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Looking For Alaska- Series Review

Tumblr it has been over a minute. 

The reason I have a Tumblr account is because of John Green. 

And Hank. 

The Vlogbrothers and their infamous fanbase also known as Nerdfighters. 

In the quest to decrease world suck, the Australian branch dedicated to spreading the cause of Nerdfighteria would gather around their phones and laptops to debate all of lives biggest questions, along with geeking (or needing) out on the accepted pop culture institutions of our time (namely, Doctor Who and Harry Potter). 

My entrance to the group began many years ago with a friend messaging to see whether I would be interested in joining a group of nerds. A decision that would change the course of my life forever. 

As decisions tend to mostly do. 

This one shaped my university years of lack of sleep, procrastination and pondering on questions I still ponder on now. 

But this review isn't about then, but now. 

Now, I have left the group, but the legacy of the friendships I formed continue today, over half a decade later. Face-to-face, not just online. 

Now, as most of us now do, have a tertiary qualification. I’ve moved out of home, and suddenly the reality of existence is becoming ever more prominent. 

In the midst of all of this change, a series of a book from my adolescence. 

I’m still subscribed to the Vlogbrothers, but honestly watch John’s videos depending on how enticing the title is. 

There was a video on Looking For Alaska. 

The series was here. 

After the great success of The Fault in Our Stars and my personal favourite Paper Towns, Looking For Alaska was always hanging in the balance. It had been signed, but it was never. the right time. 

There is a time for everything, reads Ecclesiastes.

A time to be born, and a time to die.

A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

This was the time for Alaska’s voice to be heard.

And if you have got through this lengthy introduction, congratulations, because the review is ahead. 

Spoilers below. 

If you are unfamiliar, it follows the story of Miles “Pudge” Holter, who moves to his father’s Alma Mater to try and find the “Great Perhaps”. Essentially, to change his environment to see what else life has to offer. He makes some friends, including Alaska Young. The story follows their adventures through high school, but more importantly, life. 

This series was the book in film form. Period. 

I was never a big fan of the book. I haven't re-read my review yet (https://whatevsreviews.tumblr.com/post/59940141886/looking-for-alaska), but there were certain plot points that put me off, and I think the characters irritated me. 

((nb: I reread my review and realised that I was simply very square. I can see why I was thinking what I was thinking then, but I wrote that in 2013. I hadn't experienced love, heartbreak, deep disappointment. I was in a bubble. I had the rosiest glasses on. The book would hit different now.))

It has been a very long time since I read the book, and so while a couple of plot points have been embedded in my memory, I had forgotten most. This made for such an engaging viewing experience, as I would remember what was to come but not enough to be bored or lose sight of what was going on. 

I don't know if its because I'm older and I'm understanding life a bit more, but I absolutely loved this series. First of all, the cinematography was beautiful. the tone throughout was consistent. I loved that it was set in the early 2000′s, because that is my childhood. The music, the references (The OC, iPod Classics, Meerkat Manner, Milkshake by Kelis) are hallmarks for my adolescence. So to see characters play those experiences out in front of my eyes was overwhelming in ways I could never imagine. I know films like Breakfast Club are such hallmarks for that era, but when I watched it, it was almost as if the other movies I had watched, referencing it had given me the lessons I needed to learn. What I'm trying to say is that Looking for Alaska is our Breakfast Club, and is an apt time capsule. 

The actors did such a great job at humanising these characters that when I read them felt like caricatures. 

The beauty of John Green is his ability to expose the flaws of every human, humanising us all. We are more alike than we are different. We build people up to be more than they are. It’s not right or wrong, but merely human nature. What is underneath the comparison? More questions. But we have to find our own resolution.

This series exposed so much. Racism, sexuality, bullying, the meaning of life, to name a few. Because when you're in high school, these are the questions we asked. I pondered more then than now. The busyness of life is adequately distracting. 

I just want to read again. I’m a willing victim of the social media generation. I want silence. I want to feel internally. To process. To rest. I can’t convey how liberating this series has been. It’s reminded me of a time that I had forgotten. And realising that youth can be lived today. Rather than crying about how short life is, live it. 

I got Pudge. So darn awkward and confused but he had purpose and passion and was so, so loyal. The Cornel was my fave. His smile. SO charming, yet so broken. So charismatic and optimistic, but his facade hung by a thread. Takumi was boss. He held his own. Subtle yet powerful. Lara was so sweet but strong and resolute. Alaska. I misunderstood her then, but I get her now. I get it. I don't agree, but I get it. Life is hard. You don't get the answers you want. At some point you have to rationalise. At some point you have to let go. At some point there is nothing you can do- it’s just how it is. Blame or trying to tie things neatly doesn't escape the facts of events. You can only control your response to the terrible things that occur. 

I loved the Eagle so, so much. Again, John Green humanised him so not only we understood his angle and motive, but we were left with the truth. Not some adult (I write, ignoring the fact that I am very much an adult and of teaching age) trying to lord over us. On the contrary, he was a man who understood his responsibility and the cost that responsibility brought. But even then, he failed. As we all do. As is life. The Eagle also touched on perspective. For the students, high school was everything. The Eagle knew better. But they had to live through it to understand. So you can see their logic, but the hindsight of experience is only truly appreciated when experienced. 

I also loved Jake. He was such a nice guy. Period. That was it. There wasn't anything to hate him for. So refreshing. I understood the bullies too. Everyone had an angle that made sense to them. It doesn't matter if you don't agree. Humans have autonomy. 

I have nothing negative to say about this series. 

It made me genuinely laugh out loud, it made me weep, it made me ponder, it let me reminisce, and reminded me of what it feels to be present. 

My answer to Miles Holter’s question of finding the Great Perhaps is to create. I’ve lived this life before. The rudimentary nature of existing petrified me. A time for everything? A time to be intentional. 

I’m thankful for John Green’s mind to come up with these honest thoughts woven into the banality of life for us to enjoy. I didn't realise how much I had forgotten the lessons I had read years ago. 

How do I get out of the labyrinth of suffering?

I choose life. 

John 16:20. You will have sorrow. But your sorrow will turn into joy. 

10/10. 

DFTBA. 

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Civil War Review!!!

I saw this a few days ago but life has been a flash so I’ve only got the chance now to sit down and digest.

Captain America- Civil War is the best movie I’ve seen this year (which is a very easy accomplishment because I’ve only seen one other movie and it was Superman vs Batman and I don’t even dislike that movie but this was so much better). But I also think it’s the best Marvel movie made period. It honestly had it all. I very much want to see it again. And again. And again.

Before seeing the movie, I was very much #TeamCap, and I made a kawaii Captain America beanie to see the movie with.

I won’t say whether I switched sides or not until the spoilery bit, but for those who have enjoyed the Marvel franchise, this is a must see. Seeing a true battle between Captain America and Iron Man was just awesome. I have struggled with this conflict because I genuinely like both of them. Iron Man was the first, and he has got me hooked on Marvel. But Captain America stole my heart. America can have negative connotations at times, however Cap seems to embody all of the ideals that encompass what the ideals of being an American have been portrayed. He’s just a good guy who’s honest as and I love honesty and simplicity.

I don’t like watching action sequences, but all of the sequences in this film were EPIC. Just epic!!! You have to watch it! It’s everything you’ve dreamed of. I love that the fighting progress the story, and also enable the heroes to show off what they can do, but in an awesome way.

Getting introduced to new characters was INCREDIBLE TOO!!! I had no idea which heroes were going to be in the film, because I avoided all the trailers and barely glanced at posters, so I got some mad shocks watching the film, which was SO MUCH MORE FUN!

I just don’t know how much more I want to say. I just want to digress and talk about everything that happened so im just going to wrap this up.

I give this 9.75/10. I loved it. It’s my favourite superhero movie ever. It’s just all I could have dreamed of. It has all of my absolute faves, and I just love it all. It was so good. SEE IT. TWICE.

Also I love that I get to see this movie over a week before the US. No idea why but I love it.

Okay DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT!!!

… I stuck with Team Cap… just.

That last battle between Iron Man and Cap was so conflicting to watch. They were fighting to the death. When Cap finally overpowers Iron Man and is stabbing his shield into his neck I was stressed. In my head I decided that if Cap doesn’t stop I was going to switch sides. But I don’t know why I had ever doubted him. He stopped when the fight was over, but it was so sad to see Iron Man look so defeated.

I’ve always been a bit sceptical of Iron Man to be honest. Like, yeah he has a suit, but without it, what is he? Like he has that heart thing but yeah. Maybe I need to watch Iron Man again.

I did get sadder when I was talking about the movie with a friend and she was saying that Iron Man’s greatest fear was losing his friends, but now he has because theyre all #TeamCap. And his right hand man can’t even walk anymore. That was very tough to watch.

What I absolutely loved about this movie the most was that both sides were valid. While the weight was placed heavily on Captain America to win, and it is his movie, but Iron Man had great points. You can’t have these superheroes running around unchecked. Who are they to dictate what happens to the rest of the world? Why are they seen as heroes when all of these civilians suffer as a result of their actions?

It was really cool at the start, seeing how Wonda’s actions in killing the people in the Lagos skyscraper were being held to account. You saw how devastated she was about what she had done unintentionally, but then you see Cap reassuring her and explaining how her actions were for the greater good. It was never going to end well to have Wanda locked up “for everyoine else’s afety”. It was pretty rude because its not like the Hulk doesn’t hit buildings all day erryday and where is he? That was a huge question- where was the Hulk and Thor? How can they be off the grid at such a time?

Okay Wanda is the last character I want to speak about, so the fact that im diving into her story is a testament to how awesome this was.

Should we skip to the airport scene? Yes? Okay, let’s go to Germany.

SPIDER-MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!

Side story. I have not seen the Toby McGuire Spiderman. I LOOOOVE Andrew Garfield as Spiderman. It makes me genuinely happy to think about. In the weird world of Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, Spider-Man was the beacon of light that I needed when my superhero knowledge was low to the ground. It still is, im just more interested in the world now.

In comes this kid. EMPHASIS ON KID. And it’s PERFECT! Spider-man is a kid in high school who gets powers, and the youth was so fun to watch. It did age the superheroes, in that we remember how old they are, but that actor has spider-man DOWN. Stark mentoring him into the Avengers was absolute GOLD. The whole scene with Stark in his room, finding him out with his spider-man capabilities was absolutely hilarious. So good. I loved the line with Aunt May talking about how she comes in all different shapes and sizes. But spider-man fighting, talking all the time and constantly asking for reassurance was spot on.

Ant Man! I haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-man, but the guy was so funny (Paul Rudd was that him?). The line where Stark’s like “who are you?” was just like the ultimate shutdown. But when ANT-MAN GOT HUGE LIKE?!?!?!??!!?!??! I just wasn’t expecting it. So that was cool to see how he uses his abilities. He didn’t have a huge role, but his role makes me want to see the movie,

BLACK. PANTHER.

Spider Man is my favourite superhero period.

However, having a legit black superhero is just. Amazing. I almost felt like crying. I could just imagine if my brother had had the black panther around as a kid, he would have been going around acting like a cat during his childhood, instead of attacking chickens with his web-blaster.

I loved the authenticity of black panther. He sounds Nigerian. He looks Nigerian. So that was so good to see representation. But also, the actor embodies Black Panther so well. All he wanted to do all movie was to avenge the death of his father by killing Bucky, and you could see his struggle throughout the movie. But at the end, he keeps the Hydra dude alive and lets go of trying to kill Bucky. Seeing his lair at the end was uber exciting too.

