Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

Rating: 5- Got to have a copy. Gotta reread forever
PLOT

Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales.
The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.
But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

First of all when I first chose this book to read one lazy afternoon, I knew nothing about the guy called Chris Colfer. Seriously, I don't watch Glee nor do I bother myself with tabloids or whatever. Anyway after the first few pages, I was hooked, I became an instant fan. Like what I've mentioned in my earlier blog entries, I love fairy tales and any good adaptation of any of the stories is worthy of praise. But Land of Stories is just so different, over-the-top good story telling that made me go "Why did I never thought of that?"
 First there were so many characters. Almost everything is covered: Snow White, Goldilocks, Jack, Rapunzel, trolls, Cinderalla, Sleeping Beauty and all the Prince Charmings (Because in this world, Charming is apparently a last name).

Then that thing about the Evil Queen, the mirror is actually her cursed, and when he became enamored with Snow White since she looks like the Evil Queen during her younger years, the Evil Queen became angry and we know what happened next. Whoops, sorry for the spoiler, but it was just so good. 

Highly recommended, their adventures are quite entertaining, never a dull moment and love all the characters as much as you could. PS: This is a trilogy too so there are still two more books to watch out for!

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Rating: 4-Would recommend it to everyone

PLOT:

'Once upon a time, there was a boy who lost his mother !'As twelve-year-old David takes refuge from his grief in the myths and fairytales so beloved of his dead mother, he finds the real world and the fantasy world begin to blend. That is when bad things start to happen. That is when the Crooked Man comes. And David is violently propelled into a land populated by heroes, wolves and monsters, his quest to find the legendary Book of Lost Things.

As of now, it is evident that I'm so into fairytale re-tellings, and this novel is another creepy version of all of them magical characters combined, so it is not something new. It started out how David is coping with changes as his mother died and he has a new step-brother whom he hates.

However this is one dark tale, when David began to meet many different creatures ( in which most are either depressed or psychotic) and such. It's not the best but the book is still a must read anyway, watch out for the later part of the novel, this is where the best parts are *winks*

Movie Adaptations Everywhere

The False Prince was one of the books I reviewed here. The good news is it is currently in development as a film! From Hollywood reporter:

Bryan Cogman, who is the executive story editor on HBO’s Game of Thrones, has been hired to adapt The False Prince for Paramount. The plot seems tailor-fit for Cogman: In a distant land, and with king, queen and crown prince murdered, a nobleman devises a plan to find someone to impersonate the king’s long-lost son and act as a puppet. An orphan finds himself chosen with three other boys in the running. But this is no mere competition -- with court intrigue and political conspiracies make it a contest to the death. Cogman wrote the episodes "What is Dead May Never Die" and "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things" while serving as story editor on Thrones.

Whoa, and I am addicted to Game of Thrones and ASOIAF, thus I have high expectations for this project. I've had high the same expectation for the movie adaptation of Joseph Delaney's first book in his Wardstone Chronicles. After all, a mixture of witches and magic is something to look forward to right? But right from the casting, I felt somewhat betrayed.

 

Why they would cast a thirty-one year old actor for a tween character is beyond me. Don't misunderstand, I love Ben Barnes and willing to marry him anytime, however, I was expecting they'll make Wardstone Chronicles like Harry Potter-ish, starting with adolescent years and he will grow up with all the danger he's facing and come out as a victorious man.

UPDATE 8/8/2013

The trailer's here. It looks good actually if you have no idea it was actually an adaptation. But from a reader's perspective, this is a plain insult. I mean there is a reason why the books became bestsellers, and why even if I'm already 19, continue to support this YA series. But they just took all the important elements away and made a loose live version instead.

 

No creepy witches. Wait, well there are witches, but not the old shaggy, flesh eating, drooling hag Wardstone fans came to love. Also look at those motherfucking dragons. Where the fuck did those come from? The only saving grace is Alice, she's perfect. But sorry, my own personal grudge is just too strong, I don't think I'll bother watching this film in the theaters.

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

Rating: 4-Would recommend it to everyone

PLOT

A tale of archetypal heroes and sweeping adventures, of dragons and princes and evil wizards, here is epic fantasy as only Stephen King could envision it.

Can't put it down. Stephen King should make more novels on fantasy. Seriously, I'm screaming for moar

The book started and ended in typical  fairy tale or mythological fashion, thus, I am not surprised to see the protagonist, Prince Peter as almost perfect--no actually, really perfect. I have no problems with characterization and stuff, and I enjoyed the book through and through. King once more, did a superb storytelling, I am just in love with the way he delivered descriptions and back stories. Especially the part of the queen's dollhouse. Reminds me of the real-life Queen Mary dollhouse, only King made it sound more fantastic in words.
I wouldn't want to be disturbed when pulled into the land of "The Eyes of the Dragon". However I'm not so satisfied with the ending, and makes me wish there had been a princess for Peter to fall in love or something. But it's still good.

