Wednesday, July 09, 2014

The Clann #3.5: Dance with Darkness (2013)

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Dance with Darkness

Lorena was a vampire, also a ballerina for a ballet company. she often went on tours and performing on stages to promote their company. during one of her performances, she suddenly felt a strong bloodlust while she was on stage. after struggling painfully from the distraction, she finally met Conor, the father of one of her new student, Chrissy. Conor was one of the Clann's descendant, whose blood drew Lorena in. afraid of vampires but equally intrigued, Conor's initial intention of threatening Lorena soon became falling head over heels for her.

the book was a short story completely unrelated to Savannah and Tristan's lives. for the first quarter of the book, i wasn't truly enjoying myself until i found the beautiful twists. the duo were undeniably attracted to each other, but what started out as a descendant-vampire blood attraction was actually something more. right after Conor made the spell that had the ability to block off their energies, it became crystal clear that their attraction was truly because of love. the remaining of the book gave me plenty of goosebumps and a thoroughly heartwarming experience.

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

The Clann #3: Consume (2013)

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Consume

during a near-death situation, Savannah was forced to turn Tristan into a half-vampire like herself. from being the Clann's future leader, Tristan was banished by her mother and escaped into the wilderness where Savannah and her vampire father struggled to contain his overwhelming bloodlust. in the meanwhile, Williams from the Clann was plotting a war against the vampire council by killing the Clann's current leader, Tristan mother. on the run, Savannah and Tristan had to do everything to protect their remaining family members from being killed by the power thirsty man.

third book into the series was another equally addictive read. despite not being a short story, i managed to finish it in only two sittings. the tension was high as the story went through Tristan's transition, to their unstable relationship, to Emily's pregnancy, to Savannah's mother's involvements in their survival. every single detail was so delicious that i flew through the pages. before i knew it, the climax hit and it was too soon that i reached the end of the book. fortunately, there were still other installments to look forward for the series, which i will definitely find myself jumping into right after this.

Monday, July 07, 2014

The Clann #2: Covet (2012)

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Covet

Savannah was forced to break up with Tristan, but only to protect him. her being a half-vampire, she was able to absorb energy from Tristan from a kiss, enough to kill him. now that her vampire abilities were slowly surfacing and she started feeling the bloodlust, Savannah struggled to keep her distance, while Tristan continuously tried to get her back. in the meanwhile, the Clann descendants were killed one by one, drained and leaving behind vampires bite marks on their neck. they were eager to go into war with the vampires, destroying them once and for all.

years after i read the first installment, i was pleased to fall into pace the moment i started reading. it was so easy to get into Savannah and Tristan's point of view. understanding their actions, especially when it came to outsiders like Ron and Bethany, or even Anne, whose characters left behind an impression so beautiful that made them equally lovable. it was frustrating to see Tristan leading Bethany on at some point, giving excuses and sort. but when he finally admitted and stopped being such a person, he was proven to be a better person when he focused on Savannah instead. i was surprised with the turns of events when it came to Emily, though understandable.

Sunday, July 06, 2014

On the Way to Everywhere (2014)

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On the Way to Everywhere

Harry was a insignificant nobody, at least that was how she tried to live her life. her father Ira, left her mother and brother behind for a new wife before Harry was born. Felicity was her half-sister. unlike beautiful Felicity who attracted all the guys, Harry was a mess. she was tall and awkward, trying hard to blend into the crowd, forcing her grades to be average with the purpose of not attracting attention to herself. at some point in her life, she had to make up for all the lost grades and achieving things that she never thought she would want.

i received a free e-book from the author in exchanged for a review. the book was an absolutely fast read. Harry was a character so lovable that i shed quite a few tears for her. it was highly relatable to see her stumbled through life, achieving things that she thought was important at first, like blending in, later in truly important things, such as her passion for running. the fun part of the book was its random plot, often throwing situations in Harry's path, having her handling it. from discovering Uriel, to Felicity's suicide attempt, Harry remained innocent yet handled each situation with such maturity that it was impossible to not root for her. then of course, also in the spotlight was Frannie, the gigantic overprotective hug-able dog of Harry. i just couldn't get enough of Harry's life!

Saturday, July 05, 2014

Dream On (2014)

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Dream On

ever since her father's death, Emily had been taking care of her mother, Lily. the female in their family were dreamwalkers, having the ability to explore the dream worlds for as long as they choose, which on the surface seemed just like hibernating. Lily had refused to move on from the death of her husband, but to repeatedly reliving their memory by revisiting the moments in her dreams. for years, Emily had written a series of books, published under the name of her mother, earning enough income to put them in a secluded apartment. however, when she met Gabe, a new guy in school that was a huge fan of her series, who also stumbled upon her secret, she frantically tried to dismiss him but to no avail.

i received a free e-book from the author in exchanged for a review. the first half of the book was an absolutely fast read. Emily was a character so believable that it was easy to step in her shoes, imagining the things she did to protect her mother and herself. Gabe was an acceptable character, he may not be a lovable one but his boyfriend role was understandable in a YA novel. Evan on the other hand was far from believable. at some point, i hoped for him to be a villain, to at least complicate things, making them interesting when the dream-jumping got dull. i was surprised to find myself losing interest with the repetitive idea of dream-jumping during the second half of the book, because losing interest at this point of any book rarely happened. i was pleased that in the end, everything worked out even though it was highly expected.

