From the Grave

 Hey guys! Did I spook you with that foreboding title? I hope so. Well, sadly this is not a zombie story, or even a Walking Dead fan fiction (because if you know me, then you know that I don't ever write fan fiction). This is an album review (something different, huh?) of Juliet Simms' new album.

 I love Juliet Simms! I found her when I was listening to Black Veil Brides on Spotify, and she appeared in my suggestions. Her voice has this amazing quality to it. She's so different from the modern techno music people are obsessed with now. She was the lead singer of Automatic Loveletter, which I haven't listened to much of. I prefer her on her own.

*DISCLAIMER* I don't pretend to know much about music. I'm in my high school marching band, I play the flute, and that's just about it. I consider myself a musician but I don't know much about voice and guitar.

 So, overall, I completely loved the album! I'm going to do a more in-depth song-by-song review down below, but these are just some general comments. I really missed the slow-song Juliet from "End of the World" and even "Hallelujah." I think she has such a capacity for emotional, slow, love songs, and I really want her to explore that in her future work. I like the upbeat-ness of most of the songs on this album, but they started to kind of sound the same when you listen to them back-to-back, which is what I did.

 And now on to the "song-by-song" portion of today's broadcasting:

 "Get Ready" is the first song on the album, and when you're an artist, you want that first song, the first chapter, the first episode to really engage your consumer so they want to listen more, to read more, to watch more. I think Juliet did a really great job of this, however, listening to several upbeat songs in a row was kind of tiring, and I craved a break of some sort. "Get Ready" had a nice Joan Jett, classic rock feel to it, and I loved that. There was a lot of big bass, and her voice had a nice scratchy quality to it, which really fit the feel of the song.

 "Say Hello" is the next song. I really like the distinctive feel of this song. It was definitely very Juliet Simms. It had a great beat, and a really nice rock-n-roll feeling to it.

"Tidal Wave" is the third song. I loved the poetic lyrics. They really hit you in the heart: "Not scared of dying/ So sick of trying." I also loved the double meaning/ metaphor of the tidal wave in the song.

 "My Last Whiskey Tears" was not my favorite, but only because I know Juliet's range of emotion and her physical singing range are so much better than what she showed us in "Whiskey Tears."

 "Trouble Finds You" had that extremely Juliet feel to it. I love the character she talks about in this song. A very high risk, high reward situation.

 "Frances" almost made me cry. That's what I love about Juliet's songs: they're so emotional, like she's literally pulling on your heartstrings. I really want to know her inspiration behind this song, because the story in it is so incredibly heart wrenching.

 "Phoenix" was the one I was really looking forward to. I was somewhat satisfied, but also somewhat let down. It was more big guitar, "big bass" without much of her slow, metaphorically enhanced feel. I did love the comparison of her to the phoenix, both "waiting to die." It really spoke to so many people.

 "Found Missing" was acoustic. I loved the thought of just her up on stage, just her and her guitar. This is also an emotional song.


Thanks for reading!

xoxo,
Eve

Paper Towns Review (As I promised)

Hello, blog. I haven't been posting much lately because: 1. I just got to FL, 2. I have another big blog post in the works, and 3. No motivation.

Well, here it is: Paper Towns movie, based on the book by John Green, directed by Jake Schreier, and starring Cara Deleveigne (I don't care if I spelled her name wrong) as Margo Roth Spiegelman and Nat Wolff as Quentin Jacobson.

To watch the trailer, click here: https://youtu.be/rFGiHm5WMLk

Sort-of-non-spoiler plot: Okay, so this movie is about a guy who likes a girl, but she's popular and he isn't (he's kind of a geek) and they live across from the street. Said guy and said girl used to hang out when they were little kids. The guy's name is Quentin, but everyone calls him Q. The girl's name is Margo, and everyone calls her Margo. Margo knocks on Q's window one night and they get revenge on all of Margo's friends, for reasons. She runs away the next day, but "she leaves behind little clues, like breadcrumbs" as Q says in the movie. So Q and a few friends go on to "rescue" her. But what they find may surprise them.

