Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Review: Until We Meet Again by Renee Collins

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23277959Title: Until We Meet Again

Author: Renee Collins

Publishing Information:  November 3rd 2015 by Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Time travel, romance, science fiction

Series Information: Standalone

Format: Hardcover, 322 pages

Source: Received an ARC from the publisher via Edelweiss

Recommended For: Readers looking for a romantic, easy read with a swoony male and bittersweet ending

The gist here is that Cassandra is staying with her family in a beach house that was inhabited by Lawrence and his family in 1925. The issue, of course, is that Cassandra does not live in 1925 and by some form of magic they are able to travel through time and meet on the beach behind the house. Cassandra does some sleuthing and finds out some information that insinuates that Lawrence’s life may be in jeopardy. The two are faced with wondering if they should save his life and therefore alter time (we’ve all heard this before, eh?) and of course inevitably, they fall in love.

I had a hard time with Cassandra, she was moody and pretty dramatic. I suppose that she fit into that “moody teenager” stereotype but I had a few moments where I was feeling a bit old reading her parts. I really enjoyed how her parents were present, the story felt much more real with the inclusion of the “normal” family dynamics that were presented. Lawrence has his own drama, and the two connect in a really sweet way. I would have appreciated a bit more from the secondary characters, I definitely think that it would have fleshed out the novel a bit more.

As I am revisiting my thoughts on Until We Meet Again, I am reminded of how while reading I kept thinking how nothing was really happening, but I was still invested in the story. I am unsure if this is a good or bad thing, to be honest, but despite the admittedly slow parts I still couldn’t put this novel down. The ending was bittersweet. I wish things played out differently, but can’t see how they feasibly could have. I will say that despite the insta-love factor between these two, I totally fell for their romance and enjoyed the novel overall.

Shelf Talker: After finishing, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I loved this book but kept reading it with this thought of impending doom. Admittedly, not much happened throughout, yet I couldn’t tear myself away. I liked the characters, especially Lawrence (swoon) and major props for no invisible parents! This one is definitely recommended for someone looking to fall into a love story and get lost for a while.

Review: Cress and The Lunar Chronicles Novellas by Marissa Meyer

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I’m back with some more mini reviews! In case you were wondering if The Lunar Chronicles are worth the hype, they absolutely are! Read on to read my thoughts on the novellas of the series and of course, the newest addition, Cress!


Title: Glitches

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publishing Information: December 5th 2011 by Tor

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Series Information: 0.5 in The Lunar Chronicles

Format: ebook, 32 pages

Source: Free on Tor.com

For those of you who are curious about the series and wondering if you can believe all of the hype, or for readers looking for a deeper look into Cinder’s background and her relationship with Iko, definitely give this one a go. It is somewhat bittersweet as we see how hard it was for Cinder to adjust to her new life as part cyborg, but when you continue on with the series, you see that Cinder comes into her own!

Continue reading →

Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

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Title: Sabriel

Author: Garth Nix

Publishing Information: Published September 30th 1995 by Harper Collins 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure

Series Information: Book 1 in the Abhorsen series

Format: Hardcover, 292 pages

Source: Received as a gift for my personal library

Recommended For: Readers looking for an adventure story with a likable heroine, a powerful and less than harmless feline creature, and a young man haunted by his past.

Ever since she was a tiny child, Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won’t stay dead. But now her father, the Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into the nine Gates and Precincts of Death. Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful-and perhaps malevolent-spirit, and Touchstone, a younger Charter Mage imprisoned two centuries in a wooden ship-head, still trapped by painful memories. With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle against vicious Hands, Mordicants, and the evil Kerrigor.

