“Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live in” – Jim Roth
Have a good one!
N
Month: November 2013
Book Review: Shadow Kissed (Richelle Mead)
Book: 59/100
Book three of the Vampire Academy Series
What happened?
After an attack on St. Vladimir’s academy, the entire school headed to an exclusive resort for the holidays. While there, a bunch of Rose Hathaway’s friends sneaked out to go capture Strigoi in Spokane, and Rose went after them. She managed to save most of her friends, except Mason. Afterwards, her teacher Dimitri told her he had accepted that he would always love her.
Shadow Kissed
Rose is set to take trials at being a Guardian within St. Vladimir’s Academy. The trials consist of Dhampir novice Guardians shadowing selected Moroi, and “protecting” them if one of their teachers attacks them while faking as Strigoi. She fully expects to be assigned to Lissa because of their bond and also because everyone knows that is how things should be. Rose is outraged when she is assigned to look after Christian Ozera, Lissa’s boyfriend. Eddie gets to guard Lissa, and while she knows that he will do a very good job, she is peeved that they would actually separate her from her best friend. Dimitri chastises her and she finally acknowledges that it might be a good idea.
As an aftermath to the bloodshed she witness the past year, and a side effect of being shadow-kissed, Rose has developed the scary ability to see ghosts. Initially, she doesn’t know this, and thinks she is going crazy when she sees Mason’s ghost in the school. She learns that the magical wards that surround the school is supposed to block ghosts and Strigoi, but everyone tells her the wards are maintained and in perfect order.
Rose learns that Victor Dashkov, the man who had tortured Lissa, is set for trial. Dimitri tells her that she and Lissa aren’t allowed to attend, and she is furious with him. Adrian Ivashkov, a Moroi royal, manages to get them to attend to impress Rose, making Dimitri feel useless as he really tried his best.
At the Moroi Royal Court, the queen summons Rose and tells her to stay away from her great-nephew, Adrian. She makes it clear that she won’t allow the relationship, not listening when Rose says that she truly isn’t interested in Adrian. Rose receives a threatening message from Victor Dashkov, with some hints that he might out her and Dimitri’s forbidden love. She goes to Dimitri, and they visit him together. They discuss the matter, and even though Victor still taunts them, Dimitri says he is confident that their secret won’t come out. Victor is eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, and locked away.
Rose continues to have headaches whenever she is not in school or the Academy. Every time it seems like there are ghosts are around her, waiting for her attention. Meanwhile, she is messing up her Guardian tests, because she sees Mason every time she is supposed to fight. It is only because of Dimitri’s vote of confidence that she is allowed to continue, and she is ordered to do only half day guarding after she tells her teachers about the ghosts and they think her stressful life is catching up to her.
Rose notices that there are many kids with bruises at the school who won’t confess who is hurting them. She investigates, and learns that it is a secret club started by elite Moroi who tries to force their friends into using compulsion – something that is forbidden in their world. The group tries to recruit Lissa and Christian too, but they laugh it off.
Rose finally gets to prove herself when Dimitiri attacks her and Lissa, faking as a Strigoi. It is a close fight, but she wins, impressing her teachers and friends alike. After that she realizes that Lissa is under attack from the compulsion group, and rushes to her aid. She helps her friend, but takes some of Lissa’s Spirit-induced darkness and starts attacking the group. She is restrained by Dimitri and taken to a cabin away from the guilty so that she can calm down. Finally, their resolve falters and after a year of restraint they make love. Upon returning to the school grounds, Rose sees Mason, and shortly afterwards she sees the Strigoi that Mason had pointed out.
With the evil vampires on school ground, Rose hurries back on Dimitri’s orders and alert the Guardians. They go into full scale attack, and when Rose finds Christian on the school ground, they combine their skills and kill many Strigoi together. The living Strigoi flees campus before sunrise, and Dimitri tells Rose that they took Dhampirs and Moroi captive.
After debating the pros and cons, the Guardians decide to stage a rescue mission. They head out to the caves where they know the Strigoi are hiding, and rescue the captives. Rose sees Dimitri get trapped, but is pulled to safety. At school, Rose hears something that makes her world crash – That Dimitri had been turned into a Strigoi. Her only choice now is to hunt him down and kill him, as they promised each other they would. But will she find him and come out alive?
Rating: 6.5/10
After Frostbite, this book seems so well done. Things relevant to the storyline actually happen here, and the events aren’t too stretched out. I applauded Rose and Dimitri for finally getting together and his decision to just accept his feelings and work with it instead of the denial that had tormented him. Turning him into a Strigoi was a great idea, and I was floored that Richelle Mead actually had the nerve to do it. Without knowing what happened in the rest of the series made me sad for their lost love so short after their acceptance of it, but reading onwards it became clear that a great plan was in the works for the series.
