UNBELIEVABLE Hiatus

Hello readers! Today is a wonderful morning as I was greeted by a chilly Miami morning. A very unusual weather for the city. Although I am quite used to how bipolar Miami's weather is.

Anyway, I am writing this post to sincerely apologize for the lack of updates.

My school comes first because I am struggling with one of my science classes. I've drafted several posts, and all I have to do is polish and add more thoughts, then they'll be ready to be published.

For now, I've signed up on this website, textnovel.com and I would like for you to check out my story: Heart of the City.

Gotta go now, class is starting...

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles Book 1) by Kresley Cole

 Kresley Cole's #1 debut in the Young Adult world is a rave for months now! I stumbled upon Cole's Poison Princess in a poll for whom the award for Best Young Adult Book 2012 will be given too. May contain spoilers, so be warned.

It was Christmas break (2012) when I decided to read this book. Okay, before I delve into the wonders and mystique of this book, let me first share you what it is about: (taken from Kresley Cole's website)

22 Arcana cards. 22 Chosen Teens. Let the cards fall where they may. Sixteen-year-old Evie Greene’s horrific hallucinations predicted the apocalypse, and the end of the world brought her all sorts of new powers. With the earth scorched and few survivors, Evie teams up with handsome and dangerous Jack Deveaux in a race to find answers. They discover that that an ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens have been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

Evie, the protagonist in the story gets these apocalyptic visions. With no one to talk to she decides to draw them. She can't even tell her own mother because she spent a good summer in an institution! What a way for the popular girl in school to spend summer, so it stayed a secret. She then meets Jackson Deveaux. Am I the only one who loves repeating his last name? Deveaux. Anyway, Evie calls him Jack. And as always... Jack is the bad boy. Like seriously THE bad boy! No doubt about that after reading the book! Wait, why did I even put as always there? Because I must have fallen in love with Jack. Ahh... figures. You guys! You gotta read the book before continuing on this post!!! But if not... then go ahead...

The story about their high school life went on for several chapters. Literally! I was ready to give up because I really thought there would be apocalyptic things, but alas... half-way through the book, it finally happened. I was thinking, why would the author drag on the story for that long, and only to get rid of A LOT of characters in the end. When I finished the book, I thought the first half did make sense, the series is a chronicle, so they have to document pretty much every thing that happens, right? Makes me think that Evie's best friend and ex-boyfriend are alive, but that's impossible now isn't it?

I saw Evie as an annoying brat throughout the first half of the book. She was just an annoying character to begin with. I don't know if it's just me or I have something against popular kids (that just means I was unpopular to begin with in the real world) but seriously though, why didn't she do anything about her visions? Well, it was part of the story so I had to trek through the cornfield and kept on reading. Then it happened. One thing you would want to know about me is that I really reading action scenes. I love it when authors find the perfect descriptive words for a scene.

I'm going to fast forward a bit...

I'm telling you, I didn't expect any of the events and things that happened in the story at all. Well, maybe for the part about Jack coming back for Evie, and his accent. Zombies... or aliens?? I'm not really sure. I'm always up for anything when it comes to zombies. In a way, her visions did give her an advantage. They eventually led her to the other characters in the Arcana. The Tarot Cards. This is the first book I've encountered which evolves around the Tarot Cards. I am not an expert when it comes to tarot cards, because I've only known those cards in the occult (blame all the horror films I've seen throughout my childhood, but kept me interested). So in the Arcana Chronicles, the author is using the Major Arcana (the Trump cards), which consists of 22 cards, hence 22 teens. In Poison Princess, they already introduced four of them. Jack believed that Evie has some kind of powers and more than what she is now. But, what's going to happen when he eventually witnesses how powerful Evie is?

And for that... we have to wait for book two!

So, about Jack. I hate how he acts so bad but deep inside he's actually this strong and sensible guy who speaks Cajun. That night when they celebrated Evie's party, they had a moment there and the scene really pulled me in the book. Then he tries to make Evie jealous right after he failed to make her his that night in the pool. I also hate how he's such an asshole, a jerk, and all a bad-boy could ever be described to Evie! Although he's like that, I am betting he has fallen in love with Evie. Seriously!

Evie's character really build up throughout the story. I really like the ending part of this book. I was blown away by the originality of the story.

Overall I give the book 4 out of 5 star ratings. Taking one out because of that pre-apocalyptic episode in Evie's life. It was too long for me. The rest is all greatness could ever be! Can't wait for book 2!

Any comments or questions, let me know! You might want to ask a specific question because I tend to be a confuzzled (confused and puzzling) person when blogging about something. Everything just pours in. :D

Fifty Shades Of...

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
 
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

This book is intended for mature audiences. - Goodreads 

This might be really odd for the first book I'm going to talk about. Because, usually I'd go for teen fiction. But then I thought about it, and I'm not a teen anymore. Why not talk about this first? The three books were the first adult books I've read in a while. And so, my mind wasn't prepared at all, but I did expect what would be there. I mean, DUH, I read what genre they were. Before I open a book, I usually refer to the genre. So, I decided to read it despite the hype.