I love Black Widow and Hawkeye. I wish they had a standalone movie. I just loved how in the fight Hawkeye goes “wait we’re still friends right?”, and they couldn’t fight as hard toward each other so Wanda had to step in :P

Okay let’s talk about the actual civil war. So after Wanda kills civilians, the UN want the Avengers to sign over to them, so that the UN dictate when the Avengers step in on situations. Iron Man is pro this after meeting a mother of a son who the Avengers inadvertently killed. Cap wants his freedom, and doesn’t trust the government. Queue Civil War. Initially they try to negotiate an agreement, or rather, Iron Man does. Cap doesn’t agree, so then they go their separate ways. Black Widow and a few others sign it.

Cap then complicates things by saving Bucky from the government, because they want him dead after he blew up a UN headquarters thing in Lagos that kills Black Panther’s dad. Cap knows there’s a good guy within his friend and just wants to save him from his prison in his mind. But then Bucky wasn’t even the one who caused the explosion so it’s just confusing in general.

This movie is actually so hard to sit and digest because so much happens.

Okay so then the Hydra guy is the one who basically caused all of this drama, dressing up like Bucky and blowing up the building, and then learning the code to activate Bucky so that he turns into the Winter Soldier. But what is interesting is that his whole purpose was to destroy the Avengers from the inside by creating the civil war, and he actually succeeded. You would have thought that he was going to be activating the other Bucky’s in existence, and it’s all set up for this whole truce battle thing but nope he kills them all and all that’s left is a very important video about how Stark’s parents died. So intense.

So now Cap and Iron Man’s relationship is almost irreplaceable.

I did consider whether Cap should have just let Bucky be, because he’s damaged goods unfortunately, however it is his best friend and the only one from his world left. And he deserves a second chance because what happened to him wasn’t his fault. It’s made me actually remember what happened in Captain America. I loved that movie, but I’ve forgotten bits of it. What is ingrained in my mind is when Bucky “dies”. He falls down the train and seems doomed. I was in shock watching that. Everything was going well and then that happens. But then Winter Soldier happened and it totally forgot about all that and found Bucky annoying. But now it’s coming back to me and I’m cool with Bucky again and I want him to be okay.

So then you have Iron Man devastated about how his parents, in particular his mum, died. It was murder, plain and simple. Stark’s actions were justified, but on the other hand, he must be aware of Bucky’s vulnerabilities and how it would have been a tough situation to be in. I did feel to an extent that it was an overreaction? But if he had only just seen that footage then that would have been devastating.

I’m very intrigued to see how things are going to play out. We’re building to the Infinity Wars, which is just going to be epic considering the directors are the same.

Side note- why is Gwyneth Paltrow not in these films anymore? It’s a bit annoying seeing Iron Man on his lonesome. And it’s sad when he has his bouts of anxiety about everything happening as well.

Oh my goodness Peggy though. That simple text was heart wrenching. It was kind of nice though, because she was old and did die peacefully. It was such a plot twist to find that the other girl from Revenge was he niece. It was kinda creepy but also kinda perfect? Which leads to the kiss, and how random it felt in context to everything going on, but it was also uber sweet to see Falcon and Bucky’s reaction. SO FUNNY.

What was also funny was when Cap chose a buggy as a getaway car, and he gets out of the car and just the disproportion was sooooo funny. No one but my friend and I were laughing at that scene because there was already a gag right before but we lost it. Oh and that also brings me to when Cap is trying to hold the helicopter down and we are greeted to about a minute of fan service that completely wasn’t necessary :P

Falcon was so good though. He was just hilarious, but had a heart. When Bucky asks his to move his seat forward and he’s just like “no”. But they make it work which is the main thing. Falcon is awesome. Give us some more Falcon Marvel.

Black Widow switching sides was the most obvious part of the movie. Her personality didn’t suit being with Iron Man on this idea at all. Which to be honest wasn’t too bad of an idea except that the UN didn’t want the Avengers to intervene with this guy making more winter soldiers, which had the potential for catastrophe. But because that guys motive was to destroy the avengers, technically nothing may have happened to the world, because it wasn’t about that. Even Iron Man could see that while his plan had flaws, there was merit to it.

Vision was great. I don’t really like vision because he seems to powerful, but because of his love of Wanda he’s not as strong so that gives him a human element. It was so bad when he injured Iron Man’s friend whose name escapes me.

Okay, I think I’ve exhausted most of my immediate thoughts about the film. I’m sure more ideas will come up and I’ll add them to this, but overall I loved it and I have every intention on seeing it again in the near future. It was nearly flawless. I don’t even have a flaw for it, but I guess I would say that I could have been slightly more emotionally invested rather than witnessing pure epicness, but that’s just a minor thing that isn’t really a thing.

So good. So, so good.

Bring on Doctor Strange, Thor 3 and the Infinity Wars!!!

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We Were Liars Review

We Were Liars Review.

What the heck.

The reason I read this book was actually because I’m part of an online book club, and one of the admins LOVES this book. If anyone wants a recommendation she just says “We Were Liars”. It’s at a point where we just fill in for her if she’s not online at the time.

So I won a competition for our group’s birthday, and because she was giving out the prize, I asked for “We Were Liars”. And then I didn’t touch it for a year. I got myself into a massive reading slump, but it has finally been broken and I’m so happy. I’m now determined to read all the books that I’ve bought over the past few years, especially considering I am growing so I want to enjoy YA when I’m still young.

We Were Liars was slow going at the start. It took me a few goes to get into the start of the book, but I persisted. It’s a relatively quick read. Within 3 proper sittings I finished it. The beginning is pretty slow going. I would argue the first two thirds seem quite slow and a bit confusing, but the last third has you turning the pages.

It was a strange book for me. I’m not sure if I’m a huge fan of the way the story was being told. It’s part of the plot, but as a reader who really wants to understand what’s going on, at a point it did get a bit laboursome. I think it was worth the persistence though.

Out of 10, I think I’ll give this a 6.5. I feel a bit bad about that score, but I wish the story had been told in a different way that kept me engaged. I think I have more questions than answers at the end of this one.

I would recommend this to someone who wants a quick paced contemporary and who doesn’t mind going through all of the feels. Like legit feels. I did like the messages of the story. It’s about family, friendship and identity. It’s left me with a lot to ponder.

Okay spoilers below!!! These spoilers will ruin the book in its entirety so don’t read unless you have read the book.

WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.  

IDONBELIVEIT.

I don’t really want to talk about it, but I feel like I have to.

I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY WERE ALL DEAD.

So how was she talking to them? What was she doing in that house all by herself?

I guess that kind of explains the title- We Were Liars. I was scared this book was going to be like “Liar” by … where you have to doubt the entire book, but in this case it was more about Cadence lying to herself and trying to deny what actually happened. What a horrible story. I mean the idea was perfect. I loved the idea of burning the house. I thought that was going to be it. I was like “you know what, that makes perfect sense! The Granddad has more than enough money to rebuild, and then the sisters will have to get over themselves and figure out a life for themselves.

The first time I had an ounce of doubt about what they were doing was when they described how they were going to light the house. For a second I was like “but how is Mirren going to get down from the top story? Surely you don’t need to burn the whole house?” but then I forgot about that and didn’t think too much of it.

But when that truth bomb hit me- I was shocked. It’s such a tragic way to die. They had the best intentions. They were 4 kids just enjoying their summers together. They didn’t care about their inheritance, and they had plans to live out their own lives and to be sustainable on their own. They could see how their family was being torn apart, and they wanted to make it better.

But instead, 3 of them died.

What the heck.

The idea was sound, but the execution… (that was not supposed to be a double entendre oh man)

I wish we saw more of the fallout. Where Cadence ends up in her life. How the sisters resolve this dispute. How the young ones carry on.

What a terrible story.

Small instances in the book make sense when you finally know the truth. Why Taft was having nightmares and calling Cadence. Why Carrie and Bess couldn’t sleep, and would look for their children. It’s so tragic. What even?!

Okay, to some of the structures of the book. I wish the end of the book was the middle. I think there was a bit too much waffle in the first two thirds about the Liars and how they interacted with each other. Basically all we knew was that Cadence had some sort of accident that gave her bad migraines, and that something had happened in the summer of fifteen. But I don’t think we were given enough clues to have any insight as to what happened to her. I thought her dad had shot her in the beginning of the book. I thought that’s why she was sick. I’m sure if I was to re-read this, I would see the clues much more clearly. But I feel like this story is only half told. I feel like it was written to make us love these characters and then tear them from our grasp, but I didn’t feel that connected to Mirren or Johnny. Gat I understood. But for whatever reason I just couldn’t understand why they were so close. They seemed to be four people who just existed in the same space. I didn’t even know who Cadence was. Who she was before the accident. I got that she was a reader, but the tennis thing didn’t quite resonate with me. Basically, I’ve got a hazy idea of all the characters, and it felt like the first two-thirds of the book weren’t worth the hazy image I have of their lives.

For me, the bigger story was the relationship between the aunties. We got fragments through Cadence’s memories, but we could have got way more. We didn’t see the Granddad as that manipulative until way towards the end. I think seeing the fallout, and how the family actually dealt with the grief. What happens after Harris passes away? Do their priorities change? And how does Cadence move on? It would have been interesting to see a glimpse into what life was for the aunties growing up, and how they ended up not being able to support themselves.

I loved Gat’s comments about how racist Harris was, and how he never referred to Gat by his name, and how Ed wasn’t allowed on the island. I guess we see at the end; Ed is on the island with them. At the start of the book I couldn’t understand why Ed wouldn’t be on the island, especially with Gat. With Gat being not of the family, he could see the truth. Maybe that’s what Harris was threatened of. Because Gat hadn’t been conditioned by Harris, he was in a position where he could see through the manipulation and saw a different way of living. I loved that line “He’s a democrat… he voted Obama”. It’s a line that says he knows where he should be going and what his attitudes should be, but in reality he was just a racist and didn’t know how to deal with that. It’s not necessarily an evil thing, to be racist. But that attitude can change. Harris struggled with that until it was too late.

This book is too sad to review. My mind is processing the feels.

It’s just so tragic that the aunties didn’t see sense until it was too late. And I’m not sure if they have seen sense. That’s what makes the tragedy worse. When Harris passes, they will probably fight for the estate. That’s almost the greatest tragedy. Their lives. I mean they all had divorces. That doesn’t just happen. It was also strange to me that they would spend their whole summer on the island. It’s a bit of an elitist way to live.

But I guess that’s the lesson. To explore, to expand, to find yourself, to not be so selfish, because at the end of the day it won’t amount to much. You need to make a life for yourself so that youre self-sustainable. And it just got so ugly. The drinking, the manipulation, involving the children.

That’s how they became the Liars. They went against what their parents were trying to do. I wish we saw more of that at the start of the book. I thought Mirren and Johnny were happy with the life they were living. I didn’t realise they were such a tight unit until the very end. But I like the play on words, with Cadence lying the whole book basically to deceive herself from remembering the truth.

Arguably my favourite part of the books were the fractured fairytales. They gave the best insight into how the dynamics of the family worked. I loved the one about the meat and not putting salt on it, and how the father realised that the least of the daughters was actually the most important. But thinking about it, they were kind of messed up in context. The fact that a father would pin his daughters against each other for riches. I liked the one at the end with the beast. I think it was juxtaposing Carrie’s relationship with Ed, but also talking about how there can be a terrible price to pay for testing your children. She ended up falling for the beast, and we come to see that the beat was a human being, but the father doesn’t let go of the original image. I wonder if Gat was the mouse that kept being described. He wasn’t loved, but then he left and had a happy life on his own? I’m not sure if that’s it, but I loved those tales all the same.

