Ender’s Game (2013)

enders game

Director:

Gavin Hood

Starring:

Harrison Ford

Asa Butterfield

Hailee Steinfeld

Plot:

Young Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, a genocidal alien race which nearly annihilated the human race in a previous invasion.

Review:

So I read Ender’s Game before I knew anything about Orson Scott Card’s politics. The book was amazing and I told anyone who would listen to read it. Now I look for it in used bookstores because I would love to own it but I don’t want to give money to Card. Oh well.

I was wary of the movie because as every reader knows Hollywood almost always crushes our preciouses with their CG and incomprehension of what really makes the book amazing.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t read the book in a couple years but I thought the movie was pretty good. It wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t the horrible piece of crap I thought it was going to be. I guess all I really need to do is go into a movie with super low expectations and I will more often be pleasantly surprised.

I did think they should have cast someone even smaller in the roll of Bean. And I don’t remember there being a romantic relationship between Ender and Petra. Maybe I was reading too much into it.

3/5

Frozen (2013)

Frozen-characters

Directors:

Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee

Starring:

Kristen Bell

Josh Gad

Idina Menzel

Jonathan Groff

Plot:

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

Review:

What is it with kids movies and making me sob like a little girl? It wasn’t quiet Pixar’s Up opening but it still had me in tears. Great story, love me some fairy tales. Glad that the ending wasn’t the predictable prince saves the day. I actually thought it might end up being Elsa saving the day but I liked that Anna ended up saving herself.

I am totally buying this and, I think, if my daughter ends up choosing this movie to watch every day forever I’d be ok with that.

5/5

Mercy Thompson Series By Patricia Briggs

mercy thompson two wall

Books:

Moon Called

Blood Bound

Iron Kissed

Bone Crossed

Silver Borne

River Marked

Frost Burned

Night Broken

Review:

Once I finished Night Broken I had to go back and reread the entire series because I had to. You know?

After rereading the first book I realized it’s the weakest book in the series. There’s a lot of character development and world building and while there is a story it’s not her best by far. There are also some inconsistencies with what is said in it with what takes place in the Alpha and Omega series. She hadn’t written those yet and she probably didn’t have them planned. It’s not a big deal though, at least not to me.

In Blood Bound things pick up a bit but I think it’s in Iron Kissed where the series really takes off. Be warned there is a rape scene, it’s not as graphic as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but it’s there.

Bone Crossed is another vampire book, which personally I think are the weakest in the series, but whatever it’s still good.

Silver Borne finally sees Sam getting some action which makes me happy. He needed someone and you knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be Mercy no matter what Briggs tried to get you to think.

River Marked was not one of my favorites. It’s Briggs so it wasn’t bad it just didn’t really do much for me. It was more of Mercy taking on a monster that for some reason only she was qualified to do even though she’s weaker than everyone else.

Frost Burned. Hmm. When I first read it I felt let down. It was the first book after Fair Game, an Alpha and Omega book, and I was expecting more. I wasn’t thinking or I would have gone in with better expectations. The Mercy Thompson books are about Mercy and the pack of wolves she is a part of while the Alpha and Omega books have more to do with all werewolves because the leads are a part of the Merrick’s pack. With the most recent reread I enjoyed the book more because I went in knowing what to expect.

Night Broken.

Overall I’d say the series is about a 4.25/5

Alpha and Omega Series By Patricia Briggs

Alpha-and-Omega-by-Patricia-Briggs

Alpha and Omega Series By Patricia Briggs

Books:

On The Prowl

Cry Wolf

Hunting Ground

Fair Game

Review:

I recently reread the entire Alpha and Omega series and thought I’d do a review of the series so far. Since I’ve already read the books a few times I decided not to write a post for each book.

On the Prowl is just a short little novella but it does a good job of introducing the characters. I wasn’t as impressed by Cry Wolf, but Hunting Ground was good. What makes me unsure whether or not I love this series more than the Mercy Thompson series is the last book, Fair Game.

Holy cow when I finished Fair Game my first thought was this shit is getting good. With that ending her world was going to get a lot more violent and political. I’m really excited for the next book in this series.

The Mercy Thompson series is focused on one wolf pack but this series is about a couple that are part of the Merrick’s pack. The Merrick is the leader of all the North American wolves so there’s bigger things going on in this series than the other.

My only complaint is that we don’t get a book every year like with the Mercy Thompson series.

Oh well, that’s life.

Overall I would say this series is a 4 star series. I love it and it would be a 5 star but Cry Wolf just doesn’t do much for me. Lots of character building so I don’t recommend skipping it though.

4/5

Night Broken

night broken

Night Broken By Patricia Briggs

Plot:

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

Review:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Why do I have to read so fast? I bought this book the day it came out and then put off reading it as long as I could. I knew that even with a new baby I would read too fast and it would be over so quickly, and it was.

Loved this book! The dynamic between Mercy and Christy was great and I couldn’t wait for Mercy to put her in her place. That scene did not disappoint. I do wonder if Briggs is getting tired of nearly killing Mercy, it seems like most if not all of her books end with Mercy in a hospital bed.

As soon as I finished Night Broken I started to re-read The Alpha and Omega series (I prefer it my a smidge to the Mercy Thompson series). Since there are only three books in that series I’m already done and now I’m re-reading Mercy Thompson. I love Patricia Briggs and wish she wrote faster, or at the very least that I could find someone else that creates characters and a world so compelling.

If you have any recommendations let me know. Once I’ve finished re-reading all of Patricia Briggs I’ll be moving on to re-reading all of Ilona Andrews and then I will be super sad because I’ve yet to find authors in their genre as good.

5/5