In the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, I really thought it was the color grey/gray they're talking about. But hell no. I was way wrong! In the first few chapters, I was introduced to Ms. Steele and how she's in her last year of university, and how she met Mr. Grey. THE Christian Grey. And then, if you've read the book, you know what happens next.

What pulled me into finishing this book was the curiosity about Christian Grey's life. When I found out (the same time Ana found out about his lifestyle), I knew something was wrong. It wasn't just his hobby. It was the way he lived. Yes, he owns his tech and communication company, and he's looked upon  by other people as God, or Adonis-look-alike (Okay, I made that up... but still, the way the author described him was very detailed, and I'm such a sucker for details. I may or may not have made a pun, if you know what I'm talking about). I could care less about Ms. Steele. Yes, she was a very important character there because she's the only one who actually tolerated Christian Grey's way of life and thinking. The first few obscene scenes piqued my interest, like seriously. I was like, "WHOOOAAA THERE... that's possible???" Seriously. But as they continued to do those acts and kept repeating it, repeating the same concept, it was boring. I actually became bored of the story line. There was nothing else that could make me like the book. And there, I've said it! I didn't like the books.

But then... I still had to finish the other two  books because of Christian Grey and his past. His past really bothered me. I almost ripped my head off because I wanted to know what happened to him and I kept thinking what if he loses his sanity!!! and so I continued to flip through the pages and read, eventually finishing the second book. Then my eyes widened and breathed, and screamed, "THEY'RE ALL PSYCHO!" I didn't really scream it out loud, because I was reading it in the hallway outside my Ethics classroom. I screamed it in my head! I knew the old lady had something to do with what Christian Grey had become. I don't even remember her name, and I don't need to remember it. I just felt really bad for Christian Grey. He had to go through that life, it got worse because of that evil woman. /sicktothebones/. And I became so grateful to Christian's adopted parents and siblings, they were really amazing. Fine, let me include Ana as well.

In the third installment of the story, that's where things heat up, Ana and Christian are already married. Then Ana had to deal with her obsessed-possessive-psycho ex boss, and all the other exes. The only action, that actually involved a gun-fire was too short that it took me by surprise. I'm all for the action, but I think the author doesn't know how to write an action scene (ehemm, action doesn't mean ero things). Although, thinking about it, she had to make it short, because you know... Ana was pregnant. And you can't really expect anything from a pregnant woman expect for her hormonal outbursts. The car chase from book one or book two was really interesting though. I would love to experience a car chase in a vehicle I  absolutely love while I drive, and a Christian Grey look-a-like in the passenger seat grinning and sending me all that sexy pheromones. Uhmmm okay... I... didn't just say that.  Maybe I did...

So yeah... it must have been really hard for Christian to keep the perfect facade on the outside, yet all the darkness and evil lurked in his mind. Although, his subconscious still held an innocent boy that have yet to live his life the right way and to fall in love. That's what I love about Christian Grey. He really did fall in love with Ms. Steele, and she to him. Although, I still couldn't believe everything just happened in the span of weeks. Crazy? Nah. Anything can happen as long as it's fiction and the author desiring it.

All in all, I would give the trilogy a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Oh come on you guys, I know I'm not the only one who enjoyed Christian and Ana's email conversations, Charlie Tango, the vanilla ice cream, the uhhh RRP (YOU KNOW!!), the photographs that he bought featuring Ana herself, Taylor, Christian's family, the blondes in his company, and of course Christian Grey himself.

  I know I'm not a great reviewer, but these are my thoughts and how I interpreted the books.

Wait, I'm gonna talk about the indecent acts in the book (I'm just saying that because I will never really know who reads this blog so I'm just being careful). The book is Erotica, it is a genre, so it's not really a surprise to find something weird especially it revolved around the BDSM topic, and I won't delve into that topic because I have no idea, or any intention to divulge myself with the topic. Non-adult readers would think this book is just plain pronz. (Which at first thought, it actually is, kinda, but aren't adult books supposed to be like that?)

Got some questions though, did Ana ever stepped foot in Christian's workplace ever again? I don't think so, and I found that really odd.

Stay tuned for my next musings!

Laters, baby

The Awkward First Post

Yes, I treat this first post as an awkward post because if this post is a person, he or she would be too awkward to do anything. Meaning, oh heck... just think of something.

See what I mean? No? Well, that's too bad. I'll be dedicating this blog to the books I've read. It might sound like a book review blog, although it seems like it, but no. I'm not the kind of person who makes good reviews because I tell you, I am socially awkward (as I've mentioned before, or not). Nah, not really, I'm just unable to come up with witty comments about my opinions. And, my vocabulary is constrained. It takes determination to come up with descriptive words when describing a scene or characters. I'm always determined anyway...

Nonetheless, this is a new blog, and I hope. I really do hope that I'll be able to maintain this. I'm not expecting anyone to drop by this blog anytime soon (unless I post my link on my twitter).

It's been quite a while since I used blogger, it would take me a couple of minutes to figure out things again. I'll be posting the list of books I'll be talking about on the sidebar (hopefully I'll figure it out soon).

And the list will go on and on and on and on...