Okay I need to wrap this up somehow. Maybe I’ll add to it. I have a lot of thoughts and this is still fresh. Okay, I think theres more to the story. There needs to be a sequel. But this book was okay, and I think dissecting it a little has made me enjoy it more.

Thanks Claire for making me read this!

Gah.

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Legend of Korra Season 3- Change Review!

It was okay.

Honestly im getting a little bored with the series. There’s not nearly as much light heartedness as there is in The legend of Aang. I loved the innocence of Aang, and seeing the relationships between the characters truly blossom. There was something about the timing of that series that was so perfect that every single moment felt important. There wasn’t a dud episode.

With legend of Korra, the timing of the jokes or the jokes themselves are like one second off beat, and it just doesn’t have the same appeal that the last airbender has. I think the plot is a little convoluted, and essentially less fun.

Spoilers below!

So in this season, spirits and humans are now working side by side, and there is the rise of this group called the Red Lotus, who believe in having no leaders and everyone free to make their own decisions. It sounds good in theory, but you only have to stop for a moment to realise how flawed the logic is.

My issue is that these feel like enemies for the sake of having conflict in the story. They’re only dangerous because of the power they have come to possess after harmonic convergence. And by the end, their plans are foiled, and there isn’t really much to say about it. The avatar wasn’t destroyed, and things could go back to normal.

You do have to feel very sorry for Korra, not being able to contact the past Avatars, and having to make decisions for herself. But I wish we were able to see more of her character growth. Her life seems to depend on how others perceive her and what she is expected to do, but I feel like we don’t really get to see the real Korra. She just seems hot headed and angry most of the time. I would have liked more back story.

I think this series is more plot driven than character driven and it’s bothering me. I think it’s about progressing the world and pushing the limits of what bending can do, which is fine, but also kind of boring. That is my favourite aspect about season 3 though- seeing Bolin be unable to metal bend, but mastering lava bending. I absolutely loved that flying was the next level of air bending. I don’t know why I haven’t even considered that. I guess airbending always seemed like flying to me. Fire bending seems the most boring now. Actually you can bend lightning so it’s not that bad. Maybe water bending is boring because all you can do extra is blood bending and that’s illegal. But then you can heal so that’s pretty great.

I did really enjoy Lynn’s story and how Toph wasn’t such a great mother in the sense that she wasn’t around for her daughters. Her conflict with her sister was very interesting to explore. We find out more in this season how Aang’s way of doing things wasn’t necessarily the best, which was interesting as well.  I also loved the whole metal city. I found it so interesting how it was the guard who couldn’t lie who was the trouble all along. That threw me so I appreciated that air of mystery.

I’m totally team Asami by the way. She’s basically there for the ride, but she has such agreat attitude. Korra wouldn’t have stuck around if roles had been reversed. Mako’s pretty average to me. Bolin’s amazing though. The best part of the show. OH AND ERIC! I love that guy! He’s revolutionising the society and they barely appreciate it.

I should talk about the rise of airbenders. I think it’s really great, and the story line particularly in Ba Sing Se was interesting. It was pretty stupid that Tenzin thought it would be as simple as getting earth benders to the air temples to suddenly adopt the ways of a nomad. So short sighted.

Anyways, I want to get to the final season and see how this series wraps up. This was a letdown, but the innovation was epic too. I give it a 6/10.

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Mockingjay Part 2 Review!!!

IT’S ALL OVER.

I have seen Mockingjay part 2.

It’s finished.

It’s a very strange feeling. Because of studying I wasn’t able to catch up on the previous movies before I went to see part 2, and it was a last minute decision to see the movie when I did, but I am so glad I am. I do wish I had been able to go to the midnight screening. That would have been an incredible experience.

I have heard a few reports that people find the movie boring or unsatisfying, and I can understand that. But as a hardcore fan, it was near perfect.

I just have to mention that I’m writing this while listening to the soundtracks and I am devastated that they didn’t make one last one for this movie. It would have just been a gem to see what songs they came up with. Like come on!!! The hunger games soundtracks are just all so incredible and have so much love attached to them. I was very surprised when they didn’t create a last one. Honestly I think in general the marketing for this movie was quite lackluster. This is the end of the series, and it went out with a whimper. I understand that the production had finished maybe a year ago, but I do wish they had really made it a bigger event than it ended up being.

I’ll definitely watch the movies in order again to refresh and truly analyse what everything means, but I just need to say how much I appreciate the way the series was made. I do think this was the weakest of all the movies, and it didn’t need to be that way, but I can’t deny that they brought the books to life so well. I wish they had taken a bit of liberties with the final installment, but they have done very well nonetheless.

Jennifer Lawrence made Katniss the best Katniss that could have possibly been. I’ve heard complaints that Katniss is boring, but that’s the point. Katniss didn’t ask for any of this. I wish the directors would have played that up more, because it seems like Katniss is more in control than she actually is, and as a reader being in her head we are much more aware of that. Jennifer brought Katniss to life, and she made the series what it was. Absolute legend.

Josh Hutcherson played Peeta so well also. I love how the cast are all friends and get along, and you can really tell when they’re playing their roles. Liam Hemsworth did very well too. I don’t like Gale, but he made me like him and appreciate his character. Elizabeth Banks owned Effie. We were spoilt with her. And Woody Harrelson. Seriously his Haymitch was flawless. Everyone else did amazingly too but I have to shoutout these guys in particular.

I think they could have played into the emotion and given a bit more background and some flashbacks to remind us of the characters that had been lost, and what they were actually fighting for, but this was okay. I’ll give the movie a 7/10. It was fine, but it could have been better.

The series overall, an 8/10. Absolutely incredible. Thank you Suzanne Collins for bringing this story to paper and allowing us to consider what it would be like in this sort of society and how the different power plays occur. There’s different facets of the story to explore. You can look at class, and how being from the first world we are like the Capitol, or you can look at it from a celebrity vs what reality is, or you can look at war and how there are no real winners, and there are different motives for what happens. I’ll look into it deeper in a later review, but for now, I’m happy with how the series played out, and it was a stark reminder that while life sometimes can be tough, there are far worse games to play.

Below is a spoiler filled review so you have been warned. Please see it before reading on!

Mockingjay Part 1 Review  Catching Fire- Second Viewing Review Catching Fire Review

The Hunger Games Review

The Hunger Games Book Review

(I have no idea where my Catching Fire Book Review is)

Mockingjay Book Review

Okay, to the movie and everything that happened.

I need to talk about THE GREATEST MOMENT OF FAN SERVICE IN CINEMATIC HISTORY THOUGH.

HAYMITCH AND EFFIE. When I saw Effie I was just like “yo I hope they play this up. I hope they give us SOMETHING”. But my friends they flipping cannoned that ship yo. They cannoned it. IT’S LEGIT. “EFFIE, DON’T BE STRANGER”. AND THEN THE EMBRACE. AND THEN THE KISS. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?! It was so good. Like so good. I didn’t really expect much, like maybe a wink, but Haymitch like crossed that line and I was ready. Thank you so much Francis Lawrence. Thank you. That small moment that you gave to us is too much. Too much.

They became a family- Peeta, Katniss, Haymitch and Effie. TEAM- Trinkett, Everdeen, Abenarthy, Mellark. The scenes with these characters in them always got to me the most in the books. It’s a kind of nostalgia- it reminds me of the first film where it is about them and strategizing to just survive the games. You can see the progression of all of the characters throughout the series, but at the end it is just so darn sad how their lives were destroyed by the Capitol. But in a sense, (and they say this in the movie), their lives were never really theirs. Everyone who fought, fought for freedom and the opportunity to see a better day. It’s depressing, but in the end they achieved that.

I think in general the movies made Effie into a much better character than she was in the books. Or perhaps, we got more time with Effie in the movies and we got to explore her character. In the books Effie seemed much more vulnerable, whereas in the movies it’s more obvious that it’s only because she is completely ignorant due to being raised in the Capitol. It’s almost eerie when you can see that, being brought up in a first world country, how similar I am to Effie. Of all the characters, my life probably mirrors hers the most. I liked that she came to see how evil the Capitol really was, but more than that, was determined to do what she could to make Katniss feel comfortable and loved, and Katniss could see that. In the books, the other Capitol make-up artists were also so fragile, but Effie was able to stay strong for Katniss, and be there for her, for better or worse.

Josh Hutcherson played Hijacked Peeta so well. I was on edge the whole time, thinking he would crack. And he did, pushing Mitchell into the soot. But it was great seeing him trying to figure out what was “real or not real”. That was nice, and Finnick was really sweet with him as well, recognising his traits because of Annie. Peeta’s character was the ying to Katniss’ yang, and it was done so very well. Unfortunately his hijacking robbed us of seeing who caring Peeta was, but with someone so kind hearted, you couldn’t help but see what a great person he was no matter how badly the Capitol tried to turn him into a weapon.

The way Woody Harrelson played Haymitch was awesome. Every time I saw Haymitch I would feel at home. I got flashbacks of the first games and how he tuly tried his hardest to keep them alive. I liked that at the end they were able to survive it. It’s just so cruel what the Capitol did to the children in those games, and how they never truly recover. But seeing how Haymtch found some purpose through Katniss and Peeta was just so sweet. I always liked Haymitch, but Woody Harrelson took the character to the next level. I would love to see a spin off that revolved around him.  

One small criticism I have for the series is that I didn’t fall in love with the ancillary characters as much as I did in the books. Like book wise Finnick was absolutely my favourite character. But in the movies the moments with him in it were too Capitalised it felt. So when it got to his final scene, I wasn’t as emotionally affected as I was reading the book. I had to stop reading for a while when I realised what had happened to Finnick. It was just so heartbreaking. I feel like with Mockingjay Part 1, and mixing his speech about the Capitol and how bad he was treated, with the raid to save the victors, wasn’t the best move. Actually it’s the one change that annoys me the most. It destroyed the flow of his development of his character and took all the emotion out of what he was saying, which was pretty harrowing stuff. So then we get to the wedding, which was a tad static for my liking, and then his end. I dunno, I just didn’t feel the feels and I desperately wanted to. I think in the books they described the wedding as more of a festival, and those who had fled from 12 were dressed up in colours. This had too much district 13 influence. They also didn’t say anything about Peeta making the cake, and I think that would have been nice. Still, it was a pretty setting.

I need to talk about Gale. Aesthetically, Katniss and Gale look perfect for each other. They both grew up together, and in the books Katniss admits that if it had not been for the games, they would have ended up together. But the reality was simple, when it was Gale’s ideas of combat that ultimately lead to Prim’s death. But to see that scene was harder to take than I thought. For only the second time I genuinely felt sorry for Gale (first being when he was telling his troy about escaping from 12). When he’s standing there, facing up to Katniss, weeping that he’s sorry that he didn’t protect her family, and Katniss simply says “goodbye Gale”. Could you imagine? They have grown up together, and gone through almost this entire journey together, and yet it’s all over.

I completely understand Katniss’ actions though. The entire reason she was in the games was to protect her sister. And now her whole reason for fighting is dead. And it was Gale’s plan that lead to her death. What else is she supposed to do? Ultimately though, there are no winners in war (except for Plutarch). Everyone was adversely affected. Just seeing the picture of Annie with her son was absolutely heart breaking.

There’s so much to discuss!