Confession time, my friends! My grandmother bought this book for me over ten years ago and you know what? I didn’t read it because the cover looked boring. SHAME ON ME! It wasn’t until I moved into my new apartment and was putting it on the shelves that I remembered that Garth Nix was writing a fourth book (and that it would be available at BEA) that I decided to maybe try it out. I was still a little put off by it for some reason and then I found out that Tim Curry narrates the audiobook! Well, I love Tim Curry in all things and I immediately started listening to Sabriel on audio. It took some time for me to fall into the story but once I decided to read the book in print and listen to it I really fell for the storyline. Continue reading →

Miniseries Review: Tin Man

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tinman-cast

We are nearing the end of Project Fairy Tale and this is my last post on a non-print adaptation of The Wizard of Oz! If you want to learn more about this fun event head over to my intro post!

The plot was so twisty on this one that I don’t want to rehash it for you all because I would rather not ruin anything so let’s talk about the new portrayal of old characters and then go forth to Netflix and watch, I say!

I LOVED what SyFy did with these characters.

D.G. was just the right amount of naivety and intellect to make me enjoy her as a character. Though a lot of her parts were cheesefest and wide eyed shock and concern, I still enjoyed her strength and determination.

Glitch (The “Scarecrow”) was hard not to love, for reasons beyond the fact that he was played by Alan Cummings. He was fun and incredibly loyal even though he “glitched” often due to half of his brain being removed by Azkadellia.

Raw (The “Cowardly Lion”) was first of all, in a magnificent costume and makeup. Second, the way SyFy portrayed him and his kind as sort of telepathic viewers was a really interesting addition. He was the sweetest and most tame of the characters which was a fun comparison to The Cowardly Lion from the original tale. In the end, he came into his own and realized that it was important to stand up for his friends and family.

The Tin Man aka Wyatt Cain – Okay first, those blue eyes *swoons* second, Wyatt and Cain are only two of my favorite names, EVER. Third, HIS INDIANA JONES HAT! I can’t even…okay but his character is THE hero, THE good guy. The one who is all conflicted and wants to “go his own way” but realizes that he has a HEART (see what I did there) and therefore must fight for the GOOD of all. Oh he was my favorite.

Azkadellia – She was beautiful and wicked to the point where sometimes I was a little bit scared of her, but I liked it. She also had a killer wardrobe so what’s not to love?

Things that made me LOL, roll my eyes, and basically remember it was a film made by SyFy:

Toto: I didn’t love their rendition of Toto for this particular adaptation. Spoiler alert: There was some shape shifting involved and I really didn’t like the character who portrayed “Tutor” as a human.

Azkadellia and her boob minions: Yeah, you read that right. Az has some pretty awesome minions, some of which are flying monkeys much like the original story. The major difference here that made me go “did that just happen…” is that Az has some nifty symbols tattooed on her upper chest. Therefore, whenever she is ready to make those babies fly she just unbuttons her little jacket, puffs out her..um..chest, gives a shake and BAM flying monkeys GALORE! I mean really SyFy, I know Kathleen Robertson is a hottie but could you not?

The plot was intricate, interesting and in some parts, very sad. In my opinion didn’t drag at all and I wanted to know what was going to happen next throughout it’s entirety. It is definitely a show that I would watch again and it made me want to watch some of SyFy’s other miniseries! I suggest taking some time and watching this adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, it is on Netflix and is only a few hours long!

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

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13206760Title: Scarlet

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publishing Information: February 4, 2013 by Feiwel & Friends

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance, Retellings

Series information: Book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles

Format: Hardcover, 464 pages

Source: Unedited ARC

Recommended For: Readers looking for a strong willed heroine, a brooding male lead and a new spin on an old tale

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.
As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner. 

There is so much to say about this book, yet so much of it has already been said. In a nutshell, here is my commentary while reading and my mini review immediately after finishing:

Screen shot 2013-01-29 at 7.22.01 PM

Yeah…so there’s that. Basically I loved this book. LOOVEDDDD the characters and the setting and it was one of my biggest book hangovers OF THE YEAR.

Remember how I said I wanted more world building while I was reading Cinder? Marissa Meyer delves right in and we are able to see a bigger landscape in Scarlet, complete with bonfires and farm frolicking (erm..kind of).