Spud by John van de Ruit

Rating 5- Got to have a copy. Gotta reread forever

PLOT:

It's 1990. Apartheid is crumbling. Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison. And Spud Milton - thirteen-year-old, prepubescent choirboy extraordinaire - is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school in South Africa. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a senile granny named Wombat, and a wild obsession for Julia Roberts, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home.
Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes readers of all ages on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, raging hormones, and catastrophic holidays that will leave the entire family in total hysterics and thirsty for more

This book made me laugh so hard. Written in journal form, the story takes place in an elite private boys' boarding school in which John "Spud" Milton is finally starting his first year in. Together with his seven dorm mates, they are the "Crazy Eight" and all their troubles, pecularities, adventures and personal tales are recorded by Spud himself, alongside tales of his hilarious parents, senile grandmother and girls of course. Every journal entry is filled with hilarious events, even the ones which are supposed to be sad is funny, I have no idea why. The best ones are the ones with Spud's parents in them, they are just so weird you would just love them.
Oh yeah I discovered it has a movie:

must see this, MUST

Hell yeah, the cover I had was the one shown in the PLOT section and I hesitated at first whether to go on with it or not. Now I regret nothing, since it made me smile all the way, teaching lessons about friendship, camaraderie and loyalty. In a way, it reminds me of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" too.

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Rating: 3- Good, Average, Alright, you name it
PLOT:

"Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran."

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong. 

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

The first part, the earlier chapters were mind blowing. Either because the notion of a sudden disaster on the way to school is frightening for me or not knowing what the future brings makes me scared for the characters. The book's plot is like Survivor, only with apocalyptic elements, and of course, a percentage of the human population becoming zombies. I love the disasters and the chemical reactions and the dark dark sky.

I also like the idea: Stranded in a department store. I could think a lot of other ways for these kids to have fun in it, wisely though, they were able to have a close-to-harmonious day-to-day system. On the other hand, I don't like most of the characters. Dean, for example, loves Astrid, for reason not clearly said. Also there's this other girl, Sahalia. I know there are some over sexualized teenagers somewhere and their hopelessness inside the supermarket might make these kids feel alone and all, but I don't like the way Sahalia was portrayed, she only changed in the later part which is annoying, I mean I hope Miss Laybourne should give the girl some strength or good qualities, people are not black or white, bratty at first, changed later, a personality has too many facets but Sahalia wasn't given the chance for others to really get to know who she really is.

With having fourteen stranded children in one setting, the book lacks details. So all in all, it's plain average for me.

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Rating: 3- Good, Average, Alright, you name it
PLOT:

Being the youngest daughter of the Devil has never been easy. Daphne's father has no time for her, her mother no interest, and her status in the upper echelon separates her from the working-class demons that populate Lucifer's metropolis. When her brother and only confidante goes missing, life in the restrictive city of Pandemonium becomes intolerable. Now, in an attempt to find him, Daphne sets out for Earth - and finds it larger and more chaotic than she imagined: a dazzling expanse of noise, dirt and random violence. Despite her bewilderment, she navigates the mortal world with growing fascination, gaining an ally when she saves a dying boy from her father's minions. For Truman Flynn, the last year has been one long downward spiral, but when Daphne arrives just in time to save his life, he finds himself unexpectedly glad to have another chance. Together, Daphne and Truman go in search of her brother, braving the hazards of Las Vegas and the perils of first love, even as it becomes increasingly clear that her brother might have had a secret and compelling reason for leaving. Lucifer's agents aren't the only creatures on the prowl, and Daphne soon finds herself the target of a plan to rid the world of demons for good. Now she must evade a demon-eating monster, rescue her brother from an angelic zealot, and save the boy she loves from his greatest enemy - himself.

I cannot understand WHY would anyone write a synopsis that long.
This novel is interesting due to its plot and characters, Yovanoff did a great job with making twists and turns with heavenly creatures. As you could see, my rating's 3, So it is neither bad nor super amazing, but has a share of both worlds in teeny tiny bits.

The first thing that I liked about it is Daphne and Truman's love story, Daphne isn't one of those cutesy female leads that is annoying yet gets the best slices in the story. She's in fact quite smart and calculates her every move, she's kind and her worries really makes you worry, and convinces readers she isn't from our world without making her look too stupid at the same time she looks reasonably ignorant (because she lived all her life in Hell), she somehow reminds me of Castiel...

yep out of this world

Truman is messed up, I could name a few people I know personally who are very much like him. His relationship with Daphne is nicely done, they didn't have a good start nor did they go on having too much of the love hate relationship thing which most novels love to use in every page. They have disagreements once in a while but their love blossomed later on in a realistic manner.

Like I mentioned, I am into the series Supernatural, so the idea od angels and demons appeal to me, but there sure are some confusing parts here on the 'rules' both sides have when it comes who to kill etc. Some of the conversations of the older characters are just boring to read. the ones that can be skipped and the plot still survived.

So all in all, it's average for me.