This is definitely one of the better books in the series, and quite enjoyable.
The best motivation for squatting EVER
Haha
Xx
Book Review: Frostbite (Richelle Mead)
![VampireAcademy_Frostbite[1]](https://natashastander.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/vampireacademy_frostbite1.jpg)
Book: 58/100
Part of the Vampire Academy series
Book two
What happened?
Rosemarie Hathaway seriously endangered her future job as a Guardian in the secret vampire world when she ran away with her best friend, Vasalisa Dragomir. Vasalissa, or Lissa, is the last in her royal Moroi line, making her extremely precious. Lissa has the rare magical ability to heal people and bring them back from the dead – like she did with Rose. Because she saved Rose’s life, Rose is linked to her – a link that is called “Shadow Kissed”. Rose is able to read Lissa’s mind, making her an excellent choice as Lissa’s Guardian.
The two were captured and returned to St. Vladimir’s Academy, where Rose was nearly expelled for her misdeeds. She was saved from expulsion by Dimitri Belikov, a young, handsome Guardian who had noticed Lissa and Rose’s bond, and had offered to take her under his wing to train. The two fell for each other and managed to control themselves. Things only got out of control when Victor Dashkov, an uncle of Lissa, put a lust spell on them, and they almost slept together. Dimitri managed to break the spell, and they were able to save Lissa from Victor who had kidnapped her. After Lissa was saved Dimitri told Rose that he had never loved her, but after she was attacked by Victor’s daughter who had turned into an evil vampire, Dimitri told her that he had and always would love her, though if they were still planning to become Guardians to Lissa when she graduated they could never be with each other – it would place Lissa in too much danger.
Frostbite
When a Moroi royal family is murdered by Strigoi, the Moroi/Dhampir world is on full alert. The Strigoi managed to kill an impressive number of Guardians by breaking a magical ward – something that humans had done because it is impossible for Strigoi to touch the wards. This in itself is strange – humans working with Strigoi would mean a much bigger problem to the Guardians. Rose witnesses the aftermath when she and Dimitri go to the house that was attacked – she was meant to take a test there with one of the Guardians that was killed.
She stays and watches the clean-up procedure with Dimitri, and afterwards returns to the school where everything is in chaos. She once again calms Lissa down, though technically she is the one that went through the ordeal, and starts to feel as though she is always the one who should be strong. This is the first of her many mood swings, which she later discovers is part of being shadow-kissed – because she has a Spirit-Bond with Lissa, she catches some of the insanity that comes with Lissa’s power.
Mason, a guy who has liked Rose for ages, makes no excuse that he would like to date her. She realizes that it would not be a bad idea to date someone her own age and not pine over someone she isn’t allowed to date.
The school decides to send its students to a private resort frequented by Moroi. As a result of the attack, the school and many other Moroi families decide to spend the holiday there. That is where Rose meets Adrian Ivashkov, a playboy Royal who is also a Spirit user like Lissa. Dimitri tells her to stay away from Adrian, and Rose basically spends time with Adrian to piss her instructor off. She found out that there may be something between Dimitri and Tasha Ozera – Christian’s aunt who is actually a nice lady and more suitable for him, even if she is a Moroi and he a Dhampir. Rose and Dimitri fights over this, and he tells her that she only proves her age with her childish habits.
Meanwhile, another Strigoi attack has taken place, and it resulted in the murder of Mia Renaldi’s mother. Rose and Lissa feel very sorry for Mia, even though they once hated her. They are unable to help her feel better, but she does start hanging out around them more.
Mason and Rose, now technically a couple, have a bad fight when Rose can’t seem to make up her mind on whether she wants to sleep with him. She realizes later that he went to Spokane with Eddie and Mia to hunt Strigoi, and she and Christian immediately follow without even considering telling any authority.
Christian and Lissa find their three friends safe, but soon afterwards all five are captured by Stigoi and bound up. After and immense struggle, Rose manages to kill the Strigoi and free her friends. All except Mason, who is killed by a Strigoi. The official school guardians arrive shortly afterwards, and it is only then that Rose leaves Mason’s body.
Dimitri tells Rose that he has realized that he could never love anyone else but her, and that they will somehow find a way to be together.
Rating: 5.5/10
Reading this book the first time caused me slight irritation, though I persisted. Second time around, after I’ve finished the series, I am irritated by it because I don’t find the book necessary to the series. I honestly feel that the tale could have been told in 3 – 4 books. The only justification for this book is the introduction of Adrian and Tasha. They are important characters later on, but they could probably have been introduced in the third book and it would have still worked out.