The one thing I had been waiting the entire series to see was Tigris. I realise that I’ve been saying her name incorrectly the entire time. You say it like you would say tiger, but I was saying Tigger. So that was kind of dumb on my fart. Anyway, I’ve always wanted to cosplay as her, so that was so exciting to see. I think they did very well, and I’m excited to see if I could pull it off.

I have to talk about Caesar Flickerman. I say this for every movie, but I love Stanley Tucci. He has just owned that character, and his last performance was on point. It’s fascinating to think about how Caesar is another piece in the games, used to promote the propaganda. I wish Caesar had a larger part in the series, purely so I could see Caesar more.

I loved the landscape of the Capitol. I was stressed the whole time. When you know the parts when certain characters are going to die, it’s a whirlwind. The black soot stuff was frightening. I felt so bad for the Leeg twins. Seeing how they blew up the building was frightening. It was pretty funny though when the Capitol announced them all to be dead, and they’re just chilling in the room next door.

The part underground wrecked me. When you know what’s coming but you don’t know when, it is straight up terror. I had to remind myself to exhale in the cinema I was that on edge. And seeing how Finnick came to his end was just too much. Actually seeing Castor die was devastating too with Pollux now on his own. But the scene was filmed very well and it looked amazing. The mutts were frightening too. For some reason they reminded me of Doctor Who but I don’t quite know why.  

Okay so let’s fast forward to the end. So there’s the scene with the victors, and deciding whether to have a games with the Capitol children or not was telling. I loved that scene reading it because I didn’t understand why Katniss would ever agree to another games. But in the movie I love the part where Haymitch looks at her, and considers what’s happening. He’s obviously against the idea, but trusts Katniss enough to agree with what she wants to do. I just love the level of trust they have between them for him to go along with her idea.

You have Katniss. Prim has just died, but she has a mission to fulfil. She gets to talk to President Snow, and they discover the truth. Coin was pinning the two against each other, while she would come away from it scot-free and claim leadership of Panem, while District 13 avoid all conflict. So then, when confronted with the choice between Snow and Coin, she goes for Coin, and all hell breaks loose. The shot of the scene was incredibly impactful. You could see the fear in Snow’s eyes, but he was almost fascinated by Katniss and you could tell that he appreciated her fight. They were just on the wrong side of each other. Of course, you had the small part of Snow destroying everything Katniss held dear almost for sport, but the two characters were more alike than you would think.

I have to admire Coin though. She played the game very well. I loved how when Katniss died, she laid the tears down and Katniss is all “I had no idea she cared so much about me”. By then you could see the game Coin was playing. I see Coin as the Umbridge of the Hunger Games. The one who is all sweet to your face but backstabs you with every word. Whereas Snow is Voldermort. He’s been around forever and you know what he’s about.

The last scene with Prim was pretty devastating. I do wish they had created a scene where they had one last true bonding moment, so that when she does meet her end it’s much more harrowing. I don’t even know if Prim spoke the whole movie. But I did like how afterwards, Katniss did not show any emotion until she got home, and who was there to greet her but the stupid cat.

I will quickly mention some changes they made. The one that stuck out at me was in the beginning where she was supposed to go for training with Johanna to make sure she was ready to head to district 2. And my understanding was that they started there, and then made their way to the Capitol direct- Katniss didn’t go back to district 13 and have to sneak around. However, this change was pretty good and didn’t impact on the story again.

The ending was so weird with the kids at the end. I wish they had made it more gradual- like the book. It just felt really static. Maybe Francis could have explored where more of the characters ended up in the future, or they could have focused on how long it took Katniss and Peeta to be able to move on from their trauma to just even be in the same room together, but they didn't.

I have heard reports that people find Katniss boring the whole movie. I can understand that, and I do think they should have done a better job of describing why Katniss reacts in the way she does. We needed a moment where she cracked so we could understand her façade but how she was actually hurting. It’s hard when the book’s been written from her point of view. We needed one scene where we could see into her head, particularly for those who hadn’t read the books.

I think that’s all I have to say. It’s so strange to see y Harry Potter come to an end. I wasn’t as fangirly about Harry Potter as I was about the Hunger Games. I really liked the messages that the books posed, and these movies have just been incredible. Time to grow up now I guess. Focus on real life and getting my studies done. I will be reading and watching these movies over, and over, and over.

May the odds be ever in your favour. *three finger salute*

Thank you, for your consideration. 

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Empire- Season 1 Review

I have finally been able to watch the whole season, and what an experience it was. It’s good. It’s different, and refreshing. And it’s left me wanting more.

Cookie is the hero here. I love her character so much. She has the street smarts. And you can tell that when people come around her, they respect that. Her one liners make the show though. “WHAT DO YOU DO YOKO?!” and “Boo Boo Kitty!!!” and basically anything against Anika. Oh and the most important- “THIS IS MY COMPANY”. She’s done 17 years to get them to that point, and you would think she would be entitled to it all.

But Lucius has other ideas. To be honest I completely did not see episode 11 come at all. I was like wooooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t actually dying. Like complete game changer. Lucius is so shady though. I still don’t get how he could just kill Bucky like that. Wow. As his friend Martin or whatever (sorry, Vernon) said, he could have just paid him off.

So much happened in this season far out.

Dre though. I totally did not pick up that Dre was short for Andre until this show. Anyway, I did not see his whole storyline coming. From the bipolar diagnosis to the near suicide, that poor guy. Lucius wouldn’t even see him at the hospital, trying to pretend that everything’s alright. Cookie did the best she could there. And his wife is absolutely incredible. Extremely determined and strong and her own life and ambitions. I loved the way she stood up to Lucius and basically told him where to go when he was implying that because she’s white she’s not the right person for Dre. When she accidentally killed Vernon- that was intense. I have no idea what’s going to come out of that.

HAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!! WHAT EVEN THO. BRUH. Now if there’s anything that completely floored me watching this season, it was Hakeem with flipping Anika. What the actual even occurred for this to be like what why my eyes. And Lucius SAW that?! Hakeem. Wow. Hakeem makes me laugh though. He’s this kid with way too much money and power that he has no idea he even has. He goes and makes the most knee-jerk decisions in this innocent way, which is so fun to watch, but you can’t help but shake your head at the shenanigans he gets himself into. From what I can gather, he was into Tiana, but then he had Naomi Campbell on the side too. I didn’t think he was serious about that until she was gone and he was all sad about it. Much confuse. I guess he’s young. Basically I could never take Hakeem seriously, but he’s a sweet enough little brother. I’m excited to see where his character goes, and also where the direction of his music will be going.

And then there’s Jamal. Seeing the flashbacks to him as a kid and seeing how Lucius blatantly rejected him was pretty tough to watch at times, but you could see how Jamal had got a genuine strength from it. It was very interesting to see how determined Jamal was- in some cases to prove that he can do what his Dad wants, but it did seem weird for some reason. I guess Jamal was being a bit more clued on about the whole thing and seeing the opportunity because he is serious about the music. I just don’t see Lucius truly being on board with Jamal. There’s gotta be an ulterior motive somewhere- or the simple fact that there was no one else left.

I feel bad for comparing, but this show certainly is filling my Glee void- there are some similarities, but this is way more… real? Or rather, more raw and I guess topical. It’s incredibly important to have a show that has the opportunity to talk about the African American climate, because things are happening, and the music game is changing, so it’s interesting to be able to see it being played out for public access in a way that is relevant.

The music is pretty fly too. Listening to it now actually. “No Apologies” is one of the songs which is very great, and the subplot that went with that had so much win.

I do feel like the show is touching the surface on the heavy stuff, so I think season 2 will really make or break the whole thing, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

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Straight Outta Compton Movie Review

(written 13/09/2015)

I’ve seen it! There was a lot in there.

For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a biopic about the N.W.A, a hip hop group of the late 80’s and 90’s.

Honestly initially I was freaking out thinking the movie was going to draw some sort of rowdy crowd (particularly the area the theatre was), but it was all cool.

Once I found out the movie was going to be a thing, I did a bit of research (well, on Wikipedia), which turns out to be kind of a bad thing because I knew the whole plot of the movie. My sister on the other hand, who I always assumed knew everything about hip hop, didn’t know the full story, so I think she got more out of it than I did.

They did very well in relating what occurred back in the late 80’s to what was happening today. The N.W.A put Compton on the map, and also were showing the relationship between the police and people form that area, particularly blacks. Seeing how the police would try to silence or subdue them for doing absolutely nothing, and then being surprised when they decided to stand up for themselves and ignored their demands was extremely reminiscent of what has been occurring in the US today. You could see the way they made the movie that the producers were very conscious to show how not much has actually changed. It was quite sad to watch actually. Not being from the US, it is a bit hard to relate to the idea that the police may not always have your best interests at the forefront. That because of your skin colour you become a target. Literally the same day I watched this movie I found out about James Blake, the former US tennis player, who was detained by a police officer for literally standing waiting for a taxi in the middle of the day.

The song “F--- the Police” is incredibly powerful. It was interesting seeing how they told the story of the police trying to sensor them and how true the song is. The media were questioning their intentions of the song, and they were straight up in saying that they were speaking the truth. They can’t sensor what’s actually happening to them. There’s something to admire about that.

I liked hearing the story of Ice Cube and Dr Dre. It’s incredible to think that now Beats by Dr Dre is a worldwide brand, but he started from the most humble of beginnings in Compton. He started the careers of Tupac, Eminem and Snoop Dogg (and it was pretty cool seeing their younger forms), and due to his intelligence about his craft he managed to stay on top of the game through the adversity. One of the best scenes is early on when Easy E is giving his first attempt at rapping and he’s recording the first sentence. While it’s funny seeing his attempts, it also dawned on me at the end of the scene how the tech Dre had was searched that he could only record like 8 or so seconds at a time to create a song. That amount of dedication to the craft is one of many reasons why he is set apart from others.

It’s so weird to me to see Ice Cube as a rapper. The first time I ever heard of the guy was from “Are we there yet?” I loved the movies at the time, so to sort of unlearn that side and to recognise the rap angle and what a profound influence he’s had on the culture is very strange. It was so cool that his son got to play him, and so meta how later in the movie Ice Cube has his wife and kids and he’s playing his dad and then the kid’s playing him. It was interesting to see that it was Cube who figured out Jerry’s plan and who decided to not sign in the first place. You can see the fruits of that decision today.

Incredibly unfortunately for Easy E, his life took a different turn. That ending is so heartbreaking. They’re right at the point of reconciliation, and then his life is cut short. He didn’t live comfortably at all those last years, feeling the result of Jerry’s bad management. The way Easy fired Jerry was also such a sad moment. You truly saw the highs and lows of fame through Easy.

The music itself was power. They gave their hood a voice in a way they could never imagine. It also brought to my attention how much our music today has digressed. I really like Ice Cube’s flow. His lyrics are direct and clever. Dr Dre’s spins are genius. Easy’s voice is distinct. I’m no expert at all, but I like what I was hearing sonically and how strongly they were able to express their reality. They really are N.W.A.

I think Kendrick’s repping Compton incredibly well now, and of course you’ve got the Williams sisters too.

Some stuff I wasn’t too much of a fan of in the movie: the girls. I get it is a hood movie so I get why, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. There was a ton of nudity and I’m not about that so yeah. That being said, the funniest moment was the Felicia scene. The levels to that was amazing.

I also found myself a tad bored at times watching the film. I think I misunderstood how much of a biopic it was going to be, so that was more on me having unrealistic expectations. I completely appreciate this film for what it is. It’s not drama 100% of the time which is completely understandable.

Out of 10? 7.5? I think it was a solid biopic and now I have a greater appreciation for what the N.W.A have contributed to hip hop and perception of black people and their relationship with the police.

