grieved for her loss.  I also really enjoyed Scott Cohen who played Emilia's husband, Jack.  I thought Jack was a wonderful parent (though maybe not the best husband to his first wife).  I loved that Jack supported his son and seemed to really care about making Will and Emilia become family too .   

 

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Review of Father Mine: Zsadist and Bella's Story by J.R. Ward

Title: Father Mine: Zsadist and Bella's Story (Black Dagger Brotherhood #6.5)
Author: J.R. Ward
Published by: New American Library
Pages: 91
Source: Bought
Format: ebook
Rating: ★★★

Summary from Goodreads: Readers met and fell in love with Zsadist and Bella in J. R. Ward-s third New York Times bestselling novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover Awakened. As a former blood slave, Zsadist bore the scars from a past filled with suffering and degradation until Bella came along and helped heal his emotional wounds. Now, though, with the birth of their child, the demons of his past have been resurrected, called forth by the innocent eyes of his beloved daughter, Nalla. Unless Bella and Nalla can bring him back with their love, he may be lost to them forever.

Can you go through a slump when reading about hot, fierce, deadly, and drop dead sexy vamps?  Apparently I have.  This book and the last book just were not up to par for me.  I'm sure it had something to do with Father Mine being a novella, but I really hope the rest of the series goes back to being as fabulous as the first couple books were.  I must admit that never really been a huge fan of novellas because I don't think you're given enough time to really get into the story or the characters.  That being said, I probably need to go into a novella with a different style of thinking than when starting a book.  Enough senseless rambling...on to the story.

In Father Mine, Bella and Zsadist are going through a rough time.  Zsadist can't quite connect with his child and in fact won't touch her.  His past is taking over his future and torturing him by making him think he isn't enough for his daughter.  This breaks my heart.  A child is so innocent with no prior judgement and to think that Zsadist is already scared of what Nalla's going to think of him is heartbreaking. 

As always I love the little tidbits we get about the "other" brothers in each story.  It's nice to get little flashes of their lives even when the book is not solely based on them.  One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is part of the ending.  I loved the scenes with the new doctor and what Zsadist endures for his daughter. 

Father Mine was a really short read that somehow still packed in action (of both kinds *blushes*), romance, and lots of love.  J.R. Ward creates these characters that you can't help but become attached to and it was nice seeing a little bit more of Zsadist. 

Review of Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

Title: Where It Began
Author: Ann Redisch Stampler
Published by: Simon Pulse
Pages: 384
Source: Library
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★★

Summary from Goodreads: Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.

And Billy's nowhere to be found.

How much would you sacrifice to be popular?  That is a question I'm sure many high-schoolers face everyday.  It was an issue when I was in high school and I can only see it getting more serious in years to come.  Gabby seemed happy in her old "sub-regular" life, but then her mom gives her an intensive make over and now she's caught the eye of the High School Hottie.  Only months later she wakes up in a hospital with no recollection of getting trashed and crashing Billy's Beamer. 

I had a really hard time with this novel.   Gabby clung onto Billy so much and made him her universe.  I felt this devotion was very one sided and a little pathetic.  She kept calling herself a cow every time she felt clingy and would actually have to talk herself down from saying certain things because she thought if she told him her true feelings he'd ditch her.  I don't think this is a healthy relationship.  Billy's life also seemed a little too good to be true.  Sure he was on probation for a DUI, but he never seemed to meet with a probation officer or do any community service.  In fact, he and Gabby skipped school all the time and never got into trouble.  How flippin unfair is that.  I'm sure that if I skipped school in high school, I would have not only gotten detention, but also a truancy ticket and been grounded.  Oh the life of the obscenely rich and powerful.   

Without giving too much away there is something weird about the crash itself.  Gabby is found passed out outside the car with the keys still in her hand and no one else around.  You don't figure out exactly what happened the night of the crash until the end because Gabby literally doesn't remember anything.  Throughout Gabby's recovery and the aftermath Billy and his mom guide Gabby with the lawyers, social workers, therapist, etc.  This was very suspicious to me.  I understand they have money and are super connected but I just thought it was a bit shady. 

Another thing that bothered me was Gabby's parents.  They were not the best role models and I wish they would have just been happy with Gabby instead of trying to change her or just flat out ignore her.  I feel they should have thought more about their daughter's best interest instead of trying to impress others around them. 

This novel was very well written and I think it held an important message.  I liked that is wasn't the typical story of geeky girls gets a makeover and snags the football star.  There was more depth to it.  The novel deals with more complex issues of self-esteem, deceitfulness, and getting taken advantage of.  It was tough for me to read, as I mentioned before, but worth it.

Top Ten Tuesday

Today I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Favorite Quotes from Books (may contain slight spoilers):

 

"Be with me always. Take any form, drive me mad, only do not leave me in this dark alone where I cannot find you. I cannot live without my life! I cannot die without my soul."-- Heathcliff, Emily Bronte-Wuthering Heights

"If he loved you with all the power of his soul for a whole lifetime, he couldn’t love you as much as I do in a single day."--Heathcliff, Emily Bronte- Wuthering Heights

"No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."--Rhett, Margaret Mitchell- Gone with the Wind

Dimitri: "It won't happen to you. You're too . . ."
He groped for the right word, and I mentally substituted all sorts of possibilities. Goddess-like, scorching sexy. Giving up, he simply said, "It won't happen to you."--Rose, Richelle Mead -Vampire Academy