Rose starts to be a better person here, although she is still way too fond of herself to be overly endearing for me. Her best characteristics remains her brutal honesty and fearlessness, and her worst her vanity. She shouldn’t have dated Mason while still in love with Dimitri. She should have told her teachers when she realized her friends were missing. She should have taken them back on the safest route in Spokane. I could really go on forever because she is seriously flawed, and even though it adds character to the story it is still annoying.
The injustice of the Moroi society frustrates me to no end. There is no justice or equality, and the use of Dhampirs for Guardians is a form of slavery. I maintain that Rose is the one who deserves the spotlight, not the overly fragile Lissa.
To bring some balance I have to mention that Adrian is one of my favorite supernatural characters ever, and I am so glad he was written. He is absolutely essential to the Bloodlines series, which stems from Vampire Academy. He is charming and dangerous and a player, and yet he still manages to be a good man who has the capacity for great love. I enjoy his cheesy pick-up lines and his sarcasm, when he dances with insanity, his love for vices and his addiction to Rose – which is just another vice because she is just as destructive as his alcohol or cigarettes.
This book serves mainly as an introduction to people and events that are important later on, and illustrating the importance of Rose and Dimitri’s love. It starts to show how unfair Rose’s destiny is, and makes you wonder whether she will eventually become Lissa’s Guardian and if it really is the thing she wants the most.
Read my review on the first book, Vampire Academy, here.
PS: If you’ve read the books and blogged about it, please drop me a comment. I am desperate to find some other opinions on this series!
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
It is not often that a sequel does better than its first instalment. I was so surprised that I enjoyed it more than Thor (2011), since I really enjoyed that a lot. I made sure I went as soon as it got released, to prevent any spills on the internet – I experienced that recently and I am still ticked off.
Bor, Odin’s father, clashed with the Dark Elf Malekith (Christopher Eckleston) ages ago. The Dark Elves where planning on destroying the Universe with the Aether, a very powerful weapon. The Elves’ home, Svartalfheim, is destroyed, and Bor seals the Aether in a stone column. He does not know that Malekith and his lieutenant survive.
In the present, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is sentenced to life in prison for his war crimes on Earth. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is told by Odin (Anthony Hopkins) that he will become King as soon as peace is restored to the nine realms.
*Loki in prison
Thor’s mind, however, is rooted firmly on Earth, where his love Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) lives. It has been two years since they have been together, and he misses her a lot. He has Heimdall (Edris Elba) keep an eye on her, and is alerted to when she suddenly disappears from Earth. He returns from Earth to search for her, and when she suddenly displays frightening protective techniques when someone poses a danger to her, he takes her to Asgard, much to Odin’s annoyance. Odin realises that she has been infected by the Aether, and will eventually die from the power that surges through her. Thor promises to find a way to return her to full health.
*Jane and Queen Frieda
The Aether’s release causes Malekith to awaken, and he swears vengeance on Asgard. The city is attacked, and terrible tragedies happen. Thor and Odin are divided in their grief, and Thor directly disobeys Odin’s orders and leaves Asgard to destroy Malekith. He enlists the help of Loki, knowing that he risks his life doing so. They take Jane with them, as the Aether is now within her, hoping to draw it out of her and keep her alive.
*Malekith
Loki manages to trick Malekith into taking the Aether out of Jane, but they fail to kill him. Realising the convergence of the realms is in Greenwich, the return to Earth to fight Malekith.
*The Dark Elves
Will Earth survive another attack brought upon them? Will Malekith be finally destroyed? And will Jane and Thor finally manage to reconcile?
Rating: 8/10
I really loved this film. It is better than the first one, as I mentioned earlier, and it is incredibly entertaining. There are quite a few surprises and deaths, and it all fits into a good tale.
The humor was well done and luckily not too much. The scene where everyone threatens Loki should he dare betray Thor again was hilarious. I laughed at some of the impersonations Loki pulled off to irritate Thor. Basically his entire part was extremely well written. Tom Hiddleston seemed really perfect for the role. He balances Thor’s extreme presence, and they make such an interesting pair.
This time around, Chris Hemsworth improved on his portrayal as Thor. He was fine in the first film, and in the Avengers, but both of those enabled him to become better as an actor. He really is well cast.
I would definitely recommend that you treat yourself and go watch this in cinema. It is totally worth it.
Have you watched it yet?