Friday, July 04, 2014

Locks (2014)

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Locks

the story was an alternate version of Rapunzel. but instead of a Damsel that needed rescue, this version of Rapunzel was every bit as feisty as it could get. she spoke her mind, was sarcastic and a true fighter despite her poor battle skill. she was held captive by Taryn, her mother who yearned for her Theurgist power. with her around, Taryn was able to remained youthful and could freely manipulate her time controlling power. Flynn was a Mercenary hired by Taryn. despite their hate towards each other, they signed a contract to protect them from one another. when Flynn was assigned to supervise the locked up Rapunzel, they fell dangerously in love, forming a relationship that could very well kill them both.

i received a free e-book from the author in exchanged for a review. for the first quarter of the book, i was overwhelmed with the details compared to what i expected of Rapunzel. her tough personality was such a attractive side of her yet the love struck girl whenever Flynn walked into the room was far less alluring. but at some point, especially after adapting to the person Rapunzel was, i found myself looking forward to every minute they spent together, also the repetitive failed escape attempts, which was a lesson each and every one of them. the book was most rewarding when it came to Rapunzel's growth. from tons of aimless escapes to planned strategies, she outsmart everyone but of course never Flynn, who was always one step ahead of her. there were often times when i couldn't quite figure out where his loyalty laid, but the twists were welcoming as it made the book so much more interesting. i was pleased to find myself loving more than the main characters, even some of the supporting characters and villains were intriguing enough that i wanted more time with them.

Thursday, July 03, 2014

Defiance #3: Deliverance (2014)

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Deliverance

Rachel was kidnapped by the Rowansmark trackers, who were taking her to their leader James Rowan; where else Logan was imprisoned in Lakenshire. although separated, they had to find a way to achieve mutual goals, to kill the cruel Commander and laid their hands on the tech that expel the deadly Cursed One. with Ian finding chances to kill her along the way, Rachel had to outsmart him by seeking an unlikely ally from Samuel, also a tracker of Rowansmark. on the other hand, Logan was released with the help of the Commander, not because they became friends, but because Logan held the knowledge the Commander required to control the deadly beasts.

despite all the pain and torture, Rachel had grown into such a courageous warrior and woman. Logan on the other hand, finally realized that it was time for him to open up to his comrades, putting trust in people that decided to make him their leader after Baalboden's fall. there were so much ups and downs throughout the series. it had also been such a painful wait to finally get my hands on the final installment. when everything finally came together and after i had shed enough tears over their pain and reunion, the wait was proven very much worthwhile. it was a series that i was happy to have come across and was even pleased to find myself feeling that i was with them every part of their journey.

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

RoboCop (2014)

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 RoboCop

the story took place in a futuristic world, where OmniCorp was the most popular organization that focused on robot technology. Alex was a perfect husband and officer. however, he was critically injured in the line of duty. OmniCorp took this as the greatest opportunity to create a part-man, part-robot police officer. with all the surveillance footage and criminal information uploaded into RoboCop's memory, he was able to detect any ongoing criminal activities or capture wanted fugitives in record timing. however, when the robotic side started to take over the human side of Alex, things became dangerously threatening for himself as well as the city.

the film felt like an introduction to the RoboCop character. despite the advance technologies, we found ourselves unimpressed by the typical flow of the storyline. it took us quite a while to understand the connection between the Dr and the OmniCorp spokesperson. there were so much dialogues before the film got started with Alex. then it became over-exaggerated with how perfect he was robot-wise. the human side rarely did come out no matter how much they told us that it was in motion. with minimal facial expression, he just wasn't believing enough to convince us nor made us love him. the story became such a drag that we were just glad when it finally ended.

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Blitz (2011)

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 Blitz

Tom was a tough police who was assigned to a case, where a serial killer was determined to target police officers, killing them one by one. they named the serial killer the Blitz. he managed to slip through being captured every single time, making him a very dangerous threat to the police force. Tom was determined to bring down the Blitz, especially now that the lives of his colleagues were in danger.

the film was very slow moving and it took us quite some time to understand its flow. action wise, it was deliciously gory, making every confrontation a feast. however, it often took a longer time chasing down the criminal than to see any confrontation. at some point, we felt that the film was again another replication from his previous film. the bad cop character that he wore was again nothing special in comparison. from the numerous films that accumulated thus far, it was sad to find that he had lost his charm along the way, especially now that we had gotten so used to it, there were just no surprises left.