I do wonder what happened to Jerry, and where Ice Cube and Dr Dre’s friendship status is at. I think it would be awesome to hear another N.W.A song about the police brutality occurring today. I guess that is a bit of wishful thinking though.

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Teen Wolf Season 2 Review!!!

(written 17/08/15 I got lazy uploading)

2 WORDS DESCRIBE THIS SEASON:

NEXT. LEVEL.

Take everything you learnt from season 1 and double it. Everything was heightened.

It starts with the first 30 seconds, when you have Jackson (not Jeremy I have no idea where I got that from) running through the woods or something. The graphics in that sequence alone surpass all of the graphics and SFX in season 1.

The banter is on point. The character flaws that are vaguely expressed in season 1 are brought to the forefront in this season and it is brilliant. ie: Scott knows nothing. Stiles knows everything. Jackson isn’t a nice guy. Alison is a damsel in distress.

So much happened that I’m blurred as to what actually happened.

Also spoilers below so don’t read if you don’t want to know.

Okay so at the end of season 1, Jackson had just been bitten by Derek to turn him into a werewolf. But it goes wrong. As the story progresses, you see how messed up it truly becomes. Jackson’s a Kanema, Lydia’s Wolfsbane and the Alpha wakes up again. Somehow the Alpha was appearing as a high schooler. I never could figure out if that was Lydia’s imagination or if he actually became a student. To be honest that whole subplot makes no sense to me. I don’t understand how Lydia helped to bring back the Alpha. So does wolvesbane kill werewolves while at the same time can bring them back from the dead? Was that why Derek’s sister was surrounded by that ring in season 1? How did Lydia even become wolvesbane? I feel like they may have explained it with how mean she was or something, but regardless it explained how Jackson became the kenema.

I feel so bad for Jackson. It was a bit annoying that he reverted to his bratty self when Stiles and Scott were just trying to protect him, leading to Stiles’ dad getting the sack, but imagine randomly snapping out of his trance and seeing the destruction he had caused? That would be very tough to take. He did also do a decent effort in protecting his friends, like telling Danny where to be safe. I can’t see Jackson having a dramatic change in attitude though. I think he’s going to be an annoying werewolf to have around.

I do have to say it was a pet peeve of mine that no one wanted to tell Lydia anything. I mean the girl was running around naked in the woods and managed to survive unharmed. Wasn’t anyone asking questions about what she could potentially know, especially considering she got bitten? I love her character though, and I think in the next season she’ll really be able to shine.

The title sequence in this series was so on point!!! I dunno, it’s nothing special, but at the same time it’s all that’s needed and executed perfectly.

Alison’s transformation caught me off guard. I knew that at some point she would wake up to being the damsel in distress and use her skills in archery to defend herself, but to a large degree she ended up in the same situation but being given instructions via someone other than Scott. I can’t be too harsh on her, because her mother did die. Unfortunately we don’t get to know what was written in her mother’s letter, but we can assume that she was honest in what happened to her. It’s so sad that Alison wouldn’t talk to her the one time her mum really needed her to. That scene with her mum not being strong enough to kill herself was absolutely heartbreaking. I found it so unfair how just because of the family they had been raised in, she had to die just to keep the family name. The whole time I was like “no, the bite wasn’t that bad”, but at the last moment you see her eyes go yellow and you know that it’s all too late. The fact her husband had to do it too was something else. The worst part is that her mum only put herself in this position because she found out how intimate Scott and Alison were getting.

What really made it so horrible was that the grandfather was more than willing to become a werewolf just to extend his life. He didn’t have a care for anyone else. He was the embodiment of power being a corrupting force.

The other scene that absolutely pulled at my heart strings was when Scott’s mum saw him as a werewolf. I didn’t know what to think initially. But then seeing her reaction caused me to feel so bad. For some reason this really got to me. Just thinking about a child that you have raised turning into a monster before your eyes would be the freakiest situation you could ever be in. It made everything very real. Until that point, his mum had absolutely no idea. Now she is part of the world and the story. It was almost a last hope type of thing. Scott could maintain a level of normalcy with his mum being unaware of what was going on. Now he truly has to accept that he’s stuck in this crappy situation, and it’s all thanks to Derek. I did also ask the question of what happened to Scott’s dad. I wonder if he’s a werewolf or something too.

To be honest, I was straight up shocked when Scott out of all people fooled everyone. The obvious joke is that he has no idea what is going on 99% of the time, but somehow he was the one to truly outsmart the granddad. Well, he did get all the guidance from the vet, who has fast become the most important character in the show. He knows what’s up. I don’t get what his motive is, but it will be very interesting to see how his character progresses and what his role truly is. Without him Scott would not have survived as long as he has.

Which brings us back to Stiles. My favourite episode would have to be 11 (or 12 I forget now), where Stiles is talking with the councillor. He’s reached his limit with his dad losing his job, and being helpless when his dad was being attacked. I guess he was truly seeing how big his situation was and how much his dad means to him. The pressure gets to him, and he’s actually scared. It was really weird to see that. What I loved about it though was the drowning analogy. How on one side, Stiles is arguing that once you take a breath and give in, the pain you experience goes away. The councillor, who’s on the vet’s side randomly, counters this by saying that if you endure the pain just that bit longer, you give yourself a greater chance of survival. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it’s better than just giving up. My favourite part of this scene is the acknowledgement of how important Stiles is. He’s the glue in the situation. He’s an extra obstacle the enemy has to try and deal with, and the fact that the vet’s crew recognises this speaks volumes. Without Stiles, Lydia never would have come to the scene to rescue Jackson. OH AND HE OWNED AT LACROSSE!!! SO MUCH YES!!!

Matt though. I loved how Stiles was always like “I don’t like that guy”. I always had my suspicions too, but I was also hoping that he was an innocent party in all this. But nope, he’s pretty much a lunatic. Granted, the incident of him drowning would have been absolutely traumatic, but to go on this killing spree was corrupt. And then to take all those photos of Alison too. Extremely creepy. His death was pretty hard to watch though. It was very scary seeing how the granddad’s plan was working so well and how he was increasingly getting too much power.

I do have to say it was pretty obvious they were going to use his pain meds against him. They made such a point of showing him taking his medication every time he took a step.

How the townsfolk aren’t asking more questions is beyond me. People are dropping like flies. I would have moved a long time ago.

I want to know Derek and the Alpha’s angle. Derek has way too many question marks for me to be comfortable with what he’s doing, while the Alpha is way to conniving to be trusted at any point. I want to know why Derek is making a pack. Like yeah there was the Kanema, but there must be more to it. What is his goal in all of this? Are the hunters just hunting him because he’s a werewolf?

Ill also be very interested to see where Alison and her dad are going to stand after all this. The Grandad did disappear so for all we know he could have been successful in becoming a werewolf, but we will have to see.

I don’t see Scott and Alison lasting. Especially with the circumstances surrounding her mum’s death. Way too messy to continue. I do hope Stiles can be with Lydia one day, but who knows? There could be a really awesome girl around the corner. But I like Lydia and I like Stiles and I don’t like Jackson so I want it to be a thing.

Freakiest scene: when the SNAKE IS COMING OUT OF JACKSON’S EYE. That was the first time I was legitimately freaked and grossed out by the show.

Funniest scene: there’s heaps but early on when Stiles sees Lydia coming out of the woods and just faints, so his dad offers assistance. So funny.

So pumped for season 3! More werewolves? Bring it on.

[whatevsreviews]

haha thanks for the reply! I have finished watching season 2 and I realised that I was saying is name wrong the whole time writing my review for that hahaha. Once exams are done I’m heading straight into season 3. I’m excited!

Teen Wolf- Season 1 Review!!!

I never thought I would actually watch Teen Wolf, but I got Netflix and that was the end of that.

I love this show but in the same sentence it is ridiculously stupid.

It’s like Merlin in terms of the plot holes but somehow 100% worse and yet it’s still good.

I recognise that it is the first season, and considering the fan base, things will get better. So I am excited and it’s safe to say that I’m hooked.

Spoilers below. You have been warned. 

I get the hype surrounding Dylan O’Brien now. Far out Stiles is a funny as character. Is it Stiles or Styles? I think it’s Stiles. I’ll roll with that. Now I’m curious what his first name is. I guess it’s already been revealed, but it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Anyways, the way Stiles is played is just gold. It’s really good.  He’s incredibly intelligent, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he always sticks up for his friend. His bromance with Scott is pretty cute tbh. His relationship with his Dad is awesome too. Feels really natural, and they seem the type to be able to share everything with each other (well, before all this wolf stuff).

Stiles decision to not turn into a werewolf was telling. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition between Jeremy and Stiles. Stiles is seen to be very confident and brave, not ever wanting to give into the Alpha’s demands unless absolutely necessary, and manages to keep enough to himself to buy time. Jeremy falters at the first sign of danger. He pleaded to become a werewolf coming from a position of weakness and a lack of self-worth, unlike Stiles who recognises the gravity of the curse that is being a werewolf.

Even stuff like not playing lacrosse (unlike Scott), even though he was never first line, speaks volumes about Stiles’ character.

Also I totally ship Stiles and Lydia for real (cereal).

I can totally see how Stiles is the favourite character, because Scott can be straight up stupid and naïve 100% of the time.

Scott only seems to care about one thing in the entire world.

Alison.

While their relationship is ten levels of cute, it’s flipping frustrating when it’s very clear that his obsession with this nice-but-flimsy girl seems to put him and his town in mortal danger, and he appears to not give a stuff. It was hilarious when the Alpha was getting Scott’s password for his computer and it’s just Alison. So funny.

The biggest problem I’ve had with the show is the wolf plot. So Scott randomly gets bitten one day. We do later find out that the Alpha needed more people for his pack, but surely he could have picked someone who was stronger and not some random boy in the woods that night without telling him what’s going on. I also don’t get why Scott doesn’t take this more seriously. I mean HE TURNS INTO A WEREWOLF. Surely you would try and investigate everything about it rather than leaving it to Stiles. Surely you would do whatever Derek tells you to rather than making dumb deals to protect Alison. Also what is the point of being a werewolf? And what is the folklore in this series? What is this so called code the hunters have to live by? What actually happened with this fire thing? Are there any other creatures lurking around? 

But to be fair, Derek is pretty shady, but that’s all the more reason to flipping investigate what it means to be a werewolf and what’s in store for you so you’re prepared. I guess it would be a pretty scary thing to happen, and I know he does want a normal life, so I can empathise there. Scott is just a kid who means well and has been forced into this real crappy situation.

That being said, he makes the most testosterone-motivated decisions 90% of the time and it’s annoying. Is Alison really worth all of this. I mean it would have been great if he didn’t get bitten and he and Alison could live happily ever after but surely he could let her go for the sake of their LIVES. I know he really loves her, but you can actually get over people in time.

It was hilarious when they were trying to figure out Scott’s password and both were Alison.

Alison screams of Bella every time she makes a dumb decision- LIKE WALKING INTO THE WEREWOLF HOUSE UNARMED AND THE SCHOOL. Like really gurl? Really? This girl is just as naïve as Scott so they are perfect for each other, but it frustrates me how she goes about it. It’s very damsel in distress. Towards the end she was starting to call some shots, but I reckon she’ll grow as a character and become more assertive.