5 Things Friday: Five Studying tips
Hello, Study Bugs
The last few months in a year is known for many things – Halloween, new seasons, Christmas and New Years. It is also known for EXAMS. I wrote Chemistry last week, which isn’t fun at all if you are relatively normal. (I’m really sorry for the okes that enjoy Chemistry). I’m writing Business Management at the end of the month (let’s not discuss why Business Management is part of my BSc curriculum, because I don’t know why) so I am once again preparing to study my but off. I am competitive, I like doing good. So here are 5 tips to make studying for exams easier.
Prepare your basic materials.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to stand up five minutes after you have started to fetch something, then again, and again. Therefore, I try to get everything I am going to need ready. This includes
Pens
Paper
Highlighters
Sticky notes
Pencils
A Ruler
A puncher and a stapler
Erasers, Sharpeners
Have a basic outline of everything you need to study
Make sure that you have all your assignments, old exam papers and study guide with you. Work systematically through the information and make sure you understand it before you move on.
Find what works best for you
There are so many ways to learn something. Spider diagrams, writing out your work a lot of time, shorthand notes, etc. you have to choose one that makes the information sticks in your head. I simply write out the work I need to know, keep it stacked and work from there. It eliminates working with a thick textbook, and much easier to navigate and to get an idea how much work you still need to do.
A little bit each day
When I am close to my exams, I try to get in at least an hour and a half each day. If you do five out of seven days, it is seven and a half hours, without those exhausting long periods of studying. Obviously, if you are a full time student, you can adapt it to suit your needs, but it remains important to keep the material fresh in your mind.
Stay healthy
Drink water and eat healthy snacks in between. Your brain is incapable of functioning properly if you are sleep deprived or hungry. Minimize caffeine use as much as possible – it can prevent you from sleeping when you are finally done. Take breaks where you stand up and move around, refreshing your brain. Scrolling through your smart phone will give you a bigger headache. Make sure you sleep enough. It is difficult if you are preparing for a large test, but you will feel better if you write with a fresh mind.
I hope this helps. If you are writing, good luck and stay calm!
Quote for the week
Book Review: Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead)
Book: 57/100
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
Before I found out about Vampire Academy, I was scared my secret love for the vampire YA fiction would have to end. I had loved the entire Twilight series and their subsequent movies, but I completely loathed the Vampire Diaries books. I was fearful that I would have to stop reading it if I couldn’t find new, good reading material.
I found these books on sale at my local bookstore, and decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. The books aren’t that fantastic, but it is still enjoyable to read, and much better than most material within its genre.
Background
The books are based on the theory that three types of supernatural forms exists.
The first is Moroi – mortal vampires who only drink enough to sustain themselves, and not to kill. Moroi vampires possess magical abilities. A Moroi can either be a water, fire or earth user, but it is later discovered that there is a lesser known magical ability as well – the extremely rare Spirit users can heal people and even bring them back from the dead.
The second type of vampire is Strigoi. These vampires are evil and extremely strong, and kill their food source. They cannot come out in the sunlight; whereas Moroi can handle it in small doses. Moroi are born, but Strigoi are made. You can become an immortal vampire by drinking a Strigoi’s blood, or if you are Moroi, killing the person you drank from.
The third type of being is a hybrid – half-vampire, half human. They are called Dhampirs, and live with the Moroi is seclusion. Dhampirs are born when a human and dhampir sleep together, or when a dhampir and Moroi do. Dhampirs are infertile together. To survive and procreate, they protect the Moroi, serving as bodyguards. Moroi is constantly under attack from Strigoi, and they are much weaker than their evil cousins. Thus the Dhampirs, who possess very strong genes from both the races they were made of, are trained as Guardians during school, and when they graduate it is their life’s work to protect Moroi.
It is a taboo in the secret world of vampires to sleep with humans. It is also frowned upon to sleep with a Dhampir, but not openly discouraged. Female Dhampirs often live together to raise their children – children who were created by Moroi men who just likes to fool around with Dhampirs, then go marry into their own race. These Dhampir communities carry a stigma, and the women there are often referred to “blood-whores” because of the rumours that they allow Moroi to drink blood from them during the sex.
The story’s two female leads, Rosemary Hathaway and Vaslisa Dragomir are best friends. After the death of her parents and brother, Lissa is the last of the Dragomir’s – a royal Moroi clan. It is obviously high priorities to keep her safe, as the Moroi have many traditions that involve the specific royal houses. Rose is a Dhampir that was effectively raised by her school. Her mother, Janine Hathaway, is a famous guardian but does not have much time to spend with her daughter. Rose has never known her father, but thinks he is a Turkish Moroi her mother had had a fling with as a young woman. They have been best friends since kindergarten, and Rose is planned to be Lissa’s Guardian after they both graduate from St. Vladimir’s Academy.