My thoughts (SPOILER ALERT!!!):

- The acting: the acting was really kind of horrible, but I guess that's what happens when you hire a model to play a complex character. (burn...) No offense to her fans, but I really don't like Cara Deleveigne. Maybe it's her eyebrows...

You're welcome... I thought the actor playing Q was alright. He wasn't great, he wasn't good. He was okay. And the others... the only good actor was the dude playing Radar. He nailed it. The whole black-santa thing. 

-Things they changed/ things they kept: I have read this book several times, enough to know all of the lines (what the characters said and when they said it) and they omitted the f-word several times. And that is because it's a movie about high school. Well, FYI producers, high schoolers say the f-word. *shocked-face emoji* I was glad they kept the black-santas in there, as well as the beer-sword. I was even more happy when I saw the Heritage not Hate shirt. YES!!! And Angela and Radar. They never had sex in the book!!!! What was that!!! Oh, well we can have teenagers have sex but we can't have them say the f-word. Great logic, director. 

-The Ansel Elgort cameo: YAAAAS! It was worth it to see the movie just for that. He was great, as always. 

-THE FALL OUT BOY SONG: YAASSS!!!! YAAAAS!!!! Fourth of July!!! They played it!! I was elbowing my dad as soon as it played, waiting for Patrick to start singing, but- where were the lyrics?? It was an instrumental version, but that's okay. I love that band, with or without the singing. MY BOYSSS! 

-The ending- okay, um, what was that?! I'm still confused! I don't know what it means... Um, where the HELL was Margo? I hated the ending. NO! 

Should you see this movie? Yes, if you haven't read the book. If you have read the book, well, I don't want it to tarnish your view of the book, because it screwed up mine. So. Normally, I would never condone seeing a movie without reading the book first, but as this is based on a contemporary realistic fiction book, go ahead. It really doesn't matter. So, see the movie if you want to. 

Thanks for reading! 

xoxo,

Eve

Vampire Academy Book Review (Well, kind of)

Hey! Remember me? Yeah, that's right, it's your favorite neglectful blog writer, Eve. My excuse this time is, um- gimme a second to think of one- it's summer! Give me a break, people! Just kidding. I have a real treat for you *says sarcastically* a book review! I hope you guys like them, because I like writing them so, well, I guess it doesn't matter ;). Well, anyway, I'm going to the mall and *hopefully* getting my second ear piercing tomorrow, and I'm excited about that, so I thought you guys should know. And I am heading to FL on the 24th of July and coming back on the 7th of August, and then band camp starts after that, I'm not sure what day. But I'm going to be pretty busy, especially as I'm transferring to a public high school, which is kinda scary but also exciting! Enough about me, let's talk vampires!

Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead.

"ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES...

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever..." - goodreads.com summary


So- I read this a while ago, and then read the second book yesterday (darn that stupid caps lock button! Does anyone actually use it?!), so I'm a little rusty on the plot of the first book.

I, admittedly, have read Twilight. Yes, *cringes* I read Twilight and I didn't totally hate it. If you have read Twilight and you hate it, I understand. But if you haven't actually read it and you hate it because everyone else does, give it a chance.

Having said that, this differs from that Twilight-y vampire stereotype. The characters in this book are so well written, it's hard to hate them, from a writer's point of view. From a reader's POV, eh. Rose herself is a total badass. Lissa is so different, so opposite, it's hilarious.