“If you ever think about betraying us just picture my face, because it’s the last time you’re ever going to see it”--Will repeating Francesca, Melina Marchetta –The Piper’s Son

“Because being part of him isn't just anything. It's kind of everything.”--Taylor, Melina Marchetta-Jellicoe Road 

"Albus Severus..you were named for the two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."--Harry, J.K. Rowling-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

"Snapes patronus was a doe. The same as my mothers, because he loved her for nearly all his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized. "He asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"--Harry, J.K. Rowling-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

 

“Look after my heart - I've left it with you.”--Edward, Stephanie Meyer-Eclipse

“I decided as long as I'm going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.”--Edward, Stephanie Meyer-Twilight

Review of Eve by Anna Carey

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Published by: Harper Audio
Length: 6 hours and 30 minutes
Source: Won in a contest
Format: Audio
Rating:

Summary from Goodreads: Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust... and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Do you ever find yourself having an internal struggle with the main character? 

This is exactly what happened for me with Eve.  I would get so exasperated with her and how naive she was, and then I'd have to remind myself how she was brought up and what her beliefs were up to the point when she left school.  There were times I literally wanted to shake her and tell her to grow up and then again I'd remind myself of her upbringing.  Eve wasn't a character I particularly liked or connected to.  For me she just felt to innocent and even though her reality was terrifying I thought that after a day or so it would have opened her eyes and changed her attitude.  I don't think the whole truth of reality and her decisions ever set in.   

I also felt she was careless.  She got a lot of people killed because of her naivety and because she couldn't fully grasp the intricacies of this world outside of what she's always known.  Maybe I'm being too harsh on Eve, but I never really connected with her enough to end up liking her.  I felt like she was constantly messing up and endangering those around and never really understtod the consequences of her actions.   

As for the story, it held my attention and kept me interested.  I wish there would have been more on how people are living outside the reign of the ruler and how the plague came about in the first place.  I'm thinking this will be a bigger part of the next books in the series as bits and pieces were mentioned in this novel. 

I think other people will really enjoy this book.  The issue for me was that I didn't like the main character and if I don't like the main character I have a hard time enjoying the book.  I think for others if they can connect with Eve or maybe not judge her as harshly as I did this will be a pleasurable read for them. 

Friday Night Date Night

Friday Night Date Night is a feature on my blog that showcases movie review (mostly movies that were adapted from books). Hopefully some of these reviews will help you decide what to watch on your date night or a night of relaxing at home.

From www.comixunderground.com

I was never really into comic books either as a kid or now as an adult.  I didn't connected with the characters and thought the whole science fiction vibe just wasn't for me.  Then a couple years ago a friend of mine convinced me to watch the movie X-Men with her.  I loved it!  Sure the acting was sub-par and the cinematography was not the greatest, but I loved the concept behind the movie.  Each new movie that comes out in the X-Men series makes me more addicted to these mutant creatures.  I want to be one...where do I sign up?  Sorry I digress.  But seriously I was so excited when X-Men:  First Class came out and was it worth the wait; of course! 

I loved learning about how it all began.  Magneto and Professor X have quite a back story that we never really knew about until this movie.  Sometimes prequel movies can seem more confusing because they are happening before what you originally saw.  X-Men: First Class was not like that for me.  I missed some of the old characters but I followed the story line just fine. 

The whole time during the movie I kept focusing on one character who looked really familiar but I couldn't place her.  Who did it turn out to be but Jennifer Lawrence, better known to most as Katniss.  It was nice to see her as a different character, but I think I still prefer her as Katniss. 

 

Overall I really enjoyed this movie and I want more from this series!

 

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Review of Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood #6)
Author: J.R. Ward
Published by: Signet Book
Pages: 560
Source: Bought
Format: ebook
Rating: ★★★

Summary from Goodreads: In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other?six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. And now, a dutiful twin must choose between two lives... Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished. As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself- she sees the emotionally scarred male behind all his noble responsibility. But while the war with the Lessening Society grows more grim, and tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

Another one bites the dust. I'm starting to get a little worried that there won't be a Black Dagger Brother left for me as J.R. Ward keeps mating them off.  She must be waiting for Vishous to come to his senses, banish that ghost, and come sweep me off my feet.  A girl can dream right? 

In Lover Enshrined we get to see a whole different side of Phury.  What is more complex than a celibate primale...try one whose past demons haunt his every thought.  Phury kind of goes on a tale spin in this novel.  He can't seem to handle the pressure.  While he's trying to keep it together he ends up relying on the red smoke more than he should and neglects his first mate who sits next door and builds structures out of toothpicks and peas (no joke, yea I didn't get that part either).  Maybe I'm being cynical but his self-destruction got a little old to me.  I understand that addiction can easily take over a person's life, but I felt Phury didn't even want to try. 

The plot line for me was a little confusing and I found myself skimming over the 'lesser' parts.  They have never really interested me in the story.  Obviously they are a huge part of this series but for me they are just creepy, stalkerish beings.  Though their extremeness hit a whole new level in this book and they upset the brothers something fierce.  It's officially war time...watch out you baby powder smelling, pale skinned, bleached hair, impotent creepers.  Some big scary men are out for your blood. 

And of course no one can mention this book and not mention Qhuay.  I personally feel that Butch and Vishous should have been an item, even though I'm madly in lust with Vishous myself, but I have high hopes for Qhuay.  Hopefully I won't be disappointed and there will be a book for them in the future!