Vampire Academy
Rose and Lissa ran away from their school after Lissa suffered through months of unease. After her family’s death in the car crash she and Rose survived, she started feeling that people were watching her. Rose believed these feelings to be true – because Rose can read Lissa’s mind. For some reason, Rose has a physic bond to her best friend, enabling her to see into Lissa’s mind. The bond started to develop after the car crash, and they have no idea why.
They are found by the school Guardians one night after Lissa drank from Rose as a survival method. One of the Guardians that capture them accidentally sees this before Rose notices him and they attempt their escape. They are cornered not shortly afterwards and forced to return to school. The guardian that captured them is Dimitri Belikov, a native from Siberia, who is a teacher Guardian at school. Rose notices that he is very attractive and also a superb guardian.
Lissa and Rose are taken to Headmistress Kirova’s office, and thoroughly berated for their reactions. She nearly expels Rose but Dimitri saves her education by revealing the girls’ bond, and argues that it would be a waste to let such a gift go to waste. Rose is allowed to stay under certain conditions. She is banned from any social activities in the school and has to take extra lessons with Dimitri to compensate for the two years she missed out on.
Rose and Lissa immediately make a new enemy, Mia Renaldi. Mia is mean to them from the first day they meet, and they initially think it is because Mia is dating Aaron, Lissa’s ex. They realise her spite is too intense to only be because of him, but they have no idea why she is acting that way.
Rose returns to popularity, famous for being a smart ass, being cocky and now also for escaping from the strict security at the school. She becomes friends again with Mason and Eddie, two trainee guardians who was always nice to her before. She especially notices Mason’s interest, but starts to flirt with a Moroi named Jesse Zeklos. He is attractive, but not the most interesting of men, and when they make out he realises that Rose had to be Lissa’s blood source while they were on the run – dangerous knowledge for someone else to have. Rose tries to defuse the situation, but Dimitri arrives, and terrifies Jesse. It is then that Rose starts to realise that Dimitri may also feel the attraction to her that she feels to him, although he is years older and also her teacher. They fight, and he tells her she needs to take care of her reputation to prevent blood-whore rumours from spreading. She apologises, and they agree to seriously start working on her guardian skills.
Meanwhile, Lissa is having more and more problems. She is depressed and afraid, but refuses to attempt another escape because she knows that Rose loves school and needs her training. She keeps mostly to herself, except for Rose and her cousin Natalie. She flees to the school chapel’s attic for some quiet on many occasions, and there she meets Christian Ozera – a Moroi royal outcast. Christian’s parents went Strigoi and now the entire Moroi world shuns him and his aunt. They connect, and Lissa ignores Rose’s warnings that he is bad for her, because he actually is good for her and doesn’t treat her as a precious little person like most of their friends do.
Lissa hasn’t yet specialized in any magical element, and this worries both her and Rose. The school advisor Ms Carmack tells Rose after that Lissa shows a higher than average score in all the elements, even though she has not specialized. On Rose’s question whether a vampire can specialize in more than one element, Ms Carmack tells her that it would drive someone insane to have all that power. Rose and Lissa both know that Lissa is able to perform extraordinary magic – heal things so perfectly that they can return from the dead. She did this on a bird once, and they were both terrified. Another teacher of theirs, Ms. Karp, had the same ability and she went so insane that she willingly became Strigoi to stop the crazy. The two friends agree not to tell anyone about Lissa’s power, in fear that she might be locked up.
Jesse and his best friend, the idiotic Ralf Sarkozy, start spreading false stories about Rose. They tell everyone that she slept with both of them, and even let them feed of her during the act. This destroys Rose’s reputation, and she is shamed. Lissa refuses to let her best friend just go down like that, and starts campaigning for her. She is very successful because of her natural charm but also because of the extra strong compulsion she has and uses illegally on her classmates. Things start improving for Rose, but Christian isn’t too happy with Rose or Lissa, especially since Lissa starts dating Aaron again to get back at Mia. Christian kisses Lissa to prove to her what real attraction is, but she is too angry at him to realize his feelings are real. He tells her the main reason why Mia hates her so much – Lissa’s brother Andre had been sleeping with Mia in secret while still alive, but forced her not to tell anyone because she wasn’t royal. When he broke up with her, he wasn’t even kind about it, and completely destroyed a girl who was already insecure because she isn’t royal. Now Mia hates Lissa and Rose by default because of that, but they refuse to feel guilty as Mia is a big cow.