The "summary" above doesn't really do the book justice. The Strigoi (bad vampires, sort of) aren't really trying to make Lissa one of them. They're trying to use her magic, spirit, which makes Lissa depressed. Not the Strigoi, the spirit magic itself. And Lissa cuts herself. Mead sort of "skirts" around that issue, which is a good and a bad thing. If she didn't skirt around it, and put more depth into those scenes, the book could turn into a much darker story. So, I feel like it was a good thing. But because she didn't, Lissa has character depth, but she's sort of, well, perfect. And not saying she is, because I know she has her intense problems *cough Christian cough.* And one more reason that it doesn't do the book justice, relating to Rose this time, because Lissa has plenty of forbidden romance, is that Rose does not have a forbidden romance with her teacher/personal trainer, Dimitri. It was very similar to Tris/Tobias (pronounced Tō-bye-as, no Tō-bee-as) in Divergent. I feel like books make the age of two people in a relationship matter more than it does in real life. Because as long as long as it isn't a 15 year old dating a 30 year old, or something along those lines, it's not a big leap (in books that is, not in real life. I've never had a boyfriend, I don't know, okay?! *curls up in a ball and dies*). NEVER TAKE MY DATING ADVICE!! Stupid caps lock button. I'm a little stressed out and all over the place, can you tell? This isn't gonna be a very good book review. Okay? Okay.

Speaking of John Green and his book-to-movie adaptations, Paper Towns the movie is coming out soon, and I'm gonna see it the day it comes out, because, haha, I fly to FL the day it comes out, so I actually get to see it with my dad! I promise you I will have a kick-butt movie review in the works for you.

Writing update- I got to 40K words on my NANOWRIMO (that is meant to be capitalized!) fantasy novel, and that is the size of a real life novel, so I wrote a novel! AH!

And- in other exciting news about me/my life- I got my second ear piercing! My first ones weren't closed up or anything- they're still open and I wear earrings in them and everything- I just wanted another piercing and I think it looks great! I got to my "goal weight," which is still extremely overweight but whatever. I also joined marching band at my new school! Yay! Okay, bye.

xoxo,

Eve

Beach Pictures/ Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Review

Hey it's Eve. Well, duh, who else would it be? So today we're going to do a two part post. The first, if you can't tell already by the title, is going to be some pictures I took at the beach. Mostly of my uncle's dog Mandy, but also some of the "beach" itself. It isn't so much a beach as it is a nature walk next to some water with a little sand thrown in for good measure. So, here are the pictures I promised you.

Rolling in the seaweed.

Fetching a tennis ball.

The water was kind of muddy near the bank, but as you can see, it gets clearer as you go out.

Weeds.

Fetching the tennis ball.

And bringing it back.

The water through the trees.

Clouds x trees x water.

More trees, water, and ground.

This mansion through the trees. It's huge!

And a piece of key lime pie, just to make you jealous. :)


And, for the second part of this blog post, the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie review! Okay, background information. This is the second movie in a huge superhero franchise. Watch the first movie before this one or it won't make any sense. This movie stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Ironman, Chris Hemsworth as Thor *makes heart eyes*, Chris Evans as Captain America *makes heart eyes again*, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. The plot centers around these heroes as they try to contain a new threat, artificial intelligence. Ultron, a robot built by a lab in Sokovia, is placed in a robot body that Tony Stark (Ironman) built, much like his. Ultron escapes from Stark's lab, and rescues two other experiments performed by the Sokovian lab, twins with powers, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, or, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. As explained to Captain America, "he's fast and she's weird," meaning, he has super-speed and she can read minds and move things with her mind. Ultron's (it tried to autocorrect to Leroy, I have no idea why) goal is to annihilate the world, and start it new again. He needs a humanoid body to do so, and he steals Loki's former scepter which has an infinity stone in it (for more on those, watch Guardians of the Galaxy), the mind-stone. Thor has a vision telling him this while fighting Ultron and the twins. This  was the Scarlet Witch's doing. Meanwhile, Ultron inhabits the mind of a brilliant young scientist and forces her to start building him a body. Scarlet Witch reads his mind and rebels, stopping the process, and forcing Ultron to complete it on a semi-truck. Captain America and Hawkeye and Black Widow split from Stark and Bruce Banner (Hulk) and manage to stop him from building himself a body. They give it to Stark who uses it to build JARVIS (his artificially intelligent home computing sysem) a body instead. Ultron takes Black Widow prisoner. He also builds a device that will rip Sokovia off the Earth and then smash it down after it gets to a certain altitude, which will destroy the Earth instantaneously. He also builds an army of robots. Bruce rescues Natasha (Nat, A.K.A Agent Romanoff, A.K.A. Black Widow) and they profess their love to each other and kiss. Nat throws him off a cliff to turn him into Hulk. They fight and defeat Ultron and his army, and rescue all the civilians. Watch it to find out how. I wrote this whole summary on my own.