I should talk about her family. Of course she’s the hunter. I like that her dad is pretty reasonable and has a decent back story. I can’t outright despise him. His sister though, wow. Very corrupted. I kinda felt sort for her towards the end, but ultimately she was abusing people and apparently killing innocent people. But plot twist at the end, apparently she didn’t do it! So we’ll have to see how that pans out. Alison’s mum’s scary as though. I didn’t realise she was in the know, but man I would not want to cross her.  I did think “wait when did werewolves become the bad guys?” It’s very different to twilight, where being a werewolf is actually pretty good, and you can lead a normal life. There’s an obvious purpose for the werewolves- to kill vampires, here it’s still up in the air.

Okay to Jeremy. Side note, I had no idea who Colton Haynes was for the longest time. For some reason he was always showing up on my newsfeed, and I went to the extent of Wikipedia’ing the guy because I didn’t get it. I thought he was a singer. I think I forgot about my searching because it was only until episode 6 or 7 that I noticed the name in the start of the episode and I was just like OHHHHHH! OOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!! IT ALL MAKES SENSE. Anyways, his character is annoying as so I’m going to assume that he’s either a really nice guy IRL or his character picks up or both. Anyway, you’ve got this kid who’s adopted and wants to act macho all the time, and then of all people, Scott comes along and takes his limelight, and so Jeremy is willing to do anything to get more power and prove that he’s the best. It just annoyed me how weak he actually is. His relationship with Lydia was also very cringe worthy. He didn’t like her at all, he just wanted to be the best, and being with Lydia determined that. So far I don’t like him, but I’m open to change that opinion.

LYDIA!!! At first I couldn’t stand her, but seeing her taking the medication and admitting a ton when she was on the sleeping/anti-anxiety pills made me see her in a completely different light. I love how much Stiles likes her. He sees her for who she really is but still likes her. I like that she’s actually very smart (even though it’s kinda obvious). I don’t get what her motive is for everything though. Like Jeremy, to look like she’s the Queen Bee? I think over time we’ll see what’s really up and WHAT SHE TURNS INTO!?!?!? But I’m excited and I think there’s a lot in store.

Derek- he’s helpful but he’s way too mysterious for me to care about him so far. There’s a lot going on with him, and so far I’ve assumed that everything he’s telling Scott is a lie or is twisted. And when he became Alpha at the end, that was scary. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. As of yet I’m tentative but we’ll see what happens. I loved when he and Stiles were in the car and he whacks him for the whole scene with the shirts. Hilarious.

Oh I forgot to talk about the pretty weak graphics. the werewolves look really weird. I dunno, I wasnt rolling with it. 

Also is this based off that movie with Michael J Fox? I totally forgot about that! anyway, that’s a thing. 

Overall I’m very intrigued and desperate to start season 2.

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[whatevsreviews]

Teen Wolf- Season 1 Review!!!

I never thought I would actually watch Teen Wolf, but I got Netflix and that was the end of that.

I love this show but in the same sentence it is ridiculously stupid.

It’s like Merlin in terms of the plot holes but somehow 100% worse and yet it’s still good.

I recognise that it is the first season, and considering the fan base, things will get better. So I am excited and it’s safe to say that I’m hooked.

Spoilers below. You have been warned. 

I get the hype surrounding Dylan O’Brien now. Far out Stiles is a funny as character. Is it Stiles or Styles? I think it’s Stiles. I’ll roll with that. Now I’m curious what his first name is. I guess it’s already been revealed, but it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Anyways, the way Stiles is played is just gold. It’s really good.  He’s incredibly intelligent, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he always sticks up for his friend. His bromance with Scott is pretty cute tbh. His relationship with his Dad is awesome too. Feels really natural, and they seem the type to be able to share everything with each other (well, before all this wolf stuff).

Stiles decision to not turn into a werewolf was telling. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition between Jeremy and Stiles. Stiles is seen to be very confident and brave, not ever wanting to give into the Alpha’s demands unless absolutely necessary, and manages to keep enough to himself to buy time. Jeremy falters at the first sign of danger. He pleaded to become a werewolf coming from a position of weakness and a lack of self-worth, unlike Stiles who recognises the gravity of the curse that is being a werewolf.

Even stuff like not playing lacrosse (unlike Scott), even though he was never first line, speaks volumes about Stiles’ character.

Also I totally ship Stiles and Lydia for real (cereal).

I can totally see how Stiles is the favourite character, because Scott can be straight up stupid and naïve 100% of the time.

Scott only seems to care about one thing in the entire world.

Alison.

While their relationship is ten levels of cute, it’s flipping frustrating when it’s very clear that his obsession with this nice-but-flimsy girl seems to put him and his town in mortal danger, and he appears to not give a stuff. It was hilarious when the Alpha was getting Scott’s password for his computer and it’s just Alison. So funny.

The biggest problem I’ve had with the show is the wolf plot. So Scott randomly gets bitten one day. We do later find out that the Alpha needed more people for his pack, but surely he could have picked someone who was stronger and not some random boy in the woods that night without telling him what’s going on. I also don’t get why Scott doesn’t take this more seriously. I mean HE TURNS INTO A WEREWOLF. Surely you would try and investigate everything about it rather than leaving it to Stiles. Surely you would do whatever Derek tells you to rather than making dumb deals to protect Alison. Also what is the point of being a werewolf? And what is the folklore in this series? What is this so called code the hunters have to live by? What actually happened with this fire thing? Are there any other creatures lurking around? 

But to be fair, Derek is pretty shady, but that’s all the more reason to flipping investigate what it means to be a werewolf and what’s in store for you so you’re prepared. I guess it would be a pretty scary thing to happen, and I know he does want a normal life, so I can empathise there. Scott is just a kid who means well and has been forced into this real crappy situation.

That being said, he makes the most testosterone-motivated decisions 90% of the time and it’s annoying. Is Alison really worth all of this. I mean it would have been great if he didn’t get bitten and he and Alison could live happily ever after but surely he could let her go for the sake of their LIVES. I know he really loves her, but you can actually get over people in time.

It was hilarious when they were trying to figure out Scott’s password and both were Alison.

Alison screams of Bella every time she makes a dumb decision- LIKE WALKING INTO THE WEREWOLF HOUSE UNARMED AND THE SCHOOL. Like really gurl? Really? This girl is just as naïve as Scott so they are perfect for each other, but it frustrates me how she goes about it. It’s very damsel in distress. Towards the end she was starting to call some shots, but I reckon she’ll grow as a character and become more assertive.

I should talk about her family. Of course she’s the hunter. I like that her dad is pretty reasonable and has a decent back story. I can’t outright despise him. His sister though, wow. Very corrupted. I kinda felt sort for her towards the end, but ultimately she was abusing people and apparently killing innocent people. But plot twist at the end, apparently she didn’t do it! So we’ll have to see how that pans out. Alison’s mum’s scary as though. I didn’t realise she was in the know, but man I would not want to cross her.  I did think “wait when did werewolves become the bad guys?” It’s very different to twilight, where being a werewolf is actually pretty good, and you can lead a normal life. There’s an obvious purpose for the werewolves- to kill vampires, here it’s still up in the air.

Okay to Jeremy. Side note, I had no idea who Colton Haynes was for the longest time. For some reason he was always showing up on my newsfeed, and I went to the extent of Wikipedia’ing the guy because I didn’t get it. I thought he was a singer. I think I forgot about my searching because it was only until episode 6 or 7 that I noticed the name in the start of the episode and I was just like OHHHHHH! OOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!!!! IT ALL MAKES SENSE. Anyways, his character is annoying as so I’m going to assume that he’s either a really nice guy IRL or his character picks up or both. Anyway, you’ve got this kid who’s adopted and wants to act macho all the time, and then of all people, Scott comes along and takes his limelight, and so Jeremy is willing to do anything to get more power and prove that he’s the best. It just annoyed me how weak he actually is. His relationship with Lydia was also very cringe worthy. He didn’t like her at all, he just wanted to be the best, and being with Lydia determined that. So far I don’t like him, but I’m open to change that opinion.

LYDIA!!! At first I couldn’t stand her, but seeing her taking the medication and admitting a ton when she was on the sleeping/anti-anxiety pills made me see her in a completely different light. I love how much Stiles likes her. He sees her for who she really is but still likes her. I like that she’s actually very smart (even though it’s kinda obvious). I don’t get what her motive is for everything though. Like Jeremy, to look like she’s the Queen Bee? I think over time we’ll see what’s really up and WHAT SHE TURNS INTO!?!?!? But I’m excited and I think there’s a lot in store.

Derek- he’s helpful but he’s way too mysterious for me to care about him so far. There’s a lot going on with him, and so far I’ve assumed that everything he’s telling Scott is a lie or is twisted. And when he became Alpha at the end, that was scary. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. As of yet I’m tentative but we’ll see what happens. I loved when he and Stiles were in the car and he whacks him for the whole scene with the shirts. Hilarious.

Oh I forgot to talk about the pretty weak graphics. the werewolves look really weird. I dunno, I wasnt rolling with it. 

Also is this based off that movie with Michael J Fox? I totally forgot about that! anyway, that’s a thing. 

Overall I’m very intrigued and desperate to start season 2.

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[whatevsreviews]

pAper tOWnS- MovIe ReviEw!!!

I saw this movie 3 days ago but because of procrastination I’m posting this now.

I loved this movie. It was what is was supposed to be but that little bit more. I can’t say that it was better than the book, but I think it was on par. I think this movie is incredibly important. Much like the fault in our stars, it did fall into that contemporary genre, but it challenged many of the clichés that surrounds it. If you were expecting a typical love story, you may be very surprised with how this movie turns out.

For those who have read the book, I think it is a very faithful adaptation. Yes they did make changes and cut scenes, but the flow of the movie is very nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a coming-of-age story and I think the creators did a great job in the way they presented it.

For those who have seen The Fault in Our Stars and were possibly expecting this to be similar- it really isn’t. The style of movie is definitely similar, obviously having the same people making it, and I found in the first half hour there were some quirks they use that are quite similar to TFIOS, but once the story really kicks in it is very different.

As a summary, it follows the story of Quentin (whose name I’ve been pronouncing wrong this whole time), and his final few weeks of high school. It’s also about an old friend Margo, and how after many years of not hanging out, they come together and go on an adventure of sorts.  

The best thing about this movie is the characterisation and the genuineness of it. This is one of the first movies that I could see myself in it. The characters didn’t feel like stereotypes, which was incredibly refreshing to see. It was nice to be able to get a snapshot of these peoples lives and see how they dealt with situations and related to one another in a way that was authentic and different to what we’ve seen before.

The soundtrack was AWESOME for the movie. I had been listening to the songs beforehand, and I had to stop myself from singing aloud. It struck me how much our music landscape has changed though. In this sort of movies you expect a certain type of genre to be in a scene, but now EDM in all of its variations is now incredibly mainstream and I like it. Search Party is a great track in particular.

The costuming was also on fleek. There was an overcoat or something Q was wearing that I couldn’t stop starting at. It’s probably the most basic overcoat made but it looked so warm. I bought a warm jacket straight after watching the movie haha.

I feel like that’s all I can really say about it. Out of 10, I would probably give it an 8.5. I really did enjoy it, and as it is my favourite John Green book, I feel as though they did it justice and then some. GO SEE IT!!! Also YAAAAAAAAY for being an Aussie and getting this movie a week in advance. I couldn’t see it on release day and I still saw it before so HA!

Spoilers Below!!!

“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person”. If you truly want to summarise the film, it is in this quote. This is what makes Paper Towns my favourite John Green book.

I was thinking about how much Cara Delavigne has impacted the press surrounding the movie. She’s the current “it” girl and I’m definitely on the bandwagon. It just hit me though watching the movie that if people were expecting the Cara show, they would be pretty disappointed, because the movie and the book was about the mystery of Margo rather than Margo herself.