Rose and Lissa go shopping with Natalie and her father, Prince Victor Dashkov. Although relatively young, he is dying of a rare disease, and the three girls are very worried. He takes them out for a day so that they can get dresses for Prom, and Rose is allowed with because she has been a good girl, and it will allow her to practice her guardian duties. After the shopping experience, she falls through a step that was fine seconds ago. Rose goes unconscious, Dimitri carries her into ER, but they learn that she has made another miraculous recovery. Rose freaks out, knowing that Lissa healed her, and tells her teachers about Lissa’s special powers.
Lissa is very angry about what Rose did, and starts to ignore her. Suddenly, Rose becomes the outcast again when everyone realizes she is being ignored by the most popular girl in school. It doesn’t bother Rose overly much, because she has her own friends and the training with Dimitri.
At the prom, Mason gets Jesse and Ralf to confess to Rose that they spread the rumors about her. They also tell her that Mia slept with them to get them to tell everyone Rose is a blood-whore, and that they will start spreading the truth. Mia realizes what is happening and attacks Lissa, and Rose protects her friend by breaking Mia’s nose. The teachers are understandably upset about this, and Rose is taken away to her room to await punishment. Christian heads off to console Lissa, but is attacked and left unconscious when Lissa gets kidnapped. Rose sees this of course through the bond, and immediately escapes confinement to go tell Dimitri.
She is taken under a lust spell the moment she sees Dimitri. She starts kissing him, and he is seized by the same charm. They nearly make love but he realizes something is amiss and throws the necklace Rose received as a present from Victor Dashkov out the window, and they are both suddenly painfully aware of their surroundings. Rose remembers Lissa’s kidnapping, and all the Guardians immediately spring into action. Rose is able to tell them where Lissa is through the bond, and they go after her.
They arrive at a secluded cabin, and Rose is ordered to stay in the car. She “sees” her friend compelling her captors to let her go, and realizes Lissa is going to need help. She discovers Christian sneaked out with them, and together they on a rescue mission. They are attacked by psy-hounds, supernatural animals intent on capturing them, and Christian is seriously injured before the other Guardians arrive to help. Lissa drinks from Rose for strength and then heals Christian, and the guardians arrest Victor Dashkov.
A few days later Dimitri tells Rose that what they did was wrong and only a result from the lust charm. She goes to Victor’s holding cell and tells him to take off the curse because she still feels something, and he tells her that the feelings are real, or else his magic wouldn’t have worked.
One last piece of drama awaits Rose when Natalie shows up at the cells, and attacks Rose. Natalie turned into a Strigoi to free her father, and almost kills Rose before Dimitri arrives and kills her. Dimitri once again carries Rose to the hospital, and he tells her that he loves her, although their relationship could never work if they are both supposed to guard Lissa. Rose knows this is the truth, but is still sad because she genuinely likes him. Lissa gets a happy ending when she starts to date Christian and get help for the depression that is associated with her Spirit-power.
Rating: 6/10
Not the most solid start to a series, but the book managed to grab me enough to move to the second book and from there on to finish it (the series runs seven books). At some stages, I felt that the writer wasn’t as clear as she could be about events, and didn’t describe things well enough.
Dimitri is a solid male lead to Rose. She would never have fallen for a weak, puny man. She needs a man who is just as strong as she is both emotionally and physically, and who isn’t afraid of her lifestyle, or her career choice.
Things I loved in the book
The book is a more original attempt in the vampire genre. The theories used are loosely based on Romanian myths, so there is some credibility to the story. The characters are original in their own right, not just derivatives from another vampire series.
The book is not difficult to read. It is an easy one, but not perfectly done. The writing style of the Twilight series gets a few points above this. That mentioned, the VA series is on a much higher scale than the Vampire Diaries books (which brought me to tears, for all the wrong reasons)
Rose’s fighting spirit.
As a character, I find her very self-assured and ready to kick ass. She is fearless when it comes to protecting Lissa, and she isn’t afraid to voice opinions. She is mostly content with her fate, even when it is obvious that she is the one who should be deserves to be the popular one in their friendship.
Rose and Lissa’s friendship is strong. Like all true friends, they sometimes fight and then make up. They both have their flaws and attributes, and seem to accept it about one another.
Dimitri did try to stay away from a pupil
He really did. In fact, if I remember correctly, it took him three books to just deal with the fact that he loved Rose. He did his best to remember he is a teacher (as he bloody well should) and valiantly tried to stay away.