Watch the trailer here: http://youtu.be/JAUoeqvedMo

I absolutely hated this movie! JK I loved it SOOO much! But the ending I almost cried. Ah, the feels! The twist about Hawkeye threw me off, but it was so sweet. The acting for this was wonderful, but that is to be expected when you have a star-studded cast like this. The only thing I disliked about it was the ending, and the fates of a few of our heroes. One scene I wished they had included was the Scarlet Witch confronting Tony Stark about the bomb in their house that killed their parents. Backstory on the twins: during the bombing of Sokovia, their house was bombed and it killed their parents, and they were stuck their for two days, staring at a bomb that never went off that said STARK on the side of it. I feel like that scene would have added a bit more depth to their characters' backstories, and might have been influential in Ironman's character. And the Hulk! Poor baby! I need to know what happens, because I ship him with Black Widow so much! Okaysies, that's it for this blog post.

xoxo,


Eve

Book Review- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Hey there, people! Does anyone actually read this or am I just writing to write? Well, I guess only the readers know. So- update on me- I got a computer! Yay! It was a birthday/Christmas/Easter present for the next 5 years. So expensive but so worth it! It's a MacBook Air which are lighter and less expensive than the normal Apple computers. I got it on Sunday, so I'm still learning to use it, kind of, and I thought "what better way to practice typing than to do a blog post." So, this book review is on an amazing young adult contemporary novel called Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. My computer keeps wanting to correct his last name to Leviathan. Okay, I admit: this is one of the books I stayed up all night reading. It was so good! Disclaimer: before any of you get mad at me for liking a John Green book because of the controversy over him "sexually abusing" girls, I'm saying that I'm reviewing his writing, his characters, his plot, not him as a person, and also, just trying to make a point here, no hate please(!), just because a person writes about teenage girls, does not mean that they have a wish to have sex with them. My main characters are a 16 year old fairy and a 16 year old boy. Does this mean I want to sexually abuse a 16 year old fairy and a teenage boy? No. Okay, that's all I have to say about John Green and the abuse thing. Stick with me here.

This is the cover:

This is the Goodreads summary: 

Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine.

It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.

What I thought:

I loved this book! We're gonna call heterosexual Will "Will 1" and we're gonna call homosexual Will "will 2," okay? Okay. I love the way that David Levithan treated homosexuality and depression. I loved that, instead of making will 2 discover his depression, he decided to let will 2 deal with it. I have been around depression enough and I have an understanding of it. Not a very good understanding, but I have one. I also love how well thought out and how real these characters were. I just wanted to give will 2 a hug when I read his chapters. And Will 1's gay best friend, Tiny? OMG! I love him. SPOILER ALERT! When will 2 and Tiny started dating, I knew it wouldn't last. It was obvious it wouldn't work out. And Isaac! I hate Maura. will 2 deserves a happy ending. END SPOILER! My favorite scene by far is when Tiny gives that amazing glass bowl to will 2's mother. It was so sweet it was when she got tears in her eyes. I can understand that and I bet my mom could, too. And I love how Will 1 realized how much he loved Tiny. I can totally understand how much he loved Tiny without "love, love." You don't have to be attracted to someone to love them. I have a friend like that- his name's Aaron- and I love him sooooo much but I'm not at all attracted to him. He's amazing. Okay, back to the book. will 2 had to be my favorite character. He's much more relatable than Will 1. Will 1 is more, how do I say this, perfect. He doesn't seem to have any problems, other than Jane, and even that turns out well. will 2 should have gotten a better ending. I loved how will 2 went on a rant accusing Tiny of having no problems, or rather not having problems, and Tiny goes on saying how he knows people think he's huge, but he's okay with that and he loves himself anyway. We could all take a leaf from Tiny Cooper's book. I, for one, am a little chunky and I can understand where Tiny comes from, everyone thinking he's huge. I loved the way we have two completely opposite characters, like polar opposites, but they both happen to have the same name. 