Margo wasn’t anything special, but “she sure was something”. Margo was unique sure, but she was a fallible human being with her own problems. Her view of the world seemed profound, but you realise by the end that it’s her view, but it doesn’t make it definitive. Her view of her existence was that she was from a fake place in which people weren’t truly questioning the purpose of their life and wanting to explore and see more of the world. But that wasn’t Q’s reality. When they are at the top of the town in the building, he sees the beauty of it and how lucky he is to be standing there with the girl of his dreams, but at the end of the movie we find that Margo was thinking about how boring her environment was.

The reaction of her parents was concerning at first, but when you get to the end you see how they would come to that point of resignation and nonchalance. “She’s not missing, she’s gone”. You also realise Margo’s selfishness through Lacey, who questions whether Margo would have done the same for her, and she assumed a lot of Lacey rather than trusting someone who was supposed to be her best friend. I liked that Ben was never a huge fan of the mission altogether. I think it’s more evident in the books, but I liked that his friends were reasonable in their assessment of the situation, and also reminded Q of the importance of being young and enjoying their time together rather than chasing what turned out to be a fantasy.

I found it really interesting the end where Q tells Margo to call her sister, and she replies saying that she talks to her every day. I felt so bad and kind of embarrassed for Q for coming all of that way only to discover that he had read the situation wrong, and the realisation that Margo didn’t care about him that much. The lights were dimming and weren’t directly in your face anymore, and you could now clearly see that they hadn’t really spoken in 9 years. Of course she was going to have moved on. You could feel in the cinema how awkward the whole scene was.  

The movie made me realise how mean Margo’s actions were. In the book it seemed more positive, and although she didn’t expect him to be there, it didn’t feel so deflated and selfish as it does in the film. I think that was the best message from this book. That you have to see things as they truly are, and live for yourself and not through others. You have to accept that life is what you make it and not others.

It was good that while Q was disappointed Margo wasn’t who he thought she was, she still gave him a great end of high school experience and taught him to be more confident and take more risks. I do like that he did return to his normal life and continue on his path, because being a doctor is no easy feat and something worth aspiring to become.  It showed that yes, they do have to grow up and discover themselves at some point, but that doesn’t mean taking the safe, expected path or being a product of your environment is necessarily a bad thing. In order for Margo to find herself, she had to push her boundaries and go to somewhere that doesn’t exist to find who she actually was and not the illusion her environment had built about her. But this truth isn’t the same for everyone.

Oh and do Q and Margo kiss in the book? I don’t remember this happening!!! Anyways, that was there. To be honest that was pretty awkward too.

Agloe!!! Every time I hear it I thought “algae”. Anyways, that was cool. The whole paper towns idea for maps is so cool.

It hit me when Q said: “for many people they were doing things for the last time, but for me, it was the first”. Being a kid who never missed a day of school, and went as far as to cut family holidays short just because I wanted to start school on time, I kinda felt that pang of “what if I did break the rules, even for one day?” I like that Q took that opportunity. I love how Q misses a test and the teach is like “dude it’s okay, you can still be a doctor”. There are times in life where you just have to do that unexpected thing “just because”, and still come back to who you are. Sometimes we need that moment where we experiment or question. I’m not trying to endose full blown reckless behaviour or drugs here, I just think that we shouldn’t be scared to do something outside of our comfort zone occasionally, knowing your life can continue on its true path.  I also just realised we don’t have pop quizzes in Australia, and if we did, people would riot about how unfair it would be to have a test on something you haven’t had the chance to revise or something :P My marks would have been pitiful.

I loved that we had characters who gave a crap about school, were intelligent and kind-of outcasts but not in a way that was unattractive? Watching it felt like a group I could easily fit into in all of its awkwardness but genuineness. The scene with Q going “sing the first song that comes into your head” and Ben starts singing the Pokemon theme song. Hilarious. It was a tad awkward in the cinema when people didn’t seem to pick up what the song was until they sang “Pokemon”. Such a hipster is I. Kidding. I think it made me realise that not every spends every second on the internet, which, good on them.

Ben was very well done. Kudos to that guy. At first I was a bit scared of how Ben would be portrayed, but then he brought the character to life in a way that wasn’t too goofy or far-fetched. Ben is a weird dude, but the actor made it authentic. One of the funniest parts of the book I think is when they’re talking online, and Ben’s DM is “ITWASAKIDNEYINFECTION”. Was crying of laughter when I read that.

Justice aka Radar was sah good too! When I saw he was gonna play Radar, at first I was like “oh I did imagine a more Jimmy Jamal from Angela Anaconda type (who knows why?), but then I saw a picture of him with the black Santas and I was sold. I remember when I hadn’t read the book and everyone was going on about black Santas during Christmas time in nerdfighter groups and I would be so confused, but now I get it and find it the most brilliant thing in the world. Anyway, Radar’s character is awesome in that he is a very introverted dude who has to be truthful all the time, and I think that’s cool.

I almost don’t want to do this, but this one of the things I noticed and really appreciated about the movie, but it was the representation of black people (or “people of colour” if that’s how you roll). When I read Radar I was kinda like “oh cool, that black friend who’s just Q’s friend and I don’t think much else of it”, but seeing the movie made me realise how stereotypical black characters are, and I loved how normal and relatable Radar and Angela were to me, being African myself. There’s this one scene on the road trip where they pick up random shirts for clean clothes, and Q happens to give Radar a shirt with a confederate flag on it. They just crack up laughing at the irony, and Radar wears it back to front. That was the main nod to their difference in the whole story, but the way it was handled is how I feel like it isn’t always presented in the media and I think it was really refreshing and awesome. It was just nice to see black characters you can actually relate to, rather than those bound by the stereotypes and letting those prejudices weigh them down. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t talk about black issues, but the oppression and disparity doesn’t loom so heavy on every black person’s head on a day to day basis. I don’t know if John meant to do this when he wrote these characters, but I am so glad he did, and the producers brought it to life in the most perfect way.

Okay let’s move on.

I should talk about Radar’s actual character. I liked that he was right onto his phone whenever the situation warranted it. Definitely a sign of the times. I loved how honest he was. Confessing to Angela about going to a party and just holding a beer but feeling so guilty about it. I loved the way they portrayed Angela too. It’s kind of meta, but in the movie Angela calls Radar out, asking him why he always hides her from his friends. I don’t remember it happening like that in the movie, but I think it was Angela talking to John Green and asking why Angela wasn’t more involved :P Anyways, it was great that she was part of the journey too.

I liked Lacey a lot too. How she talks about wanting to be seen for her intelligence more than her beauty. Again, intelligence being celebrated! It’s good to like learning and not wanting to settle for average. I liked how the bullies weren’t also made out to be these huge overbearing presences in their lives, but just not-great people who would make questionable decisions. I liked that Q and Lacey could be friends without all the other crap that seems to come with girl-guy friendships stereotypically.

I’ve talked a bit about Q already, but I wanted to highlight how great Nat plays awkwardness. Q is an incredibly awkward character, and it was just so well done. Like when some asked him “you love her (Margo) don’t you?” and he’s just like awkwardly twitching and looking around, stuttering before he comes out with it. I was really impressed. Again, there was an authenticity to it that made it perfect. Huge props.

Okay the best part of the movie hands down was the scene in the petrol station (or gas station if you’re ‘Murican). OH MY GOODNESS MY BODY WAS NOT PREPARED I CANT EVEN I LOVE YOU DIRECTORS.

(IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE MOVIE AND ARE READING ALL THIS FIRST OF ALL WHY AND THEN LOOK AWAY NOW BECAUSE THIS WAS AWESOME AND SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU WATCH IT).

I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES WHEN I SAW ANSEL JUST STANDING THERE. LIKE LITERALLY RUBBING MY EYES IN DISBELIEF. WHAT EVEN?! SO MUCH WIN. I couldn’t even concentrate on what was happening I was so shocked. That was really awesome by all involved. I’m still scratching my head. I’m so glad that I didn’t get spoiled about that too.

The ultimate question is: WHERE WAS JOHN GREEN IN THIS MOVIE?!?! I didn’t see it at all! Was it in the shops??? Noooo!!!!

I think that’s the most of it. Such a great movie.

I will end with one simple note:

Black Santa.  

[whatevsreviews]

Risk by Fleur Ferris

I do need to talk about the cover before going on about the story because I’m all about covers. It’s pretty, fresh, and having read it, 100% perfect. It’s nice to know that people know what they’re doing in making the cover. Nothing’s more annoying than when you have a certain expectation of a book looking at the cover, and then being bitterly disappointed and straight up confused when the cover has nothing to do with the story. It’s a book you want to have on your bookshelf aesthetically. Kudos publishers.

Risk follows the story of Taylor and her best friend Sierra. They’re messing around online one night, and start talking to a mystery person in a chat room. There’s a bit of tension in their friendship, and the story explores a bit of that, mixed with the reality the risk of talking to people online brings.

This book is incredibly important, particularly reading the news and regularly hearing about teens going missing due to talking to people online. It’s clear that the cybercrime message either isn’t being heard, or is possibly outdated. I remember being in primary school, and they would tell you to not put all your details in your email address name, which is why so many of us have ridiculous emails. They also told us to not talk to anyone you don’t know online and to pretty much avoid chatrooms. I was a careful kid so I never even had MSN until Facebook became a thing, so I don’t think I’ve ever used a chat room. These days in the wake of social media, it’s a bit of an unreasonable message to expect people to not talk to strangers online. Personally I’ve talked to massive communities of people I don’t know in real life, and have gone as far as to meet some of them. It’s all been completely legitimate and I’ve enjoyed this new age we’re in.

It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be careful though. Reading this book reminded me why the TV show and movie Catfish is so important (even though it does get a bit melodramatic at times), and how much the cyber game has changed. While there are legitimate people online, there are others who prey on the vulnerable and do cause mischief. When push comes to shove, you can never be sure of who you’re talking to online, and the consequences can be disastrous. This story tells a particular angle of that.

I really liked reading Risk. I do think it is aimed for the high school age group, but I would recommend it to anyone who is new to being online and using social media. I think being a little bit older, the story wasn’t quite as possibly shocking or flooring to me, as I had had that experience with other books and media I had been exposed to when I was in high school, but for young adults coming up today this is a great read.

I had a ton of fun reading this as well. I was writing notes while reading, and within the first 10 pages I’m thinking fanfiction ideas. I loved the characters and I found them believable, something I really look for when reading contempories, and I believed their relationships and their reactions to the situations they got into.

I also love reading Australian books because I ACTUALLY GET THE REFERENCES. It was weird because I was reading that the characters were in the canteen, and I subconsciously read it as a cafeteria. I read it again and was like- oh yeah. I canteen is a place you buy food at lunch. Yes. Thank you.  

Song Association:

This is a little bit lame, but when I read a book, I try to come up with a song that would be associated with it. I think in this case, it could only come from Taylor Swift. She has a few songs that could fit for different reasons, but I’m going to go with Fifteen. The main characters are fifteen years old, and the song does describe the struggles you experience at that age. I think the song may have come out when I was fifteen, and I have to say that it didn’t probably resonate that much, as I was a bit more introverted, but for the characters in the book it certainly does apply and make sense.

Similar texts:

If you’re a bit older and you enjoyed this book, watch the telemovie Cyberbully. If you think this book was a wake-up call, wait until you watch that. Dude. An incredibly clever piece that definitely woke me up a bit and made me think twice before posting things online again. The book I read in high school that reminded me of Risk was Destroying Avalon by Kate McCaffery. This is more about cyberbullying than cybercrime, but this book woke. me. up. It’s compulsory reading as far as I’m concerned. I think after reading Risk and Destroying Avalon, you’ll never touch social media again :P

Outta 10?