Things I didn’t like all that much
There is a half-vampire Russian guy named Dimitri
Russian
Dimitri
Vampire
Three things that are so much thrown together, it would seem that all the half-vampires from Russia are named Dimitri. Not original at all.
Rose loves herself SO much
Although a huge fan of self-confidence, Rose really likes herself too much. Her vanity is maybe the reason this book hadn’t struck Twilight levels – most teenage girls don’t associate with such levels of self-love.
The whole older guy thing
Back on Dimitri, it is once again the world’s largest cliché that a girl falls for a mysterious older guy. Oh, wait, he is her teacher too!
The vast amounts of human rights abuse
Dhampirs aren’t humans, this I get, but they have absolutely no rights in these books. They are treated as half breeds, and they have to spend their lives protecting their “pure-blood” cousins. They are either used as human shields or as prostitutes, but either way they never win.
Conclusion
Vampire Academy is being made into a movie, so I would recommend reading it before you watch it, if only for the pleasure to be able to bitch about the changes. I think it is a good, fun and original series, and this book especially deserves to be turned into a movie. Who knows, maybe another major franchise is starting!
PS: If you are a fan, please drop a comment – I am dying to read other opinions on the books and movie!
Double Review: Eat, Pray Love
Book and Movie Review: Similarities, and which one won
Book: 56/100
The condensed version of what happens:
After Elizabeth Gilbert finally divorces her husband after years of heartache, she is emotionally drained and is suffering from severe depression. Her relationship after her divorce with a man named David also goes off, and she knows she needs to restore her balance somehow. She found faith through David – Hinduism.
Elizabeth has three wishes to fulfill her life: To visit Italy to learn to enjoy life again and speak the language that has always fascinated her, to visit India and go to the Ashram of her Guru, and to go to Bali in Indonesia to find a balance between her spiritual life and pleasure.
After the divorce, Elizabeth is broke. An unexpected miracle happens and she is able to make plans to visit the three countries within a year: Italy first, then India, and lastly Bali. Each visit will take four months.
In Italy Elizabeth visits the finest Italian restaurants, and truly enjoys the food, the people and their culture. She starts her healing process here, only focusing on the enjoyment of life. Her nature enables her to make friends easily, and most notably she becomes friends with Luca Spaghetti (obviously Italian) and Sophie, a lovely Swedish girl.
In India, Liz starts to become a true Yogic devotee, meditating for hours on time. Her struggles with more complex meditations are becomes her battle, and she takes a while to understand why it is so necessary. She makes a Texan friend, Richard, and he helps her makes peace with the memory of her husband and the divorce, and also parts of herself.
In Indonesia, Bali, Liz studies with Ketut, an old Balinese medicine man. In exchange for English lessons, he teaches her how to be more spiritual. She also meets Wayan, another healer. They become best friends in Bali. Through Wayan, Liz ends up at a party hosted by Felipe, a Brazilian expat who also went through a divorce. Liz and Felipe starts seeing each other, attracted by their similar pasts, their chemistry, and the way they now approach life.
Will Liz and Felipe manage to keep their relationship working when they are supposed to live in different parts of the world?
Rating: 8.5/10
The lengthy reasons why I really loved this book:
Firstly, the book is superbly written. The writing is of such a high standard, and it is obvious that the writer is well trained in her art.
EPL is a book that manages to bridge a gap between two types of books I never read – self-help and autobiographies. Both of these irritate me senseless because 1) I am quite able to fix myself and 2) you are not so overly interesting that I want to read about your life. EPL, however, is a good bridge between the two. Elizabeth Gilbert’s life has been one of incredible privileges, but also unthinkable sadness. She makes you understand that divorce rips you apart, and take ages to recover from. She describes her journey to recovery to you in a way that makes it seem possible that you too can recover from any depression in her lives.
The self-help part of the book isn’t enforced in the obvious way that it is normally done. Your beliefs and the way you perceive the world happens automatically when you read through her tale. It isn’t something you can help, or something she insists on, but rather something that is a very natural step by reading such a thought provoking book.
I love how she refers to everyone in the book as “my friend”. It makes me sense the overall politeness of her character, and that she will accept you no matter what.
The book made me interested in other peoples’ cultures and beliefs. Living in South-Africa, it is a challenge each day to change your mind-set enough to consider someone else’s viewpoint because their traditions and cultures are so much more different from yours. Her travels to Italy, India and Indonesia are full of interesting, wise people with fascinating stories. They are all so different, and all are fascinating. She shares many sad stories too – is it even possible for anyone to become fully connected to the divine without difficult times behind them?