I loved this book, and I would recommend it to mature readers anywhere. Give it a shot. It's not for everyone, and it does have bad language, but I don't care. Don't judge a book by how many times it drops the"f-bomb," rather, judge it by how well it is written, how well developed the characters are, and how the plot unfolds. I'll see myself out. ;) 

Thank you so much for reading!

xoxo,

Eve

Movie Review- "Tomorrowland"

Wow, two blog posts in a row! I know right, guys?! Who are you and what have you done with Eve Thompson? Well, I'm bored. Believe it or not, but our last day of school was on June 4. Wow! We got out early. But I go back to school late too, like August 31. So I get a looong vacation. I know most people would kill to have a long vacation, but I hate being bored! And I'm a hypocrite, when I actually do go back to school, I long for a vacation. So sue me. Okay, consequently I went to the movies today. Yes, out of boredom, but "Tomorrowland" was playing.

Here is Rotten Tomatoes' summary: 

 

From Disney comes two-time Oscar (R) winner Brad Bird's riveting, mystery adventure "Tomorrowland," starring Academy Award (R) winner George Clooney. Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as "Tomorrowland." What they must do there changes the world-and them-forever. Featuring a screenplay by "Lost" writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird, from a story by Lindelof & Bird & Jeff Jensen, "Tomorrowland" promises to take audiences on a thrill ride of nonstop adventures through new dimensions that have only been dreamed of.(C) Walt Disney. 

To watch the trailer- click here: http://youtu.be/0sH0__SpV88

"Tomorrowland" was a bit overrated in my opinion. The fight scenes were incredibly staged and I didn't really get the special effects. Overall, though, the plot line was good and the acting was incredible and I don't say that about many movies. "Tomorrowland" promises action, adventure, and futuristic fun, and it delivers. And I'm not just saying that because George Clooney stars in it. So, if you're bored and you don't think anything good is playing at the theater right now, give "Tomorrowland" a shot.

xoxo, 

Eve

Book Review- A Court of Thorns and Roses

So, hey. I'm going to be real with y'all- I'm busy. Like, really busy. I've been tossed around on a plane, back and forth, between Florida and Virginia. And in the meantime, I've been busy with school- finals, help! So I will try to write more. (Seriously, I say that every blog post. Sorry :()) 

My book review this time is on a book that just came out- A Court of Thorns and Roses. 

"A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!"

- Goodreads summary

What I thought: 

Sarah J. Maas is one of my favorite authors. She weaves rich, delicate details that make you hunger for more. She takes an old fairy tale (this one was based off of Beauty and the Beast) and brings them to life! I was in a bit of a reading slump and her amazingly written stories helped me get out of it.  Her main character, the huntress Feyre (Fay-re) is well written, jumping off the page! Feyre is finding herself in this story. She goes through some incredibly tough tests, and (SPOILER ALERT!) I'm pleased to say she survives to the end, being reunited with the mysterious and sexy High Fae Lord Tamlin. Lucien, a part of Tamlin's court, was hilarious at times and brooding at others. He had mood swings like a teenage girl (and boy does this teenage girl know mood swings). My favorite character had to be Rhysand (Reese-and). He was a sarcastic devil. He managed to persuade Feyre, and believe me when I say that's difficult. Overall, I would most definitely recommend this book to mature readers, because there is a little, ahem, mature theme running. 

Thanks for reading! 

xoxo, 

Eve