I’m not sure how much of Risk to give away!!! It’s very fast paced, so within the first chapter you’ve got a good hold on the environment of the story, and you do get drawn along for the ride.

I shall give Risk a 7/10. Had I been younger, this book would have got a better score from me, but it is a very well done book. If you’re someone who wants a good book that possibly challenges the way you see your world, I would highly recommend this one. If you’re in high school, read this. I’m talking year 7 through to year 12. Even year 6. Straight out of school? Just do it.

Spoilers ahead!

SPOILERS:

To the fun part- pulling this thing apart!

My initial thought when I heard Taylor Wolfe was Taylor Lautner. Reading on for two more sentences I realised- oh wait. This is Taylor Swift. Cool. Later I was like “why did I go to Taylor Lautner?” and I think it’s the whole werewolf thing. Anyways, then a character called Callum comes into the mix and I’m thinking Calum from 5 seconds of summer. I have a bad imagination so this sort of association helps me out. Even though Sierra is the one who looks like Taylor Swift, Taylor gets the Tay Tay nickname. Then the Jacob who they’re speaking to online goes “No, I’m not Jacob from Twilight” and I’m done. The story has come full circle and we are 8 pages in.

Later on in the story, Calum from 5SOS turns into Calvin Harris, and he and Tay Tay become the ship of the century.

So that’s my story.

About 50ish pages in, I’ve written a summary about what’s happened:

So Sierra is missing.

Callum is now Calvin Harris and this is T-Swizzle fan fiction right here.

Riley is the voice of reason.

Joel is irrelevant.

By page 74, I’ve just got this emoji drawn: -_-

I look at the page and it’s when Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum Rachel that she’s gone missing.

The book then gets to its horrible climax, and while I was open to that idea, ultimately the reality did shock me. Incredibly sad. As this was barely halfway into the book, I did wonder how the story was going to deal with what happened next.

Taylor comes up with the brilliant idea of the Risk website. And I think to myself “this should be a real thing”. I think it could actually be pretty cool. I know when I was younger I was all about ABC kids chatrooms, so I could see this sort of site fitting in well on that sort of platform, educating and creating conversations about the online world in a safe environment.

And then there is trouble in paradise with Tay Tay and Calvin. He’s randomly upset at her, and even I’m like “bro, you’ve been reasonable this whole story, what’s going on?” and then he brings up the assembly and how Taylor says that she was initially in love with Jacob Jones and Callum doesn’t know his place. Which is 100% fair enough.

But they sort it out like they always do and it’s just all very cute.

In my notes, I’ve written my complete frustration in the girls giving out basic info like their email, and the school they go to, and their Instagram links, and them not picking up a generic picture of a “hot guy”. I mean 90% of the guys on your Facebook wall aint all that. Some common sense please. There was also a point in the book where he says he likes Guy Sebastian, and don’t get me wrong, go Guy, but I was like “as if Jacob Jones loves Guy Sebastian”. That kind of comment would have alerted me straight away :P It was kind of funny getting annoyed at how freely they were giving info without realising, but then I becomes scary knowing that this does happen on the daily.

I have to say that my favourite character is Riley. She says it like it is. We don’t get the full story of her going to counselling and things, but I found that good how we were shown the different ways in which people deal with grief. I liked that she disapproved of Sierra and was happy to say so. I appreciate and like people around who are honest. At the same time, as we find out through the book, it’s easy to judge a book by its cover, and not to stop and consider why they are how they are. I think it’s important in general to remember that everyone has their own struggle that presents itself in a variety of ways.

Callum is great. I like reading boy characters because I would love to see what it’s like inside a guy’s head, and male characters seem to be the closest thing I can get to that. At one point I was screaming at the book asking why Taylor never went over his house, but I loved reading him. I hope they make the distance, both in Risk, and in real life. I can see it now: Bad Blood (Calvin Harris remix).  

As I said before, Joel is pretty irrelevant. And clueless at reading girl code. Riley’s probably better off without him.

I feel so bad for Rachel. It’s the worst situation, and I never knew what to think. I did remember screaming at the book for her to lay off Taylor, but I can totally understand her actions as well. It was nice at the end that they could reconcile.

And the twist with finding the predator. Taylor did such a good job. The Fliss thing was bothering me, so it was good that a resolution was found. Scary, scary stuff.

Taylor’s mum is such a legend. I love their relationship. They’re so comfortable with each other, and I guess it comes with sad experience, but they knew how to look out for each other which was nice to see.

So yeah! That’s pretty much it! I guess the question now remains- are you online-invisible or risk?

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Off the Page- Book Review

For some reason I kept forgetting the title of this book. That and Between the Lines.

Off the Page is the sequel to between the lines, a book written by Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samatha van Leer. It’s a fractured fairy tale with a twist. Actually I don’t know how it’s fractured when the fairy tale is a made up one but whatever. I’ll talk around its blurb, which talks about the fantasy world coming into meeting with the real world and how that would look like. You need to read Between the Lines before reading this one to get the foundations of this book, although it does explain it enough to be able to fill the holes.

It follows the adventures of Delilah, a girl who finds a fairytale book and falls in love with the characters and the story. In the first book, she is able to communicate with Oliver, the main character in the book. Off the Page is a continuation of their adventures together.  

I think Off the Page could be slightly better than Between the Lines. It really does take off where it left off and allows you to get drawn right in. The book is unpredictable. I was writing notes while reading and what predicted was completely off the pace, which was great because then it was an interesting and slightly more thoughtful read. I would also argue that this book is heavier in some of its themes than the first.

I love the design of the book. Much better than the first one I had. I wish they had it in a hard cover version though. There might be one out there. I also love the colour in this book. The text is in different colours depending on what character it is, which is great so that you don’t get too lost in remembering whos perspective it’s from. The artistry is also absolutely divine, much like the first book.

At times, the romance side of the book got a bit much for me personally, but it is a fairy tale so it is to be expected. I do also think that throughout this book, some of the sceranios became far-fetched, in comparison to the first one, where things were explained much more clearly. The first book did a good job of justifying why certain things were happening in the book, but in the second book I think they stretched me a bit trying to believe some of the scenarios.

Song Association:

Hilary Duff- What Dreams are Made Of. When you finish the book, put on this song like I did. I was dancing around in my room listening to it. The nostalgia was real, but also it does fit in pretty well with the mood of the book, and potentially Delilah’s thought process. I was listening to a couple of reviews that did mention this story would make the perfect Disney Channel movie, and I do agree.

Book recommendations:

If you enjoyed this book, then I highly suggest that you read Meg Cabot’s Airhead series. It is different, but it does follow that “what if X happened. How would you react?” Think Freaky Friday. Off the Page is a pretty unique book, but if I was going to think of a similar book to recommend, go for that series. I particularly love the first 2 books of the trilogy.

Out of 10?

6.5. It’s actually a really good book, but it is very simple and an easy read. Compared to like the best books ever, this is all I could give it. Sorry! Out of the fractured fairytale type of books I’ve read, I would easily give this a 9. It’s just that my scale includes a whole variety of books. If you love reading fairy tales but you’re slightly older, this book is a great option. I was never really into fairy tales, and while some bits had me rolling my eyes or cringing at the lovey-doveyness, 95% of the time it read as a great contemporary. It’s a series that’s a lot of fun, stretched your imagination a bit, and not to be taken too seriously.  

 Spoilers below!

SPOILERS!!!!

Okay so at about page 50 my loyalties were divided between Edgar, Oliver and Delilah. The poor dude was trapped in the stupid book thanks to Delilah’s selfishness and wants to go home. But initially I was angry at Edgar for not liking his surroundings when he was kind of part of the encouragement. Now having read the book I just feel really bad for him, but at the time I was annoyed that he was ungrateful for having his dreams of being part of a video game sort-of come true.

I didn’t really enjoy reading about the fairytale world as much in this book. I think Oliver as a character is really powerful, and so I feel that because the way the story pans out, we don’t get the voice we need in those fairytale scenes. Edgar’s voice in there seemed to annoy me a lot, and I was rushing through his chapters initially.

The love between Delilah and Oliver got too much sometimes. I think while it is cute, it’s one of those things where you want it to happen but you don’t want to see it.  Especially if you have read the first book, you will be happy with some of the events, but yeah, I kind of skim read those bits. I was scared of catching cooties or something. Actually, this is such a me type of negative comment. It wasn’t even bad, I’m just prudish.

The biggest problem I have with this book is the ending, and the unresolved fate of Edgar and Jules’ relationship. While it is great that Edgar did end up saving his mother’s life by living in the story with her, I simply could not buy that he would not miss being a human and experiencing life and love, potentially with Jules. It was a scenario we had seen before. To some degree I guess it does leave an opening for a third book, where maybe Edgar’s mother is able to move out of the book again because the book has effectively healed her, and then Edgar can live as a human again and live with Jules and live happily ever after. That would be a real fairytale ending.

I think a little more recap as to what happened in the previous book may have been beneficial because it had been around about a year since I had written the last book.

I loved reading about Oliver at school. That was my favourite part about the book. Seeing how an outsider views the school system and adjusts to the social norms. You could understand Delilah though. While she does have this dreamy, perfect boyfriend, compared to her (at least in her mind), it would be a bit of a mismatch. She’s trying to reconcile the fact that he’s the hottest thing in the school, while she wants none of the attention. We didn’t get a whole lot of resolution except “I love you” and some making out.  

It was pretty stupid of Oliver to actually kiss Allie. Speaking of, I did find it weird that she ended up with Chris. I was kind of hoping him and Jules could rekindle something but I guess that ship had sailed. Allie was an annoying, irrelevant character to me. Actually, having a third book that explores her character would probably be fascinating.

It was also hilarious when Oliver drew dragons on Edgar’s SAT’s and he ended up getting a score for Harvard. That literally made me lol.

The little blemish I have on Edgar’s name was when he kissed Delilah to make Jules jealous. That’s never okay dude. It was extremely bad considering everyone bar Chris knew what was going on. I really don’t know what Edgar was thinking at that point. It was kind of interesting to read about Edgar trying to figure out how school life was, especially with Oliver joining every club imaginable.  

The dog (Rufus???) arc was incredibly sad. I honestly thought he would come back, and when he didn’t I couldn’t believe it. That was just cruel really. Seraphina did well considering the circumstances. It was kinda random when Humphrey was in the story being annoying and saying random dog things but whatever.

Seraphina’s character development surprised me. In the first book I couldn’t stand her, but in this book by the end I really admired her and saw her in a completely different light. I couldn’t stand it when she was in the real world- I found it pretty unreasonable that Delilah’s mum wouldn’t question why some girl from Iceland was randomly at her house. The mall scene also frustrated me. At the end however, when she still had jeans on and when she wanted to go exploring, I found that amicable. I almost wanted to ship Edgar and Seraphina, but I really like Jules and Edgar together.

I think logistically it would be impossible for Jessamyn to just get replaced by Queen Maureen. Like don’t they bleed ink? If the situation came where they need a doctor or something, what happens? DNA samples? Again, I do have to just roll with it with this book, but there were many variables such as that one that I was considering when I read the ending. I just want them all to go back to where they belong in the story okay?

I’m sure I have more thoughts but I’ll leave it here. Even though I had some gripes with the book, overall it was a nice read and I’m glad I randomly picked up the first book at the library :D

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off the page

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inside out