In Italy, I found the search for the perfect meal delightfully acceptable. Her desire to only experience pleasure was gratified here, and she managed to learn other lessons too. There was still so sad about her damaged love life. Italy, it would seem, is the perfect place to recover from its demise.
India is all about the spiritual journey of her year long hiatus. In the Ashram, she cements her Hindu beliefs and starts to learn how to balance her life. What struck me the most is her insistence that she would never state any religion is wrong. I am a fierce believing in the right to choose your religion, and she is definitely part of that belief.
Bali is the place where Elizabeth finds everything she needs – food, friends, spirituality (especially through the wisdom of her friend Ketut, a Balinese healer aged somewhere between sixty and one hundred and twelve)
Elizabeth’s other healer friend Wyan’s tale made me sad. The woman defied her culture by divorcing her abusive husband and getting custody of their daughter, an unknown victory in the patriarchal society of Bali. She still survived, took care of her daughter, adopted two orphans, and made a business of her healing powers. She even managed to stay true to her culture despite defying it – she practices her beliefs devoutly and her work honors it.
On the Bali part, I know now much more of their history than previously. When I thought about the holiday destination before, I thought of the terrorist attacks in 2003, and also about what a beautiful place it is. Now I know that their story runs much deeper, and their peace now is so well deserved after centuries of violence and struggle. Their culture is deep and unexpectedly humorous – they basically name their children First, Second, Third and Fourth. I found this confusing system funny and sweet, and really simple since it makes naming your children not so exhausting like our Westerners’ naming activities get.
Finally, when she finds Felipe, you are happy for her knowing she has someone special again, even though she would have been fine alone for a very long time. Wyan tells Elizabeth that Felipe is a good man outside and inside (of himself), and that is apparently very true. He seems perfectly made for Elizabeth. It is almost as if they experienced the same things in life just so that they, he a Brazilian and she an American would end up in Bali, and find one another.
If I have one complaint about the book, there were a few parts that threatened to become tedious in explanation. However, it was such a little amount of places that I really did not mind in the end.
The Movie (2010)
Rating: 8/10
Starring:
Julia Roberts (Elizabeth)
Javier Bardem (Felipe)
James Franco (David)
Richard Jenkins (Richard)
Billy Crudup (Steven)
Viola Davis (Delia)
Tuva Novotny (Sofi)
In this case, the book is victorious over the movie. Both are exceptionally done. I am a huge fan of Julia Roberts, and I think she was a wonderful choice for Elizabeth. She fits the physical description perfectly, something that rarely happens in a book-movie adaption.
The male characters were well cast as well. It is enjoyable seeing James Franco act as David, mostly because he plays a lovable yet childish guy. Javier Bardem rocks as Felipe. I think that he is the captures the essence of that character so well – an older gentlemen who has such capacity to love but is still afraid of hurt.
There were a few changes, naturally. I didn’t mind as much because it simply served to provide a movie within an acceptable timeframe.
The book wins over the movie because the book packs enormous spiritual power, and the movie doesn’t as much. There simply isn’t enough time in one movie to accurately portray the storyline.
My friend Zoe mentioned that she had read somewhere that it is a movie about sunglasses, and I have to confirm it is true. It is the great movie of promoting sunglasses to be honest. The sunglasses rock in Eat Pray Love, turning already hot characters into very, very hot characters. I love the aviators on Julia Roberts, and Javier Bardem looked mighty fine with his as well. The fact is that the storyline encourages sunglasses, because travelers wear sunglasses. A whole lot.
*sunglasses*
I really liked the movie, and I would recommend both the book and it to most people. You might get a bit offended if you aren’t comfortable discussing other religions than your own, but I found it wonderful.
Weekend stuff
Reading
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I went to bed at two am on Saturday because I was reading Divergent. I am such a bad ass. LOL. It is very good. The second book is a bit stretched out, but it is very good as well. The books have the same train of thought of Hunger Games, but manage to be completely original at the same time. They are my 64th and 65th books in the challenge
Watching
Finally got to go to the cinema on Friday. WOW. I wanted to watch Oblivion, but that had sadly finished. So I watched About Time (With Rachel MacAdams) and had such a good time. It was wonderful and funny. It is the type of Romantic Comedy people enjoy even if they don’t like Romcoms.
I am on the last episode of Season 2 suits. Still in love with the fast paced lawyer drama. It is just that good. Afterwards I am going to watch Supernatural season three, to make my friend happy.
Le Good life
I had way too much chocolate the last week. I don’t really care, because I was studying Chemistry, and you need chocolate if you are studying Chemistry. This week I will learn to refrain myself in favor of losing weight, and I am determined to succeed.
Life of this city girl 