Scarlet Benoit has made my list of favorite female characters of all time. She is plucky and rough and fights her own battles. She is determined to find her grandmother and though she works hard to do what is right in most situations, she also has no problem getting dirty to do what needs to be done. Then there is Wolf and I don’t even know what to say about him because he is so swoonworthy I can’t even…I am all for the strong females who can take care of themselves but I also love a guy who stands up for his lady and maybe Wolf gets a little overprotective and ya know…murderous…but I’m kind of okay with that given the yumminess. Also Meyer introduces us to some other fabulous new characters, I specifically adored Captain Thorne. He is quite a character, he is intelligent, snarky and kind of crazy. Though Wolf is my favorite guy, I have joined the fangirling of Thorne as well. Scarlet and Cinder are vastly different characters and while reading book one I sometimes had a hard time connecting to Cinder. While reading Scarlet I didn’t only feel more connected Scarlet Benoit but I reconnected with Cinder and better appreciated her to the point where I can’t wait to go back and re-read Cinder.

The story was fabulous, I was surprised and thrilled. I highly recommend you read Cinder and then pick up this one immediately, it comes out soon so hurry!! It honestly left me with one of the biggest book hangovers of the year and guys, I can’t stop singing “OHHH WOLFIEEE, OHHH WOLFIEEEE AIN’T YOU THE ONEEE!”

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

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11235712Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publishing Information:January 3, 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction Romance, Retellings

Series information: Book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles

Format: Hardcover, 390 pages

Source: Borrowed from my local library

Recommended For: Readers looking for a strong heroine, a charming prince and a new spin on an old tale

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I am going to come right out and admit it: I totally judge books by their cover. I know I shouldn’t and after almost missing out on two gems last year due my hating their covers I am trying really hard to not do that anymore. The first book I almost passed by was Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the blue feathers and such, I smelled a masquerade, and vampires. Not for me. Thankfully those of you who read DoSaB know that it was amazing and not at all about vampires, whew! The second book I almost missed out on was Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I don’t know what is wrong with me here, those are some nice shoes and frankly, I’d like to get me a pair, but something about the cyborg thing just made me think “NOT AN ALYSSA BOOK!” and I moved on. MONTHS after the release, Heidi told me to cut the crap and read the book because it was awesome and was totally an Alyssa book for all of the right reasons. The girl was right, (she usually is, but that’s for another time) I devoured Cinder and was chomping at the bit for Scarlet’s release (lucky for me I obtained a copy early and you can expect that review to pop up shortly!)

There isn’t much to say here that hasn’t already been said. Marissa Meyer has a knack for character development, I really enjoyed watching Cinder grow as a character, I enjoyed how she didn’t exactly succumb to her stepmother and let her control her life but she also didn’t jump into action in an unbelievable way. Her rebellion was justified and genuine and my heart melted for her. Prince Kai is, well, charming, to say the least. The story between these two was refreshing, Kai was a gentleman and though outgoing in all the right ways he wasn’t demeaning or demanding as so many male leads are these days, maybe it was the prince in him but I found this to be extremely refreshing. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes.

The secondary characters were just as loveable or just as rage inducing. Iko is Cinder’s best friend and I really felt their friendship, if that remotely makes sense. Meyer has a knack for making me FEEL FEELINGS, and that isn’t easy. Even emotions from the “evil” characters came through, when the family was mourning, I mourned and raged with them. I was a tiny bit scared of the Lunar queen but I suppose that is the point, I can’t wait to see what Meyer has in store for her!

The story isn’t without faults, it didn’t take me long to uncover one major twist in the story but I wasn’t disappointed that it didn’t pop out at me and there were plenty more that had my mouth on the floor. I would have also enjoyed some more world building and insight into the Lunar characters but lucky for me book two delves deeper into the world and characters so I’m not complaining!

In a nutshell, friends, even if the premise (okay or cover) of this book makes you feel that it isn’t worth the hype I encourage you to try it anyway. Marissa Meyer provides readers with a brand new twist on the Cinderella tale that leaves the reader begging for more.

“…and yet, the memory of his fingers against her skin refused to fade.”